Ulcerative Colitis, Nutrition and Hair Loss

Hi, welcome to Healingwell :) Do you take a multivitamin? I take a vitamin designed for people with Uc and Crohns, it's called Forvia (www.forvia.com) plus I take Biotin 5mgs. I was taking a regular vitamin before but after I switched to Forvia I felt 100% overall and Biotin helps promote hair growth and healthy nails.

What foods can you tolerate? Are there foods you have eliminated from your diet completely?

my suggestion: focus on protein. tofu, eggs, lean meats, whatever you can tolerate. you also might want to pick up some ensure (i had to drink gallons of it after i was in the hospital). they have a kind for lactose intolerant people, which i suggest. it does have some sugar but it also "liquid nutrition" with all kinds of essential vitamins, etc. hope that helps! p.s. i can relate, weight (keep it ON) is one of my most difficult tasks...also (sorry this is long) after the body goes through a trauma of any kind, hair loss can be expected about 4 months later. perhaps you will start to get some back soon??

me too, increased to highest doses of mesalamines, 4 tabs 3x daily, mesalamine suppository in day and alternating enemas at nifght. hair is gone! clumps falling, my mom is very sad seeing me.

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate any suggestions!

Hair loss, My doc told me to buy Vitamin Magna B6, it worked for me, I was also told of something else it turned out to be Regain and quite expensive, never tried it so can't comment on that one. try the cheap vitamins first, the other you have to apply to your scalp

Salmon- are you getting any exercise? How about sunlight?

I too have many of the same symptoms as Salmon. I am a 26 year old male and I was diagnosed with UCD in 2005. I have been in remission since roughly 2009 with only slight / minor flares. From 2005 - 2009 I tried a host of meds - Asacol (did nothing), Azathrioprine (seemed to work well, but several side effects), and of course prednisone during acute flares.

I was a college athlete and still stay active today. My energy levels seem to fluctuate a great deal, however, the biggest problem has been my hair. I used to have a thick head of hair but noticed it began to thin about 6-9 months into taking the Azathrioprine. I have been medication free since 2009, but still my hair has not come back. The spot on my vertex seems to be growing, though quite slowly, while my hair has receded a little further towards the front of my head.

I have tried Rogaine, but with little (if any) noticeable change. I know the problem of hair seems trivial at times, however, it is definitely disconcerting. Any reviews or recommendations, be it for a vitamin, shampoo, etc., would be most appreciated!

Hair loss on pentasa as well.. My suggestion salmon would be blackstrap molasses.. A healthy way to get Vitamins and minerals back into diet. Is meant to help with hairloss also

I have found that supplementing folic acid and iodine (naturally sourced from kelp) through a good quality multi-vitamin helped tremendously. The higher quality vitamins cost more, but work better - at least in my personal experience. I've had luck finding good supplements at my local health food store and also at GIProhealth.com. I'm sure there are other places, but I've found them here, so have looked no further.

I also eliminated grains. Not everyone needs to do this, but in my personal situation, I seemed to absorb nutrients better without them.

I lost so much hair at one point, I had to cut it into a pixie to cover the really thin spots. It took a few months of diet change and supplementing with the vitamins to notice a change. I'm still not back to where I was before the hair loss, but I can no longer see my scalp! So, I'm happy to be moving in the right direction.

I hope you find what works for you!

Writergirl said...
I have found that supplementing folic acid and iodine (naturally sourced from kelp) through a good quality multi-vitamin helped tremendously. The higher quality vitamins cost more, but work better - at least in my personal experience. I've had luck finding good supplements at my local health food store and also at GIProhealth.com. I'm sure there are other places, but I've found them here, so have looked no further.

I also eliminated grains. Not everyone needs to do this, but in my personal situation, I seemed to absorb nutrients better without them.

I lost so much hair at one point, I had to cut it into a pixie to cover the really thin spots. It took a few months of diet change and supplementing with the vitamins to notice a change. I'm still not back to where I was before the hair loss, but I can no longer see my scalp! So, I'm happy to be moving in the right direction.

I hope you find what works for you!

Have your iron checked. Anemia can cause hair loss, among other things.