Hello all,
After losing over 2st in my first 8 weeks, I’m now on week 21 with a little bit more of a varied diet but still within roughly 1000 cals. My problem is hair loss!
I’ve got shoulder length hair, not dyed or treated in any way. However it’s starting to fall out at an alarming rate! In the shower every day I get what looks like 50 strands in my hand then daily i’m having to clean my hairbrush. My bloods are all fine so I’m sure there’s no underlying illness. I’m 51 but have read that it’s not really affected by the menopause, which i’m heading for.Any other ladies or gents noticed hair loss?

Hi leeanne
My daughter has been having a lot of hair loss (not on this diet) and has been told by the doc that most lightly reason is iron deficiency. She had also had her bloods done but because the range of “normal” is so large nobody picked up on it. He said the range is from 10-300 and hers were 20,pretty low! But it came back normal.
Hope this helps and u get it sorted.
Wendy

Hi Wendy George, thanks for replying. I have been anaemic in the past (women’s problems) and did think it may be linked. Ill see if I can improve my iron intake somehow! I was vegetarian for a while but have had to introduce a little meat back purely to fill me up. I’m going to get my hair cut to a chin length bob in the hope that this may help.

Hey

You have my sympathy as I went through a phase of losing quite a lot of hair in my big dose steroid days it is so disconcerting. I have also lost hair on previous low cal diets. The diet hair loss is often related to low protein intake so do check what you are eating. It does grow back! Also I was quite upset by it all but in fact no one else noticed even when I lost a lot.

Hope this helps

Hi Angiebabe, Thanks for replying. Although I don’t faff with my hair much, it’s worrying watching it go down the plug hole!! I had a similar problem when i had my first baby 28 years ago which I put down to fluctuating hormones. Others haven’t noticed – I keep asking hubby – but it just feels very thin and if I put it up in the hot weather my pony tail seems much smaller. (I suspect only a woman would understand!!). I’m going to try and not worry too much.

P.s. I’ve just read about it on the diet doctor website. The info is encouraging. The symptoms for with the timing of the diet.

Hi Leeanne, on the good news front, I found that my hair started to grow like crazy around the 8 week mark — in fact, there was so many new baby hairs that I looked fuzzy for a bit! My hairdresser noticed too — it was sort of funny. I have continued on the diet for 24 weeks — definitely not as strictly as I have moved forward but still more or less on track (I got to a good weight around the end of week 16). My hair loss has slowed and all those little baby hairs have now gotten long enough to lay down properly on my head, thank goodness no longer look like a fuzzy creature. I definitely credit the diet for the hair growth — I am 60 so there can’t be much hormonal reasons 😜. I think the high quality diet, extra protein were the drivers. Anyway, I hope your hair does something similar!

Hi Leeanne
Do keep posting us your hair progress. I too have noticed my hair thinning across the top of my head and crown – I have not noticed it shed though. Just that now I can see more scalp than I used to if I stand under a mirror or in daylight. I don’t know if this is a side effect of the diet, I do hope not but then again nor do I want it to be just old age! The timing is around the 3 month in mark, and I think I under achieve on protein goals quite often. I have trawled the net but it just makes you crazy? I check my hair a dozen times a day and it is really getting to me.
Would be good to hear of any similar experiences? I have had a thyroid test and get results next week but I feel it is not that.
All was going so well – 16lbs lost and I was over the moon. Now all I can think about is this. Apologies for self pity I know there have been people in this great forum with much worse problems. Any advice sooooo gratefully received
Jill

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that’s interesting – I was very anaemic about five years ago – my hair used to be very thick, but got a lot thinner at some point – could well have been then, had other stuff to worry about so wouldn’t have noticed.

Almost a year ago, after about three years of Brazilian blowdries, I had one that went horribly wrong & frazzled my hair – very frizzy and it broke off on the top section of my head. It is recovering now – the hairdresser said a couple of weeks ago that the regrowth seemed a lot thicker – may be BSD related!

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Thanks both. I will up the protein content from now on and see if that helps. I must admit it is a horrible experience and such a shock! Will report back.
Jill

There is a Dr Eric Berg on you tube who has made a series of videos on health/ vitamins etc and how different aspects of the body are affected. I am sure I saw something on hair.

I’m not sure how legitimate the guy is but he has some interesting stuff to say about Drs treating symptoms individually rather than linking stuff together and looking for the underlying cause. I was looking at the adrenal stuff and it made sense to me. He had a practical approach to addressing it that wasn’t just about drugs but about how to reduce stress improve sleep support the adrenal system lose weight exercise very gently etc

Makes an interesting watch.

