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Elfie

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Hi,

I think I have seen this posted here before, but I would like to bring it up again. Right after I came down with POTs I started losing tons of hair. Every time I have a POTs episode I lose piles of hair. It does grow back, but usually only in time for more to fall out. I have lost about 1/2 my hair. I had lots of hair before, so you can't see my scalp or anything-- but it is like a very thin layer that molds to my head and the length is see through. Docs don't seem to have a cause for it. Wonder is this is the case for anyone else?

Also, when I was 19 I started getting pure white hair about three months after pots spells. No one in my family even several generations back has hair that went prematurely grey at a young age. I have no grey hair, just white. Now at 20 I have enough that I have been mistakely sat in the bar area of several restaurants illegally and was only notified that it was illegal for me to sit there when I ordered a nonalcoholic drink and had the bartender become suspicious. I have even been told that if I had ordered a beer he wouldn't have carded me because of the hair!!!!!

Anyone have that problem (the hair, not the carding issue)?

I was just wondering if this is something POTs or the stress of POTs on my body could cause -- or if I am just being attacked by hair aliens that are determined to get me into a bar unscathed before I turn 21-- my dad has a friend who went bald when he was 18 that always used to get them into the 21-bar uncarded! I am not nearly as fun as my dad though.

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Hi,

I am 25 and have had both issues I guess. But, I have just noticed the occasional thin silvery short hair along the part of my hair. I always figured it was most likely due to all the meds. As far as loosing a ton of hair, I always have. Mine is worse when my iron stores get lower. Anyone that has this issue to get their ferretin level tested. It took drs. forever to test mine. It is so often overlooked, but is very important. Where we already have problems with having enough oxygenated blood flowing through our bodies I think this is just part of what tends to happen.

But, yes, I do believe they can be common symptoms or side effects of everything that our bodies are going through.

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I have the hair loss ( I have posted in this before) but not so much the greying. I do have some grey hair ( I'm 36 and don't color but my mom is 57 and only has some grey.

My doctor feels that it is a side effect of the stress surges my adrenals cause- tetrogen effectium ( totally spelled wrong) but he said something like that.

I am sorry that you have this too. I hate it. Others say they can't tell but I can. When it is really bad my pillow case is covered with hair.

Last night I rubbed lavender oil in my hair (old wives tale) but it smelled so strongly I had to wash it out. I do take a vitamins and make sure I get enough Iron.

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I have had spells of hair loss, even before significant POTS symptoms started in my early 30's. Hair loss can be a sign of iron deficiency, so make sure your iron levels are normal if you have this symptom. Starting last year (ok, I was 40) I have started developing grey hair around my temples. This has also been one of the most stressful, in a bad way (I think stress can also be positive) years of my life, due to deaths among family and friends. I do think stress plays a role in hair health and aging (graying)--so it makes sense to me that POTS could exaccerbate it, as we produce excessive, and/or do not correctly process, stress hormones. I read recently that grey hair brought on by stress can be reversed. Who knows if that is true...by increasing omega-3 intake among other things.

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I just saw on "The Doctors" (TV Show) that gentle scalp massage STOPS hair loss. The idea is to gently stimulate your scalp to get blood there. This stimulates growth & prevents hair loss. Who knew?

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I have always had very thick hair and continue to do so. The average amount of hair a person loses each day can easily be around 100 strands (Dr. Oz), but it's continually growing back (or should be). I guess I have good genes. I didn't start seeing any grey until I was 45, and I'm now 47. I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to consider some color or highlights, but my grey still isn't too obvious. Perhaps it's more a case of genetics combined with stress? I've certainly had more of my share of stress!

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If I recall premature gray is also linked to auto-immune thyroid disorder.

I had my first silver hair at 18 and now at 47 I am mostly silver/white. In my family pre-mature gray was the norm and I grew up looking forward to my silver strands. Still do. Love my hair color!

As for hair loss? Yes ... for me I loose up to a third of my hair about three months after any major illness or POTS crisis. Did this after each of my pregnancies, chickenpox (at 28), and whenever my POTS kept me bedridden for weeks on end. Bioton helps. And for me it grows back fine. Fortunately I have a ton of hair so losing even a third is not devastating.

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Kayjay,

Did you mean telogen effluvium, by any chance?

I have been diagnosed with chronic telogen effluvium (hair falls out earlier in its cycle due to ????), and androgenic alopecia, (female) pattern balding. The diagnosis was via a dermatologist and a culture of hair follicles seen under a microscope.

Telogen effluvium can be a discreet episode, due to something like surgery, or childbirth, in which case, it resolves itself to normal, or it can be chronic, like I have, due to ???? in which case it is not going away.

My hair began going grey in my forties, and I'm letting it go silver now. I used to color it, but I like my natural color.

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I notice major hair loss when my POTS is bad. I lose so much in the shower that it clogs the drain :huh:

As for greying...I find a few grey hairs but I pluck them out :rolleyes: I have only noticed the greys for the last couple of years. I was diagnosed with POTS in 2006 so I'm not sure for me if greying goes along with my POTS but I am sure that the hair loss does. I just turned 40 this year :unsure:

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I had my first gray hair at 28, along with an episode of severe anxiety, so always felt some "illness" was starting up but didn't know what. I looked like Lillian off of the Munsters, with the white strand, but I had short hair. I colored my hair once in my 30s, but didn't like the odd color on the white, so I don't bother. I'm used to alot of gray hair now(50)--it's just me.

I had read also that it could be related to autoimmune, but I read it might be associated with pernicious anemia, or B-12 deficiency. I do take B-12 shots, not because of any diagnosis, but a "natural" MD let me start them 9 years ago to see if it helped my fatigue, and it did seem to help.

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My hair falls out like crazy. I know the ave person looses a certain amount per day, but I mean when I run the brush thourgh my hair, whole clumps come out. I have super super thick hair, so its not like you can really tell the differnece. Its still just a pain in the rear. One of my fave things to do is have my hubby play with my hair as im falling asleep, and so much hair comes out!

~Kelli

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At 46, I've had very few grey hairs but have noticed a substantial increase just in the past few months since I had a major onset of POTS symptoms again. I've also noticed a lot more hair loss since that time. I wasn't sure if I just hit that magic age where I was going to start going grey or if it was related to the illness. It seemed awfully coincidental to me.

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