Dreaded Hair Loss

I've been meaning to post this for some time now. I emailed my dietitian a week or so ago because if I'm going to continue to lose hair at the rate of which it is coming out I want to do everything in my power to help prevent it.

 I figured I'd share the emails between me and my dietitian for anyone who's going through the same thing.

So Here are the emails, starting with one from me:

In our last visit I was asking about hair loss and you had mentioned that for some reason at 3 months it’s possible to start losing hair. Well, I am at the 3 month mark and my hair is definitely coming out. It’s so bad that I’ve been keeping my hair tied back, not washing it for a few days because when I wash it so much comes out. As far as protein goes I’m really keeping up with it. There have only been a handful of days that I’ve missed my daily goal.

Is there anything else I can do to make this stop? I bought some vitamins with 300 mcg of biotin and started taking them last week. Should I even bother with that or should I bump it up to even more? Are there any other supplements that I could take to help?

I attached a report of my protein intake over the last 90 days from the food tracking site I use. I figured that would help give you a better idea if I need to take in more or what. I can run quite a few reports from it so let me know if I can give you anything else that might help with figuring out what to do with my hair situation.

I completely understand if I need to come in to see you for something like this, just let me know and I’ll make an appointment!

Thanks!

Her Reply:

It is good to hear that you are doing well. Your protein intake looks very good esp if the values represent protein from animal sources. Taking a good quality multi-vitamin is also important. There is not a lot of research to support the use of biotin but it may help you; the upper limit appears to be 2000-3000 mcg per day. Significant and rapid weight loss is a stressor on the body and this is probably the primary factor but it sounds like in your case the hair loss seems very significant. It may also take up to three months to regrow the hair.  If you think that there is too much hair loss, you may want to consider seeing Dr Yoo.  

Hope this helps

Me Again:

Thank you for your response. I’m not to the point of getting bald spots or anything, but if this continues for a month or two I could have a problem! Can I run these few things by you to see if I need to change anything?

 

-6 days a week I get  just under 30 proteins from Syntrax Nectar Protein that I mix with almond milk – so sometimes almost half of my protein for the day is whey protein. On Saturdays I’ll have an egg and possibly a piece of morning star sausage

- I’m still trying to stick around 800 calories, on my highest days I might go up to 1,200 but I normally fall between 800-1000. I feel like if I don’t get a ton of protein from my shake in the morning I can’t eat enough to get above 50 grams of protein or I can’t fit in any veggies or fruit. About once or twice a week, I actually eat some sort of meatless product. I like Gardein and Morning star varieties which I’m guessing are Soy protein. They seem to pack a ton of protein for the calories and they are so light, that I can eat a little more than a serving and still stay within my 4 ounce meal size.

-In addition to the biotin I just started taking, I take 1 Flinstones complete and three Viactiv calcium (500 iu D, 500 mg Calcium, 40 mcg K) every day – Any improvements I can make there?

Thanks again for any advice you can offer!

Her Last Response:

The Syntrax protein that you are taking is a whey protein isolate which typically is the best quality and if you are getting the remainder from your food that sounds fine, so the protein piece is covered.

The vitamins sound good. A lab panel may reveal any potential deficiencies.  From a nutrition standpoint it appears as if you are meeting your requirements.

So that was it from the dietitian, and I also talked to the dr that does my band adjustments today. She said that it is very normal to lose hair for a bit even if you are meeting all of your nutritional requirements. She also said it slows down and stops after a little while, so there is light at the end of the tunnel. She mentioned there is also shampoo that has biotin in it, so take the biotin and try the shampoo. She said that half of the people she talks to about it say that it works, and half of them say it doesn't work.

I'm not as stressed about my hair as much, because everyone has assured me that it will stop. I'm getting a full blood panel done tomorrow morning to see if there are any deficiencies and after I get those results I will have done everything I can to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong.

So hopefully this is just a tiny little bump in the road!