young healthy girl, losing my hair :(

[insanit_e]

Hey Healthy Living!
I posted a similar question in CD a few weeks ago, but didn't get the replies i was after... i think its much better suited to here.

Anyway, I am a healthy, 21 year old girl. I eat really healthily, excercise enough, i am very relaxed, gets lots of sleep, etc. The only really unhealthy thing about my lifestyle is that I am a massively heavy pot smoker... i'm talking up to 10-20 cones a day.

Anyway, I started worrying about something, and i wasn't the only one that noticed- over the last few years, my hair has gotten extremely extremely thin and patchy... i feel like i'm balding. There are a few almost bald spots even. My hair has ALWAYS been EXTREMELY thin, but its definitely gotten worse. I feel like even in the last 2 months, its taken quite a dramatic turn for the worse.

I went to a really expensive medical specialist for this sort of thing, and he took all these biopsies of my scalp etc. and did a million blood and urine tests. The results showed that I do suffer from quite severe female-pattern hair loss, though nobody knows why, as all my tests are normal, and its not in my family.

I've done alot of reading, and there seems to be no proven link between marijuana use and hair loss. But my instinct is screaming at me that it is the cause. I don't know why. Could this be possible??

The other question is, does anybody know of any good natural remedies for hair loss? Or things i can do to my hair to protect it from damage as much as possible?

 

[Amebix]

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/olive-oil-hair-repair.html

I doubt its going to be a miracle-cure but it might be worth something.

http://www.all-on-omega-3.com/fish-oil-and-hair.html

Fish oil is supposed to be good for hair according to the sites I read, although one said there have been no studies done on the benefits of fish oil specifically for hair loss.

 

[doesntmatter]

my instinct is screaming at me that it is the cause. I don't know why.

i often ignore my intuition and regret it. i don't know of any relation between pot and hair loss, but it would seem to me that on some level you know you need to quit smoking : /

the doctor didn't offer up any advice?

 

[n3ophy7e]

One thing comes to my mind, although it's just a hunch and I don't have any solid information to back it up:
Are you on the contraceptive pill or any other medications that alter your hormone levels??

 

[insanit_e]

^ No i'm not on any medications at all.

I think the reason i feel that its because of Pot is the following:

1- my hair loss has happened over the last 2-3 years, and i've been a heavy pot smoker for 4
2- its the only unhealthy/abnormal thing about my lifestyle
3- nobody (including the specialist) can figure out why it's been happening. He said it is genetic, but theres nobody else in my family that has this...
4- I know that there's no link between pot smoking and hair loss. But i figured, pot effects hormones, and hormones effect hair. I don't know exactly how each of those happens, but the link kind of makes me wonder...

The doctor suggested i go on Minoxodil, which is the only proven hair growth treatment. I'm considering this, but i'm wondering if i just give up weed, make sure my life is as healthy as possible, and take some natural remedies if I could deal with this without medication or chemical treatments...

 

[artaxerxes]

Have you tried going 6 months without weed? I have never heard of anything like this being associated with herb consumption, but you seem pretty confident that weed-smoking is making you lose your hair.

I would definitely try to stop smoking weed before I decided to try minoxodil or another pharmaceutical drug for your condition. Most of the time, hair loss (in females or children) is due to a lack of certain vitamins/minerals, so I'd look at that first before pursuing minoxodil.

Good luck! I hope you can figure it out.

 

[debaser]

Try 6 months without weed, and maybe if it's not that you could take some female hormones?

edit: oh I said "female" hormones, maybe that should be "male" hormones, as hair is more of a male thing.

 

[drewmandan]

I'm a young, healthy male and I'm losing my hair too...

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

OP, what other medications or supplements are you taking? This sounds like a drug effect to me, but I'd be surprised if it were marijuana.

 

[p-mo]

The doctor suggested i go on Minoxodil, which is the only proven hair growth treatment.

Minoxodil is pretty cheap and pretty effective (especially in female pattern baldness) so I would definetly look at getting some.

