My own solution that stopped the hair loss

[Tarot by Tara]

I don't know if this will help anyone, but I thought I should post it. After getting my hair cut yesterday, I remembered back to how upset I used to be when my hair was falling out. I figured that perhaps my situation and solution could help another, that's why I registered on this board and am writing this now. I know our bodies are all different and my solution may not be the same as yours, but if it can help just one person out, I've done my job here.

I'm a 32 year old woman. Back when I was 20 I (foolishly) was convinced to have my gallbladder out. Ever since that day I was having *horrible* hair loss issues. I noticed that my digestive system was out of whack, and I started to develop food sensitivities after a few years, but didn't really know I was having them.

My hair would fall out from just about anything. I went to an endocrinologist and he stated it was stress related since I had no history of male or female pattern baldness in my family. I went to a dermatologist and she stated that it was from my psoriasis (I have it on my scalp and other parts of my body) and that was the reason. My doctor suggested it was probably from losing and gaining weight too drastically. I believed that when I exercised too drastically, I found my hair would shed the next day and hypothesized it may have been too much testosterone and stress on the body causing it as well.

However, every suggestion I was given, I kept feeling like that wasn't the solution, because my hair kept shedding and my part was becoming worse and worse.

There were times when, of course, the shedding would stop for a bit. Instead of losing 100 hairs in the shower, I'd only lose about 20. But when I'd brush my hair out or touch it during the day, it would come out easily. So I would gauge my hair loss by that day's shower.

True, when I was less stressed, my hair was better. More settled. The gentler the exercises (i.e. yoga, walking), I would not show any adverse effects the next day.

However... I would still have unexplainable periods of shedding. Until I started to think about hummus....

One day, out of the blue, I thought, "I wonder if what I'm eating could be causing my hair loss." I seemed to pick up on a pattern that, when I'd eat hummus or soy, I would get horrible indigestion/heartburn and my hair would fall out a lot the next day. I also noticed that when I drank this specific brand of Greens drink, my hair would fall out... and the indigestion as well.... and tuna fish! Who gets indigestion and heartburn from TUNA FISH? Me, that's who! Anyway, the pieces started to fit together... I was beginning to form a hypothesis here....

It literally took me over a decade to come to this realization, but during the last year, my conclusion ended up being this: my hair loss was being caused by a mixture of newly formed adult food sensitivities (due to my gallbladder being removed & my psoriasis) as well as stress on my body (possibly also from the gallbladder being removed and becoming over sensitive to exercise and mental stress, since these things are also linked to the digestion process).

You see, over the past couple of years I have noticed that I have developed a horrible sensitivity-- borderline allergy-- to anything from the LEGUME family. Every time I eat something from the legume family (soy, tofu, beans, alfalfa, carob, peanuts, etc.,), I was having horrible food sensitivity reactions. I would have a headache, or mood swing, or be itchy, develop a rash, become sleepy, or the best one yet-- MY HAIR WOULD FALL OUT THE NEXT DAY.

It took me a long time to realize this, because soy is in almost EVERYTHING today. Not to mention, it's no longer just SOY anymore-- now everything has GMO (genetically modified organism) SOY which is like taking a hit of agent orange every time you eat. It's toxic and slowly posioning us all. It's not only found in soy, but corn and 5 other crops in the U.S.

However, this post is not a rant against GMO's totally. This GMO debate a crucial topic and one I believe to be responsible for a lot of infertility and such going on in the world today, but I would not discount it being responsible for hair loss either....

Anyway, my point here is, once I cut out all legumes, I noticed that my hair totally stopped falling out. TOTALLY. I perhaps have 2-5 hairs fall out in the shower, if that. I no longer touch my hair and have a handful of hair in my hands the next second. I can brush my hair-- EVEN WHEN WET-- and only have maybe about 5-10 hairs max come out on the brush-- if any at times!

So what happened here? First, I believe my food sensitivity arose from a mixture of my gallbladder coming out, thus drastically changing the way I can digest food and altering my immune system. Before that day, I had thick, plentiful, gorgeous hair. People always complimented me on it. But once I had the surgery? Sure, I had normal stress-related hair loss, but it didn't stop there. I believe my body stopped functioning in a normal digestive manner and I was losing vital nutrients (fats, proteins, vitamins) that my hair needed. Just like when someone gets gastric bypass surgery. So many people have thinning hair because they are deprived of nutrients once this surgery is done.

The other thing that happened is that the foods we eat are toxic. As I mentioned before, everything has soy it in. It's used as an emulsifier in just about every processed food we eat-- and then even some non-processed foods! Did you know that fruits are covered in wax composed of chemicals and soy? And canned tuna and soups have soy in them?? And don't even get me started on medication! And all of these things don't only have soy, but, you've guessed it-- GMO soy!

