To ask for your shedding/thinning hair remedies?

[buzzheath]

I'm early 30s, no big health conditions, have never been pregnant/given birth, but have had quite extreme hair shedding since early 20s. Many, many blood tests, and no issues. Vit D is very good, B12 is very good, ferritin is often on the lower side but I now take ferrous sulphate supplements and levels are very good (almost 70).

I assume it's just genetic and something I'll have to live with. I don't want to take minoxidil or any hormones (I think some doctors prescribe something called spironolactone?), but want to hear if anyone has experience with any specific multivitamins or anything. It goes through phases - maybe a month or two a year - when it doesn't fall out much but the shedding is usually pretty bad. Have lost over half my hair.

Any ideas welcome! Resigned to eventually having to "wear hair" tbh.

I'm 48 & lost a lot of hair 13 years ago due to medication that I no longer take; my hair regrew very fine and it's wavy / frizzy; so I use Perfectil Hair supplements. I buy them direct from Vitabiotics as it's cheaper.
I also take extra collagen, and an extra iron supplement (only 20mg but better than nothing). I say 'extra' as both are in the Hair vitamins.
My hair is growing more & seems thicker in the last 3 years I've been taking these things.

I've started using John Frieda thickening ProFiller spray when my hair is wet before blowdrying it which makes a difference.

I have recently started HRT but I don't think hormonal changes have affected my hair.

I regularly get my hair tinted & highlighted to cover up any grey / white as I hate it so bleaching makes it feel coarser & therefore thicker as well (so I have to use a good conditioner!)

You actually just spray minoxidil on the scalp, it’s the only thing that’s medically proven to work. You can buy it off Amazon.
The vitamin or mineral supplements that claim to help are not scientifically proven to work.

Last year my hair started falling out in clumps. I started taking collagen in powder form (Ancient and Brave) for about a month and my hair is now fine. Back to normal.

I had bald spots appear with anaemia and bought serum I found non influencer reviews on on tik tok called advanced hair growth serum from amazon l- when I tell you I now can't tie my hair in a single band because they snap I'm not exaggerating and this is after a few months use sparingly. I can dm you on here photos of my before and after if you need any inspiration lol

@Lollapaloozalondon I would be interested to hear more about the serum you mean! I don't know how to message on Mumsnet

Thanks, skeptical though not gonna lie. Is this your product? 😬

Kimchi. About a tablespoon a day (to eat - not put on scalp!). Based purely on my own experience, ever since I started with this, my hair has been thicker and stronger. It's brilliant stuff.

Champo pita hair growth serum - it's incredible. 'My hair was so thin after hair extensions wrecked it and it has grown back amazingly after using this - it's not cheap but you only need a few drops a day so a bottle does last. Couldn't recommend more to be honest

www.champohaircare.com/products/growth-serum

I read that Rosemary oil rubbed in to the scalp works @buzzheath

@buzzheath you should listen to this BBC podcast before buying anything: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0025l23

I use minoxidil and a biotin har complex from Holland & Barrett.

I do regular masks with rosemary oil and I use gentle bar shampoo and conditioner with ingredient like rosemary and coconut.

It has improved my hair a bit and I also keep it short, but frankly there is no miracle cure for this unfortunately.

This blog has an interesting article about a woman who has suffered from hair loss since her teen.

https://greenmermaidcottage.blogspot.com/2024/10/from-rapunzel-to-gi-jane-living-with.html

Don’t muck around with it. Ask for a referral to a dermatologist who should take a scalp biopsy and ask you to collect daily hair fall for (x days) a period of time. The hairs will be both counted and examined to see where in the cycle they are falling.
I was diagnosed with 2 types of alopecia and prescribed meds to sort it out. It is almost back to normal now. Unfortunately if you wait to see if certain supplements or hair products help, (most don’t) then your hair problem has usually worsened. If you try everything at once, you won’t know what’s working or not.

This sounds interesting. What meds if you don't mind my asking?

following for interest

@FairTurtle - I was diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia, which is hormonal. Also telogen effluvium, which is stress-related. I was prescribed spironolactone and oral minoxidil. I don’t feel comfortable going into specifics like dosage, etc, as there are so many different forms of alopecia and they all respond to different treatments, so my meds may not be relevant if your hair loss is attributed to another cause.

Do you have an actual diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia, @buzzheath ? If so, topical Minoxidil is a standard treatment for this so would be good to understand why you don’t want to go down this route.

I was extremely ill on Spironolactone (eg, liver function test time) but I know it’s another treatment commonly offered since NHS doctors will not (or at least in my time didn’t) prescribe Finasteride to women of childbearing age.

I’d recommend looking into toppers as well.

What was it called? X

I got some iron tablets ferrous sulphate 200mg from the chemist for low iron and it is the only thing that started my hair growing it had not grew for years just stayed one length x

Nursing. Available at Boots and Amazon. I have been using it sporadically fir 15 years. Helps every time, results are after 2 weeks

Doea minoxodil cause shedding at first? I would like to take it but i dont know if I could bear the shedding stage.

@malificent7 I had hand-sized bald spots already. Wouldn’t have been very noticeable if it did. I didn’t get on with topical as I have v sensitive scalp.

It does, but that is a sign it's working. Then lots of new baby hairs start appearing and it's brilliant.