HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

hair loss

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 7/26/2011 10:30 PM (GMT 0)
I havent posted for ages but im really worried my hairs falling out iv been told its Telogen effluvium

Altho it wasnt explained to me very well, anyone els had the same ??

Thanks x
Posted 7/26/2011 10:34 PM (GMT 0)
melski,

Good to know it has a name, haha.

I've had lots of hair loss too. I think what did me in was: prednisone use and the mesalamines too.

Don't know if the hair will come back?

Posted 7/26/2011 10:41 PM (GMT 0)
well it hasnt fell out in patches just thinned loads :s

Idk what the things u said are lol :S

iv just traveled quite far too see a doctor bout it and he said its "Telogen effluvium" and that it will come back, but can take anything from a few months to a few years dependin on the body :S

He said once it grows back it wont fall out again, so thats good but that kinda dont help me atm i want my hair back :(
Posted 7/26/2011 10:43 PM (GMT 0)
 

Yea, I want my hair back again too, lol.

Posted 7/26/2011 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
From what I have read, the hair gradually returns after ceasing mesalamine. I don't know about prednisone though.
Posted 7/27/2011 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah I am coming out of that. My hair grows fast and the timetables do not match up with start of sulfasalazine or end of iron supplementation. Really odd but its all coming back in now, feels thicker but many of the ones which returned are not as thick as they were, I think that can be one of the next phases before normal hair regrowth. Just glad it stopped. I backed way off on all kinds of supplements and meds.
Posted 7/27/2011 5:48 AM (GMT 0)
I was losing hair by the handful when I was on prednisone. It all grew back after I stopped taking the steroids. I have been on mesalamine for 2 years now and I have no problem with hair loss anymore.

Although that leads me to assume that my hair loss was caused by the prednisone, I also think it may have been a combination of things, including stress, antibiotics and everything else that I was exposed to when my UC hit so suddenly and I became so ill. Everyone is different though, so I'm just relating my personal experience. I wish you luck and a solution to your problem.
Posted 7/27/2011 12:08 PM (GMT 0)
aguywithuc,

Glad your hair came back and thicker too, lol.

I'm still waiting for that...

Which supplements did you stop which you attribute to hair loss?

Posted 7/27/2011 2:57 PM (GMT 0)
Tons of my hair fell out, not from any medication but from the stress of the flare itself.  My hair did gradually come back but it took nearly 2 years before I had as thick a head of hair as I did pre-flare.  I took this supplement: Prairie Naturals Hair Force, but I can't honestly say it if actually helped or if my hair would have come back anyway. 
Posted 7/27/2011 3:25 PM (GMT 0)
I noticed a lot of hair loss when I first was diagnosed and started Lialda. I think like the previous poster, I think that it was a combo of things... I think it has to do with being so sick, but more that your body isn't absorbing nutrients when you are in a flare... my hair dresser said that it is very common for people that are malnourished to have all their hair fall out.. and essentially that is what UCers are when in a bad flare. My GI doctor also doesn’t support the theory that it is the mesalamines, it says it affects less than 3 %. I started taking biotin 1000 units a day, along with folic acid 800 units a day and a prenatal vitamin every other day. I have been doing this for 3 months now and I see new growth, but it does take time depending on how fast your hair grows. Stress can also make your hair fall out. I stressed terribly over the handfuls of hair that came out to the point of wanting to cry over every strand that came out lol. I ended up having to cut over 4 inches off the length so it wouldn’t look so thin and stringy. Thanks serenity now for the suggestion of that supplement.. I am going to look into that!
Good luck, and maybe getting regular hair trims will make it look fuller until you get it back.. that’s my thought at least. This disease SUCKS! 
Posted 7/27/2011 4:29 PM (GMT 0)

InSoFla said...
aguywithuc,


Glad your hair came back and thicker too, lol.

I'm still waiting for that...


Which supplements did you stop which you attribute to hair loss?

I cut back on 20 bottles of supplements, I cut back on sulfasalazine as a I was getting bad liver/kidney numbers in blood work too. I had been using Nizoral and Nioxin shampoo but they did nothing when it started falling out. I dropped a lot of questionable supplements, stopped taking iron daily and began taking Nioxin multivitamins which have Biotin and Saw Palmetto.

I will continue Biotin and Saw Palmetto separately as I already take everything else in the formula.
Posted 7/27/2011 6:10 PM (GMT 0)
I have naturally thick hair and mine thinned so bad when I was on 6mp, I developed a bald spot on the crown of my head. Unbelievable. When I got off the meds, the hair grew back super thick and poodle curly so it was difficult to style. I ended up chopping it off in a Halle Berry cut. It has gradually returned to normal over the years.
Posted 7/28/2011 12:48 AM (GMT 0)
I took Prednisone for about 6 months. My hair is about 1/3 thick as it used to be. I wouldn't even call it hair; it's more like straw now and it keeps falling out. I never want to take a shower because I always feel like the next shower is gonna make me bald. I'm exaggerating a little with being bald part. My hair was very thick b/f starting Pred that right now it's probably not THAT bad in other people's perspective but it's a dramatic change for me. It's literally 1/3 as thick as it used to be. Easier to take care of though!
Posted 7/28/2011 1:03 AM (GMT 0)
If you see little hairs coming back, those shouldn't fall out. You'll get your hair back!. I lost mine on pred and frankly, just being sick as a dog with a flare.
Posted 7/28/2011 1:58 AM (GMT 0)
I had the same problem after coming off of Prednisone. I lost about half of my hair as well. It thinned all over. I stopped taking the Pred at the end of March and am thrilled to say that my hair is finally coming back! One thing that has really helped me is Horsetail supplements. It contains silica which is apparently really good for the hair. My hairdresser noticed a difference almost immediately and said that my scalp was actually red from all the new hair coming in and irritating it.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply