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The origin of Alopecia and how truly cure it
Ive had alopecia universalis for 7 years now. I’ve tried injections and topical creams with no luck. After finding out that alopecia is caused by and autoimmune response I knew that the majority of treatment options that most of us are offered won’t work because even if we grow all our hair back our immune system will just attack it again. These past 7 years have allowed me to come to understand not just Alopecia but orther autoimmune diseases in general. After having done so many google searches, pouring through books and a doctors verification I’ve finally found the source of not just alopecia but autoimmunity in general and how to treat it naturally and side effect free. All autoimmune disease starts out first with a condition known as leaky gut syndrome. At first I was skeptical and dismissed it thinking that your digestive system has nothing to do with your scalp and immune system and boy was I wrong. Your intestines make up the majority of your immune system and I got curious and decided to go to a gastroenterologist to see if I had leaky gut syndrome. To my surprise I did. The doctor recommended a change in diet and to consume probiotic supplements to allow for more healthy gut bacteria. Pretty much what happens with leaky gut syndrome and why it is the origin of all autoimmune disease is that at some point our digestive system, primarily the small intestine, becomes sensitive to foods found in the average diet such as dairy, gluten, red meat, eggs. When we consume these foods our small intestine becomes inflamed. Once it is inflamed our immune system kicks in and tries to reduce the inflammation at the source i.e the foods that caused the inflammation. We are unaware of these sentivities because ours bodies don’t react to the foods in an immediate or drastic way like it would in the event of a food allergy. Being unaware of these sensitivities we continue to consume these foods and our immune system is in a constant state of overdrive. Eventually the inflammation causes small microscopic tears in our gut lining thus the term “leaky gut”. At this point when we consume the foods that we’re sensitive to certain proteins and other materials that our gut would have filtered out as waste make their way through the tears in our gut lining and into your blood stream. Now this is where the autoimmune response occurs. Because our immune system spent so much time fighting the proteins in the foods that we’re sensitive to, if those proteins appear in other parts of the body it can cause the immune system to get confused and attack parts of your body thinking it’s attacking the food proteins that caused inflammation. The reason why this happens is because some proteins found in foods can be the same or extremely identical to the proteins that make up certain parts of our body. One protein that has been discovered to mimic a part of our body is a protein known as A-1 casein which is actually what our pancreas is made up of entirely. So for example if you have leaky gut syndrome and you consume dairy your immune system will grow accustomed to fighting off A-1 casein but eventually it will get confused from having fought it so much and it will register your pancreas as just a wad of A-1 casein and try to eradicate it thinking it’s an intruder which would then cause a pancreatic autoimmune disease. Scientists still haven’t found all the food proteins that are similar to parts of our body so it is not yet known what food protein causes our immune system to fight our hair. What is evident is that this is how leaky gut syndrome is the origin of all autoimmune disease. Topical treatments only treat symptom which is why dermatologist have not had any luck with any treatment let alone a cure. Changing your diet to avoid inflammatory foods and foods that cause sentivity will allow for your digestive system to heal and patch up the tears in the gut lining and allow for your immune system to calm down due to a lack of food protein getting past your gut lining and waste invasion. I read a leaky gut diet book and have been following the diet for two months now. Ive had alopecia universalis since I was 15 and now I’m starting to get my eyebrows back and even beard and mustache hairs which I’ve never had prior to Alopecia. This is our cure and it has no side effects and by proxy will heal other conditions such as asthma and eczema which have been greatly alleviated after this diet. If you guys have any questions feel free to ask.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by bibby on
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Thanks for the contribution Lawrence. Sadly I must say this view that we can control “leaky gut” by simply Changing diet and determining proteins to effect the course of the flare ups (and with AU constant flare ups) that cause the hair loss is an idealist view point in my opinion. On this forum countless people with great determination and will power have totally changed their diet and cut out dairy and gluten etc and it has had zero effect in the course of their hair loss. I personally know one AU individual who went on a 30 day fast and I mean FAST. No food just water. Result :- not as much as one new hair. I firmly believe that with this being an autoimmune condition that a change of diet makes no difference. Examples of autoimmune diseases such as arthritis, chrohns disease, lupus etc etc are NOT determined by diet so there lives no reason why any of the alopecia varieties would be diet determined either.
The condition is highly frustrating and as an AT sufferer who is slightly recovering presently I hold out hope for the future by the medical advances and trials like xeljanz and RUX and IL2. Maybe in 2-5 years a viable treatment or cure will be developed.
