Alopecia Cure?

Trapapony

I had alopecia but it has now mostly cleared-up. I am posting this in the

hope that it might help other sufferers. My case was unusual in that I believe I

know the cause of the hair-loss (see below). Note that I am not a medical

expert and everything here is my own opinion. The fasting regime that I talk

about would be suitable only for adults in good physical and mental health

and who are not underweight.




The Problem



At the age of about 51 I was treated in hospital for gastric reflux

(stomach acid rising into the gullet) by being put on a three-month course of

Protium (which suppresses acid production). A side-effect of the drug caused

my hair to fall out in circular patches. (Incidentally this was not one of the long

list of possible side-effects that the documentation warned might occur.)

Some weeks after finishing the course my hair grew back. About three

months later it begain to fall out again. This time the affected patches were

not circular but irregular, and like what I take to be classical alopecia. It would

take alot to persuade me that the two episodes of hair loss were not related

though the skin specialist at my hospital did not agree. I had never suffered

from hair loss before this and alopecia is not in my family.




The Solution(s)



After finishing with the Protium I had been taking alot of herbal-type

supplements for my stomach – camomile tea and aloe vera. I stopped these

in case they were the cause of the alopecia. It would not surprise me at all -

these substances are powerful and the human body is very complex.

Anybody with alopecia knows the horrible embarrasment it gives rise to.

I had a large bald patch above my forehead over which I assiduously combed

the adjacent hair. This was never going to be satisfactory, and desperate

times called for desperate measures. As I did not know if giving up the

supplements would do the trick, I also looked to my book on fasting for

inspiration (Principles of Fasting by Leon Chaitow, publ Thorsons.) Alopecia is

an auto-immune condition and the book says that fasting is particularly good

for these. Fasting is also supposed to help rid yourself of toxins, and as far as

I'm concerned, modern drugs fall into that category. If the Protium was still

lurking in my system, I wanted shot of it .

For nearly three days, once a month, I put myself on a diet of water and

herb tea only (lemon & ginger or rooibos or "red berries"). After a few months

my hair began to grow back. I kept going for maybe seven months in all after

which time most of my baldness was gone. I stopped the fasting regime then

as it's such a hard thing to do. So far the alopecia has not returned, touch

wood.

I cannot be certain what made the alopecia disappear – giving up the

herbal supplements, fasting or something else. But if it does return I will start

fasting again. Because it [fasting] is so hard to do I give some pointers below.




Fasting



I would fast from a Friday morning until Sunday evening, at which time I

would break the fast. It helps that I am retired and living alone. Throughout

the fast, the trick is to ignore your body's urges to eat and to contantly distract

yourself. Let's call Friday, Day 1, Saturday, Day 2 and Sunday, Day 3.

Day 1: Hunger pangs increase as the morning wears on until they reach a

point where they don't get any worse. Other than that you feel fairly normal. If

you wish you can do light, physical work to distract yourself – housework,

walking, etc. Sometime in the afternoon I would stop anything physical and

retire to my bed to read or listen to the radio. Thoughout the day I would drink

more liquid than I felt like doing in the hope of flushing out the toxins. Even

still it was probably under one and a half litres in total per day. About 7pm I

would get up and watch some TV for a few hours. The hunger is worst in the

evenings but you can remind yourself there's only a few hours to go before

(a) you will have completed a full day's fast and (b) sleep will end your

suffering! However, you do not sleep as well as normal.

Day 2: The kid gloves are off - you have little energy, you may feel nauseous,

you may have a headache. Don't worry; this is normal - don't forget to drink

those liquids. Your mood is on the floor – this is because your blood sugar is

low as are your brain's "happy" chemicals (serotonin, dopamine.) The good

thing is you don't feel hungry any more (just lousy!) though the hunger does

return in the afternoon. Again keep yourself distracted – books, radio, TV,

internet. You won't enjoy these things as much as you normally do but at least

you know why. Although weary I resist the temptation to sleep during the day

in case it might interfere with my night-time sleep.

Day 3: Similar to Day 2 but at least you have food to look forward to when

evening comes. I walk to a nearby shop for the Sunday paper. It's tiring due

to my low energy but at least the paper will help distract my thoughts of

hunger. Entertain yourself as per Day 2 until about 6.30 when the great

moment arrives – food! I break my fast with an apple and some yoghurt and

later some salad sandwiches. Your stomach will have shrunk during the fast

so you need less food than you normally would (likewise for the next few

days). The food is a joy to consume, your mood soars and you begin to feel

like a normal human being again.

Other noteworthy points are as follows:

Take it one day at a time i.e. rather than your goal being to get to the end of

the fast it should be just to get to the end of the current day.

All other problems will fade into the background as you are reduced to a

starving animal. Yet you must resist your body's cries for food.

Throughout the fast, the trick is to ignore your body's urges to eat and to

contantly distract yourself. It takes will-power, determination and motivation to

resist the tempatation to eat. It also takes practice.

When you find yourself weakening keep your eyes on the prize and think on

these points.




•



Alopecia is an auto-immune condition and (according to my book)

fasting is especially good for these.



•



Ask yourself would I rather do this for a few months or have the misery

of alopecia for the rest of my life?



•



Remind yourself that you are ridding your body of toxins that have been

accumulating since your birth into this polluted world.



•



During a fast the body switches from cell reproduction mode to cell

repair mode, caused by a reduction in the growth hormone, IGF-1. Cell

reproduction mode is more likely to lead to cancer in older people.




•



Fasting is good for the brain and helps prevent Alzheimer's disease.

•



Fasting promotes longevity.

•



There are many different approaches to fasting. Do your own research.

One good guy on Twitter is #drmichaelmosley from the UK.

The first fast is the hardest. On subsequent occasions you know you can do it

and you become a bit more immune to the hunger pangs. But it never gets

easy.

If a three-day fast is too difficult or impractical try two days or even one.

Of course you could also go the other way and do more than three days. But

remember that the longer you fast without medical supervision the more

dangerous it is.

Good luck.

Trap