My Hair Loss Story – How Did I Get Here?

by Y on August 30, 2007

So how did I get here? I find myself asking myself that very same question on a daily basis. The year 1999 was the year that forever changed my life. My hair loss began after having stopped taking the birth control pill Loestrin FE. Later I found out that it is or at least was, an extremely high androgen index pill. Who knew? Certainly not me and certainly not my gynecologist who prescribed it to me.

So the following months after I stopped the pill my hair began to shed and shed like crazy. It was all over the place and coming out what seemed to be by the handfuls. I tried to find answers online, but I found nothing. I went to so-called “hair experts” also known as dermatologists who aren’t any wiser than the other dermatologists, but just know how to capitalize on the vulnerability of women. They were of no help either. Blood work… within normal levels. I felt frustrated that I couldn’t point to it on a paper and say “ah ha that’s it, my estrogen is low” or “there it is, I need more iron.” There simply was no explanation. I should point out that I also saw very expensive “hair experts” who told me I wasn’t losing my hair. What? Like they would know better than me, I’ve only live in this body… umm forever. Of course if I revisited those same doctors today they wouldn’t be telling me that now. This certainly isn’t one of those instances where you want to be right and say “I told you so.”

I resolved myself to the fact that it must be androgenetic alopecia (female pattern baldness) and as such treated it accordingly. I tried everything including Propecia, yep that’s right the pill thats only prescribed for men’s hair loss, I took. I also took it along with Minoxidil (Rogaine For Women) but neither one of those did anything for me other than leave me a greasy mess. Rogaine does work for some women, I just wasn’t one of the lucky ones. I was then told by a very respected dermatologist who treated women with hair loss, that women who have hair loss caused by stopping the pill sometimes do well by starting another low androgen index birth control pill such as Orthtricyclen. So I did that, going against what I swore I’d never take again, I restarted the pill, that in conjunction with aldactone, which is basically a blood pressure pill with anti-androgen properties. I had to try something. So we can fast forward to today. I will say that for most of that time leading up to the beginning of 2006 those treatments seemed to be helping. I continually lost hair but it always seemed like there was enough to get by. In 2006 I noticed a dramatic increase in shedding and it took off like crazy in 2007. The shedding I experience today on a continual basis is of the same magnitude as when I first stopped the pill, the difference is, back then I had a ton of hair, so there was some to spare. Today I don’t and it gets less and less by the day.

It’s interesting what you get used to, what you can learn to accept and adapt to with time. I no longer have dreams of having the hair I once had before this started. I just want it to stop falling out and to perhaps reclaim a little of what has been lost this last year. That would still leave me with thin hair but it would be enough to get by.

I feel stuck and trapped. I am stuck on taking Orthotricyclen, basically forever, because I can not chance stopping for fear of having an increase in the mass shedding I already am already experiencing. I am stuck taking 200mg of a blood pressure pill (aldactone), that can’t be healthy. But, I made those choices at the time to be proactive to give myself a chance to be able to live and enjoy life. Many times I’ve wondered the damage I may be doing to my body in the long term for taking these medications. And I wonder extra nowadays, because it seems that whatever benefits they served are no longer present. It is as if all at once the medications stopped working, only I’m stuck continuing to take them. It is a horrible feeling.

So that is where I’m at today. I am stronger than I ever thought I could be dealing with this. I seem to get by just enough, but my thoughts are always with what is happening. I think about it 98% of the day. It consumes me, depresses me and has caused me to cry so much over the years that I’m almost positive if I had collected all the tears it would be enough to fill a giant size pool.

I continue to believe that things will change, I find hope when it seems hope has abandoned me, and I pray things will get better.

