Hair loss - Help!

[Madridmum]

I’m 56, been on HRT for 3 years, always had thin hair but recently noticing more & more coming out in the shower when I wash it.
I am really worried - at this rate I’ll have no hair left in a year! Have been through quite a lot of stress in recent months (elderly mother ill, I’ve had an Op, cat passed away) & wondered if this has impacted it. Looking at taking a supplement but there are so many conflicting views out there about Biotin, Collagen etc… & if they actually work, also is it worth spending money on shampoo’s or serum that you apply directly to the scalp.
Can anyone give me a success story of something that has worked please? I know it won’t be overnight & will take a few months, but willing to try anything.
Thanks for reading.

It sounds like it may be stress related. In which case there’s very little you can do other than eat well (plenty of veggies etc) and look after what hair you have left while you wait for it to grow back. When you lose hair from stress, the damage is done and by the time it starts falling out, it’s too late to prevent it. (I’ve lost a lot of hair in the past when I’ve gone through periods of intense stress but it DID grow back).

If it’s more hormonal / ageing related, you can take minoxidil tablets (I get mine prescribed by Hair & Me - I probably have a code somewhere if you want me to refer you). I’m 55 and I’ve found that taking minoxidil definitely helps but it does take a few months to see results. I prefer the tablets to putting stuff on my scalp as I tend to forget / not be bothered. Much easier to pop a pill (for me at least).

It’s also worth taking a good multivitamin (regardless of hair loss). I take Life Extension (recommended by a nutritionist friend).

Get your ferritin levels checked out. You may have lower than optimal iron storage. Your ferritin needs to be 70 or higher for hair growth. I take Ferrograd-C (recommended by nutritionist friend again) every few days and noticed a big improvement in the growth speed and thickness of my hair. Even my hairdresser was impressed. Turns out that I’ve probably have low ferritin all my life and only just found out in my 50s. 🤦‍♀️

A good shampoo & conditioner for fragile hair is Kerastase Genesis. It’s not the cheapest but it’s effective and you will see an improvement. It was recommended to me by my hairdresser who’s a former British Hairdresser of the Year and in 20+ years of seeing him, it’s the only time he’s ever recommended a product (so he’s not doing it to make money!).

Biotin did nothing for me (except give me spots!) and neither did collagen. But it very much depends on if you’re deficient in something and/or the reason for your hair loss.

Hope this helps. I’ve been there. Happy if you want to PM me. Good luck! x

Thank you for all the useful information
@HundredMilesAnHour. I was considering Minoxidil & the Kerastase shampoo, so good to hear they are working for you. I don’t know how easy it will be for me to get my ferritin levels checked with the GP (just getting an appointment is hard enough) but its worth considering. Is it just the general Multivitamin you take from Life Extension, or the one specifically for hair?
Many Thanks

@Madridmum You can get ferritin home testing kits if that helps while you’re trying to see your GP. I’m not sure how accurate they are though. I got my blood tests done privately (as part of a bigger medical).

https://www.boots.com/myhealthchecked-iron-deficiency-lateral-flow-test-10322821

Kerastase Genesis also do a serum that I found to be pretty good. It definitely helped my hair. I used that at first before I moved on to minoxidil. The cheapest place I found to buy it is Lookfantastic, preferably when they have a deal on for Kerastase.

I use the general multivitamin (called 2 a Day) from Life Extension. If that’s out of stock, I buy a multi from Thorne. It’s better to get good quality multivitamins so you feel the benefit rather than cheaper ones which are full of bulking agents where the only effect will be on your bank account.

@Madridmum this is the multivitamin:

https://uk.iherb.com/pr/life-extension-two-per-day-multivitamin-120-capsules/86453

@HundredMilesAnHourI've just ordered some Kerastase so thanks from me too. Actually signed up to Hair & Me yesterday as well. My hair loss is down to weight loss and hormones I believe. Im already on iron tablets for my Ferritin levels..

I shed a lot of hair earlier this year which really worried me. I lost a lot of weight quickly which is what my doctor think is the cause. I've been taking biotin and collagen and have lots of regrowth.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09LVN8B87
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B4BBND37

I’m not looking to spam the thread but if anyone wants to try minoxidil, you can get it heavily discounted from Hair & Me for 3 months by using my referral link:

https://www.hairandme.com/?promocode=JUSTINEBNXE

This gets the cost down to £12.99/month for your first 3 months rather than the regular price of £34.99.