Insane hair loss during pregnancy

[Swan8]

I am really hoping someone can give me some hope. I’m 21 weeks and since the end of the first trimester have been suffering extreme hair loss. My hair is a third of the thickness it used to be. Luckily it was very thick to start with but I’m worried that if it continues at this rate I will be bald by the time the baby arrives. When I wash or brush my hair it comes out in huge clumps. The GP tested my iron, folate and thyroid and all were fine. I was just told it was “one of those things”. I spoke to the obstetrician too, who said it is unusual but must just be caused by hormones. I’m finding it really upsetting and scary. Has anyone else experienced this in pregnancy (not after - I know hair often falls out after pregnancy)? I’ve attached a photo which shows how much came out in my hands in the shower today. A lot more than that came out in the shower ... I am really hoping someone out there will tell me they had this too and it stopped in the third trimester or will have some good news.

Hi there I am currently 36 weeks pregnant and also have alopecia areata but the hair loss has never been this bad. How did it go for your wife did hairloss stop after birth and did it fully grow back?

Hi @AnonymousNurse. I am going through something very similar too. My hair started thinning gradually from around 18 weeks pregnant - it just seemed looser at first. I avoided washing/brushing it more than absolutely necessary, and a midwife told me it was normal so I crossed my fingers and hoped it would pass (my hair was pretty thick so I could afford to lose some). Eventually another midwife suggested I consult a GP, so I did, and a blood test showed my thyroid etc. were normal, but my iron was 'slightly low' (that was at about 25-26 weeks). I started taking iron supplements, but by 27 weeks the hair on the top of my head, around my part, was noticeably thin. Now I am 30 weeks and the hair on nearly my entire scalp is conspicuously thin - it's very dramatic and looks as if I am balding. I wear a thick headband or hat whenever I go out, but I'm going to have my OH cut off the remaining long bits soon.

Last week I saw an obstetrician and got some more blood tests (supposedly more detailed ones relating to thyroid, B12, perhaps something else) and haven't got the results yet. While I was there she consulted two of her colleagues - another obstetrician and an endocrinologist - and they all agreed that if nothing came up in the new tests, it was 'a mystery' and probably just down to hormones. I suppose it could also have been the slight iron deficiency, or a combination of factors, although the iron supplements haven't stopped me from losing hair (maybe because I need to lose it all before I can start growing it back? Not sure). The obstetrician said it didn't look like alopecia (I haven't been losing it in patches, just an overall thinning), and thought she could spot new hair growth among the shorter hairs on my scalp. But anything long, it looks like I'll lose.

This is really unpleasant and upsetting, I know, and I hope you're coping with it as well as possible. I'm up and down myself - I feel all right about it so long as I don't stare at myself in the mirror for too long or think about it too much.

Anyway, since I was reading through this thread in a desperate attempt to find any info on hair loss during pregnancy, and saw your recent comment, I thought I'd share! It's reassuring to know there are others in similar situations.

@Swan8, I'd also love to know how you got on after pregnancy.

All the best! X

@pearl1986 Hello! Your story is so similar to mine. My ferratin and Hb were both really low and it wasn't identified 'till 28 weeks. Both are slowly coming up with the ferrous sulphate but I'm super symptomatic. You sound like you have a good team around you, its definitely not a pregnancy symptom; mine was written off as such by my midwife and not taken seriously at all. Post partum hair loss is common but with this you lose all the extra hair you generally gain during pregnancy. Diffuse thinning is usually a sign of some kind of deficiency.

I think after a lot (like a whole lot) of research my hair loss is due to telogen effluvium. During Feb/March when I was around 19 weeks I was under a massive amount of stress due to covid. I think this was a trigger for my hair to go into shutdown. A greater proportion of my hair was knocked into a kind of dormant mode. This dormancy lasts around 2/3 months before the hair falls (as per the natural hair cycle) which is why I didn't see the loss until around May. I also had Beaus lines (ridge) across my nails which also indicates a stressful event. The positive side of this is that the hair falls because a new hairs are coming through, the negative is this diffuse thinning of the hair and the length of time it will take for the hair to fully grow back. If you look at your hair fall and theres still a small white bulb at the root then it could also be TE.

My hair is a shambles now and it is still falling. I'm hoping my self diagnosis is correct and the TE coupled with quite severe anaemia were my triggers. I am slightly worried about the PP hairloss due to come, but it's not always a given that everyone experiences this so fingers crossed!

My best advice is to keep washing and brushing as normal, the hair is going to fall regardless of what you do and putting off causes you more stress when huge clumps come out in the shower. Hopefully once your bloods come back and you are rebalanced, and once baby comes, your hair will come back to its former glory!