{ 234 comments… read them below or add one }

julie September 13, 2007 at 7:57 am

I was on Ortho at first, then my gyne prescribed Zoloft for depression and ambien so that I could sleep! Now that’s a cocktail…and not the fun kind! I’m now on Spironolactone and its a weird drug in the way it makes me feel emotionally and physically…(of course, i’m always the “one in a million women” that encounters that side effect)
What’s hardest is accepting the fact that its happening. We always have this “why me?” attitude about things, we feel perfect…we’re not mean people, we do good for others and work hard toward our own betterment and yet…we lose hair. The fact is there is no direct correlation…sometimes the best things happen to the worst people, and vice versa. Now I look back and say, wow, that was a tough challenge to face up to! I look at it as a sense of accomplishment…it didn’t kill me, touch wood! We’re always being challenged in life, one way or the next…think about the challenges you’ve faced up to now. Think about projects or work, life’s little kick’s in the behind…how do you tackle those issues now that you’ve faced the hair loss challenge? Were you passive or aggressive? You might be suprised with your answer!

Habits I picked up…

I had this habit of picking up the strands that shed and place them back on my head. Silly…I knew it wouldn’t take root but at least it wasn’t on the floor. I had a habit of collecting the strands and putting them into a bag. My mom saved my hair from my first hair cut and I wish I could do something with it…it would be a nice art project. I must have stared at the mirror and tried comb over styles a milion times. I inspect my scalp daily, hunting for new hair…hoping it would sprout from one of the dormant follicles. I’ve stood in front of the mirror with a razor in hand, thinking about why I should or shouldn’t just shave it off!

I know everything about situations consuming your thoughts elevating your depression and crying giant pool size amounts of tears…Why do you allow it to consume you? For me, I thought about mind over matter and decided to tell myself that “it’s under control”…i wear a wig, I get dressed…I may not always feel 100% put together but at least i’m not suffering from dry, frizzed out, colored or permed hair…Speaking of noticing things…there are so many full-header’s that don’t even properly manage their own hair. One woman sat next to me while getting a manicure and said, “you just look so perfect! Your hair is gorgeous, you look great!” I just blushed and thanked her but deep down I said, “if she only knew!”

Some days, I forget I wear a wig unless I get a reminder…the elements, or people’s stares as if they’re trying to figure me out!

Steer clear from negative thoughts and do something for yourself everyday…force those smiles when you look into the mirror…who knows, you might wake up convinced. I’m so so happy to have found this website. i’ve been searching for support groups like this for 10 years. I’m so glad I’m here…

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admin September 16, 2007 at 8:12 pm

You know how many times I thought to myself… I just wanted to shave my head so bad, I want this to all be over with already, after all that is the direction I’m heading in. I saw the video of the girl who made hair loss video montage of her hair loss story, and I think why can’t I be as strong as her.

Talking about habits… lets see I used the hair catcher in the shower drain for years so I could count ever hair lost in it’s entirety. I recently gave up this little addiction because I have grown tired of spending so much time counting, the number is always too much to count and it just makes me focus on it more. I do still find myself counting the hairs lost when I comb my hair, but the ones in the shower just go down the drain and never get counted. Lets see, I’ve showered in the dark to avoid seeing the massive shedding of hair and watching the hairs getting stuck all over my wet body, I’ve also combed my hair in the dark (a popular favorite of mine)

Julie, are you still taking Spironolactone? How long did you take it for or have been taking it for? I still take 200mg of aldactone in conjunction with the orthotricyclen.

Why do I allow my hair loss to consume me? I suppose because it is so out of control, I’m afraid. Afraid that it is only a matter time before I having nothing left. It falls out faster than I can vacuum it. And if that happens then what? Then I have to face my reality, my destiny. I pray for strength. Strength to deal with the hand I’ve been dealt, I pray for realization that life is more than the hair on our heads, more than a number on a scale, more than a scar or facial blemish. Rather, who we are is inside. What we put out into the world. I pray for this self realization because no matter how hard I try on my own, society dictates otherwise. The media aggressively attacked Britney Spears recent VMA performance. For what? A few extra pounds, what does that say to the youth of America?

