IBS-C & Hair loss

This is really getting out of control

At 23 I'm finally starting to feel like I'm heading for impending balness within the next few years. My diffuse thinning is just all over, and rapid.

I eliminated loads of foods from my diet, even tried fruitarian, didn't seem to help. Even if I'm going to the toilet more than once a day, that didn't seem to effect shedding. Massive sebum, and if I itch it at all, 5 hairs come out with the sebum.

So I've tried the supps, without supps, with paleo-style, with fruitarian etc, nothing seems to be helping.

Again, don't underestimate the gut. If you are going to eliminate offending foods, it needs to be 100% for a period of months. These things aren't something you're gonna try for 3 weeks and switch to another protocol when miracles don't happen. So I'd really focus on a wheat and dairy free diet, 100%, and do not stop with a gut healing regimen for at least 3 months.

How are your stress levels? I too am 23 with pretty bad diffuse thinning. While it became apparent I was going to start thinning early, around 18, after my dad passed away and I became depressed, the rate accelerated so quickly I was overwhelmed by it. This stress just fed back into the cycle and worsened the problem. My point is, my scalp was really compromised by two things: diet and stress. Whenever I was eating a high sugar meal or if I was having an emotionally stressful moment or period of days, my scalp would itch, appear red, and sebum was awful.

After a period of several years the stress has resided to a normal level of human stress. My weight has began to normalize and I'm no longer experiencing the scalp issues either. I don't wake up with an oily scalp any longer and there are no sebum deposits, where they used to be tangible. The only time I experience itch is again, if I eat an extremely sugary meal. While I obviously haven't regrown all of that hair, loss has slowed to a halt. Shedding is minimal. If your diet seems to be in check, I'd try to combat stress.

In addition to breathing exercises, exercise, and some NLP, there are several supplements that have done wonders for my stress level: phosphatidyl serine, sensoril ashwaghanda, vitamin D, mucuna pruriens

Thanks for your reply.

In all honesty I don't think I have much "stress". Get plenty of sunlight etc. I do weights 3 times per week. Unless it's some kind of environmental or gut stress, I'm not sure what is the cause. I eat maybe 1 non-clean/paleo meal a week, if that.

Get a slow cooker. Eat from that for 6 months. Avoid all inflammatory foods.

Meditate or better, do Tai Chi or Chi Qong twice a day.

(and/or do EMDR)

It will work..., at least # 1 & # 2

Your "other" mind is in your gut.

I already do avoid inflammatory foods. Haven't had any gluten or bad oils for 99% of the time for ages.

What do you guys wash your hair with? Maybe it's due to the fact I am only doing bottled water that is causing such high sebum.

I absolutely think it could be part of your problem. I've heard many theories before about how if you avoid shampoo for long enough, the hair will not become oily, instead it will suddenly become super healthy, the way our hair was meant to be!

In my experience, going two or three days without washing my hair has made my scalp absolutely awful. I would shed incredible amount of hair, the skin would become red and very thick with oil (I know, gross). At the time I was doing this frequently, I was under the impression I was making my scalp healthier, avoiding shampoo, being natural bla bla bla. I lost more hair in that period of months than any other.

If you are a person who produces a great deal of sebum I think its essential to shampoo frequently, if not daily. There are many natural shampoos out there: I use a brand called Beauty Without Cruelty tea tree and rosemary shampoo (check Vitacost).

Things like apple cider vinegar or witch hazel, diluted in water, can be very effective topical stringents. A 1:1 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water, iodine added at your discretion (10 drops of Iosol), did amazing things for my scalp. I would apply it at night before bed (if you have a partner, wait till they are already asleep, it smells) and about 20 minutes before I went to shower in the morning to let it work for a little bit prior to bathing. This eliminates the smell for the day.

If you haven't tried anything like it, what the hell, go for it.

I saw a recommendation on the forum for this: http://www.iherb.com/Dr-Bronner-s-Magic-Soaps-Pure-Castile-Soap-18-in-1-Hemp-Peppermint-16-fl-oz-472-ml/6967?at=0 so I'm going to try it.

Yeah,

I've used this stuff before. Its a very oily soap. I find it works better for my body that for my hair as it tends to leave my hair very heavy, sort of oily like after a very heavy conditioner. But on the spectrum of natural products, its gotta be better than most shampoos.

