Thinning hair

[skysky69]

Just posting here for traffic (feel free to move if not appropriate).

Has anyone else got really thinning hair 🤔 I'm 45 so starting to head towards peri-menopause, and have had PCOS since my early twenties but in the past year or so my hair seems to be shedding so much, my hair has gone really thin and I can see my scalp starting to show through. Im slightly heavier than I should be (a size 14/16), and I know this could make my PCOS a bit worse which could be not helping.

I have been using Plantur caffeine shampoo for a few months and taking biotin but these don't seem to be doing much.

Anyone got any advice? All the GP seemed to say was that I should be grateful I don't have a beard with my PCOS, thinning hair was very common with it and there wasn't much they could do (it was of course a man 🙄)

Have you had your thyroid tested? PCOS and underactive thyroid quite often go together and underactive thyroid can cause hair loss.

Yes they tested but didn't come back with any problems. I remember seeing that one level was very slightly off, but only slightly and the doctor didn't pick up on anything.

Champo shampoo and conditioner with the serum for hair loss.

Have you looked into myo-inositol supplement?

@Mildoom I haven't - I will look into it thank you 👍

Hi @skysky69
Try and eat nuts everyday, almonds, cashews, walnuts, you'll see a difference. Also, make sure your iron levels are ok xx

I had this, went to a private dermatologist via Nuffield and he used a magnifying gizmo to look at my follicles.

Apparently I have female pattern baldness on the very top of my head in a small circular area. I also have telogen effluvium all over my head. He worked this out by counting the number of hairs coming from each follicle. I have 1 per follicle on my bald patch and 2-3 per follicle everywhere else on my head.

Surprisingly he asked me a lot of history about stress in my life and how I've been feeling for the year or so leading up to the massive shedding. It was quite an emotional chat and difficult to go over it all. The telogen effluvium is a response to great stress and this lined up with my life experience. The hair cycle I think was 3-6 months so he traced it back to an event. Im now 4-5 months on from that appointment and I've started a second phase of shedding which again I can trace back to a serious negative event. There is no treatment and it will likely always be my bodies stress response from now on, but it will regrow and thicken over time.

The female pattern baldness is genetic. He said the only thing that will help it is rogain/regain or an off brand version. He finds his clients prefer the oral version as the topical version is inconvenient. He offered me a prescription but I was concerned about the risk of heart issues so I declined.

Like you I used plantur caffeine shampoo and tonics. He laughed and said they do nothing so I've saved myself some money and stopped buying it.

I will always have a bit of a bare patch on the top but at least I know the rest of it will thicken up when life gets easier, which means I can do a side parting/comb over style to cover it.

@Switcherooza

Thank you so much for your reply - this sounds exactly like mine. I have really seen a ramping up lately and I have had some issues in life that I have found stressful. I don't think the PCOS helps as I think that means I am a bit testosterone heavy.

@Summer2424 thank you - I will definitely give this a go.

Colouring it (lighter) adds more texture to existing hair and pads it out somewhat. I reverted to blonde highlights instead of all-over dark colour partly because of this.

this supplement helped me grow new hair. I tried it as I do have underactive thyroid (as well as PCOS) but might be worth try even if you don’t have underactive thyroid or just slightly off? It just has particular vits/minerals in it, nothing weird. I also second the Inositol suggestion above.