My daughter had long, thick hair most of her life. About a year ago, I noticed it was looking very thin and shorter. I took her to 3 different doctors and finally was told her ferritin level was 5. She has been on iron for 3 months now to raise her levels but the hairloss has not stopped. Is anyone here dealing with low ferritin hairloss? I have done everything I know to help her.
Help For 16 Year Old Daughter With Low Ferritin
- Thread starter Susanw
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Have her levels actually come up from the iron therapy? Results may lag 3 months from when she reaches normal levels. People here generally say hair that was destined to fall out was destined to do so from 3 months prior.
So if her levels are normalizing probably just be patient.
Thank you for your reply- We had her levels checked again after a month and they had come up from 5 to 34. I have been told it needs to be at least 70. We will check it again in about 3 weeks. I just feel so bad for her. This has really killed her self esteem.
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It kills all our self esteem. Being ugly sucks.
I would give all of my hair to her if I could though. Being 16 and a girl in a world full of mean girls is tough enough to have to deal with this also.- Reaction score
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Do you have any updates about this?? I am 20 years old and in March I got my ferritin tested it was 4. My hair has been coming out in handfuls and I have basically zero self esteem, it's taking such a toll on my social life (sorority,boyfriend, etc.) I never want to leave my room. It's been almost 3 months and I have lost more than half my hair. I got my ferritin retested about a month and a half ago it was 22. I just got blood drawn yesterday and I am hoping it will have gone up more, but I am scared since my hair loss has not slowed down at all that ferritin might not be the reason. Did your daughter's hair start falling out rapidly? And does it fall out all the time like in the shower? And did her doctors say anything about ferritin or what they thought was causing it? Sorry for all the questions but my doctors are not concerned about me at all and I need some hope because this is taking such a huge toll on my life.
Hello- I am so sorry you are experiencing this. I have watched my daughter’s self esteem go to almost nothing. It has been 8 months and her ferritin levels have come up (Lady check it was 110) and we are seeing growth. Her hair did fall out every time she was in the shower and that has all stopped. I am very thankful for this. I know that it is going to take a long time to get her hair back but at least it has stopped falling out. My daughter’s doctor was also not concerned which made me extremely mad because I saw the damage it was doing to my daughter. I took her to a woman dermatologist and had more luck than anywhere and she sent us to a lady internist. They both seemed to understand her being so upset about hairloss. While we are waiting, I did some research on hair extensions that caused the least damage and found NBR extensions. I did that for my daughter and she feels so much better about her life. It is very expensive but so worth it to me to see her in a better place. Hopefully, we will be able to remove them in a year. Please ask me any question you need to. I honestly know where you are and I will be more than happy to talk with you further. Hang in there though and don’t quit looking for a solution! This may not be allowed but my email is susanw@oppcatv.com. I sure don’t mind you emailing me.
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@Susanw and @flowerlover184 How were/are you supplementing with iron? How much are you taking, too? Have you considered iron supplementation via IV? I am a male, and had low iron and ferritin, and was given weekly IVs to raise my iron levels. In 3-4 weeks, I saw a big jump in my iron and ferritin levels! It's expensive, but may be something to consider to jumpstart you rather than slowly taking iron supplementation. Also, some individuals have a harder time absorbing certain minerals. Finally, have you tried minoxidil or anything to aid in the regrowth?