which one causes my hair loss the low ferritin or AA? how can I find out?

[mona]

hi gals,
I posted a really long and detailed thread but no one seems to answer so here is the summary

I'm just 20yo. my hair used to fall out but didnt care since it was really thick. then last year all of a sudden my hair started falling out like crazy. It was really rapid that I lost 1/3 or maybe half of my hair in just 4 weeks. besides they were all short new grown(but still dark and thick) hair about 2 3 inches long with white bulbs in the end(dont have anymore). there was a constant burning and pain on my scalp as well(dont have anymore). my eyebrows fell out a lot at that time too. but didnt thin out and didnt have bald spots.

after 5 months I had a blood test and my ferritin was 7,7. B12 was also very low. stopped using my meds after it got up to 50 in two months, how stupid I am. anyways, 3 months ago I had a new blood test and this time it was 15, low again. now Ive been taking my meds and eating iron rich foods so it got up to 45 and I will continue using them.

my hormones, thyroids(also the antibodies) are all ok. dont know maybe at that time they were messed up but fixed themselves until I got blood tests because I waited too long to take the tests..

about the shedding; the extreme shedding had stopped after 2 months it has started. but my hair never stopped thinning and I didnt regrew any hair. actually the weird thing is; in every 3 months my hair looks a bit better and thicker then horrible again, like its a cycle. now I dont really shed but very very thin and short fuzzy hair falls out.

my hair thinned out mostly from the front, nothing wrong with my temples and I dont have a wide part(last year I had but it is fixed on its own) yet the top part is really thin and scalp is visible especially under lights. and the frontline is not receding but it is so thin that you can count the strands, I just cant believe it will be full again.

so thats the summary altough its not too short either but this time please try to help me! do you think its because of low ferritin, B12 or AA? or its a combo? my derm said its a combo but how could she decide I also have AA?

[TRP]

Hi
I think it is a combo, too. I had low ferritin and my level was a 7. I ended up on IV iron therapy because I can't take pill form iron because I already have constipation issues and the iron made it HORRIBLE!!! I also at the same time had hypothyroidism, which the docs claimed it was ok at the time. I was also taking HRT(hormone replacement cream) and stopped it cold turkey, which after I had done so was not such a good idea. It put my hair loss into a fast progression and I haven't gotten all of it back on the top of my scalp. I have also heard that once your iron gets low like that and you are already genetically destined for hair loss it will put it in full swing. My hair also goes through cycles of shedding, which I now think is because of my hypothyroidism. I also had low iodine.

[mona]

Originally Posted by TRP I think it is a combo, too.

yeah but I still couldnt understand what makes my doc or you say that its a combo? what makes you believe that ferritin levels are not the only cause, it is also about genetics? which symptoms make you believe that?

and also, shouldnt it be going worse constantly and gradually if it is AA. But since last year there had been times which my hair looked thicker, fuller and then thin again.(dont have shedding sessions just the look from the outside changes from time to time)

[Cassy]

Mona
My Dr. said it is common for AGA to start with TE. I know it is very confusing. I have AGA with times of TE. I also have low ferritin, low D, and low thyroid. I am being treated for all these things. A combo of things can trigger hairloss and they must all be addressed.