Hair loss and changes to fingernails

I’ve noticed increased hair shedding in the last year, coinciding with worsening ME.

It could be telogen effluvium. In case you don’t want to/can’t read the link, here are some highlights:

Telogen effluvium (TE) is probably the second most common form of hair loss dermatologists see.

TE happens when there is a change in the number of hair follicles growing hair. If the number of hair follicles producing hair drops significantly for any reason during the resting, or telogen phase, there will be a significant increase in dormant, telogen stage hair follicles. The result is shedding, or TE hair loss.

TE appears as a diffuse thinning of hair on the scalp, which may not be even all over. It can be a bit more severe in some areas of the scalp than others. Most often, the hair on top of the scalp thins more than it does at the sides and back of the scalp. There is usually no hair line recession, except in a few rare chronic cases.

Possible Causes
  • Classic, short-term TE often happens to women after giving birth due to change in hormone levels
  • Vaccinations
  • Crash dieting
  • Physical trauma such as a car crash or having surgery
  • Some drugs may also induce TE, especially antidepressants
  • Chronic illness
  • Chronic stress. Many dermatologists believe chronic stress can gradually exert a negative effect on hair growth and lead to persistent TE. Research with animal models has provided evidence to back up this claim. There does indeed seem to be a link between stress, a change in hair follicle biochemistry, and more hair follicles entering a telogen resting state.
  • Diet deficiency. Whether dietary problems are causing TE in North America is hotly argued among dermatologists. Potential deficiencies of iron, zinc, amino acid L-lysine, or vitamins B6 and B12 have been suggested to contribute to TE.
  • Hair follicles are particularly sensitive to thyroid hormones and about one third of individuals with a thyroid disorder have TE.
  • Exposure to toxins
  • TE can also be a symptom of other conditions, such as inflammatory conditions like alopecia areata.
As the environmental insult passes and the body recovers, the TE subsides and there is new hair growth. More persistent insults can result in more persistent TE.

Treatments
  • How TE is treated depends on what has activated it
  • For short-term TE that can be linked to a trigger like surgery, the best response is to sit tight and wait for the follicles to recover of their own accord
  • For persistent TE, if the causal factor can be isolated, then the best method is to remove it
 
I started losing more hair maybe 3 years ago. I was going mad so I tried a few things and this stuff really works. I’ve been using it for 1 1/2 years now and it has made a tremendous difference. My hair is a lot thicker and it’s even grown in new places (the hair line on my forehead is a tiny bit lower).

I’ve recommended it to another woman and she had the same results as well. She even had a bald patch and it grew back. There are lots of reviews about it online and it works for a lot of people.

You need to stay on it but it’s not that expensive.

Amazon product ASIN B0753KVSLZ
 
My hair has been falling out over the past few years.... i think it’s TE loss rather than anything else. So far, I’ve been able to cover up the thinning by getting more of a fringe. I don’t know if it’s hormones or ME... I’ve tried various supplement and decided that actually nothing makes much of a difference. Expensive shampoos and conditioners don’t have an effect either!
I’m hoping it won’t get any worse, but am now resigned to it. My hair has always been very fine. :(
 
After being ill with ME for many years I developed autoimmune diseases. Some I am not convinced about, Sjorgren's and MS, but I definitely have psoriasis and frontal fibrosing alopecia. You can tell it is autoimmune because there are little collars formed round the base of the hair which show the follicles have been destroyed. Once they are gone, they are gone, sadly.

I am glad it didn't happen when I was younger but I just wear a hat or scarf most of the time.
 
I have had a number of epsiodes of hair loss over the years due to a number of reasons:

1) thyroid - snag is if you get checked and it seems "normal" that just means that it's within a normal range. It does not mean that was the level that was normal for you. In addition thyroid problems can be aggravated by certain medication including those containing oestrogen.

For more thyroid info:
http://www.thyroiduk.org

http://www.btf-thyroid.org

and there are various threads discussing on S4ME

2) anaemia - even if the results are in the low end of the normal range - it's a wide range.

3) fluctuating, or dropping hormone levels. Stopping or changing hormone medication, perimenopause, menopause etc. can all affect hair loss.

I daresay there are lots of other causes too.

I don't know if it's an ME "thing" - it's not impossible that it might just affect a certain subgroup.
 
Early on I lost hair - it eventually grew back - I wonder if this is somewhat common in ME, and practitioners just dismiss it.

My more recent experience has reminded me that minerals can interfere with thyroid supplements. I have experienced hair loss trying to increase my low ferritin level. I also have hypothyroidism, and the iron interfered with absorption of the thyroid supplement, thus causing hair loss. I now take my minerals many hours away from when I take my thyroid medication. My hair is growing back.
 
Nathalie Wright said:
I've seen this mentioned sometimes, but not often.

Does anyone else get this? In the last 4 months my hair has been falling out, it would look more noticeable but my hair was v v thick to start off with.

I know there are lots of reasons for hair loss - but ME seems like a likely culprit right?

Any tips?
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Hello
I just read your post,I am 59 I started loosing my hair more so in 2007 onwards and was told it was female patterned baldness as father lost hair in his twenties.
It’s strange though as no one else has it,it’s so bad now I had it cut short, I have hardly any hair at the top and sides it’s so very thin, I used to have very thick hair. Had thyroid checked it’s normal. Hugs
 
@Jan87, personal experience with hypothyroidism has shown me a few things about thyroid tests:

1) most mainstream doctors just test your TSH - thyroid stimulating hormone, which comes from your pituitary gland to stimulate your thyroid gland.

