Guess I'm Not The Only One Losing Hair

[Alaska]

Sorry, but I had to post this article. The only time in my life I lost hair and had alopecia was when I moved up here to Alaska... and now they are concerned about the polar bears developing alopecia? Part of me laughs, but to be honest part of me wonders if there is something about Alaska that is causing it. My wife told me I guess it is happening to the seals up here to. I know, I know I sound paranoid (I'm not taking this too seriously). But I bet most of you have wondered if something environmentally is causing your problems. Is it the fish... is it the northern lights . OK, I better stop... no, I'm not crazy. I wonder if the polar bears have developed POTS? OK, I'm done now.

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_20348842/scientists-stumped-by-alaskan-polar-bears-fur-loss

[bellgirl]

I would imagine that being in a very cold climate causes vasoconstriction of the vessels, which causes less blood flow, especially to your head, if you are hypovolemic, but deficiencies in vitamins or malnutrition can also cause alopecia. It is true that in the winter, everyone's hair grows more slowly because of this. I have very thin hair, worse through menopause, but I thought it was more hormonal for me, but it could have been lack of nutrients, as well, since I had lost about 15 pounds over the years, since I was sick 13 years before my diagnosis of dysautonomia, too.

[Elfie]

I have issues with hair loss that docs attribute to POTS and the decreased blood flow to my scalp. When I'm under stress or in a huge flare (both which make my symptoms worse, obviously) I will have huge amounts of hair loss. The stress goes away or my symptoms lesson and it slowly grows back. Right now I am going bald, or at least that is how it feels. My hair was just recovering from my heart failure scare just over a year ago and now I am down to just slightly more than 1/2 of the hair I normally do. I've lost probably about a quarter of my hair in a week. It is probably more stressful because I'm a woman and having scalp showing and shedding long hairs everywhere is not a common look and I can't just cut it super short or shave my head--- not when I'm job hunting.

[bunny]

I've had hair loss, but it's been more of a secondary issue from GI issues that lead to malnutrition/inhibited absorption of nutrients. As to how much the dysautonomia played a role in the GI issues, I'm not sure nor are my drs. But hair loss does seem to come up quite a bit on this forum.

Elfie: A quarter in one week? Ouch and wow. I can't even imagine that.

[Elfie]

I don't seem to have the severe GI issues (I've had bouts in the past but luckily the longest was about a month and they have never coincided with the hair loss or within a month or two of it, so I don't think they are related for me).

But yeah, I'm not super happy atm. I have a a big picture of me prior to POTS wearing my hair naturally and you can visually see that it is almost twice as thin as it was. This week is when it really started coming out again and not only is there a significant difference looking at me, but there is a carpet of hair all over my hard floors and little piles in all the corners. My dog has been having fits because he keeps geting it in his mouth or sucking it up his nose when he is snuffling around and even folding the clean laundry means I've found hundreds of hairs on the other people I live with and in food, ect.

[Gracefulprincess]

I have hair loss too and the thing with me, is that my hair is already short and thin to begin with. I was born with a genetic disorder that causes my hair to grow super slow and wont let it grow past a certian length before it will start breaking off. The longest my hair has been is shoulder length. But recently my hair has been thinning even more, because i've been losing alot of weight due to one of my medicines. I've lost 30 pound during the last few months. I'm now down to 114, and when my weight loss started i was almost 140 (its the highest i've ever been, but it's still a normal weight for me). Unforunately the medicine that we think is causing it i can't just stop cold turkey, and i actually need to be on it. But i'll be seeing my dr in a few weeks and see if there's something else he can switch me on. I hope there is cause i can't afford to lose anymore weight or hair at this point.

[issie]

I have hair loss too and also alopecia (due to autoimmune attack). I recently got a Life Extension update that they are connecting male pattern baldness to too much D2 (a dopamine). With some of my research - to me it seems there could be a connection with POTS to too high D2 levels. (Especially, for those with HyperPOTS. Just a therory of mine.) Would be interesting to see if lowering D2 levels would not only bring back or stop our hair loss and/or help our POTS.

http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2012_03.htm#prostaglandin

Issie