Years ago I did a vlcd, and was told by the counsellor that during the low calorie stage our hair often stops shedding and replenishing at it’s normal rate as the nutrition is diverted to ‘important’ body things. Then – as you have done- when we step up our calories and more nutrients are available for the bodies secondary things like hair the body then tries to catch up by losing the hair and replenishing faster. It’s more noticeable in people with long hair for sure, but can be noticed on anyone. The same happened after both my pregnancies. I lost a noticeable amount of hair, but it did come back and it was never so thin that others would notice.

I don’t know 100% if this reason is true, but it does *sound* true, and certainly my hair did shed and come back.

Thanks both and I will look for Dr Berg right now!
Jill

I was on a VLCD and told the same thing as Izzy. Sounds plausible. A good haicut will make you ferl better while your body sorts itself out.
Well done on your fantastic weight loss!

Gosh thanks everyone you are all so kind – here’s hoping!,
Jill

Bit of an update on the hair front….I saw a nutritionist this week and paid £75 for what was a bit of smoke and mirrors therapy sadly. Off to my go this morning. My thyroid test came back normal do will ask for dermatologist referral . In meantime have started taking starflower oil, omega 3, multivitamin plus iron and ginkgo biloba daily. No improvement as yet. Leeanne have you made any progress?
Jill

My hair is still falling out – very noticable loss in my hair brush and also on my shoulders/arms after I’ve dried it in a morning. What i have noticed though is that underneath my fringe i have new growth around my hairline of what looks like baby hair. My hair is a shoulder length blunt cut. It’s not dyed and I don’t faff with it. I’ve upped my cals to about 1000 daily and haven’t gained weight. Im just hoping it will thicken up soon. Its a worry for us women!

So relieved to find this thread. I too have been suffering from heavy shedding, at one point I was worried I’d go bald! To be honest, it didn’t even occur to me that it might be my diet that was causing this problem, but I’m please to say it seems to have stabilised now and there is definitely some new growth happening too. I am taking a daily multivit/mineral supplement and am thinking about trying a skin, nail and hair supplement as well, but not taken that decision yet. Think I will wait and see how things go over the next couple of months and then decide.

Leeanne that is great news and proves it is not permanent in your case – I am so thrilled for you. Can I ask how long ago you started the diet or gave up carbs? Same question to you SunnyB ? And you have my sympathies, both. How long between getting significant thinning and noticing new hairs do you think?
My GP wants to test for iron deficiency so that is next step next week. You two sound like you have recovery in sight though – fantastic! Hope the same happens to me.
Jill X

I started the BSD in Feb did 7wks and then had ten wks in Turkey, doing low carb but not being as observant as previously. On returning in June I started the BSD proper again and am just getting to the end of week nine. I guess I noticed the thinning and heavy shedding while we were away and once noticed I became more and more aware of it. Really noticed it how much had been shed when hoovering up! Loads seemed to come out when I brushed my hair and it seemed like I had loose hairs hanging and irritating me all the time.

Only very recently noticed some regrowth. It’s very short and a bit fluffy, but it is definitely there. Hoping that it will continue grow and that the shedding doesn’t start again. Can’t say I have done anything to cause the regrowth – not consciously anyway. Hope you situation resolves soon – keep us posted Jillf.

My hair has got a lot better in recent weeks – hairdresser commented that the regrowth (after the Brazilian blow dry disaster a year ago) is very thick.
It’s also the first few weeks that I’ve been able to just wash it and leave it without getting a candy floss style frizz.

I have been using a new shampoo and conditioner that I like and think has helped a lot – but will mainly only have helped control the frizziness, not the thickness I think. It’s Redken’s PUREOLOGY strength cure

Hi Jillf,
I started the BSD on 6th March and stuck to it rigidly for 8 weeks. I lost over 2st. Since then I’ve upped my cals a bit but only noticed my hair loss after about 16 weeks. I read somewhere that hair loss may be as a consequence of things that happened 3 months prior to noticing it. Mine’s still falling out – I use a dustpan and brush around where I sit to dry it (laminate floor). Plus, im nearly 52 so perhaps my hormones are playing a part ( I still have periods). I definitely have a bit of growth though – although on examining it I have a feeling these hairs could be just ones that have snapped off and look like new hairs growing!! Aaargh! My bloods were fine though. Mystery!

