Rapid Hair Loss, Acne, Exhaustion, in 20 yo female

[yepunsarang]

I'm a fairly healthy 20 year old studying abroad at the moment.
But the past two or so months, I've been losing a lot of hair. The rate at which this is happening is very rapid---literally, weekly, I can see the difference in hair volume when I look in the mirror and take a pictures. For a while, I've been losing a lot of hair, it's been visibly thinning, and getting dryer.

At the same time, my skin has been prone to a lot of breakout---in the beginning, just oily, then getting pimply, and now still pimply but with dull, rough texture---I feel like I literally look sick.

The difference in my appearance is large, and it's frightening me. Especially since I'm also feeling exhausted very easily, I find it difficult to concentrate on my work, my eyesight is getting worse (some days are worse than others), and I find myself coming home straight after class, not having the endurance to do anything else. I just want to nap all the time. Sometimes even walking for 30 minutes wears me out. My mind also feels a bit chaotic at times as well, "cloudy" and confused.

I have occasional chest pains as well--though not piercing, a bit uncomfortable (on both sides of my lungs).

I've gone to the doctor several times for bloodtests but they aren't taking me seriously. My results came back "normal" and as "perfectly healthy" twice. But the changes have been so dramatic that I'm convinced something is wrong. I know that hair loss can happen 3-4 weeks after the initial stress. But I've been here three months and it's still just getting worse. Although I WAS very stressed in September and October, I'm much better now. Just my appearance is stressing me out.

If my blood test results came out fine, but I feel like my symptoms are just getting worse but not better, what could this mean?

If you'd like to see my bloodtest results, please let me know.

[yepunsarang]

Hi meniere! Thanks for your long response! You have such a great sense of humor :P
I'll give you a more detailed account once i have time (since finals and everything are bogging me down as of right now). But the time being, I planned on visiting the dermatologist and getting futher tests done on my testosterone levels and such today but I had too much to do and I actually felt really weak and tired today for some reason. May be a tad bit of gluten snuck into my diet yesterday or something.

My skin *seems* to be clearing, but not sure if it's because of the new acne medication I bought for on spot treatment. I still have a very pale, kind of sickly tone to my skin though which is very depressing. It is also uneven in tone :(... My hair seems to be continuously thinning unfortunately, although I'm not shedding like crazy. This is really taking a toll on my appearance and it makes me depressed when I look in the mirror. I have no idea what else I can do to help my hair right now...and I will be returning to the states in about two weeks (on the 22nd of this month). What else do you think I should try doing to stop my hair from thinning (this especially is making me worried)?

I'll definitely update you on my next dermatology appt and will get my tests done hopefully really soon. I'm hoping that all of this annoying chaos would just stop.

[meniere135]

I have a question.  Is your acne starting to clear up on the diet?  I'm sure your hairloss must have something to do with hormones.  When male hormones get too high compared to the female hormones, oily skin and hair and acne (especially acne along the jawline and back, etc.) and hairloss can result.  Now, it's possible the gluten free diet might help straighten your hormones out.  The gluten, when not tolerated, causes deficiencies in practically all areas.  All the food and nutrients that we swallow ultimately feed our hormones and everything else that goes on in the body.  Chelated zinc 50 mg (zinc can act as an antiandrogen in the hair follicle).  But if you take it for too long (probably past a month or so) you have to worry about copper (because copper is on a seesaw with zinc - when one goes up, the other goes down)  They need to be in balance.  Too much or too little of zinc or copper can cause hairloss.  But the gluten problem causes malabsorption of zinc - so you should start absorbing your zinc (red meat!) soon since you started the diet.  Since all your other symptoms started at the same time and they are improving, give the diet time to see if the hairloss stops.  How much time?.....that's always the big question....everyone is different.  You definitely should be stopping in three months, I would think.  Look for your skin to clear up, less oil in the hair - that says the male hormones are on the downslide and your female hormones are taking over.  Estrogen and progesterone in the right balance hold hair in the head.  Caffeine causes stress hormones to rise - so avoid that because stress hormones in excess pull away from progesterone, causing less estrogen and testosterone to be made (not good!).  Sugar is another no-no!  Causes insulin and cortisol to rise, again making a mess of things.  So - gluten free, low sugar, low caffeine, and low cow's milk products ( my daughter gets acne in areas that men get acne - along the jawline, all over her back and chest when she eats or drinks it).  Supplements?  Maybe some magnesium (80% of people with hairloss have low magnesium), zinc 50 mg chelated (4 days on and 4 days off to prevent high levels), calcium (make sure you take in leafy greens - look on the internet for sources of calcium), omega 3's, b-complex, and a multivitamin.  Keep your stress levels down - stay out in the sun (vitamin D is awesome) each day for a little while.  Note:  gluten free bread does best if you microwave each slice about 30-40 seconds on high - it moistens the bread (opposite of wheat containing breads that dry out in the microwave).  Same for all gluten free bread products.  I have yet to find a good gluten free pizza.  

