Nioxin

Since my diagnosis of food allergies, I've spent some (extra) money on personal care products such as shampoo and conditioner, makeup, lotions. I primarily have to watch for wheat/gluten and soy. Now, there seems to be two ways people look at this: either they think that the products you use but don't eat do not have to be free of allergy items, or they think that the products you use need to be free of allergens since they  are touching your largest organ.

At first, I was with the first group but then I realized I was still feeling bad (but better!) So I gave more weight to the second group. And started replacing products as I ran out. It's been difficult, but seems to be getting easier. That probably means I don't know what I'm doing. Ha-ha.

Over the past few months, I have lost quite a bit of hair. I have fine hair, not a lot of hair to start with. It used to be very straight, just a little wave that was easily combed straight, and it was pretty smooth except for these curly short strands I always have around my face. They exist to keep me from looking polished and put together, I guess. But now my hair is just this odd frizzball. I've taken to putting in rollers and trying to leave it "curly" as long as possible, then wrapping it in a loose ponytail with the ends tucked in. It looks sloppy either way.

My friend B went through chemo a couple years ago and lost all her hair. It grew back after she was done with her treatments. But she wore a wig (or a bandanna) for a while. When I told her about the conversation with my hairdresser, who basically said that I need to fix my thyroid to fix my hair, she agreed. Then she added, you need to be using Nioxin so you keep what hair you have left. Um, what? My hairdresser confirmed that was worth trying; she doesn't sell it but told me to go to Ulta.

It comes in different formulas which are numbered. I picked the "noticeably thinning; chemically treated" version. And then I spent half an hour looking at ingredients on all the packaging. I couldn't determine if there were any wheat/wheat derived ingredients. Online (Celiac) sources said that it won't absorb but we touch our hair all the time, causing issues with non-gluten-free hair products. [Interestingly, their New Zealand site says the products are gluten-free.]

Because the shampoos and conditioners have yeast extract, I changed my mind about buying them about a dozen times. There was also a scalp treatment they recommend after the shampoo and conditioner. The one for my version included sunscreen and was a leave in treatment, which made me even more nervous about the yeast extract. I couldn't tell if the other versions were also leave-in treatments.

They were having a "buy 2, get 1 free" deal, so I decided to get one each of the smallest shampoo and conditioner and a spray gel (which did not have yeast extract). I'll try it and if there isn't any noticeable reaction, I will go back and get the largest size before the sale ends.