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julie September 17, 2007 at 9:41 am

You know, you are stronger than you think you are. Really. Its the little steps you take that may help you realize, “It’s going, going, gone.” Tomorrow is another day, you make the choice of whether or not you want to be happy tomorrow. DO NOT ALLOW The time you spend obsessing, is time and energy that can go toward other things that make you happy. trust me…i was there so often and still find myself there. I constantly fight back the tears and the urges to obsess. Somedays, I notice myself getting prepared in the morning without my wig on…I’ll stand there in front of the mirror and see pattern baldness get wider and worse. My hair is so baby fine, if you grabbed hold of a strand it would featherly fall in your hands, without pulling!

Read this little anecdote: One day a massive flood covered the grounds of a small town. Several people were trying to escape the flood on cars, canoes and boats…they came across a woman and tried to save her…she told them to move on, as her faith and prayers were going to save her…as the waters and storms grew stronger, a helicopter came to her rescue, again she refused and continued to pray for God’s help. The flood consumed her home, and there she was on the roof with nowhere to go….but heaven. As she reached the pearly gates, there God stood before her. She bellowed, “The flood took our land, our homes…i prayed for you to save me…what happened?” God replied, “Lady, cars drove passed you and you refused, the people on the boat tried to rescue you…the helicopter was there to take you up and still you refused, you tell me what happened!”

So you see, maybe all this strength and prayer is giving you answers. Everyone on this message board is living proof! You just have to open your eyes and heart to receive the answer. Its easy to pray for it, but what steps are you taking to truly receive the answer?

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julie September 17, 2007 at 9:59 am

By the way, I am taking Spironolactone, just started about month ago. It costs a lot but I have no medical insurance anymore…I hated it because it was the drugs that caused my hair loss, and those stupid companies refuse to help me get a wig!? I CRIED FOR DAYS AND FOUGHT WITH THEM TO NO AVAIL. I want to start a revolution. If I could round up all the FPB, AT, AU women, I would march to those insurance companies and DEMAND they make changes. There has got to be something we can do to fight these people.

You know, I get so angry about television, I don’t own one anymore. I’m not going to allow others to dictate my appearance. To hell with it all! You get to a point where you get so angry, that it ironically brings peace to yourself.

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Mona September 17, 2007 at 10:04 am

julie, Where you fighting with the insurance company or the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the drugs that caused your hair loss? Are you seeing any results from the spironolactone?

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julie September 17, 2007 at 12:51 pm

I was fighting the insurance company along with the doctor that prescribed me the medications – I took: Ortho tri-cyclen; broke out with acne and still dealing with those scars; ZOLOFT from being so depressed that I gained weight, had acne and started losing hair because of the Ortho; and then AMBIEN, I was so depressed, fat and full of acne that I couldn’t sleep from all the pain. I even tried accupuncture for hair loss and it didn’t work!

Last time I went to the doctor, just for a routine physical, a pharmaceutical rep was chasing my doctor when I had an appointment with her. I was so upset that my doctor actually talked to these people, they were cutting in my time! Ever since, I always hated drug companies and their practices. They act like they are doing good for the world, when in fact I think people are so controlled by the notion that they NEED medication to survive. I have the old-fashioned mentality that if you eat right, exercise, take care of yourself and take vitamins, you should be fine. There’s no need for medication cocktails. As for the drug companies, I wanted to work for one just to see what their practices were all about. I lost the job to nepotism, one of the doctor’s daughter got the job instead of me.

Needless to say, I never went back…if I go to the doctor now, I lay it out and tell them i’m not interested in what they have to say, I just need their script!

I know what I eat and I exercise, if I need to see a doctor, then I will see a homeopath. I trust in natural medicine, it’s been around a lot longer than these man-made drugs.

As for results, I haven’t noticed anything other than a lot of nausea, dizziness and irregular periods.

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admin September 18, 2007 at 7:13 pm

Hi Julie –

What an awful whirlwind of events you had to go through, I’m so sorry to hear that. I hear stories like that and I just get sick to my stomach. Doctor incompetence. That’s what it is. We all are raised to believe that the doctor knows what’s best for our body, take this, take that.. After all he went to medical school. Nothing could be further from the truth. Doctor’s are people to, and as such, they are not exempt from making horrible horrible mistakes at the cost of their patients lives.

