• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Type 1 with Hair loss

T

toes10

Newbie
Messages
2
Hi, I am new here and wanted some advice for my mum.

Mum is a type 1 diabetic, diagnosed 25yrs ago - she is now 60yrs old.

A while back her hair dresser noticed some hair loss, a bald patch on one side of her head,size of a 50p. Mum being mum ignored it and told no-one. 2 months ago she went to the hairdresser and was told the patch was bigger, size of a tennis ball. Mum confided in me and I made her contact the doctors.
Doctor gave her a shampoo, told her to wash every night at 7pm - leave on for 20mins and rinse, then to go back in 1 month.
She did this and now she has 2 large patches on both sides of her head - barely covered by her remaining hair now.
She is very depressed.
She returned to the doctor today after 5weeks and he has finally referred her to the hospital.

Could this be diabetes related? I have tried to research but found more info on hair thinning rather than hair loss!

She finds her diabetes very hard to control and was looking at having the pump but because of her stress levels her consultant decided it was too risky for her.

Any response to this will be much appreciated - help or advice.

Thankyou
 
Poorly controlled diabetes can cause your hair to thin. This happened to me when I was first diagnosed. Doesn't sound like this is what's happening to your mum though. Sounds more like alopecia - I'd ask her doctor about this as it sounds suspiciously like it.

Emma
 
Stress can do this. I had a problem 2 years ago very stressed and I lost a patch the size of a golf ball. If it is alopecia the hair will not regrow straight away - sometimes not for a long time. If it is stress it will tart to grow back within a few weeks. Mine did.
 
Hi, thanks for the replies.
The doc did mention alopecia.

After reading up a little i wondered if there was a link to the medication she is on - or her diet? To try and control the hypo's they have her on a low carb diet...guess we will have to wait for the appointment to come through the post, lets hope its sooner rather than later!
 
Several times in my life (and I'm only 42), I have sufferred with Alopecia Areata (which is what you mother seems to have). I have had test after test and there is no underlying clinical cause. If it were to be a side effect of a medication or diet it is far more likely that the hair loss would be more even across the scalp instead of being very localised.

Alopecia of any kind in women (and men for that matter) can be quite a traumatizing turn of events, and stress of suffering from it can ADD to the effects, making the hair loss worse. I can become a viscious cycle.

If it is caused by stress, it is still Alopecia Areata...the cause is irrelevant to the name. It may come back in a short space of time, or it may not. In some instances it may never return, though I hope in your mum's case it does.

In my father's case, when my mother died he lost every hair on his body, and none ever returned. He adapted to it quite quickly, but from personal experience I know it can be much more difficult for women.
 
Hi, sorry to hear about your mums distress.

You mentioned possible links to her medication.

I don't know alot about it at all but is your mum on statins?

If so you might research hair loss caused by statins.

Good luck Andre
 
Back
Top