Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Amanda on February 27, 2010 at 9:06pm

Hi Dana

I too went gluten free around June of last year. My hair had quit responding to the corticosteroid injections I had been receiving the last couple years and my derm suggested alternative health issues. We talked about gluten being an issue and I went gluten free after that visit. I immediately started to see regrowth over the course of the next month. My hair is already very blond naturally so I'm not sure about the peach fuzz. The hair in those areas is a few inches long now and in December I quit wearing the wig I had been wearing since February of last year. I'm not sure about gluten being the direct cause of the alopecia and it seems to be different for everyone but I much prefer the results I have had and will not return to gluten any time soon. I have had a couple small patches reoccur here and there but the corticosteroid injections have been working again to stimulate the growth. My eyelashes have yet to come back as well, but I am hopeful that with time they will.

Permalink Reply by Amber Lounder on February 27, 2010 at 10:58pm

Hello Dana
In August of this year it will be 2 years that I lost all my hair to alopecia. A few months later a allergy specialist told me to stop gluten, dairy and eggs. I have done this. Last summer my hair slowly started coming back and about 2 months ago I had a 90% hair recovery. I'm still gluten free dairy and egg free. Although my hair has started falling out again I'm still confident that everything will be ok -hair or no hair :)
I know I'm gluten intolerant as I'm sure many people with stomac trouble are and don't realize it. I'm skeptical of it's effect on alopecia. I think alopecia has a mind of it's own. I wish for all of us that things with this disease were clearer
Be patient and accept your beautiful self for who you are .Big Hugs

Permalink Reply by Georgie on February 27, 2010 at 11:21pm

I've been GF since March 2009. At the time I had large bald patches on my head. Those have all grown in. Since then I have only had one small patch and it is now growing in after getting kenalog injections in December. I've colored my hair a few times in the past year (with henna & yes, I am a natural redhead) only because there have been so many of those stark white hairs. All those white hairs are proof to me that hair is returning.

I am also dairy-free and eggs don't always agree with me....but I just don't want to give those up. Small amounts are best. I was also very anemic a year ago....a sign that my intestine was pretty unhappy....even though I never experienced stomach problems.

Permalink Reply by Lynn on April 27, 2010 at 11:12pm

I had read about gluten on the NAAF website and figured I'd give it a try. I've been gluten free for 3 mths. Although will admit I occasionally will eat something not gluten free...for example...chinese food 3 days ago :) But, that's a rare occasion for me. Mostly everyday is a gluten free one. Make sandwiches with tapioca bread...and actually prefer that now. I just feel better, not so bloated as I used to be.
But, sadly my alopecia has been at it's worst in 15 yrs. So, I can't say that the gluten free has been helping me. I'm worse than ever. I still feel better though, so I'm sticking with it.

There's so many websites with suggestions and recipes, it really makes it easy to follow. And that journey has also helped me to eat much healthier...which I'm sure can only improve my well-being...hair or no hair.

Permalink Reply by Carole on March 22, 2011 at 2:14pm

Funny, I also went GF in May 09, although I have to admit to cheating over the last year or so. (I was diagnosed w/Celiac but have no symptoms when cheating...I know I shouldn't but I just don't have any payoff for "being good.") So, maybe this will be incentive to be good, to see if I get any hair back! I'd be thrilled just to get my eyelashes back...I've just joined AW, and am looking forward to seeing about connections between auto-immune disorders. Thanks to all for their posts! (PS - I haven't seen a connection between GF and regrowth myself.)

Permalink Reply by Tanya on July 26, 2011 at 3:55am

Recently I discovered two connections to improve autoimmune conditions in general:
1. reducing yeast / fungus in the body
2. eating an anti-inflammatory diet

The past 11 months I've been on an anti-inflamatory diet and am seeing more re-growth than ever! I've been AT with only peach fuzz here and here for almost 10 years, and now have about 25% regrowth! The nape area where there had been no hair for so long are now showing tiny growths!

