Hair loss

lunar jim

Gold Member
The last two times I've washed my hair, I've lost loads!

Mental, while on the diet I lost no hair at all, why has it started now I'm off it? Body in shock??? :D
 
Hi Jim,

I hope this article below which explains what happens will help put your mind at ease. I have also suffered with hair loss and having been on and off a vlcd over the last few years, mine has always grown back no problem but it can be scary thinking it won't.

Love Mini xxx

Hair Loss!
The science bit...
It's pretty common to lose hair when dieting. Here's why...

Each hair on your head grows for 4-5 years, then falls out. So your hair is always renewing itself. The long growth stage is called anagen and the short stopping phase that follows is called catagen. Then the hair falls out, which is telogen. The hair follicle then goes back into anagen and makes a long hair for the next 4-5 yaers.

What happens during weight loss is Telogen effluvium. It also happens after any stress to the body. Some of your hair follicles go into catagen to conserve body resources. So the hairs stop growing and "rest". Once your body feels safe again, those hairs go back into anagen - but because there was the pause in the middle, the brand new growing hair pushes the old hair out of the follicle. So in reality you have just as much hair as you did before - and it's probably far healthier hair. But the new hairs are short :)

Normally around 10% of your head of hair is in the catagen or telogen phase, in essence resetting itself to prepare for new hair to grow in. Because you have so much hair on your head, you don't even notice. During weight loss that percentage gets higher, but this is only temporary. Your body starts creating new hair in its normal cycle once it settles into a healthy weight and those hairs start growing again. Remember that hair doesn't reach a long state overnight! So all those new, healthy hairs need time to grow out to whatever length of hair you have chosen.

Usually it takes 6 months for your head of hair to have grown back out to typical fullness. Hair grows around 1/2" per month, so at the 6 month mark, the hair is around 3" long which is enough to seem thick on most heads. Again, it's not that the hair is MISSING during this intermediate time. It's just that it is brand new and growing from scratch.

Copied from here Weight Loss, HairLoss and Low Carb - Low Carb if you want to read the whole article!
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Excellent Mini - thanks from me too! I also get a bit worried abouut loosing my hair too, but that article has put my mind at rest - thanks :)

Hugs x x x
 
Ditto Mini,


My hair is doing all sorts of weird stuff at the minute but then my hair has never really grown very well anyway.


But that article has really helped.
 
Sympathies LJ,
Happened to me after surgery, childbirth and now cd. Whilst i knew about the hair cycle thing (i actually went to gp the first time it happened!)- its still freaky and bloody annoying! Boots is making a fortune out of me with all the 'thickening' products i'm trying! xx
 
Hi ya,
I too came off the diet and about 3 weeks after stopping my hair started falling out,
I've been for loads of tests and nothing is coming up!
I guess this is what's happening, I'm really not enjoying it as my hair is really thin anyway and it's starting to show now that I have lost a lot of hair, new hair is re-growing but downt he front and on my fringe the hair is very very thin!!
Hope it sorts it's self out soon, I'm getting married in March!!

The Doctor has advised me to go back on the Cambridge diet as the Vitamins ect will be good for me, also hoping this will stop the hair falling out?
Very helpful post x x
 
If it's any help, my CDC/nutritionist has got me taking extra B5(pantothenic acid) and B12 which appears to be helping (I've always thinned when I've been stressed!)- I'm also on mega vitamin C to help and ward off any nasties floating around...might help a bit :D
 
Crikey - not been on a while and you're looking like you've lost loads more weight Jim. Well done. Not far from goal now!!!
 
My hair has been falling out for a few weeks now since starting maintenance. Luckily I had read the article that Mini posted above so wasn't too worried. Also had it after pregnancy so am kind of used to it :) It's really annoying though as I spend about half hour each morning picking hair from my clothes. It doesn't help that most of my work clothes are dark and my hair is blonde.

Hopefully it will sort itself out soon!!
 
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