I have been IP since May 6th, how long before you started noticing the hair coming back?

I have been taking iron supplements for six months or more now.

Ok a little update on this hair loss, it is still coming out and I am freaking out even more. I started phasing off instead of doing two weeks of phase three I will only be doing one. My coach agreed to this due to the hair loss not stopping. I would be fine if it would stop coming out and I just deal with the loss but its still coming out, sometimes even worse than before. I am still taking the biotin, my coach asked IP and they recommended Anti-Oxy which I started but read that melatonin has a lot of antioxidants and I have been taking those every night for over a year.

I am using the Toppik, which disguises the scalp but doesn't make your hair grow. I am using special shampoo and conditioner which makes it feel more volumized but still falling out.

I am really at a loss what to do next, my boyfriend keeps telling me just give it time so that is what I am doing. I bought a few hats just incase it comes to that but I hope phasing off will help and in six months I will have beautiful hair again, just don't know if I will make it that long without freaking out even more.

Ok rant over...

Thanks for the update. I hope things improve soon. I will be buying Toppik in the next few days, my hair is really thinning out.

I did IP from Jan- May. My hair stopped falling out end of June but had slowed down considerably. Then in about mid July I saw all these short fuzziness when I held my hair flat against my head. But Sept it was filled in where it was getting real thin. I almost had a receding hair line. My trick was wearing thick bandanas to hide it. Gave me a sexy gypsy look for a bit. Lol.
The hair loss SUCKED! It was HORRIBLE... A nightmare actually. But it did come back. I have a feeling it may happen again but at least I am confident now that it is just a temporary evil.

I am hoping to start seeing new hair grow soon, this is a real bummer :(

Mine has been coming out a lot lately. Started slowly in the last couple weeks, but now it is A LOT! Maybe I will go get some layers put in so it wont be noticeable.

So this weekend I really looked at my hair and OMG I seriously look like a cancer patient, it is balding in the front. I did see NEW hair though starting to poke through, I just hope that it will grow back in nice and full so I don't have to keep masking my thinning hair. This is seriously very depressing, but almost to phase four hoping that will help out with the lack of hair.

I hear you, my hair is still coming out quite a bit, but I just started P4 yesterday so am hoping to see an end to exodus. I have upped my Biotin, I don't think I was taking enough and crossing my fingers that it starts growing in soon. I can see the pink of my scalp no matter how I do it now. :( Just keep reminding myself it is temporary and hope that people are so blinded by my new shape that they don't look at my hair! Thinking I need to wear a hat to the airport to pick up my hubby!

Rapid weight loss, low calories, and low fat on any just about any diet/plan will cause hair loss. However, its temporary! Make sure you are getting your 2 tsp of olive oil a day.

I personally would gladly give up some hair for the chance to lose 100 pounds of fat. Esp knowing the hair loss is temporary.

Biotin supplements (and perhaps biotin shampoo) as been reported to help some.

I view it as just part of the deal.

I am going to freak out if I start losing hair!

My hair is the only thing that makes me slightly attractive, and if that is gone...wow, I will not leave the house!

Definitely look into getting Toppik if it wasn't for that stuff I probably wouldn't leave my house. I start phase four on Wednesday and have been taking more Biotin as well. Here is for hoping :dizzy::dizzy::dizzy:

That is the stage I am, I bought stuff to mask the balding and even bought a few hats, I worked in a professional office with only a few people so it is not too bad, besides work and the gym I don't really go any where else. I really noticed it this weekend looking in the mirror and seeing how my hair line has moved back and I have balding spots.

I just hope other people read this and prepare for it, yes losing weight was nice but I wish I was told about the hair loss at the beginning so I could have been proactive.

I've also experienced hair loss about the 6-7th month into Phase One. It's still falling out a little 3 months into maintenance. I'm not sure that I could have prevented it except maybe be more diligent with the olive oil daily rqmt. Still, I wish my coach had mentioned it. My hair stylist said to expect it because of the physiological shock to the body of rapid weight loss. If it's due to release of androgenic hormones from fat-burning, I'm thankful I'm not growing a beard!

