Hair loss support thread

[Marasme]

I did find an old 2012 thread and thought I'd post something new here.

After a shitty year or so at home and at work, I noticed that my scalp was showing more than usual along my parting. Further investigation using the selfie camera on my phone revealed an awful little bald patch at the top of my head, as if the parting was widening at this place.

Absolutely terrifying :( and not helping the fact that I suffer from some pretty bad health anxiety.

I now feel sucked by the entire "remedy" industry despite the strong belief that they are just snake oil peddlers.

Looking for anyone, from the old thread or not, to join in sharing positive stories...

Well I've put on a massive amount of weight recently and also been very sleepy so could have thyroid problems. Don't know if they are hereditary but my gran was hypothyroid (fat and sleepy) and my aunt is hyperthyroid (skinny and buzzing with energy)

Marasme - enough to clog a sink every time I shower or wash my hair, plus peeling hairs off my clothes all day long - not just one or two at the end of the day but two or three every five to ten minutes.

@gingerclementine - check the HealthUnlocked.com forum boards; there is a thyroid community. They are great at explaining blood results, and have got massive knowledge on thyroid diseases impact on other aspects of health such as hair...

How come you haven't gone for regaine marasme? Is it the dread shed phase?

I can barely remember my dread shed. It was short lived and minor. I use the men's one.

The derm told me to give it a go, as it is the only thing proven to work for what I have.

I think if you google there will be loads of people saying their dread shed was awful but they will be in the minority, I'm sure.

I am indeed scared of 1) the dread shed, 2) the lifelong commitment, 3) greasy roots look.

The derm told me that basically nothing works for reversing hairloss (does not believe in correcting iron deficiency as ever making a real difference either :/ ) - the recommendation was to "not rush into rogaine just yet", as hairloss not sufficiently marked to justify £££ and required lifelong commitment. The LED light thingy was also mentioned as having some evidence of success).

I looked into the LED thingy for a while, but have not followed through (hairmaz laser combs etc). I also looked into PRP, but the clinic in the city nearby does not look very medical/professional, and I am not reassured (or convinced)....

Thank you @Marasme

Marasme it doesn't give me greasy roots and I have greasy hair!!

It hasn't regrowth my hair but it has definitely stopped the shedding. Prior to regaine I had a persistent itch, along with shedding but not handfuls. Google seemed to confirm that a lot of people experiencing hairloss, also had a persistent itch.

After regaine the itch and shedding stopped. I wish I had started regaine a year or 2 earlier. I would have hung on to more hair. My hairloss never worsened after regaine but the bloody hair system did it in. The hairloss on my scalp is worse on the side of my crown that had it on.

I am in a Facebook group called Hairloss sisters. It's mostly Americans. There are a few people on there trialling an I - restore (lazer helmet). I think they have a money back guarantee. I can't understand how a dead follicle can regrow though but if people have success then I would def buy it!!

Also I have seen a few people in my various fb groups say they have tried prp at great expense with no success or little.

I read somewhere about people using a retinol or retinoid on the scalp, which can cause a mild burn and then applying regaine and having a lot of success. The burning of the scalp can apparently make it more responsive to regaine. I'm not tempted to try it though!!

thanks hairnightmare17 - I still find the whole hair loss stuff super confusing, despite reading extensively about it. I am just unsure what my issue is yet - FPHL or triggered.

I concur re the itch - which is fairly new for me, but has also been massively confounded by the fact that the DDs have brought back (and shared) nits on at least two occasions in the last 3 months. Nits freak me out.

Can I ask you how many hair per day you used to shed, before and after rogaine? I still don't know what "normal" is - with or without showering.

re. retinoic acid and rogaine - my understanding was that the actual active ingredient should be prevented to enter the bloodstream, which it might do with retinoic treatments? this would freak me out. Forgot to mention that I also read a bit about dermarolling, with mixed results for my research!

Marasme in the many fb hairloss groups I am in, I have seen people mention they are being prescribed minoxidil orally. I think this is a new thing, so am not sure about the bloodstream thing. I know you aren't supposed to use it if you have high blood pressure but that's all I know really.

I get the impression that sometimes they never really know what is causing the hairloss. I think maybe a scalp biopsy can confirm things.

Regarding daily hairloss, when I was shedding - I saw about 50-100 hairs a day. Google' tells you that this is normal but it definitely wasn't for me. I have always had thin, fine hair and that amount of hairloss is too much for my hair type. It might be normal for a thick thatch but not for me. Now when I wash my hair every other day, I get a maximum of 10 I reckon. I don't see hair on my clothes. There will be hair in the brush but that's hard to account for. I think what is important is seeing a change, rather than how much. When I was shedding I started to notice hairs on my desk and sometimes in the food I had cooked (boak), whereas this had never been issue before. Before the shedding started I never particularly noticed hair everywhere.

