Anyone else have a hair loss/scalp disorder problem?

[hotshot]

About four years ago my hair started falling out in the back of my head. It would grow in but the areas would spread larger each cycle. Usually never got all the way bald, but my scalp would flare up and get hot and itchy. I went to a black derm two weeks ago and I disagree with his diagnosis (sebhorreic dermatitis) because I display none of the characteristics. Just now I looked in the mirror and a spot that had broken down to 1/8 inch is pretty much bald now. I have started using BT in the last few weeks which has helped with regrowth but I really would like to see an end to this pattern. The rest of my hair is thick and healthy but anything below my ears is getting thin and is mostly gone. I can do about 4-5 twists back there and the rest is short and growing back. I am natural and have been able to hide problem with headbands etc but I'd really like a cure. I think its a fungal infection, maybe from a hairbraider years ago. These spots started out really small. Any one else have similar problems?

 

[Nonie]

What symptoms of sebhorric dermatitis do you disagree with?

Perhaps you have systemic candidiasis? (I so sound like a broken record since I seem to blame everything on Candida; but that creature and I have been enemies forever so I can't help accusing it of everything and everything--even the hole in the ozone layer!)

Fungal infections can be from the outside or from within your body since candida albicans lives in all of us. When CA goes nuts in your body, it can bring on all sorts of problems including hairloss. And while symptoms are wide and varied, a blood test can tell if you suffer from the candida-related complex.

Immunolabs (www.immunolabs.com) performs tests on your blood that can determine if candida is your problem. But the tests also determine of food you are eating might be the reason you are having these problems. When I experienced my hairloss, candida was ruled out but the foods I was eating were bothering me. I suspected them too because my scalp would itch after I'd eaten and usually in the bald spot. So I followed the directions I got from the blood test results and eliminated the foods I was told to avoid for 12 weeks, only I eliminated them for a year coz losing my hair was no joke. I was also proactive massaging the bald spot with the essential oil blend and trying to avoid junk food. And in time my hair grew back.

To get tested by Immunolabs, your doctor needs to be a member and to draw your blood and send it in. Or you can call them to find out doctors in your area who are member and then find one who takes your insurance and hope it covers it. BlueCross BlueShield did for me.

Otherwise, natural antifungal products you could probably try on your own are: oil of oregano (a drop or two massaged to the spot). It stinks but soothes; coconut oil on its own or even made more potent by opening a capsule of caprylic acid (found in health food stores) and making a paste. It's white so may show. But natural remedies are slow and while this may work on the outside albeit slowly, if it is systemic candidiasis, then you need to treat it from the inside too: cut out sugar, gluten(wheat), processed or fermented foods, yeast, dairy, hydrogenated vegetable oils (margarine)...to name a few. Then take supplements of garlic, caprylic acid (eg Capricin) or yeast fighter supps like Yeast Defense, acidophilus/probiotics, a source of EFAs (flaxseed, fish oils, evening primrose oil).

Of course only tests can confirm what's going on with you, but since you suspect a fungal infection, I just thought I'd share what I know about candida. Also avoid moldy places.

 

[DivaD04]

YUP, right here...ME! mine startedi think about 3-4 yrs ago, all of a sudden my scalp starts to itch. i was told last yr and this yr by 2 different derms in phoenix and saudi arabia that it's seb. derm. but i don't believe that crap either. i used to be able to use oil all my life and now i can't. i don't know how to rid it for good but if i poo daily the severe itching seems to die down. i'm also natural and right now i have braids...oh how i'm so tempted to take them dow to poo really really good. i stopped using my olux-e foam cuz that shish don't work and it's only short term relief.

 

[DivaD04]

What symptoms of sebhorric dermatitis do you disagree with?

Perhaps you have systemic candidiasis? (I so sound like a broken record since I seem to blame everything on Candida; but that creature and I have been enemies forever so I can't help accusing it of everything and everything--even the hole in the ozone layer!)

Fungal infections can be from the outside or from within your body since candida albicans lives in all of us. When CA goes nuts in your body, it can bring on all sorts of problems including hairloss. And while symptoms are wide and varied, a blood test can tell if you suffer from the candida-related complex.