My hair loss has finally slowed down but I have been maintaining for a few months, going between Phase 1 and 2. The new hair that is growing back in is all grey. The entire area around my face is all grey. Yikes. I have had grey hair for about 10 years but can mask fairly well with my curls and highlights. This new hair is not so easy to cover so either I will need to embrace it or begin overall color and then highlights. I'm hoping it doesn't begin falling out again since I'm trying to get back to strict phase 1 - not being so successful with that I might add : (

Mine is still coming out like mad!! I got it cut a couple weeks ago and put some layers in it, so it still looks ok, but man is it ever thin! Hope it stops soon!!

I have noticed mine too lately - even with the biotine - but it is longer and dark so always looks like more

I did tell my best friend if it gets too think looking to let me know and I will get some cute lil haircut
(especially now that my face isnt so fat!!)

Unfortunately I am having to join this hair loss club! After about 3 1/2 months of IP mine is starting to fall out at an alarming rate. I'm off to go look for some of the supplements you all have suggested and hope that helps some. I have about 3-4 months to go, at least, to get to my goal so that's potentially a lot more hair to lose along with the pounds. Scary!

Mine is still falling out, but has slowed a lot. I don't really think the Biotin helped, but I take it anyway. I think it is beneficial for other things. I am so lucky I started with long, thick hair!

I hope that when my hair starts to re-grow it doesn't end up looking like a mullet! :lol:

LOL! We'll be a bunch of skinny people with mullets - a new trend!

LOL!

lolol
well everything else from the 80's is back so why not!!

Low Carb Diets & Hair Loss
by Julia Michelle (Demand Media)

Low-carb diets limit carbohydrate intake by removing foods such as bread, rice and pasta from the diet. These types of diet may also remove many fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Depending on the type of diet chosen, participants may consume large quantities of protein-rich foods, such as meats, eggs and dairy to compensate for the missing carbohydrates. A possible side effect of a low carb diet, according to After 50 Health, is hair loss. To understand how a low carb diet might cause hair loss, one should be aware of what hair is and how it grows.

Hair Structure

Hair is composed of two parts: the strand and the root. The root is a small bulb of living tissue that sits below the surface of the skin inside a pocket called a follicle. The follicle provides the root with nutrients and oxygen through a network of tiny blood vessels. The strand is the visible part of the hair and is non-living tissue. The strand is made of long chains of a protein called keratin and has three layers: the medulla, cortex and cuticle. The cuticle is the outer layer of the hair, it resembles layered scales and protects the cortex and medulla from damage.

Hair Growth

Hair has two growth phases: The anagen phase and the telogen phase. During the anagen, or growth, phase the hair grows steadily for two or three years. During this phase, the hair can grow as much as 1/2 inch per month, depending on heredity and other factors. During the telogen, or resting, phase the hair stops growing for up to three months. Approximately 10 percent of all hairs go into resting phase, while the remaining 90 percent stay in the growing phase. At the end of the resting period, the resting hairs go back into the anagen phase, where new hair starts growing and pushes the old hair out of the follicle.

Dieting and Hair Loss

If the dieter consumes far fewer calories than the body needs, or removes crucial nutrients, this creates stress. According to Dr. Michael Eades, the stress from restrictive diets causes more follicles than normal to go into the telogen (resting) phase. This may be because the body does not have enough calories, or nutrients, to support the growth phase. Once the stress has passed, the growth phase starts again and new hairs push out the old. If a large percentage of the hair was in telogen (or resting/dormant) phase, this results in sometimes significant hair loss. Sometimes, per Dr. Eades, the hair loss can occur months after the dieter begins eating normally, when new hair growth begins to push out the old dormant hair. This type of hair loss is called “telogen effluvium.”

Low-Carb Diets and Hair Loss

Carbohydrates are calorically dense, and removing large quantities from the diet also removes a significant source of calories. These types of diets may also create vitamin and mineral deficiencies, depending on the severity of the restriction. For example, Phase 1 of the Atkins diet allows several salad greens but only allows 20 g of carbohydrates a day — 300 g per day is the typical recommended amount. Because the number of allowed carbohydrates is so low, dieters may not consume enough fruits and vegetables to provide enough nutrients.

