Nothing Works

[Blossom]

I haven't retested my blood yet but I have been doing short sun bed sessions and vitamin D on the skin. Yeah I take vitamin a on the skin too, and liver every 1-2 weeks.



I never thought of this, thanks. In the UK all of our vitamin D products (health service prescribed or from health food stores) are the d3 form, but they are often very low doses. It hadn't occured to me parts of USA might still be using D2.

Yeah and it was 50,000 IU in a once monthly dose so I think it was just overwhelming for my body to handle that much. Someone on this forum thought it should be fine but my kidneys really hurt and I couldn't sleep either. I felt hypercalcemic. They give D2 routinely to the elderly here-it's sad.
Sorry @Hairlosssucks to hi jack your thread.

 

[Luckytype]

Bit of a weird one, but do you guys lose arse hair when you wipe your arse. Checking if its normal.

Heh. Here and there probably a little for most of us.

I would imagine more "shedding" if youre in a lowered state or coming off a period of high stresses. I can recall losing hair from head, eyebrows, eyelashes, arms/legs, undercarriage a few months after my health tanked

 

[Luckytype]

Be careful though, supplementing thyroid can make hair loss worse for some people.

Can you elaborate on this for everyone a bit? Nutritional status is of prime importance and should be there first before turning on the jets with supplemental thyroid

 

[Vinero]

The active thyroid hormone T3 is actually a great stimulator of hair growth.
Hypothyroidism which causes elevated prolactin and cortisol cause hair loss.

 

[Hairlosssucks]

Just remembered that the reuslts i got back from the test only gave me my t3 and tsh not even sure if the shitty uni tested my t4

 

[Hairlosssucks]

I think there is some merit to the skull expansion theory, not that it is the sole cause of hairloss, but that it doesn't help and maybe reduces circulation. My skull has grown at 21, is this normal? I've formed one of those sagiteel crest. When i had no hairloss my skull was flat and small.

 

[xetawaves]

My hair is the thinnest right on my sagittal crest. Perhaps that's why male to female trans people regrow all of their hair. They feminize and their skulls shrinks.

 

[sladerunner69]

Pretty sure whatever is making me really hairy is making me go bald. Also if anyone would give me advice on regaining my natural hair texture i would appreciate it a lot, because at this point i'm tempted to go on the horrible fin and min just till the end of uni to save my embarrassment.

Estrogen promotes body hair growth. You probably have elevated stress hormones, especially estrogen.

 

[sladerunner69]

Dont know the uni said they were fine, ive been tested 3 times in 2017 for vit d, mum thought i wasnt getting enough, every time came back normal.

Normal for doctors is often not acceptable here. Did you get numbers for all of your tests?

 

[Hairlosssucks]

Estrogen promotes body hair growth. You probably have elevated stress hormones, especially estrogen.

Are their ways to reduce estrogen and stress hormones, because my body hair growth and other symptoms seems way excessive almost cushing disease like. Im gonna get all the numbers when im back at uni, im on easter break atm.

 

[Hairlosssucks]

With baldness it seems like a lot of us have the male equivalent hormonal profile of a female suffering with pcos, excess body hair, thinning hair, weight gain etc and we share similar elevated risks, such as diabetes and heart disease.

 

[sladerunner69]

Are their ways to reduce estrogen and stress hormones, because my body hair growth and other symptoms seems way excessive almost cushing disease like. Im gonna get all the numbers when im back at uni, im on easter break atm.

Yeah, ways to reduce stress hormones and estrogen are probably the most frequently discussed subject on this forum...

 

[lacto man]

Sorry, i was just venting my frustrations. I just want some help with growing my hair back because my confidence is completely gone. After beating out depression it came back with full force when i started losing my hair. Ive been peating for a while but its not working as far as i know, just had another shed this morning.

Think zinc. Do some research and see if it sounds like you.

 

[Mukem]

Did you already read this?
Two years ago, I started this journey.
And I didn't improve magically.
But if I now speak to people that haven't seen me from some time.
They are like, holy ***t, what has happened to you.

What has happened to you?

 

[Hairlosssucks]

Got some lab results for my thyroid, only got t4 and tsh atm, getting t3 soon and my adrenal hormones tested.

T4: 13.5
Tsh: 2.2

Anyone able to give advice to improve these.

