Sudden Hairloss Really Freaking Me Out Please Help Im Desperate

Finding this forum has been incredible, I'm learning so much and didn't realize that there are so many options out there for men who are experiencing hair loss.

I was hoping someone who has extensive experience could advise me. I cant afford the personal consultation at the moment but would be grateful if the moderators or founders would chime in.

Approximately 1 month ago I started to experience more hairloss than usual. Normally I would lose about 10 strands of hair per day in total whenever I ran my hand through my hair.

For the last 1 month now I am losing much more and on a daily basis I would say I'm losing between 40 to 70, that's an increase of 500%+ which really worries me. My head is now becoming very thin in terms of hair and my crown is going bald as we speak.

I also feel a crawling or mild scratching sensation on my scalp, It feels as though something is moving around under my scalp harvesting all my hair.

A month ago I started drinking coffee for the first time and this is when it started. I stopped after 1 week however the hairloss continued.

I also put some olive oil which was out of date on my hair about a month ago, however I doubt this is the cause, but I thought I mention it.

I am not on any medication and I use head and shoulders hair endurance shampoo now for the last month.

I color my hair using Bigen Oriental Black about every 2 months and have been doing so for the last 5 years.

My diet consists of the following:

1. Breakfast - two slices of brown bread with butter (I've stopped the butter now)
2. Lunch/Dinner - Brown Rice With Meat or Fish - Curry has turmeric, chilli powder, garlic, onion, ginger. (Is chilli causing this?)
3. Snacks - cookies, chocolate, crisp (occasionally)

At the moment I am putting Coconut oil on my hair but nothings really improved.

All this started when I started to get this crawling feeling on my scalp and I really think if I address this my hairloss will stop.

Please Please help me.. I don't know where to turn to..My life is a mess and I'm becoming obsessed. I need some advice and would be grateful if I receive it.

Thanks in Advance.

Knighttrader

Stick with the butter. There's positively nothing wrong with butter.

Chilli powder can trigger hair loss. I have noticed this from personal experience, and that
includes taking plenty of cayenne capsules orally. Definitely increased my shedding. This
research backs this up. Not only that, this research also backs up ginger as being a problem
as well. So you are literally taking two things that induce hair loss.

http://www.nature.com/jid/journal/v131/n8/full/jid2011122a.html

Ginger is bad, CS? I thought it gives the body so many great benefits.

Growdamnit wrote:Ginger is bad, CS? I thought it gives the body so many great benefits.

Two studies to check out...(I didn't include cayenne this time).

Here's what the study says: "Plant-derived agents, such as eugenol, thymol, and carvacrol (data not shown)—major components of clove, thyme, and oregano—and the synthetic agonist 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) significantly inhibited hair shaft elongation in a time- and dose-dependent manner"



In organ-cultured hair follicles (HFs), stimulation of transient receptor potential vanilloid-3 (TRPV3) inhibits human hair shaft elongation and intrafollicular proliferation, and induces apoptosis and premature catagen regression. (a) Hair shaft elongation curves (18–24 HFs per group, mean±SEM). *P<0.05 when compared with control. (b) Co-immunolabeling of proliferating (Ki-67+, red fluorescence) and apoptotic (TUNEL+, green fluorescence) cells, along with nuclei (4′-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole+, DAPI, blue fluorescence). Statistical analysis of number of Ki-67+ and TUNEL+ cells as compared with the number of DAPI+ cells. (c) Quantitative hair cycle histomorphometry on hematoxylin–eosin-stained sections. Percentage of HF in anagen or catagen state was determined. (b,c) Data are expressed as mean±SEM. *P<0.05 when compared with control. DP, dermal papilla; MK, matrix keratinocytes; 2-APB, 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate. Bars=50 μm.

More info here:

PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e57226. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057226. Epub 2013 Feb 21.
6-Gingerol inhibits hair shaft growth in cultured human hair follicles and modulates hair growth in mice.
Miao Y, Sun Y, Wang W, Du B, Xiao SE, Hu Y, Hu Z.

