hair loss

[kimi_g89]

I am only 21 years old. I started dialysis in september of last year. But since starting dialysis my hair seems to be falling out pretty bad. its already to the point of a receding hairline. my nurse at d said it could be the heparin. my nutritionist said i should eat more calories. the pharmacist said it could be meds. I just want it to stop. I work with food so it is really hard to try and hide. i was just wondering if anyone else deals with hair loss on dialysis...

[Relentless]

I'm 32 and started diaylsis last march and I had the same problem.  Everytime I washed my hair a chunck would come out. For me  personally it continued for about first 5 month.  I could see my  head balding and have lots of hair previuosly.  I did lots of research and only plausible conclusion I came with was dialysis pulling vitamin out during treatment,but good news is almost everybody said that the falling hair stopped.  Thank goodness so did mine after.  My head now looks full again.  Try taking renal vitamins, but evatually it will stop one your body adjust.  Just what I could gather from my research.  For now just try to wash your hair gentally so not much would fall out.

[noahvale]

^^

[Desert Dancer]

Yep. I've been on D since August and for the last few months my hair has been coming out in giant clumps. I finally just went and had it all cut off yesterday!

[Cordelia]

I'm so glad to know that I'm not the only one suffering with this. I've experienced hair loss too. I remember when I was in the hospital when I went into renal failure, it was in chunks on the hospital tile floor, it startled me. I've had problems since, everytime I brush my hair so much of it is left on my brush. Somebody in my family that lives with me keeps teasing me about it and it really bothers me to no end, I've told her so but she keeps on commenting about having to see it on the floor when the floor is swept with the swiffer.  ::)It gets on my nerves that she constantly harps about it, I CAN"T HELP IT!!!!!!!!!! It's so frustrating!!!!!!!

Thank God I have a head of hair to begin with   

[kimi_g89]

Thanks I will look into all possibilities!

But I completely understand where your coming from, my relative always makes comments about me leaving hair everywhere. I don't find it funny cuz I am really sensitive about it, but she doesn't understand that. When it first started falling out it wasn't bad, but now it's in clumps. I finally broke down yesterday and got bandanas to hide it. It is a good thing I had a lot of hair to start with.

[Des]

I lost a lot of hair but I found a product that you ad to your shampoe.

I don't know if you get a Lennons products there in other parts of the world.


Lennons: Bergemot.   It is a small bottle of a product that smells like lemon. I just ad it to the shampoe and viola, my hair came back in bundles. 

I have been using it for 10 months now and it is really easy.

[Tracy]

After I had a KP transplant in 09 that failed after 5 days, my almost waist length hair started coming out in chunks.  I cut it to above my shoulders.  Started D on May 10 and started eating better and now my hair is growing back.  So, I think from a combo of major surgery and not eating well, made mine fall out.  I think now I feel so good, or relatively better, I am eating better and maybe getting better nutrition.  I hope you hair grows back soon.  Hang in there.  I know it is embarrassing and scary.

 

[karrye]

Wow!  Another thing I didn't know about dialysis: that ones hair can/will fall out.  I am sorry to hear about everyone loosing their hair.  One thing I don't have to worry about with my husband then, I keep his head shaved.

[Cordelia]

Kimi, I can totally relate, I'm very sensitive to my hair loss being pointed out to me too, it's beyond frustrating. I go from sometimes feeling like I want to have an outburst of anger to sometimes just breaking down in a good cry in front of the person who always has to point it out. It really bothers me because I always try my darndest to treat others how I would want to be treated and I KNOW I "that" person wouldn't like it if I made the same comments to them.

Thanks for the info on the shampoo Des! I wonder if its carried in Canada where I am?

Do men on dialysis experience the hair loss like women do I wonder?

[grannysgirl]

I have been on D for 2.5yrs. My hair started to come out and broke off when I first started. I had to cut my hair down extremely short and not use any chemicals in it. Especially hair color. I resorted to using Pantene hair products and to cover my hair with a silken hair cap while sleeping. Well, my hair grew back and thicker than it has been in years. I do believe that medication used in dialysis like epogen was the cause. Everytime my meds are changed in D my hair starts to disappear again. My first sign that this is going to occur is that my fingernails become very brittle and weak. My fingers become excessively dry and the skin becomes very rough. I have learned to become aware of how my body handles the various changes that are created by being on D. I hope that has helped someone. 

