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...

retainer, I think it is worth seeing your gp to exclude anything easily fixable. If it's not trivial to you, it shouldn't be trivial to them. Then if everything else is ok, head for the minoxidil. If the best it can do is arrest loss, I wish I'd started it six months ago. My gp felt I shouldn't risk waiting till the dermo appt came through to start it.

ilove did your GP advise on it 6 months ago?

No, I delayed going to the gp because I was trying all the expensive snake oil remedies. I've spent more on hair products/serums/supplements in the last 6 months than I did in the previous 30 years. I don't know if minoxidil will work, but I wish I'd tried it before I got to this stage.

How to do you know if the very short hairs at your hair line is new growth or if it’s just hair that is growing back shorter and shorter before it falls out altogether and doesn’t grow back?

I’ve had thinning hair for a few years . No idea if the reason but I have PCOS so could be that. Was on the combined pill for 20 years so could be that. Recently switched to cerazette due to clots in leg veins so could be that. I’m 44 so could be that. A routine blood test showed up low ferritin so the GP prescribed iron tablets for 3 months, so could be that.

It could be any one of a number of things! The thinning at the temples and front has got worse in last few months since I switched pills. But noticing very short sticky up hairs and it’s hard not to get my hopes up that the iron tablets have had an effect. I think deep down I know they are just dying off hair follicles and the hairs are not growing long before they fall off.

for everyone worried about their hair.

Curly-I've never had short hair's at my hairline. I've had short hairs sticking up along my parting where they've snapped. Let's hope it's new growth for you!

Hi all,

Hair loss is an absolute bugger and does have a tendency to dominate your life.
I have been thinning since about 30 and am now 42.
It has been quite a journey, which has included feelings of desperation, acute embarrassment, hopelessness and periods of depression, particularly at the beginning of the journey.

I'm now at the stage where I feel much less distressed by it-don't get me wrong, I don't like it and have blips every now and again- but it no longer dominates my life in the way it used to.This is not due to some miraculous recovery-it is still thin and doesn't look great, but I have done the following, which have all helped:

MEDICAL ROUTE: As others have said there are only three medications that have evidence behind them: Regaine (topical); the pill Dianette and Spiralactone (both taken orally and work in some way on the excess testosterone which is a huge opart of FPB)
I have opted just to use Regaine for the moment as the others are more hard-core.
I use the 5% Men's Foam. It has not made any noticeable difference to the appearance of my hair, e.g. regrowing/thickening, but my hair has not got worse on it, so I keep going.

HAIR CUT/PRODUCTS/CAMOUFLAGE: I have very short, choppy hair now. It doesn't really suit my face shape, but the hair feels so much better and the thin-ness is much less obvious.
I use Boots hair mousse and hair "souffle" to give it more texture-actually these work quite well.
I use Fullmore (brand name now changed to Toppik I think) which is like coloured dry shampoo and makes the patches of scalp blend in much better to the rest of my hair.

Getting rather fed up of doing Fullmore every day, I have had a consultation with Vinci hair clinic who do micro scalp pigmentation-basically a very subtle hair tattoo which makes your scalp much less obvious. MSP is becoming more common-it is costly but I hope will ultimately save me a lot of work in the mornings.
I am strongly considering having this MSP done, and will report back to this thread on the effect, appearance-wise.

If my hair loss gets much worse, I will probably go down the hair system- - see Lucinda Ellery-route.

EARRINGS: to draw attention away from my hair, and to flatter my face a little more (as I said, short hair doesn't really suit me), I wear carefully-chosen nice earrings and now have an extra piercing in each ear.

I limit my internet research on hair loss. The endless snake-oil remedies being offered and depressing stories of hairless taking over people's lives (which it can do I know)were dragging me down further.

Good luck to us all, and hope the above helps in some way!

Sorry should say that the above all applies to people with the genetic form of hair loss-Female Pattern Hair loss (by far the most common cause of hair loss in women).

If your hair loss is due to iron deficiency, thyroid problems, then the above is probably not really so relevant.

thanks chocolatelimes and best of luck with the appointment.

i guess a real stress at the beginning is not knowing the cause and whether or not it is FPHL. In my case, thyroid looks fine, leaves me to check vit D and iron and address my crap diet and sky high stress levels. So many IFs...

