Why oh why is my hair falling out?

[Hairywoes]

I noticed my hair was thinning quite a lot. Lots of loose hair when brushing and quite a few stray hairs in my bed. To the point where I could quite vividly see scalp through my hair at my forehead, temple etc.
Had a blood test done, expecting my ferritin/iron levels to be low but they’ve come back perfect. The only thing that stood out was fairly low ish vitamin d levels (31).
I have been on a calorie controlled diet, nothing drastic, around 1500 - 1600 cals a day. Possibly haven’t been eating enough protein?

What can I do to stop the hair fall? I look a mess and it’s really upsetting me. I haven’t had my hair done for ages as I’m worried the tugging at my hair will make more fall out… can anyone help? 😢

Did you have thyroid tested?

Did you have your vitamin B levels tested? I take a B12 spray (1200 thingummies - this one: www.boots.com/betteryou-boost-b12-oral-spray-25ml-10262460) and my hair is definitely falling out less. (Also yes get thyroid tested.)
Having said that my hairdresser says at least 60% of her clients are experiencing hair loss, and it is to do with stress and trauma of the pandemic. This article has more info:
amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/620696/
It says essentially that unless you have underlying hair loss issues, hair loss following trauma resolves by the hair growing back. So fingers crossed for us all.

Vitamin b12 was 450
And thyroid (is that serum tsh?) was 2.01

Apparently both of them are within normal ranges? 🤷‍♀️

Perhaps it is just natural hair fall? Even though it’s very extreme and very upsetting to see my scalp every time I look in the mirror 😢

Thank you for the link as well @Fingerbobs will have a read through… can’t say I’ve found this whole ordeal more stressful than most though tbh. People out there have had stresses a lot more than me!

Have you had Covid? Mine was falling out for quite a few months afterwards.

Have you had covid recently? I suddenly had lots of hair loss and along with other symptoms went to gp who said it was a common post covid symptom. This happened about a month after I had very mild cough symptoms and thankfully did stop!

Could it be menopause? I feel your pain OP. I know you are worried about going to the hairdresser but mine advised me that there are loads of different reasons why your hair might be thinning including that sometimes it just goes through “a phase” for no reason. Do you have any signs of new hair (baby hairs in your hairline) if so this is a good sign. I hope you get it resolved OP.

No covid that I know of, had a cold about a month ago but took a pcr and that was negative.

I’m early thirties so hoping it’s not a menopausal symptom.

I do have a few baby hairs growing back 🤞 even though they seem to be growing back entirely grey. But I can still quite clearly see scalp through my hair so it definitely doesn’t seem to be thickening at all.
Who knew hair could make me so upset! Feel quite silly about it tbh but I just don’t feel or look like myself!
Thanks all for being so kind.

I've been through this a few times in my adult life. It sounds like a typical telegon effluvium (TE) episode. If you have lost weight as part of your calorie controlled diet, been ill with a temperature, had a big life shock like a bereavement or recently gien birth your hair growth cycle can get a bit out of kilter with a good number going into the shedding phase which you start to notice 1-3 months after the event. Even if you can't identify a reason for the TE don't worry, sometimes it just happens. Top up your iron (even if your levels are fine), add B & D supplements and honestly wash your hair/style it as normal and try not to give it another thought. The times where I've got over anxious about hair loss it only seems to have prolonged things. Now, if I experience a big shed I step up my vits and just get on with my life and within months things are back to normal. The shedding hair is making way for new hair, it can take a good 3-6 months though for you to see it and for the sparse areas on your scalp to start to fill in. Put away the magnifying mirror and Do. Not. Worry. This time next year you'll have forgotten all about this.

*given

Also some artificial sweeteners can cause hair to fall out in my experience

Have you recently had a baby? This happens when you have a baby... currently happening to me

Any sudden weight loss will cause temporary hair loss.

@Ella15 I will definitely follow your advice!
Perhaps it is just a combination of losing weight and the world being a bit upside down still.
I don’t think I’ve had particularly fast weight loss, I’ve tried to be sensible-ish.
Jeez, I tried to lose weight to feel better about myself and my hair falls out instead! 🙄😂

My youngest is 4 so not baby related (though my postnat hair loss did grow back so don’t worry!)

Maybe hormonal ? I lost a lot of hair when first diagnosed with PCOS and symptoms were bad, I gained a lot of weight too.

My hair has been coming out for year's
I'm lucky it's really thick and you can't see it.
First, it was having a baby and a bereavement together.
Now it's Covid.

Your deficient in vitamin D. I’d say b12 is lower than it should be. Did you have your folate levels tested? Ranges in this country are awful and set far to low

What was your ferritin level?

Ferritin below 50 can cause symptoms in women.

Low zinc is another common cause of hair loss.

I am experiencing this as well, it’s horrendous isn’t it! You can see my scalp clearly at the front and at the temples. It’s so distressing. Strangely I don’t notice a huge amount of difference in actual hair fall, I think because my hair has always shed quite a bit (it’s very fine). I had a blood test and ferritin was in normal range but was too low for hair. My level was 13 and hair growth needs at least 70 I was told. So I’m on ferritin tablets. 8 weeks in though and no change, though I think it takes months? Im really hoping things start to improve as I’m finding this whole episode so upsetting.
Do you know what your exact ferritin level was? If it’s below 50 I think it could easily be contributing.
Im now taking ferritin twice a day, a complex B vitamin, vitamin D and collagen. Im also about to start a multivitamin. I really must stop looking in the mirror in my bathroom as it makes my stomach plummet when I see it ☹️ So I know exactly how you feel!