Peri-menopause and Hair

Take pregnancy vitamins. Also, take a hair and skin supplement. I had the same problem. Now I'm taking hormone replacement therapy, and it helps, but I'm in full-blown menopause now. Peri-menopause can last a very long time - mine, over 5 years...

Good luck!
Dawn

Folic Acid. My sister takes anti-seizure medications that makes her hair fall out. Her Dr. recommended high doses of folic acid. She takes a prescription of folic acid because of her medical condition that warrants such high doses. Folic Acid also slows down graying hair. I've been taking Folic Acid for a couple of months now and I can honestly say my hair is hardly falling out . I get my Folic Acid from the health food store. I take 1600mcg daily. My sister was getting gray hair but she says that she doesn't see it anymore since taking Folic Acid.

Oh...I have been in peri-menapause waking up with night sweats is not fun - I have been sleeping in only a tank top and I still wake up drenched in the middle of the night - I have been exhausted from the lack of sleep caused from the hot flashes. Just this week I started taking Tylenol PM which has helped.
I also feel so hot at work all the people I work with are "freezing" and I am sweating to death! I hardly ever wear a lab coat anymore!

I have noticed that I developed the middle age spread - I suddenly feel like I have gained weight and even though I exercise have not been able to loose - I feel so uncomfortable in my skin.

I am forgetting everything - I look like a ding bat
I recently noticed a few wrinkles -
My moods and emotions are all over the place - I feel like I am in a mid-life crisis

Sorry for rambling - No thank God I am not loosing hair on top of all the other changes I am going through

Hair thinning is also hereditary..

The ONLY product I have found works, but it does not bring back hair, instead it helps you keep what you have. I used to lose about 2 dozen hairs a night and then in the morning.. Now I hardly ever lose any..

I use an Aveda product called Invati.. It is a shampoo, a conditioner and a spray for the scalp. It is not cheap.. use it everyday , but sparingly and it Has been great.

Many women swear by using natural estrogen creams, which are yam based. Or, eat more yams/sweet potatoes. Yams create natural estrogen, which is the hormone your ovaries stop producing..in a nutshell.

Specifically for hair issues: try Folic Acid and more protein. Our need for protein increases significantly, as we don't digest it as well as we age. So it's important to eat good, easily digestible sources of protein.

I am 52 and am still not in menopause. I still ovulate and menstrate on schedule :( I'm uber hot natured, and have always been a sweater, so night sweats will be nothing new or unusual.

Actually, just last week I saw my OB doc and asked if there was a way to stop ovulating, as it's so painful for me. Only BCP's have worked but I have horrid side effects from those. And she wanted to chemically induce menopause in me. I'll probably go ask a ?? now about that, as it' s not your issue at all..

Age gracefully!!

I've been in the peri-menopausal thing for about 5 years and it is not fun -but it's not awful either. Seems I have no brain anymore - words I know don't come to mind when I need them to, I can't sleep anymore, the hot flashes can be shockingly sudden and intense, etc.

What I've discovered is that when I am "off" sugar I do better, less hot flashes & less intensity, better sleep, etc. When I succumb to the desire for chocolate or a trip to the bakery I am worse off.

There are no supplements or diets that work one way or the other - except getting off sugar. I try to eat a big salad as either lunch or dinner aabout 5 days of the week and that seems to help too - having lots of veggies.

As I entered perimenopause I also began a sensitivity to gluten and my gut can get pretty large when I'm "enjoying" pasta, semolina bread, etc. And when I am disciplined to not eat the gluten my stomach gets flatter and I no longer look like I'm 6 months pregnant. (I had a washboard stomach before kids...I had my kids at age 37 & 40 and have never been the same since...)

My wardrobe has changed drastically to accomodate the hot flashes (or "power surges" as I prefer to call them). I wear a lot of collared cotten shirts as they breathe, they don't stick to my body like cotton jersey. I began buying pants & jeans at NYDJ (not your daughters jeans) since they fit the way my body is these days. And I wear layers. I've found myself in the midst of a rising power surge in a conference room with client executives. Since I cant' pour cold water over my head, but I can take my jacket off I wear short sleeved blouses under the suit jackets. In my office I use wraps - they are easier to slip on and off my shouldres to adjust to my heating / cooling cycle...

