hair loss
 

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Thanks for the info...

As of now I show approximately 1 inch of new hair growth in my hairline--you can't miss it, so I know that I wasn't dreaming about the hair loss.

Whether the recovery is due to the Nioxin or simply that my body has caught up with it's "shock" it certainly didn't hurt. I'm pleased with the product as a whole, particularly since I've been covering grays and it doesn't seem to strip my hair.

I also lost a ton of hair about 3 months after I started the Atkins (Thanksgiving last year) and it is all back now. No one noticed but me, because I've always had "big" hair. My sister lost twice as much weight as me and never lost a hair. I guess everyone is different. But the good news is that it does grow back.

Nanci

I'm so glad I found this thread. I've been doing l/c on and off since June. I've been doing it consistently since November.

I first noticed scalp irritation and hair thinning in November. It's getting really bad now and you can see my scalp along my hairline.

I'm a single, 33yo woman, so baldness is not really an option. It is very demoralizing.

I'm going to start taking a mega-vitamin supplement, along with biotin, magnesium and zinc.

I'm encouraged that some of you report hair regrowth. If something doesn't change soon, the entire front hairline will be bald!

Any suggestions are welcome!

Thanks

Hi there!

Oh yes! I know how stressfull the hair loss issue can be!

I began low carbing last june and I noticed the hair loss on october...The last 2 weeks it has improved noticeable and I'm noticing litlle hairs regrowing.

Any other report out there?

Hi All

Am I glad to have found this thread!

I noticed last night that my hair has fallen out at the crown. I have a bald spot about the size of your index finger curled to the first joint of your thumb. The place where it has fallen out is difficult to hide to cos it's right where the natural parting of your hair is at the top of your head.

I have only read page one of this thread but I shall go and read the rest. I am loathe to think it's Atkins related because I have been doing it since August last year (on and off but mostly on).

The worst part of it is feeling like a freak. I am also considering putting fake tan on my scalp there because it is chalk white and much more noticable with dark hair. Well, it's either that or my DS will be let loose on me with felt tip pens.

Yes happening to me and sometimes i feel so stressed over it i cant cope.

hope it stops soon.

I started low carbing almost ten months ago and only now am I noticing hair loss! I have let my hair grow a little (it was quite short) so perhaps I didn't notice previous loss when the hair was shorter.

It comes back.
 

It comes back, but it takes a while.

Hair only grows about a half-inch per month, I think, and hair sheds daily under normal circumstances anyway--it's just more pronounced after the metabolic switch (for me it was 4 or 5 months that I noticed severe thinning). See the article posted in this thread. I think it's right on the money.

Good news, I've got even more hair coming in now right around my hairline and have to spray it to keep my long hair smoothed out.

I did find that Nioxin helped me. It's a good shampoo and conditioner, but rather expensive--still you don't need to use very much. One large $25-30 bottle of shampoo has lasted me from August till now (I'm still using it) and I replenished the conditioner recently.

me too!
 

So glad to read all these posts and realize it isnt just me losing hair. My hair is very long and thick. I have always been aware of daily hair loss because my hair is long, but the increase has been so worrisome.

I talked to my hairdresser who reassured me that this is normal with any stress and any diet change with rapid weight loss and usually starts three or so months after the stress and stops on its own after about three months.

This agrees with what I have read in the thread so I am going to relax and just wait it out.

I have lost 51.5 pounds so far, and the weight loss offsets the hair loss.
thanks to everyone for sharing .

Karen :wave:

I feel like the only guy with this problem!!!
 

Wow! I must say I am relieved to find a support group concerning this particular issue of hair loss!

Before I gained all the weight, I had very long hair on top, and a completely shaved undercut and my hair was very thick.

Now, it's long again, but without the undercut, and it looked thicker before! THAT SHOULD NOT BE. LOL I also see bald spots around the temples and top of the head.

Come on, now...I'm a man, and I just turned 25 not too long ago. I think this is a little premature. Hair has been coming out like mad to the point where I am also afraid to wash and brush.

I've been taking a multivitamin, but it is low in biotin, calcium, magnesium and pretty much all the other things people have listed in this thread.

I'm going to make some purchases ASAP. I see this thread has been dead for a while, but I would love to hear some updates. I have aspirations of being a model/musician/actor, and my hair is probably my most defining characteristic.

