Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: Peacegirl on January 24, 2019, 02:05:41 PM
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Hi all,
I experienced around 50 percent hair loss which several G.P.s 'diagnosed' as 'female-pattern hair loss'. I say diagnosed but it felt more like I was written off. I also thought too it might be due to HRT. However I pushed to have this investigated further and a wonderful dermatologist who took the time, did a blood test and said that although my iron was in the normal range it was 'only just' and 'we like ladies over 50 to have slightly higher iron readings than that'. I'm sharing this in case anyone wants to delve deeper into their so-called 'normal' readings. We are not all the same after all :) Oh and my hair loss has stopped and has grown back enough that I don't have to wear hair toppers any more.
Obviously I am generalising here (no exact readings) - it would be useful if we could access our full test results ourselves. I mean we're expected to take more responsibility for our own health more these days and rightly so but not always given the tools to do it.
Heres to being courageous and assertive to get our health needs acknowledged and supported!
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That's great news re your hair growth.my daughter has occasional hair loss and she has an ibd (inflammatory bowel disease) it's truly awful for a woman to lose her hair,I will tell her about the iron
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Hello Peacegirl.
Thank you so much for your helpful post. At my surgery patients can obtain a printout of blood test results and the normal ranges are included so it's possible to see how much your results differ from the average. Perhaps you can ask if this service is available to you? A lady on the forum was told that some people only feel well when their levels of stored iron are over 80 but I note that the normal range begins at 10!
jaypo - I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis which is an ibd eight years ago. Low iron is often a problem due to blood loss and they way the body processes iron in the presence of chronic inflammation. Your daughter is probably aware of all the issues but if not there is plenty of information online that can help her.
Take care ladies.
K.
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Thank you Kathleen,she was devastated when her hair went so thin,she has beautiful long red hair.it seems to be ok for a while,then starts thinning again,she's on so many vitamins,she takes some sort of granules every day for her ibd and it seems to have done the trick,she doesn't know if she has crohns or colitis,the specialist said it's treated exactly the same way,so no need for more intrusive examinations.
How are you with your ibd?
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So pleased for you P.C :-* what dosage are you taking? x
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How interesting peacegirl. There are so many tests where we're told we're ok and it turns out we're actually borderline, thus experiencing negative symptoms. The blood test for thyroid function is a good example.
I think I will try some iron tablets. Can't do any harm to do a trial for a few weeks.
I find i cant take too many as stools go very dark and i feel a bit ropey. I just take them a few days a week. Yes thyroid test is a perfect example as my mum was undiagnosed for years and her consultant thought it cause damage which kead to her terminal cancer. When I told my g.p. That she just shrugfed and said they only do the basic test!
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I think I'd only take supplements a couple of times a week, especially as I occasionally eat red meat, and have plenty of greens and eggs etc. Too much can cause constipation.
Good call :) :)
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Hello again ladies.
I have been prescribed iron tablets in the past and they have caused digestive issues and black stools. I have also used Floradix which is a plant based liquid iron treatment that claims to be gentler on the stomach, however I have found that Spatone, an iron rich spring water has been the best so far. It offers a small amount of iron so it needs to be used for a while but it was recently recommended to me by the doctor at my iron clinic. I am sure you're all aware that red blood cells live for 120 days so it will take four months to reach 100 per cent saturation! There goes Mother Nature again, making us wait before we feel better lol.
Hope this is helpful and take care everyone.
K.
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Oh it is Kathleen,I'm away to tell my daughter about it right now,like you,with her ibd,she can only take a couple of iron tablets a week before it upsets her gut.thank you
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Hi ladies very interesting.
I started to have noticeable hair loss about 18 months ago. I might have been in peri but I had no other symptoms and regular normal periods. The doc put it down to stress of my partner passing away.
Then about 6 months later I was called into the surgery as a routine bloods showed very low b12 and folic acid. I was put on the tablets for 3 months and a further blood test then showed I was bang on the lowest figure in the normal range. 1 point lower would've been out of normal range but the doc said it's still normal so stop taking the tablets and no need to come back.
