Hair Falling out

[3boys1girl]

Hi There
My bub is 4 mths old. About a mth ago my hair started falling out and I expected this as it happened with my first baby as well.
I went and saw a naturopath about 2 weeks ago and he put me on calcuim and iron and he told me to keep taking my blackmores breastfeeding tablets.
I have been doing this but It dosnt seem to be getting better but worse:(
Is this all I can do? Do you have anymore suggestions please?

thanks

[naturopathonline]

Hi There,

I'm sorry to hear about your post-birth hair loss. This is a common condition effecting up to 90% of all women after birth to some degree. About 10% of women however experience an excessive amout of hair loss which can be quite distressing :(. This is called Telogen Effluvium and describes a hair loss of greater than 100 hairs per day.

During pregnancy hair naturally thickens due to higher estragen levels. After birth, as estragen levels drop dramatically, it falls out. It is common for women to notice hair loss between 3 -5 months.

Hair goes through three distinct stages of growth - growing, resting and transitional, due to hormonal fluctuations at around 3-5 months after birth new hair starts to grow pushing out the old hair.

The good news is it is a self limiting condition and your hair should retuns to its normal state after approximately 6 months.:flowerz:

Apart from fluctuating hormones there may be nutritional factors that are contributing to your hair loss. Nutrients such as zinc, folic acid, B6 and the other B group vitamins, biotin, inositol, magnesium and sulphur are all important to control hair loss.

It is not uncommon for women to become nutritionally depleted after giving birth. If you are breastfeeding it is important to keep in mind that the nutritional demands of breastfeeding are even greater than pregnancy, therefore you should eat a well balanced diet and take a good multivitamin and mineral supplement, preferably one prescribed by your naturopath. It may also be worthwhile getting your naturopath to test your zinc levels - this is a quick and easy test and may indicate if your current regime is providing you with enough zinc.

It may take some time for these nutrients to have an effect - so be patient, keep taking what has been reccomended and take special care with your diet.

It may also be worth having some specialized nutritional advice before the next addition to the family comes along as this may help minimize this problem in the future.

If your hair loss continues after 6 months or becomes excessive - see your doctor as sometimes it can be caused by an underlying thyroid condition.

I hope your hair is back to normal soon :)

Wishing you all the best

Tania

[3boys1girl]

Thanks so much for that info! Very interesting!

Im losing way more than 100 strands per day!

My Dr said my thyriod was almost hyperactive during pregnancy so their maybe something going on there. I will book an appt tomorrow!

I dont have to worry about it for the next addition as there is going to be no more! 4 is way enough!!!

Thanks again :hugs:

[naturopathonline]

Hi There,

Good luck with your thyroid tests, it is quite common if you have had elevated thyroid hormones during pregnancy to have a drop in thyroid activity in the postnatal period - so perhaps that is the answer especially if your hair loss is extreme.

Other things to look out for with low thyroid is fatigue, constipation and feeling the cold more than normal.....

Wishing you all the best :wave:

Tania