Comments on: Is there anyone on here that has experiance with alopecia (hair loss) in children? http://www.howtostophairloss.net/is-there-anyone-on-here-that-has-experiance-with-alopecia-hair-loss-in-children Wed, 16 Mar 2011 06:42:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Clarissa http://www.howtostophairloss.net/is-there-anyone-on-here-that-has-experiance-with-alopecia-hair-loss-in-children/comment-page-1#comment-6728 Clarissa Wed, 15 Jul 2009 05:27:12 +0000 #comment-6728 Oh man, it sounds like she (and your whole family) has been through the ringer. I really hope things start going better for you guys. I do have a suggestion though, make sure they are testing her for celiac disease. Hair loss and nervousness/anxiety are both common symptoms of celiac disease. It's an autoimmune disease caused by gluten intolerance and the cure is a gluten free diet. Many physicians don't suspect it unless a patient has weight loss or diarrhea, but it's just as likely that a patient will present with hair loss, anxiety, seizures, all kinds of other things. In fact, the most common symptom in children is irritability. It's sad that it's not diagnosed more often because the number of patients is about 1 in 100, making it extremely common. I mean, it's possible that she really does just have a terrible case of anxiety due to her situation, but make sure there aren't any biological causes. Do a search for "celiac disease alopecia" and you'll find a ton of links. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope this helps! http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/symptomsofceliacdisease/a/Alopecia.htm http://www.stopnowhairloss.com/2008/02/05/alopecia-areata-can-be-caused-by-celiac-disease/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7557104 edit: also, anemia is very common in people who chew their hair. It's considered by some to be a form of pica (you know, where people eat crazy things like rocks and dirt). Pica results from severe anemia. Anemia is extremely common among people with celiac disease. I have celiac disease and I craved cleaning products. I knew it was crazy but it was all I could think about. Fortunately I was able to resist the cravings and when I started eating gluten free the cravings went away completely. Definitely get her tested. Oh man, it sounds like she (and your whole family) has been through the ringer. I really hope things start going better for you guys. I do have a suggestion though, make sure they are testing her for celiac disease. Hair loss and nervousness/anxiety are both common symptoms of celiac disease. It’s an autoimmune disease caused by gluten intolerance and the cure is a gluten free diet. Many physicians don’t suspect it unless a patient has weight loss or diarrhea, but it’s just as likely that a patient will present with hair loss, anxiety, seizures, all kinds of other things. In fact, the most common symptom in children is irritability. It’s sad that it’s not diagnosed more often because the number of patients is about 1 in 100, making it extremely common. I mean, it’s possible that she really does just have a terrible case of anxiety due to her situation, but make sure there aren’t any biological causes. Do a search for "celiac disease alopecia" and you’ll find a ton of links. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope this helps!

http://celiacdisease.about.com/od/symptomsofceliacdisease/a/Alopecia.htm
http://www.stopnowhairloss.com/2008/02/05/alopecia-areata-can-be-caused-by-celiac-disease/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7557104

edit: also, anemia is very common in people who chew their hair. It’s considered by some to be a form of pica (you know, where people eat crazy things like rocks and dirt). Pica results from severe anemia. Anemia is extremely common among people with celiac disease. I have celiac disease and I craved cleaning products. I knew it was crazy but it was all I could think about. Fortunately I was able to resist the cravings and when I started eating gluten free the cravings went away completely. Definitely get her tested.

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