Higher Metabolism = Hair Loss

[TNT]

Thank you, @Blossom ! OK, so another question -- what would elevate prolactin? And how would I lower it?

 

[General Orange]

Not that im a qualified practitioner..
You were supplementing Progesterone and made hair loss worse. Prog antagonizes Estrogen of course and Prog can raise but usually lowers Prolactin. Excessive Prog can cause hair loss and deficient estrogen too.
Increased levels of estrogen can raise prolactin or low levels of dopamine can. Low DHEA can increase prolactin.
Assuming you are back to normal ovulation, I would use low dose of DHEA and daily dosing aspirin with B3 niacinamide to prevent excessive release of PUFA and adjust the diet to a saturated fat/sugar to 1:1 input until you can do a hormone test.
Try not to deplete dopamine with caffeine or sugar.

 

[CDT]

You'll want to look for a shortfall in vitamins/minerals/proteins/other hormonal levels/etc....
anytime you increase metabolism and outstrip your internal resources you see some form of negative result.
ie. you hear people talk about eating sugar or using thyroid and their teeth becoming problematic. This isn't a sugar or thyroid or even metabolism problem
its a lack of particular nutrition and for everyone its often different.
I know for me personally it took a lot of detective work and lots of self awareness and documentation.

Is there a way to isolate the nutrient deficiency Did you use a blood test?

 

[Sourdoughbanana]

you could try using Cronometer

 

[Blossom]

Thank you, @Blossom ! OK, so another question -- what would elevate prolactin? And how would I lower it?

Hypothyroidism and malnutrition are two common issues. Efforts to heal metabolism can help bring it down if it’s elevated due to one of those reasons.
If your attempts to raise metabolism are resulting in worse hair loss I’d tend to suspect something is lacking nutritionally. That’s what makes this a bit tricky because things that bring down prolactin are typically pro-metabolic.
Progesterone, thyroid, small amounts of b6 or p-5-p and the herb vitex are a few things (non drug) I know of that have helped people with elevated prolactin.

 

[TNT]

Any idea what would be a good dose of Vitex, @Blossom ?

 

[Blossom]

Just in case it wasn’t already mentioned adequate vitamin D is important from a Peat perspective as a possible issue in hair loss/thinning.

Any idea what would be a good dose of Vitex, @Blossom ?

Let’s see if @Rosie will chime in for this one. I haven’t taken it for years so I don’t recall.

 

[TNT]

Thanx, @Blossom . And yes, I've got Vitamin D on board, and my blood levels are perfect, and I've got a full spectrum of other vitamins/minerals covered, too.

 

[Blossom]

It depends on the status of your thyroid, exactly, because the thyroid hormone and Vitamin A are carried on the same protein in the blood and if you take too much Vitamin A, it can act as an antagonist to thyroid. It acts like a polyunsaturated fat, in competing against the thyroid hormone and can also block the production of adrenal and ovarian steroids if you get too much

Great @TNT !
The above is kitback quoting Peat so I’d be conservative with vitamin A until you are certain your Thyroid status is superb.

 

[dbh25]

Just in case it wasn’t already mentioned adequate vitamin D is important from a Peat perspective as a possible issue in hair loss/thinning.

Is that Vit D level around 50 ng/nl?

 

[Blossom]

Is that Vit D level around 50 ng/nl?

Yes according to Peat that’s a good level.

 

[dreamcatcher]

Just in case it wasn’t already mentioned adequate vitamin D is important from a Peat perspective as a possible issue in hair loss/thinning.

Let’s see if @Rosie will chime in for this one. I haven’t taken it for years so I don’t recall.

I used to take <200mg because higher doses caused acne in my case.

The effects of Vitex agnus castus extract and its interaction with dopaminergic system on LH and testosterone in male mice. - PubMed - NCBI

 

[TNT]

@dbh25 , my Vitamin D level is 75.