I also tried Acupuncture for hair loss, it didn’t work for the hair loss but I do think it provides in enhanced sense of well being so that you mind and body are more clear, more balanced.

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robbie December 2, 2007 at 9:20 pm

It’s amazing how consuming this “hair loss thing” can be. I was 44 and my thick, beautiful hair began falling out. I had a pony tail like a horse’s mane which is now three years later the thickness of a Sharpie marker. I’m still not even in pre-menopause so the hair loss is not related to menopause. My hair loss began less than a year after my 15 year old daughter (who had thick curly hair) began losing her hair. Female pattern baldness runs absolutely no where in my family. My mother at 73 still has thick hair. My dad was bald. My mother’s dominant gene for hair should have “overridden” my father’s balding gene, but something freaky happened. My daughter and I are the only two women in a huge family of probably over 70 that have this problem. My daughter at 19 has lost at least 80% of her hair and will need some type of hair piece very soon. I have lost probably 60% of my hair which is very thin on top, extremely receded at the temples and I have lost most of the hair on my crown, above my ears, the back of my head, and now along the nape of my neck. I have tried everything with no success. I was so depressed that I ended up in a psychiatric ward which was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. I met a Dr. who said that if it truly was male pattern baldness that I needed to try medications for MPB. He provided me with several different ideas but would not prescribe the medications because of the potential side effects. On my own, I started taking Avodart (women of child-bearing age shouldn’t even touch the stuff) and after two weeks I noticed that I was losing less hair in the shower and during the day. I’m not sure it this is just coincidental or what, but I am committed to take this stuff for at least six months to see what happens. It can increase the chance for cervical, uterine, or breast cancer, which does not run in my family. I am willing to take the chance at this point because I literally can not live my life as a hairless woman. I will keep you posted on the “hopefully” success with the Avodart.

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Rachael Jean Harper April 2, 2008 at 3:04 pm

Dear Y

I so know how you feel. The medications can be such a trap. You must feel damned if you do and damed if you don’t. We feel so desperate about what to do when our hair falls out. I saw a quote that struck me the other day. It said A man’s hair is his strength and a woman’s hair, her beauty. That means a lot to man or woman, though not so widely accepted by women to lose their hair.

I thought that I would mention that I have never really been on the pill(except for 6 days once, made me feel awful) and have lost 60-70% of my hair. The docter wanted to put me on stuff like rogaine and monixidle, but these kinds of chemicals wreck havoc on your body. I decided that it is healthier for me to go bald and learn how to live with attractive hair coverings and wigs than to fill my body with chemicals in the hopes that my shedding will lessen or that I will grow more hair.

I hear the sadness about taking these meds and feeling trapped, and we are when we feel that they are not doing us any good. Would it not be better to approach this in a way where we are being as good to our bodies as we can be? Like eating a wholesome diet and helping to keep the toxic burden off of our systems so that we can feel as good as we can without having hormones that are wacked out and cardiovascular systems that are manipulated by drugs? It just seems to me that this can’t possible be the answere. I am not happy about hair loss, but appreciate that my body has been so good to me all of these years and I want to honor her by letting her have her own balance so that she can honor me also, with good health. I try to feed my spirit a diet of loving and kind thoughts and live a kind life. I am not saying that you should do as I do because we all have our own way of handling things. I am just trying to point out another point of view when it comes to these strong medications that are not helping. If one feels that they are helping, than that is a different story. Perhaps your body could use a drug vacation so that she can reestablish herself. Personally, I feel that if my hair comes back it will be because I supported my adrenals, nervous system, digestion, etc with wholesome foods and nutrients rather than supporting the drug companys and the doctors. Put the money on good nutrition and nice hair items that make you feel good. I may sound bossy and a know it all, but I truely don’t mean to. I so understand that we will do anything to save our hair. It is just that some therapies are worse than others. I would trust the Earth Mother’s medicines before the modern day chemicals. This, I send to you with love for you are truely so good to all of us and have helped each and everyone of us with your hard work to give us this blog,and i so appreciate your sensitive kindness. Hugs Rachael Jean (RJ)

