[thin4good]

OK, Ladies, a few of you have seen me post up some info regarding Hair Loss and asked me what to do about it. I apologize this has taken me a little while to write but I had my doctor's appointment and wanted to confirm my research w/ them before I shared with you all.

Factors contributing to hair loss:

Weight Loss:
There's several factors that can contribute to thinning hair. Weight loss is one of them. The same reason our bodies are having issues w/ pimples, our periods are out of wack, and some of us have hormones raging like teenagers! Our fat cells store estrogen, when we use fat for energy we start using up that supply of estrogen which increases the testosterone level in our bodies. This can explain the acne (think about those on steroids with acne and also balding) their levels of testorone are higher. Also, there's the simple factor of our body is not probably getting as many nutrients as it wants.

Hormone Levels:
In addition to weight loss, some women (like me) tend to have more testosterone anyway. If you're curious... take a look at your ring finger's length vs. your index finger's length. Is your ring finger longer? if so, you were probably exposed to more testosterone in the womb and more than likely produce more testosterone than most women. There's been a lot of studies on this and actually one of the most common traits among competitive professional athletes is their ring fingers are longer. Also, if you're taking birth control pills or any hormones for birth control (nuva ring, the patch or depo) this could also be affecting your hair loss.

Blood Type
This one was news to me until yesterday, but it makes sense. Apparently those with variants of blood type A (A+ or A-.... I'm A+) have difficulty absorbing B vitamins. The most essential vitamin to healthy hair and nail growth is Biotin (sometimes called vitamin K) But it is a B vitamin. If you don't know your blood type, If you also have very thin nails that are difficult for you to grow odds are that you probably have difficulty absorbing Biotin.

Genetics
Does your dad have male pattern baldness? Grandpa? Heck even mom? Females with baldness issues are becoming more and more common with the use or hormone therapies.

So what can we do now that you know all the risk factors involved, there's a few things.

Rogaine
the problem with rogaine is that once you start any new hair growth you get while taking it goes away when you stop. However, the good news is that once your hormones regulate the issue with the hair loss should stop if it wasn't happening before you started losing weight. Even though women's rogaine says 2% minoxidol do the 5% men's minoxodil. You can get the generic stuff at costco. a 6 mo. supply for like $17. At a minimum this should help slow down the hair loss.

Biotin Supplements
I am taking the largest OTC Biotin Supplement you can take 5000mcg or 5mg. B vitamins flush through our system if we can't absorb them so don't worry about overdosing. But if you're taking a B Complex as well you might want to do them at different times of the day. I am also using a biotin infused shampoo from the health store called thin to thick by Jason . I have used Nioxin in the past but I would not use Nioxin with Rogaine, that's too many chemicals.

Switch Birth Control
If you're taking a hormone based birth control, you might want to consider switching, or at least going to a lower dose of hormone.. I stole this from another site. The lower the androgen in what you're taking the better off you are for preventing hair loss. Below is a list of birth control pills ranging from lowest androgen index to highest:

Desogen, Ortho-Cept, Ortho-Cyclen, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Micronor, Nor-Q D, Ovcon-35, Brevicon/Modicon, Ortho Norvum 7/7/7, Ortho Novum 10-11, Tri-Norinyl, Norinyl and Ortho 1/35, Demulen 1/35, Triphasil/Tri-Levien, Nordette, Lo/Ovral, Ovrette, Ovral, Loestrin1/20, Loestrin 1.5/30.

Saw Palmetto Supplement
Saw Palmetto also helps block DHT which is the hormone that stops hair growth related to testosterone. If you take a saw Palmetto supplement this too could help prevent hair loss.

Tips for dealing with thinning hair

• If you have to pull your hair back use only ouchless rubberbands
• Avoid excessive blow drying and heat to prevent existing hair from becoming damaged
• Try Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder in your shade to cover exposed scalp
• get your hair cut regularly so that it does not look sparse. Clean ends make hair appear fuller.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!

[thin4good]

OK, I'm bumping this only because I know there are some people that specifically asked about it that may not be on this late at night.

[Momto8]

OMG THANKS THIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM A+ AND HAVE ALWAYS HAD TROUBLE WITH B VITAMINS AND HAIR LOSS.I HAVE NEVER HEARD THIS WAS RELATED TO BLOOD TYPE. MY BIRTH FATHER AND MY BIOLOGICAL BROTHERS EXCEPT MY HALF-BROTHER (DIFFERENT DAD) HAVE MALE PATTERN BALDNESS. THE HALF BROTHER WOULD NOT HAVE THE SAME BLOOD TYPE AS THIS COMES FROM THE FATHER. THIS MAKES SO MUCH SINCE! AND AFTER I GET MY B-12 SHOTS AT THE DOCTOR. I FEEL SO GOOD! AND MY WEIGHT LOSS ALL COMES FROM THE WEEK AFTER THE SHOT-- EVERY MONTH!!!!! IF THIS THREAD HELPS NO ONE ELSE.I THINK IT IS GOING TO MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by thin4good

OK, Ladies, a few of you have seen me post up some info regarding Hair Loss and asked me what to do about it. I apologize this has taken me a little while to write but I had my doctor's appointment and wanted to confirm my research w/ them before I shared with you all.

Factors contributing to hair loss:

Weight Loss:
There's several factors that can contribute to thinning hair. Weight loss is one of them. The same reason our bodies are having issues w/ pimples, our periods are out of wack, and some of us have hormones raging like teenagers! Our fat cells store estrogen, when we use fat for energy we start using up that supply of estrogen which increases the testosterone level in our bodies. This can explain the acne (think about those on steroids with acne and also balding) their levels of testorone are higher. Also, there's the simple factor of our body is not probably getting as many nutrients as it wants.