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Thank you for starting this topic! Our gut is a first place to start with a healing. I am struggling with a condition for the last two years. Last 6 month I have no hair at all, not even small hairs on the hands. I went through all conventional treatments and was feeling only worse. Finally when it got to the point I was so sick to do everyday things I got scared. I was lucky to find a doctor who did proper tests and I started even before it AIP diet. I feel so much better! Test showed I have very bad set of bacteria in my gut and zero of healthy bacteria. My body is not absorbing vitamins, minerals, I am not digesting protein/fat/carbs, not producing enough serotonin and have high antibodies. Also I have a rare gene mutation which makes my body unable to detox from heavy metals. Now 3 months of supplements, IVs with vitamins, detox solutions and injections - my eyebrows are starting to grow! Makes me super excited!
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Thanks for both your input, very interesting reading. JG - just wondering, you said you finally found a doctor that did the proper tests, would you mind sharing what type of doctor it is that you saw and what blood tests they ran on you? I had a few bald spots up until February 2017, I made the mistake of getting a steroid injection, which caused me to lose every bit of hair by mid-May and have been this way since (even though my primary care physician says it wasn't the injection, but can't say what it was). I've been to several doctors in the past year, they run blood tests, all the results come within normal ranges. I took Xeljanz for 2 months over the summer, but the side effects and the thought of having to stay on it, possibly for the rest of my life, scared me, so I discontinued it. Would you mind sharing what type of doctor you saw and what tests they ran on you? I am seeing a new primary care physician in May and I'm hoping that maybe this doctor will be more helpful than the one that I currently have and the ones that I've seen over the past year. Thanks very much!
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Theresa, doctor is specialized on autoimmune diseases, mainly cancer. He had a couple of patients with AU before me. I went through so many doctors for the past years and nobody could help. I have done following tests: Genetic detoxification panel, food allergy test, Neuroendocrinological profile, Fetty acids profile, stool test , DPMS test for heavy metals, hormonal tests, general blood tests. All tests were done via Unilab laboratory. I wish you recovery!!!
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Thanks JG! This info is very helpful - I have a thyroid problem, so if I want to see any other specialist besides an Endocrinologist I need a referral from my PCP, who, unfortunately, has not been very helpful throughout this journey - hopefully the Dr that I see in May will be able to point me in the right direction and I plan to come prepared! Thank you again!
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Permalink Reply by NicoleT on
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I had read about this working for a few people as well and was so excited. Got a couple books and did Auto Immune Protocol diet for 6 months 100% strict to heal leaky gut.
I didn't touch dairy, gluten, legumes, nuts, seeds, grains.
Basically I only ate un-prosessed meats, fruits and vegetables for 6 months. No hair growth for me :(
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Nicole,
I've been down a similar path as you. Several months of an extremely austere diet and 26 pounds lost (which I could semi-afford to lose). Physically, I felt great, but there were zero results.
But wait!
The AIP, or any other diet similarly intended to increase gut health, may not be the golden ticket by itself. All those diets do is put our bodies in a position to absorb the meds or nutrients and vitamins that we might need to make this affliction go away and stay gone.
Here's how it worked for me -- I started taking Simvastatin and Ezitimibe about six months before I started the austere diet. I saw absolutely nothing from the meds, and was close to giving up. I read about the AIP diet and decided to try it along with the meds... couldn't hurt, right?
The diet made the meds work (I'm confident to say so, because growth started almost exactly two months into the diet), because I was finally able to absorb the medication without all kinds of leaks in my stomach lining. Six months later, I had 95% of my lost hair back.
But, then I got lazy. I started letting the diet slip, thinking I was out of the woods. Even though I knew that lactose and gluten don't work for me, I ate them anyway and I could often feel the changes in my digestion afterward. After a couple months of that, the meds stopped working, and now I'm at about 50% AT again and I'm back on the diet.
Here's my point -- going through this, I've become very convinced that any diet isn't the magic bullet by itself. It's what we *do* with a healthy gut that makes a difference. I'm supplementing like crazy, and I feel much better physically again. It's only been two months since I got back on the wagon, but I'm quite confident that the meds will start to work again.
After seeing these very defined ebbs and flows in my own fight with this damned thing, I'm personally quite certain that gut health is a central figure, but that it's also not the solution alone.
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Super interesting 1975 thank you for this.
I've actually just started on some meds so I wonder if i might benefit from giving this diet another go.
Maybe I need to explore supplements with a naturopath?
A lot of the auto immune leaky gut diet books had a supplement protocol as well which i only followed for a short time. Just got lazy with that portion.. Maybe the supplements are key...
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Thanks for sharing this information! Interestingly enough, my derm wanted to put me on Simvastatin and Ezitmibe in January, but I opted out because I had heard it wasn't very successful with AU. But what you're saying makes total sense, you have to take care of the gut in order to make the meds work!
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