Hair loss after stopping HRT during menopause, any non-HRT tips

[BotoxOrPuffins]

I'm 44 and had lots of minor symptoms. I tried HRT which got rid of all but one symptom. That was fine and very manageable. After 2 years I started to feel off, skin was awful and just felt so rubbish and not myself so I decided to stop HRT about 3 months ago. Periods are regular now and I feel a million times better which is the main thing.

However, my goodness I lost so much hair. The oestrogen was making my hair so thick, luscious and shiny! It's calmed down now but I'm still shedding. It's making me a bit upset. I've been taking hair vitamins, special shampoo, minoxidil. Apart from upping my protein is there anything else I can do. I won't go back on HRT just for that as I am feeling the most happiest and calm in years, I just don't feel like I need it. Did anyone else just stop HRT and experienced this. Any tips on how to manage hair loss by lower oestrogen level without taking HRT or is that wishful thinking. TIA.

Minoxidil/Regaine from Amazon; it’s the only thing with any actual evidence. Everything else is snake oil.

Thanks @PinkCatCushion I'll continue with that as I only started about 4 weeks ago. I think the shedding is compounded by the fact that minoxidil can also cause shedding to begin with.

Hi OP, I was you two years ago. Gave up HRT at 45 after two years on it. I was on 3 pumps of gel and Mirena at the time. Stopped the HRT and had the Mirena pulled out within months of each other. I did this because HRT just didn't feel right anymore. Despite coming down from the three pumps over months and only getting the coil removed two months after stopping the HRT, this resulted in me shedding so much hair. I have just come on to say that it eventually stopped and a few months later I started to see little sprouts of new hair growing. Within 4/6 months it had all pretty much filled in again. Now, you couldn't tell my pre or post HRT hair apart - identical. This also happened to my friend. Her hair also grew back. We both didn't do anything to encourage it to grow back, it just happened after the shedding stopped. I think it's totally normal to have hair shedding after stopping hormones. If you are still concerned at the shedding possibly worth getting your bloods done at the doctors and they can rule out any deficiency (thyroid issue/Vitamin D/Iron - iron is a big one, low iron is notorious for thinning hair/hair shedding). Otherwise, I think your shedding will stop and your hair will recover soon.

Btw, no regrets stopping the HRT. I feel much better off it and more in control of my body. Stuff crops up (achy joints/hot flushes) but each thing is transient and seems to resolve itself. So no regrets at all! Good luck with everything.