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kniedz April 20, 2008 at 11:13 pm

Your story is so sad. And so familiar.
I feel I was following a very similar path to you, and to so many other women on this site. Its an amazing thing, how the situation that can bring us into such deep despair can at the same time teach us so much and elevate us in equal and opposite amounts to our depression. I suppose its a perfect illustration of the duality that exists everywhere in life and in nature. I’m glad to say I found a regime that has worked completely for me, but it took over three years of serious searching and thousands of wasted dollars. I suppose in the end nothing’s wasted if it leads you to what you most need and the life experience you most needed to have. The natural program I’m following is giving me massive new growth all over my head and all I can say is I wish and hope this for all others on this site to find what really works for them. In the mean time I suppose my advice is to never give up. I believe surrendering to the situation is not the same as giving up. Hair loss is a distinct sign that something isn’t right in your body. Surrender to what IS is important so you’re not hurting all the time every day, minute by minute, but we owe it to ourselves and those who love us to keep trying to heal the imbalance within us that’s caused the outward symptom of balding. Love and best wishes to all. K.

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Janet May 2, 2008 at 6:41 pm

Julie,

Can you tell me what salon you go to in the Chicago area for the Reprieve Hair System? I’d like to give it a try, but I live in Michigan and I would have to make a special trip to Chicago so I want to make sure I go to a salon that is well experienced. How much does it cost and how often do you have to go back for maintenance or replacement?
Thank you, J.

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Rose June 10, 2008 at 4:48 am

kniedz:

What “natural” program are you following? Please indicate all.

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B June 18, 2008 at 10:49 am

I am 35 years old and this is only the beginning of my story. For about the past month I have been losing handfuls of hair every morning. I’ve been to the doctor and all blood levels are normal and she thought it was just stress. I’m using a shampoo that is suppose to stimulate hair growth and I see a dermatologist next week. I have come to terms with the fact that I may lose all my hair, but I’m sure I have no idea what that will be like. I have a hard time in the morning watching my hair go down the drain, seeing it stuck to my body, and seeing it everywhere. Like some of you, I tried collecting it because no one in the beginning seemed to believe me. To them it appeared as though I had a full head of hair. I’ve noticed it much thinner all over and I have two, almost bald patches on the sides. I look everyday for new hair growth. And the other day I was vacuuming the dog’s hair from the hardwood floors and found that I’m now sheddding more hair than the dog. My husband now believes that I have a problem. I don’t know where I should go from here. What I do know is whatever happens I will accept what GOD brings me and know that he will not bring me more than I can handle and I will not lose faith in him. And maybe he sent some of you here to comfort me and I will do the same for others someday.

I appreciate the support and everyone sharing their personal story.

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Ann June 18, 2008 at 5:31 pm

Hi B:

Here are some blood tests that I have been told by docs to have done. Have your iron levels checked, but not just in general. Make sure they check your serum ferritin level. Many women (so I have read) who experience hair loss at such a quick rate are iron deficient. Apparently, in order for hair to grow your serum ferritin level needs to be above 70. Mine was a 5 when it was checked, so I am taking iron supplements from my doc to see if I can raise it. Also, hair loss often occurs from thyroid problems. Have that checked by levels of T3, TSH, and T4. This should tell you doc whether you may have hypothyroidism. Finally, have a gyno check your hormone levels (like testosterone) etc. This might tell you if you have PCOS or some other imbalance that could cause hair loss. Finally, you said that you initially thought it was stress…has something tragic happened within the past 2-4 months? That could also cause hair loss where you don’t see the loss until months later. Oh, and have you gone on any crash diets lately?

Hope some of this helps. Please let me know! Hang in there!

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Meredith June 22, 2008 at 9:10 am

Thank you all for posting on here. I am feeling very sad about my hairloss. I am 32 years old and about 2 months ago, I noticed my hair starting to fall out. As you all know, it was that awful feeling of seeing so many strands – everywhere.

I went to a doctor and they checked the thyroid and my iron. The only thing that was low was the ferritin at 22. The doctor just said to take a multivitamin and if that doesn’t help – go to a derm.

