My hair is falling out

[TooExtraImmatureCheddar]

Help! What do I do? It's coming out in handfuls, especially when it's being washed or brushed. It was never very thick but it's now noticeably thinner.

I had it dyed twice professionally and then did a cheapie raspberry pink myself, which was wash-out stuff, not permanent. I use Liz Earle shampoo and my scalp does itch a fair bit and sometimes feels sore. Could the shampoo and the dye not really work together? It's a good 6 weeks since I dyed it, though. The same thing happened to my sister when she did a home-dye (she also uses Liz Earle).

I'm breastfeeding 13mo DS, and between him and 3yo DD tend to have broken sleep most nights. I keep starting low-carbing and then falling off the wagon again. I'm in the middle of a big fight with my mum and feeling pretty stressed. I know all these things can contribute to hair loss, but what can I actually do to make it grow back? I found some vitamins with cod-liver oil this morning and I'll try to remember to take them. Is there anything else I can do?

I wondered about chopping a good bit of the length off which would at least make it slightly less obvious that I'm wandering around shedding like a Golden retriever. It's about bra strap length so I'm constantly picking long hairs off my clothes/desk/children and out of the plug hole in the shower. At least if I got some of it cut off the hairs would be shorter.

Did you lose hair after the birth of your 13 month old? It is common to lose hair as during pregnancy you lose very little and then lose that excess some time after birth. Maybe breastfeeding has made you lose the excess later than normal e.g. I moulted like crazy from around 4 months after I had my children but didn't breastfeed for longer than 2 weeks

Could be vit d deficiency - my SIL went to drs when her hair was falling out. He said it was very common.

Try Nourkrin (or anything with Biotin, think it is) - when I do a VLCD I lose hair unless I take it

I would say the hormones are definitely a factor, as could be the stress you are under. I wouldn't think it's the dye unless it's snapping off rather than falling out.

I would suggest you get on the floridax (liquid iron) and visit your gp for a blood test to check your iron and thyroid. Also, getting your hair cut could make you feel better as it would be easier to style. Coconut oil massaged into the scalp is said to help, as is rosemary oil mixed in with your shampoo (a few drops).

(My hair is currently shedding as I'm five months post partum, so I sympathise).

Good luck.

Mine is too but I recently got a BFP - it should be getting fecking thick and glossy now!

Mines been falling out since breastfeeding ds. It does grow back though

I did moult after DS was born - maybe 4 or 5 months after, but not like this.

I wondered about vit D - I'm in Scotland and it's been raining for most of the last 4 months, and we haven't been on a sun holiday since 2011. Is it enough to take Tesco vitamins or should I go to the doctor anyway? I gave blood a couple of months ago and I passed the anaemia test, so I'm not sure it'd be iron.

It's definitely coming out - you can see the root on the hairs - not breaking.

I've just spent some time reading the Nourkrin reviews on Amazon. Yikes, it's expensive! I think I'll keep that as a last resort. I'll try the cod-liver-oil and vitamin D tablets first.

No harm looking into vitamin D.

I saw this interesting discussion on This Morning recently about hair loss and this woman's experience of losing the majority of it, then it returning. She mentions iron and how you don't need to be anaemic to suffer hair loss, just being lower than normal.

www.itv.com/thismorning/health/what-are-the-leading-causes-of-female-hair-loss

I found it interesting and have kept up with my iron intake and my hair loss is better this time around.

Hubners silica from Amazon is good.

That's v interesting, Cosmic. Back to the low-caring, I think! More iron, more vit D, cod-liver oil. OK.

I had quite bad hair loss after having DS, thought it was due to bfing but then realized I was actually getting very thin on top, particularly at the front. Turns out it was hypothyroidism.

Definitely go to your doctor and ask for blood tests. Ask for ft3, ft4, tsh, B12, vit D, folate and ferritin. When the results are back ask for the actual figs and the range for each.
If it's nothing, great, but definitely worth checking properly

Although low carb is good for weight loss there have been many people doing it who complain of hair loss as one of the side effects.

Yeah Nourkrin is really expensive, however I have found half a dose to still work, so that means if you get it from Amazon it works out to £15 or so per month.

