the emotional toll of shedding

[Euphoria.Dame]

I've heard of quite a few people seeing an increase in shedding after massaging with oil. Try doing it without oil, leave oils off of your scalp. Also, stress causes hairfall, so drink some tea and be happy.

[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 =]

[Alaia]

I just finished a major shed too. I lost what basically equates to half my hair (and no my thickness rating to the left isn't accurate any more... I'm too depressed to change it).

I've come to believe that it was a hormonal shed. I had another at 19 which my hair had just recovered thickness from when the shed started (in June last year, and lasted until about November/December).

I took iron pills for a bit because I thought it might be that (and it couldn't hurt because my diet isn't the best) but the shedding stopped far too soon afterwards for it to have been that.

A number of LHC members have experienced a shed in the early-mid 20s. The George Michael guy I went to see back in June (before shed) warned me that I would have a shed because it happens around ages 18-20 and 23-26ish. So perhaps it has been that way for you...

Either way, hang in there, it WILL grow back, and there's no need to cut your hair. Long hair of any thickness can look beautiful (I've actually had MORE compliments since I lost the hair, funnily enough).

[Vercelli]

Sorry to hear about your hairloss. I can imagine how you feel. I lost half of my hair in the last year or so due to stress and depression. I totally agree it's really a pain to see all that hair go, and it just adds up to being unwell in a negative way.

Please don't give up! Try to see a doctor and reducing stress (I know that's easier said than done). Also, yeah sure why not try Biotin or other hair vitamins. I have been using MSM, biotin, iron and fish oil for half a year now and it seems to help a little. So I guess I just have to patient and don't get stressed out too much...

Wishing you all the best!!!

[hototogisu]

Oh, it makes me so angry to hear stories of doctors not taking womens' hair loss seriously!! The same thing happened to me and I'm still working through it. I was on Implanon for 10 years straight without a break, and after a lot of research concluded that the Implanon was a likely cause of my hair loss. I've been off it for around 8 months now, and I think my part is starting to look less 'scalpy', though I am going through a major shed after some life stress.

You know what really helped? Coming out of the hair loss closet on boards like this and learning just how common it is. I also recommend browsing through the Women's Hair Loss Project for more information. I've also found my vitamin regime helps. I take a prenatal once a day, and saw palmetto and biotin twice a day (I'll look up the concentrations for you if you like). The saw palmetto, in particular, has helped enormously with my hormonal hair loss.

I also focused on caring for my scalp, not my hair. My scalp likes to be shampooed, a lot, so I quit co-washing and started CWCing every second day. I've had great results with the Nioxin system, but I think it could be a placebo. The Nioxin scalp treatment is fabulous, though. It contains sunscreen, and I think giving my scalp (which did get super fried in the sun) a break from all the sun damage has made a big difference.

You're not alone!

[MonaMayfair]

Big Hugs!! I've gone through four separate bouts of shedding, the last one was from July 2011 to December 2011.
Mine is apparently due to fluctuating thyroid levels.

But (this might cheer you up slightly!) although I've lost so much hair in this heavy shedding/not enough regrowth cycle, it still looks totally normal, just not THICK. I still get compliments on my hair and no-one has suspected/noticed I've had any loss.

I do get a bit upset when I see girls with thicker hair (when my hair's in two braids, each one is probably half as thick as it used to be) but I try not to focus on that. I use henna and cassia to color my hair, and they definitely help to make it stronger and thicker too.

I don't think it's a good idea to cut your hair either. It's true that a shed short hair isn't as scary looking as a long shed hair, but short thin hair is just as bad as long thin hair - in fact I think long hair is better able to disguise hair thinning, especially in an updo.

Anyway, I totally understand what you're going through. While the shedding's going on, and you dread having to comb/brush/wash it, it's the most depressing demoralizing feeling imaginable...

[hototogisu]

I just remembered something - I tried using minoxidil (Rogaine) to deal with my hair loss, and on the bottle it said it takes up to four months to see a difference in hair loss due to hair growth cycles. So the hair loss you're experiencing now is likely a result of stresses/medications etc from four months ago, while you'll see the results of your efforts four months from now. I find this comforting for some reason.

And I really urge you to try shampooing more frequently, if your scalp likes shampoo. A lot of us who experience shedding had some relief after shampooing a bit more often.

[airmid]

Wow, thanks everyone. Sorry it took me so long to get back but I had a monumentally bad day yesterday... coming off the last of these meds is making me feel pretty awful. This too shall pass!

I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this. Reading everyone's responses means more to me than you could imagine. I never expected to have this happen to me, it's traumatizing. I'm thinking on going back to a doctor, my other doctor who is female and might "get it" more than my other doctor did, just to have a blood test and an examination done... I have endometriosis, and I'm worried I might also have undiagnosed PCOS or something. Though I'll be happy if it's just hormones/coming off the meds, because my body will adjust if I take care of it.

I never did get biotin after, they didn't have it at the grocery store. My multivitamin and my b50 complex have some biotin in them, maybe that will be enough.

Good news is the last few times I combed my hair I didn't lose much! I was amazed! My DBF even watched me do it at one point and commented on how I didn't lose any hair! I don't know why it happened but I could pray for more of the same.

As for oiling the scalp making hair fall out, I've really noticed that! I want to have the rosemary oil on my scalp for its benefits though, is there any way to get that stuff on my scalp without putting it in a carrier oil? Like putting it in shampoo or conditioner, or aloe gel, or something?

And everyone... Thank you so much. I really needed to read all this...

[Annalouise]

Yes, you can make a tea with rosemary, a strong tea, and then use that instead of water to dilute your shampoo/soap. My book that deals with hairloss recommends this. The problem for me was the hassle of boiling the tea daily, but if you don't mind it then go for it. Also, the book recommends a weak dilution of a castile soap with the herbal tea to wash the scalp daily, but the problem is that soap is usually not so great for the hair (lye soap) that is. I couldn't get good results with it. You could try adding the tea to your shampoo. But the thing is shampoos have so many ingredients in them I don't know how they will interact. Perhaps, if you want to try that method, then order a good shampoo bar that has only a few ingredients. Then when you make your rosemary tea, grate some shavings from the shampoo bar into the tea. Wait for them to melt. Stir. And then cool. If you transfer this to a container you can use it for your shampoo but it must be stored in the fridge.
The book is called Grow Hair Fast by Riquette Hofstein if you want to look on Amazon. She has tons of recipes for shampoo and conditioner.