Well there seems to be a possibility of BSD causality, which should reassure us all as it seems we will recover the lost hair if that is so. I emailed Prof Taylor in Newcastle but got no response. There seems to be a lot of evidence on the web about the connection but none with enough authority to give reassurance. Pity we can’t get MM & co to comment on this side effect.
Jill

Throughout my time as a diabetic I have had intoleraces all over the place. Could not sit in hairdressers as the products in the atmosphere causes red dry skin as did the products used on me. My hairdresser gave me a seat in the mens section (less hairspray) by an open window and use gentle products. Problem lasted about 2 years then disappeared. Then I became intolerant to anything cow, milk, cheese, yoghurt etc. Constantly sat on the toilet, back end problem. Had to switch to soya milk and yoghurt and goat or sheeps cheese. My specialist said I had ‘diabetic stomach’ . Again, that lasted about 2 years. My last one was about 2 years ago when my hair started falling out. Not enough for anyone else to notice but so much more than should, shower plughole was always blocked. I could see it receding from my forehead. My hairdresser (different one) could see and gave me advice on supplements, diet, hair products to avoid etc all of no help. Then suddenly it started to grow back, it became more noticeable around my hairline where it looked like baby hair. A few months later it is as thick and unruly as ever and I will never complain about having too much hair again.

Diabetics go through lots of odd things and we try to rationalise or look at changes in our lifestyles to find a cause, so we can find a cure. Just think of it as a passing phase and take the recommended supplements but don’t ditch the diet, it is probably not the cause. In some cases it is just the fact you have lost weight and your body is readjusting.

I’m sort of waiting to see what goes wrong next but hope if my diabetes is under better control it won’t be able to mess my body up so much.

Thanks so much SG…I am not diabetic however but yes it could be the quick weight loss I agree, it is another possibility of course..
J

I started the BSD in March and soon after, I was shocked when great amounts of hair started to come out in my hands when washing my hair. It is still falling out 5 months later and really, really upsetting me. I’ve been to an endocrinologist recently to check out the thyroid etc but endo thinks my thyroid is fine and believes it could be because of big weight loss so quickly on this diet but no answers as to why it’s still falling out at an alarming rate. I’m eating very well with plenty of nutritious food so am at a loss as to why it’s still happening. I reckon I’ve lost about half of my hair and shudder to think what it’ll be like by the end of the year. Seems the doctors have no idea. Just tell me to buy Rogaine!!! And hope for the best. Not very reassuring! Hopefully we get some regrowth soon. Good luck everyone.

Neen welcome to the clan! The more have experienced this the better in a way because if it is caused by the BSD then it will recover, hopefully as it will be Telogen Effluvium as opposed to female pattern baldness. It can only be one of the two as far as endless hours of research show me…and the former is much better news as recoverable from. My doctor just smiles and I can see he thinks I’m just post menopausal and I should get over it. But I just know it’s not an age thing ….I can’t prove it but 99% certain so it looks like a waiting game. I’m sure all on This thread will pitch with any hints and solutions they find. Hang on in there and we will come out of the other end of it I am sure!
Jill

I don’t know if anyone will see this but I’m soooo glad to have found this. Been on the BDS for 14 weeks and in the last 5/6 my hair loss has been heavy. I’m blessed with very very thick hair so it doesn’t show but it’s still traumatising to see it in the hair brush etc. I’m a 28 year old male and recently went to a GP, dermatologist and a hair specialist to see what was going on. Bloods came back normal, my skin is healthy etc so I’m putting it down to the diet as many of you have expressed the same situation. Can anyone suggest a good multi vitamin (in the UK – price doesn’t matter) that can help reduce the hair loss while I’m on the diet?!

Furthermore I understand that this type of hair loss can be caused by trauma to the body, which the BDS does cause the body. The massive weight loss (iv lost 4 stone in 14 weeks) obviously has a dramatic effect on the body. This trauma apparently causes the hair follicles to go into sleep mode (breaks the normal pattern of hair loss) thus more hair falls out.

