Alopecia World
www.alopeciaworld.com
I Beat AU Twice
Background
I am Male, 36 Years Old, Played sports at a high level, Had alopecia as a child but always just patches on my head that would come and go, I could cover them by letting my hair grow a little longer.
2010 I really pushed by body hard by entering a sports competition, I had a 13 week prep, Maybe 2 week after completion of the competition I noticed patches of body hair fallen out, Then a small piece of my eyebrow, my beard had completely stopped growing. Within maybe 8 week I was completely AU.
I unfortunately fell for every Con, Bought all the Gels, was sold the magic Pills, The Creams, Listening to horrible people who claimed to have the answers to fixing it if you purchased their snake oil etc. Like many on here I scoured the Internet looking for answers and would often spend 6hrs straight on this site looking for answers.
Luckily enough after a year or so I was able to find acceptance and start to move on with my life, Which was incredibly hard since it completely altered how I looked etc.
Always being into health and fitness I tried the Auto Immune diet, For me it was just too difficult, My Wife and I don't drink so we like to eat out and I found it very hard to enjoy nights out.
In 2013 I started to read up on Intermitting Fasting. The gist of the diet was simple, pick 8 or 6 hour window, Eat within these 8/6 hours, When the 8 hours have pass you go into a fasted state (No food, or drinks with cals) It was sold to me as a great way of staying trim and strict on a diet. After spending maybe 6 months or so on the diet I got back some body hair, Hair on my head etc, By 8 months in I was fully back. My brows, Facial Hair, BodyHair (Only thing I didn't Miss Much ha)
For some reason I did not connect the hair and fasting and after awhile I started to skip on the diet here and there. Until one year in Id changed my diet and I was no longer fasting anymore.
Gradually I started to see the same spots again. I had patches in my beard, Body Hair, Hair on my arms stopped. I wasn't as crushed by this as I was the first time around, I spend a lot of time learning how to accept it but at the same time It did hurt, People asking if I was ok or peoples faces when they could see I was losing it again.
From 2015 to 2018 or so I was pretty much AU.
My brother and I were always into fitness and Id become sluggish etc when he suggested I give the Intermitted Fasting another go. So in early 2018 I started again as a way to stay in shape. My window was 12 to 8pm, If I didn't eat in my window then I didn't eat. (unless you have health issues this is completely fine, Some people panic if they haven't eaten in a few hours, You can fast for few days with zero issues)
I first noticed hair kicking back in hard on my legs and Arms, I had other health issues such as inflammation in my legs and especially my back and hips, I noticed this had also fallen greatly. within 8 months I was back to somewhat normal. My hair is not as thick as the first time around, My beard is not as strong etc but I have full body hair, eyebrows (Very few lashes) I have facial stubble.
it was then I made the connection to Fasting and my AU
Over time I started to find more about intermittent fasting, High level athletes like GSP were using fasting not just to look good but for also the insane health benefits that came with it.
Basically humans as not suppose to be able to go to a fridge and gorge. Today people eat way way too much and the issues is the majority of what we eat is absolute junk anyway. By eating within a 6 or 8 hour window you give your body 18 to 16hrs of rest and repair, make new cells and recover from the toxins.
I am of course on here with nothing to sell, Like so many I spend years of my life on here looking for answers and never really found them, The top person in the field of fasting and its benefits is Dr Rhonda Patrick. She has many podcasts and written articles that go deep into why Fasting can really help people who have health issues. My brother has used Intermediated Fasting now for 8 years. I know I will stay with this diet long term as its helped me with inflammation greatly and I just feel better in general.
Just thought Id post my experience here. There is plenty of information on fasting but I would suggest Dr Rhonda Patrick
Thanks for the read :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 1975 on
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Hey Joey,
I've got a story that's kind of similar. Found a treatment that brought me back from AT while I was on a super strict diet, but it failed when I got lazy and started eating crap. So far, I haven't been able to recover a second time.