Conclusion

The body uses carbohydrates for energy to fuel all the processes in the body. Low-carb diets rob the body of its preferred fuel, forcing it to break down fat for energy. Additionally, these diets restrict calories by removing several foods from the diet. The combination of caloric and nutritional restriction puts the body under stress, which can cause the loss of hair.

Thanks for the GREAT information Avalon!

Seitan:
That article was one opinion. I have actually found other info that the hair loss could be more about fat consumption or just overall calorie consumption. The jury seems to be out on the exact cause but it is not necessarily just due to carb restriction.

I left a longer response to your cross-post on the daily thread.

Thanks for that info Seitan, I never even considered a weave and at the point in hairloss where even in a ponytail my scalp can be seen in front. My hair was never thick to begin with and I have seriously been extremely worried about this.

I went on Maintenance the first week of November and then began losing hair. I've kept my weight steady but the hair loss has continued.

Found this info just this evening:
http://healthyliving.msn.com/health-...ng-your-hair#1

Hope it helps someone. I'm clinging to their statement regarding #15, dramatic weight loss. They indicate that after about 6 months it reverses itself. Only 2 more months to go I guess.....

I was losing my hair from weight loss (not IP), and found that switching to Nizerol shampoo really helped. It's an anti-fungal shampoo but the active ingredient as a side-effect helps counteract the androgen imbalance (caused by losing a lot of estrogen-producing fat) which can trigger hair loss.

Now I regularly use Nizerol because I'm post-menopausal and that led to thinning hair. Once again, switching to Nizerol has helped. Google nizerol with hair loss. It's a well-known phenomenon. There are other shampoos with the same active ingredient (keotoconazole), but I've found them to be more expensive.

Lost 30lbs on IP last year. And lost a lot of hair. A year later I have gained back 10lbs. I still needed to lose 10 so now up to 20 on the chopping block. I have decided to do IP for 2 weeks for a jump start and then just calorie watch using my Fitnesspal App. After the first two weeks on IP I never lost anymore than a pound or two a week. Sorry but the hair loss on this plan just wasn't worth it for me. And I did take Omegas... And Biotin... And Hair and Nails formula. Still lost a wack of hair. My neighbor lady is wearing a wig now from all the hair loss while on IP. I am not criticizing anybody for being on this plan because I love a lot of the recipes and the people here, but I simply WILL NOT go through that hairloss again.

Btw... I had lost 20 lbs years ago with no hair loss... Exercise and healthy eating. Just sayin...

Hm... I've lost 116 lbs on IP with no hair loss. Guess it's different for everyone.

Hair loss could be connected to soy and a thyroid reaction
 

Just adding my 2 cents, but after losing 60 lbs on medifast I began to lose hair along my scalpline as well as from my eyebrows. It turns out that, for some people, having too much soy can trigger a thyroid problem which results in hair loss. The protein in all of the medifast food is soy. Other than that, I felt fantastic while on that diet! If any of you also see hair loss in your brows, you might consider seeing an endocrinologist to check your thyroid.

I'm six weeks into maintenance and still loosing hair like crazy. It makes me so sad because I use to love my hair! The hair loss began about four months into the diet (I was on P1 for 9 months total) and there has been no noticeable slowing down. Hoping I see an end to the hair loss soon.

Any other maintainers who continued to lose after phasing off? How long until the massive shedding stopped?

I lost a ton of hair as I began maintenance. I wish I could recall the timing, but it did grow back fully in a matter of months. It has something to do with the cycle of hair growth. Hang in there!

Lex: I lost a lot during the phases and well into Maintenance. You could see the pink of my scalp in the back and I was so embarrassed by that. I'm in my 8th month of maintenance now. I had a hair appt. 3 weeks ago and my stylist was thrilled to see lots of new hair growth all over my head and it was about 4" long. I still shed but not at the alarming rate that I was losing it before. I got a very short cut and my hair is naturally curly so it looks a lot thicker now than it used to.

Like Mars said, hang in there, it does come back!