Hair loss- possible herx effect?

Hi all,

I have experienced thinning hair from lyme prior to treating my symptoms and since then my hair has been fine (just coarse and dry) but now that I am more aggressively hitting my lyme with my new herbal protocol I have noticed significant hair loss...to the point where I do have a small patch of hair missing on my head and it is SUPER SUPER thin- thinner than ever.

Could this be a herx reaction?

Gaby - are you currently treating lyme or a coinfection?

I have recently noticed that my hair has been getting thinner and has lost its natural wave.

But I don't see any hair on my clothes so not sure what's happening - don't have any bald spots. Just seems thinner and straight now.

I was wondering if it was an effect of mepron that I started 6 1/2 months ago.
Maybe it is from the infection instead..

Hi gabybee -

Hair loss is generally a thryoid/hormonal/endocrine issue--and/or a heavy metals issue so those are two things I would look into.

I'm not sure I would consider hair loss a "herx". It's a symptom of a change in the hormones (brought on by some imbalance or a toxin like mercury). You might notice the hair loss when your endocrine system gets disrupted and thrown out of balance as the Lyme & co infections start causing physiological and/or psychological stress in the body, or maybe even create imbalances that your body is unable to effectively manage, like detoxing well.

Your treatment might be overwhelming your body as it's tough to metabolize all the antimicrobials, particularly if you're not detoxing well. But hair loss is generally a hormonal issue that can often be addressed directly.

TESTING
Naturopaths are pretty good with checking endocrine levels. ALWAYS ask for much more than the TSH levels that 99% of MDs only check (TSH is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland)... what you want to check is whether or not the body knows what it's supposed to do with the TSH - your TSH level can be just fine yet your thyroid is still malfunctioning and doesn't do what it's supposed to do in order to utilize the TSH. Have your T3, T4 and Reverse T3 and T4. Some also check a few other levels - one of our members, Astroman, is a good reference for more info on thyroid.

My hair started falling out when I turned 30, which is when I'm pretty sure I became infected w/ Lyme & Co. I had heavy metals checked, which showed nothing. I am hypothyroid and hair loss is common but it's never improved w/ replacement therapy. I've just kind of hovered in a not-critical-but definitely-noticeable level of hair loss for 20 yrs.

EXCEPT... the time I was struggling with digesting and was trying this Garden of Life food powder I bought from the health food store. After eating it for a couple weeks the hair loss got so much worse. After a few months I finally noticed on an amazon.com review of the product that the rice ingredient was sourced from a region in China that is notrorious for heavy metals in the soil. BINGO. I stopped eating it, hair stopped falling out in extreme volumes --and I resumed my normal hair loss state.

-p

Hi everyone,
actually I have found that one of the supplements I am taking for my cut (I have ecoli and klebsiella??) anyway it has glutamine in it and I have found that every time I take a glutamine supplement my hair thins!!! has anyone ever heard of this??