Immunolabs (www.immunolabs.com) performs tests on your blood that can determine if candida is your problem. But the tests also determine of food you are eating might be the reason you are having these problems. When I experienced my hairloss, candida was ruled out but the foods I was eating were bothering me. I suspected them too because my scalp would itch after I'd eaten and usually in the bald spot. So I followed the directions I got from the blood test results and eliminated the foods I was told to avoid for 12 weeks, only I eliminated them for a year coz losing my hair was no joke. I was also proactive massaging the bald spot with the essential oil blend and trying to avoid junk food. And in time my hair grew back.

To get tested by Immunolabs, your doctor needs to be a member and to draw your blood and send it in. Or you can call them to find out doctors in your area who are member and then find one who takes your insurance and hope it covers it. BlueCross BlueShield did for me.

Otherwise, natural antifungal products you could probably try on your own are: oil of oregano (a drop or two massaged to the spot). It stinks but soothes; coconut oil on its own or even made more potent by opening a capsule of caprylic acid (found in health food stores) and making a paste. It's white so may show. But natural remedies are slow and while this may work on the outside albeit slowly, if it is systemic candidiasis, then you need to treat it from the inside too: cut out sugar, gluten(wheat), processed or fermented foods, yeast, dairy, hydrogenated vegetable oils (margarine)...to name a few. Then take supplements of garlic, caprylic acid (eg Capricin) or yeast fighter supps like Yeast Defense, acidophilus/probiotics, a source of EFAs (flaxseed, fish oils, evening primrose oil).

Of course only tests can confirm what's going on with you, but since you suspect a fungal infection, I just thought I'd share what I know about candida. Also avoid moldy places.

why is this?

 

[hotshot]

Well, I don't have any flaking or oily scalp at all! Those things are characteristic of the disorder. Even the dr's assistant pointed that out. That's why I disagree. I need to get bloodwork done. I will read about the candida.

 

[hotshot]

What symptoms of sebhorric dermatitis do you disagree with?

Perhaps you have systemic candidiasis? (I so sound like a broken record since I seem to blame everything on Candida; but that creature and I have been enemies forever so I can't help accusing it of everything and everything--even the hole in the ozone layer!)

Fungal infections can be from the outside or from within your body since candida albicans lives in all of us. When CA goes nuts in your body, it can bring on all sorts of problems including hairloss. And while symptoms are wide and varied, a blood test can tell if you suffer from the candida-related complex.

Immunolabs (www.immunolabs.com) performs tests on your blood that can determine if candida is your problem. But the tests also determine of food you are eating might be the reason you are having these problems. When I experienced my hairloss, candida was ruled out but the foods I was eating were bothering me. I suspected them too because my scalp would itch after I'd eaten and usually in the bald spot. So I followed the directions I got from the blood test results and eliminated the foods I was told to avoid for 12 weeks, only I eliminated them for a year coz losing my hair was no joke. I was also proactive massaging the bald spot with the essential oil blend and trying to avoid junk food. And in time my hair grew back.

To get tested by Immunolabs, your doctor needs to be a member and to draw your blood and send it in. Or you can call them to find out doctors in your area who are member and then find one who takes your insurance and hope it covers it. BlueCross BlueShield did for me.

Otherwise, natural antifungal products you could probably try on your own are: oil of oregano (a drop or two massaged to the spot). It stinks but soothes; coconut oil on its own or even made more potent by opening a capsule of caprylic acid (found in health food stores) and making a paste. It's white so may show. But natural remedies are slow and while this may work on the outside albeit slowly, if it is systemic candidiasis, then you need to treat it from the inside too: cut out sugar, gluten(wheat), processed or fermented foods, yeast, dairy, hydrogenated vegetable oils (margarine)...to name a few. Then take supplements of garlic, caprylic acid (eg Capricin) or yeast fighter supps like Yeast Defense, acidophilus/probiotics, a source of EFAs (flaxseed, fish oils, evening primrose oil).

Of course only tests can confirm what's going on with you, but since you suspect a fungal infection, I just thought I'd share what I know about candida. Also avoid moldy places.