Department of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale) has been traditionally used to check hair loss and stimulate hair growth in East Asia. Several companies produce shampoo containing an extract of ginger claimed to have anti-hair loss and hair growth promotion properties. However, there is no scientific evidence to back up these claims. This study was undertaken to measure 6-gingerol, the main active component of ginger, on hair shaft elongation in vitro and hair growth in vivo, and to investigate its effect on human dermal papilla cells (DPCs) in vivo and in vitro. 6-Gingerol suppressed hair growth in hair follicles in culture and the proliferation of cultured DPCs. The growth inhibition of DPCs by 6-gingerol in vitro may reflect a decrease in the Bcl-2/Bax ratio. Similar results were obtained in vivo. The results of this study showed that 6-gingerol does not have the ability to promote hair growth, on the contrary, can suppress human hair growth via its inhibitory and pro-apoptotic effects on DPCs in vitro, and can cause prolongation of telogen phase in vivo. Thus, 6-gingerol rather than being a hair growth stimulating drug, it is a potential hair growth suppressive drug; i.e. for hair removal.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3578824/figure/pone-0057226-g003/

We found that 6-gingerol in the concentration range 5–10 µg/ml caused a significant dose-dependent inhibition of the proliferation of human DPCs ex vivo. Moreover, 20 µg/ml 6-gingerol significantly suppressed elongation of the hair shaft (1.06 ± 0.21 mm) compared to the control group (1.48 ± 0.20 mm).

Chilli powder causes severe hot flashes to the scalp. Massaging coconut oil into the scalp can clog sweat pores, prevent sweating and lead to severe heat retention. Heat retention can lead to inflammation and hairloss.

You didn't indicate if you suffer from these hot flashes, but regular consumption of chilli powder can definitely trigger them, so can hot drinks such as coffee or tea.

Just my 2.

cookies, chocolate, crisp, and gluten in your bread could all be suspects. also, use http://caloriecount.about.com/ to check to make sure you are getting enough of your daily requirements of the food groups from your diet, you could just be lacking in something which doesn't help the process. from there.. research this forum for ways to enhance different parts of your body, like research iodine, heavy metals, probiotics, to name a few.

Do you have dandruff?

Is it in the typical male pattern?

Surely the most important first step here is determining what type of hair loss it is...

I can bet u its the shampoo, im 1000% sure, i suffered my longest shed due to hardhness of regenpure and head and shoulders contains very harsh stuff which dries outnthe hair and causesshedding. I advise u to use sweet sunnah blackseed shampoo, best on the market by 100000000 miles. In the meantime u can apply olive oil daily for a week to the scalp to retain moisture.

i think the most important thing for u is an anti-fungal. something that will also kill any other microbials .

theres a million things u could try. personally id combine natural with chemical. nizoral is very harsh. im finding success with selsin gold, which is selenium sulphide. coal tar is also very good.

its up to u, but id try selsin gold twice a week, and a natural one the other days, like seabuckthorn soap, or the other one suggested above. tea tree oil, and GFSE are also very good.

Knighttrader,

First thing is first, I think your reaction to both the caffeine and the sugar is a related phenomenon. I too experienced the skin crawling sensation and it always occurred at certain times. Basically anything that raised my blood sugar would cause it or anything that promoted intense blood flow. So most types of stimulants would cause it. I'd also experience flushing of the face with it about every other episode with pin-prick feelings in the forehead and the areas around the eyes.

I think there is a very complex mechanism involved with both arteries and nerves and histamine.

What would I do? I'd stop putting anything on my head. Sure, go ahead and use a mild shampoo but I'd stop putting oils of any sort on there.

I'd cut out any blatantly high glycemic sugars. That means the cookies and what not.

No caffeine. No coffee or sodas.

Eat mostly fat and protein meals if its been longer than 3 hours since your last workout. For the three hours after exercise, squeeze the carbs in here. A piece of fruit or something isn't what I mean. Go ahead and eat those when you'd like. I'm talking the rice and what not. Servings of carbohydrate from higher glycemic sources or greater than 20-30 grams per serving, save these for post workout.

Get yourself a good B-vitamin. You are going to want adequate B3 and B6 specifically, but get a balanced formula of all the B's. Also get some zinc and quercetin. Take both of these daily. I'd shoot for 30-50 mg zinc daily. Get between 2-3 grams quercetin daily.

If you have scalp itching I think it's worth using some Nizoral shampoo to see if it relieves it as it could point towards fungal issues. Plus Nizoral has some anti-hairloss qualities.

