i have some hair loss and I don’t know whether I need to worry or not (and I have been quite distressed daily about this and so I am posting on here for reassurance/advice/solidarity I think)…
for context, I have had two pregnancies back to back in the last year, and a few months after each birth I had some minor hair shedding, which was something I’d never experienced before, but it only lasted (as far as I could tell) a few weeks and it all her back again very quickly. Before I had totally stopped breastfeeding the youngest one, I started gederel 30, as I had a stressful month or two moving house at the same time, I was sleep deprived and then I started to get some mood swings and some spotty skin the week before both ovulation and my period so I just wanted to not deal with all that at that time. I stayed on this pill for about 5 months with no major symptoms except each month I got more and more bloated, plus I felt it didn’t improve my mood that much overall, but the bloating snd associated gut issues made me feel really self conscious as I’m quite slim and I felt bad wearing some of my clothes, and I even went to theGP and the ordered blood tests for ovarian cancer and glucose intolerance and thyroid. All came back fine. I cut out gluten and cows milk anyway from my diet for a bit, and that did help with my bloating but I ultimately came off the pill a few weeks into that and the gut issues went away almost immediately. I lost quite a bit of weight as well quite quickly. I also noticed that my hair was thinning a little maybe a couple of months later, but no real shedding that was bothersome. The other symptoms I’d had before taking the pill also didn’t seem as bad, so I was happy overall.
BUT fast forward to the start of august, so roughly four months after stopping the pill, and my scalp one day just becomes very painful all over, oily and then my hair starts shedding. Ok, I think this is telogen effluvium and I’ve had it before, it’ll be over in a few weeks. But it has now been almost two months!
there is noticeable shedding - though maybe it’s slowing down?- daily in the shower and I have to wash my hair daily because it is also thinner now (I naturally have quite thick hair thank god), and seems to get oilier so fast, and my scalp also starts to feel sore if I don’t. No visible signs of irritation or dandruff though.
it is worse the few days before ovulation and my period, so when hormones are fluctuating I guess. Have also been getting a few more spots overnight at those same times, face is oiler and I have to use a stronger face wash to keep it under check. A few days later, everything feels better again- but the hair continues to fall…
I went the GP, a male doctor, last week, and he dismissed the hair loss as ‘hair goes through cycles’ even though I explained all of this to him-and he didn’t want to run more blood tests or hormone tests etc as I’m 38,my periods are regular and the last tests were fine- even though I explained I was still on the pill when those were done.. he prescribed me a different pill - one that has varied doses of hormones through the month to mimic the cycle, but that wasn’t what I wanted and I don’t want to try it and then come off it and the shedding to get worse again.It seems like it shouldn’t be a pill I should take anyway given what is in it, having looked it up myself. I haven’t taken it yet. He then said if that doesn’t work for me then he could try me on a low dose antidepressant?? That won’t help my hair loss…I felt feeling really quite annoyed and like he hadn’t listened to me…
Also, my nutrition is good, I take vit D and B supplements. Otherwise I feel healthy, although a bit tired some days as I have two toddlers now and it’s hard…
i am wondering if it is just TE, after stopping the pill, and then also because of only having minor sheds previously after the pregnancies because my hormones weren’t back to base, it’s just more extreme this time… but if so I want to know when it’ll stop as I am almost in tears inthe shower every time over it and my hair was so nice and think and now it feels and looks so weird to me. I have new hairs growing at my hairline I see, so that’s good, but it’s the rest of it/ the stuff I’ve just been losing, that’s distressing me.
I suppose other than wanting to hear other similar experiences or advice , I wondered whether if anyone else in my position would go back to GP and ask them if they could do tests for thyroid and etc now, even just to rule out those things?? I just want to know the shedding will end, that it is just my body retuning itself to its new normal. or whether it’s something that will be ongoing if I don’t address an unknown underlying issue with my hormones or immune system. My mind starts to worry about all sorts and that I’ll lose all my hair! There pregnancies etc have been quite hard on my body and mind back to back, I’m now emerging back into the world slowly and it’s really upsetting me that my hair feels like this and is falling out!
Thank you