Help! Hair Loss / Excessive Hair Shedding with CC

[tex]

I don't have any experience with zinc supplements. Hopefully Gabes or someone else can help you out there.

Tex

[Erica P-G]

HI Constance,

A couple things....I take zinc as I have higher Copper levels. I take 50mg every other day, plus I take Biotin too....Biotin helps with nails and hair (I have given it to my horse too ;-)

The zinc seems to help with my digestion in the stomach too. One of a small batch of things I take on a daily basis

[Constance]

Hi Erica:

Thanks so much for sharing that information with me! You mentioned you have higher Copper levels. What do your Copper and zinc levels run? Do you get blood tests fairly frequently to monitor your vitamin / mineral levels? If so, do you work through your G.P. to order the tests and monitor your levels? My GP for some reason was reluctant to run the blood tests for vitamins and minerals that I asked for a few weeks ago even though it had been almost a year since he'd last run them. I just don't understand these doctors...

Erica, is there a certain type or brand of zinc that you could recommend? I do take "Alive" multi-vitamins that contains 100% of the daily suggested as well as "Bone Minerals" by New Chapter, Fish Oil and a good probiotic (the probiotics saved me when I was first diagnosed with colitis). I was also taking 2500 mg of biotin / per day for a over a year (per my dermatologist's suggestion). I ended up having crazy "snake-like" dry and scaly skin on my legs all sorts of age spots popping up all over my body - very, very suddenly. I wondered if it was because of the biotin. So... I stopped taking the extra biotin supplement about six months ago. While my skin is still extremely dry, the crazy condition on my legs did get better after a few months of being off of the biotin. Go figure!

Thanks in advance for your feedback / guidance! I feel SO fortunate to have found this forum and such a great group of people! I don't have many people to talk to that truly understand the ups and downs of this colitis and how it can cause so many issues with your overall health and well-being. Thank you for being there!!

[Gabes-Apg]

hi there
apologies that it has taken me this long to reply - i worked 6 days straight this week.

ok
due to my health issues ( a health condition that causes B6 and zinc deficiency) i get my blood levels of zinc and copper checked every 9-12 months.
due to the health system here I have to pay for these tests. (and I do it via my functional practitioner not GP)
one of the reasons i have to pay for the tests is that unless you present with chronic symptoms of deficiency, mainstream doctors are limited as to what tests they can order. especially where the solution is nutritional supplements (not drugs)

the other reason gut will improve on zinc, is that zinc and B6 are key for balance of stomach acid. if stomach acid levels are low, you are best to have liquid zinc, so you absorb it better. once levels are raised then tablet zinc will be ok.
so far as brands my picks from iHerb are as follows

Eidon Liquid zinc
tablet form - Thorne Zinc Picolinate
country life Biotin (as per your reply to Erica skip this for now)

of note, you need good levels of B6 to absorb and process zinc well. otherwise higher dose zinc supplementation will make you nauseous.
Thorne Methyl Guard Plus is a great product of active B's
or Thorne P5P for straight active B6. It is important to take active form of B6 (which is P5P) to get optimal benefit of this process.

rather than taking great lakes geletin, home made bone broth is a much much better source of healthy options of collagen, gelatin, amino acids etc. small amounts in meals as soups or stews.

hope this helps

[Constance]

Gabes,

I thought I had responded to your message on Sunday - but it appears my message did not go through for some reason...

Thank you so much for your reply, input and guidance! Hope you got some well-deserved rest after such a hectic work week, Gabes!

Based on my current blood results for copper and zinc (listed below) and based on the fact that I'm trying to get this hair shedding to stop, can you guide me as to how much zinc I should be taking each day to raise my level to a good place? I realize that because of the colitis, I may not absorb it as well as others might, but still - I don't want to over-do it, so I am nervous about how much to take each day and for how long. Do you have a suggestion?

My Copper is currently 108 - (std range is 70-175)
My Zinc is 70 (std range is 60-130)

Thanks, Gabes!

[Gabes-Apg]

I did get some rest - and am now doing another mega week!

I would start with 35-40mg once a day for a few weeks if after 8 weeks there are still no improvements increase to 50mg for ONLY 8 weeks and then drop back to 35mg.
to ensure zinc absorption is optimised, B6 via P5P is key. a good option is to take the P5P in the morning and then take zinc at night.
always have the zinc with a high protein meal.

[Constance]

Can't thank you enough, Gabes, for your guidance! Fingers crossed that supplementing with the zinc (and B6) may help to turn this crazy hair issue around!

Take care,

Connie

[Forgiven1]

I had the hair loss too. It started about a month before my first MC episode and ended about 3 months after I stopped Entocort. Then it started again with this next flare up. It is SOOOO frustrating! And most people don't seem to care when you tell them or cry about it...but hair is personal to us and it does matter.