2) there are other tests, such as the T4 which is the hormone produced by your thyroid gland

3) there is also T3, which I understand is the body's conversion of T4 to T3 (the more active form of thyroid hormone)

4) there are other thyroid tests as well, that are not regularly done; sometimes these are done as a group; you can find out more about thyroid test panels on the Net

5) there is also the thyroid antibody test - I understand this is a common cause of hypothyroidism; we develop antibodies to our thyroid gland

6) some alternative health practitioners may more readily treat with thyroid
supplementation/hormones even if one's TSH is not out of range (your pituitary telling your thyroid gland to get going)

7) I wouldn't say the alternative method is better; however, I have heard, and read enough to see these practitioners' methods may work for some, who haven't been helped, as most are via allopathic methods
 
DokaGirl said:
@Jan87, personal experience with hypothyroidism has shown me a few things about thyroid tests:

1) most mainstream doctors just test your TSH - thyroid stimulating hormone, which comes from your pituitary gland to stimulate your thyroid gland.

2) there are other tests, such as the T4 which is the hormone produced by your thyroid gland

3) there is also T3, which I understand is the body's conversion of T4 to T3 (the more active form of thyroid hormone)

4) there are other thyroid tests as well, that are not regularly done; sometimes these are done as a group; you can find out more about thyroid test panels on the Net

5) there is also the thyroid antibody test - I understand this is a common cause of hypothyroidism; we develop antibodies to our thyroid gland

6) some alternative health practitioners may more readily treat with thyroid
supplementation/hormones even if one's TSH is not out of range (your pituitary telling your thyroid gland to get going)

7) I wouldn't say the alternative method is better; however, I have heard, and read enough to see these practitioners' methods may work for some, who haven't been helped, as most are via allopathic methods
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@DokaGirl
Thank you for your reply
I think that’s what I have had but I am looking for my latest thyroid results and when I have will post them.
My husband has undearactive active thyroid he was putting loads of weight on and on the blood test it showed he had it.
My sister had thyroid cancer she had a goita removed.
Thank you I will look on the net about that.
I think i have nearly had all tests going and come back negative but will look into it.
 
Hi @Jan87. Thanks for your reply. I was thinking I should add that symptoms including basal temperature are important things doctors look at. In my experience alternative physicans may look at basal temperature more than allopathic doctors do. You can find how to do basal temperatures on the Net. It's a first thing upon waking temperature reading. Cheers.
 
DokaGirl said:
Hi @Jan87. Thanks for your reply. I was thinking I should add that symptoms including basal temperature are important things doctors look at. In my experience alternative physicans may look at basal temperature more than allopathic doctors do. You can find how to do basal temperatures on the Net. It's a first thing upon waking temperature reading. Cheers.
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Hello
That’s really interesting so do I get my husband to take my temperature first thing in the morning before I get up?
Thank you
 
I list unusually high amount of hair moulting as a potential symptom. It’s too hard for me to be absolutely sure about the relative amounts vs normal hair loss. It seems to me subjectively that my first round of hair loss occurred not long after developing the syndrome. Then it seemed to stabilise to more normal levels. I feel I’m having a small resurgence in hair loss again now. My hair appears (again subjectively) to be thinner than it was, slightly thin after previously being excessively thick. It’s making me think I should look closer at the thyroid tests that I believe was among the batch of initial testing my dr sent me for and all of which came back “normal”. In related news I’m going to check if anyone has posted about fingernails becoming brittle.
 
theJOYdecision said:
It’s too hard for me to be absolutely sure about the relative amounts vs normal hair loss.
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I think this can be an issue. If we aren't washing our hair as often, or spending time styling hair, then less hair is lost down the plughole or on hairbrushes. If we are instead spending more time with our head on pillows, then it may be that more hair ends up on the pillows.

I'm not discounting all of the potential causes discussed above. But I think that changes in routines might make normal hair loss seem to be more of a problem. That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.
 
@Hutan I have always had a thing about not allowing my shed hair to disappear down the drain (sympathy for flat mates/family who would otherwise have to clear out my shed hair eeew). And now my hair bothers me daily and forces me to deal with it—as much as I would rather just let it become a bird’s nest. So that perhaps gives me more of a sense that I had a fair subjective sense of how much I was shedding while well vs while ill. But nevertheless I probably haven’t taken into account that more could have disappeared down the drain during the blissful era of daily showers than I imagined. From now on, unless I have stronger evidence to the contrary I shall comfort myself with this new supposition.
 
Sorry, @Jan87 I didn't get back to you about basal temperature. I blame it on the ME, and lack of techiness.

You can take your own basal temperature first thing in the a.m. By now you've likely looked it up on the Net.

Here is a site from the Mayo Clinic. Much of the info on the Net talks about using the basal temperatures for family planning - there is some on thyroid as well, but I don't know how good the websites are:https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/basal-body-temperature/about/pac-20393026 :)


(While I couldn't find any other websites to recommend re basal temperatures, the Mayo Clinic does still recommend CBT and GET as treatments for ME; something requiring updating.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...gue-syndrome/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20360510)
 
DokaGirl said:
Thank you to the authors for this.

But a point about hair loss.

The article says those with ME do not experience hair loss, but those with Long Covid do.

Early on with ME, I had hair loss.
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I had some hair loss initially and rapid onset of greying afterwards. It is part of the early disease I suspect, its not well documented though I guess its relatively rare in ME/CFS patients (but then its pretty rare in Long Covid too comparatively).
 
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