Okay, I'm looking for a bit of in-site as to why I'm losing hair. I know this can be a common problem with weight loss, but most of the time is has to do with a high/or low protein diet or an extremely low calorie/or low fat diet. I don't fit into any of these categories.

I've started noticing that I'm "shedding" more than usual about a week or two ago. The loss is not coming out in clumps, but from all over (fairly evenly.) I have thick hair, so it doesn't look bad yet, but it's still worrying me. It's a good amount of hair! I have to you a pet hair roller on my clothes for my own hair!

~I eat between 1400-1500 calories per day
~I take a fish oil supplement
~I get 30% of my calories from fat
~I get 15-20% of my calories from protein (USDA recommends 10-15%)
~I take a multi-vitamin as well
~The only vitamin that I seem to be low on (according to fit day) is magnesium (I get approx 80% of my RDA)

I have looked on-line for answers, but the information is a bit confusing. I realize that I will probably need to go see my doctor, but I thought I'd see if anyone on here has had this problem and do they know what the cause could be.

I know that hormone fluctuations can cause hair loss too. Would weight loss cause enough of a hormonal shift for this to occur? I'm on bc so I would think that my hormones would be fairly level.

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated!

Hey zenor77,

Go to your dr. and see if you can have your thyroid tested. I have heard that low thyroid can cause hair loss, but I'm not a doctor.

It might not have anything to do with your diet regimen.

Jay

I doubt it's low thyroid. I don't think I could have low-thyroid and lose weight at the rate I am. Plus, my thyroid was tested last November and it was fine. Still you never know.

you could also be hyperthyroid. it's the opposite of hypothyroid and it can cause hair loss and fast weight loss as well. any medications you are on can also be the culprit. good luck!

My guess was thyroid as well. Mine is over-active and even on meds my hair still comes out in handfulls. I'm suprised I'm not bald yet!

Same thing happened to me, hon. I don't remember when it started, I think maybe I was several months into my weight loss, but every time I took a shower and washed my hair, I could literally just pull bunches of strands at a time out. A couple of times so much came out that I was freaking. Like you, I've got really thick hair and mine is long as well (about to the small of my back) so it thankfully didn't make too much of a difference lookswise. And eventually it stopped. I didn't find much info online about it either, when it was happening to me, but I did find out that it happens to many women who lose large amounts of weight.

I think it lasted several months before it finally stopped coming out. Except for the normal few strands a day that everyone loses naturally, I'm not losing my hair anymore. So I'm sure it will eventually stop with you as well. Thankfully you can't tell just by looking at me, but I was losing bunches there for a while.

The same thing happened to me. The doctor checked me for thyroid and other hormone levels. They couldn't figure out what it was. It turned out my head didn't like hair dye - doesn't matter which brand. And I never had a reaction to the dye in skin tests or on my scalp either.

Oddly, that's when I would lose the most hair, if I'd use any colorant. I never put permanent color in my hair, but I use the temporary 'washes' to take out little grays that like to pop out around my 'sideburn' area. And every time I used one of those things, even bigger clumps of hair would fall out. But now it doesn't do it anymore, even when I use the color.

Pantene shampoo and conditioner did this to me, and according to a hairdresser I know, it has this effect on some people. So, if you've started using Pantene recently, you may want to switch to another brand and see what happens.

Thanks everyone! Maybe I will just go see what the doctor says.

Last year, I was losing a lot of hair, but my hair is soooo thick that it didn't really matter. I just saw a lot of it in the drain when I washed my hair and on my pillow in the morning. It tapered off on its own later that year. It coincided with 6 - 9 months of weight loss and probably near the 100 lb mark. I just chalked it down to a result of the weight loss even though I know I have lost the weight in a healthy fashion.

I've been having the same problem, and no idea about the causes... In my case, it may be tiredness though (I live in a very noisy area and can barely scrap 5-6 hours of sleep a night.. for about 3 months now, gah), because somehow, if my hair wasn't falling down when I was living off cookies, pasta, pizza and bretzels, I doubt that adding tons more of veggies, fruits and lean meat/fish would cause an even bigger lack of nutriments. But an appointment with your doctor is never a bad thing, if only because having a blood test ordered can help frame out an unsuspected lack in one specific vitamin or such. Maybe s/he'll be able to advise a few more supplements, or help to see if there's a medical cause to it (hope not, cause thyroid problems and the likes suck).

I had the same issue last year with hair falling out and blood tests showed I had extremely low iron and zinc. It was the low zinc that caused my hair to fall out - I'd strongly suggest you go to the doctor's and get some blood tests done...

Iron and zinc--ah yes, that's what my doctor wanted to check as well. I had forgotten to mention it, but add those things to the 'potential lack of vitamins and such'. It can easily go unsuspected (and I believe that some drinks/foods can also prevent iron from being fixated in the body, right? Like drinking way too much tea for instance? *has to go and check that again*)