Hair loss hell

[Openroady]

Help!!

I’ve always had quite fine hair but the last 3 months the I’ve noticed it is so very thin it’s like I’ve lost half of it quite literally , and now my hairline seems much further back and I’ve almost no eyebrows or eyelashes left!!

Whats going on and what do i do?

I’m 52, peri on HRT and take iron tabs as my ferritin is always really low but none of that is new.

No major health issues or stress in the last year that could have arrested growth that I can think of.

This is a disaster!! Help!

When you hit peri menopause a hormone called DHT can often be the cause of hair thinning. Mine was terrible about 7 months ago. You could clearly see my scalp at the front and temples and my ponytail was like a rat tail. I started taking pumpkin seed oil with saw palmetto. After a month I stopped pulling handfuls out in the shower and after another month saw fine little baby hairs at the front and temples. Now at nearly 8 months later I cannot tell you how much improved my hair is. It’s thicker than it has been for years. I cannot rate it highly enough. I use Puretrex as it’s manufactured in the UK.

I started taking collagen in my coffee each day, and my hair loss has significantly reduced, my hair is starting to look thicker again, even my hair dresser commented my hair condition was improved.

Thank you I have just ordered this product, finger crossed!!

This is good to hear- I started collagen about a week ago so here’s hoping

I also started taking collagen for the same reason, I was losing so much during brushing and washing. I've been on it for 6:months and my hair is significantly better. My hairdresser also recommended massaging rosemary oil into my scalp, but I haven't tried it yet as I wanted to see if the collagen worked before adding anything else. My hair does look a bit odd now mind, as I've got loads of new growth so I've got tufts appearing.

Make sure you take your collagen with vit c to help absorption. X

If you're losing from the front, check out Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia. If you think it might be that, supplements won't work - try to see a dermatologist for a proper diagnosis and medication.

Hi Don’t want to worry you but I had the extact same things happen to me and unfortunately in my case it is frontal fibrosing alpecia,
Go see the doctor and if it is at least you might catch it early and get some help .
A classic sign is hair receding from the front back.

Cross post! 😄 But yes, don't hang around... I spent too long trying to convince myself it was 'normal'... to be fair, so did my GP... 😠

Just buy Minoxidil from Amazon; it’s the only thing medically proven to work. Everything else is Snake Oil.

I wear wigs it’s a great solution

I really recommend Hair and Me. My hair is now unrecognisable from last year when I was losing clumps every day and was so down about it. I have lots of new hair growing through and my lashes and brows are also thicker. I also take collagen in my coffee and use Plantur 39 shampoo to help!

have been in a similar boat for around 3 years now, it’s very depressing. I seem to have slowed the shedding but jury’s out as to how much/little each work
-pumpkin seed oil. It’s cheap and has no side effects so def worth a shot.
-collagen supplements (this is least likely to have made a difference)
-kerastase genesis serum and shampoo (expensive but makes your hair feel good so def not a waste)

however I would go for blood tests to rule out thyroid and iron issues. My hair has substantially thinned especially round the front but no bald spots (yet).

minoxidil is the only thing properly proven to work but you have to take it forever. Long term I think wigs or toppers are the solution, sadly.

Respectfully while its true that minoxidil is the only thing proven to work there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that pumpkin seed oil and aminexil (similar to minoxidil and in Kerastase genesis products) do work, at least for some people so not necessarily snake oil.

however I will say that there are a LOT of products out there that claim to help hair loss and the vast majority just don’t

it’s a very complex thing and very difficult to reverse completely.

It's worth speaking to your GP about this. In the meantime, a scalp serum with redensyl or peptides can help support, while you get some answers.

Pumpkin seed oil has really worked for me! It takes a good few months, I’m 6 months in and my hair is so much denser. I’m so much happier.

Is it ok to take pumpkin seeds oil if you're on HRT? I've read some things about it interferring with hormone balance.
I was poised to buy some but then got scared!!

You need to know the cause - iron deficiency, thyroid, hormones or something else. I had all three of these issues and was in a bad way.

Get your iron levels checked and make sure they are above 70. The NHS tend to stop iron prescriptions once you are within their 'normal' range, which is much lower than this. Normal iron supplements won't do enough to raise levels- prescription strength is needed.

If it's hormonal pumpkin seed oil is great.

I would see your GP first of all. Why is your ferritin always low? The cause needs to be tackled instead of supplementing with iron. Would be good to get all of your bloods checked including thyroid bloods.
Online dermatologists like Hair and Me are great. They can review and prescribe minoxidil oral or topical and similar. Personally I wouldn’t waste money on anything else and stick to the evidence based prescription meds (or buy generic topical minoxidil).