St James, the last time I severely restricted calories to 500-600 a day, I had a similar experience. After 5 months I had
lost 60lbs, but finally decided to quit because of evidence in my hair brush. I don’t have anything to contribute with
regard to the biology or physiology of it, but I can share with you that I’ve done the Fast800 for over a year with no
such problems. This time I made sure that that I’ve kept protein to this formula: 1-1.5 grams of protein to kg of ideal
body weight. The 1-1.5 differential is based on how much exercise and weight training you choose to do. Just my
anecdotal experience. Hope it helps.
Allie

Sorry StJames, I forget to add that I also now include a 1/2 oz of nuts (almonds, brazil nuts) and 1/4 avocado in
my diet this time around. It may be part of the equation in terms of healthy fat. It’s done wonders for both my
hair as well as my skin.
Allie

Hello St James and Alliecat

I wanted to say thanks to both of you for your posts. I also found this thread and was relieved to find I wasn’t alone in shedding like a retriever – I couldn’t go anywhere without leaving a trail! St James, in my case I started to shed sometime in June after the end of my 8 weeks at around 800-900 cals, it seems to have lasted for about two months (eating c1400 cals) and has in the last few weeks definitely slowed.

Like you I have thought to take a multi – vitamin (generic, nothing special), which I suspect is little more than a placebo, but I also wondered about protein and will definitely bear Alliecat’s advice in mind if I decide to have another go at 800 cals.

Smaus

Hello all,
Back again after many months. Just to say that I no longer notice any hair loss (apart from the normal) and it’s sort of back to normal after stopping calorie counting. On the downside I’ve regained all the weight I originally lost and am about to re-start the BSD yet again – but I’ll save that for another post.

Said it would go of its own accord, now get back on the plan, it was not the cause, you just have diabetic quirkiness.

So glad I decided to search for “hair loss” on the forum to discover I’m not alone! As Jillf said, there’s quite a bit about it on the net, but nothing very authoritative. However it does seem a likely cause – I’ve lost 3 stone in just over 3 months, and haven’t really strayed much from my 800 a day. I don’t count, but I’m fairly sure I don’t go much above 900 ever. I do eat plenty of protein which seems to be one piece of advice, and veg, and I take a daily multivit (just in case!) I did go through a moulting phase about 30 odd years ago (no idea why), which scared me at the time, but it did stop and hair grew back. Someone once told me that if you can see little hairs growing at the hairline, there’s basically nothing to worry about, as it indicates new hair coming through (if it falls out with no sign of replacement, that could indicate alopecia). I keep asking my sister (we live together) if it looks thin, and she insists it doesn’t – I think other people have written similar things here, that no-one else seems to notice even though it’s dropping out at an alarming rate, and running my fingers through me my hair, I can really feel a difference!

I wonder if I should start to up the calories, but I still want to lose another stone (I’m 5″ 5 and 11 st 1 and “ideal” according to NHS is between 8st and 10 st 11 and I think I should aim for around 10 stone), and the weight is still coming down at about 2 lbs a week. I mostly don’t feel hungry, feel really well in fact, and I worry slightly that increasing calories will mean I put the weight back on….and I REALLY don’t want to do that! Equally I don’t want ALL my hair to fall out! Almost doubling my current calorie intake (which is what NHS reckons would be a healthy amount) I feel fairly certain would lead to massive weight gain! Or are my fears ungrounded? How has everyone else managed when trying to up the calories?

Even if you still want to lose another stone there may be some benefit in increasing your calories, with suitably nutritious foods in the short term and see if that helps the hair loss. My advice would be to increase the calories gradually, anywhere between 50 calories per week or about 300 (I used 50 calories per day which works out at about 260 calories per week extra) seems to help the body to adjust to the higher calories. Use a lot of variety, particularly in vegetables and fruits to try to bolster any trace nutrition you may be short of and above all don’t panic. You may well find you continue to lose weight during the calorie increase stage, and even if you don’t, you can always do another 4 weeks or so later when your metabolism is more reactive and any trace minerals have been replenished. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Hi, eliza, my experience with hair loss is posted above. Two more months have passed
since that post, and I still have no current problems with it. Before upping calories, please
read the following link. I don’t advocate for vitamin capsules in lieu of whole food,
however. If you search google for “foods highest in x” you should be able to adjust
your diet to compensate for any nutrient deficiencies without having to abandon your
weight loss objectives. Sometimes in an attempt to keep carbs really really low the
yellow/orange vegetables are abandoned, and that’s where the vit. A (betacarotene)
is found, very important for skin and hair! If you would tell us how many grams of
protein you average per day also, we can take a look at any shortfall there as well.
But first, have a read through on vitamins that affect the health of our hair 🙂

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/best-vitamins-hair-growth#section3

Hope there is something there that may give you some insight beyond what the
NHS has to offer.