My doctor told me that aside from the malabsorption/nutrition factors global hair loss was also caused by stress. He said that obviously MC was a huge physical stress and that dealing with the disease symptoms was also emotionally stressful. The name he gave my hair loss was telogen effluvium if that helps you.

Hair is also 3 months behind. So hair will start falling out 3 months after the cause and it will stop falling out 3 months after the cure. That makes it difficult to determine what is working or not because you need to try it for at least 3 months.

I got a cute short hair style so that I was always thinking about the thickness of my ponytail and that actually really helped me! I think stress is a bigger component of all this than we all like to think about. It isn't measurable so it is hard to really study it but stress can really throw off a lot of body systems.

If there are ways you can reduce causes of anxiety/stress and also find ways to deal with it better that may help you too.

[Marcia K]

Hi, Connie. My hair loss stopped after I added Vitamin D3 and magnesium to my diet. My thick, wavy hair had become dry & brittle prior to the start of the LC. I blamed it on peri-menopause but the LC was the cause. My hair is now thick & wavy again.

[Martha]

Connie, I don't know if you are still looking for a nutritionist who knows about MC. I did find one. I am working with her to get off an antidepressant, but she says that she has worked with a lady who had MC, and cured her. I presume this means that the lady go into remission. I am doing fine managing my MC with diet, so haven't asked for her help with that.

Her name is Dr. Gabrielle Hodson. She has a PhD in nutrition. Her website is http://www.hodsoncustomdiets.com/. If you talk to her, tell her that Martha Martens referred you.

Sincerely,
Martha

[Greengoddess]

I found what my hair stopped this when I take Thorne Research Thyrocsin. Heaven knows why! Zinc?

[DeeDee]

I found your post while searching hair loss. I too have this problem. I noticed a similarity in your test results. My TSH levels are with the standard rage, like yours. My nutritionist said my PCP would say they are fine, but could also be part of my hair loss. Yep, PCP said post menopause and heredity cause hair loss. I think its the budesonide and this disease. My nutritionist suggests using sea salt, eating seaweed, drinking bone broth, or taking healthy omega 6 to help increase Iodine which may help with hair. I just started some of these and can’t say if it is actually helping yet. I am hopeful it will grow back when I stop budesonide. I am not in remission yet but praying that day will eventually come.

[dolson]

Hi Connie, my hair has thinned so much it's consumed me. When I was diagnosed with pancreatic enzyme deficiency, the doctor put me on pancreatic enzymes. My hair grew thick and gorgeous. I think I was in remission. When I look back, I think it was Microscopic Colitis causing my hair to thin. I've had MC all my life because you can see my bloated stomach in pictures as a small child with thin hair. It would have been fruitless to visit a GI specialist. It doesn't matter because doctors don't understand MC now and certainly didn't understand MC back in the 1950's-1960's. Last year I went to a dermatologist and she did a SCALP BIOPSY. She informed me I had a metabolic disorder or disease causing my hair loss. NOT ALOPECIA!

I understand your concern and frustration over hair loss. I have plenty of diarrhea episodes and worry each time about losing more hair. I too have thought of a wig, but don't want to wear a wig. Plus my body is losing nutrients and vitamins. It worries me that I was born with this monster and what's it's done to my body. I even worry that my colon may have to be cut out. I am nervous!

Connie, if I can help you in any way, please ask. We need each other for support. This is a wonderful support group. Welcome. Dorothy

[Mia lee]

I thought I would chime in on this. I recently read several journal articles that say inflammatory bowel disease can cause hair loss. It most likely is a result of the loss of important nutrients. Hair loss is particularly prevalent in those IBD that cause bleeding ( like UC) and therefore iron loss ( low iron /ferritin definitely causes hair loss).

[Mia lee]

And I too have thinning hair. :(
I looked up all of the usual meds for CC and they all can cause hair loss. Even Pepto. Definitely the steroids. The only one that seemed not to was perhaps Mesalamine. In an interesting study with Mesalamine it appeared to protect against hair loss. Interesting.
I too, am afraid of the medications on offer. All reports show that none of them result in long term remission; and reverting to active disease after using them usually occurs quickly( and often in just 2 weeks). Not encouraging. And a ‘maintenance’ dose of such scary drugs is certainly not appealing, and nor does it seem safe. What happens after a decade on some of these ‘maintenance’ doses?
Sadly, after my long 6 year gluten free effort on the SCD diet, I don’t think gluten is my problem, as this disease never resolved then, though it did improve somewhat.
I am just now beginning a new food journal, and hope to discover a way to do better with this disease. I feel as if my body’s reaction is defensive; but what are the culprits? Sometimes I wonder if it is bacterial.
God knows I don’t want to take a medication that would cause more hair thinning though.
This disease is depressing and stressful enough; and hair thinning is just sort of like a low blow to those of us who are already down.