Most of this site's users appear to believe that the only plausible alopecia treatment involves suppressing the immune system with $30,000 meds forever, but I think you're onto something too. I can feel an enormous difference in my bodywide inflammation when I eat strictly (I am/was also an athlete with lots of lingering injuries from the past). I am 43, and I feel better than I did in my 20s when I eat squeaky clean.
So, don't give up this time. I deeply regret that I did, and I'll happily eat nothing but meat and vegetables in an eight-hour window forever if I can gain some headway on this damned thing again. I absolutely believe that diet and gut health play a role in autoimmunity. No question at all in my view. It's a dirty f***ing shame that Western culture is so centered around garbage food as a recreational activity.
Now that Christmas is over, I'm back in the 11-7 window. Good luck!
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I’m with you. I have changed my diet and been having success. It all comes down to patience. When you have alopecia it doesn’t just grow back in a day. The cycle of vellus hair, unpigmented hair, and then finally gaining your pigment back. I know I have healed my gut as certain foods/drinks I used to eat would caused rash outbreak on my body. Even some pit sticks would cause rashes under my armpits from all the inflammation my body had. Red wine would cause rash outbreaks as well. Now I can drink it with zero rashes....which never happened before. https://www.alopeciaworld.com/forum/topics/aa-for-3-4-years-partial... I am gaining pigment everyday and it tough to be patient at times. I’ll be updating my post with my recent pictures soon.
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Interesting that you should mention red wine. I don't drink it very often, but I feel swollen when I do. Beer is just as bad. I've been thinking that it's the higher lingering sugar content in those versions of alcohol compared to distilled drinks, which don't affect me.
A 100% elimination of processed sugar seems to make the biggest difference in how I feel (and quickly, too), so that's been my focus, but gluten and most dairy are out too.
I ate nothing but meat and vegetables (and supplements to replace the good stuff I was missing) for four months a couple years ago, and I had to quit when my weight dropped to a point that felt unhealthy for my body shape (24 pounds lost). But, that's also when the AT recovery happened. I was eating huge volumes, my athletic performance was through the roof, and my hair was growing, but the weight was pouring off of me too fast and wasn't leveling off. So, I'm not sure how to manage those two things together. That's been my quest since then, but no luck so far.
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Yea, with the Red wine it was almost always I would have a rash. Now I can drink the exact same wine and not have the rash.
I wish I could find more about lectins in spirits,beer, and wines. Essentially the way I understand it is the higher the liquor % the more fermentation causing more lectins to be broken destroyed. But Id like to find some solid proof on the numbers for it to make sense to me.
On my diet I lost 24 lbs in 20 days. I am now around day 90 and my weight has not changed since that original 24 lbs lost. But it is definitely a challenge, losing the weight will change the way I play some sports, which will be tough. But like you said...I feel great and healthy. My AU is reversing and my hairs are growing back at a good pace! Im taking the approach the other way. Lose the weight, feel good, get my hair back, and then get the weight back.
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Lectins, huh? Interesting. I haven't been down that rabbit hole before, so I did some brief reading just now and there is certainly a lot of information that claims to link lectins to systemic inflammation. It's the internet, though, where everything is a deadly poison... so, who knows? I'll throw a few hours of research at it to see if I can help you find some legitimate sources.
24 pounds in 20 days? Man, that would have terrified me. I played football for a long time, but I've moved on to climbing mountains. So, lean muscle is definitely what I want more than mass now, but I guess I got spooked by the look on everyone's face when I dropped all that weight so quickly.
Glad to hear that things are (slowly) working out for you. I've been feeling an occasional few spiky hairs on my head in areas that have been squeaky bald for probably a year, so maybe I'm on the right track too.
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Thanks! Any info would be appreciated. I’ve had good regrowth on parts of my body that were bald since I started this diet. It’s a slow process the regrowth but any movement in the right direction is progress and is positive.
Ya, it actually spiked my cholesterol and caused me to pass a gallstone. But that is almost to be expected with rapid weight loss.
