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help and advice

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michelle sw

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hello, I am a mum of a newly diagnosed teen, my son is 14 and has recently be diagnosed with type1, I am worried as his hair seems to be thinning, I have bought vitamin + iron, and biotin b fit capsules, have read that this can sometimes happen need some helpful advice is there anything else I can do, he had his hair cut but did not want it cut short.

Very worried Mum
 
Hi Michelle welcome- my son is 16 dx last Dec we have had no thinning of hair and to be honest I havent read it anywhere- other parents will be along soon with some help just wanted to say Hi and welcome
 
michelle SW

Hello, thankyou for your quick response, have been told by diabetic nurses that it can be caused by high blood sugars, we are trying to stabilise him, sugars coming down, but he doesn't like the feeling he gets when they drop to about 6/7, but appreciates that he can't keep them high, this has been very stressful time for him, he also lost an awful lot of weight before diagnosis but has so far put on a stone which is really good and can only benefit him, this may have also played a part, glad that I joined this forum expect i will be using it a lot.

Michelle SW
 
Just to welcome you on board and to reassure that once the blood sugars stabilize he will start to feel so much better........

I haven't heard of the hair thinning myself either, however I was always into short haircuts when I was 15 [diagnosed].....

Hang in there.......🙂
 
Hi thank you for your quick response , think i posted my reply in the wrong box this is all so new to me, so please bear with me if i make mistakes whilst using this forum, have been told by diabetic nurses that it caused by high BS, plus ollie lost an awful lot of weight, he has put on a stone now which is good still has another to go i think, so this has probably not helped his hair, he had it cut on Saturday but refused to have it short..he could really do without this, so hopefully will get some words of advice. Michelle
 
Yes its alot to take in- but over time he will get used to knowing how his body reacts to different things- sport for example- its a slow learning process and hard but you have joined the right place -everyone here will always help-sorry I couldnt help with the hair - but Im interested to see others thoughts- got to go to a parents eve now -but will look in later
 
My daughters hair did not seem to grow for a while after diagnosis. I seem to recall reading somewhere that if your body has gone into shock i.e DKA, then it shuts down on those other things that aren't essential, if that makes sense. It will come back - he will be growing new hair follicles as we speak.

Anyway welcome to the forum 🙂🙂
 
Welcome to the forum, Michelle.

Give it time - as a newly diagnosed child's (or adult's) body gets used to lower (nearer normal) blood glucose levels, they will gradually come to regard only below 4 to 5 mmol/l levels as low.

Any hair loss or thinning will grow back fairly quickly - and I know I would have prefered just to master insulin injections and finger prick tests, not start vitamin tablets as well, although I was diagnosed as a shirt-haired young adult, not a teenager, so might not have noticed if I was loosing hair then.
 
Yup, I'd think it was probably 'shock' myself.

When you are old enough to grasp what it all means, then being diagnosed with a chronic condition has much the same affect as being run over by a steam roller. I was 22 so I think I can say that with some authority.

If he HAD been run over by a traction engine and his hair fell out, nobody would bat an eyelid, would they. Just say Oh dear what a shame - it will soon grow back.

Don't dwell on it ! However if it doesn't show any improvement in about a month or so OR if hair from anywhere else starts disappearing (I'm thinking arms, legs, eyebrows so not embarassing hair LOL though that can be affected) then I'd query underactive Thyroid.

Ayway tell him bald men are sposed to be better lovers - and that surely can't be bad at 16! LOL (sorry to joke)
 
michelle sw said:
Hi thank you for your quick response , think i posted my reply in the wrong box this is all so new to me, so please bear with me if i make mistakes whilst using this forum, have been told by diabetic nurses that it caused by high BS, plus ollie lost an awful lot of weight, he has put on a stone now which is good still has another to go i think, so this has probably not helped his hair, he had it cut on Saturday but refused to have it short..he could really do without this, so hopefully will get some words of advice. Michelle
Click to expand...

Hi Michelle,
the nurse is quite correct about the hair loss/thining being caused by high numbers.
Things will go back to normal though once he has normal blood sugars for a while.
Please also tell you son that the yucky feeling with the lower numbers will soon go. It's caused by his body being used to higher numbers thus his 6 and 7 seem to his body as if he is low.
It's a case of hanging in there and taking one day at a time.
Best wishes
Sue
 
Thankyou..I really hope you are right, it is early days, he didn,t have DKA, we got him to Dr's thankfully before that happened, it was his weightloss that really concerned me so that's why we went to see Dr, half expected it to be his thyroid as we have h/o that in our family, really was shocked to hear diabetes dx. will keep you updated on how things are going.
 
Thankyou Sue, it's what i wanted to hear, his BS do seem to be coming down, went to 4.5 this morning whilst in school, so he had a biscuit, that helped till break and his morn snack, it's costing me a small fortune in food but soooo good to see him eating again, am feeling a little more positive after reading your reply. so thank you, will keep you posted.
 
You may be shocked at his 'normal' appetite, my grandson is 16 and he's had hollow legs all through his teens.

His legs must be hollow with a hole at the bottom where it all drops through, because it doesn't stick, not as fat anyway but he is pretty fit looking, because well, he's fit !! (Rugger, cricket, all athletics .... )

(When he was about 13 me and daughter used to say he must have a tapeworm, which we christened Tarquin, so he'd never say he was hungry, always said T was LOL)
 
my mum spotted i had bad control of my levels when she was dying my hair and told me i had a bald patch ofc me being me didn't believe her but i did start testing properly again.
 
My hair thinned a bit after diagnosis and I was told it was due to shock to the body. After a couple of months it started growing back.
 
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