Best wishes,

Allie

Hello Eliza52 – your experience is sounding similar to mine. After around 12 weeks of c850 cals and over 2 1/2 st lost I shed like crazy for about 2 months. Ironically the start of this episode coincided with me increasing my intake to around 1300 – 1400 cals (I’m a little taller than you at 5ft 7). I’m no authority but I suspect that the body’s messaging to follicles has quite a long lead time! Another 3 months on and my hair is still there, I’m down another 2st but can’t really tell whether regrowth has started. I think that my advice is to nudge up the calories a little (800 really isn’t very much), be patient and don’t worry too much about it unless it keeps falling out beyond say 2-3 months or seems to accelerate. Meantime expand your hat collection for the chilly weather – I have one bought in May just before my my shedding spell that is now too big; I’m a bit miffed!

Smaus

Thank you to everyone for your repsonses. Allie, I agree about supplements. My usual attitude is that if you need supplements there’s something wrong with your diet! However, I decided that given the low overall consumption (with 800 cals you’re not eating large quantites of ANYthing, even some of the goodies) I would take a multivitamin “just in case” I was missing out on enough of something. Thank you too for the link on vitamins. I think on the whole my diet is fairly balanced. I have an egg most days for breakfast (along with either mushrooms and aubergine, or mushrooms and tomatoes, or celeriac rosti and tomatoes), oily fish a couple of times a week, other fish too (cod for example). I eat other meats – steak about once a fortnight, chicken, pork, turkey, lamb, ham – plus some pulses, or soy proteins (veggie sausages). Veg too, I eat a large bag of spinach at least in a week, cabbage, celeriac, aubergine, peppers, small amounts of carrot (half in a stir fry or coleslaw), mushrooms, red onions, courgettes, tomatoes, spring onions. Occasionally I have a little avocado…but I have to be careful as i have a dodgy gall bladder and some high fat things set it off (oddly, salmon doesn’t!) I have red berries (strawberries or raspberries, sometimes blueberries) most evenings and a small (kids) apple in a salad or a coleslaw. I have pumpkin seeds in salads, and a few nuts here and there (again, not too many or it sets off the gall bladder). I can’t eat flax unfortunately (or only about a teaspoonful, as that seems to be the worst for the gallbladder oddly). I don’t count anything (I did for the first two or three weeks, but now I think I have a feel for it – at the end of the day, we tend to repeat the same things on a rotational basis, so working it out all the time seems pointless (for me anyway – I know that for others it’s essential to do it, which is fine. I think we all find our own ways of doing things). I’m sure I don’t go much below 800 but not much over either – and the weight continues to come off, though rather slower than it did in the beginning obviously. And my blood results are really good, so I figure on the whole I must to doing the right thing. I don’t feel hungry (or very rarely) feel healthy, don’t sleep as well as I should (but that’s the cat’s fault!) but manage to work full time (run our own business from home). I think I will maybe try and put up the calories a little at a time (I think your idea Mixnmatch of 50 cals a day seems like a good start) and I am reasonably confident my hair WILL grow back!

Eliza52, thanks for including the details of your nutrition plan. It’s actually the closest
to mine that I’ve seen yet, which is to say that it looks extremely healthy to me 🙂 🙂 🙂
I also eat wild fish 2-3 x per week, for the heart benefits of the omega 3 fatty acids,
which aren’t the same fats that are in animal based protein. Perhaps that is why you
don’t have gallbladder pain associated with eating it? I eat 1/4 avocado @ 5 x per
week, and about 8 almonds per day, both for the plant based healthy fats. The rest
of my proteins consist of free range chicken breast (and eggs), fat free organic
greek yogurt (which isn’t recommended here, I know, but I don’t care for the taste
of the full fat version) pastured steak 1 x month and pork tenderloin 1 x month
because o/h needs the variety. In cooking, I only use xv olive oil or avocado oil
when I need to sear something at high temp (much higher smoke point!) I never
eat sausage, bacon, etc. For the veg, lots of cruciferous vegetables and spinach.
Now that I’m in maintenance, I allow roasted root veg., but in small quantities, i.e.,
1/2 a 6″ carrot, or 1/2 a small beet, or 1/4 c. of squash. This suits our lifestyle,
as o/h has very advanced coronary artery disease. We haven’t eaten any cheese
since 6/2016 because neither of us have any portion control with the stuff or bread
either, for the same reason! All the “white stuff” went in the bin in 2016. You’ve
done extremely well thus far, so I hope taking a multivitamin helps you. If I’m
remembering correctly, you’d like to lose another stone? I sincerely hope that
you will share your daughter’s reaction when she arrives! My “version” of the
BSD has allowed me to lose 10+ stone and successfully maintain that loss for
7 months and counting. A lot of us maintainers increased our calories as suggested
in the previous post and continued to lose a bit more until reaching our TDEE. There
are a number of members of the community who are able to eat considerably more!
I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts, so I hope you remain with us.
This is a beautifully flexible plan, and well suited to special health needs.
Best wishes,
Allie