KeepGrowin wrote:If you have scalp itching I think it's worth using some Nizoral shampoo to see if it relieves it as it could point towards fungal issues. Plus Nizoral has some anti-hairloss qualities.

And perhaps fungal spores on unclean pillows may play a role...

"Fungal contamination of bedding was first studied in 1936, but there have been no reports in the last seventy years. For this new study, which was published online today in the scientific journal Allergy, the team studied samples from ten pillows with between 1.5 and 20 years of regular use.
Each pillow was found to contain a substantial fungal load, with four to 16 different species being identified per sample and even higher numbers found in synthetic pillows. The microscopic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was particularly evident in synthetic pillows, and fungi as diverse as bread and vine moulds and those usually found on damp walls and in showers were also found.
Professor Ashley Woodcock who led the research said: "We know that pillows are inhabited by the house dust mite which eats fungi, and one theory is that the fungi are in turn using the house dust mites' faeces as a major source of nitrogen and nutrition (along with human skin scales). There could therefore be a 'miniature ecosystem' at work inside our pillows."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/10/051015093046.htm

Xenon, incredibly interesting post.

All of u have very solid points but its impossible the intense shed has been from this, i presume he was always a sugar eater. Itching on foods means candida, they release toxins to ur skin which burns and itches, im starting to take oregano oil daily and have die off symptoms, i think the shampoo he uses is whats making him shed secerely, i can bet on this as i suffered from regenpure, nizoral is very very harsh and causes excessive thinning of hair, revita as well. Please stop using the shampoo and i can bet u if u stay on the same diet u have u will notice a reduction in shedding which will prove it was the shampoo, i have been throu this. Use a very mild shampoo, without sls and without keto or zinc, they dry the hair and make it straw like. Iv given u a suggestion on whichone to use but u can search amazon for an all natural shampoo with oils.

I never thought ginger would be a problem! I always crush ginger and garlic and eat it with spinach..

Xenon wrote:Chilli powder causes severe hot flashes to the scalp. Massaging coconut oil into the scalp can clog sweat pores, prevent sweating and lead to severe heat retention. Heat retention can lead to inflammation and hairloss.

You didn't indicate if you suffer from these hot flashes, but regular consumption of chilli powder can definitely trigger them, so can hot drinks such as coffee or tea.

Just my 2.

Do you think applying oils to the scalp is a bad thing??

Xenon wrote:Chilli powder causes severe hot flashes to the scalp. Massaging coconut oil into the scalp can clog sweat pores, prevent sweating and lead to severe heat retention. Heat retention can lead to inflammation and hairloss.

You didn't indicate if you suffer from these hot flashes, but regular consumption of chilli powder can definitely trigger them, so can hot drinks such as coffee or tea.

Just my 2.

I can confirm that coconut oil make things worse by clogging the scalp - I had a severe shed because of coconut oil rubbed in scalp over the night!

Xenon - Do you know if emu oil also clog sweat pores? I'm sometimes using emu oil before heavy sweat induce exercise? Do you think this is bad?

Grub, Biffy, when I massaged coconut oil into my scalp, I went to sunbathe in the garden. I noticed that I wasn't producing any sweat from my scalp as I normally do when the weather is very hot, and I also noticed severe inflammation arise quite quickly. I realized that my sweat glands were clogged and the tissue was retaining heat. So, I washed the coconut oil off, my scalp soon began to sweat and the inflammation went away.

I suspect that heavy sebum build up can also clog sweat pores and produce a similar effect.

I could go on, but it all depends upon whether or not heat is a problem for your hair. If so, then without doubt massaging oils into the scalp can clog sweat pore openings and cause heat retention.

Also, if you rub the oil into your scalp over night, then when you're in bed, thick heavy blankets / pajamas cause increased body heat, which is largely released from the scalp. So, I'd bet that oils cause major heat retention while you're sleeping (if heat is a problem for your hair).

However, I have heard of people's hair health improving through application of these oils, so I don't mean to demonize them. I'm merely providing feedback on my own experiences.

Once again I am lost... What are things to look for when determining if heat is a problem for your hair?

