To be so down about hair loss

[LadySilence]

I've always had fine hair but lots of it. Last year I noticed more hair was coming out after washing and over the last eight months I've lost well over a third of it. I had some stresses last year but nothing that would warrant this level of sudden shedding.

I'm mid thirties, fit and healthy. Blood tests have all been normal. I saw a dermatologist who diagnosed telogen effluvium but with no obvious cause. I now have a bald patch on top of my head and it looks so awful. It's absolutely knocked my confidence for six to the point where I'm considering ending a new, otherwise very positive relationship because of how bad it makes me feel. He says it's fine but I feel like a freak next to him. Im terrified it will keep on getting worse and ill end up with pattern baldness. Am I being ridiculous given it's just hair in the grand scheme of things?!

@HandfulOfFlowers thank you- you're right in that any decent bloke won't care, it's just hard to believe that when you feel so low about yourself. My bf is incredibly lovely and I don't think I could actually leave him.

I've been on a high oestrogen combined pill for 15 years so can't be that!

I've had thinning hair for a few years and can be quite self conscious of it. I'm at the stage where I'm now considering wigs.

I follow Fashion Veggie on insta, a US body neutrality influencer, she has a number of follea wigs that she has used due to post partum hair thinning and loss, she does some great reels, check her out!

I was losing my hair at my temples, menause I think, shame you can't take Biotin, I take strong ones from amazon and use plantur 39 shampoo, conditioner and hair tonic, boots sell it about £10 each and my hair is growing back, I can't believe it, I've tried watermans, it didn't work.
The rest of my hair is stronger and growing really fast

Neem oil ,op!

It smells like shit but it made my hair grow back!!

Mixed some in with my shampoo and massaged it for a while.

You can massage it neat too(I did that outside as the smell was a bit too much for me)
I used to buy it in Asian supermarkets in the hair oil section for a few quid.
Hope something here helps!

And stop using any kind of heat on your hair.

Lots of ideas on here, don’t worry op - and your man sounds lovely, don’t let this spoil it xx

I have the same problem.
It's really depressing, and what is left of my hair is incredibly greasy, too, which isn't the best look.

Then there is the hoover clogged up with hair, hair in my dinner, inside my bra, and between my bum cheeks, for some bizarre reason.

It's hard to stay positive, I know.

I’m an expert on this, as I have both PCOS and Hashimoto’s. Hair thinning has been my chief symptom of both.

I cannot recommend enough taking powdered inositol, MSM pills, using topical Vegamour (godsend product) and taking a B complex if you can handle it (Biotin gives me acne, so I have to tread carefully).

Since doing this, I barely shed, my hair is way past my bra line, and it’s thickened up quite a bit.

Biotin made me really sick and gave me pimples.
I really tried to persevere but I'm looking for all the help I can get now.

I have alopecia arreata and have done since I was about 6 years old. Hair falls out in round patches all over my head and it eventually grows back, but it always happens again... it's a cycle for me.

The best advice i can give you is find a good hairdresser who can help you style your hair in a way you feel confident.

If your scalp is pale and like me, have dark brown hair, making the patch even more noticeable, you can dab some make up powder (brown) on to try and make it less obvious.

Steroid injections in the patches on my head worked wonders, but this was via private dermatologist and was super painful.

It is so hard, but after having this most of my life and feeling so ashamed and embarrassed, it's liberating to get to a point where you think "who cares, it's only hair and I'm still ducking fabulous".

Yanbu, I have hair loss and thinning and feel the same.

I saw a dermatologist about getting a hair transplant but what terrified me is that he admitted there is always the risk that shock loss can result after a transplant. I would hate to spend so much money and not get decent results

I think if you have actual alopecia, most topical treatments e.g., oils / shampoos (exception to minoxidil) won’t have much effectiveness I’m afraid.

I follow a dermatologist on Instagram who specialises in hair loss (Dr Sergio Vaño Galvan) who sometimes posts before and afters of patients with details of what medication worked for them.

In the meantime, I use toppik hair fibres powder to help disguise the thinning.

I feel your pain! I don't have any advice, but hang on to your boyfriend, he sounds lovely! I have had thinning hair for several years and although I didn't like it, I was at peace with it. Then I had to start chemotherapy due to breast cancer and now its coming out in handfuls! I thought I would be OK with it, but it really upset me.

@LadySilence

It’s a very hard thing to live with.

Have a look at this hair replacement system -
www.lucindaellery-hairloss.co.uk/

Sarah Vine has written about it a few times, no great fan of hers but I’d trust her on this.

