Hey OP
okay so I have suffered from thinning hair for years - I have naturally fine hair any way but in my 20’s I started loosing loads in the showe and when brushing and what I did have was brittle and frizzy. I thought it was just how I was
However, I have always struggled to get my iron above 30 and never understood how to take it properly and my diet was poor . I under ate a lot when I was younger.
Any way at 35 I decided to really start looking into improving it. What I did, I take Swedish deluxe collagen daily- this massively changed texture and stopped breakage. I upped my protein I now eat 110 -130g a day - this is really important your body needs protein but it will never give it to your hair if you arn’t eating eating enough of it will go every where else first so you need to eat lots- I go to the gym also so you may need less if you don’t, chat gpt is helpful to work out your daily needs for hair growth and strength. I also eat avocados, eggs and pumpkins seeds daily. Pumpkin seeds have zinc in which is really important for hair growth.
Next important thing is timing your supplements exactly, for example since taking iron correctly I am finally building my iron stores and the shedding has stopped. Tea and a lot of food block iron absorption so take it at night just before bed with vitamin c ideally 2-3 hours after your last meal.
My Supplement routine -
when I wake up I take the collagen
1.5 hours later with breakfast
I take omega 3 (really important) , pre and probiotics (so I don’t get gut issues from high iron I take ferrous sulphate and don’t have any side effects which is unusual I hear). B12, Vit D (important) and folic acid.
Then before bed ferrous sulphate and vit c.
Honestly OP i have seen some much less shedding and lots of hair growth my bald fine patches are filling in and I actually feel comfortable wearing my hair down for the first time in years. It is also getting longer and growing quicker. I have been tweaking this for about a year but I feel all of the above combined has made a huge difference.
The doctors will say normal ferritin levels are 30 but this is not normal and do not let them tell you other wise. To grow hair you need ferritin levels of at least 70 and so many women are just so chronically low and think it’s normal it’s not. Also doctors don’t tell you that you should space supplements out especially iron or just won’t absorb it. They just chucked iron at you and that’s it. I was also low in B12 and was on a high dose for a while - but the doctors never explained you shouldn’t take iron and b12 together.
Anyway hope some of this helps. Also another great side effect of all this is I no longer have dark circles under my eyes- which I thought was just me, I look better at 36 than I do in my 20s!
I know it sounds a lot but it’s really working and it just second nature to me now. I’m really enjoying healthy eating and understanding my body and what it needs.