Xenon wrote:Chilli powder causes severe hot flashes to the scalp. Massaging coconut oil into the scalp can clog sweat pores, prevent sweating and lead to severe heat retention. Heat retention can lead to inflammation and hairloss.

You didn't indicate if you suffer from these hot flashes, but regular consumption of chilli powder can definitely trigger them, so can hot drinks such as coffee or tea.

Just my 2.

Yes I do experience these hot flushes, when I have a lot of chilli powder I break out in acne too. It feels as though something is trying to come out from my scalp, I guess this could be because of the blocked pores.

Is there anything that I could use to unclog the pores on my scalp so it feels as though it's breathing properly?
Is there anything I can use to remove the dandruff? I have had dandruff for as long as I can remember and would like to remove it once and for all.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Grub wrote:Once again I am lost... What are things to look for when determining if heat is a problem for your hair?

You feel your scalp / temples becoming extremely hot, inflammation soon follows and so does shedding. Normally, if you are well hydrated, then your scalp will quickly sweat and cool down. This prevents inflammation, but too much sweating can cause a build up of lactic acid in tissues, and this can lead to inflammation. This is why I will always clean my scalp after a heavy workout.

hoppipolla wrote:Do you have dandruff?

Is it in the typical male pattern?

Surely the most important first step here is determining what type of hair loss it is...

Yes I do have dandruff, I've had it for a long time.
I'm not sure what you mean by typical male pattern.

Basically I am shedding hair all over the place. I can a see bald patch on my crown which is slowly getting bigger and bigger. I am receding hair around my temple. Sorry if this is vague.

Please help.

knighttrader wrote:

Xenon wrote:Chilli powder causes severe hot flashes to the scalp. Massaging coconut oil into the scalp can clog sweat pores, prevent sweating and lead to severe heat retention. Heat retention can lead to inflammation and hairloss.

You didn't indicate if you suffer from these hot flashes, but regular consumption of chilli powder can definitely trigger them, so can hot drinks such as coffee or tea.

Just my 2.

Yes I do experience these hot flushes, when I have a lot of chilli powder I break out in acne too. It feels as though something is trying to come out from my scalp, I guess this could be because of the blocked pores.

Is there anything that I could use to unclog the pores on my scalp so it feels as though it's breathing properly?
Is there anything I can use to remove the dandruff? I have had dandruff for as long as I can remember and would like to remove it once and for all.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Well, I'd certainly ditch the spicy foods. I'd also stop using the coconut oil for the time being, as this is likely clogging the pores and causing heat retention.

Excess dandruff is caused by excess skin shedding, which can be a sign of too much sebum. Basically, sebum contains acids which can irritate the skin if too much of it builds up on the scalp. This can lead to increased skin shedding.

Many shampoos don't remove sebum very well. If you run your fingers through your scalp after a regular wash, you'll probably feel it has a slight greasy residue on it, as opposed to it feeling 'squeaky clean'. Or if you've ever washed smelly armpits with shampoo, you'll find that they still stink afterwards. So, if regular shampoo doesn't remove bacterial toxins from your armpits, it certainly wont remove them from your scalp.

Sebum also breeds inflammatory commensal bacteria. Again, regular shampoos just don't remove them.

You could try using bar soap, as this really does help to remove sebum and commensals, but over use of soap can leave the scalp feeling very dry and tight for some. This is why it's not a good idea to over do it. I've also found that shower gel works better at removing grease, and it doesn't leave the scalp feeling dry or tight.

Additionally, if you wash your hair in hot shower water, this can lead to further inflammation, so try lowering the temperature to warm.

rofl wrote:i think the most important thing for u is an anti-fungal.  something that will also kill any other microbials .

theres a million things u could try.  personally id combine natural with chemical.  nizoral is very harsh.  im finding success with selsin gold, which is selenium sulphide. coal tar is also very good.

its up to u, but id try selsin gold twice a week, and a natural one the other days, like seabuckthorn soap, or the other one suggested above.  tea tree oil, and GFSE are also very good.

I had an anti-fungal problem previously when I use to have severe cystic acne, I overcame this by taking an anti candida supplement called AntiCandi which cleared up my acne. I'm now wondering if the hair loss is due to this and I could start taking supplement again.

I will look into Selsun Gold.

Just wondering what you thing about the Candida hair loss connection? Look forward to your response.