The night sweats and lack of sleep are another issue - I sleep in PJ pants and my husband's cotton T-shirts these days. I use a down comforter with a cotton duvet cover - not tucked in. That way I can stick my feet out as a temperature adjustment method. I will still wake up drenched occasionally - but wearing 100% cotton helps a lot. I also dry to drink a lot of water before bed - counterintuitive since I always need to pee - but I'm going to get up at 4 AM anyway - so I'm more comfortable having drunk a bottle of water.

The worst of it is that when you finally get this freedom from monthly cycles and bleeding, the drop in estrogen also affects your blood pressure, cholesterol and even wrinkles on your face!!!! It is so NOT fair. ;o)

While it's a pain in the butt I would still take this and the menstrual cycle as the trade off to be able to be pregnant and be the child-bearer. I look at it as the payment for the privilege. I wish I could have had a few more babies - but I got started too late.

Good luck mama. This stuff just is not easy!

Morning
When I first became Perimenopausal, In the first year and with the first initial big drop in Estrogen, I definitely lost more hair. I'd wake up in the morning and my pillow would have strands on it..... same goes for when I washed it..
Thereafter, once my body was used to not producing as much Estrogen, it seems like I didn't lose nearly as much... (thankfully)

However, I know what you mean about the skin not looking quite as radiant.. Here's what I do and take:

I take 2 Pycnogenol tablets once a day (as seen on Dr. Oz) The stuff is suppose to "plump" the skin... you have to use it for at least 30 days to finally see results.. Now, I might be seeing things.. but I honestly think it is working....
I also use Boots # 7 perfect and protect... and following, I apply Dr. Hauschka 's Rose Cream.. Which is very emollient without being greasy.. I am 48 and have gotten a lot of compliments on my skin...

Also, I am currently abstinent from sugar such as candy and desserts... and my skin definitely looks better when I am off the stuff.. I would also add that when off the sugar and white flour, my cravings are much less are more easily handled... whereas before, the cravings would come over like waves of contractions.. :) and I HAD TO HAVE SOMETHING QUICK!!!!!!!!! like sweets or carbs..

So if you can get off the carbs/sweets.. (albeit tough) you might notice an overall positive effect..

Good luck ! :)

I take collagen and keratin supplements. I was starting to lose hair due to side-effects of my cancer medication (not chemo, just my nightly pill for the next 4 years). I've always taken pretty good care of my skin so I have very few, if any at all, wrinkles. I take a boatload of supplements, but the collagen and keratin are the ones I take for skin, nails and hair. I have found that I'm losing FAR fewer strands of hair, the hair itself *looks* more healthy than, say, a year ago, STILL no wrinkles in my skin, and my nails are strong and healthy. I also use a moisturizer with hyaluronic acid in it. Oh, and I'm 41.

The specific ones I take are Reserveage Keratin Booster and Reserveage Collagen Booster. They seem to be doing their jobs, so I'll keep taking them.

Reading this back, I seem very high-maintenance! Hahaha!

Nioxin is a good product for thinning hair and hair re-growth, but note that it is something that builds up over time. You won't use it once and see a difference:) You'll have to use it for six months or more.

There is always rogain.
Good luck!

Very common - I had the problem myself.

From my experience both professionally and personally, throwing a few individual nutrients at a problem is very expensive and not effective. There's a huge industry built around selling people bottles of stuff, but there's no science that really supports that approach. Vitamin stores are growing exponentially, and people are spending more and more on a single supplement here and another one there, yet we have a health crisis. So that technique doesn't work. Even if Dr. Oz says it, remember that a) he's a cardiothoracic surgeon and not a food scientist and b) tomorrow he will have another individual ingredient to push on us!

There was just a report in the last week or so about the futility of calcium/D in really making meaningful change.

The only thing that really works, and which I know stopped my hair loss and helped my skin and kept me illness-free for over 5 years is comprehensive supplementation to replace what's NOT in our food anymore (even if we eat organically and locally). The clinical studies are there, the peer-reviewed studies on immune system support are there, and the new discoveries by multiple research institutions show that this how we're going to restore our bodies, reduce inflammation (the #1 cause of disease) and improve cardiovascular health. I fully expect some amazing announcements in the next 6 months on cancer prevention as well.

No nutrient or vitamin or mineral works by itself. Everything works in connection and interaction with every other nutrient - that's true in nature, and it's true in food science.

Make sure your doctor checks your thyroid too. That can be a cause of thinning hair, and it's not part of the regular blood panels.

You could try adding Biotin to your vitamins. My hair falls out now, it fell out then. It's amazing I have any hair, I lose so much every day. But amazingly, I still have hair.

Menopause sucks, have fun.