Hormones, Hair Loss, and Getting Your Health Back On Track with Dr. Anna Cabeca and Dr. Shel

The Girlfriend Doctor w/ Dr. Anna Cabeca

Have you ever suffered from hair loss or struggled with your hormones? Dr. Shelena Lalji shares her experience of dealing with hair loss, being diagnosed with breast cancer, and how she started her journey to understand her own hormone imbalances and what she did to get her health and hormones back on track. It’s an inspiring story filled with a number of insights and tips for women and men dealing with hair loss or hormonal issues.

• Shel’s hormone journey started in her early- to mid-30’s after the birth of her son. Right after postpartum, Dr. Shel began losing large amounts of hair. A clear indication that something was wrong.
• A symptom is your body trying to give you a message. It’s a way of communicating that your body requires something to get back to optimal health. Most often, it’s telling you your hormones are imbalanced.
• Her experience trying to get a diagnosis lead to Dr. Shel looking into functional medicine and identifying the root cause of her symptoms. Her hair loss at that point was so bad that she was reluctant to leave her house.
• Doing the research into hormone imbalances gave her an intense interest in helping other women suffering from the same issues.
• In October of 2019, Dr. Shel was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was just two years after her husband was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The stress of that time had a lot to do with her hair loss and hormonal imbalances.
• Leading up to that point, Dr. Shel had completely ignored her health while thinking of herself as a self-sacrificing martyr. It wasn’t too surprising to hear that her cancer experience started after two years of not focusing on her health.
• Shel took her cancer diagnosis as a wake-up call. It was an opportunity to slow down and refocus on what her body needed.
• She chose to do chemotherapy with the knowledge that she would probably lose all her hair, so she decided to shave her head preemptively and own the experience. She made it a goal to regrow as much healthy hair as she possibly could once she was done with the therapy.
• Hormones go beyond the thyroid but it’s often the first place to look. When your thyroid is imbalanced, you can experience weight gain, constipation, fatigue, and hair loss. An overactive or underactive thyroid can cause dry thin hair to grow from your scalp.
• When hormone production is disrupted, specifically the hormones T3 and T4, it affects all the processes that happen during the hair growth cycle.
• The average person loses 60 hairs each day, but with a hormonal imbalance that number grows and you will replace the hair that falls out at a slower rate.
• Alopecia is an autoimmune condition that often occurs alongside hormone imbalances. The good news is that hair loss caused by these conditions can often be reversed and is typically temporary.
• Just because you have a thyroid condition today, that doesn’t mean that you need thyroid medication for the rest of your life. Solving the underlying problems like an iron deficiency or nutritional deficiency can resolve things.
• When you have an inflammatory diet, the inflammation will eventually spread throughout your entire body. By the time you see the effects on a test, it’s been happening microscopically for a long time.
• Gluten and grains in general are a common source of inflammation in the body. Getting onto a diet like Keto Green and eliminating inflammatory foods can change your life.
• When you have excessive daily hair shedding, it’s not necessarily reliant on a genetic predisposition. It occurs as a result of an internal balance or upset, like a nutritional deficiency or high-stress levels.
• When estrogen and progesterone levels decrease, the male hormones increase and your hair loss can accelerate. The hormonal process of testosterone harms hair follicles and is the source of male pattern baldness. Increasing zinc levels and decreasing cortisol can prevent this process.
• In terms of hair care, oil massages strengthen the follicles and strands and prevents breakages and you should avoid pulling your hair too much. Using natural hair care products and a vinegar rinse once a week can help eliminate toxins on your scalp. It’s never too soon to eliminate the toxins from your shampoo.
• When you are in adrenal fatigue or a sympathetic fight or flight state, that imbalance is going to directly impact the thyroid. The next time you go to your doctor to get your thyroid checked, ask your doctor to check for reverse T3, free T3, free T4, TSH, and both antibodies.
• When you are in estrogen dominance, you can have a T3 deficiency, which can be the source of your imbalance.
• Women between the ages of 35 and 55 are in a vulnerable time period in terms of hormones and are often in estrogen dominance.
• Many women believe that their hormones must be alright if they aren’t menopausal yet, but the truth is the disruption starts in their 30’s and develops gradually.
• There is so much we can do to improve our health without spending money just by addressing our lifestyles and nutrition.
• Low-level laser therapy is another solution for thin hair. The laser stimulates the follicle so the hair gets thicker and it regenerates. Another option is hair PRP, where the treatment takes your own stem cell growth factors to regenerate your collagen.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Dr. Shel’s hair care products - shop-drshelmd-com.3dcartstores.com/beauty-by-dl.html

drshel.com

youtube.com/thegirlfrienddoctor

dranna.com/show

Always seek the advice of your own physician or qualified health professional before starting any treatment or plans. Information found here and results are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified healthcare professional and are not intended as medical advice.