Hi!
I am a 28yo who has taken fitness seriously over the last 2-3 years.

I workout 4-5x a week.

I used to be sleek, thin.

In pretty decent shape now - where people compliment on my physique.

I eat mostly vegetarian food - except for occasional eggs.

The trouble

Now a few months ago, I started noticing a bald patch while showering - I was like huh, maybe it is due to hard water?
And a small bald patch near my chin too (beard)

I went to my dermatologist and she asked my routine, what all supplements I take and stuff.

I said the general: Vitamin D, B, Zinc, Creatine, Protein Powder.

She suggested me to take a blood test and not take any such supplements without testing myself.

(My theory was being a vegetarian I always lacked these in my body hence I used to pop them)

The analysis

My 1st bloodwork came back, 1st week of May:

Vitamin B: 573 pg/mL (decent)

Vitamin D: >375 nmol/L (super toxic - lab meter could not read)

Iron/Ferritin: 20.30 ng/mL (super low)

And I got a nice scolding from my dermat for popping too many Vitamin D pills.
I felt very anxious/agitated/restless the few weeks before this, looking back I realized.
The only solution was to let the body get rid of it over time.

The real reason for my hairfall was low Iron/Ferritin. 20 is too low, 70-100 is required for healthy hair growth levels.

I was prescribed Iron Tablets + Vitamin B + hair serums (which I ignored).

Now I was confused - how can I lose iron when I am not losing any blood? I did not have any major accidents, everything seemed fine otherwise

My dermat was confused as well.

The conclusion

My detective brain could not stop figuring out why this happened to me and how I could avoid it in the future.

I did deep research, Google/ChatGPT/Articles etc. and turns out, working out heavily does physically crush your iron stores.

On top of that, my body had too much Vitamin D which in turn produces calcium which in turn messes with iron absorption.

+having a vegetarian diet was not enough for me to maintain my iron levels while working out.

My levels are rising fast now - the bald spots are growing back, baby hairs coming in.

My 2nd bloodwork came back, 3rd week of June:

Vitamin B: 740 pg/mL (decent)

Vitamin D: 249 nmol/L (just under toxic levels)

Iron/Ferritin: ~30 ng/mL (super low)

I feel so much better energy wise - I think I had low iron for years now.

Always get yourself tested every 6 months.

I feel most of the fitness freaks who are vegetarian might suffer from iron deficiency (just my opinion) unless they are taking supplements everyday?