By the way, the reason I suggested the gluten free diet was because you complained of worsening vision - my brother and I also had that same exact problem along with the extreme fatigue and we both were shocked to see much more clearly on the diet!  Go figure.  Hang in there!  You're obviously pretty intelligent due to how you've approached this whole thing.  And the most amazing thing is that you actually gave the diet a try!  Good for you!  I see you are a problem solver.  Enjoy your time in Italy - my husband said Venice smells like a sewer (he's Italian by the way LOL!)  He ruined my dream of a gondola ride in Venice!!!!!   His family comes from Abruzzi!  I told him he should go back and find a nice Italian wife that can put up with him.  As for me, I walk off into the sunset with my suitcase (containing a clothespin for my nose) as I head for Venice to ride  my gondola driven by Antonino the Gondola Man!!!!!  Antonino and I live happily ever after..............AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!  I hope my husband doesn't read this!  LOL!
Just kidding!    Don't forget to update me with the next doctor appt. or if you need recipes.  Talk to you soon!

[yepunsarang]

Hi meniere!

Thanks so much for checking up on me!
yes, I did go to the doctor, but several of the results didn't come in yet, so I have to go see him again either today or on Monday. I'm kind of bogged by work today though, so I'm not sure if it's wise for me to go out. (Also going to be out this weekend to Venice so, I have a ton of hw to plow through today!)

About my diet though, not eating gluten for a week has actually made me feel MUCH better! I can concentrate better, see better even, am happier (!?!) and just more awake. It's so bizarre! I also bought some vitamins B complex and fish oil in addition to my biotin and multi-vitamin for my skin and hair and just to get back on track. I was wondering though, if you have any other recommendations for how to take care of hair loss (naturally)? Or how long it might take for the hair to cease thinning or falling out if following this regimen?

I also found out that there are lots of Celiacs in Italy! So I went to the pharmacy (where they do sell all sorts of stuff) to buy gluten free bread, rice crackers, and gluten free cookies :D). I'm eating sandwiches for lunch and rice crackers with honey and jam and some fruit for breakfast. Also some cheese on the side sometimes for calcium.

I am going to go see him Monday for sure however, but looking at the test results (they seemed to just be negative/positive tests) and all of them came out negative if I remember correctly. So as a whole, I think I'm rather quite healthy, except for my allergic reactions to gluten. To be sure though, we might be running some other tests or I might be forwarded to a specialist or may be i'll ask to see a dermatologist.

I'll definitely get back to you on Monday about the appointment and meanwhile, if you have any things you want to mention or any suggestions about how to get my health back on track, PLEASE let me know!

Thanks so much for being so attentive! You are so caring, and it's wonderful to hear from you when I'm so far from home!

[meniere135]

It's Wednesday and you haven't mentioned the Monday doctor appt.  What did they say?

[meniere135]

I often think the best and easiest thing to do is to just try the celiac diet and see if you feel alot better!    But the problem is, if you don't get tested and get a definite diagnosis, it can be hard to stick to the diet and believe that is the problem.  And the other problem is you are in Italy with lots and lots of gluten!  LOL!  And then there is gluten intolerance - you don't have the enzymes or enough enzymes to break down the gluten, but you aren't producing antibodies in an autoimmune reaction like you do with celiac disease.  You don't seem to have inflammation in the body according to your results.  

After your appts. with the doctors, let me know what they think.  Then we'll go from there.  Good luck!    

[yepunsarang]

Thanks!
Yes, I've looked at some of the symptoms for Celiacs, and I don't have a lot of the symptoms such as feeling gassy or having diarreha. Just the hair part and feeling weak. But it's true, almost everything I've been eating here includes wheat. If I am looking at my test results correctly, if anti-body levels are non-existent or low, it's a good thing. The higher your anti-bodies are the higher your chances of having Celiac's as well.

But I also hear that some Celiac patients have fine anti-bodies as well. This is quite frustrating, how a lot of these diseases/ problems that I'm looking into seem to have a lot of "buts".

Yes, hopefully everything will eventually taper off instead of getting worse! Please do get back to me today when you're in a better state! I'd love to hear your analysis of my results. Thanks so much, i'll continue to give you updates, especially on Monday when I go see my doctor.