Hello again and major hair loss
#297469 - 01/20/07 08:47 PM
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When I last posted I was undergoing several uper GI tests by my PCP when the GI specialist told me it was IBS, only an aggravation and dismissed my questions esp after I mentioned searching for info in Entrez Pubmed. His answer to my hubby's concern was that my weight had not significantly changed.
Now it is Jan and since late Dec I have noticed that I have amjor hair loss--like there is no where you cannot see lots of bare scalp. I just went shopping and bought several hats/caps for being out in public. I have not changed hair care products. I have not been able to have many items I previously ate since July when I had major food poisoning at a local IHOP. After my PCP's tests I changed meds and D attacks only last hours instead of days, but the damage is done.
I have probably not been getting enough protein and now I am trying to add baby vitamin drops after food plus biotin 2.5 mg. I now it takes 3 months for a dropped hair to grow back plus another 3-4 months for it to get several inches long--I had mine cut to 1½ to 2 inches max all over but it looks horrible.
Anyone else with these problems???
The note below may contribute--I have not looked it up as sie effects.
I also have been on Cephalexin for a gum infection since DEC. which I must remain on until my last wisdom tooth is removed this coming Thurs under IV sedation the previous 3 were difficult--2 in my early twenties and the third in my early 40's. The gap between it and the tooth in front is great and many things contributed to the infection.
I stopped the antibiotics once and it worsened. Then I fell and had to cancel 1st removal date due to what I could be given for pain if I was already taking 1-2 Vicodin plus muscle relaxer every 4-6 hours. They suggested percodin and I said you have not looked at my chart I am extremely allergic to it.
With my luck the sedation will cause more hair loss-every surgey I have had has led to less hair.
G
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My hair thinned out significantly a couple years back, when my IBS was at its worst, due to a combination of malnutrition (I was hardly eating anything at all)/anorexia, and extreme anxiety. I did the same thing you did - chop off my hair, very short - and yes, it did take forever to grow back. I'm sorry I can't exactly be *helpful* about this, but I sure do empathize with the situation. It sounds like you've been through a lot, and I wouldn't be surprised if stress and poor nutrition were at the root (ugh, sorry, bad pun!) of your problem too.
Although meds can definitely do that kind of thing, so do check them for side effects.
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As usual I have not been lucky.
I was fine until the 3rd day after the extraction.
DRY socket but I did not display the exact symptoms they expected. I went to the my pCP doc to see if it was a sinus infection. So the Nurse practitioner wanted me to have an X-ray or CAT scan but it was too late in the day on a Friday.
So on Sat when oral Demerol which I have taken for 2 invasive rotator cuff/shoulder repairs did not stop the pain which relayed around my head over my sinuses. I called the doc, and the one on call said it did not dound like a dry socket.
I called my PCP who was on duty and whom I love, he sent me to the ER and one CAT Scan later I knew I had dry socket.
Same doc was on call and after finishing his lunch, he met me and packed the hole to the middle of the earth they had left in my bottom jaw.
Next day doc who did the extraction repacked it and said come back, Thurs.
Thurs--he says you are OK because the med is only there 2 days.
NO ONE INSTRUCTED ME TO IRRIGATE THE HOLE WITH A SYRINGE NOR GAVE ME ONE TO USE. ALL IT SAID WAS TO RINSE WITH WARM SALT WATER. I called on Friday when 2 Vicodin did not stop pain, and AFTER I had been on augmentum for 7 days FOR POSSIBLE SINUS ---oh the lady is at lunch. She called at 1:30, and says we close at 2:00 on Fridays --I say no way I can get there, I'll get one from my dentist--called and my dentist was closed--so I went to my VET of almost 20 yrs (AROUND THE CORNER FROM HOME) and got the syringe. I went to health food store and bought Oil of clove just in case as it is part of packing.......Next day Sat again we go to eat and food gets in hole, and I nearly go through the roof of the car with pain--after last week I called my regular dentist. I just could not deal with a doc who does not know me and might not believe me again.
My dentist of 20+ years tells me what to do including rinse with 50:50 peroxide and water, and he will meet me in his office. He checked, there is bare bone so he packed it as full as possible and I made it to yesterday--they repacked it and fine, except this am a bunch came out--so off I am going again---it is better, but after dinner I am afraid it will go bad so I am getting dressed and we will pack one more day......I am in such poor nutritional health that I do not heal properly. I only stopped 5-6X a week diahrrea in late Nov.
THIS TOO SHALL PASS AND LIFE GOES ON...........
BLESS YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
I'll report on hair later--
G
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Quote:
I am in such poor nutritional health that I do not heal properly.
I'm afraid I won't be much help to you but I understand we're you're coming from. A couple years ago I was at the end of nearly 3 years of constantly being sick. Every single month I had flu symptoms that knocked me out for a week at a time. I had mono, food poisoning, I ended up very dehydrated and I had ovarian cysts, all kinds of dental problems, migraines, and terrible menstrual symptoms that lasted at least 2 weeks of each month. It got to where I was sick so frequently that I never had to time to get better in between. By the time the food poisoning/dehydration set in I couldn't even stand on my own. I couldn't even walk to the bathroom. I had to drag myself off the bed and crawl with all my strength to the toilet. And then rest before I was able to pull myself up onto the seat. Then I'd be stuck and have to wait for my husband to help me. I reached a point where I though eventually if I keep getting sick and never get better I'd just go to sleep and never wake up again. I was constantly going to doctors but every test came back normal and they wouldn't listen to my history, only try to treat my emergent symptoms. Sometimes I wonder why people have to experience the things that they do. And, though it may not be much comfort to some people, here's what I think:
I think that everything happens for a reason. In my case, I think the reason was to teach me how to let other people help me and to teach me that I'm not in control. I always had to take care of myself from a very young age and then I was raising my sister and taking care of my mom after she ended up with congestive heart failure (with her still being an alcoholic). And my dad was too drunk to care about what anyone else was doing. So it's always been difficult for me to give up control. I'm so used to being the person that needs to get things done. But I was forced for a period of time to let my husband take care of me. And I think I'm a better person for that. And a very lucky one, too. If he hadn't of been there, I wouldn't have had anyone else to help me at the time.
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If you're not dead, you've still got time.
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I have alopecia aereata. Currently I have a full head of thick shiny hair, however, I have lost most of my hair for "inexplicable" reasons at more than one point in my adult life. Could you have alopecia? It's an autoimmune disorder.
Have you had your thyroid checked? Sometimes that's a factor in hair loss.
Also, obtaining sufficient nutrients/calories could very well be a factor in your hairloss. Stress will deplete B vitamin stores and that can cause hair loss.
I wish you luck in solving the mystery. In my case, there wasn't a solution (besides naturally doing everything I could to boost my immune system and giving up on the whole issue). Ironically, once I accepted my baldness, my hair grew back. While I could not do much about the hair loss (i.e. it was beyond my control and without cure), it was very comforting to know the cause.
Kate, IBS-D.
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