Noticed something scary today too.... Was sweating a bit and wiped my eyebrow... About 6 eyebrow hairs came out. In one swoop. Crazy stuff..... Seems to indicate it could be thyroid related? As that's a common symptom.

Anthony
Would that regimen for ibs help with leaky gut also?? im making progress but im very limited with the foods i can eat and also suffer from irregularity! Its been that way forever but i dont think its ibs. Anyways i was trying to learn more about the bone broth and the yogurt you were doing as the protein shake. You said stay away from dairy even though i know the kind you were probably speaking of is to regulate gut flora with probiotics? can you explain what you did or anyone that has done this. Did any of the things gives you the itches? or was it smooth from the start? thanks

Hey GG,

This regimen should be very helpful for leaky gut. I think a big part of leaky gut is to just stay away from the common allergens associated with gut inflammation. For me this was dairy and grains. Again, as time went on I can tolerate them on "cheat days" but for the most part I stay away from them. Non-gluten grains like rice became less and less of a problem to the extent I can almost always consume these with no problem, but it is critical, and I mean it, that you eliminate these completely at first. 99% won't work. It's gotta be total. The proper diet should consist of grass-fed meats and quality sea food, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, almond butter, organic fruits and veggies and plenty of bone broth. I made it a rule to have about 10 oz. of bone broth with each and every meal. I would make a giant pot of it on Sunday and keep it for the week, just nuking it in the fridge for only a few seconds. Drinking it warm made it much better. There are plenty of good videos for making the broth to be found online. Your local butcher would be happy to get rid of soup bones.

As far as the other parts of the regimen. Twice a day I did the whey/gelatin/glutamine/colostrum shakes. The glutamine is a real big one and essential for healing the gut lining. The colostrum contains several beneficial immune factors that work really well in addition to a quality probiotic, another essential. Ohira's is the best. I would recommend 50 g glutamine per day for the initial week, and you can taper off from there. I know its a lot.

The pill stack I mentioned was sort of a really, really weak form of a biofilm buster. I will link a page that goes over a much more through biofilm protocol, but doing something to combat biofilm is going to be a big help. These are potent sources of endotoxin and there's a very particular strategy for helping to reduce the bad ones. Basically, due to financial concerns, I was using a natural antibiotic (olive leaf extract) combined with a serrapeptase supplement (protease enzyme) and also Swanson's metalshield along with some strong antioxidants (quercetin+bromelain, vit C) and an absorption factor in phosphatidyl choline. This seemed beneficial for me, and you'll need to do it twice a day. Followed shortly with something to clear the bowel like bentonite clay, and the probiotic after this. I'd commit to the entire shebang for at minimum three months. Then start experimenting with adding foods back. If there's trouble, just continue on. Its a game of patience.

Biofilm Link: http://www.herbsforlyme.com/category-s/225.htm

Thanks for that! I have a rife machine so i can kinda nail the bigger problems i just need to get the basics down!! And i looked at a previous post of yours and i get a few scalp itches when i eat meat so i know to leave it alone for now.. Im really just trying to piece what positives i can together and stick to them! if i stick to my VERY VERY few foods that i can eat i can see my hair thicken and new hair come in but i dont do sugar and i need to find something that im not sensitive to for calories!

GG,

Ahh, you're a Rifer huh? I am extremely interested in getting a Rife machine. But money is pretty tight for me at the moment being a college student. If I was honest with myself though, if I used what I spend on supplements over 6 months, I could probably afford a decent Rife machine.

How is it helping you? Do you feel much better? Is it easy to use? I guess maybe I'm not that confident about them. Would love to know your experience.

About the rife machine i can say that it does work great for only the few scripts i run. I am working on detox and chelation methods because i have amalgams in still! But i have used it on a friend who is amalgam free ran the scripts that i do and he started the cutler protocol. He eats ok at best but he doesn't have to follow the same rules that apply to us anymore! Even though what i think i notice is that when he does his hair grows even faster although this may be due to running the scripts more/less during these times but yeah it works!! Even when i use it i can tell sometimes during sometimes right after sometimes the next day that i just have a calm to my scalp which is soooo odd. Another thing i noticed is that when i use it nose clears up at once. But for anything other than hair i haven't really gotten into but i will after i remove these fillings