Which is why I asked my hairdresser if it was bad because I did not want to start taking any! I also have been keeping my hair very short... it helps lol

Ketogenic diets can be hard on thyroid (TSH shoots up for many people) but then settles back down after the weight loss portion of the diet is over. When I read this (many sources), I was annoyed my doc didn't know this, esp since I brought him an info packet from my coach & he ordered blood work. If I can find the info online, it frustrates me that docs don't know/find out.
I had hot flashes almost since the beginning, until I started freezing all the time, which prompted the doctor visit. I'm hoping the thryoid meds will be temporary. I DID already have nodules, prior to starting IP so thyroid was showing stress.

God the hair loss.... I worry about this too because it happens with many diets. It happens a lot faster when protein is also restricted with calories. But it really happens with any diet that restricts calories. Part of my college education when I was training to be a RD was counseling those with eating disorders. I hate to constantly be the negative Nellie but I'm sorry to say that sometimes the hair loss or hair thinning can be permanent. I worked with people who had long since been recovered and were eating healthy diets and many had hair pieces or had to have their hair cut a certain way.

I don't doubt that the ketosis is hard on the thyroid. It is also hard on the kidneys. I hope that anyone with concerns about their hair loss takes the time to see an experienced health professional. Sometimes the best person to consult with is a Registered Dietician. Many are supportive of these alt diets and can analyze labs in conjunction with diet and recommend supplementation or tweaking of the diet to prevent hair loss.

To be frank, if my hair starts falling out I'm taking that as what it is; a sign of malnourishment, and I will stop phase I and go to maintenance for awhile until my body can heal.

Don't want to make anyone mad here. But I wanted to share with those who are losing their hair that it might not grow back and they might want to consult with a health professional.

My thyroid right now is somewhat unregulated. I keep getting my levels checked and my dr. keeps downing the dose. I was wondering if the diet is messing with it. If the TSH kicks up, then I would need less medication, right? Or do I have that backwards? Anyway, I keep lowering the dosage to now almost half of what I was taking before. Not sure if it was related to the diet or not, but was somewhat suspicious. Have not actually talked to the doc since I started the diet. That should be a real jaw dropper when she sees me, after the last 7 years of gentle prodding and heckling to get me to lose weight - but that's another story! (I will report in down the road and let you all know how it goes. Without a reason to go to the doctor right now, I should be down a bunch more by the time she sees me for my physical!)

I will say that the three registered dietitians I have consulted in the past 10 years had no idea what to do with me because of my many health issues. They have no idea how to deal with someone who gains weight at 1500 calories a day. They ARGUED with me when I said the only way for me to lose weight was to eat less than 1000 cal/day. They called me a liar. I refuse to see another dietitian as long as I live, because I know my body, they don't.

It took years of my own research to learn what I needed to know, that eventually led me to this diet.

I have consulted my GP about this diet and other than the high sodium (which I'm dealing with on my own by using alternative products) she thought it was sound. And NOT one that causes malnutrition, or she would have never signed off on it.

When we dealt with my hair loss before, her suggestion was, "It happens. Try Rogain." I did not. I got back to research and found all the vitamins/supplements that will help. I take vitamin B's, zinc, biotin specifically for hair. I have new growth now, and I lose the "normal" amount now, not gobs of it every time I brush or shower.

I'm not being *****y. I don't want your post to scare off newbies. This diet is actually a LOT safer than the 800 "balanced" diet I did a decade ago which was not a ketogenic diet. Effective, yes. Healthy, no!

IP is safe, if the person doing it is aware of their own issues and limitations.

TSH going up may be a sign for MORE medication. You want TSH to be low (.03-3.0 looks like the standard).
If TSH is high, your body is trying to stimulate your thyroid (but it probably isn't working so it keeps kicking up). Very important to have your doc involved if thyroid is unregulated.

Luckily, from reading all the hair loss threads, it seems the general experience is that hair grows back. I, too would really hate to scare someone away thinking anything else would be the norm.

From my reading (not just here) ANY weight loss plan (esp long term) can speed up the hair life cycle. So, it seems like we're losing more b/c it sort've all happens at once. When we hit maintenance and are no longer severely restricting, the life cycle settles back down.

Other health issues can affect hair loss/re-growth, as well. But, in general, around the IP boards, I've not seen anyone say it didnt grow back.

Most of our bodies respond in SUCH a positive manner to a lower carb plan (lower inflammation being #1) with such improved numbers in health markers (triglycerides, A1c, HDL/LDL ratios, etc) that the "hair thing" tells me it is connected to the rapid weight loss and not this particular diet.

Sounds like you had hair loss prior to this diet? Not really what I was addressing. Typical teaching is to eat no less than 1200/day diet and exercise to create a deficit. This isn't always feasible for the morbidly obese and honestly I think this diet is better than getting gastric bypass by a mile.

I am an RN and honestly I know better than anyone that their are 9 bad or mediocre health professional for every 1 stellar one. Also sounds like you had hair loss prior to this diet? If a diet makes a person who never had hair loss from another issue lose their hair, then they are malnourished. When do you think a person IS malnourished from a diet? When their teeth fall out? When they go into heart failure or organ failure, or just when they die from a fatal arrhythmia?

All I was saying is that if a diet is the reason you are losing your hair, going back to a normal way of eating may not regrow your hair. That is just what I've seen in my personal and professional experience and I wanted people who assume it will grow back after they phase off to know that too. Some times weight loss is a trade off with unwanted side effects. But it's not fair to newbies to deny to them that those effects might not be permanent.

I see a lot a defensiveness about this diet here. I don't deny that it works and people lose weight on it. But the phase I part that you are on to lose the majority of weight is certainly not well balanced or sustainable. Most people do actually NOT lose hair when they are able to maintain a healthy well balanced diet that is sufficient in calories and protein as they lose weight. But I know those diets don't always work for everyone. Also 800 calories is not enough to prevent malnourishment no matter what is making up those 800 calories.

The reason they stopped routinely using 400-600 Very Low Calorie Diets that they used in the 70s and 80s, (Also protein shakes.) was because of the occasional pt who died of heart failure or a fatal arrythmia. Oops...
My OBGYN will put people on these low calorie 800-1000 calorie meal replacement diets but demands weekly labs and counseling with him in his office. Even with supplements some people develop electrolyte imbalances or kidney issues. (Shockingly only $100.00 a week as well.) My family doctor on the other hand refuses to support these ketogenic diets. He says most patients gain back the weight eventually and feels they can be dangerous for the same reasons I mentioned above. He has a large practice here in the DC area and he has more experience than all of us.....