Sudden hair loss?

[Touchitmoveit]

A month ago I suddenly shedding a lot more hair than normal. I have mid-length fine hair but a lot of it. I’d describe my hair as thick.

In October I noticed lots more hair coming out when I washed and brushed my hair. Serious shedding. My ponytail I’d say now is a third of what it was. I’m losing over 100 hairs by 10am from washing/brushing my hair. I’m noticing a lot of thinning at my temples and above my ears and hairline. My parting at moment looks OK. But my hair has no weight, it’s like candy floss.

I’ve reassessed my vitamins and now take an iron supplement, a Perfectil, Viviscal, Biotin, and a Vitamin D. Blood tests done this week show my ferritin at 72ug/L.

I had some serious stress in the summer with work but I’m not sure if this is a factor as I’ve previously dealt with a sudden death and stress in my life previously and never had hair loss.

I’m really panicking I’m going to go on and loose more. I can’t work out if it’s just seasonal shedding or it’s a knock-on from stressful events in the summer. I’m frightened to even brush my hair at the moment.

Has anyone got any recommendations or suggestions on what else to do?

I had booked an appointment with Philip Kingsley- bit lockdown happened...!

What other bloods did they do? My hair loss at various times was down to thyroid, ferritin, vitaminD, B12 & folate deficiencies! it seems I’d sort one issue for a while then something else would crop up.
Do you have a print out of results because even “normal” levels, if they are in the low end of normal, can cause issues.

& what age are you? Because peri menopause caused hair thinning too. HRT has helped a little.

Google 'telogen effluvium'...it's what caused my shedding 7 years ago. I had 'normal' ferritin levels according to my doctor. But I went to a trichologist who said my levels were very low. I take a supplement called Florisene and have done since my trichologist recommended it 7 years ago. Hair loss is horrible and you have my sympathy. Hopefully you can rearrange your appointment when lockdown ends...seeing the trichologist reassured me....it didn't change things but I felt at least I knew what was going on...my doctor was useless...unsympathetic and incorrect in diagnosis. Good luck.

I’m 32 so not peri menopausal. Ive got the blood work print out snd have gone through it all and all looks normal. Ferritin should be between 30-50 for normal growth and I’m 70!

I think normal ferritin levels are up to 250...mine were around 50 which the doctor classed as healthy but the trichologist said was low...over time I got it up to well over 100...I can't remember now what he told me to aim for but I think it was ferritin levels of around 150 to ensure your hair benefits...apparently hair is the last thing that gets the ferritin after skin, nails etc so the higher the better.

@Jeh45 I’m taking a supplement for Iron so hoping that helps. Trying to eat as much green/protein as possible! It’s just so frightening as I’ve never lost so much hair and I hate running my hands through it and finding so much disappearing. It makes me feel more anxious! I might take some Florisene too, but was recommended Viviscal so not sure what to take.

Also hard as live alone and can’t see my hair or head properly in the mirror and can’t really see close up if I have regrowth. Am seeing lots of baby hairs around my hairline so wondering if these are signs it’s growing.

This happened to me this year. I think it was due to stress. My hair did stop shedding after about 6-8 weeks and is growing back.

@Touchitmoveit it's a really horrible time...I was also diagnosed with alopecia areata at the same time so I had shedding and bald patches! I really feel for you and know exactly how you feel. My hair still periodically sheds now and I never feel entirely relaxed but it did get better and I'm sure yours will too. But you have to go through this horrible stage before you see progress. I really hope you can get your Philip Kingsley appt rearranged soon. X

@Anotherducker have you ever had hair loss before? How much do you think you lost? I’m about 5 weeks deep now and it’s still shedding like anyone’s business!

@Jeh45 it’s really miserable, you have my sympathy. You forget how much value you put in your hair, as shallow as it sounds. I’ve always had “good” hair which is always complimented so I hope it’s just a blip....

I lost a lot of my thick bushy hair4 years ago due to ferritin issues. It's only been in the last year that it's started to thicken up again. My hairdresser commented on the difference in August. My daughter commented on it last month when she did my hair for something.

I don't think it will ever return to what I had before but it's something I have learned to live with as sometimes that's just what you have to do x

Get your thyroid checked

Are you on the pill. Any changes?

You need to have your thyroid checked, including antibodies. This was my first symptom of an autoimmune thyroid condition. Needs ruling out if nothing else. I was very stressed when my hair was falling out, not knowing when it would stop but it eventually did. I’m not bald! Good luck x

I feel your pain. I have a diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia (following a scalp biopsy) and was told I had to have my iron levels on at least 80mcg. I'm assuming you're having a delayed reaction to your stress levels earlier on in the year?

It felt like my pony tail was half the thickness. I’ve had hair loss a few months after giving birth, but this was another level. If it is stress the hair goes into the rest stage early and falls out a couple of months later so there’s nothing you can do about it. From what I’ve read it grows back though.

I tried not to worry about it too much and eat better now to help.

Have you had covid? Hair loss seems to be one of the symptoms of long covid.

I wondered this too.

@Strawberrypancakes

Have you lost weight? I lost weight quite quickly with a crash diet and loads of my hair fell out.

Same. Lots of my hair has fallen out due to losing weight quickly. I’m now very thin on my crown having previously had thick hair that like you, was complimented frequently.

I’ve put it down to TE and have started using Minoxidil and Nourkrin in the hope that in six months time it will be back to how it was. The scary bit about minoxidil is it actually makes you shed more initially so at the moment it looks very scary indeed. I just have to have faith.

I was going to ask about weight loss too. If you have rapidly lost a lot of weight it could be metabolism related.

I’ve not had COVID (to my knowledge, never been tested but never had symptoms)

In the summer I lost about a stone but it wasn’t quickly it was gradual. I had horrendous anxiety for about 3 months, work was insane and two of my team went on sick leaving me alone to handle everything. I was working weekends and crazy hours. I think I lost weight from just not wanting to eat and having that anxious knot in my stomach. But I’m not underweight by any means- my BMI is normal.

Not on the pill ans have never been!

I assumed the blood test I had this week checked thyroid- I just got a standard text from doctors saying it was normal but accessed the details online. What should I be looking at to check for thyroid?

Well you’ve just explained it. Massive stress abs weight loss. That will kick in TE. It will take about 6 months for the hair to thicken again.

It sounds like telogen effluvium. Sudden hair loss after illness stress or trauma - usually takes about 3 months to occur after the trigger.

If it is this, it will grow back, Op. But I appreciate that's not much consolation right now. If it's really bad and your parting is getting bigger, maybe time for a shorter cut until it starts to fill back in. It will give your hair an appearance of more body.

@justanotherneighinparadise the body is mad isn’t it! I’ve definitely had more challenging times in my life and never experienced this!

@BatleyTownswomensGuild I’m just clinging onto the hope it grows back. I might have to chop a good 6 inches off which will be awful, I’ve spent so long getting it to a good length. But it’s like candy floss right now round my lengths and looks (and feels) awful. I can’t believe in 5 weeks how quickly it’s gone, my hairdresser used to tell me I had so much hair!!