Post pregnancy hair loss

[lavender11]

4 months after my son was born and the hair falling out is now escalating as it did with my first baby.
Husband bought me this spray from boots but it says you have to apply it to the scalp twice per day. some days it is a struggle to get a 5 min shower at the end of the day let alone fitting in faffy scalp spraying
anyone tried anything else which is quick and effective at slowing down hair loss or do I just have to "live through it" till my body gets back to normal?

By the time I had time to research & implement hair chunk replacement it had begun to grow back.
Don't go drastic at the hairdressers, baby hormones, lack of sleep and hairsalons don't mix.

You know it does sort it's self out but tell usband lots of rest and good food full of vitamins is the best thing.

Quite like 'usband' but stick an H in front, as you were.

thanks bobdog. i wonder how long till things start to sort themselves. a good night sleep seems so far off. multivits is all i can manage n the good food front. i am having problems with my o key today

Up your iron intake!

Try a thickening shampoo and conditioner too. It won't help curb the hairloss but it won't look as obvious. The shampoo and conditioner from the Joico body luxe range have been absolute life savers for my thin and fine hair.

thanks amanderr, my hair is infuriatingly thin and i cannot afford to loose hair even if just temporarily
it is driving me half crazy to wash the kitchen floor three times a day and wipe up loads of my hairs (and this is after i have carefully tied my hair back in the morning after brushing to try to get rid of anything loose - somehow they still end up everywhere) aaaahhh
what iron supplement is good. i use feroglobin because it is cheap but might "treat" myself to spatone if it is thought to be really good

I started using Holland & Barrett High Strength Herbal Iron Liquid a couple of months ago. I saw my hairdresser on Wednesday and she said that I had so much new hair growing through. I asked if she was sure it was new hair and not just where hair has broken off and she said it was definitely new as it was all over and all the same length which was about 1cm.

I know what you mean when you say you can't afford to lose any more hair. I've never had thick hair and have lost hair after each baby but it was terrible after having DS3. I think I made the problem worse by hardly eating in order to lose the baby weight and even now it's very thin. It was quite long but I've had to keep it at just under shoulder length for the last couple of years while I wait for the newer hair to catch up. I'm trying the liquid iron to help speed things up and it seems to be working and encouraging new growth.

My sympathies, Lavender, it's quite depressing when this happens. I lost quite a lot of hair after losing the pregnancy weight a bit too quickly. I too don't have much in the first place and was really down about it. Every time I washed my hair there was tons of it in the plug.
My hairdresser at the time advised me to lighten with highlights, as the bleach swells the hair shaft and makes it slightly thicker. Also, lighter, multi-shade hair makes the thinness less obvious, especially if, like me,the scalp is visible in some places.
After 4-5 months, I noticed it starting to grow back, as you have, with short hairs around the hairline. I didn't use any supplements or anything, it just sorted itself. 9 months later and I have to say my hair is thicker than it has ever been, so the suffering seems to have been worth it.
While I was waiting, I found it helpful to use heated rollers for oooomph then an up-do. Also, dry shampoo gives an easy lift.

I know it's rubbish now, but I promise you it WILL grow back, and maybe thicker than it was before, like me.

thanks amanderr and bigsarahj i appreciate your posts. yes i have lost the weight a bit too quick (not entirely intentional) but will try the holland and barrett high strength iron supplement you talk about
i even have some vouchers for a lovely local hair salon, now just to save up for a babysitters for my two gorgous baby monsters (or get hubby to agree to sit, which is less likely so savin up is my plan). hair highlights sound a good plan. thanks

It's called Telogen Effluvium (I got it after being really ill when I was 15) and it's caused by a lot of your hairs going into dormancy at the same time. (Due to stress on the body of some kind.) 6 months later, when the new hairs start to grow, the old ones get poked out of the hair follicle.

You're not "losing" hair, really, but growing lots of short new hairs all at the same time.

