talk to me about hair loss and vitamins

[EmilyGF]

I go through phases in life when I lose a lot of hair. A lot.

I know not using shampoo really helps, so I stopped using that again.

I've taken a vitamin in the past that seemed to help that someone on the forum recommended, but I can't seem to remember what it was or find the post. Suggestions?

I am also open to other ideas of what might cause my copious shedding. Sigh. Thanks for the help.

 

[Spryte]

My stylist suggested Nioxin products years ago when I was losing hair.  She told me not to stop washing daily, but to use Nioxin - I do the shampoo, conditioner and scalp therapy, plus the deep masque weekly (or whatever it’s called now). You can order it on Amazon.
 

My hair grew back!  It looks like a frizzy halo, for a while, till I got some length.

Oh, and treating low thyroid, adrenal insufficiency helped, too.

 

[HS Mom in NC]

My hair shedding was a result of being anemic.  It turns out I was anemic because I had low B12 levels.  I lost my ability to absorb B12 in my digestive tract. I get B12 shots at the local med spa.  Before COVID they injected me because they did walk ins and charge for them at cost.  Now they load 6 needles for me (still at cost) and I keep them in the fridge and inject myself weekly. I truly cannot feel the needle at all when injected in my hip. Some people can go a few weeks between shots.

(Yes, international readers, Americans can't buy B12 shots over the counter like you can in civilized countries. We either need a prescription and have to process through insurance to do it ourselves or we can go to a med spa without a prescription.)

It's a very big deal to have low B12 long term. It affects people neurologically. A simple blood test identified the anemia and another blood test identified the B12 levels as the culprit.  Getting back up to normal levels required multiple injections every week for several weeks.  Then they tested again to check that levels were normal.  At that point the option was to continue shots or to try over the counter daily supplements and further testing to see if the digestive tract was able to absorb enough to maintain healthy levels.  If not, it's shots for the rest of your life, which is no big deal, but would be easier if we could just buy them over the counter at the pharmacy like they can in civilized countries.

[Carol in Cal.]

Low thyroid can also cause hair loss.  I would strongly recommend getting checked for that.

[mathnerd]

B12 deficiency causes hair loss in me. I also lose hair if I gain weight (never really knew why that happened).

[Shoeless]

Hypothyroidism caused hair loss for me, plus anemia, which made the hair loss worse. 

[EmilyGF]

Thanks for all the things to try.

If I know that taking B12 minimized my hair loss in the past, to the point that I didn't even think about it, should I go ahead and start taking that again, or should I try to get my B12 levels tested?

[Pen]

1 hour ago, EmilyGF said:

Thanks for all the things to try.

If I know that taking B12 minimized my hair loss in the past, to the point that I didn't even think about it, should I go ahead and start taking that again, or should I try to get my B12 levels tested?

 

Personally, I’d just start taking it.

 

You could be low in several different things.  Here’s some ideas:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/best-vitamins-hair-growth