OMG I have low iron !!!!!!!! Yay!

Gizmo · 01-22-2003, 06:41 PM

I know people aren't normally excited over this sort of thing BUT ... it is one possible explanation for my hair loss. My ferratin level is 6! Apparently Normal is over 15. SO... they're going to call a scrip on for iron supplements and hopefully that will help with the hair loss???? Oh lordie I hope so...

charliegirl · 01-22-2003, 09:03 PM

Dear Gizmo,

Did you tell the dermatologist you have pcos? It's just that I went for years with hairloss not knowing it was due to pcos. Went to several dermatologists and they either said stress was causing this or a lack of iron. Tests always showed I lacked iron, so they gave me pills for that. Needless to say it didn't work. (A lot of women have low iron) I was getting very desperate and used to cry over my thinning scalp. After reading this site I realised my hairloss was caused by elevated testosterone and NOT by low iron or stress. (Thanks for nothing, ignorant doctors). With this info I went to an endo and was prescribed Proscar to regulate the testosterone. Worked like a miracle: shedding stopped from day 1 and after a couple of months my hair is getting its usual thickness aigain. I also hear Saw Palmetto works very well.

Good luck!

Gizmo · 01-22-2003, 10:27 PM

It wasn't a dermatologist who did the tests... it was a reproductive endocrinologist. i had problems with shedding a long time ago, nothing major, but more than the average person... when I went on glucophage in Jan '01, it stopped. No problems with shedding till July '02... I've been losing hair like mad since then. In June '02 my testosterone was 51, down from 93 originally... so why my hair would begin to fall out again was a mystery. I blamed stress, as I was moving across the country at the time. Hairloss continued - went back on BCPs, didn't do anything. Realized in Novemeber, I had been taking GENERIC metformin as of 4/02 or so... maybe that was it? My PCOS had been getting better, then periods stopped, hairloss picked up, etc... Have been back on GLUCOPHAGE as of 11/02 with new doctor out here... still no let up. Have added saw palmetto as of last week...

My new doc won't test my hormones. She doesn't think it is necassary, since I am not TTC. Needless to say I am getting a new doc...

I have an appointment with the new one in February. In the mean time, this little iron tidbit is, admittedly, a straw I am happy to grasp at... but I'd sure love to know what my hormones are up to these days...