Yea, I’ve been having more and more hair each day and the hairs that are there are slowly changing pigment to my normal hair color. That sounds great! Keep it up. I strongly believe in the diet I am on and trust the doctor who wrote the book. It all logically makes sense and my old diet is the only thing I had progress on and now this diet. I am having even more success on, so I know I’m on the right path. Best of luck with your results!
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Permalink Reply by Vanessa on
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Thank you for sharing this info Joey C! I just started intermittent fasting for fitness purposes, and here I open this forum to see your post! I go back and forth between AT and AU. I just checked out Rhonda Patrick. She seems to have many recommendations beyond intermittent fasting... Did you also adapt your diet in the ways she suggests (e.g. no simple carbs)? Thanks again and congrats to you on getting your hair back :)
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Hey
for me I just do an 8 to 6 hour window of eaten. But I suppose everyone is different. Some may have to go the extra mile etc. Right now the 6 to 8 hour window is a winner for me. Best of luck with it
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If this worked for you, AWESOME! But this is the newest fad diet. Intermittent fasting just seems like a red herring in curing Alopecia. When I went completely bald, my body took 6 months to recover and started growing hair on its own. Its up there with all the other snake oil people are selling like healing your gut, leaky gut, acai berry, cider vinegar, multivitamins, weight loss pills, potions and lotions that cure everything including cancer. "My Pillow" used to have ads saying their pillow could cure sleep apnea, fibromyalgia, and even multiple sclerosis.
First problem I see is that 18 hours is not really fasting and is not enough time for your body to enter into Ketosis, which takes about 2 days. You know when your body is in ketosis when you have a metallic taste in your mouth or you can buy a pee stick at any nutrition store to really confirm it. I used to fast 7-10 days when I wanted to detox and really cut my body fat. Let me tell you when you fast for that long it produces some interesting bowel movements around day 7.
Everyone is looking for a magical elixir, diet, pill, smoothy or cream for Alopecia. As for diet, most normal people get all the nutrition their body needs from eating normal balanced diet and moderate exercise. Unless you just eat junk food all the time. Diets do not fix medical problems like Alopecia which is caused by an over active immune response. Logic would tell you, if your body had more time to fix itself then your Alopecia would be worse, not better. You are also starving your body in order to start burning the fat. Perhaps that keeps your body immune system "occupied" and attacking your hair follicles is the least of it's worries.
With that being said I have an open mind and not totally discounting this diet can have an effect on Alopecia. For me I have AA, which currently this is the second time it turned into UA and made me completely bald. My doctor just started me on Otezla, need to give it 12 weeks to see if it works.
If the Otezla doesn't work, I will try the diet at the 6 hour eating window level and report back if it works. Being an Athlete all my life I am used to following strict nutritional diets to the letter.
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Permalink Reply by John on
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This. It's really a stretch to call eating 8 hours a day "fasting". Im 38, also played sports at a high level and am in very good shape. I've done both intermittent "fasting" and actual fasting (eating once every 24-72 hours) and it had no effect whatsoever on my AU. Fasting works, but not for Alopecia. I look great and feel great but I still don't have any hair.
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Permalink Reply by Tuesday on
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Exactly my thoughts! I've been eating healthy, exercising daily pretty much consistently since I was a teen - that was decades ago. Not only have I not had my hair return, I've gone on to develop a serious autoimmune condition that requires immunosuppressants. I still exercise, I still eat right and yes do the intermittent fasting - and similar to you - I feel good but I have NOT switched off my autoimmune conditions.
I find it a bit offensive too when others assume that we all eat toxic food and junk. Not all people enjoy fast food or processed food. I've not ever had an interest in eating garbage -just fresh plant - based foods but this predilection has done nothing to prevent my autoimmune conditions.
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Permalink Reply by Brian on
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It depends on the origin of the alopecia. Alopecia rooted in food allergy causes might see benefit from intermittent fasting. Non-food related alopecia (perhaps gene / inherited) may not see any benefit. With alopecia, it shouldn't be assumed that everyone's alopecia is from the same root cause. Even though the immune system is the likely culprit, what triggered the immune system response may be from differing conditions in different individuals.
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