Hair loss and hirsutism - connected to ME?

[keepswimming]

I am a woman in my early 30s. Since starting with ME I have noticed some hair loss at the sides of my forehead. I have also started to develop facial hair (hirsutism).

I wondered if anyone else has had these symptoms with ME? I haven't seen them listed anywhere, but I'm inclined to think they must be connected.

 

[lenora]

I think I would go to an endocrinologist. I haven't heard of this being an ME symptom and my ME was diagnosed over 40 years ago.

Women tend to have thinner hair as they grow older, but 30? I doubt it. It could be caused by many things, but I would begin there....or even your gynecologist, if you have one. I assume you're eating a healthy diet.

Head hair loss is fairly common, but hirsutism doesn't tend to be until you're much older. Yours, Lenora

 

[Treeman]

Could it be a hormone imbalance?

 

[Ali_Mardiyev]

Could be due to high cortisol. Do you have fat deposits around your belly and neck/shoulder area?

 

[keepswimming]

I think I would go to an endocrinologist. I haven't heard of this being an ME symptom and my ME was diagnosed over 40 years ago.

Women tend to have thinner hair as they grow older, but 30? I doubt it. It could be caused by many things, but I would begin there....or even your gynecologist, if you have one. I assume you're eating a healthy diet.

Head hair loss is fairly common, but hirsutism doesn't tend to be until you're much older. Yours, Lenora

Thank you Lenora, that's good advice. I do plan to see a doctor. But I know the ME experts are on here 😊 so I thought I'd ask and see if anyone has experienced similar.

Could it be a hormone imbalance?

The nature or the hair loss/growth makes me think it must be. I wondered if the ME could be affecting my hormones in some way, it seems to have an impact on everything!

Could be due to high cortisol. Do you have fat deposits around your belly and neck/shoulder area?

No I can't say I do. I believe I did have a cortisol test before I was diagnosed with ME, none of my tests showed anything significant at the time.

 

[Azayliah]

PCOS does this to me. High testosterone causes facial hair and acne, and high estrogen is linked to hair loss. An endocrinologist diagnosed me based on my symptoms because they could not actually find hormone imbalance, so I suspect that it is possible that something else could amplify the effects of otherwise balanced hormones.

PCOS usually starts in childhood but can develop in your 20's and 30's, but it's certainly not the only possible cause of this kind of thing. Examples: diabetes, thyroid issues, internal cysts, medications, adrenal gland overproduction of cortisol, not getting enough/refreshing sleep, covid, genetics and aging; and probably also things like electrolyte imbalances and mold exposure. Some of those things are extremely common issues for PwME, so it's not out of the question that the two could be linked.

 

[Viala]

Nothing that I would notice. Are you taking any supplements?

Copper can help with hair sometimes. Zinc is androgenic on the other hand, it could be a zinc/copper imbalance affecting your hormones. Manganese also plays a role here.

When I tested if high zinc would help with my ME I noticed that hair growing on my legs were thicker which never happened, when I stopped taking zinc it went back to how it was before.

 

[Wishful]

ME is a disease with a seemingly endless set of variations. Since ME seems to involve the brain, and the brain controls hormones and maybe hormonal responses of cells throughout the body, hair growth variations seems plausible. Even if no one else reported hair abnormalities from ME, that doesn't mean that you can't have that as a unique symptom. If your ME was somehow treated and your hair went back to normal, then you'd know.

 

[keepswimming]

PCOS does this to me. High testosterone causes facial hair and acne, and high estrogen is linked to hair loss. An endocrinologist diagnosed me based on my symptoms because they could not actually find hormone imbalance, so I suspect that it is possible that something else could amplify the effects of otherwise balanced hormones.

PCOS usually starts in childhood but can develop in your 20's and 30's, but it's certainly not the only possible cause of this kind of thing. Examples: diabetes, thyroid issues, internal cysts, medications, adrenal gland overproduction of cortisol, not getting enough/refreshing sleep, covid, genetics and aging; and probably also things like electrolyte imbalances and mold exposure. Some of those things are extremely common issues for PwME, so it's not out of the question that the two could be linked.

I imagine PCOS is one of the things the doctor will test for. Could I ask what other symptoms you experience with PCOS?

Thank you, there's a lot of possibilities. I think I've actually had a small amount of hirsutism since my late teens, but I'd used steroid creams for eczema in that area so initially I put it down to that... but now it's worsening I wonder...

 

[keepswimming]

Nothing that I would notice. Are you taking any supplements?

Copper can help with hair sometimes. Zinc is androgenic on the other hand, it could be a zinc/copper imbalance affecting your hormones. Manganese also plays a role here.

When I tested if high zinc would help with my ME I noticed that hair growing on my legs were thicker which never happened, when I stopped taking zinc it went back to how it was before.

Interesting, I will have to look more into that. I am taking a multivitamin and mineral but nothing high dose so I would be surprised if it was that... However you never know.

 

[keepswimming]

ME is a disease with a seemingly endless set of variations. Since ME seems to involve the brain, and the brain controls hormones and maybe hormonal responses of cells throughout the body, hair growth variations seems plausible. Even if no one else reported hair abnormalities from ME, that doesn't mean that you can't have that as a unique symptom. If your ME was somehow treated and your hair went back to normal, then you'd know.