Hi Guys,

I too have long, shiny healthy hair. However, about 2 months into Atkins my hair started falling out everywhere. I went through 2 vacuums, really! It became so lifeless and dull and very very thin. This was such a shock to me because I had always thought that the dairy was good for that type of thing. Well, I started taking a sublingual total B vitamin. The most potent stuff I could find, plus a strong multivitamin. Still no change. I didn't see a change until I switched eating plans in September. I had been on Atkins for 8 months at the time. Now my hair is back to its old self. My hairdresser noticed the difference and so has my family. It's even obvious in photos. My hair is visibly shiny. Not sure what the cause, these were just my observations.

Bizzy

Bizzy Mom...you said you changed your eating plan and your hair has gone back to normal.

But what is your eating plan, now??? lol :D

X

I changed over to the Fat Flush Plan. I'm loving it. It cleanses from the inside out. There's a website if you're curious www.fatflush.com. There is some information there and testimonials. There is also a forum. I went back thru the photos after my post last night and my hair is downright glossy!

Biz

I'm just curious, ladies, are any of you that experienced massive hair loss on the pill?

Tracey,

I took the pill for 10 years off and on and experienced two things: weight gain and hair loss. What a combination! :agree:

Bizzy

A VERRRRRRRRY long time has passed since I resurrected this thread.

I'm DYING to hear updates from the original posters.

I have just started taking supplements for this hair loss problem, and I would like to hear some encouraging stories. lol

Kent says that Atkins isn't to blame, and I guess it isn't since apparently any kind of drastic weight loss (or "body shocking" event) can spur on this telogen effluvium thing. I lost about 60lbs in less than a year. I guess that's "drastic" enough?

Regardless, whether it be Atkins or another "quick weight loss" diet creator, I think this hair loss problem should be stressed a lot more than it has.

And as someone previously said...it seems to be a lot more than "10-15%" of dieters who are having this problem. And this is taking into consideration the fact that many guys have short hair to begin with, or are not hair-conscious enough to care or notice.

X,

I don't blame Atkins either, it just didn't happen to me until then. I really think it had the most to do with a vitamin deficiency. The one thing missing from my diet during Atkins was the regular amount of fruit I used to take in. Atkins was the ONLY thing that successfully helped me lose a significant amount of weight. It was the best thing that's happened in my life for a while.

Have you had blood work done to see if you're deficient in some type of vitamin?

Bizzy

No bloodwork done as of this moment. I only just discovered this thread, and the possibility (now likelihood) that the diet is responsible for the hair loss.

I purchased some supplements today, and will have my fingers crossed that my hair will go back to the way it was.

I keep very good track of what goes into my body, whether it be food or supplements. I think my recent purchase will balance everything out.

Good luck.

This is temporary folks!
 

Just thought I'd drop by again and make a note that my hair is all back to normal. It was definitely a temporary thing--and I firmly believe in the body shock as the cause, but it did take a while to turn around. Hair grows slowly after all. I stayed on induction level carbs for a long time and during that time, the hair did regrow just fine. It took a few months to really notice the loss and a few more months to notice the regrowth, but it all does pass.

Bvtaylor...congratulations on going back to normal with the hair thing. Thanks for your update.

I have been taking new supplements for about 20 days now, and I recently felt some "stubble" across the front of my hairline. I was a little perplexed, because I couldn't find any new hairs. I guess it's new hair pushing out the old hair.

This is definitely a step forward, but can I expect new hair to grow as well? The shedding I've experienced has been pretty pronounced.

Thanks, in advance.

Hair Essentials
 

I too esperienced hair loss, which I never had experienced on any diet before LC. After a year of farely strict (<50g) LC diet I've noticed unusual hair loss. I've treid different vitamins and supplements, even Viviscal, nothing helped. Then I've found Hair Essentials and decided to give it a try.
http://www.naturalwellbeing.com/nwb...nfo.cfm/prod/34 I've finished my 1st bottle and I see lots of new hair: on the top and along my hair line. I also use Daragen shampoo, and I've upted my carbs to about 75g and take flax oil and cold liver oil. I used to have very long (below my butt) and very thick hair. I've cut them down to my shoulders and they are not as thick anymore as they used to be, but I at least, I don't have bold spots. I got really scared with the hair loss. I also see less and less hair in the bath tub drain when I wash them. I've stopped diying my hair with chemicals dyes and bleach, and just use henna mix. Henna makes my hair shiny and strong.
HTH
Dina

Slowly it will all get back to normal.
 