Thank you Allie for your endorsement of my eating plan! I think it’s fairly balanced, but it’s always good to get someone else’s feedback! We have cheddar in the fridge (I do courgettes and tomatoes – slices layered in a dish, seasoned with a teaspoon of pesto (slice the veg in a processor and then mix thoroughly with the pesto before layering) topped by a thin sprinkling of cheddar and a (VERY) few panko crumbs. Do this about once a fortnight. Today, having looked at an almost bare fridge (shop due tomorrow) we also did stuffed egg to have with salad – mixed hardboiled yolk with a little mayo (less than a tsp) and fat free greek yogurt, a thin fine grating of cheddar and a dash of Lea and Perrins and piled back into halved whites (I love these, and they taste quite indulgent!). I love blue cheese, and Brie (and others too) but I daren’t buy it as I would eat the lot in one! However, have promised myself a TINY portion of blue for Christmas, which I am going to eat in a stick of celery (rather than water biscuits!). In any case, cooked cheese in any quantity sets off my gall bladder, so I’m not tempted to overdo that, or I end up in pain for days.

I think I might follow your lead and try and add the almonds – I do have a few flaked ones with my berries and yogurt for pudding, but I’m wary of overdoing them, again because of the gall bladder. I could have it out, but it seems to me that I’m better off keeping it – there can be side effects after removal, and knowing that if I start to overindulge on fats I will end up in pain, seems an easy way of keeping some control over that. I know full fat is encouraged, but I’m not sure OVERdoing fats is good either. I might try the 1/4 avocado too – I think my system will be fine with that – though maybe not every day to begin with.

So looking forward to seeing my daughter next week. We visited her in New York in June (middle of a heatwave so not the best time to have chosen!) and I was still my 14 stone self then. We’re picking her up from the airport, so not sure she’ll notice immediately with me sitting in the car bundled up in a warm coat, but hopefully she will notice at some point! I’ve gone down almost three dress sizes, so even my somewhat unobservant daughter should notice that!

I am so impressed with your weight loss – and maintenance! Every time I’ve dieted previously, it’s gone back on again, but firstly, given the diabetes diagnosis I know that I can’t afford to go back to old ways (and doing without pasta and bread – cheese even – is so much better than living without my sight or my feet, and that for me is the most powerful driver) and then, this WOE is so easy to do. I don’t feel deprived or hungry. Discovered so many new dishes that I really enjoy, and which are healthy. I don’t think my diet was too bad before (ate plenty of fruit and veg) but of course it did include carbs. Luckily I didn’t really drink anyway – never have – so I didn’t have to worry about that – I only ever drank tap water in restaurants (ok, so the occasional cocktail to start – but only two or three times a year) and I’ve never been a cake or biscuit fan (except the water biscuits and cheese – I could go through half a packet of those at a time with a slab of cheese!). And working from home makes lunches easy. Plus, I live with my sister, and she has adapted to my way of eating even though she’s not diabetic (losing a stone in the process) so I don’t have anyone else clamouring for “proper” food. We binned or took to the food bank all the biscuits, pasta, rice etc, so no temptations around. So I am very aware that perhaps it’s been an easier path for me to take that it is for some others who don’t have such good support around.

Will post daughter’s reaction!

Best wishes
Liz

I should have updated the group on my own case ages ago. In 2016 I finally went to a trichologist who, to my shock, diagnosed age related hair loss/thinning ( I am 63).. I say shock because it runs in families and it is not in mine, plus all my life I have been like Crystal Tips (cartoon character who had huge hair). I was in denial for weeks and to some extent still find it strange that it coincided with the diet. Anyway, I bit the bullet and started using minoxidil daily and my hair has somewhat recovered – enough to stop me being self conscious and to others it just looks normal. It has been a horrible journey and is not the answer I wish I could have come back to the group with, but there we are – worse things happen at sea and at least there was a solution ( literally!).
Jillf

I am too late to see your post…
Can you tell me about your hairs?