 

[Klue]

Most of the time, hair loss (in females or children) is due to a lack of certain vitamins/minerals, so I'd look at that first before pursuing minoxodil.

Yep, the OP didn't mention her diet at all. It is common for weight loss surgery patients (men and women) to suffer some hair loss. That's one of the main reasons why people who have had weight loss surgery have to take vitamin supplements everyday.

I take Berocca performance every day, it's a tablet that I dissolve in water. Tastes okay.

 

[davem]

I'd go for laying off the weed for a year or so - you never know, you might get more than the one benefit from abstaining for a while.......I love experimenting (or tinkering) with things like this.....

So far I've laid off tea and coffee, never drink either. Don't use antiperspirants and haven't for about 15 years - once my system evened out, no problems, no one has ever complained and no longer suffer what I used to think were anxiety sweats.....I have cold showers, rather than hot, which again, once you get used to it, is really good for your skin, reduces your electricity bill and helps the planet by reducing carbon footprint. Even shampoo was given up for 12 years (when I used to have hair) as I saw a documentary about doing it and how the hair was perfectly capable of looking after itself - after about 6 weeks of settling down, it was in the best condition it had ever been in - folks actually commented on it.

Give up the weed - remember hair is dead cells, so nothing to get too worried about, apart from the obvious vanity factor, which is totally understandable. But as long as 'the experts' have confirmed it's not indicative of some greater ill, don't worry too much as the worry can lead to stress etcetc.

Good luck with it, hope you manage to work it out,

 

[TheAdjustment]

I'm 22 and male, physically fit and have noticed hair thining. I'm in a similar situation but I have attributed it moreso to stress. Do you consider your life stressful? I tried Omega-3's refrigerated fish oil gel capsules which gave my hair a bit fuller of a look and made my skin flawless.

Also adding in some prenatal vitamins seemed to have help it look "fuller" although I do not think it has really stopped my hair from thinning. Lastly, make sure you're not lacking protein in your diet. If anything these three things have given me a bit of a placebo effect where I worry about it less, and the quality of my hair and skin have certainly noticeably improved. I'm just working on getting rid of the stress factors to ward off any possible genetics of hair thinning for as long as possible.

 

[ebola?]

Do you ingest sufficient calories per day?
At your age and with your gender, such hairloss most often accompanies anorexia nervousa.

ebola

 

[ilovescripts]

Perhaps it's due to anemia/iron deficiency or too much iron in the diet? That can cause some hair loss....

 

[Z Y G G Y]

if your intuition is telling you to give up the weed then do it

 

[nuke]

Happened to one of my friends -- turned out it was thyroid cancer. Do you have any small nodules around your thyroid? I would maybe try a different doctor. Often it can be an autoimmune problem as well, and resolves with time.

 

[moonyham]

If i was you, i would stop smoking weed. Like you said, its the only unhealthy thing in your lifestyle, and weed does effect hormones, definitly.. and hormones effect hair.

I dunno, maybe your into the bald style of things but if you want your hair id definitely stop smoking buds.

 

[tripz_two]

this might sound rediculous, and i dont have a damned thing to back it up other than a hunch - but try eating more protein (thats what hair is made of after all), and maybe once or twice a day give yourself a bit of a scalp massage to increase circulation to the capillaries in your scalp.

 

[Aok]

Have you had your thyroid levels tested or had an iodine uptake done? My hair started falling out and I could feel my heart skipping a beat. After many tests turned out negative, I saw an endocrinologist and was diagnosed with Graves Disease. Have you been losing weight or gaining? Are you hot or cold often? Moody? Thyroid problems can cause lots of problems since the thyroid gland controls our hormones (not the female ones)...like how a person feels, weight, mood, skin, hair, sleep habits, etc. Lots of people don't realize that and guys can have thyroid problems that cause the same symptoms. I had no idea what function the thyroid gland had until I had problems. It's quite interesting. If you haven't had it tested, ask for it to be. Good luck, hope you find some answers and solutions.