I couldn't understand it either as there is such a big difference between the lowest and highest figures in the normal range.
It seems crazy that a low level which is causing symptoms would be treated with 3 months of treatment and then no further action necessary (my docs exact words, in fact she didn't even want to test again after the 3 months but I insisted.)
If there is a medical reason a person isn't absorbing b12 wouldn't you just be back to square one once you stop supplements especially after such a short course.and that is what happened to me. My hair started falling out again and I had weakness in my legs!!
So I've gone back on the tablets again. She refused to test and made it seem like she was giving me the tablets to shut me up.
To my mind it's one thing if you have a low level and are ok at that level with no symptoms but if you have symptoms why send you away with no further action after 3 months course.
Very interesting comments and advice ladies.wish you all well with trying new options
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Thanks sparkle I will check it out.
I feel like all I've done is fight for the last few years. First for my wife who was terminally ill and now for myself. It's so draining.
Thanks for the replyx
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I have just found these posts about hair loss and iron, i have got the same problem, i am always being sent for blood tests, and because i have Haemochromatosis, told i need blood taking, i have argued that my iron or ferritin is too low for me, but my consultant who i spoke to said it is within normal range, i am so angry, because when i have blood taken, my ferritin drops drastically, even by 100, and i end up with a low count,even as low as 8
I am so pleased that i have these posts
I have decided that i am not having anymore blood tests or blood taken until i see my consultant in September
I have read on the internet so many times about low iron, and been told by hairdressers and even on Philp Kingsleys website ,a[A trichologist] that too low iron is the culprit,
I will get some Spatone and risk it, just to see if it makes a difference
Thanks to everyone who has posted about this
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Ladies.
Did anyone see the interview abou b12 t on this morning few weeks ago. . The lady was symptomatic but refused treatment as bloods were "normal". She went private, got an injection and said her symptoms disappeared within days!!. The doc on there said it's an increasingly common issue that realy needs sorting levels dont have to be dangerously low to cause debilitating and distressing symptoms.
Here are my latest results with ranges from the particular lab they used:
B12 is 196 normal is 191 -663
Serum folate is 3.9 normal is 3.9 -26.8
Ferratin is 36 normal is 30 - 400
Still my doc will not prescribe even though I have symptoms
What do you all make of that?
It's shocking.
X
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I have never had a printout of any of my results, so have no idea,but i will see my Dr again soon, as he has prescribed Evoral Conti, and from what i have read the Northisterone in it causes hair loss,so not risking them
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Hi TC- I've been to see a trichologist due to thinning hair. He advised that although my Ferritin levels are “ normal “ range, like yours they're at the bottom end and he advised that for optimum hair health they should be up at between 80 and 100. He also suggested taking a vitamin b complex supplement.
I've bought an iron spray which seems better than the tablets ( I've IBS so you need to be careful and choose a gentle iron supplement )
He also suggested taking a vitamin D supplement but haven't done this yet.
He wouldn't see me without blood test results and I got these done privately online through medichecks. Early days yet, he wants to see me after 4 months and to check the vitamin levels again before he gives me some topical treatment. He did say it could take anything up to a year to improve the situation. I don't have female pattern hair loss, I have overall hair thinning. I'm convinced in part that the progesterone doesn't help even although I'm on the most hair friendly one Utrogestan
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Thanks for the replies ladies.
Michele. That's very interesting. I have just been diagnosed with IBS and was told that iron tablets are a bit of a no no. I will check out the spray.
I have to take omprazole for GERD and that lowers B12.too. I'm taking some b12 I I bought recently.
Mine is overall hair loss too although it's definitely thinner at the front and parting. And it doesnt seem to grow even though I havent had it cut for 2 years.
I am on utrogestan. I'm struggeling to get my eastrogen up on patches after ovaries removed.
I guess it all adds up incidentally I have been using testogel for 8 weeks. I dont know if this is having an impact on hair loss but my hair is more greasy since I've been on it.
Are you on testosterone?