Here's a webpage which explains it a bit more:

www.goodtoknow.co.uk/health/141555/Telogen-effluvium--dramatic-hair-loss

Basically, yes, you just have to live through it!

Good plan, Lavender, I think. A good cut and colour can really make you feel loads better about it. I had mine cut from shoulder to chin length in a sharp bob with a thick fringe, and that really helped me as it was thicker, more 'deliberate' looking and the fringe hid the exposed scalp at the hairline.

Hope it helps!

Good post BigSarah. I should have suggested hightlights too.

I read that highlights help create an illusion of depth helping to make thin hair look thicker. I now have three different shades of blonde put through my naturally mid brown hair and it looks much better and the scalp less obvious.

Why thank you, Amanderrr!
How is yours now? Are you starting to feel that it is any thicker?

Well, DS3 is 4 now so this is an on-going problem but yes, finally it does seem to be growing, and quite quickly.

My hair is now all different lengths due to new hair growing while still losing hair, although the hair loss did slow down when DS3 was about 2.

A few months ago I started to notice more hair in my brush again and lots on my pillow in the morning even though I was taking a multi vitamin with iron. I read about high strength liquid iron being helpful for thinning hair and it does seem to be making a difference. As I said, I had my hair cut to just under my shoulders and my hairdresser trims off a cm or two when she does my roots. Once all the hair is the same length I'll start growing it long again.

It seems such a silly thing to worry about in the grand scheme of things but I was so embarrassed by my hair, or lack of and felt throughly miserable about it for a long time.

There's been times when I've considered shaving it all off and buying a wig but the thickening products (Joico) and highlights have improved the look of it and now my hairdresser has noticed lots of new hair I'm feeling more positive.

I'm glad to read that yours improved quite quickly BigSarah and that your hair is now thicker than before.

Oh Amanderr, I don't think it's a silly thing to worry about at all and I'm sure everyone on this thread would agree. For a woman, hair is one of the defining elements of her appearance, and how you feel about it can entirely change how you feel about your appearance as a whole. And anyone who says they don't at all care about their appearance, or denies that they feel happier when they think they look good, must surely be fibbing.

I'm glad to hear that yours is growing back and you are feeling better. Lavender, I hope you don't feel silly worrying about it, and that you can take heart from our experiences! :)

Lavender, I have no hugely relevant advice to offer, partly because there is nothing you can do about hair loss at all.

But I don't think you should worry, as when you were pregnant your hair loss probably slowed down an awful lot. I was told to look out for it and now that I am nearly 11 weeks, my normal shedding has reduced by around about 80%. So I am trying to mentally prepare myself that after I give birth, I will lose all that hair in a matter of moths or weeks, which will seem really scary.

A little personal anecdote: Years ago I had my long hair braided when I was travelling around Brazil, as it was a faff. I knew and understood that once my braids were taken out, I would lose three weeks worth of hair loss in one day. Yet I still remember the day when I was brushing it out and covering the floor of the bedroom and the bathroom with a thick blanket of hair that just kept coming out. I was convinced there would be absolutely nothing left, but it was fine.

For the time being, supplements, rest and Joico shampoos will hopefully make you feel better. But everything will be back to normal before you know it.

just read this post as i had hair loss after both my pregnancies, and i just wanted to say it does get better with time i promise!

but i also wanted to say to lavender - you mentioned saving up for a babysitter so you can get your hair done, erm, love, you have A HUSBAND, I dont mean this horribly but HE should look after HIS children while you go get pampered, you should NOT have to pay for a babysitter!

if i were you i would book an appointment, then just TELL him you are going.

sorry, hope i am not speaking out of turn!

Post-pregnancy hair loss is totally normal and affects half of all mums. A diet rich in protein is ideal, take a look at this diet plan which combines a healthy eating plan for post pregnancy with a daily supplement tiny.cc/fmmmg.

I had this both times and can't offer much more advice, other than when you tie your hair back do it as loosely and gently as possible.

I have horrible memories of yanking mine back into a bobble to get it out of the way, and clumps coming out when I took it down.