Dietary changes halting alopecia areata
Hello,
I am new to the site, but wanted to come on and ask if anyone else has had significant success by changing their diet and eliminating inflammatory or foods that you are sensitive to?
I suppose I should start at the beginning.... My mother and great-grandmother both had alopecia areata. I noticed my first spot almost 10 years ago when I was pregnant. Unfortunately I did not carry full-term and noticed that a couple more spots had started shedding. I went to the dermatologist, who gave me some steroid cream and eventually transitioned to the shots, neither of which were particularly successful. I started doing a significant amount of research about food and hormonal reaction, inflammation etc. At that time I eliminated wheat, dairy, sugar, rice, potatoes, and caffeine. I had a FULL recovery of hair within 6 months.
This lasted for well over a year, until I met my husband and decided to go ahead and eat whatever I wanted, which included all of the foods I listed above. Small spots started to pop up and continued to proliferate. I dabbled in eliminating foods again, but was never able to completely cut them out due to being young and lazy. Whilst getting my master's degree parts of my eyebrows fell out and much of my hair broke off.I ended up cutting it short and penciling in my brows. About one year after I graduated I became pregnant again and had even more spots come up, losing more hair in pregnancy than before. I also lost part of the eyelashes on one eye. It came back after the baby was born and then began to shed about 1.5 years later, when I was living on coffee.
A local doctor's office did a blood test to test for foods that I am sensitive to, as "allergic" generally involves an intense, immediate reaction. I found that I was sensitive to a number of foods, including coffee, which was the worst. Some of the culprits were wheat, gluten, baker's yeast, mushrooms, tomatoes, cane sugar, lemon, watermelon, bell peppers, cottage cheese....you get the idea. I immediately eliminated all of those foods and my hair began to grow back. I now have a full head of hair and my eyebrows are mostly intact. There was a brief period where I was eating sugary snacks like a fiend and two little spots popped up, but I immediately eliminated and went back to my diet and they have since grown in. It has been well over a year now. On occasion I will do the "follicle test" on hairs that have come out and they all have the healthy bulb at the end.
I also take Vitamin B sublingually, Emergen-C lite with MSM - which is supposed to promote hair growth, hemp oil-perfect natural balance of omegas, sublingual biotin, and liquid Vitamin D3. I don't take all of them every day, but stagger them throughout the week. The doctor's office also found that I was deficient in both D3 and biotin, the first symptom listed for a biotin deficiency is alopecia...
I would also go to the Dermatologist's office once back on my diet to give the existing spots a "boost," in conjunction with the dietary changes - the shots actually worked!!
I wanted to share my story. Keep in mind, I am one person in the world and none of the information I am sharing has been involved in countless clinical trials and been validated. My Dermatologist and other doctor's along the way have scoffed at my suggesting that my hairloss is dietary. They administered countless tests, but all of my levels (thyroid, hormone etc.) were completely normal.
In Western medicine, the process is healing from the outside in - shots, pills etc. I wanted to heal from the inside out and this has been a successful process for me.
I wish you all well in your journey with this. I remember the times when I was crippled with fear that all of my hair would fall out.
Much Love.
I am new to the site, but wanted to come on and ask if anyone else has had significant success by changing their diet and eliminating inflammatory or foods that you are sensitive to?
I suppose I should start at the beginning.... My mother and great-grandmother both had alopecia areata. I noticed my first spot almost 10 years ago when I was pregnant. Unfortunately I did not carry full-term and noticed that a couple more spots had started shedding. I went to the dermatologist, who gave me some steroid cream and eventually transitioned to the shots, neither of which were particularly successful. I started doing a significant amount of research about food and hormonal reaction, inflammation etc. At that time I eliminated wheat, dairy, sugar, rice, potatoes, and caffeine. I had a FULL recovery of hair within 6 months.
This lasted for well over a year, until I met my husband and decided to go ahead and eat whatever I wanted, which included all of the foods I listed above. Small spots started to pop up and continued to proliferate. I dabbled in eliminating foods again, but was never able to completely cut them out due to being young and lazy. Whilst getting my master's degree parts of my eyebrows fell out and much of my hair broke off.I ended up cutting it short and penciling in my brows. About one year after I graduated I became pregnant again and had even more spots come up, losing more hair in pregnancy than before. I also lost part of the eyelashes on one eye. It came back after the baby was born and then began to shed about 1.5 years later, when I was living on coffee.
A local doctor's office did a blood test to test for foods that I am sensitive to, as "allergic" generally involves an intense, immediate reaction. I found that I was sensitive to a number of foods, including coffee, which was the worst. Some of the culprits were wheat, gluten, baker's yeast, mushrooms, tomatoes, cane sugar, lemon, watermelon, bell peppers, cottage cheese....you get the idea. I immediately eliminated all of those foods and my hair began to grow back. I now have a full head of hair and my eyebrows are mostly intact. There was a brief period where I was eating sugary snacks like a fiend and two little spots popped up, but I immediately eliminated and went back to my diet and they have since grown in. It has been well over a year now. On occasion I will do the "follicle test" on hairs that have come out and they all have the healthy bulb at the end.
I also take Vitamin B sublingually, Emergen-C lite with MSM - which is supposed to promote hair growth, hemp oil-perfect natural balance of omegas, sublingual biotin, and liquid Vitamin D3. I don't take all of them every day, but stagger them throughout the week. The doctor's office also found that I was deficient in both D3 and biotin, the first symptom listed for a biotin deficiency is alopecia...
I would also go to the Dermatologist's office once back on my diet to give the existing spots a "boost," in conjunction with the dietary changes - the shots actually worked!!
