Alopecia Areata and Seborrheic Dermatitis

Nutrition
1

I posted this in my log but thought it would hopefully get more traffic here. Please offer any input you may have experience with this issue.

It’s been probably a year since I’ve noticed small chunks of hair falling out of the crown of my head and my face. I thought it was alopecia areata and the derm I went to agreed and gave me what seemed like 300 steroid injections all over my face and head. It kind of worked, I guess, and he wanted me to come back 2 more times to finish the job, but new spots would randomly pop up and I’m not about to spend 2-300 dollars on these shots every month or so.

Recently I’ve noticed a rash on my cheek that has flaky/itchy skin. Started out the size of a dime or so and I thought it was just sun/windburn. Turns out it’s probably seborrheic dermatitis. Closer inspection revealed 3 of these on my face and 1 on the crown of my head.

Whether it is sebhorrheic dermatitis or alopecia areata isn’t really that important. What is important is that both of these are chronic inflammatory disorders. I believe it is futile to attack skin disorders at the skin only and I will not resort to steroid use simply to prevent flareups. My gut, along with all the other males in my immediate family, is not the best. It’s about time I grow up and address these issues.

So, I’ve already cut eggs since that was the main food that I had increased in the years before the skin issues began. I am also cutting gluten and dairy. These are three of the more common food allergens and I’m hoping to find some relief of symptoms. I also bought some fragrance free soap and other products for my face and hair (can’t hurt).

So my new breakfast smoothie is:
banana
blueberries
Metamucil powder
flax seed powder
peanut butter (would prefer almond as PB is pro-inflammatory)
almond milk
kale
cream of rice (used to be oatmeal)

The smoothie ends up being about 500 calories and has a lot of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory power. It might not hurt to throw some turmeric, ginger, or cinnamon in there.

tl;dr
Skin and hair problems = gut problems
Gluten, eggs, and dairy = common gut allergens
Less allergens antioxidant anti-inflammatory = healed gut = healed skin (hopefully)
Balding = whatever
Patchy balding, especially on face and eyebrows = no fun for anyone

I’m thinking of logging this progress on my youtube page and if successful I may expand my practice to help others deal with similar issues.

Alopecia Barbae
2

I will be subscribing to this thread. I have SD and am curious how your strategy works for you.

3

I created a thread about this a few months ago, but did not know you already had one. How has your progress going?

4

I have read that low dose accutane helps.

5

W/out knowing much about the condition, my first instinct was allergies, likely food. What helps repair damaged guts? Zinc. What is “one of the effective treatment options for AA with low relapse rate after stopping of the treatment”? Zinc. http://omicsonline.org/oral-zinc-sulphate-in-treatment-of-alopecia-areata-double-blind-cross-over-study-2155-9554.1000150.pdf

6

Oh, and seborrheic dermatitis is a fancy way to say dandruff? Lol… high dose biotin. Works great. There is no known toxicity, so you can take massive doses up to 80 mg. My Seborrheic Dermatitis Cure, works for eczema too at Seborrheic Dermatitis Forum, topic 924254

Just curious - Do you have any joint or muscle pain? Kidney stones, or gallstones? Brain fog, add? Chronic fatigue?