Thank you @Wishful this is so true!

 

[Viala]

Interesting, I will have to look more into that. I am taking a multivitamin and mineral but nothing high dose so I would be surprised if it was that... However you never know.

It should be fine then, multiminerals aren't usually high doses. I noticed that effect with 15mg of elemental zinc daily, I thought it was not much and there was a time when I took 45mg, but I was balancing it with copper all the time. Now I take 5mg of zinc and it feels like a perfect dose.

 

[Azayliah]

Could I ask what other symptoms you experience with PCOS?

Heavy and irregular menstruation which started late (about age 14). Blood could soak through heavy-duty pads and tampons in a few hours, and there was always a high volume of clots that came with it. It usually came around once every 3-4 months, but what brought me to the endocrinologist for PCOS initially was that I had a period that wouldn't stop for more a whole month. They put me on birth control to regulate it.

Blood sugar abnormalities. It basically makes it very easy to develop diabetes and gain weight, and difficult to lose weight. I was 250 lbs by the time I was 15. I had pre-diabetes for a while in my early 20's, which stained areas of my skin with a kind of brown/dark color (back of neck, inner thighs, below breasts). I was put on metformin for it, couldn't get myself to swallow the pills, and focused on diet instead. This cleared the stains and stopped the rapid weight gain, but did not seem to help with weight loss.

High blood pressure and cholesterol. These are common issues for young women with PCOS. I received meds for those too, which I went off of because the cholesterol pill seemed to be causing side-effects and the blood pressure pill didn't seem to help. These values have normalized as I've gotten older, which is probably down to menopause / decreasing hormone levels (I'm in my early 40's).

Hair and skin was mainly acne, facial hair, thick body hair, and hair loss. I didn't have extra hair on my chest or back, but I recall the endocrinologist saying that was a common trait of the condition.

 

[Tammy]

I started losing hair on my head in my 30's. Also had more facial hair than I want to confess. Fortunately for me the fascial hair lessened over time.

 

[keepswimming]

Heavy and irregular menstruation which started late (about age 14). Blood could soak through heavy-duty pads and tampons in a few hours, and there was always a high volume of clots that came with it. It usually came around once every 3-4 months, but what brought me to the endocrinologist for PCOS initially was that I had a period that wouldn't stop for more a whole month. They put me on birth control to regulate it.

Blood sugar abnormalities. It basically makes it very easy to develop diabetes and gain weight, and difficult to lose weight. I was 250 lbs by the time I was 15. I had pre-diabetes for a while in my early 20's, which stained areas of my skin with a kind of brown/dark color (back of neck, inner thighs, below breasts). I was put on metformin for it, couldn't get myself to swallow the pills, and focused on diet instead. This cleared the stains and stopped the rapid weight gain, but did not seem to help with weight loss.

High blood pressure and cholesterol. These are common issues for young women with PCOS. I received meds for those too, which I went off of because the cholesterol pill seemed to be causing side-effects and the blood pressure pill didn't seem to help. These values have normalized as I've gotten older, which is probably down to menopause / decreasing hormone levels (I'm in my early 40's).

Hair and skin was mainly acne, facial hair, thick body hair, and hair loss. I didn't have extra hair on my chest or back, but I recall the endocrinologist saying that was a common trait of the condition.

That all sounds very difficult, I'm so sorry you've had to go through it. Thank you for telling me your experience, I can't say I've had any of those other symptoms so I think PCOS is unlikely.

 

[keepswimming]

I started losing hair on my head in my 30's. Also had more facial hair than I want to confess. Fortunately for me the fascial hair lessened over time.

Thank you for your honesty! Did you have ME at that time, do you think it was a factor or were there other reasons? Good news about your facial hair, has your hair loss changed at all?

 

[Tammy]

Thank you for your honesty! Did you have ME at that time, do you think it was a factor or were there other reasons? Good news about your facial hair, has your hair loss changed at all?

Yes I had ME at the time. I think ME was a factor for sure and probably poor adrenals. I still find myself picking up hair strands all over the place but not as much as prior years.

 

[keepswimming]

Yes I had ME at the time. I think ME was a factor for sure and probably poor adrenals. I still find myself picking up hair strands all over the place but not as much as prior years.

Yes adrenals makes sense to me too. Thank you, glad to hear it improved for you.

 

[lenora]

Yes, right now I have an excess of hair falling out. I usually do in the autumn, but for the first time in probably 40 yrs., didn't have this happen last year.

As a result, I had super thick hair and I'm constantly cleaning it up. The hair does follow a natural cycle of growth and then falling out. Usually there is a better pattern to this. Do you mean this particular problem, or alopecia on the sides of your head? There are so many things involved in this, and all I can do is wish you luck in trying to figure it out, or having medical help. Yours, Lenora

 

[keepswimming]

@lenora I haven't noticed excessive shedding, but the hairline at the corners of my forehead has receded. It isn't a major amount - and thankfully the rest of my hair covers it so it isn't noticeable. As long as it doesn't get worse!

Thank you 😊