Hair loss help :(

[SnBLurker]

Hi,

Have this in S&B, but posting here too for traffic, but also because it's not really just about style or beauty. It's much deeper than that, as I'm sure many of you will know.

Late 30's, heavy periods lead to low ferritin, which I'm assuming has lead to my hair loss.

Because I always had very thick hair, even when I could see a carpet of hair on the floor, in the shower, I could 'get away with it' because I had a lot of buffer I suppose. Not so much anymore. The re growth just isn't keeping up with the loss and now my hair is starting to look properly thin. Because it's natural quite coarse/curly, it can look a little thicker than it actually is, but when it's wet... 😒 it looks awful. It's so flat at the top, even when dry and when I move my hair off my face, you can see how thin it is around my temples. My hairline is receding too. Hairdresser said no to a curtain fringe/bangs, as it wouldn't sit right on my face. I thought it might help hide the thinning a bit 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, my pattern seems to be a couple of months of 'normal' shedding, then a couple of insane shedding. Loads when I wash, like a full handful, then more when I dry, then more every time I brush or even gently run my fingers through.

Things I've tried :

Hair and nails supplements (usually vit b, biotin etc mix)
Ferrous fumerate every 3rd day
Heme iron supplement (only in the past couple of weeks)
Bondi Boost shampoo

I did the tea scalp soaking thing (green tea) but actually found my hair came out more, so stopped.

I should say, this has been happening over the past 8 - 10 years, but is now really starting to ramp up and as I say, is becoming really quite noticeable now.

Is that it? ☹️

I had exactly the same thing. Hair, skin, nail tablets from Holland & Barret helped immensely. So did caffeine spray from Lee Stafford, which is bloody discontinued now but I’ve seen equivalents from other brands. Rosemary oil is also meant to be good. I also switched to silicone free shampoo/conditioner and stopped using Cantu.
It might also be worth going on the pill to stop your heavy periods? If my hair loss happens again I am considering it. My periods are like a flood.

Heavy periods are horrific. It might be worth chatting to the doctor about ways to deal with those. If you've completed your family, an uterine ablation is amazing. I had mine is Feb and it's changed my life. I hadn't realised how ill my heavy periods had made me.

As for the hair loss, slightly different as my husband has alopecia so when he started losing his, it was gone no matter what we did. Alopecia UK have some great information on their website including information on wigs, hair pieces etc.

I've seen videos on youtube on microneedling the scalp which apparently can make a huge difference

I’m 45 and started experiencing hair loss just over a year ago. My ferritin is low and I’m sure I’m perimenopausal. I visited a trichologist and had twelve sessions of Laser Light Therapy. It’s expensive but made a huge difference. I had my last session two months ago and I hope I don’t start experiencing hair loss again.

I have hair shedding that goes in stages. At one point It was getting really bad, putting a sweatshirt etc on would result in my hair coming out. My shower, floor, bed is covered in hair.

Im pretty sure mine is hormonal. (Menopause) The only thing that has helped is regaine. I buy it from Boots and it works out at £12.00 per month. It has thickened at the front and feels stronger. Before it felt so fragile. I still get shedding but overall my hair is so much thicker.

Ferrous Fumerate every third day is unlikely to be enough to raise your ferritin levels. It's very hard to do. I've been trying various things for 6 years! Unfortunately I can't tolerate ferrous fumerate and many other iron supplements.

You need 210mg ferrous fumerate 3 times a day. Take with vit c to aid absorption and reduce constipation.

Take on a full stomach but if you can avoid tea/coffee as these affect absorption.

Retest in 6-8 weeks to see if it's working.

If you can't tolerate this, try ferrous bisglycinate (gentle iron). Much less iron in these but easier to absorb. Again try 1 x 3 times a day with vitamin c.

Other options:

You could try eating liver once a week. 200g max as it contains a huge amount of vitamin A.

I have been able to maintain levels taking 4 x active iron tablets a day with vitamin c - I get better results when this is split into two doses. It's an expensive way to do it but I can tolerate these. I've just added in two sachets a day of spatone a day on top to see if that's enough to increase levels.

You are aiming for a ferritin level if at least 70 ideally.

As PPs have said you are likely to remain struggling with this until you sort the heavy periods.

I take two ferrous fumarate a day before bed so tea doesn’t inhibit absorption.

Im not even anaemic I just have heavy periods.