You know... I went through so many tears... so many people saying I was crazy; that I just needed to stop being "so stressed" and my hair would be fine. But I didn't stop. I knew something wasn't right. And because I paid closer attention to my body and started to educate myself about diet, hormones, toxins, and so many other things associated with hair loss, I finally found my personal solution.

My hair's never been better. I've rid myself of stress, make sure I get plenty of sleep, and stay far, FAR away from legumes. It's so easy now to detect if something is of the legume family now, because I immediately see my psoriasis react to it. And I know, the next day, I will see some hair loss. And I do. I'm vigilant when I go out to eat in restaurants and make sure I know what's in the food, and read all food labels (and soy is tricky, b/c sometimes it's sneakily listed as "natural flavors!") and won't give something a second look if it has an ingredient in it my body cannot tolerate. Am I sad I cannot eat these things? Yes and no. I could try doing the GAPS diet and heal what I believe may be a "leaky gut syndrome", thus what's causing my allergies/sensitivities, but I feel that the damage is already done b/c I am missing my gallbladder. And now, I just have to adapt and do the best I can with the knowledge and remaining organs I have.

Oh-- and on that note-- it's sad I listened to my mother and doctor and had my gallbladder out when I was so young. It's sad the medical profession took advantage of me to make some money on me and convince me that "the gallbladder isn't an essential organ of the body." If anyone ever tells you that, don't believe it.

Anyway... this is my story. I hope it sparks some sort of solution some of you as well. The moral is: never give up. If you know your hair loss is being caused by something that isn't hereditary-- and even then-- don't stop looking for answers. People are just starting to wake up to the poison that plagues our food nowadays, and the long-term ill effects they have on us. I wouldn't be surprised if many of you on this forum and around the world are losing your hair because of the food we are eating, the water we are drinking, and the environmental toxins surrounding us every day. And if you're reading this now and feel that a food sensitivity/digestive issues is a possibility-- hey... it doesn't hurt to try and see if it is the culprit. But if it's not, don't give up hope. And if there is no reversible solution to the hair loss, guess what? You're still beautiful anyway. I was half-tempted to shave my head at one point and realized my hair was only as important as I made it out to be.

Okay... thank you for reading this huge post. I wish you all the best.

Namaste'

- Tara

[Tarot by Tara]

Just posting this again in my thread in case anyone misses it in the other one:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...two-years.html


Baldness cure could be on shelves in two years

A hair lotion that cures baldness could be on the market within two years, believe scientists.



Scientists have found a single enzyme has a major role to play in male-pattern baldness, as experienced by the Duke of Cambridge. Photo: REX








By Stephen Adams, Medical Correspondent

2:04PM BST 19 Aug 2012

175 Comments


They are already talking with pharmaceutical firms about making the product, which would work by stopping the effects of a single guilty enzyme.

US-based dermatologists announced earlier this year that they had found that an enzyme, called prostaglandin D2 (PGD2), instructed follicles to stop producing hair.

They identified it by screening 250 genes implicated in hair loss.

George Cotsarelis, head of dermatology at Pennsylvania University, said the one responsible for levels of PGD2 played “the major role”.

He said he was now talking with several drugs firms about creating the anti-baldness product.

[alysdare]

