Hair loss

Lyme disease made my hair fall out. It's finally starting to grow back now.

I found this quote:

"Androgen hormones like testosterone and DHEA are the major hormones that dictate hair growth. In women, the ovaries and adrenals are responsible for producing these hormones from cholesterol. An excess in these hormones can lead to unwanted hair growth on the face and body, but not having enough can lead to thinning and dull hair."

More: https://theouai.com/blogs/by-the-ouai/heres-how-your-hormones-affect-hair-growth

Have you had any other hormones tested?

Following is my attempt to duplicate the "Androgen Pathway" schematic from a lab I had run several years ago. The cascade starts with the hormone precursor cholesterol. From there, you can see other pathways and hormones. (I was told DHT can influence hair loss, but I think that may be more for men.)

==================================================

Cholesterol
........↓
Pregnenolone → Progesterone ..... → Aldosterone, Cortisol
........↓.............................↓
...DHEA/S ..... → Androstenedione ↔ Testosterone → DHT
.......................................↓.............................↓
..................................Estrone ........ ↔... Estradiol

==================================================

I realize this isn't entirely helpful, but it's more about zooming-out a bit to see what else may be influencing things.

My hair started thinning in my early 20s and that was very tough for me. But, of course, I have no idea what it's like for you. So, I'm sorry for the angst and stress this is causing. I hope you're able to work with your providers and uncover the cause and reverse it.

My guess would be hormones as well. Look into HPA axis dysfunction and ask your LLMD for a comprehensive hormone testing panel (thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, etc.) with multiple sample collections to account for fluctuations. These things definitely affect my hair significantly.

Dude has a good point if you're female, Lyme can wreak havoc on hormones and mimic PCOS. I lost a lot of hair during 2016-2017 it finally started growing back in the last year and it's pretty thick now, but it's still short. It looked just terribly embarrassing at one point, it was al short and scraggly and gross, I wore a wig. I've been wearing extensions since 2016 but I should be able to take them out by next year, my hair is about shoulder length a little longer now. It will get better. Main thing that helped was cleaning up my diet majorly. after over a year of avoiding sugar it started growing again.