I’m actually ready to shave my hair off I can’t cope with this.

[Deebee90]

im Losing my hair. That’s it really. It breaks my heart every single day the hairs falling out . I know to some it’s only hair but to me I can’t bear the thought of going bald without my choice. I’m 35 and have just had my bloods done at the doctors for iron , thyroid etc and all normal. In August I was briefly hospitalised for anemia so I think it’s from the stress of that but I have no idea. I take pumpkin seed oil, biotin the lot.

no idea what I want from writing this but I’m over it . Including pictures of my hair and my hair loss. It certainly isn’t normal.

This looks like classic telogen effluvium. I have the chronic version and have been shedding on and off for 4 years, it's miserable but I'm not bald yet. Like you all my bloods were normal, unlike you I had no obvious trigger and still don't. I saw one of the uks leading consultant dermatologists who confirmed that ll serums, shampoos, wonder products etc are essentially snake oil so don't waste your money.
Hopefully your TE will resolve as it normally does when there's an obvious trigger

I know you said bloods were done but did they check your B12? I had similar when I was low of B12 and started paying for my own injections at the pharmacy near me. They said a lot of women use them regularly because the NHS often refuses treatment so women pay for it out of their own pocket.

Yep my b12 was normal, my gp pretty much checked everything going and it was all normal 😢. I was so looking forward to an. Answer as then it would get treated and this would go away but nothing.

I agree, hair toppers are fab and will give you confidence

What's your autoimmune condition and are you under a specialist for it? It's probably related. It could be TE from the anaemia in August or it could be chronic and linked to your autoimmune condition.

I'm so sorry, I know it's very distressing. My best friend had a very distressing episode of alopecia totalis (losing all hair on the head and body) due to a mystery autoimmune condition. She saw a private dermatologist and is now on jak inhibitors, which have treated the issue. The other option was methotrexate. These are pretty nuclear options and not suitable if you are ttc, I'm afraid.

You could try hair & me - including info on TTC on your application. I’m using it & find it better than topical minoxidil alone. It’s a prescription so they take into account your specific medical needs (I double checked this as was unsure). If you’d like a discount code pls DM me.

Have you seen your results though? I only say because mine were literally on the line between normal and under and my GP was trying to tell me they were normal. Their baseline is just an average figure from data, not specific to your own body. My bloods now come bar with an indicator arrow, so even if they GP rattles off everything is "normal" I can see I'm low on X and Y and get a supplement to push it to the middle a bit more.

Sorry to hijack but this sounds like Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia (I have it.) Have you spoken to a dermatologist about it? I’m taking hydroxychloriquine which was stopped the inflammation and hence no more hair loss…

All my hair fell out just over 9 years agonwhen I was in my mid 20s a few months before our wedding. I made the decision to shave it before it got too sparse. Eyebrows and eyelashes also fell out. I ended up having my eyebrows tattooed on.

It only started growing back this year when I started methotrexate (for an unrelated reason). Also you won't be able to take that if TTC.

There is some fabulous wigs out there op.
I hope you get to the bottom of it.

I have inflammatory bowel disease and hemolytic anemia. Had a flare of both in August and was pretty ill so I think it’s from that but who knows. I got my mum to check and there doesn’t seem to be any patches just significant thinning ,

Thank you for the comments . Lots to think about. I can’t bear to see a hairdresser currently so my mums offered to cut my hair into a long bob to take the weight off it. Her and my mil have also said they will pay for some private bloods for me as they can see how distressed I am over it, these will include hormone tests as the nhs ones didn’t include them. We will go from there over the results. From research it looks like hair thinning and shedding is very current right now so it’s nice I’m not alone .

Exactly the same happened to me after a bad IBD flare combined with anaemia.

My Dr reckoned it was TE and it would grow back and he was right in my case. I lost about 50% of my hair, but it is all back now, possibly thicker than ever.

Cutting it shorter helped with the regrowth, I went from bra strap length to a bob.

I can clearly remember how distressing it was, so keeping my fingers crossed you have a good result in the end too.

I thought it was related to menopause but I also have IBD, Ulcerative Colitis. I never thought it could also be that.

@Deebee90The friend I mentioned in my previous post also has IBD and her hair loss looked exactly like yours.

I was going to ask about a autoimmune condition. I had a massive flare up and had similar hair loss. It did grow back. I spent a fortune on private consultations, which I don't think made a difference.

I lost a lot of hair after several very stressful life events and then constant illness culminating in pneumonia last year. It was coming out in handfuls, I had bald patches, and what was left was so dry and damaged.

It's only in the last 2-3 months that my hair has actually started to thicken up a bit, and actually grow. Also my nails, how are your nails?

I had all the blood tests, and they found nothing. So things I did as I've no idea what actually helped!

• I changed my shampoo and conditioner - I use Kin Kind solid bars, the protein one Give Me Strength and one for damaged hair Give Me More
• I found a collagen that suited me - I use Wild Nutrition
• I massage my scalp daily
• I take Solgar Skin, Hair and Nails vitamins
• I also take a really good quality Omega oils supplement

I'm not sure if this helped, but I have IBS and this helps that.... but who knows?! I take a mushroom supplement. The one I take is called Rainbow Dust, which sounds dody AF but is actually really good.

Yes I have FFA but can’t tolerate hydroxychloriquine, my dermatologist recommended dermovate steroid cream which hasn’t really helped. My age and an extremely stressful year are against me.

I’m currently alternating nizoral shampoo (the dandruff one) and the new L’Oréal growth boost shampoo. I then use the conditioner and serum from the same range. Boots have sm offer at the moment, so £20 for all three.
Every evening I’m using The Ordinary Peptide hair serum. I massage it into my scalp. Hair is not greasy in the morning.

it might be a fluke, but after two weeks of keeping this up, my hair loss has already massively reduced. It remains to be seen if I will start regrowing baby hair.

I’ve also ordered some pumpkin oil and saw palmetto supplements, as these are natural DHT blockers.

Anything new that you try will take months to have effect so keep at it. I know a couple of people with alopecia who have Symprove probiotic drink during flare ups which seems to help. The patches slowly start to fill with baby hairs that get thicker and then regrow darker. It’s expensive but there’s frequently offers so don’t pay full price. Could try bone broth for general/gut health?

If you’re on instagram look at Sofiahairhealth

That's a shame because minoxidil is very effective.

But if you do succeed in getting pregnant, your hair will definitely improve. Good luck 🙏xx

I’m 36 and have telogen effluvium. I’ve had it now for 2 years and still haven’t found the cause but it’s most likely stress. I have finally started seeing a little bit of growth after changing my shampoo etc and upping pretty much every vitamin possible.

It’s awful 😕

I was about to suggest a wig or headscarf theres so many lovely ones around now and i think they look lovely
Theres lady who lives in our village who has lost her hair through illness and she wears a different wig every day, different colours lengths styles and she looks brilliant
She has something different to match everything she wears , shes only young id say late 30s/early 40s maybe

Try a carnivore diet or if that's too extreme ketovore

I lost about half the volume of hair on my head when I was a child due to stress. I was put on anti anxiety medication and eventually my hair started to grow back. I know there’s often a physical cause for hair loss, but even the resulting stress and worry about the hair loss itself could exacerbate things. Just wondering if that might be a factor.