Originally Posted by Tarot by Tara I don't know if this will help anyone, but I thought I should post it. After getting my hair cut yesterday, I remembered back to how upset I used to be when my hair was falling out. I figured that perhaps my situation and solution could help another, that's why I registered on this board and am writing this now. I know our bodies are all different and my solution may not be the same as yours, but if it can help just one person out, I've done my job here. I'm a 32 year old woman. Back when I was 20 I (foolishly) was convinced to have my gallbladder out. Ever since that day I was having *horrible* hair loss issues. I noticed that my digestive system was out of whack, and I started to develop food sensitivities after a few years, but didn't really know I was having them. My hair would fall out from just about anything. I went to an endocrinologist and he stated it was stress related since I had no history of male or female pattern baldness in my family. I went to a dermatologist and she stated that it was from my psoriasis (I have it on my scalp and other parts of my body) and that was the reason. My doctor suggested it was probably from losing and gaining weight too drastically. I believed that when I exercised too drastically, I found my hair would shed the next day and hypothesized it may have been too much testosterone and stress on the body causing it as well. However, every suggestion I was given, I kept feeling like that wasn't the solution, because my hair kept shedding and my part was becoming worse and worse. There were times when, of course, the shedding would stop for a bit. Instead of losing 100 hairs in the shower, I'd only lose about 20. But when I'd brush my hair out or touch it during the day, it would come out easily. So I would gauge my hair loss by that day's shower. True, when I was less stressed, my hair was better. More settled. The gentler the exercises (i.e. yoga, walking), I would not show any adverse effects the next day. However... I would still have unexplainable periods of shedding. Until I started to think about hummus.... One day, out of the blue, I thought, "I wonder if what I'm eating could be causing my hair loss." I seemed to pick up on a pattern that, when I'd eat hummus or soy, I would get horrible indigestion/heartburn and my hair would fall out a lot the next day. I also noticed that when I drank this specific brand of Greens drink, my hair would fall out... and the indigestion as well.... and tuna fish! Who gets indigestion and heartburn from TUNA FISH? Me, that's who! Anyway, the pieces started to fit together... I was beginning to form a hypothesis here.... It literally took me over a decade to come to this realization, but during the last year, my conclusion ended up being this: my hair loss was being caused by a mixture of newly formed adult food sensitivities (due to my gallbladder being removed & my psoriasis) as well as stress on my body (possibly also from the gallbladder being removed and becoming over sensitive to exercise and mental stress, since these things are also linked to the digestion process). You see, over the past couple of years I have noticed that I have developed a horrible sensitivity-- borderline allergy-- to anything from the LEGUME family. Every time I eat something from the legume family (soy, tofu, beans, alfalfa, carob, peanuts, etc.,), I was having horrible food sensitivity reactions. I would have a headache, or mood swing, or be itchy, develop a rash, become sleepy, or the best one yet-- MY HAIR WOULD FALL OUT THE NEXT DAY. It took me a long time to realize this, because soy is in almost EVERYTHING today. Not to mention, it's no longer just SOY anymore-- now everything has GMO (genetically modified organism) SOY which is like taking a hit of agent orange every time you eat. It's toxic and slowly posioning us all. It's not only found in soy, but corn and 5 other crops in the U.S. However, this post is not a rant against GMO's totally. This GMO debate a crucial topic and one I believe to be responsible for a lot of infertility and such going on in the world today, but I would not discount it being responsible for hair loss either.... Anyway, my point here is, once I cut out all legumes, I noticed that my hair totally stopped falling out. TOTALLY. I perhaps have 2-5 hairs fall out in the shower, if that. I no longer touch my hair and have a handful of hair in my hands the next second. I can brush my hair-- EVEN WHEN WET-- and only have maybe about 5-10 hairs max come out on the brush-- if any at times! So what happened here? First, I believe my food sensitivity arose from a mixture of my gallbladder coming out, thus drastically changing the way I can digest food and altering my immune system. Before that day, I had thick, plentiful, gorgeous hair. People always complimented me on it. But once I had the surgery? Sure, I had normal stress-related hair loss, but it didn't stop there. I believe my body stopped functioning in a normal digestive manner and I was losing vital nutrients (fats, proteins, vitamins) that my hair needed. Just like when someone gets gastric bypass surgery. So many people have thinning hair because they are deprived of nutrients once this surgery is done. The other thing that happened is that the foods we eat are toxic. As I mentioned before, everything has soy it in. It's used as an emulsifier in just about every processed food we eat-- and then even some non-processed foods! Did you know that fruits are covered in wax composed of chemicals and soy? And canned tuna and soups have soy in them?? And don't even get me started on medication! And all of these things don't only have soy, but, you've guessed it-- GMO soy! You know... I went through so many tears... so many people saying I was crazy; that I just needed to stop being "so stressed" and my hair would be fine. But I didn't stop. I knew something wasn't right. And because I paid closer attention to my body and started to educate myself about diet, hormones, toxins, and so many other things associated with hair loss, I finally found my personal solution. My hair's never been better. I've rid myself of stress, make sure I get plenty of sleep, and stay far, FAR away from legumes. It's so easy now to detect if something is of the legume family now, because I immediately see my psoriasis react to it. And I know, the next day, I will see some hair loss. And I do. I'm vigilant when I go out to eat in restaurants and make sure I know what's in the food, and read all food labels (and soy is tricky, b/c sometimes it's sneakily listed as "natural flavors!") and won't give something a second look if it has an ingredient in it my body cannot tolerate. Am I sad I cannot eat these things? Yes and no. I could try doing the GAPS diet and heal what I believe may be a "leaky gut syndrome", thus what's causing my allergies/sensitivities, but I feel that the damage is already done b/c I am missing my gallbladder. And now, I just have to adapt and do the best I can with the knowledge and remaining organs I have. Oh-- and on that note-- it's sad I listened to my mother and doctor and had my gallbladder out when I was so young. It's sad the medical profession took advantage of me to make some money on me and convince me that "the gallbladder isn't an essential organ of the body." If anyone ever tells you that, don't believe it. Anyway... this is my story. I hope it sparks some sort of solution some of you as well. The moral is: never give up. If you know your hair loss is being caused by something that isn't hereditary-- and even then-- don't stop looking for answers. People are just starting to wake up to the poison that plagues our food nowadays, and the long-term ill effects they have on us. I wouldn't be surprised if many of you on this forum and around the world are losing your hair because of the food we are eating, the water we are drinking, and the environmental toxins surrounding us every day. And if you're reading this now and feel that a food sensitivity/digestive issues is a possibility-- hey... it doesn't hurt to try and see if it is the culprit. But if it's not, don't give up hope. And if there is no reversible solution to the hair loss, guess what? You're still beautiful anyway. I was half-tempted to shave my head at one point and realized my hair was only as important as I made it out to be. Okay... thank you for reading this huge post. I wish you all the best. Namaste' - Tara