The anti-inflamatory diet means no grains (wheat, rice), no corn, no potatoes. Sub all that with veggies. So it's a bit more strict than GF diet. I never thought I'd give up wheat but the results are so encouraging and I really don't mind being on it. My skin got better with this diet change too (was prone to acne). Occasionally I do cheat (< 10% of the time) because I don't have obvious / immediate reaction to gluten, and that's ok. It's a long term / lifestyle change.

The diet I'm on is called the Primal Diet. Paleo and Cavemen diets are similar ideas. All are anti-inflammatory and yeast-reducing.

Permalink Reply by natalie n. on November 6, 2011 at 11:42pm

Yup! Very similar story here too. I found out I had Celiac Disease about a year and a half after all my hair fell out. After a few months of GF eating I could feel which way the wind was moving because I had peach fuzz on my face. Then it returned on my arms, then my head! Then I got pregnant... and now I would say I went from AU to AA. I have about 5 quarter size patches that are still present but I have thick dark hair everywhere else. But this is where it gets tricky. Wearing a wig over hair is itchy, but it a hard call whether or not to shave it. I certainly look strange with these patches missing and I'm not one to draw attention to myself. So I'm still in my wig, but at the same time attempting to tolerate the extra itchiness (and insulation- thank heavens it's cooler out) to see what comes back and if there is any hope I could actually style my real hair once it's long enough to cover up the patches. Time will tell.

But I truly think there is a gluten connection. So much of our immune system is monitored by the gut and if the gut is responding to an allergen triggering the immune system to break it down, it makes sense that the immune system would go a little haywire.

Permalink Reply by Christa on March 7, 2012 at 3:00pm

I too went GF after getting results from a IgE and IgG4 combined blood allergen test...(not sure what the difference is really, but that's what I got) I also cut out many other foods that I found I was sensitive to from that test. The big ones were Eggs, soy, mushrooms, all types of fish except shellfish (strange, eh?)... among many others. I started seeing my hair come back patch by patch, and now about a year later I've got a full head of hair (minus some stubborn patches at the back and above my ears), my eyebrows, body hair, eyelashes have all come back! There's no way I could go back to eating gluten, now. When I was growing my hair back, it was strange for me too, but my solution was hats (most comfortable option in my opinion)

Permalink Reply by karma on April 8, 2012 at 12:37am

Hey dana, I've been tring to figure out the cause of my pruritis so I went gluten free about 2 months ago....but after realizing that sugar feeds yeast as well I have currently been all grain and as much sugar free as possible for about 2 weeks. I have the ocassionaly vodka soda water,...I'm pretty much trying a very basic elemination diet where I eat mainly proteins from meats, beans and veggies..of course I can not live like this forever but I wanted to make sure I brought my body back to the basic state it should be in before reintroducing foods, would you mind outlining wht a typical days diet is for you? I have an apt with an allergist in 2 weeks (though I'm afraid being on this diet is going to mess up any tests they take but I can't keep scratching myself to the point of bleeding everday)...I don't have aa I have either cte or aa or both, but I also have inflammed dry eyes, urticaria/prurutus, and a bad immune system, I can't skin ailments all the time plus digestive issues and foggy brain, so that why I think its a food allergy. But I don't want vitamin deficiencies so I'm trying to figure out how to do this long term and could use some help with what works for everyone who's been doing it for years and having luck
Thank you girls

Permalink Reply by Makayla M on May 8, 2012 at 3:27pm

I have had AU since the very beginning of 2010. July of 2011, I went gf, and started noticing one thin patch about 6 weeks later. Now, I have an annoying amount of random patchy body hair, and my scalp looks like "opposite alopecia" (bald with many round patches of hair!)

Permalink Reply by Henrik Eriksson on August 12, 2017 at 5:51pm

Hi,
I stopped eating gluten. Now, 6 monts later, almost all hair has grown back.

BR Henrik

Permalink Reply by Melinda on July 23, 2018 at 3:15pm

I have tried gluten free and given up on it a bit too early, I think. I recently went gluten free three weeks ago. I'll keep you updated on my progress and whether or not it is working for me!