When did you start on Minoxidil?

curly someone spoke of the pill upthread?

I got off the pill when i was 23 - affected my mood terribly. Never got back on...

chocolate, that's a lovely and encouraging post, thank you. It's encouraging to know you can move past it psychologically. I'm trying very hard at the moment to get to that place of acceptance and think that if medication works, then it's a bonus.

imagine... being empowered enough to shave it all off - which would both acknowledge it, and make hair redundant de facto

I'm not there yet - in fact, I am in denial land. It just takes a quick google, and I am thrown back into anguish and despair :/

I’ve just been reading reviews on hair systems and they sound awful

the ones that you mesh in existing hair, Littlebillie?

I've been reading too much, generally. The scalp itchiness freaks me out, as both DCs brought nits home 2 months ago... which I caught when my hair was still superlong. Cue frantic wet combing for weeks. And now, the itch reminds me of nit-times :'(

my iron results came back. Ferritin is 11 and vit B12 is super low. However, haemoglobin is ok ...

Ferritin is the important one. Have you been given supplements? It needs to remain at 70+ for hair growth.
B12 numbers I'm not so sure of. I take b supplements anyway as I've eaten a vegetarian diet for 30 years.

have not been given anything yet, but have self supplemented for a few weeks with perfectil hair x2 and ferrous sulfate 200mg x1...

how are you feeling today? my hair is still ahedding like crazy and I feel beyond exhausted. I have started looking into head bands, more haircuts etc.

i now dread the shower and am scared of every new hair stuck in my hand or on my pillow :(

If anyone went from bob length to very short pixie cut, did it work out for the best?

Know the feeling about hair on pillow. Hair in shower. Hair on children annoying them!!

My iron is 40.

I need to get it up.
I heard eating liver but not too much is good.

I may visit the butcher today and then put it in spaghetti Bol? So it’s disguised

liver barf
i need to up mine too, just because I am barely functioning and think my anxiety and mini depression is part fueled by the deficiency. If I get it up, i would hopefully feel half as crap and nore likely to be accepting of my capillary fate

it s tough - i remember having DC1 and witnessing the extent of the cosmetic damages to my body. I had not prepared myself for this and took what I had for granted. This feels the same, but a little worst because I cannot hide my head under clothes!

I've spent a long time researching supplemental hair the last few days. I think I need to take action on that now because I need a back up plan. I've been pleasantly surprised by the quality of some options. Initially I was thinking a topper but my scalp is currently too tender for that, so I've been looking at a short haircut and a full wig. I haven't bought yet, but I've narrowed it down to a few options. The GP gave me a certificate so I don't have to pay the VAT. I'm still very upset by it all, but hey, a few years ago I thought I might be barely able to walk again, and my wheelchair use was increasingly daily. Now I run 5K several times a week. While I would like to have good legs AND hair, and sometimes I feel very sorry for myself still, I have to try and hang onto the fact I've been very lucky.

Just found this thread but I've only got time to placemark for now. Will be back later when I've read through the whole thread. I have very little hair left on top - hoping to find some good advice.

sounds like a plan ilove - let us know what you ve found.

I m still trying to find out whether short haircut would look better than bob with dodgy wide parting. I am worried that very short will fail to cover the patchiest bits and reveal out the thinness.

Anyone experimented with headscarves? unfortunately i am useless with both make up and hair styling (i don t even usually use a hair dryer :/ )

notangelina welcome - i think our top advice is don t spend your miney on snake oils and get your doctor to check thyroid and ferritin, just in case!

I've just made my 6 yr old cry cos i banned her from putting bobbles in my hair (newly acquired skill) as too much is coming out. It's been coming out since about May, but has git much worse since i started cerelle in August. No one in my family has thin hair; not even the men. I suspect hormonal or iron related (got knocked back for blood donation again in April) but quite like being period free and hoping to offset menopause in a few years by continuing the pill.

My nails dreadful too, and my gums, but I think psoriasis could be to blame there.

Are you period-free because of the type of pill you take, giant? someone upthread spoke about how the pill impacted on their hair...

Yes. It's progesterone only and I wasvterrifued cos micronor made me v strange (although think that was probably pnd) but, apart from helping me lose a couple of pounds by curbing my sugar addiction , it's only affecting my hair. I think. Could be coincidence, as I was already l losing some.