Hair loss

I just wanted to start off by saying I love this website. All of you on these forums give great advice (why i was able to suceed in my weight loss journey)

I have lost 25 pounds over the past the past 6 months. I am 5'10" and now weigh 146!  However a month ago I started to notice that my hair was falling out.  In the shower, it is falling out in clumps and when I comb my hair out after my shower, lots of stands fo hair fall out. I even notice that during the day there are lots of hairs fallen on my shirt or shoulder.

The length of my hair is four inches past my shoulders. I have tried using diffferent shampoos and conditions. I even have tried looking this up on google. One thing I found was drinking lots of coffee block the absorbtion of iron. Being a college student, I live off of coffee and tea. Like when it is late at night and I am studying I make tea or coffee rather than eating junk food. I also read that it could be caused by low-fat diets. I eat lots of veggies/salads/lean meats all from my school cafeteria and try to stay away from the fatty foods that are unhealthy. So i guess my diet is very low in fats. I also take a multivitamin, omega 369, and a vitamin called Hair factors by twinlab everyday.

Despite my healthy diet and cutting out ALL CAFFIENE for the past two weeks, my hair is still falling out.

My questions for you all are:

Have any of you experienced hair loss while/after losing weight? What did you to to stop it? Since I eat a low fat diet, will eating more fats make me gain weight? (I have been eating almonds, olive oil dressing on salads and cottage cheese) How many grams of fat should I be getting in a day?(I usualy eat 1500 cals a day)

Sorry if this seems like a long post but I am scared that my hair is falling out and you all have been so helpful with answering my weightloss questions. If you have any advice/tips to stop hair loss please let me know.

First of all we lose a lot of hair every day. The longer our hair is the more we tend to notice the hair loss -- it gets caught on sweaters, shirts, carpets and above all the shower drain. If you have thick hair (if the ponytail circumference is a half inch or more in width then that is considered thick hair), then there's more hair loss.

But an increase in hair loss (bigger clumps come out in the shower, hair feels noticeably thinner, scalp even visible in areas) is a possible symptom of under-eating. At 5'10' and 146 you are very comfortably at a healthy weight. Is there a reason you are still restricting to 1500 calories a day? Have you had any other famine-mode symptoms like loss of periods, irregular or light periods, more tired throughout the day, feeling the cold very easily?

Perhaps you should consider a maintenance diet of somewhere around 2000 to 2400 for three months and see if this resolves your hair loss.

Don't worry too much about a low-fat diet unless it is an excessively low-fat diet (it doesn't sound to be if there are almonds and olive oil in the mix). You should be able to see in the "Analysis" the percentage from fat and anywhere between 15 to 30% is a reasonable target (we're talking the healthy fats of course). It is not so much lack of fat that causes hair loss -- it's the overall restriction of calories.

Now despite the hair loss likely being due to calorie restriction (and therefore completely reversible if you eat a maintenance diet), it's really a good idea to discuss your hair loss with your health professional. Also, make sure to let her or him know the supplements you are taking. While unlikely, it is possible the hair loss has nothing to do with dieting and may require attention.

Yes, I am aware that we all lose hair normally everyday but my hair has been falling out more than normal. My ponytail is about half an inch in circumference. I have lost my periods. (Last time I had a period I weighed 171 pounds) Went to doctor and he said it was due to aovulation. i am not tired and no not feel cold very easily though. I would like to get to 140 pounds, thats why I eat around 1500 cals a day. Once I reach that weight I will up the cals to stay at maintence.

This happens to me just about every time I diet. My physician says that it is common for people to experience this during calorie restriction. I usually notice a my hair returning to normal about six months after I stop dieting. Although irritating it doesn't deter me from dieting.

On the upside you are very close to your goal and can soon increase your caloric intake and hopefully see more hair on your head and less on the floor. Congrats!

I too noticed significant hair loss lately!  I'm no were near my goal, I'm at 189lbs down from 250 and just in the past few months I've noticed much more hair loss than usual.  Even my hair dresser notice my hair was thinner.

I used to eat 1500 cals a day but over the summer I stopped exercising so I dropped my cals down to 1200.  I wonder if that's why my hair thinned out.

Now that the kids are back at school I upped my cals back to 1500 since I can fit in regular workouts again.

My hair stylist sold me a new shampoo regimen for thinning hair (Nioxin) I haven't noticed a difference yet, but I'm hoping it helps!

Get a blood test at the Dr.'s office.  I had irregular periods and thinning hair and a blood test showed that I was hyperthyroid.  Now I am taking meds for the condition and have been told that my hair will grow back (among other things symptoms that will improve or stop completely). Even if it isn't your thyroid, a doctor may be able to pinpoint the issue.