The FastDay Forum

Hi, I haven't posted much recently, but have been pondering some health problems. I have previously posted about anaemia, as my doctor diagnosed me with anaemia and put me on iron supplements back in Oct/Nov. The only symptom I really had was hair loss. I have read some forums where the contraceptive pill has been blamed for hair loss, and after Moogie's recent scary experience, I have been looking into alternatives to the pill. I previously had the Mirena coil, but didn't get on with. While looking into the copper coil (which appealed because it is non-hormonal), I came across a forum in which a post had a link to this article :

http://www.drlwilson.com/articles/coppe ... ndrome.htm

I thought it was an interesting article. It seems the pill could be raising oestrogen, and in turn copper, thereby also lowering zinc. Which could be making my hair fall out. My hair loss has improved with iron supplements.

Anyway, I know lots of you are much better at everything to do with nutrition than me, and thought many of you may find it an interesting read.

Toffee x

[carorees]

The language and tone of the article reads like quackery but I'd need to investigate the scientific literature to evaluate some of the claims. Unfortunately, there are a lot of claims! I do think that mineral and vitamin imbalances are common but how much they contribute to the symptoms of tiredness etc etc that all these kinds of articles always list as the key symptoms of a deficiency in x,y or z, it's impossible to know. It would be interesting to compile a list of things that are claimed on the internet to be the cause of tiredness, insomnia, lethargy. I suspect everyone suffers from the symptoms of modern life and probably the cause is multifactorial. So, with the acknowledged power of placebo, together with the universally experienced symptoms of tiredness, lethargy etc, and the willingness of folk to spend money on supplements which are unregulated, it's a licence to print money!

[carorees]

Starting to follow this up.

I found this article confirming that oral contraceptives raise copper levels: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23153894

There also seems to be a fair bit of literature about a relationship between anaemia and zinc and copper levels.

Thank you for your replies! I agree that the article is quite extreme, and but there does seem to be a bit of information on the internet. I was quite interested by the relationship between copper, zinc and anaemia too. I suppose most forms of contraception have their drawbacks don't they? Might mention to my doctor at my next appointment. Got a three month follow up blood test next week.

Thanks again!

Oh,.I found this too

http://www.melissadianesmith.com/Articl ... rLoad.html

Not sure I could adhere to the sort of diets suggested!!