Hair is still falling out loads 6 months after covid? Is this normal? Will it stop?

[Psm92]

I've lost, like, almost half of the volume of my hair, I swear. It's so upsetting. All bloods etc normal, but my doctor seems to think the pattern/timing of loss correlates with having covid back in November. Has anyone else experienced this?

Look up "telegon effluvium".

Yes I’m 2 years I’m and mines only just growing back from covid don’t want to scare you it really is shit! Just eat well and take vitamins xx

@Babsexxx Oh man! Glad it's growing back though. Had the shedding stopped?

It will grow back. Take a good multivitamin. Hair thickening shampoos can be surprisingly good, try Alpecin

Yes but it’s tricky because I don’t know if it’s because I’m pregnant or the cycles ended all my hair snapped in half and thinned extremely it was hideous xx

I lost so much hair after having Covid. And it became extremely brittle, it went from waist length to shoulder length just from breaking off. Two years later it's gradually getting better but I still have distinct bald patches. I wear head wraps most of the time now.

I had it after a terrible bout of food poisoning years ago. My memory is hazy, but basically if you have a severe physical or emotional shock (I had it previously to a lesser extent when a young family member was diagnosed with cancer) all of the hair in a particular phase of growth can fall out - usually about a third. That was certainly true for me just based on how many turns of a bobbin I needed or how much fit in a clip etc.

It did stop after a while (apologies, it's nearly 15 years ago so I can't remember exactly) and then grew back. Fair warning, the regrowth was worse than the loss for me - the new hairs were so short it made my hair seem very frizzy until they'd grown to a decent length.

In time it was fully back to normal - and didn't happen to me again, not even when said relative died or either time I had covid. I didn't even have the typical loss after pregnancy. So hopefully light at the end of the tunnel for you!

I have for the past 6 months been taking collagen peptides daily, a wellwoman mutli vit plus extra biotin and vitamin d, and getting DH to give me weekly scalp massages with targeted essential oils. Eating plenty of fish, veg, beans, grains etc etc

Hair fall is way less and i have LOADS of new hairs coming through, my hairdresser has noticed!

if anyone has any other tips I would love to hear them. really trying to work on getting my hair back to it's best.

OP how does your scalp feel? Does it feel healthy or is it itchy at all, any issues there?

Mine was soo itchy I kept thinking I had nits lol this was also a side effect for me and I kept thinking maybe if I stop itching it would stop!

I also had this which I think related to Covid. Mine has really improved with a combination of Sainsbury’s skin nail and hair vitamins and a high dose biotin supplement.

I had this, take biotin. I’m a year on and the thickness is back, but it still looks shit where the new hairs are growing out

Yeah mine doesn't look good with the new hairs but hopefully it will eventually.

Others taking high strength biotin, does it break you out? I did read beforehand it can cause spots, and it really is doing that to me! Worth it though

I haven't noticed a link with biotin and skin I don't think

Use something like Neutrogena tar shampoo to make sure your scalp is really clean. I think it does help a bit with shedding, something to do with hormones in the oil on your scalp

I had hair loss due to illness & possibly medication.

I take super vitamin b complex & use L'Occitane strength & volume shampoo. 2 weeks after starting use of the shampoo the loss had reduced massively. About 4 months later I noticed regrowth. It's still growing back & I'm delighted.

I had this, and it eventually improved. Some of it may have been menopausal though. In the mean time, I started taking Nutri hair supplement, which helped. I'm back to my normal hair now.

I had this too, and it was also months after I had Covid. I had Covid really mild too... was only out of action for one day.
My hair is ok now, but now I have a ridiculous halo of new growth around my hair line.

Had this twice with Covid. Was really ill first time round (12 days in bed, a further 6 weeks feeling ill), but the second round was not even as bad as a mild cold. Still got the hair fall 3 months later…, good job my hair is naturally thick, as otherwise I’d be half bald. Dreading catching it again, as the gap between the last two bouts was only 9 months and it didn’t get chance to recover in between 😭

I have this too. I used to have incredibly thick curly hair, so much so strangers would comment in the street.

Every time I wash my hair I lose fistfuls, I'm actually really sad about it, my hair was my identity in a lot of ways

Yes, very common.
It's almost as if this is an illness you'd want to avoid catching!

Start taking a good quality Marine Collagen

Thanks all for the responses. It's somewhat reassuring. Can I ask - how long did your covid-induced hair loss last? I'm on month 7 and still going strong. Hair looks so awful :(

Losing loads of hair literally every day even when I just comb it, not only when I wash it :(

I had the same when I had covid last year and so much hair fell out right after, I honestly thought I was going to end up bald. But actually probably lost around 50%, or close to that. It did stop falling out, within a month or so. I found out I had extremely low iron so have been taking an iron supplement ever since.

As soon as it stopped falling out it then started growing back in, the new hair is really frizzy and hard to deal with though finally getting long enough to tie and clip back. I have been combing rosemary oil through it every time I wash it, it is supposed to help with growth (I have no idea if it really does though or just a myth, but I do have loads of regrowth).