I'm getting my hair cut short (sob) on Friday to try give myself some volume. I've kind of accepted it now and am somewhat reassured that I won't go bald!

Be kind to yourself :) hope all goes well with your pregnancy too x

@AnonymousNurse Just a belated note to thank you for your response; it was really interesting reading about your experience and the similarities with mine.

I was interested in what you said about diffuse thinning being caused by a deficiency, and the fact that you had Beau's lines. It turns out I had a couple of Beau's lines as well, which I hadn't consciously noticed before - interesting. I've been reading about tellogen effluvium too and it sounds broadly applicable to me too although I didn't have any major psychological stresses around the relevant time (at least not conscious ones). Maybe the problem had to do with the shock of the pregnancy on my body, the iron deficiency, wacko hormones, or a combination. So mysterious...

My antenatal team also suspect I may have a touch of gestational diabetes given that my baby is a bit large. My GTT was normal but they now have me monitoring my blood sugar on a daily basis. I came across one or two places online that suggest gestational diabetes as a cause of hair loss, but none of the healthcare workers I've spoken to in person have heard of it as a cause, so I'm not sure - maybe there's insufficient research. My more recent test for thyroid, B12 and folate all came back normal, at least.

In any case, I had my OH cut my hair all very short a couple of weeks ago, and felt quite relieved not to have to deal with it falling out everywhere. It's short and thin, but not thinning (much) more, and some of it is definitely growing back. I won't feel confident leaving the house without a hat/scarf until it has thickened up somewhat, but it is indeed a relief to not be going bald!

Thanks again, and I hope you're feeling well and enjoying the last days of your pregnancy (or first days with your new baby, by now!). x

Hiya, just after some advice....from18weeks pregnant with twins I started losing ALOT of hair, I’m now currently 22 weeks pregnant and still losing hair, lost approximately 85% of it now and can’t go out without hat, scarf or wig and will probably have to shave it off within next week or so due to still losing rapidly 😢
It hasn’t gone in patches just all over thinning.
My bloods came back as a slight iron deficiency but that’s it 🤷‍♀️
When I rub my finger through my scalp I feel stubble but unsure if it’s just from hair snapping...I’ve also lost most of my pubes now too (sorry for TMI!!)
Anyone else been through this or similar? xxx

@AnonymousNurse @pearl1986 sorry to re-start an old thread but came across your thread as I’m experiencing the same thing! My hair started shedding at 27 weeks and it’s just coming out in droves especially when I wash it. My blood levels were ok with slightly low iron but that was it.. just wondering what happened with your hair after birth and is there anything you’d recommend taking like vitamins / shampoo etc? So hoping mine stops shedding soon as it’s got so so thin and worrying it will all go before baby is here - I’m now 34 weeks. Any advice would be so welcome!

@IsSpencer I'm so sorry to hear that this is happening to you as well! It really is an alarming and upsetting experience. Did your GP recommend iron supplements? I started taking those when I was about as pregnant as you are, and although I still lost most of my hair by early third trimester and was very nearly bald, I had new growth coming in at the same time. The new growth may have been thanks to the iron supplements (IF that was the cause, which it may well have been as that's been my gut feeling though hormones were a possibility too). Shampoo-wise, I used Alpecin during pregnancy, though only 2-3 times per week not sure if that helped to speed along regrowth but FWIW... After pregnancy my hair just continued to grow, thankfully - I never had any of the (usually more minor) hair loss that many women experience postpartum. My baby is now 9 months old and my hair is growing back just as it was pre-pregnancy. Sending good wishes to you and do write back if you want to chat/ask any other questions - I know it's an awful experience! Even though I kept telling myself, 'It's just hair' and even though that's objectively true, I still found myself in tears many times when it seemed as if I'd go bald. Hair is so much more wrapped up in confidence/identity (especially for women) than I at least had ever really thought about. xx

@pearl1986 thank you so much for your kind response! It’s so reassuring to hear you went through the same thing and I have been very similar trying to rationalise it that it is only hair but I never knew how much I took my thick hair for granted until it started falling out! I’m going to speak to my GP about taking iron tablets and I’m actually booked in for a C-Section soon so I’ll see how the re-growth goes after baby. Hopefully it will return to normal like yours! Xx

Hello, all. Just reviving this old thread to ask if anyone here has had a repeat of the hair loss issue during any subsequent pregnancies? I'm pregnant with my second child after a five-year gap and am trying to prepare myself for the possibility that it could happen again. They say every pregnancy is different, so I hold out hope! Mainly just curious to know what people's experiences were the next time round - did you lose your hair again? Not lose it? Lose less?