Somewhere at the beginning of the thread there's a really good link to an article that talks about the "shock" of changing our metabolism. Keeping good supplements I think is mandatory on any healthy diet plan and certainly the protein and fat in this diet encourages nice healthy hair and nails. I think you will notice down the road that the quality of your fingernails will also improve.

But hair growth is slow to see. Hair grows about half an inch a month, if I'm not mistaken, so it may take a while to feel noticeable hair coming back in. I think it's toughest for those of us with long hair, because long hair takes forever to grow anyway. The good thing is that when the hair does come back in even though it starts short, it fills in the rough spots and adds a little textured lift to the longer hair that is still there.

I'm sure that everyone experiences hair loss differently some more severely than others (and probably some not at all), but I am convinced that what you see with the hair loss will reverse itself on it's own, whether or not you use special shampoos. I used Nioxin, and I was very pleased overall with the results, but I stopped using it after a while and I did not regress back to the hair loss that I noticed.

Using a nice quality body-building shampoo, taking good supplements, and keeping adequate calories of fats and protein will in the long run work out... long run meaning several months...

By that time if you stick with the controlled carbing, you will not only notice your nice new hair and nails, but the weight loss, general health, better skin, and self esteem that come along with the process.

Yes you should get blood tests done: thyroid, hormone and ferritin,folate etc and then see a dood dermatologist, I have lost a LOT and have scalp showing, it seems the diet can encourage seborrheic dermatitis which inflames scalp and can cause hair loss.

I'm officially one-month into extra supplementation for hair-loss, and I'm definitely greatly encouraged by the results.

There is even new hair growth, too.

I'm still shedding, but I believe it's less than before. The one thing that doesn't seem to be improving is hair manageability. I used to be able to run a comb through my hair in one swipe out of the shower. Now, it gets very very tangled, and requires a lot more effort to comb. I'm hoping this problem will go away soon, too.

which supplements are you using ?

I added GNC's Women's Hair, Skin and Nails Formula, and a Calcium/Magnesium supplement.

Yes, I'm a man, but I'm a long-haired rocker, so the mane is important to me. lol The women's formula has more biotin in it. ;)

P.S.- Can anyone else relate with me on the "extremely tangled-up hair right out of the shower" thing? I really miss the days where it took a minute to comb my hair, as opposed to 10-20 minutes. lol

LONG HAIRED ROCKERS RULE!!!

Ithink the tangled thing is that the hair is thinner in itself and therefore tangles easier. You must onlu use your fingers or a wide toother afro type comb and NEVER brush it !

er...how long IS your hair :agree: :) :) :o

Smoothe out the tangles with a nice conditioner.
 

Try a good conditioner to help the tangles. There are a lot of nice products out there--I would say go as cheap as Pantene with extra moisturizers for dry hair and as expensive as Nioxin for color-treated hair to get a nice shine and detangling. A nice hot oil treatment might not be bad, either.

I have very fine long hair and Pantene has actually been pretty good. I think the formulation has improved since the days where a hairstylist would roll her eyes in horror when I used to tell her that I used Pantene. In Colorado where I live it is always very dry, so I use a combo shampoo/conditioner and follow it with conditioner.

Having the ends of your hair trimmed to remove the split-ends also helps a lot with combing.

If you're buying hair-care products, I would look for the ones geared to dry, damaged, or colored hair for the extra TLC.

Some of the best dietary aspects for hair are fats and proteins, so I bet that as your new hair comes back in and your scalp adjusts to the new chemistry you will find your locks improve. A good multivitamin and essential oil supplements are always a plus.

Here's a toast to healthy hair rockin' and rollin'!

Oh, so thinner hair tangles easier? It's so frustrating. I get out of the shower, and there are just these CLUMPS of what appear to be dry hair. It's strange because ya figure hair would be wet when you get out of the shower. lol

I was wondering if maybe it's an issue of how long you leave in the conditioner? Or perhaps I need to spend more time rinsing the shampoo and/or conditioner out of my hair? AAAAAAAAAAAACK! I hate that I've had to dedicate so much time to this. At one point, I didn't even use conditioner in my hair at all! lol And the comb went through like butter!

BTW...my hair is pretty much down to the middle of my back. :::headbangs:::

P.S.- What the heck is that emoticon of yours doing? lol It's called the "agree" emoticon, but for a family-based site, it looks pretty graphic to me! ;)