Hepatitis Hair Loss

Hello Everyone!!!!!

Boy am i stressing, I am a 43 year old male who finished treatment a month ago. I have type 2b and did the interferon/ribo treatment. I am having a huge issue with my hair. Didn't really seem to loose much on treatment, but now it seems like it is really thinning out. I am noticing some bald spots all of a sudden, also and the texture is also changing. My questions to the group are this....

Why is my hair falling out now and how long can I expect this to continue for after treatment???? And secondly, is their a good chance that it will grow back????

Please help

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I'd say Greyhackles' take on "timing" sounds about right. I completed 48 weeks in late November (four months post tx now) and my hair did not start falling out right away, it took a while. I have very long hair, and prior to treatment a rubber band only went around my ponytail twice. Now it goes around the ponytail 6 times, so that gives you an idea how much hair I started with and how much I lost.

In the months since tx ended, the hair loss did NOT stop right away, but continued. Once the hair loss began in earnest, "It was normal" for me to run a brush thru my hair, hold it up to look and there would be something I'm guessing like 30 - 40 long hairs flying in the wind. My hair came right out from the roots. No doubt there was breakage as well, but mostly I noticed the long, full length hairs :( Many people
seem to cut hair and go short for the duration of tx but I chose to keep it long, because short is MORE work for me (curly hair - not a pretty sight upon arising in the morning) Leaving it long allowed me to keep it in ponytail, much less work and anything that was less effort for me was A-OK.

The good news - just this past week, I was brushing my hair and upon lifting my bangs, realized that new hair is growing in finally! Yeah! If I lift my bangs, I can see a thin fringe of new down along the hairline, about half an inch long. But I don't think it fell out in "patches" tho there were a few times when, trying to comb it out after washing, that there were little "clumps" that pulled right out.

Texture change seems to be a common complaint - ie from thick and curley to thin and wispy, but people seem to agree that when it grows back, for most folks, it grows back normally. Now if only my bones and muscles would quit aching constantly, I'd really be on my way ;)

Source: Hepatitis C Newsgroup

More Hair Loss and Hair Removal Information at: Hair Removal Chat

Living with Hepatits C

Good Nutritional Guideline for Hep C

Nutrition Care Guideline
www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hepc/hepatitis_c/pdf/nutritionCareGuidelines/

Wanted to post the contributers for such a wonderful job:

Many people have contributed to the development of these guidelines and deserve recognition for their time, effort and dedication.

Dietitians of Canada sincerely thanks the members of the national advisory committee for their expert advice and guidance. We also thank the organizations involved in the project, as well as the expert reviewers who provided valuable guidance on the technical and practical aspects of the guidelines.

Production of the guidelines would not have been possible without the insights of those who participated in the key informant interviews for the needs assessment. We are also grateful to the participants in the focus groups conducted to test and refine the patient education material.

National Advisory Committee

Renée C. Crompton, M.Sc., RD
Regional Nutritionist - Ontario Region
First Nations and Inuit Health Branch
Health Canada

Mary Giudici, RDN
Vancouver Island Health Authority
Royal Jubilee Hospital
Victoria, BC

Lynn Greenblatt
Community Acquired Infections Division
Health Canada

Kelly Kaita, MD, FRCP(C)
Director, Viral Hepatitis Investigative Unit
University of Manitoba
Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver

Timothy J. McClemont
Executive Director
Hepatitis C Society of Canada

Billie Potkonjak
National Director of Health Promotion and Patient Services
Canadian Liver Foundation

Jeff Rice
Coordinator of Regional Resources and Hepatitis C Programs
Canadian Hemophilia Society

Vera Simon, RN, M.Sc.N
President
Canadian Association of Hepatology Nurses

Jayne Thirsk, Ph.D., RD
Professional Development and Support
Dietitians of Canada

Lori Hards, RD
Dietitian/Nutritionist
Southern Alberta Clinic
Calgary, AB

Janet Madill, Ph.D.(C), RD
Transplant Dietitian, Research Practice Leader
University Health Network, Toronto General
Toronto, ON

Tania Soutar, B.Sc., RD
Clinical Dietitian
Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region
Regina, SK

Special thanks go to Mary Giudici for sharing her patient education tools, and to the additional expert reviewers: Diana Johansen, B.Sc., RD, Clinical Dietitian, Oak Tree Clinic, Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia, and Adjunct Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia; and Sian Hoe Cheong, RD, Supervisor, Food Services, Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, Palliser Health Region.