Hair loss on dialysis ?

[kristina]

Hello,
I have had 40 sessions of dialysis and have noticed that whenever I brush my hair,
I suddenly lose much more hair than normal and I am wondering whether this is connected
to anything to do with dialysis and the EPO which I have at dialysis on a regular basis ...?
My hair is very long and has always been very bushy and I am getting concerned...
Thanks from Kristina.

[jeannea]

Lots of us have experienced hair loss on dialysis. I don't believe it has anything to do with epo.  You are sick. Your body is adjusting to this new process and it's hard on you. Often things like hair or nails are where your body shows stress. My hair loss reached a point where it stabilized. I had really thick hair so even with hair loss I still have plenty. Some of us have found keeping it short is easier but that may be an illusion. I personally avoid coloring my hair or getting perms because those can be harder on your hair and brittle hair falls out easier I think. Hopefully your hair loss will even out soon.

[kristina]

Thank you jeannea for the kind explanation.
... My body has always "kept itself" despite all my health-trials and -tribulations
and the fact that I am not well hardly showed itself ... until now ...
... and I do hope that my hair loss evens out soon...
Thanks again from Kristina.

[Michael Murphy]

The only hair loss I have suffered is on the arm with my fistula every time they take the tape off I lose hair.  I didn't know that dialysis was a slow form of waxing. So now I have one hairy arm and one bald arm.

[Marsh]

I started losing hair after I started dialysis.  One of the techs recommended Dialyvite, a muti-vitamin for dialysis patients.  I order it from the Hillstead Co. website. Not expensive.   Since starting it, my hair has stopped falling out.  I have recommended it to a couple of others at the center and it has helped them also.

[Riki]

My hair has been falling out fairly steadily since I started HD, though it has tapered a bit in the last year or so.  I was told a few things caused it, but I'm not sure what it could be.  One was the anesthetic from all the surgeries I had at the beginning, another was the amount of heparin they were using on me, not just on the machine, but to lock my line as well.  Another cause that was given to me was the synthroid I was taking.  I'm not sure which of thise it could be, or a combination of all three.  Years ago, I had hair so thick, I couldn't keep a comb.  They kept breaking.  Now my hair is very thin, to a point where the top of my head looks bald

[kristina]

Thank you Michael Murphy, Marsh and Riki for your kind suggestions.
It seems that my body has started to react to the fact that I am not well...
... and perhaps dialysis has a much bigger impact on my body than I first thought...
... I shall use the multivitamin Dailyvite to create a better chance for my body ...
Thanks again from Kristina.

[cassandra]

Good idea to start using those multivitamins, NB Heparin causes hairloss

[kristina]

Thanks Cassandra, hopefully the multivitamins help ...

Thanks again from Kristina.

[Charlie B53]

I quit cutting my hair shortly after getting out og the Army in '75.  I don't remember exactly when, shortly before or after starting PD my shoulders, both previously rebuilt in '95, flared up again so bad that I couldn't mange to brush my hair.  It got soo tangled laying in the hospital bed for 12 days when my R leg was blown up, red and swollen.  Temp of 104.5, I was sick.  Kidneys almost toally shut down and I didn't care about anything other than trying to get warm.  I felt like I was freezing.

This was early Fall of 12, I didn't start PD til May 13.

Anyway, my hair was such a mess there was no way to get it straight again, and if I  did, I wouldn't be able to keep it straight.

I sat on the garage floor and handed the hair clippers to my then aged 5 Grandson.  He had a ball cutting it ALL off.  It was a bunch.   I'd usually wear some type of biker scarf over my head, hair twisted up and tucked under, a lot of people never knew I had hair for months, sometimes years, til they caught me uncovered.

When he told Gramma what he'd done I overheard her repeatedly say 'No you didn't!'   I called J to the kitchen, grabbed a trash bag and we went out to the garage and picked that huge mass of hair out of the trash and stuffed it into the bag.   I stayed in the kitchen while he took it in to her.  I should have had a recorder running, she made a very loud gasp!

Now my brain/head is cold, all the time.