Hormone Levels:
In addition to weight loss, some women (like me) tend to have more testosterone anyway. If you're curious... take a look at your ring finger's length vs. your index finger's length. Is your ring finger longer? if so, you were probably exposed to more testosterone in the womb and more than likely produce more testosterone than most women. There's been a lot of studies on this and actually one of the most common traits among competitive professional athletes is their ring fingers are longer. Also, if you're taking birth control pills or any hormones for birth control (nuva ring, the patch or depo) this could also be affecting your hair loss.

Blood Type
This one was news to me until yesterday, but it makes sense. Apparently those with variants of blood type A (A+ or A-.... I'm A+) have difficulty absorbing B vitamins. The most essential vitamin to healthy hair and nail growth is Biotin (sometimes called vitamin K) But it is a B vitamin. If you don't know your blood type, If you also have very thin nails that are difficult for you to grow odds are that you probably have difficulty absorbing Biotin.

Genetics
Does your dad have male pattern baldness? Grandpa? Heck even mom? Females with baldness issues are becoming more and more common with the use or hormone therapies.

So what can we do now that you know all the risk factors involved, there's a few things.

Rogaine
the problem with rogaine is that once you start any new hair growth you get while taking it goes away when you stop. However, the good news is that once your hormones regulate the issue with the hair loss should stop if it wasn't happening before you started losing weight. Even though women's rogaine says 2% minoxidol do the 5% men's minoxodil. You can get the generic stuff at costco. a 6 mo. supply for like $17. At a minimum this should help slow down the hair loss.

Biotin Supplements
I am taking the largest OTC Biotin Supplement you can take 5000mcg or 5mg. B vitamins flush through our system if we can't absorb them so don't worry about overdosing. But if you're taking a B Complex as well you might want to do them at different times of the day. I am also using a biotin infused shampoo from the health store called thin to thick by Jason . I have used Nioxin in the past but I would not use Nioxin with Rogaine, that's too many chemicals.

Switch Birth Control
If you're taking a hormone based birth control, you might want to consider switching, or at least going to a lower dose of hormone.. I stole this from another site. The lower the androgen in what you're taking the better off you are for preventing hair loss. Below is a list of birth control pills ranging from lowest androgen index to highest:

Desogen, Ortho-Cept, Ortho-Cyclen, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Micronor, Nor-Q D, Ovcon-35, Brevicon/Modicon, Ortho Norvum 7/7/7, Ortho Novum 10-11, Tri-Norinyl, Norinyl and Ortho 1/35, Demulen 1/35, Triphasil/Tri-Levien, Nordette, Lo/Ovral, Ovrette, Ovral, Loestrin1/20, Loestrin 1.5/30.

Saw Palmetto Supplement
Saw Palmetto also helps block DHT which is the hormone that stops hair growth related to testosterone. If you take a saw Palmetto supplement this too could help prevent hair loss.

Tips for dealing with thinning hair

• If you have to pull your hair back use only ouchless rubberbands
• Avoid excessive blow drying and heat to prevent existing hair from becoming damaged
• Try Bumble and Bumble Hair Powder in your shade to cover exposed scalp
• get your hair cut regularly so that it does not look sparse. Clean ends make hair appear fuller.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions!

[Momto8]

"Hormone Levels:
In addition to weight loss, some women (like me) tend to have more testosterone anyway. If you're curious... take a look at your ring finger's length vs. your index finger's length. Is your ring finger longer? if so, you were probably exposed to more testosterone in the womb and more than likely produce more testosterone than most women. There's been a lot of studies on this and actually one of the most common traits among competitive professional athletes is their ring fingers are longer. Also, if you're taking birth control pills or any hormones for birth control (nuva ring, the patch or depo) this could also be affecting your hair loss. "
THIS WAS AMAZING TO ME.........YES MY RING FINGER IS MUCH LONGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A GOOD ATHLETE IN SCHOOL AND GOOD AT PHYSICAL LABOR MORE SO THAN MOST WOMEN....I AM NOT BUILT BOYISH --- VERY GIRLY BUILD--- BUT MY DAD AND HUSBAND SAY I CAN WORK LIKE A MAN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESEARCH THIS ALLK MAY HELP ME....

[thin4good]

Yay! You're so welcome Momto8!

It was all very interesting. I must say that I've seen lots of sites documenting the Blood Type A issue and it makes so much sense to me, but I've been looking for a hard science article to support it and thus far haven't found it online, but I'm not done giving up! I'll keep you posted on my findings!

[sue0580]

u have totally help me out. I am having this isuue right now. thanks for taking the time out to gather info me/us. I really appreciate it

[luvlex1017]

Wow, that's insane. I'm A+, My ring finger is slightly longer. I've always had real thin hair and any kind of hormonal abnormality makes me shed hair like crazy.

[goingforthin]

WOW....GREAT INFO. Thanks so much for taking the time to tell us about this. Unfortunately, for me, I do not think any of the above apply. I think mine is more Thyroid related and I will try and get more info from the doc. Although, I will try the B complex and the Saw Mill just for kicks and see if it helps. Thanks again, and enjoy the weekend with your sis!

[thin4good]

I'd recommend biotin over b complex as most b complex doesnt have biotin!

[thin4good]

bumping for those asking.