Is this a normal amount of hair shedding in the shower? (Pics)

[SinkGirl]

(Just warning of the pics in case you can’t stand drain hair - will post them in the next comment!)

My hair has been thinning for a long time (I’m 37 now, it’s been years) - is this what you should expect when you wash your hair? One is today and the other was two days ago so it’s frequent (don’t wash my hair every day in case that makes it worse).

This obviously doesn’t include the hair plastered on my body, in my hairbrush, shed all over the place, stuck to my hairband etc.

It’s noticeably thinning around my temples but no other obvious bald patches, just thinner all over. You can see a lot of scalp at my parting. My hair is shoulder length and not thick.

Seeing my GP tomorrow about a host of symptoms I’ve had for a long time (and had many blood tests over the years) so wanted to see first if this was the norm.

Thanks :)

I've been losing that amount every time I brushed my hair, had blood tests & have been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid. In my second month of levothyroxine & my hair loss is back to normal. See your doctor & also get some iron supplement as low iron levels can cause hair loss.

Sadly the mirena coil and I are not friends (had one put in during a surgery once and within a week had horrendous full blown contractions for hours each day. Took them 3 months to agree to remove it then they couldn’t get it out... ended up having it removed under GA after multiple failed attempts, was stuck with the bastard for a whole year! Never again). I don’t do well with progesterone only treatments anyway, I wonder if that’s related to low end of normal oestrogen levels.

I’m so sure it’s my thyroid. Have been for years but the tests say it’s not. I asked the GP if they could consider a trial of treatment based on the fact I have textbook symptoms and they said no. I did ask again, still no.

So that’s a no go basically, at least until some time where my blood test results go out of range. I have a feeling my levels vary with my cycle.

On another note im 28 and havent got thyroid problems that i know of no blood tests have flagged anything and i lose more hair than that every time i wash it so maybe its normal?

I guess so much depends on how much hair you have in the first place. I don’t have a lot so feels like a lot to lose, I guess if you have thicker hair it’s more normal (as a percentage of your total hair). It’s definitely getting thinner on my temples as time goes on.

To be honest thinning hair is probably the least of my worries but it’s something that can objectively be seen rather than symptoms I’m describing IYSWIM

I've lost hair due to early menopause, and due to hypothyroidism.

The fluctuations of early menopause caused huge, rapid losses. At one point I sat down and counted the hair loss from one day, from my brush. It was ~800 that day. Average is supposed to be 50 ish daily. That massive loss (telegen effluvium) lasted about 3 months and resolved with hrt. I lost almost a third of my hair in a few weeks - but it grew back.

Hypothyroidism hair loss follows a different pattern for me. It is more a thinning and shortening of hair in a particular pattern around my head. Not so much quantity (although my shower hair currently looks similar to yours!) but more quality of hair.
Like you, I've been doing private blood tests for years, getting TSH results around 5, but then GP results around 2-3! Eventually a private blood test turned up TGAB antibodies which were out of range, plus a TSH of >5, so I took them to my GP and pushed for a trial of levothyroxine.
Before the year was out, I had rapidly progressed to severe hypothyroidism. I got myself on the radar just in the nick of time.

It's very possible that hypothyroidism is the cause of your hair loss. My thinning hair has been going on all through the "subclinical hypothyroidism" years. I'm hoping that when I'm properly medicated to the right levels I'll see this change.

Have you thought of asking your GP to look at your results and asking for a trial of levothyroxine?

OP I see you had a bad experience in hospital with acupuncture. That was presumably not an acupuncturist giving you the treatment, it would be a physiotherapist or doctor or nurse who’d done a quick course and been accredited. Not an actual acupuncturist with twenty years experience doing post grad courses and acupuncture every day of her life?

It’s like getting your joinery to box in pipes done by a plumber. Don’t expect too much! It may be ok but it won’t be as expertly done as it would be by a joiner who does joinery daily.

It’s totally different when someone experienced does it. The odd needle is jaggy but the majority you don’t even feel.

You can ask them if they use thin needles. If they say they use the copper ones avoid! They are cheaper and thicker.

I just think acupuncture is something which doesn’t involve hormones and can really help, if people can afford it. I swear it can do things western medicine can’t, or can but with side effects. I really recommend it if you can get over your fear and talk to someone else who practices daily. And I’ve found that a Chinese man was crap compared to the Scottish woman acupuncturist I now go to, so don’t let stereotypes confuse you as they did me initially!

How high dosage of vitamin D you took per day? Thanks