I tried nourkin but it was too expensive and didn't seem to make any difference. For the last three months I have been taking Perfectil plus hair and it's working! I have new hair sprouting all over. And this is after having thinning hair for a decade.

Mines coming out too. I'm still breastfeeding my 23 month old, could it be that or could it be linked to the fact I'm a vegetarian?

I went to the GP in despair with hair thinning/loss. It was getting really see through. I was referred to a dermatologist who did a blood test. She said my iron and vit d were too low to support hair growth so prescribed supplements. I take 120 mg ferrous fumerate twice a day and 5,000iu vit d gel caps. It's taken a long time but my hair is no longer shedding and while it's still very very fine, my scalp is no longer visible. The dermatologist said iron needs to be at around 100 for hair growth. Mine was 35 when I started the supplements. That's not anaemic but not enough if you have hair problems. It did take around a year to see any improvement, but that could well just be me, and other people improve faster.

Stress, childbirth and breastfeeding will probably all have an effect but I'd still get your iron, vit d, b12 checked. I also added silica tablets and biotin tablets in just because I was desperate.

LE made my scalp really itchy and sore too, may be worth ditching that to see if it makes a difference.

Mine is the same and I'm also bf my nearly 1 year old.
It started when he was 5 months but has become much worse. It hasn't been as bad the past 2 weeks but has stopped and started before too.

I don't know how I'm not bald; the house is covered in hair. If I run my hand through my hair I end up with a fistful. The car is covered in hair, I leave hair everywhere I go. I had it cut up to a bob but I still see hair everywhere. The pillow in the morning is the worst, I find it so upsetting.

Sorry if I've made it all about me, just wanted to say that you're not alone.

Definitely go to the GP because I've read that it can be normal up until 12 months PP but not any more than that. I'll be making an appointment next month myself.

I'm too embarrassed to talk to friends about it for some reason, worried if I say it out loud it will make it true? Anyhow, I'm going to book an appointment with GP! Makes more sense then just worrying about it!

Good luck lolalotta. Let us know how you get on... We should all go on that tv show embarrassing bodies lol!

As PP said ... iron and vitamin d.

Mine fell out after recurrent miscarriage and after my successful pregnancy/bf ... have found taking iron, vit D and vit B help a lot!!

I've just started taking biotin. As of today, I did loads of reading yesterday and ordered it from amazon. Came today.
£10 for two months supply.
Read the reviews all over the Internet.
I have high hopes for this, used with coconut oil as an overnight pre- shampoo treatment , and weekly deep conditioning.
Read up about it OP.

You lot are amazing! Thank you for the messages of support.

There's biotin in my cod liver oil capsules. Annoyingly, there's no iron or vit D despite it being supposedly a multi-vit. I still have a bottle of iron tablets because I had low iron levels after DS was born by CS, so I should dig those out. And then I need to find vit D as well! Wish they were all in one pill.

These are the vit d I have. It's a year's supply at £12.99

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GB85JR4/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B004H57BKG&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0XACE0JN8MXDG1MD7H4P

The iron, depending on whether you have a deficiency might need to be prescribed for you from your GP as over the counter might not be strong enough. I was told a minimum level of 60 (but the dermatologist wanted to get it up to around 100 if poss), for hair growth and health.

I had vit d 800mg (or iu, I can't remember) prescribed too but my levels were only going up a tiny bit so they doubled it. It was still going up only very slowly so I bought by own and the latest blood test showed that it's much nearer where it needs to be.

I'm not sure how much the biotin and silica have contributed but I still take them too. I got them from Holland and Barrett and the biotin is very high strength. i do worry a bit about self-proscribing with these, but won't stay on them long term.

I honestly was investigating turban wrap things mine was so bad, and I know just how horrible it is to see your hair coming out so much. It's amazing the impact it has on how you feel. Well, it was to me anyhow. I am so much happier with it now. I'm sure you will get yours sorted too.

Thank you so much for this thread! I came off the pill 5 months ago and my hair has been falling out ever since. Every time I put my hand to my head I come away with clumps of hair. My forehead is getting bigger and bigger as my hairline retreats

I am planning to buy perfectil, vitamin d and vitamin b tomorrow. How long do you think it would take to see a difference?