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- Apr 5, 2016
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So I´ve been on the hair loss train for about 10 years now, my hair went from thick, waves and dark in my 20s then at 24 it suddenly became frizzy, light and thin and began to fall out.
Since then I have experimented with nearly every method one can think of to regain my hair with the exception of Propecia and DHT lowering substances.
I did low level laser therapy buying myself a custom helmet, scalp massages, thyroid, vitamin A, lowering cortisol, massages, derma needling, minoxidil, stem cell therapy etc. Basically everything only seemed to slow my hair loss and improve the quality of my existing hair. The last thing I did was a minoxidil product called Adegen which did seem to help my hair to a degree but very little regrowth.
Recently i came across something which I had dismissed but now having examined my history and what i believe caused my hair loss I believe that it is possible that an Iron deficiency was a contributing factor.
I know that this forum in general has a very cautious/negative view of Iron because there is the danger of having too much iron which causes problems and I was very much of that opinion but the following has caused my opinion to change and at the very least give be open to the possibility of supplementing iron.
My hair loss started after about 2 years of intermittent fasting and large amounts of exercise. Well it just so happens that fasting is one of the quickest ways to crush your iron levels
Effect of short-term food restriction on iron metabolism, relative well-being and depression symptoms in healthy women and it can be very difficult and take a very long time to recover. Exercise also depletes iron a great deal. At the same time that my hair started to fall out i discovered Ray Peats work and started eating carbs and stopped the fasting and reduced (but did not stop) the intense exercise. This meant that i quickly came to actively try avoid excess iron with the exception of animal sources and while those are good sources of iron if you are already extremely low in iron just eating liver once a week or having a few desiccated liver tablets is not going to be sufficient to recover your iron levels.
A few other things to note that make me think Iron is one of the primary problems for my body and thereby my hair loss. I developed angular chelitis (the drying and cracking of the corners of your mouth) multiple times which i believed was due to a deficiency in vitamin B2 but when I supplemented with B2 it did not seem to do anything to reverse my angular chelitis. Well one of the reasons that B2 helps fight angular chelitis is it is necessary for the proper utilisation of Iron.
Low iron levels have also been shown to elevate prolactin which is strongly associated with hairloss.
Iron Deficiency Alters Serum Prolactin (high Prolactin)
Iron is also essential for thyroid to function another key aspect of healthy hair growth.
Iron is essential for ability of thyroid hormone to function
Finally there is a trichologist i found who claims that he sees many clients who have tried every typical hair loss treatment and seen no results but then did an Iron panel and they were found to have low Iron, he says this is more common for women than men but it also happens a lot in men and in his own hair loss journey he found low iron to be a big factor.
Here is a link to his video on Iron and hair loss
I am going to get my ferritin levels tested and depending on what they are begin supplementing heme Iron.
Since then I have experimented with nearly every method one can think of to regain my hair with the exception of Propecia and DHT lowering substances.
I did low level laser therapy buying myself a custom helmet, scalp massages, thyroid, vitamin A, lowering cortisol, massages, derma needling, minoxidil, stem cell therapy etc. Basically everything only seemed to slow my hair loss and improve the quality of my existing hair. The last thing I did was a minoxidil product called Adegen which did seem to help my hair to a degree but very little regrowth.
Recently i came across something which I had dismissed but now having examined my history and what i believe caused my hair loss I believe that it is possible that an Iron deficiency was a contributing factor.
I know that this forum in general has a very cautious/negative view of Iron because there is the danger of having too much iron which causes problems and I was very much of that opinion but the following has caused my opinion to change and at the very least give be open to the possibility of supplementing iron.
My hair loss started after about 2 years of intermittent fasting and large amounts of exercise. Well it just so happens that fasting is one of the quickest ways to crush your iron levels
Effect of short-term food restriction on iron metabolism, relative well-being and depression symptoms in healthy women and it can be very difficult and take a very long time to recover. Exercise also depletes iron a great deal. At the same time that my hair started to fall out i discovered Ray Peats work and started eating carbs and stopped the fasting and reduced (but did not stop) the intense exercise. This meant that i quickly came to actively try avoid excess iron with the exception of animal sources and while those are good sources of iron if you are already extremely low in iron just eating liver once a week or having a few desiccated liver tablets is not going to be sufficient to recover your iron levels.
A few other things to note that make me think Iron is one of the primary problems for my body and thereby my hair loss. I developed angular chelitis (the drying and cracking of the corners of your mouth) multiple times which i believed was due to a deficiency in vitamin B2 but when I supplemented with B2 it did not seem to do anything to reverse my angular chelitis. Well one of the reasons that B2 helps fight angular chelitis is it is necessary for the proper utilisation of Iron.
Low iron levels have also been shown to elevate prolactin which is strongly associated with hairloss.
Iron Deficiency Alters Serum Prolactin (high Prolactin)
Iron is also essential for thyroid to function another key aspect of healthy hair growth.
Iron is essential for ability of thyroid hormone to function
Finally there is a trichologist i found who claims that he sees many clients who have tried every typical hair loss treatment and seen no results but then did an Iron panel and they were found to have low Iron, he says this is more common for women than men but it also happens a lot in men and in his own hair loss journey he found low iron to be a big factor.
Here is a link to his video on Iron and hair loss
I am going to get my ferritin levels tested and depending on what they are begin supplementing heme Iron.
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