the emotional toll of shedding

[airmid]

Hey, folks. I'm at a point now where I just need some hugs, support, advice, anything. Maybe others sharing their stories. Some reassurance that this does get better. This may be a bit of a long post. :/

For the past two months, I've been having a huge shed. My doctor thinks it's due to coming off birth control plus other heavy medications, combined with stress/trauma. He never seemed overly concerned... but I sure am. I am heartbroken about it. There's just so much less of it, it feels completely different. I'm tired of picking hair out of my food, my dishwater, hair clogging my bathtub drain... my friend even found one of my hairs in her mouth the other day, I was so embarrassed!

I'm even starting to have crying spells, getting really down over it. Feeling so desperate part of me wonders if I'm going to have to chop off my hair. I won't, not unless it becomes really bad, but it's a terrifying thought.

I'm buying some biotin today, am already taking multivitamins, eating really healthy, doing scalp massages with rosemary oil... I'm hoping it will all start working soon. Is there anything else I could be doing?

I could use a bit of support from my fellow longhairs, the other people in my life don't seem to understand at all. They say I'm imagining it, except for my DBF who saw all the hair I lost one day after I brushed my hair, and said, "Maybe long hair just isn't a good option for you at this point in your life." That didn't help either!

[amantha]

Hi airmid! I think I'm coming out of an 8 month long shed (although now I'm starting to find shed hairs that are short which is worrying me ) which was due to severe iron deficiency. I just wanted to tell you that it DOES get better. I probably lost about 1/3 of my thickness, but it still ok. Just a tad thin at times. Has your doctor checked your iron and thyroid levels to rule that out? If not, I would demand that they do. I do remember years back when I wanted to get off of BC my hair shed more in general, but I wouldnt have called it "shed" because it never affected my thickness. But I do know that shedding is pretty common when one gets off of BC. I started taking MSM in November and I would say by Xmas time my hair was already significantly shedding less. Biotin made me get awful cystic acne. Maybe you might wanna try MSM too?

Dont be too sad. It will get better, I promise.

[misspixie]

Hi airmid! I think I'm coming out of an 8 month long shed (although now I'm starting to find shed hairs that are short which is worrying me ) which was due to severe iron deficiency. I just wanted to tell you that it DOES get better. I probably lost about 1/3 of my thickness, but it still ok. Just a tad thin at times. Has your doctor checked your iron and thyroid levels to rule that out? If not, I would demand that they do. I do remember years back when I wanted to get off of BC my hair shed more in general, but I wouldnt have called it "shed" because it never affected my thickness. But I do know that shedding is pretty common when one gets off of BC. I started taking MSM in November and I would say by Xmas time my hair was already significantly shedding less. Biotin made me get awful cystic acne. Maybe you might wanna try MSM too?

Dont be too sad. It will get better, I promise.

Did you drink a lot of water whenever you took biotin? I've read stories about people taking biotin and not drinking a decent amount of water and getting cystic acne because of it.

[yummie]

I experienced my first big shed last year due to stress, anxiety, and a lot of trauma. I was pulling out fistful of hairs and thought I was going to go bald.. I understand exactly how you feel. Luckily I removed myself from the negative environment and had to learn to breathe and relax.. It's funny how your body responds to stress and foreign substances so now that you know what is causing it, you have the power to control it. So try to relax and have positive thoughts, treat your body well with a healthy diet and exercise. Don't Shampoo everyday. That's what I did and slowly my hair is growing back. I have a halo of new baby hairs now and in time you will too. Best of luck =]

[amantha]

Did you drink a lot of water whenever you took biotin? I've read stories about people taking biotin and not drinking a decent amount of water and getting cystic acne because of it.

