hair and eyebrows falling out

[cory]

Any idea what could be causing this in a 13yo? She has also been very lethargic and depressed all autumn and had low level infections pretty constantly, and is thought to be anaemic. Within the last week she has lost half the eyebrow on either side and a small clump of hair on one side.

[noddyholder]

Thyroid can cause outer brows to fall out

[cory]

Thanks. Have been googling and she certainly seems to have a lot of the symptoms (depression, fatigue, hair turning coarse, intolerance of cold etc). But I don't know how to put it to the GP who already seems to have me down as an overanxious Mum.

[cory]

The more I think about this, the more I think we're finally onto something. And we're seeing GP tomorrow re dd's anaemia (apparently also a symptom) so last minute revelation, if it is. Thank you very much, Noddy!!!

[jabberwocky]

Could it be alopecia?

[cory]

I think alopecia just means hair loss. So could be caused by thyroid problems or anything.

[noddyholder]

I hope you get some results She is too young to be suffering this should be the time of her life Good luck today xx

[cory]

You've been a great help, Noddy, and I do hope it is this, as it would at least be treatable. Dd already has another chronic condition, which is not treatable and which causes pain and disability. Having the time of her life seems a long way off

[noddyholder]

What other condition does she have?BTW friend with underactive thyroid has been transformed with thyroxin xx

[Deadworm]

Alopecia means hair losss due to an auto-immune disease in which the hair folicles are attacked. It often starts at adolescence and can either be a one-off occurence with regrowth after a few months or a year, or be a chronic problem. Steriods are sometimes an effective treatment but not always.

[cory]

Thanks, Deadworm, I see now

Noddy, she has Ehlers Danlos/Joint Hypermobility Syndrome, which leads to chronic joint pain and mobility problems, so has to pace herself very carefully; uses a wheelchair from time to time, has had a lot of pain over the last 6 years.

[noddyholder]

Oh poor thing it does sound immune related.I have been on steroids years and sometimes when they lower the dose my hair starts falling out

[jabberwocky]

Just getting back to this. I see deadworm has expanded alopecia for you. It definitely has underlying causes. Even though steroids don't always work I think it is worth a try.

[cory]

Thanks everybody. Back from the doctor now. And have let dd retire to bed, as she is so clearly not with it at all.

It all seems very complex. Firstly, the tests did not show she was badly anaemic as I got the impression from the reception, but that she was slightly deficient in folic acid.

GP was actually very helpful (must have caught her on a bad day last time). She wrote out a folic acid prescription to start with.

But it turned out she had actually done the thyroid test when she did the other bloods and it was normal. So no help there.

So hard to know what is going on here. But GP agreed the hair loss is worth thinking about and is referring her to a hospital general paed to see if there is anything she might have missed.

I feel very stressed and exhausted at the thought of waiting for month for a referral and then endless rounds of hospital appointments that probably won't show anything (did a ghastly series 3 years ago for suspected cyclical neutropenia), dd getting more and more tired, and myself more and more established as an overreacting mum.

But I am sure there must be something there and I owe it to dd to keep going.

[ajandjjmum]

You're absolutely not over-reacting - you're putting your dd first.

Take care of yourself as well as her, and fingers crossed for an early referral.

[Carrotfly]

Your last sentence brought a tear to my eye Cory.

I cant be of any help, but wish you and your daughterss well. Stay strong.

[alypaly]

alopecia is not always associated with the immune system. The main one that is associated is alopecia areata which is more of a patchy baldness...which in general has a good chance of regrowth. Alopecia can be caused by shock,trauma,depression,thyroid,chemo....a multitude of external stimuli...not always immune system.

I noticed that she has ehlers -danlos syndrome which affects collagen production....hair is mainly collagen so it may be a side effect of her condition.

[noddyholder]

You sound a great mum she is lucky to have you.Did they test for b12 as it goes with folic acid i think and has a huge list of side effects which are often different.I had it and started injections about 9 months ago.I also have an autoimmune condition and it was a result of a medication i had taken.I was very tired tingly freezing feet sore tongue and skin was flaky.HTH thinking of you both x

[cory]

They have done full bloods, and the only thing showing up is a slight folic acid deficiency, so she's been given tablets for that. She is being referred on to a paed in case there is anything the GP hasn't thought of.

[kittybrown]

Cory my mum had something similar hers was caused by a deficiency of vitamin B (folic acid is part of the vit b family). She lost patches of hair and both her eyebrows. She has an autoimmune condition that caused malabsorption of vit b in particular.
Since being perscribed high doses of vit B her hair's grown back. she also had trouble with the nerves in her feet and could hardly walk but since the tablets they have improved.

[cory]

thanks, kitty. Something like that would explain what I've been wondering about, which is why we can all eat the same diet (and dd eats rather more than the rest of us) yet the rest of us haven't got any problems