ferritin at 14, severe hair loss!!

[debratheartist]

hi everyone, i'm new here.

my ferritin level was at 16 over a year and a half ago (range is 10-300) when i went to the doctor with an anemia checklist from the internet with EVERY symptom on it!!! dr said all labs were normal and did nothing.

in july, i went back to the dr. because the hair loss was becoming severe with no regrowth. all my tests were "normal" again so dr referred me to dermatology with an appt 3 months away! then i read about iron being overlooked in hair loss. my ferritin is at 14. so two weeks ago, i called to push the dr. who said it wouldn't hurt to take some iron. i'm losing 400-800 hairs per shampoo!! started ferrous sulfate (1-65mg + multi vit 36mg) two weeks ago.

appt with derm. this week. he said "your iron is low. could be that." no trmt other than take iron and in december he wants to do a biopsy on scalp to pinpoint cause. has anyone done a scalp biopsy?

[mbbasketball]

Hi,

Sorry about your hair problem. I had alopia and lost all my hair for ten years. Not one hair on my entire body. Save money on the bikini waxing. It started after the birth of my first child. All the doctors said it was normal after giving birth. Went to all kinds of doctors. Was never given an answer. I wish I had know what I know now. First get your hgb count. For a healthy woman it should be at least 12 if you are still in the child bearing years. But your ferritin is getting low. From what I have read your ferritin should be around 70 for hair.
You can be iron deficent and not be anemic until you hemaglobin drops below 10. My hematologist said a normal ferritin should be at least 50.

Now my hematologist keeps and eye on my ferritin and anything under 50, I go in for more iron IV. My lst hgb was 13 but ferritin 16. in three months I went from 14.1 hgb and ferritin of 49. The only thing they can think of what is causing this is my periods and by body not obsorbing iron. All my male drs want to take out body parts, but hell i like my body part.

I would suggest to everyone to be your own dr/ ask for all lab results and go to a good hematologist. Most pcp do not look at blood results esp ferritin the same as a hematologist. Also for your hair, have your thyroid checked out, make sure you get the T3, T4 and TSH results. While doing all these blood work last year, they found out that I have hypothyroid.

According to my hematologist, I had been a suffer of either iron deficit or on and anemic. I had all the classic symptoms, ridges in the finger nail, eat ice, low energy, brain fog, cold, etc. But I never went to the dr to tell him of these things, what i thought was a silly thing. But they are all pieces of the puzzles. You just have to find a doctor who will listen or be close to your death bed before they take you seriouly.

Also the more you stress about lossing hair the more hair will fall out.

Just got the call, need anothe iv iron. time to find a good book to read

[debratheartist]

thanks for writing! hgb is 13.7 and tsh and free t-4 are in range. haven't had t3 lately. i've had tons of bloodwork to rule out everything. twin pregnancy went great(although i did have anemia during it which they said was normal) but it's definitely been a downhill slide since then--until acupuncture which cleared all issues except skin (hives), hair, cold, ridges on nails, lots of blood clots during period but that is improving now.

i have had hypothyroidism since i was a teen but it's been a few years since i have been on anything for it (western meds did NOT work for me, only a natural bovine supplement was effective) because i go to acupuncture to manage all my various sensitivites and it's been in range since i started there.

no one has suggested a hemotologist! just derm for the hair, neurology, gi specialist, rheumatologist, ob/gyn, and on and on. and the weird thing is that i feel better than i have in years! most of my sx have gone except the hair issue and HOW can a person not be stressed about that? and did your hair come back in when your levels came up or are the follicles dead or something?

[mbbasketball]

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[cantell]

Debratheartist, you mentioned you also have hives with the anemia along with your hair loss.. what kind of hives? how long have they lasted? are they all the same? ie..size, type, ect. the reason I am asking is that in 2004 I started haveing pains shooting thru my stomach..went to emergency room and then to a stomach doc..later..upper and lower gi, ultra sound, body scans ect...they couldnt find nothing wrong. put me down for a gall bladder surgury anyway..then got a call from the same doctor..wanted to know why I was still walking around?? my blood test showed a blood count of 7 she put off the gall bladder surgury and sent me to a gyno doc and he put me down for a hystrectomy..ok I can live with that better than gall bladder surgury. once that was done the doctor told me that my female parts were fine but he took them out anyway the only thing once inside is he found alot of scar tissue and basically all my guts were growing to my back bone. before surgury my blood count within a day had fallen to 5. I had to get 2 pints of blood on halloween night of 2004 LOL..anyway I had the wipped out feeling, hives, mussel pain, craved Ice like a junkie craves drugs, minor hair loss.... now I am experiencing hugh amounts of hair loss, fatigue, hives,brain fog depression, and yes, how do you stay calm when your bathroom drain and floor is covered with your hair that is comming out in handfulls?? etc..I am not yet craving the ice like before.