by Carla (Tenth Wave)

It’s been a while since I updated my GOC!

This past December, I realized that my hair sheds a lot. It’s not that it hasn’t been shedding for years already; I guess I was in denial before. It’s way more than the standard 100 strands a day. I saw my doctor about it in early January and she confirmed my worst fear. I was referred to a dermatologist and will have my appointment early February. I will update when I get some answers.

One thing I’ve been doing these past several weeks is shampooing my scalp more often. My scalp has been itching quite a bit and I can’t help but to wonder if it’s related to my shedding. After about the 4th day, my scalp is killing me with the itchies! I take whatever shampoo I’m going to use (these days Trader Joe’s Tree Tea Tingle) add lavender and basil oil to it and apply it directly on my scalp, massage, leave it on for about 30 minutes, wash it out and condition. I’ve been doing this twice a week and my hair and scalp loves it. I’m also still using henna on my hair. I’ve slacked off for a bit, but my goal is to do it twice a month as time and supply allows. I’m primarly using natural products on my hair and that makes a big difference too.

So far my hair is doing well other than the shedding. It’s difficult for me to take photos of my hair solo, but here are a couple. I wish I could do a length check, but I doubt my hair has grown much since the last time I did one. I’ll do one on my next update. My hair is BSL and has a lot of shrinkage, but I’m OK with that.

In terms of the health and fitness challenge, I’m doing quite well. I’ve stepped up my power lifting and continue to challenge myself in the gym. For example, I’m up to 100 lbs on the dead lifts, 365 lbs on leg press and so on. My diet is still very much Paleo with a lot of added vegetables. My mother recently sent me a video about a doctor who treated her multiple sclerosis with the Paleo diet and nutrition. It’s good to know I was already on a similar path as this doctor. Weight training has helped me tremendously when it comes to fitness, mobility, fatigue and so on. This is my third year since I’ve been diagnosed and I’m doing better than I was three years ago.

I’m curious, does anyone shampoo as often as I do these days, or at least once a week? Co-washing is great, but I think it causes too much build-up on my scalp.

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I’ve co-washed regularly in the past with lots of success. However, I now use a sulfate-free shampoo on a weekly basis. On occasion, I’ll go two weeks between shampoos, but that’s usually the max and I don’t even have scalp issues. So, I don’t see a problem shampooing that often as long as you are using a sulfate-free shampoo and/or diluting a sulfate shampoo and/or “buffering” with a conditioner or oil pre-poo first! So many options, right?

Hope that your visit to your dermatologist pays off Carla and that you get your shedding under control. I know how stressful that can be!!