When you enter into the world of hair loss and thinning its like entering into a minefield. Not only are you desperately trying to find a reason for the loss but it has such a psychological impact on you that you don’t realise until you’re dealing with it yourself. And the kicker is that stress contributes to hair loss, so that impact on your mental health can be a vicious circle that just leads to more loss over time.
My own journey with hair loss has had so many ups and downs that it gives me motion sickness! Caused initially by an eating disorder it now has morphed into that ED causing vitamin deficiencies and with trying to control my anxiety with exercise I caused even more hair loss. Exercise is good stress on the body but your body cannot distinguish between good stress and bad stress, it’s all just stress so in trying to rectify my eating disorder by using exercise to burn off the anxious energy I just made it worse.
I’ve always said that when you first start experiencing hair loss or thinning, your first port of call should always be blood tests to check that there isn’t a hormonal imbalance or a deficiency, for example low iron. Over the last few years, I’ve had lots of blood tests and the doctors have always said that the results were ‘normal’ but would never let me know what the actual numbers were. So, in March of this year, I decided to pay privately for blood tests, purely so I would have the results in my own hands. Did you know that some doctors declare that a ferratin (your iron stores) of 20 is normal when in reality with a level that low you are probably exhausted, with a low mood and may be experiencing hair loss. It has been said that a number below 75 can kick the hair loss train into gear.
The results came in and –
- My ferratin was at 50
- My folate was low at 6.3
- My Vitamin D was insufficient at 43
- My B12 was low at 196
All of these things can lead to hair loss among many other symptoms. The ones I personally experienced were –
- Low mood
- Mood swings. Happy one minute and crying the next!
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Fatigue
- Muscle aches
- Hair loss and thinning
- Heart palpitations
- Dizziness
- Always cold even in Summer
I decided to take matters into my own hands and have spent the past 4 months trying different supplements to correct the deficiencies whilst also trying really hard to work on my eating disorder and slow the hair shedding down. (Good days and bad days!) My latest test results came in yesterday and we seem to be on the up so I’m going to share what I’ve been doing in the hopes it may help you. (Please use this as inspiration but not as medical advice! I’m definitely not a doctor!)
Iron Supplements –
I’ve always been worried about iron messing with my stomach (life of someone with Emetophobia!) so I started with liquid Iron and then moved to Hema-Plex from Natures Plus – Available here. I take one a day, first thing in the morning along with 1000mg of Vitamin C. The vitamin C helps your body to absorb the Iron.
I am also using the Lucky Iron Fish to boost my ferratin levels naturally without messing with my stomach. Lucky Iron is ingenious! You boil a liter of water, add in a couple of drops of citrus, for example lemon or apple cider vinegar, drop the fish in and let him boil for 10 minutes. Then remove the fish and allow the water to cool and you have iron infused water! Cooking rice, pasta, spaghetti? Making a soup? Throw him in with that too for an extra boost! The fish lasts for up to five years too so is very cost effective. In the UK you can purchase it here or in the US from here.
My ferratin levels have rose from 50 to 72.8
Solgar Vitamin D3 4000IU
Solgar is always my go to place for Vitamins and their D3 was the first one I tried and I’ve stuck with it as it works amazingly! I’ve really noticed an increase in my mood and decrease in anxiety since I starting taking it. They are available here.
My levels went from 43 to to 107!
Pumpkin Seed Oil Tablets –
I started taking these purely to try and slow the hair loss down. It is said to lower DHT, a hormone that cause androgenetic alopecia, especially in menopausal and postmenopausal women. It is also rich in nutrients like Zinc, Magnesium, Vitamin E, Phytosterols and linoleic acid which helps with overall hair health. Available here.
Glowwa Tablets –
Glowwa Hair Food has been all over the hair world recently and the results I’ve seen from both men and women are phenomenal. I’ve now been taking them for around 7 weeks and already my hair definitely feels stronger although Glowwa do say that you need to take them for 3-6 months before you see the full effects such as new growth. They contain a variety of ingredients such as B12, Folate, Vitamin C and Biotin. They also have range that is purely for women experiencing the menopause. They are available here.
I was taking a folate supplement but stopped when I started Glowwa as they contain folate and my levels have rose from 6.3 to 9.4 which is the very low end of normal. It’s on the up though but now I have these recent results from this week I will add the folate supplement back in to try and move it firmly into the normal range.
The Hair Fuel –
I have been raving about The Hair Fuel since December 2021 and my first bout of hair loss. I was originally sent one months’ worth to try and by the 3rd week I had signed up for the subscription. It is a scalp treatment that you use once a week (although you can use it up to twice a week) – You apply it before washing to dry hair and leave in on for 45 minutes. Then you simply rinse it off and wash as normal. Within 3 weeks I saw tiny baby hairs in my bald patches and over the next 16 months it grew so much new hair! Unfortunately, my latest loss made all that hair fall out but that was my fault for the over exercising and also the vitamin deficiencies but I’m still using Hair Fuel weekly and am already seeing new baby hairs. This stuff is like magic and available here – Discount code liane12 takes 12% off for you.
So, what changes have I noticed since starting this regime?
- My energy levels have increased massively! No midday slump!
- Less anxiety
- Better mood
- No mood swings (well apart from that time of the month!)
- Sleeping better
- Hair shedding has just started to reduce but I’m hoping as my ferratin levels increase this will rectify.
- No cold hands and feet anymore
There is still a lot of work to be done especially around my eating but seeing positive changes really does spur you on to keep trying and to keep figuring things out. If I could give you one bit of advice it would be to advocate for yourself. If your doctor isn’t listening to you. If your gut is telling you that there is something wrong, push for testing or even get your own blood tests done so that you can see the results for yourself. I did mine with Thriva and had this specific test done here.
Remember no one knows your body like you do!