I usually do these things but have been lapsing. . .this sounds right to me. I wil get some bloodwork done.

 

[hotshot]

systemic candidiasis seems rare, no?

 

[Nonie]

Also avoid moldy places.

why is this?

Mold can cause ill health big time. I know of a friend whose family was getting ill (from rashes, to lethargy, to breathing problems) and it turned out that their walls were rotting and full of mold and that's what was causing all the problems. I know moldy, damp places make me break out in an itchy fungal rash.

Check this out: http://www.mold-survivor.com/assoc.illness.html

systemic candidiasis seems rare, no?

It isn't really. Most people don't even know they have it. A lot of conditions that people learn to live with may very well be related to candidiasis. Some medications that people take on a daily basis can give candida albicans reign over your body. I had a friend who has lupus and for years she just felt worse and worse with time. But after getting the Immunolabs test, it was determined that candida albicans was a big problem. What made it take over her body? The meds she was on. Once that problem was handled and her diet changed, she's been doing so much better. While she'd miss days on end at the office due to poor health, she is hardly ever out these days. There's a book called "Candida Related Complex: What Your Doctor Might Be Missing" that is a godsend and very enlightening. When I used to get yeast infections and thought something was wrong with me, I was told IIRC that 75% of women get it. Candida Albicans causes yeast infections and chances are people who get YIs might have systemic candidiasis, but because its symptoms are wide and varied, we tend to label them with other ailments and just live with medication for the rest of our lives.

BTW, I am not surprised that there are people who will swear that systemic candidiasis is a myth, but I know from my own experience and that of people I know, that CA can wreck havoc on the body and putting it in its place, and not feeding it to encourage its overgrowth, and building up your flora bacteria can make the difference between always being ill and feeling 100% healthy and on top of the world.

 

[gymfreak336]

Mold can cause ill health big time. I know of a friend whose family was getting ill (from rashes, to lethargy, to breathing problems) and it turned out that their walls were rotting and full of mold and that's what was causing all the problems. I know moldy, damp places make me break out in an itchy fungal rash.

Check this out: http://www.mold-survivor.com/assoc.illness.html



It isn't really. Most people don't even know they have it. A lot of conditions that people learn to live with may very well be related to candidiasis. Some medications that people take on a daily basis can give candida albicans reign over your body. I had a friend who has lupus and for years she just felt worse and worse with time. But after getting the Immunolabs test, it was determined that candida albicans was a big problem. What made it take over her body? The meds she was on. Once that problem was handled and her diet changed, she's been doing so much better. While she'd miss days on end at the office due to poor health, she is hardly ever out these days. There's a book called "Candida Related Complex: What Your Doctor Might Be Missing" that is a godsend and very enlightening. When I used to get yeast infections and thought something was wrong with me, I was told IIRC that 75% of women get it. Candida Albicans causes yeast infections and chances are people who get YIs might have systemic candidiasis, but because its symptoms are wide and varied, we tend to label them with other ailments and just live with medication for the rest of our lives.

BTW, I am not surprised that there are people who will swear that systemic candidiasis is a myth, but I know from my own experience and that of people I know, that CA can wreck havoc on the body and putting it in its place, and not feeding it to encourage its overgrowth, and building up your flora bacteria can make the difference between always being ill and feeling 100% healthy and on top of the world.

I am glad you brought this up. I knew nothing about it until my dog got it. It happens to dogs alot. This is one of the reasons I had to really work hard at cutting my sugar habit. We assume that if we don't have a yeast infection then that we don't have yeast problems but that is sooo not true.

 

[Jynkx]

candida is NOT a myth !!!!!!!! i suffered from this for years until i could hardly live a day to day life. thats when some girls at work hooked me up with a "healer" and she diagnosed me in minutes even though countless doctors were clueless every time i when to them. one even told me my sickness was in my head and self induced! anyways...... she had me change .....well, basically everything. i felt like a MILLION bucks on here regime. and i havent been sick in years now.

 

[hotshot]

I found this quick, easy test for candida:
http://www.qfac.com/detox/candida_salvia_test.html

Interested to hear any other remedies for seb. dermatitis or other issues.