Hair loss: When to expect regrowth after taking iron tablets?

[CeeBeeBee]

My hair has been thinning and shedding for maybe a year so I went to the gp to ask for a blood test and my ferritin level was about 37 which I know causes hair loss if below 40.

I've been taking Ferrous Fumerate for over a month now and I definitely think that my hair shedding has subsided, as there are not as many strands as before in the shower and when I brush my hair. I even sweep the carpet with an old toothbrush to see how many has fallen onto the floor to check!

I guess what I want to hear, is some success stories of replenishing one's iron stores and regain of thick glossy locks. Has this ever happened to you and has taking iron tablets helped in the long run?
Please give me some hope!
Thank you.

Me! Well, I obviously don't know if that's what it was, but my hair was really falling out, I was anaemic, took FF (and also kelp tablets), and now it's not falling out anywhere near as much.

It was gradual though and I can't for the life of me remember how long it took.
The FF did get a bit too much for my guts though, so now I only take that around my period and take floradix at other times.

I was taking iron, but the thing that has made a huge difference to my hair loss is kelp. I really can't believe how immediate the change was.

Kelp? I thought that was due to the iodine content for treating thyroid though which also causes hair loss?

Anyway, thanks for the replies. I shall keep going with the tablets though as it is clear that ff isn't high enough and especially since I am (or was) vegetarian for over 20 years.

Is it really a concern at 37? My level was 5!!

37 is well into normal range. Maybe hair loss is something else.

Normal iron levels is anything between 13 and 300 but you need 40 to stop hair loss and 80 for regrowth.

Normal being "not anaemic".

I'm veggie too, CBB. I think the kelp ^seemed to work relatively quickly too, as buttons* said.
NB I've never had any thyroid concerns, nothing was mentioned in my blood tests (for anaemia). I probably read about kelp on here!

Hmm, I did have thyroid tested as well but they reported it back as normal. My mother's side of the family have a history of thyroid dysfunction and dm occasionally has to take iodine tablets.

I'll think about the kelp if progress is slow. Do you just get them from Holland and Barret?

Mine are just H&B ones of 150 ug iodine per day. But they'd be cheaper elsewhere.

6-8 weeks for me. I take iron and hair and nail vitamins.

I know my iron is low when I see hair on the pillow in the morning.

My hairdresser was the first to spot the regrowth, after about six weeks (she calls it the halo effect as its like a fuzzy circle round your head) Ferrous fumarate played havoc with my stomach so I take ferroglobin and also starflower which hels my skin and general mood. I have fairly short hair and after the initial fuzz it was pretty quick to thicken up

Just be careful with kelp because it can muck up your thyroid!

Hi..

I started taking Ferrous Fem... 3 times a day and it suppressed my hair growth so badly, on all areas of my body.

I was taking almost 1000mg per day... my iron levels have been great since February 2018.

Now I've stopped taking them my hair has started to grow back lovely.

It was shutting down something vital in my body.

I won't be taking them again... due to the affects and will continue an all healthy diet.

It also made my breasts enormous

I’m about 6 weeks in to taking ferrous sulphate for hair loss. I’m supplementing it with Hairfollic tablets too (GP said amount of iron in the latter was so low I could take it alongside the FS). I’m starting to see some regrowth I think (hope!). Good luck - hair loss is extremely stressful.

Also worth saying more noticeable than the hair growth is how much more energy I have! It was like walking through fog before - I was exhausted and struggling to concentrate at work.

I have this problem too, and there are several threads on here about hair loss and thinning hair
I am taking high dose Biotin, and feroglobin
My ferritin levels vary,i have Haemochromatosis, which is iron overload, but rarely seems to go above 70,its 74 at the moment
My Dr said to eat more meat and green veg, as im not a big meat eater
Although my hair is thinning i dont see much hair in the plughole etc,
I have wondered if using heated rollers,and sometimes velcro ones are doing damage, as the velcro does stick to the hair
I have had thyroid tests and they came back normal
My sons have hair like steel, but their ferritin is through the roof, so it must make a difference

If anything, I thought the iron would have made my hair better? That's why I'm so confused to why it stopped growing

Yes,that does seem strange, maybe you are deficient in something else
I bought some watersons shampoo ,it is supposed to help hair growth, it is sulphate free, so might at least stop it from thinning

I just can't understand it. You may be right about being short in something else...

But why would it come back from stopping the iron?

Thanks for the recommendation:)

I making sure mine is high enough, i knew, i have read about Biotin, taking that, low ferritin, taking that, i also read recently hydrolised collagen helps
I am also using sulphate free shampoo to hopefully help stop thinning ,but supposed to help growth too
When i was about 14 i waned long hair, my brother said put vaseline on it, i did and couldnt get it out until i washed it several times, so maybe vaseline is the answer

Do you colour your hair? Use hairdryers or straighteners or heat regularly?

I think hair condition has a lot to do with thickness. If the hair that is falling has a bulb on the end, and if you pick up a strand of hair from your head and it looks healthy and as thick at the ends as at the roots then definitely vitamin treatments.

However if your strand tapers out to nothing and you see lots of hairs of different lengths within the strand, or the hair is breaking rather than falling (big difference) then the volume could be compromised by the condition. i.e. some snaps off due to poor condition before it reaches the length of the rest of the hair.

If that's the case then I recommend no heat treatment at all except on special occasions, let hair air dry, stop colouring hair (especially lightening, including highlights not just all over colour) and don't use volumising products (oddly, these can make hair more brittle or damaged in the long term particularly when combined with heat and brushing) so over time volume gets less and less. Then you use more and more product and it just goes on.

hi I know this is very low but I'd be keen to find out how you're getting on if you're still here.
I've been shedding a lot for over a year now and my hair is horribly thin. Recently discovered that my ferritin is 40, while not very low I know that 80+ is best so I have started taking ferrous fumerate. Keen to understand if you think it helped you.
I have an underactive thyroid but it's corrected with thyroxin so i don't think it's that.