Hair Dye - Henna?

[Guest]

Hi:

I have thin hair on the top of my head. My hair is curly and dark brown. And just to make life more fun - I'm getting lots of greys. I need to dye it but dyes are not good for hair - especially us with thin hair. I've been told to use henna, which is a natual plant extract. It comes in lots of colors. I was wondering if any of you ladies heard of it or used it. Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Hi Thinning gal,

Would you please register to post on the forum? You can be notified of when someone responds to your posts.

Anyway, in regards to your question, henna is not as strong as one of those permanent dyes that contain harsher chemicals. But in terms of it being less harmful to your hair, that is true.

Let us know what you decide to do!

Laura

 

[mayalopecia]

henna?

Hi Thinning gal,

I've got curly dark brown hair-- and I've used henna once before. It was a henna n' placenta treatment actually. I'd say that it's less harsh than dye, but doesn't condition nearly as well as the conditioners that come with regular hair dye! I would condition with something really moisturizing after you use the henna, like Kolestraal. That works for me!

-maya

 

[thinning gal]

Hi:

Laura - OK, I registered!!! :lol:
Maya - what color henna did you use? What is the creme kind? On a speparate note, I noticed you take spironolactone / yasmin, how are they working for you? What kind of hair loss are you experiencing?

My dr. told me to take spironolactone / yasmin, but I'm trying to get pregnant, so I cannot right now. I am considering it afterwards and I'd love some insight. I'm so afraid of taking pills! I won't do Rogaine - I tried it once years ago and it looked wet n greasy on my head. i can't go to work looking like that - I felt even worse. I look forward to your response. Thanks!!

 

[mayalopecia]

henna color

Hi thinning gal,

It was a red henna I believe....though the stuff was green and kinda pasty if I recall correctly, which is debateable. :wink:

spironolactone and yasmin have been kind to me. I have aggressive hormone issues--always have. I've probably gone untreated since early adolescence, as my mother had terrible periods and seemingly undiagnoseable hormone issues, I thought having menstrual cramps of labor pain magnitude was normal. I also had recalcitrant acne and developed facial hair in my late teens. So...a lot of PCOS symptoms, but no weight gain and no cystic ovaries, plus regular periods--so nobody really listened to me. In general, they still don't, a fact to which I am resigned.
:?
Prior to Yasmin, I was on ortho tri-cyclen, which made me gain quite a bit of weight but helped with my PMS and cramps significantly. I switched to Yasmin in February, and have never looked back. I began losing weight almost immediately and my PMS mood issues all but disappeared (they were worsened on ortho tri, I think it was more estrogen than I needed). The only negative was a estrogen withdrawl headache that went away in a week.

A month later, I went on spironolactone, which also caused significant weight loss (yay!). It's done its job in terms of lowering androgens too; my testosterone was 99 when I began treatment, and is now 50. Still higher than it should be, but reduced by the 50% that is the benchmark of effectiveness. My dermatologist won't prescribe a stronger dosage or anti-androgen, so I'm making do with that for now. My only side effects were some fleeting light-headedness, frequent urination for about two weeks, some transient muscle cramps, and a salt craving.

All in all, I'd say the side effects of these drugs are less than those of other drugs I've used to treat my acne and other hormone issues. However, a quite a few women have significant problems on spironolactone. You just have to try them out and see, I guess!

-maya

 

[Anita]

Hey Maya-

Do you have PCOS? You sound a lot like my sister, who has PCOS, except that she is overweight. I feel really bad for her being overweight. She eats a lot less than me and takes care of herself and it's just not fair. She doesn't have any hair loss but has facial hair, her hormones are all messed up, etc. Anyway, I know hair loss is associated with PCOS, so I am dreading this happening to her on top of all the issues she already has. I would rather have all the loss than have it happen to her.

 

[mayalopecia]

Hi Anita,

You know, I've never bothered to get a PCOS diagnosis. It can make it harder to get insurance, so I prefer to keep my maladies general! Anyway, no one has ever given much credence to the idea of me having PCOS--I have something that is hormone-related, but I don't fit the bill enough for PCOS. This seems to be the case with a lot of problems I have; I manifest a few symptoms of several syndromes, but not enough to warrant any attention or a committment to treatment. Over the years, I've just learned to keep up on these conditions on my own, and work with my GP to get decent treatment.

Hopefully, your sister will be spared the trauma of hair loss on top of her PCOS...it's certainly possible. My mom has siginificant hormone issues, yet her hair remains intact.

-maya

 

[Anita]

Yes, I hope she is spared to. Our hairs are similar-- we've always had a LOT of hair and I hope she keeps it like that. As a side note, her diagnosis was difficult for her to get because she does NOT have the cysts in her ovaries, but has the hormone problems, insulin resistance, etc. But I'd never thought about the insurance issue. Good point!

 

[thinning gal]

For Maya and everyone else it applies to

Hi again, I'm glad the spironolactone has helped with some of your "issues". But, did it help with your hair issues? Have you been taking the bcp along with the spironolactone. I was thinking of maybe after I conceive just taking yasmin. I'm so confused. I think I'm gonna give henna try. My sister looked at my head and said she didn't notice that it looked overly thin, but definetly saw lots of prominent greys! As long as it's getntle on the hair / scalp - it's worth a shot. I'm gonna use a brown color - I want to keep the hair color very close to my natural color, so I don't draw any unwanted atraction to my head! Anyone ever used brown colored creme henna? Can you henna your hair while pregnant - I know you can't use dye. Just wondering... Thanks !!

 

[mayalopecia]

spironolactone--not a panacea

Hi TG--

Sorry, I suppose you'd want to know whether I've had results, huh?

I can't say that my hair has improved. This gene kicked in fast--I started losing hair around my 25th birthday, and I'm down to 40% now (about 16 months). However, since I was shedding so profusely (what one might consider a "hormone-induced telogen effluvium") to begin with, every little bit helps. I think that spironolactone has helped me slow my hair loss, but I doubt it's contributed to regrowth. I would say the same of minoxidil. I don't think Yasmin is doing much for my hair, and I wouldn't recommend depending on it to keep hair on anyone's head...unless they knew they had very light Androgenetic Alopecia, and I don't know how you make that determination early on.

I can't speak to the henna and pregnancy questions, hopefully someone else can.

Cheers,
-maya

 

[Guest]

i want to use this persian red henna that my mother swears will improve my thinning hair. is it a bad thing to do if in the resting phase?