 

[foodandtheworld]

Hi @Hairlosssucks . Sorry to hear about what you're going through. I'm pretty much a beginner to nutrition/Peat's work, so I obviously don't have all the answers, but I was also losing hair a couple of months ago. I don't know if it was the same type of hair loss you are experiencing, but in my case, it was mostly due to a prolonged calorie deficit. I had lost weight due to an illness, and then after, was still eating below my energy requirements. Additionally, I was also going through some higher than average stress at work and at home. So the combination of malnourishment and lifestyle stress seemed to accelerate my hair loss. I wasn't even underweight, when considering BMI. But the deficit in energy was building up, and eventually hit a crisis point. Fortunately, in my case, the hair loss stopped once I began eating a lot. In my case, it was about around at least 3000 calories everyday, but I have found 5000 calories a day to be even better (my lifestyle is mostly sedentary). I followed Peat's recommendation to get protein from milk, (cottage) cheese, and (greek) yogurt. However, I had to give up exercise, because I was finding it was hampering my recovery (perhaps every bit of energy counts while refeeding).

In your earlier posts, you mention having overcome a bout of depression. Thinking analogously to my case, were you also severely under-eating during that time? It is possible that things like food skip one's attention while in a trying time emotionally or existentially. Since you were/are in University, your energy requirements are probably higher than you might think, due to walking between classes, as well as the demands of study (Ray Peat makes a point in one of the KMUD interviews that even during walking in novel environments, a lot of energy is expended from the brain/mind taking in the new experience). You also mention some arguments with your family. That is also a stress, and I believe necessitates more energy in order to be fully resilient to it.

How is your sleep? Are you able to sleep through the night? Or are you waking multiple times? In my case, the wakings were accompanied with a pounding heart. (Just trying to see if your case was also similar to mine).

The hormones and bloodwork and even the details of nutrition such as vitamins/minerals are beyond my knowledge, but I just wanted to share my perspective since I had also experienced some hair loss, though perhaps not at the same rate you are.

Another thing to consider is talking to Danny Roddy (I have no relation to him - have only watched his videos on Youtube). He is heavily influenced by Ray Peat and focuses on preventing/reversing hair loss. Someone like that might be able to draw out more clues and relevant details to the context of your life and the hair loss.

 

[xetawaves]

Hi @Hairlosssucks . Sorry to hear about what you're going through. I'm pretty much a beginner to nutrition/Peat's work, so I obviously don't have all the answers, but I was also losing hair a couple of months ago. I don't know if it was the same type of hair loss you are experiencing, but in my case, it was mostly due to a prolonged calorie deficit. I had lost weight due to an illness, and then after, was still eating below my energy requirements. Additionally, I was also going through some higher than average stress at work and at home. So the combination of malnourishment and lifestyle stress seemed to accelerate my hair loss. I wasn't even underweight, when considering BMI. But the deficit in energy was building up, and eventually hit a crisis point. Fortunately, in my case, the hair loss stopped once I began eating a lot. In my case, it was about around at least 3000 calories everyday, but I have found 5000 calories a day to be even better (my lifestyle is mostly sedentary). I followed Peat's recommendation to get protein from milk, (cottage) cheese, and (greek) yogurt. However, I had to give up exercise, because I was finding it was hampering my recovery (perhaps every bit of energy counts while refeeding).

In your earlier posts, you mention having overcome a bout of depression. Thinking analogously to my case, were you also severely under-eating during that time? It is possible that things like food skip one's attention while in a trying time emotionally or existentially. Since you were/are in University, your energy requirements are probably higher than you might think, due to walking between classes, as well as the demands of study (Ray Peat makes a point in one of the KMUD interviews that even during walking in novel environments, a lot of energy is expended from the brain/mind taking in the new experience). You also mention some arguments with your family. That is also a stress, and I believe necessitates more energy in order to be fully resilient to it.

How is your sleep? Are you able to sleep through the night? Or are you waking multiple times? In my case, the wakings were accompanied with a pounding heart. (Just trying to see if your case was also similar to mine).

The hormones and bloodwork and even the details of nutrition such as vitamins/minerals are beyond my knowledge, but I just wanted to share my perspective since I had also experienced some hair loss, though perhaps not at the same rate you are.