I was diagnosed with telogen effluvium in October 2019, I’d lost a lot of weight very quickly and i had a few stressful things going on, parental illness, work etc. I was diagnosed by my GP who told me to stop dieting, work on reducing stress where I could and my hair would grow back over the next year. I left the surgery thoroughly depressed and bought regaine, nioxin night treatment, supplements, in all about £700 of pointless recommended lotions and potions. Anyway, nothing worked but a year later my hair did indeed start to grow back on its own. I would say that my hair now is the thickest it’s ever been.

Three things helped me stay positive on the way - firstly I used a plastic hair band to monitor any progress. I’d blow dry my hair (with extreme caution) and then push the hair away from my forehead with the band. I could see small amounts of re-growth here and there and although it was unnoticeable when my hair was down, it really helped to see any tiny amounts of progress. Secondly, nioxin hair thickening spray. No idea how but I thought it mAde my hair look thicker (or at least a bit more bouffanty). Thirdly, dry shampoo. Get it in the colour of your hair and spray it liberally - head upside down and minimum brushing through. Use it like hairspray.

Good luck op.

Some good suggestions, thanks all. Dermatologist did suggest oral minoxadil but the side effects look pretty horrible!

I'm using minoxidil spray and finastride. 3months in and baby hairs are sprouting on my bald patches

I feel your pain OP. I am suffering hair loss, it’s thin all over now but with some much balder patches. I’ve always had fine hair but lots of it and this is a shocker.
Anyhow, your ferritin level of 67 is too low. From a GPs point of view it’s fine, but honestly you need more like 80-100+ for normal hair growth and to maintain normal hair cycles. Believe me, I’ve read EVERYTHING. Plus this level needs to be maintained for about 6 months or so. If I were you I’d get taking those iron tablets again. Not one a day, if the packet says you can take 2/3 a day then do that. Don’t bother with orange juice, it’s not enough vitamin C. You’ll need a vit C tablet too, to take at the same time.
Have a look at Lisa Caddy on instagram, she’s a trichologist at Phillip Kingsley. She lost hair at a ferritin of 50. His daughter, Annabel I think, lost hair with a level of 66. So I can’t promise your reason is that of course, but it’s certainly possible.
I’ll warn you it’s a long road to recovery. My levels were 13 in October and I’m 5 months in to taking my tablets. I’m waiting on a test to see where I’ve got to. But your body fixes everything else first before your hair and I’ve been deficient for years so think I’ll be waiting a while. Meanwhile I’ve decided to take more time looking after my skin as it’s something I can control and when my hair recovers I don’t want my face to look 105!
Anyway it’s worth a go for sure. Your partner sounds wonderful, so hang on to him, and try to stay positive that if a deficiency is at the root of this (so to speak) then hair will start to resurface once that’s fixed. My mantra is whether my hair is thick or thin, I’m still able to enjoy this wine/sun on my face/curry/cuddle with my kids.
Xx

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I'll start taking iron, I've got some 20mg that are quite gentle on the stomach. I was a bit wary of taking too much if I didn't actually need it. It's still shedding eight months in albeit less than when it was at its worst and nothing new seems to be growing. So tempted to just shave it all off!

@LadySilence I do and don’t have a positive story here. Like you perfectly healthy and no history of female pattern baldness in family but I started losing my hair at 26. It never grew back (36 now) I have some hair so I could wear a hat and not look odd but I have to wear a wig now and have for years.

The good bit is that I’d also started dating someone around the same time and was very upset about it but I said it to him outright I was losing my hair and he said he didn’t care. He is now my wonderful DH and we are very much in love and have a great relationship. Obviously my hair is horrible but I just don’t even look at it in the mirror anymore and I have some nice natural looking wigs so I do look nice in photos etc. it’s a horrible thing to happen and really does affect your self esteem but at the same time some bereavements etc have made me realise it’s not the be all and end all. As long as I am healthy that’s the main thing (I am a good bit further down the line than you though - used to be 6 monthly hysterical crying fits about it!!)

I tried every treatment and trick in the book and nothing worked and I spent thousands!! I’ve stopped trying now as ten years in I don’t think it’s coming back!

I started taking viviscal when my post partum hair loss just wouldn't stop but I don't know if viviscal was the thing that helped or if the shedding just stopped naturally. I think of all the hair vitamins viviscal is supposed to be the most researched though.

Is this still active?
I'm in a similar boat. Would love to know your progress or any updates

Have you thought of a topper. My mum had this problem, she got her topper a couple of weeks ago, it looks amazing and has given her confidence a massive boost