 

[TNT]

@Blossom , what's too much Vitamin A? I get loads of it from fruits and veggies, but since that's not the same as retinol, I take 25,000 iu per day of retinol. I tried stopping the retinol for a couple months, but it didn't make a difference, so I just restarted it yesterday.

 

[dreamcatcher]

I've noticed that any time I rev up my metabolism, I get major hair loss. Any idea why this happens? Last year, after many years of low carbing, I switched to a high carb diet (most carbs through fruit). I feel tons better, and I'm delighted that I can eat way more calories without gaining weight, plus I sleep better, can put on more muscle, etc. But the hair loss is killing me. I'm a single woman, and my hair was my identity and pride. I thought maybe it was candida from the carbs, but I've noticed that anything else that revs me up (such as iodine, T3 supplementation, or C60, or acupuncture on my thyroid) also makes my hair fall out. Help!

I think my hair loss on the 'Peat diet' is the result of increased metabolism and being hypothyroid. Initially I thought that the foods were the culprit but after 2 years of thinning hair, I have thousands of new hair strands growing all over my head now. Since taking thyroid, my hair growth is accelerated.

 

[TNT]

Thanx, @Rosie -- that's encouraging to hear. Did your hair start coming back even before taking thyroid? And what sort of thyroid are you taking? And isn't the Peat diet supposed to help the thyroid?

 

[Blossom]

@Blossom , what's too much Vitamin A? I get loads of it from fruits and veggies, but since that's not the same as retinol, I take 25,000 iu per day of retinol. I tried stopping the retinol for a couple months, but it didn't make a difference, so I just restarted it yesterday.

Do you have animal foods like eggs, milk or liver occasionally in your diet? I would just be cautious about vitamin A supplements if you are already eating a wide variety of foods rich in A.

 

[dbh25]

@dbh25 , my Vitamin D level is 75.

Thanks, my Vit D has been in the 50s the last few years. I always wonder what is a good level. I take supplements.

 

[Blossom]

Peat on vitamin D from the forum wiki
Vitamin D
I use Carlson's, and I think most of the informed people are recommending about 2,000 units per day. John Cannell's site, 'the vitamin D council,' has a newsletter, and is a good way to keep up with the vitamin D research.

I think getting enough vitamin D increases the ability to tan.

During the winter for a couple of months 10,000 units of D should be safe, but it's better to increase calcium and vitamin K, keeping the vitamin D a little lower unless you have the blood level checked occasionally.

Usually 2000 i.u. during the winter will make up for no sunlight. Some people need 5000 iu according to their blood tests, to keep it in the middle of the range.

[Blood test] I think 50 ng/ml is a good goal. The point at which it lowers parathyroid hormone would be the right amount.

[Causes of low vitamin D] I’ve seen some quick improvements from serious symptoms with a supplement of it. I think low thyroid could increase the need for it. It takes lots of summer sun direct exposure of a lot of skin to make enough vitamin D.

[D3 supplement lowered length of hospital stay and mortality for intensive care patients.] (Reference)

 

[dreamcatcher]

Thanx, @Rosie -- that's encouraging to hear. Did your hair start coming back even before taking thyroid? And what sort of thyroid are you taking? And isn't the Peat diet supposed to help the thyroid?

I'm following Peat since the end of 2013. I was taking Tyromax in 2015 for a few months. My hair started to thin in August 2016 and I had chronic hair shedding from April 2018 until about the end of September. I'm 100% sure that my hair loss is the result of my physically exhausting job which I started in June 2016. It seems that the Peat diet alone wasn't enough in my case to 'fight' the stress, caused by my job. I started to take Cynoplus in October 2018. Ray Peat advised me to take a quarter of a tablet daily for 2 weeks then see if I had to add additional T3. After 2 weeks on Cynoplus, I started to take T3 (Triyotex) 6mcg 3 times daily -as advised by Peat and @Blossom and continued with a quarter of Cynoplus before bed. I also started to take Progesterone a couple of months ago. I think the Progesterone and Thyroid supplements reduced my shedding by 95%.