[Cordelia]

I don't feel so alone, I too have problems with brittle nails, esp my fingernails. Brutal!

[kristina]

I am still pre-dialysis & my kidneys failed for the first time 40 years ago, recovered to 40-45% and started to fail again in 2006.
I am now 10-12% kidney function but not on Dialysis yet.

Through these 40 years I had problems with my hair and brittle fingernails on and off.
I don’t know whether this is attributable to my Lupus/SLE/MCTD or whether it is kidney-related.
It seems to come in flares and then it seems all right again.

For my fingernails I have used for many years Sally Hanson products
(Cuticle & nail treatment, maximum growth, Insta-Dri), they work a treat. 
I apply them about once a week together with nail varnish
& I have no problems with brittle fingernails anymore.

As for my hair I just let it grow & wash it once a week & brush it thoroughly twice every day.
Its length is well below the shoulder and I don’t go to a hair-dresser.
At the moment my hair is reasonably thick, but it certainly has not always been like that.
Along with the flares I sometimes lose a bit more hair and sometimes it is dry,
it seems to go according at how severe the flare-up is and for how long it lasts.

Good luck from Kristina.

[Poppylicious]

Goodness, I can't believe that some of you have relatives who are so insensitive to how you feel about losing your hair.  Someone needs to give them a good slap ... 

I put Blokey's hair loss down to the fact that he was getting old (sheesh, he is 35 after all,) but looking back I think it has become much drier and more harsh/brittle since he began dialysis.  Being a chap I don't think he's too botheres, but I really feel for you all because my hair is gorgeous and I can imagine how it would feel to start losing big chunky clumps of it.

*huggles* (< technically these don't help you, but you all deserve them anyway.)

[Cordelia]

Thank you, Poppy, for your undestanding and everyone else's too! Yup, you said it so well!--- a good slap! lol

Someone in my family will actually TAKE their hand and pull the loose hairs off the ends of my hair and they do it with no warning, they just reach up and do that to me, its so annoying!

[rsudock]

to combat this hair problem I have been using John Freida brand leave in hair conditioner spray and heat protecting spray on my hair before I blow dry it. I am trying not to blow dry my hair as much cause the heat is bad for it, but it is hard leaving your hair wet in the winter time!!! Anyway my hair feels a lot fuller and healthier! White bottle with purple lettering

xo,
R

[Cordelia]

Yes, I don't blow my hair dry either for fear of damaging it more than it already is. And, I don't color it anymore, either.

[carson]

I cut back my heparin and increased my protein. I drink whey protein drinks as I don't eat meat and my hair has stopped falling out!

[romanyscarlett]

My hair is also falling out at an alarming rate. I noticed a few months ago that every time I washed my hair, loads of strands were falling out. It hasn't really improved much since then unfortunately. I'm not quite at the "coming out in clumps" stage but I dread washing my hair because I never know how much is going to fall out.

I now only wash my hair 3 times a week and I never blow dry or straighten it. I don't use any hairspray or other products either, just shampoo and conditioner.

I didn't speak to anyone in my family about this because I was embarrassed. This led to an innocent comment by my boyfriend becoming a huge argument last weekend. We were talking to each other and he suddenly stopped, looked at my head and said "is your hair falling out?". I totally over-reacted and regressed back to being an stroppy child by immediately bursting into tears and screaming "yes it is and thanks very much for pointing it out" and then locking myself in the bathroom for 20 minutes.

[Sugarlump]

When I was on dialysis and suffered severe hair loss likewise, they switched my heparin to fragmin. It improves things quite a bit.
Ask your dialysis unit about this.

[*kana*]

This happened to me too and they put me on Dialyvite vitamins and it went away.  My hair is still a lot thinner then it used to be, but it isn't falling out.  Sometimes it is also due to anesthesia and doesn't happen for months later. 

http://www.dialyvite.net/

[casper2636]

I also suffered from sever hair loss from D. I was told this would happen, but I never thought it would be that bad as I always had a thick head of hair. HA! Wrong! Turned out lost all the hair on the top of my head. I looked like a long haired Friar Tuck. I finally just shaved my head and started a new, but the Renal Vitamins and proper nutrition really made all the difference in the world. Now, I have a really cute, sharpe cut that looks great. I still miss my long hair, but at least I don't look like Friar Tuck