Yeah I did. I always make sure to drink lots of water throughout the day because my neurologist advised to keep an eye on my hydration since I have chronic migraines. If I get even the slightest bit dehydrated I get a migraine. I only took a 600mcg Biotin supplement, plus another 300mcg which is in my multivitamin (so 900mcg total) and within 2 weeks I was getting a new cystic zit with every day that passed. After a week of that I gave up on the Biotin but continued the MSM. Within 10 days it all cleared up. I think I'm either hyper-sensitive to Biotin for some reason, or I get more than enough of it from my diet since I eat a lot of Biotin-rich foods (cheese, nuts, etc.). Maybe the supplements coupled with my diet were too much? I have no clue. I still take my multivitamin that has the 300mcg of Biotin in it and my face is doing fine.

I wasn't advocating that the OP not try Biotin....most people see wonderful results from it. I was just suggesting that she might want to try MSM along with it to help the shedding.

[Mesmerise]

Ahh shedding is something I know all too well. I've had two major sheds over the past two years... each lasted about three months. It seemed I was nicely recovering from the first when the second happened.

Fortunately, that shedding seems to have stopped (knock on wood). But yeah, I know how it feels when you lose your hair and it doesn't seem to be stopping AND you're trying to grow it long, but growing it long seems sort of useless when it's getting so thin... I really think my hair started looking worse after it grew back, because that only emphasised how thin the ends were!! I now know that my hair isn't going to look good again for YEARS... because I've really got to regrow the lot.

However, it has led me to eating better, trying to lead a less stressful life (HAH!) as well as taking supplements, and caring for the hair I've got better.

[Kiwiwi]

Oh, sweetheart. *GiganticHug*
I understand it must be very heartbreaking to have to go through this.

You say it's likely because of a combination of getting off of meds and stress. Therefor I believe it will get better again. Once your body gets used to being without the meds and once you have less stress your hair could very well get it's thickness back.

Do make sure you go to your doctor to check all the things that can cause hairloss (thyroid, iron, etc) and make sure you get all the vitamins you need. Don't overdose on vitamins, just a normal pill a day is fine. Also make sure you eat healthy and drink plenty of water.

Excersizing will help too. It'll make your body healthier which is good for hair growth but it's also good against stress. It will give you energy. And that's good for your hairtoo.

One more *Bear Hug*!!

[The Beldam]

I sympathize with how you're feeling, I've gone through it myself. I really can't add much here that hasn't already been said, except maybe to ask if you've tried meditation? There are so many benefits, it might be worth a shot.

[Mai Gloeckchen]

Hey airmid!
I really understand how you are feeling. This summer I lost the half of my thickness due to iron deficiency. It was real horrer and I cried a lot. The worst thing was to know, that even at the point when I knew it was because of the iron and I got injections, that it would last twelve long weeks until the shed could be really over. Because of the growing phases (is that correct? I meen the different states hair goes through when it is growing: growing, pausing and falling out). Pausing is about twelve weeks long.

People around me just said: "Ah, it is only hair, it will regrow! Never mind."

But for me it was as if a bodypart of my shriveled. Just becuase there are no nerves and no blood, it does not meen that your hair is not part of you. Maybe hairloss does not hurt in the true sense of the words, but it does hurt, I know.

Now, the shed is over for five month and it is regrowing. I have a fringe now. An all-over-the-head-fringe. I am still sad, that so much is gone and I am still afraid that this could happen again.
But I can also be happy about my babyhair.

See the doctor, check your blood. Cry, when you feel like crying. And do something to distract you. And then, there will come the point, when it will get better. And it will get better faster then you now think. When you feel not at ease, your hair usually shows that. When you feel better, it will look better, livelier.

For a long time I counted my hairloss. At the start it was shocking. About 400 hairs a day. But then, the number got smaller. 300. Still too much, but 25% better. 200. Still too much, but 50% better. The first time under 100 and I was really happy. It relieved me to the the number diminishing. Now I am back at 20-40 a day.

Best wishes!
Mai

[AnnaJamila]

Poor thing. I'm sorry you're going through this- I'd say that at least you're healthy but coming from someone who understands that it's not *just* hair I know it makes the whole situation worse.

Nothing is forever, darlin. Insha'allah, sooner or later it'll quit and keeping growing in full and pretty.