Hair loss

[Felly35]

Hi,

I have recently done a scalp biopsy and the result was mild fibrosis. It will be sent to a specialist for an expert opinion they said. Anyone had any idea what it means? Thank you

[Saggyuk]

HI there, just had a look myself as was feeling nosy so have no real knowledge of this lol!

I'm not sure if "mild" fibrosis is significant so might be nothing to worry about but did find this:

perfecthairhealth.com/the-u...

this seems to give good description of the terms used in hairloss and also mention testosterone or DHT levels. Seems to be about levels of infammation.

Also found this which suggests fibrosis in general is formation of excess fibrous connective tissues or scarring:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrosis

Fibrosis seems to be related to different types of alopecia/hairloss but seems also linked with scarring type alopecia and is where the hair follicles are replaced with scar tissue:

webmd.com/skin-problems-and...

emedicine.medscape.com/arti...

Funnily enough as i was reading, I realised this was exactly what I had a few years back. I had the raised blister type with fluids seeping out. It disappeared after going gluten free although I still have the raised scars with no hairs coming through in places. They don't seep anymore and stopped spreading unless I accidentally get glutened.

Appears related to autoimmune and inflammation as mentioned a lot in all of them so seems to be inflammation of some kind which over time causes fibrosis or scarring???? This would make sense as when I gave up gluten all my inflammatory problems disappeared and inflammatory markers went down.

Might have to wait for the specialist's opinion though as it's not written definitely anywhere and way above my head lol!

[Felly35]

Thank you so much Suggyuk. This helps me. I am gluten free for 2 years now almost since I was diagnosed with Undifferentiated Conective Tissue Disease. But after a year doctors have told I don’t have this disease anymore as all my blood test were ok. I had to stop the medication which I was on ‘hydroxychloroquine ‘. Also I have an autoimmune thyroid so lots of things going on at the moment. I will start reading the links which you gave me and wait for the specialist opinion as well. I hope I will get some answers. I am glad that you said being gluten free helps. Thanks a lot again!!

[Saggyuk in reply to Felly35]

Hiya - I've just seen your other post.

Do you have results for iron/ferritin, folate and Vit D deficiency? Many docs can't read blood test results so post these here. in case something's been missed.

You must get Vit D checked as can be associated with connective tissue disease and hair loss.

Yes I think gluten free was a very smart move for you as is often good for some of the problems associated with the connective tissue thing such as lupus and other similar genetic issues

[Saggyuk in reply to Felly35]

sorry must have read it wrongly - you said you no longer have the tissue one since you went GF - I imagine the GF diet was why so that's really good

[Felly35 in reply to Saggyuk]

I was low on Vit D two years ago but since I am taking supplements D3. I don’t have tissue disease anymore and I strongly believe going gluten free had a huge impact. Also I’ve done couple of juicing diets and I think it helped, not much pain on my joints either. I will post soon some of my blood tests

[Felly35 in reply to Felly35]

Vitamin D back in March 2016 was 69nmol/L and in June 2017 was 132 but as I said I take Vit D3 daily. Ferritin level was 103.2ng/ml in June 2017 and folate was 9.4 ng/ml in Jan 2017 but then it was 11.9 in June 2017. My Vitamin B12 is high 1192 pg/ml.

[Saggyuk in reply to Felly35]

Okay, Some vits are okay to be high but Vit D is one of the things that shouldn't be too high as can cause just as many problems as too low so if it was 132 in June and you've continued supplementing, I would retest this soon in case it's become too high What dose have you been taking?

Same applies to iron, definitely don't want too high. The previous figure is fine - are you taking anything for iron? If not, then this is likely fine.

It is safer for folic acid and B12 to be higher.

Are you supplementing B12?

What's the range for the Folate test?

In regards to juicing diets - these are fine once in a while etc but make sure you getting enough carbs and calories as thyroids need these to function effectively

[Saggyuk in reply to Felly35]

Just in case interested - this is a journal article that mentions connective tissue disorder being caused by NCGS

reumatologiaclinica.org/en/...

[Felly35]

Hi Saggyuk

Thank you so much for the link. It is a very informative article. It is sad that not all rheumatologist doctors admit this. It was my decision to be gluten free.

I take Vit D3 5000IU but I had breaks in between. Soon I will have another blood test done.

I am not taking any B12 or Iron supplements.

For Folate test it says to be >3.9ng/ml. It doesn’t give a range.

Juicing I do just for 3 days every 4/5months. I never knew that I need to get enough carbs and calories for thyroid to function well. This actually I’m trying to avoid as I put quickly on weight