Can high prolactin darken the hair on your head?

[Carina]

I’m writing this because I had dark blonde hair all of my life until several years ago. My hair turned dark brown when I was 24 and I’m 28 now. I’m wondering if high prolactin can turn the hair on your head darker because 24 was also when I started to have issues with facial hair. I have PCOS is that means anything. I just started to really increase my calcium intake and vitamin D3. It’s lightened my hair a little bit, but I’m trying to get back to what my hair color used to be.

 

[ursidae]

hair tends to darken as people go through puberty/sexual maturation
if the density and hair length potential of your hair did not decrease and the texture did not turn wiry and frizzy, it was likely a natural change

the facial traits displayed on the image to the right are what is observed in women with poor hormonal health and fertility

don't see much of a difference in hair colour, however the healthy women have much greater hair volume, lower and more rounded hairlines while maintaining thinner eyebrows that are nevertheless more dense

healthy hair should be dense, shimmery, smooth, voluminous, not too oily or dry

 

[thisoldtown1978]

hair tends to darken as people go through puberty/sexual maturation
if the density and hair length potential of your hair did not decrease and the texture did not turn wiry and frizzy, it was likely a natural change

the facial traits displayed on the image to the right are what is observed in women with poor hormonal health and fertility

don't see much of a difference in hair colour, however the healthy women have much greater hair volume and lower hairlines while maintaining dense but thin eyebrows

healthy hair should be dense, shimmery, smooth, voluminous, not too oily or dry

This is an interesting reference image, thanks. I feel like I've seen it before - where is it from?

Interesting how on first glance they appear the same, but then you get this really strong sense that the left picture is healthier.

 

[miquelangeles]

hair tends to darken as people go through puberty/sexual maturation
if the density and hair length potential of your hair did not decrease and the texture did not turn wiry and frizzy, it was likely a natural change

the facial traits displayed on the image to the right are what is observed in women with poor hormonal health and fertility

don't see much of a difference in hair colour, however the healthy women have much greater hair volume, lower and more rounded hairlines while maintaining thinner eyebrows that are nevertheless more dense

healthy hair should be dense, shimmery, smooth, voluminous, not too oily or dry

@ursidae according to this forum, the image on the right is considered healthier, because the one on the left is high estrogen

 

[ursidae]

@ursidae according to this forum, the image on the right is considered healthier, because the one on the left is high estrogen

haidut wrote a lengthy reply stating that the women on the left managed to excrete more estrogen, which indicates greater health and ability to detoxify but was incorrectly interpreted as being higher estrogen

 

[ursidae]

It is the progesterone/estrogen ratio that is much more important than absolute levels. Also, as another users mentioned above, measuring only the glucuronidated forms of hormones in urine is not a reliable method of determining body levels unless the levels in urine are so high as to suggest a tumor somewhere. When the levels are in the normal range, then urine test by itself is basically a measurement of how well kidneys and liver are functioning, which would mean the woman on the left is simply healthier, as they also say.
So, it would have been better to check progesterone levels in blood say 3 times a month, for 2-3 months and get average values for the follicular and luteal phases. Then to the same for estradiol and also measure prolactin on the same day estradiol was checked. Then look at the progesterone/estradiol ratio while also taking prolactin into account.
IMO, the woman on the right looks androgynous, so it might be a good idea to measure DHEA-S, which is often elevated in that phenotype - i.e. adrenal hyperactivity - and maybe also cortisol, to assess adrenal function, Since estrogen masculinizes women (but feminizes men) I would expect to see either low progesterone/estrogen and/or high DHEA-S levels in the phenotype on the right.

 

[miquelangeles]

haidut wrote a lengthy reply stating that the women on the left managed to excrete more estrogen, which indicates greater health and ability to detoxify but was incorrectly interpreted as being higher estrogen

Yes, I know. I was joking. The progesterone/estrogen ratio is important, but estrogen needs not to be low.
High estrogen and progesterone are correlated with attractive female body shape (low waist to hip ratio) as well as facial attractiveness.