Rapid hair loss following diet

[Still hot]

About 3 years ago... I decided to lose the extra 40 pounds I was carrying. So I started exercising and eating right. I lost 45 pounds in about 60 days... a few months later I noticed I was loosing large amounts of hair. Everything went back to normal after a few months. Not sure the lost hair grew back but it didn't show, therefore I didn't really give it much thought.

I did it again last August 2003. I wanted to look good for a school reunion so I went and lost about 20 pounds in less than a month. Again 3 months later (November) I started loosing large amounts of hair! Hundreds a day on my pillow, in the shower, on my desk, etc.

We are now in February 2004 and I'm still losing some but not as much. (only a few on my pillow and in the shower). I lost some all over, but mainly on the top of my head. The density as been reduced and you can see my scalp. All this in about four months !!!

Everybody as hair in my family even my 90 year old grandfathers.

Will it grow back? Should I start taking Rogaine or Propecia? Should I avoid exercising or losing the extra weight?

Thanks guys…

 

[ShedMaster]

Doesn't sound like your hairloss is related to male pattern baldness, unless you were genetically programed to lose a little hair and this has expedited the process. Many loose large amounts of hair on crash diets like these. I would bet you will grow the hair back.

 

[hopewas]

sounds to me like your hair wasn't getting the nutrients it needed..try another diet

 

[Still hot]

I would like to believe it will all grow back... but I'm still losing hair almost seven months after the so called trauma. And, there are no signs of new hair growth.

Last diet was as crazy as they get. I basically stopped eating for a little over two weeks on top of exercising... something I never do. Major shock to the body I guess… Not the brightest thing I’ve done.

Hope you guys are right !!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again

 

[hopewas]

Last diet was as crazy as they get. I basically stopped eating for a little over two weeks on top of exercising...

and you lost a lot of hair? no way

 

[Still hot]

I have been told one possibility is that the extra body fat traps a large amount of hormones and when I lose the weight, these hormones are released in the blood stream and cause the hair loss.

This is one possibility. But as I'm finding out, we know very little about what causes hair loss.

One thing is certain every time I lose the weight, months later my hair falls out.

 

[elguapo]

Still Hot,

I have had the same experience. I went to study abroad in Spain in Jan of 2003. In May I went on this diet and lost 25 lbs in 2 months. I starved myself, and went to the gym and jogged as well. When I came back to the States in June, I noticed my hair was thinning out at the temples. Then in August I noticed about 30 hairs on my pillow every night. I got on propecia and rogaine after that. The hair loss stopped last November, and if I have had regrowth, it's only been minor.

My loss, however, followed the pattern of that of my dad- widdows peak (anterior scalp) thinned out a LOT, but not noticeable to anybody else, thankfully. Having said this, I can't relate to your situation 100%. But for one, I have read many times that the balding gene, like any other gene, can come in strange ways, and the results don't always resemble those of your family members. But if EVERYBODY has hair at old age, I agree that it should grow back. Talk to a doctor. Could be some form of Alopeca Areata.

My derm told me this: Hair is an excess substance. When you shock your body with a diet, your body reacts in a way that "saves itself". One of the things it does is prevents the growth of any unnecessary substance like hair, in an attempt to reserve engergy for vital processes. I'm changing his words of course, but hopefully you get the picture.

Hope this helps, and hope you have regrowth.

 

[ShedMaster]

Last diet was as crazy as they get. I basically stopped eating for a little over two weeks on top of exercising...

and you lost a lot of hair? no way

yeah I thought that would be good for your hair.