Highly thanks for your guidance .I have definitely collected so amazing information from you about the hair loss.

[HANNAHD]

Tarot by Tara,

Thank you for posting. I have been suffering hideous hair shedding for about a year and a half. I used to have thick beautiful red curly hair that i got comments on all the time. Now I have just wisps of hair left and my ponytail is the size of a sharpie marker. The sadness and anxiety caused by this is monumental. in October 2011 I had an accident. Right after that, I started to suffer from psoriasis. Not knowing what caused it I sought out dermatologists and help from other sources. I was told that I had an auto-immune disorder, it was incurable, and was given a cream to apply that said right on the box "studies have been shown to cause cancer". Um, no thanks. I never used it. After 6 months of struggling with the psoriasis and watching it spread to a third of my body (it was in my eyebrows and between them, in my hair, up and down my arms, etc.) I started to research my diet. I eliminated several things and eventually found that when i stopped eating gluten, the psoriasis improved almost 100%. I also eliminated dairy. Since then, I have noticed the hair loss. Extreme hair loss. it took a while to be able to SEE it because, like I said, I had thick hair. I have since tried everything to get it to stop. I know it has something to do with what I'm eating. Some days I am gloriously free of the itch (I get it often in the back of my scalp and around my temples) and I know I've eaten safe that day. I keep thinking it's cross-contamination and it seems impossible to avoid getting glutened somehow. But, recently I've noticed... just like your post... I seem to get super itchy and hair falls out after I eat TUNA. I suspect soy. Well, tuna is a double whammy, is it not? Most tuna cans say "contains soy" and everyone mixes it with mayonnaise, right? MORE SOY. I woke up this morning and watched in horror as my hair fell into my breakfast. Within 1 hour, I had lost at least 50 hairs. Last night, I ate a big bowl of tuna. So, this morning I read a ton of stuff about soy and it's likelihood to cause hairloss and I came across your post... I feel SO HOPEFUL just reading it. The way you describe your reaction to eating legumes is almost identical to my reactions from certain unidentified sources? lately. The most encouraging thing is that you said your hair is better than ever. Thank you for posting and if I could just ask... how bad was your hair before you figured it all out? Thanks.

[tessie]

Hi fellow sufferers and read the above posts with great interest

I have been watching my diet very carefully since my extreme shedding started.

I initially went the doctor route but was given harsh chemicals that destroyed the rest of my hair and unfortunately, the GP wasn't interested in addressing the cause.

After long, long hours of my amateur research, I chanced upon an organic oil mixture that really eased my scalp when applied -- but long term only reduced , not stop the shedding.

Re my diet I introduced more soya into my diet (daily doses!) as I read that lowered eostrogens may be a cause of excess shedding.

My diet of 17 vits/amino acids/soya hasn't stopped my loss at all -- the topical solutions seem to ease it slightly but now I don't know what to do with the truck load of tofu at my back door -- at one point I was even massaging the stuff into my scalp in the hope that it would balance any hormone imbalance that might be contributing to the loss.

Wishing that all of this pain was easier to address with a little more help from 'those medics who should know' so I'm going to have a nice glass of red wine in the hope that something therein will help -- and if not, offer a mild anaesthetic to the mind in contortions of despair!

Any tips/hints on soya would be most gratefully received (I'm veggie but would rejoicingly throw every last packet in the bin if it's a contributory agent in this horror show) as I feel as though I am chasing my tail -- as well as losing my ponytail.
Deep sigh and trying to live in hope .........