Adrenal Fatigue, Stress, Hypothyroid & Hair Loss

Immortal:

I hope you can help me with my ever increasing hair loss problem. I have followed your posts on regrowth.com over the past year and tried your top 6 for a few months in hope of slowing down my loss and getting some re-growth. The supplements helped for a while, but it seems that I am on a roller coaster ride of growing hair, going through sheds and losing more then was gained. This has been going on for about two years, maybe a bit longer now and I am slowly losing the battle. I don't think you want me to bore you with my life story, so I will try to keep this very short. I suspect that the increase in shedding over the past couple of years and slow growth is the result of years of stress, alcohol and poor diet, which have led to adrenal fatigue, thyroid imbalances, digestive problems and a possible case of "leaky gut". I have recently stopped drinking and have drastically changed my diet, but the changes are not helping my hair loss. I continue going through sheds and losing hair.

All the hair on my entire scalp has changed. It all fell out and was replaced by thinner hair. The greatest loss is in the female pattern loss areas of my hairline, temples and mid-scalp. There are no balding areas at all. It's defuse everywhere with the greatest loss in the areas mentioned. I am going crazy trying to figure out how to stop the loss. I have lost a great deal of hair over a 12 month period, mainly due to very high levels of stress.

Please help me find a way to stop the loss and grow back some of the hair that I lost. I don't expect to ever look like I did a few years ago, when my hair was still all normal but at least some growth in the sparse areas would be a life saver.

I ran a few tests to confirm my suspicion of adrenal fatigue and thyroid problems.

Here are the results.
Cortisol levels are 7-8am = 10 (13-24nM), 11-Noon = 4 (5-10nM), 4-5 = 3 (3-8nM), 11-Midnight = 2 (1-4nM)
Cortisol Burden = 19 (23-42)
DHEA = 7 (3-10nM)
E2 Estradiol = 10 (1-3pg/ml)
P1 Progesterone = 65 (5-95pg/ml)
TTF Free-Testosterone = 55 (40-70pg/ml)
Waking body temp average was 96f for a full year; it has risen to an average of 97.7 for the last month with the help of adrenal/thyroid herbs that were prescribed by a local doc.

Thank you!

JDabevsky - Have you checked yourself for Candida overgrowth?

If you suspect leaky gut syndrome, then it would be virtually assured that you have Candida overgrowth.

Hopefully you've checked out the Candida section. Also, have you checked for iodine insufficiency.

Have you tried Dr. Ohirra's Proboiotic? Have you ever had any antibiotic therapy in the last few years?

I have done the spit test a year ago and again a couple of months ago, both times the results were positive. Have not had a chance to look at the Candida section yet but will do so today. How do you check for iodine insufficiency?

Is there a link between Candida and defuse hair loss?

JD!

Good to see you on board man!

Caustic--

You may want to add that Iodine test to your site. Will save you having to rewrite it, as people often ask you how do check for Iodine deficiency.

Thanks! I have to get my health on track, my hair is getting worse. There is a lot of helpfull information on this site, hopefully I will find some answers to my health problems.

Honestly just read through all the threads on this new forum and the old one. IH, mind providing a link to the old forum? Between that and all the info. IH has on his page, you'll find far more than a few answers, no doubt!

This is the most informative website out there on not just hair loss but living a healthy life! I never would have guested a week ago that I would be adding raw eggs into my shakes LOL.

It's great isn't it man? Threw in a couple partial handfuls of blueberries, 4 raw organic jumbo eggs (2 bucks a dozen, can't go wrong!) that I don't keep in the fridge, and a scoop of French Vanilla whey isolate and I was good to go for breakfast, LOL.

Here's the link for the "old forum"

http://www.freewebs.com/immortalhair/oldforum.htm

nidhogge good point, I really should add the iodine test on there. Many of us are probably iodine deficient. My cousin was visiting and asked me about tonsilloliths or "tonsil stones." Short reason, iodine deficiency. It always causes some minor disturbances that often go under the radar.

The best test for iodine status is an iodine loading test, which I mentioned on the site, but honestly, a simple and crude test you can do yourself is probably going to tell you the same thing but for less money.

Take a tincture of iodine (this can be food grade or non-food grade), paint a circle somewhere on your body that won't be exposed to water, maybe like under the arm. If the stain disappears overnight you probably have a deficiency. The best way to get the iodine is to use Lugol's solution. two drops = 12.5 milligrams.

Thanks for the iodine test instructions. I will give this a try tonight.

This hair problem that I have been dealing with has affected my entire scalp. I had thick, dark brown hair all over just last year. It has all been replaced in one year with thinner, less pigmented hair, even the back. It's as if my body has diverted energy from hair growth to more vital systems, allowing my hair to rapidly age. There is also a lot of gray now everywhere. I know I should expect some changes, after all I did celebrate my 45th birthday last month, but this cannot be normal. Any ideas what may cause rapid aging?

Has anyone been through this type of problem?

JDabevsky - Free radicals is probably largest, single contributor of graying hair and loss of hair.

Perhaps the greatest acceleration of that process is high cortisol. Too much or too high can be a serious factor.

Sun exposure or getting enough vitamin D is also important.

I now have low cortisol, it was probably high for a couple of years and may spike from stress, but it's difficult to constantly measure. I have been on a detox diet for the past four months. No alcohol, processed food, sugar, coffee, limited red meat. I now mainly eat veggies, clean fish and chicken. I also drink home made green juices and almond milk. Dairy is completely out.

IH - How long did it take you to get your body cleaned up and see some growth?

Have you had any tests in regard to blood pressure fluxuations, specifically what is referred to as the Ragland's sign.

This is a good test to see if you fall into the adrenal dysfunction catagory in addition to low cortisol prouduction.

While sitting or laying down, have your blood pressure taken, then have it recorded at a standing position immediately after. If the top number, systolic does not increase by approximately 10--but instead, actually plummets it's called a Ragland's sign and is often indicative of adrenal fatigue.

In my own personal situation, it took several years of fanatic investigation, as much of what we are presenting here not was available in the scientific literature concerning hair loss.

My recovery was gradual as through trial and error and research, LOL. Long before I had much to go on, I'm certain I had some inflammation and lack of energy, etc. Stressful periods have always been the most rapid recession and diffuse hair loss situations.

Too little cortisol can result in virtually no defense against inflammation and often elevated androgen production accompanies it.

Too much cortisol (I really need to get that particular section written--it's in dire need) is increased anxiety, hopelessness, difficulty concentrating and very aggressive hair loss.

Adrenal fatigue can take anywhere from 6-months to a few years to resolve depending upon the treatment, etc.

My average blood pressure is low, it's around 110/75. I recently measured my blood pressure as you outlined but there was no change.

Did you experiencing the same type of loss, all over your head or was it confined to just the typical male pattern. My loss is in a female pattern, don't know why, maybe it's my Mediterranean genes.

I am very glad that we got a chance to talk about this. There is some hope of recovery if I can get my health back on track. I was afraid that I was destined for the Vin Diesel look.

Sounds like getting my adrenals healthy is the key. What worked for you? You have quite a few supplements on your site, are there any specific products that helped you get your adrenals back on track.

I'm sure others have told you this, but I am very grateful that you took the time to develop your website and provide this forum to help others. We are pretty much on our own when it comes to modern medicine. Thanks!