I wanted to share my story. Keep in mind, I am one person in the world and none of the information I am sharing has been involved in countless clinical trials and been validated. My Dermatologist and other doctor's along the way have scoffed at my suggesting that my hairloss is dietary. They administered countless tests, but all of my levels (thyroid, hormone etc.) were completely normal.
In Western medicine, the process is healing from the outside in - shots, pills etc. I wanted to heal from the inside out and this has been a successful process for me.
I wish you all well in your journey with this. I remember the times when I was crippled with fear that all of my hair would fall out.
Much Love.
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Jana on - Global Alopecia Mission has a growing research archives, and its focus is the larger immune context as well as nutrition. Give their website a look. : )
-
Permalink Reply by Michelle Bollinger on - Thanks so much for this information! How do you get tested, is it allergy testing or what? I'm willing to try anything! I have AA which has actually just recently went completely hay wire & I have more than 50% hair loss & am in a wig for the 2nd time. I've had AA for about 18 years & it's worse now than ever before.
-
Permalink Reply by Ypsimama on - Hi Michelle! I was tested through a local doctor's office that is pretty progressive - they sent the test to Alletess Medical Lab - www.foodallergy.com. Best money I ever spent!
- Permalink Reply by Steph on
- My integrative medicine physician completed my testing. It was sent through NEurosciences. With the testing I received a packet describing the degree of each of my food sensitivities, hidden sources of the allergens and suggestions of dietary changes.
-
Permalink Reply by Louis on - Thanks for sharing your stories! After reading the info you shared, I decided to do some research on G/F diet as well as anti-inflamatory diets. All i can say is "WOW", it makes total sense! When you think about the inflammatory condition inside the body and that alopecia is an autoimmune disease attacking inflamed hair folicles, etc..there's got to be a connection! I have already began eliminating caffeine, gluten and other inflammatory foods from my diet! Anyone that is undecided about trying, look up info on anti-inflammatory foods and alopecia! It only makes sense and it couldnt hurt to try but will require some adjustment and will power! Also a healthy pocketbook as I found most these gluten free products and organic foods are a little pricey but I found lots of options I was unaware of at my local grocery! I think i will document with a journal and pics!
- Permalink Reply by Louis on
- I also think I am going to follow up with some food sensitivity testing and anything else you all have suggested but i have no health insurance and limited financial assets at the moment which is making this even more difficult. Any other suggestions are appreciated!
-
Permalink Reply by Tallgirl on - I just got clearance for charity medical care and labs for one year, so I immediately went out and got blood and cholesterol tests. All is okay...so I cannot even blame my AT on my blood or vitamins! Ask your local hospital for charity labs.
I think the genetic links are probably the right direction for the latest research. One side of my family had the links of diabetes and asthma that share some alopecia gene markers. Can't do anything about genes I was born with...so I am waiting to find out what TRIGGERS those genes to create hair loss!
Note: A European female doctor found 30% more hair loss for men who took body-building protein drinks as teens and young men. Their hair started falling out in the early 20s. I would also follow any research centered on proteins.
-
Permalink Reply by Elaine on - I had all the blood work done to see if my AA was a food issue. My test came back not being sensitive to anything! That's good I guess but I was really hoping it was just a food change I needed to make. I did have a + ANA result. So I had more lupus tests done. I don't have lupus just AA which is nice to know. I have been taking all the vitamins you are taking plus some for years now. I don't eat meat so I take supplements for that too. I also cut out coffee and most sugar. Just started cutting out gluten about 2 months ago so we will see. In the last year not changing anything it is as bad as its ever been :( Add more biotin and it seems to have made it fall out more. Changing food may work for some people that are sensitive to it but for me I think I just have to let it run it's course. Good luck!
-
Permalink Reply by kathy ferguson on - I saw a GI specialist who tested me for many allergies/issues including Celiac Disease. My results won't be back for another month, but I am going gluten/dairy free anyway. Why not give it a shot, right? I've only been on the diet, religiously, for about a month and haven't experienced any changes in hair growth/loss. Actually, it is coming out pretty heavy right now. I'd say I have lost about 30% of my hair (3 large spots). But, I am going to stick with the diet for at least a year to see what happens. My alopecia has come and gone over the last 30 years so I think it will be hard for me to pinpoint whether the diet is working or not. I do know that a lot of people get "false negatives" when tested for Celiac. I can say, that I feel better than I have in a long time! I don't have that heavy feeling after a meal and my energy levels are soaring, so that's a good thing. I fell off the gluten free wagon about a month ago and woke up to tiny blisters on my palm. I remembered having this on and off during my life but never really investigated it. As it turns out, I think this is Duhrings disease which is directly associated with gluten. Will ask my derm about it on Monday when I go in for my shots.
-
Permalink Reply by Jaclyn on - I've noticed my hair stopped falling out (abruptly!) and started to regrow after adopting a Primal/Paleo diet. It was a hard adjustment at first, getting used to eating a new way, but now I love it. I don't miss grains at all, and I feel so much better eating this way. I'm *sure* there was something in my diet before that didn't agree with me. I don't think whatever it was "caused" my alopecia, but I think eliminating the inflammatory foods has just helped my body to work better and fight harder.
- Permalink Reply by kathy ferguson on
- So that means no bread at all, even if it is gluten free? No sugar? Meats, veggies, eggs, right? That might just be my next course of action.
- Permalink Reply by Jaclyn on
- Yeah basically no grains, dairy, soy, sugar, legumes or processed foods. (Sounds TERRIBLY restrictive, doesn't it?!) Just lots of meat, fish, eggs, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, and LOTS of healthy fats. If you decide you're interested in giving it a try, I'd be happy to share lots of resources, recipes and tips.
No comments:
Post a Comment