How I Corrected my hair loss

I wanted to share my a hair loss and recovery journey with you all in case it helps someone else who is totally dumbfounded as to why they are experiencing hair loss. I am a Nutritionist and eat pretty clean and I use really great health products so hair loss for me was super surprising!

I have a history of some hormonal imbalances and had to do some natural work with that over a period of a few years to learn what was the root cause and allow time for corrective practices to work.  Last fall I was using a hair line I purchased from a friend and noticed I was losing a lot of hair! She told me this was a normal part of cleansing my scalp but after a few more weeks, I felt like I had lost up to 50% of my hair. I blamed the products, but now in retrospect I believe I had an underlying issue that was exasperated by the line I was using (I will keep the brand to myself).

I started to increase my nutrition. I am a Nutritionist after all, and I know good nutrition enhances the rate of growth of fast-growing cells like hair. The problem was my hair was not re-growing. And my normal shedding felt totally devastating. I had area’s that were very thin, and I found myself feeling anxious and usure of what to do next. So being a total science geek I wanted to figure it out.

A little back story to help you understand what I considered as I was trying to determine the root cause.

1) Stress. I run a busy online busines, I sold my house and moved during a pandemic and on top of that we were all experiencing a pandemic. I considered adrenal fatigue, thyroid and gut health disruptions with the stress.

2) I considered that I had been burning the candle at both ends and had not significantly increased my nutrition. Our body burns through nutrients faster under stress. I could be very deficient.

3) I have a history of an estrogen dominant condition, extremely heavy periods (now corrected). Estrogen grows hair. Was the correction of this imbalance the cause of my hair loss?

So, these were what I started with. I decided to include the following protocol. I only implemented one at a time so that I could see what was working and what was not. Each of these steps were a new layer of protocol on top of an existing one.

1) Rosemary and peppermint essential oils on my scalp after showering.

2) Biotin and hair supplements (gave me GI upset often)

3) I added Iron as I have a history of anemia.

4) Increasing my whole food supplements (to counteract possible deficiencies from stress. Also, to support liver pathways for healthy hormone levels).

5) Nioxin (love this shampoo and conditioner!! Highly recommend)

6) Micro needling.

After a few months, I did notice a significant decrease in hair loss and some small new growth, but I still did not feel like I was making up for what I lost.

Then I noticed (this is big!!) that the roots of my hair that I was losing were teeny tiny. Like so small! I discovered that DHT (Dihydrotestosterone) can shrink hair follicles and is a cause of hair loss for men and women. In correcting my high estrogen, I may have increased the imbalance of DHT. So, I added.

1) Saw Palmetto

My daily protocol is now: double my whole food supplements (nutrients and antioxidants), algae based omega (EFA’s are vital for healthy cells/hair), 1 cap of 1000mg Saw Palmetto and Nioxin daily with a little rosemary and peppermint oil a few times a week after showers. I am noticing in less than 2 months of adding the Saw Palmetto significant regrowth, lots and lots of baby hairs. I am not noticing a significant change in root size of the mature hair I am losing, but I feel like my hair is finally getting a bit thicker with the regrowth, which up until the last few weeks ago, I was not experiencing.

I want to encourage you all to know there is a root cause of hair loss. It’s scary, frustrating, and really, really hard to live with. I was doing everything right and I still had this experience. If I had not of noticed how small my hair root was and if I did not have my background. I may have never figured it out.

I also want to suggest that you talk to an expert who truly understands health, root cause and supplements. We can throw a bunch of stuff at it and not really be zoning in on what needs to be addressed. I also suggest having hormones tested by your doctor and checking for anemia. Also please be careful with supplements and medications. There are contraindications and you want to work with someone who really knows the in’s and outs of the right products and protocol for you.

As much as this experience was unsettling it helped me learn more about my body. Our body can heal in amazing ways.