I am very badly affected by hair loss. I haven't done anything apart from taking some vitamins.

Has anyone investigated mesotherapy for hair loss?

Hi Marsame, I've had this exact problem for years and after intensive investigations, the Dr said it is to do with my underactive thyroid as well as genetics. I have been using a supplement called Ecophane and most importantly I use Minoxidil 2% spray on all the affected areas once daily. Since doing so the bald patch has disappeared and new hairs are growing regularly. I wish you good luck and hope you manage to find out the main reason for your hair loss soon.

@BabyCute are you in the UK? Where can you get Minoxidil spray?

Hi Lonelymum86, yes I live in London. You can get Boots brand called Regaine for Women or Kirkland Minoxidil 2% from Amazon

thanks @babycute - do you mean that it is an actual spray, or the foam version?

did you experience the dread shed when you went on minoxidil?

Hi Marsame,
It's a liquid form that you apply to the affected areas. I haven't had any side effects from Minoxidil so far and I've been using it for a few years now. It's best to stick to the 2% strength as the higher dosage only works for men and causes side effects if used by ladies.

@BabyCute can you give a link to the product? Thanks

@lonelymum86 I will share the picture of the product. You can buy it from any Boots stores around you. Hope it works out for you.

The 5% is also licensed for women now - GP suggested it to me, and I bought it in Boots - it's labelled for women. Not that it's made a blind bit of difference. I've got a consultation at a wig store on Thursday.

My derm told me to use 5% too. I have. No side effects.

@ilovecherries let us know how it went

I think I'll have to consider wearing wig too.

I will do. I'm very nervous and upset about it all. It's not my first rodeo with hair loss, but the first time I was in my early 20s, lost nearly all my head hair after a traumatic incident. Was young enough, firm enough of jaw and bold enough to run a razor over the rest and just rock it. The worst part was being cold, iirc. The second time was after my toddler had been critically ill, and that time the loss was more diffuse, and frankIy I had more to worry about. Both times I had spontaneous regrow that started within a year. This time though I'm a lot older, no triggering factor can be identified and it's been going on slowly for months, which makes me worried that this time it's FPB rather than stress related Telogen Effluvium. I have lost a lot of weight over 2017 (but slowly and sensibly), but looking at pictures, it started before than anyway, and there is zero sign of regrowth after months on minoxidil. Had a good physical work up, nothing found. My daughter is sneaking a day off uni and meeting me at the wig place so she can be supportive and take me for lunch after. I just feel like crying though. It's fortunate the last two weeks it's been cold enough that I don't look too odd going about with a hat on all the time, but that can't go on forever. :(. It's shit.

@ilovecherries I have a combination of thyroid issues that no one wants to listen too.

My iron levels and b12 levels need to be better.

Also I need more Vit d.

My mother has FPB but she also never grew her hair back properly after chemo for ovarian cancer.

My mum wore a wig during chemo and it really suited her

I hope you can get good support during today's appointment @ilovecherries

Just typed a long useless post but lost it somehow before posting! Was only saying hi again, nothing useful to contribute but interesting catching up and reminding myself I'm not alone. If I ever find something useful I'll be right back.

I said I'd report back on my wig experience.

I went to parrucche.co.uk in Glasgow because they came highly recommended. It was a 400 mile round trip but infinitely worth it, even accepting that I didn't actually want to be there.

They were kind and also incredibly matter of fact, so although I went in trying not to cry, it was a very positive experience.

They assessed my head and advised against a topper because of the degree of loss. I was given some catalogues and my brief was at this stage that I wanted to look like me, and also wanted to utilise my own hair to soften my hairline, so she advised looking at a bob of some sort in an ash brown with highlights.

She brought loads of wigs for me to try and I settled on two I like the style of, but not the colour, although I tried on another where I wasn't keen on the style but the colour was perfect. She's ordering in both the ones I like in a better colour and stressed that when I saw them, I was under no obligation to buy either - if I didn't like them, we'd just start again.

One thing I would say is that when you've been losing a lot of hair over a period of time, that it's very shocking to see yourself with a normal head of hair again - I was convinced initially that I looked a proper hairball. I realise this will probably make the wig transition more noticeable to other people, and I really wish now I had gone a year ago while I still had a moderately ok head of hair. I have spent a lot more over the last year on new haircuts, toppick, snake oil, supplements etc etc than a good wig would have cost.

I still wish this hadn't happened, I still am not delighted with the idea of a wig, but it's a better solution to the problem than I realised.