Good luck with the treatments and your trycologist. It sounds promising. Please let me know how you get on.
Xx
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Hi,
I'm coming onto this thread, as I didn't realise one had started and I started my own yesterday.
I also am experiencing hair shedding. It's not the first time - I had a bad bout about two years ago. After endless research and ANGUISH (as I'm sure fellow hair shedders appreciate), I insisted on a ferritin test. I can't remember the range now, but it was huge - something like 8-145 and I was at about 10 and my doctor insisted I was fine. Interestingly, that surgery was closed down by the CQC!
I went to a dermatologist who ripped apart the doctor's response, said I was basically malnourished. He said I should eat red meat (I'm vegetarian...) and said I should take ferrous fumerate 2 x a day. Gave me a timescale of 3 months to stop, 6 months to properly start growing again and he was pretty spot on.
Since then, I've had two bouts. But I've also gone through meno, am post meno and am now on HRT. I've had two bouts since last December when it was found I was basically not absorbing any estrogen from the gel. I'm now on a patch.
I still am not sure where the hair shedding is coming from. But, I've immediately started taking Ferrous fumerate and Vit C again. I already take VIt D. I think I might get my checks done on Medichecks bloods, not through current doc.
It's all so frustrating and crap. Nothing like Hoovering up loads of hair, only to see more... :'(
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No heroics.
it realy is upsetting. Isnt it. . Mine seems to go in cycles. It will come out in handfuls all over my pillow etc for a few weeks or months and then stop shedding but not grow either. So even when its not shedding as bad, no new hair is growing to replace it. So the overall appearance is just getting thinner and thinner.over time.
Sorry you had the same issue with doc refusing treatment on such a low level. Even if mine drops into the red which it has done a couple of times since all this started, they will only prescribe a 3 month course. It doesn't make sense to me.
But its encouraging that the treatment you used before worked. I hope it works for you again.
I think,forgive me if I'm wrong, we have spoken about both having non absorption.issues. I didnt absorb gel at all. I've been on 200 patch for ages and my eastrogen level is very low still and I'm also thinking this might be a factor.
Have you found the patch has helped your other symptoms. Do you think you are absorbing it better than the gel?.
X
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Can't believe a dermatologist told you to eat red meat when you're veggie!!!
I've been veggie for over 25 years,if you eat a balanced diet you DO NOT need red meat.
My daughter has an ibd and suffers hair loss she takes ferrous sulphate and magnesium,seemed to do the trick for her(also veggie)
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Jay. I've never eaten red meat except on occasion since a child. And I've never had a low ferratin test until recently.so I cant put it down to red meat either. My diet has become quite poor in recent times though and I hardly eat any green vedge or salad where I used to eat loads of both on a daily basis. . Obviously for me the iron rich vedge I used to eat so much of made up for the lack of red meat. I need to get some back into my diet but also....
I dont think id be in danger of having too much if I supplemented as well. )Ferratin is 36 and the range is 30 to 400!!) . But recent diagnosis with IBS has put me off the pills.
I cant see the iron spray online. Where did you get yours Michele if I may ask?
Xx
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Hi Tc - iron spray is Better You daily oral spray from Holland and Barrett. You can also buy gentle iron tablets but I decided to try the spray as prefer them to big bloody horse tranquillisers.
No heroics - the Vitamin B -100 tablets are also from Holland and Barrett but they're disgusting and huge.
Funny enough,trichologist did mention that he's seeing more and more vegans and vegetarians with hair problems and quite often it's just a case of proper supplementation as the diet is providing insufficient nutrients. He did also say that normal for health isn't not the same as optimal for hair health but they would generally dismiss this. X
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Thank you Michele x
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Thing with vegetarianism and veganism is that it becomes a fad for most,oh,it's the “in†thing let's do it,then they have got a clue how to eat properly and subsidise the things they've it out and it can lead to many health issues including hair loss.
The only time I've been anaemic was when I had fibroids & all blood tests have come back normal so when a dermatologist tells someone to eat meat it's the only way they're talking a load of phooey 😊