Another thing to consider is talking to Danny Roddy (I have no relation to him - have only watched his videos on Youtube). He is heavily influenced by Ray Peat and focuses on preventing/reversing hair loss. Someone like that might be able to draw out more clues and relevant details to the context of your life and the hair loss.

Great post. I lost hair from being at a calorie deficit as well for a period of time. I also had a lot stress at the time and was losing weight. I was already pretty skinny so I definitely didn't need to lose anymore. The past few weeks I've increased my calories by a lot. I'm starting to gain some weight back and I've noticed less hair shed as well. Let me ask you, have you noticed any regrowth or increase in density since increasing your caloric intake? I've been eating so much food it's ridiculous, I'm always hungry.

 

[foodandtheworld]

Hi @xetawaves , yes, I've noticed regrowth once increasing my caloric intake. The shedding has drastically been reduced. I used to have to pull off shed hairs from my shirt all day, now it's just a couple here and there, which I think is more normal.Unfortunately I don't have any pictures I can share. In my case, though, I just want to elaborate, that the hair-loss seemed to have caught on quite rapidly, so before that crisis-point, I don't recall having any issues with hair shedding. Basically I had figured out mine was due to a prolonged caloric deficit after coming across a number of blogs by people who had recovered from an eating-disorder/anorexia. For example, one was a post by Tabitha Farrar called "Thinning Hair Is an Eating Disorder Effect That Recovery Can Overcome". From what I have read though, hair still takes more months to fully recover after a prolonged caloric deficit. But I also think minimizing mental/emotional stress is also crucial (I saw a comment on one of Danny Roddy's videos by an ex-navy person, who said that of the 100 people on his submarine, only a few weren't balding. But those who weren't balding were people who took on all of life's experiences with a kind of joy, or either shut down completely and couldn't be relied upon. In both cases, the stress of life seemed not to reach them). Again, I'm not sure this is the same cause of hairlosssucks's hair loss, but I figured I'd share my experience.

EDIT: You also mention being "always hungry" after beginning to eat more. I would check out Gwyneth Olwyn's post "Extreme Hunger 1: What Is It?" for some possible explanations that might help.

 

[Hairlosssucks]

Hi @xetawaves , yes, I've noticed regrowth once increasing my caloric intake. The shedding has drastically been reduced. I used to have to pull off shed hairs from my shirt all day, now it's just a couple here and there, which I think is more normal.Unfortunately I don't have any pictures I can share. In my case, though, I just want to elaborate, that the hair-loss seemed to have caught on quite rapidly, so before that crisis-point, I don't recall having any issues with hair shedding. Basically I had figured out mine was due to a prolonged caloric deficit after coming across a number of blogs by people who had recovered from an eating-disorder/anorexia. For example, one was a post by Tabitha Farrar called "Thinning Hair Is an Eating Disorder Effect That Recovery Can Overcome". From what I have read though, hair still takes more months to fully recover after a prolonged caloric deficit. But I also think minimizing mental/emotional stress is also crucial (I saw a comment on one of Danny Roddy's videos by an ex-navy person, who said that of the 100 people on his submarine, only a few weren't balding. But those who weren't balding were people who took on all of life's experiences with a kind of joy, or either shut down completely and couldn't be relied upon. In both cases, the stress of life seemed not to reach them). Again, I'm not sure this is the same cause of hairlosssucks's hair loss, but I figured I'd share my experience.

EDIT: You also mention being "always hungry" after beginning to eat more. I would check out Gwyneth Olwyn's post "Extreme Hunger 1: What Is It?" for some possible explanations that might help.

Thanks for the advice, I was eating very badly at the time during uni when my hair loss started

 

[Eric Yim]

Also not sure if this is relevant but my head has got bigger, so far i fit all of the signs of a man who will go fully bald. I always notice they are excessively hairy and dome shaped heads. My hormonal profile probably switched and now im ****88. Hairiness isn't even in my ******* family yet the doctor says its normal.

u know you can curse on here right?

 

[foodandtheworld]

I was eating very badly at the time during uni when my hair loss started

Hm, it could be a cause then. Have you been able to take a vacation somewhere away from your town and family stress, and just eat to your heart's content and start the recovery from that energy-deficiency, and get a lot of sunshine and socialization? I remember Ray Peat talking about some people's symptoms lessening from a nice vacation. You might benefit from a total break from your situation for a little bit to kickstart things.