I checked with an ARNP that I go to and she suggested taking the Slow Fe and B12.

I’m just feeling like I don’t want to wait to see if something changes if I am not even taking any supplements that are going to maybe work. Seems like a waste of valuable time and lots of hair.

Do you guys think that I should see someone else? Should I up the Slow Fe so that I am taking two pills a day? I’m so confused.

Also – did anyone find that cutting your hair shorter helped at all (emotionally at least) or do you find that longer is better?

Thank you!

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Heather June 30, 2008 at 6:10 pm

Hi I just I would tell you all that I had hair loss resulting from taking birth control pills on and off. I did find something that helped me. Nexxus Biotin Shampoo and Nexxus Biotin Creme along with Physicians Hair loss formula for women. It worked for me. Thought this would help some who haven’t given up just yet.

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Cris Weatherby July 5, 2008 at 10:09 am

Has anyone tried Nioxin Shampoo and conditioner? I have a feeling that it might be yet another product that I have purchased that will do nothing but give me false hope. Also, I have losy a lot of skin pigmentation from a condition called Vitiligo that started just after my hysterectomy 12 years ago…….just about the time I started noticing my hair heading for the exit. Yikes this is awful….
Cris

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Erin July 8, 2008 at 7:55 am

I had the same experience but mine was while I was on LoEstrin. The side affect of hair loss was on the bag that came with the script along with others. I started to experience just about all of the side affects of that pill. Before I got on this pill I was on a few others for 6 years, I only took LoEstrin for 2 months at the most. I don’t remember exactly but I know it wasn’t long. I don’t think you should stop looking for help. It doesn’t seem like you have a genetic issue that can’t be reversed. As for taking that medication you are on you have to remember that most doctors are all about the money and they love to prescribe drugs. (Look at the tissue box in you doctors office it will most likely be a drug of some kind) My best suggestion is to find a doctor that cares and knows what they are talking about and talk to people see if they know any doctors that don’t practice out of an office. Those are the doctors that cared enough to get out of the insurance game and help people one on one no matter how long it takes or how many questions you have. Thank you for posting this maybe people will see it before it is too late.

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Rhonda Holt July 11, 2008 at 9:15 pm

If lo-estrin is a high androgen pill, then why has it helped my hairloss and when I go off it will fall out again then when i go back on it stops it and clears my skin and I have no weight gain issues with it either…I have tried others in the past that caused hair loss.. orthotrycyclene, ellesse, that caused problems, but i went back on lo-estrin and it helped with my endometreosis and my hair loss and my skin is great and no probs with weight gain…They say its one of the highest andrenic pills but it has helped me.. i wonder if it is due to our bodies are all so different and what one may cause the other may help…This one has helped me.. I have once lost about 50% of my hair going off and satying off over a year then decided by talkin to my OB that it may help to go back on so we tried it and it did help…Our hair all thins as we age and due to stress and what we eat and not getting the proper nutrients that feed your hair skin and nails..I have studied this for 20 years and if anyone needs help and advice to what things have helped with hair skin or nails you can email me i have tried tons of things and helped others too and would love to help you.. lilladyvixen@yahoo.com Rhonda

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Rose Mardel July 17, 2008 at 8:16 pm

Hello, I too have thinning hair and now have noticed my crown is showing a clearing in quite a noticeable way! After I searched Google so much, I realize that while there may be solutions for many or some of you… I don’t see any for me because I’m 80 yo! But despite this I went to have a free (no obligation)consultation at “Hair Club” in NYC where I live. I understand they have branches in several other cities. They photographed my crown and told me it wouldn’t work with transplants because there are still some hairs in the exposed scalp and the new hairs would compete with the old hairs for space and kill them. I had read about it somewhere else. They have instead “EXT” (Extreme Hair Therapy), a very expensive set of 5 steps for 6 months. They claim you can see results in 3 months. I’m thinking about it, although for the above age reason I doubt it can help me. I might have tried it if I had been at least under 60! :o)

I’m sorry I can’t be of any positive help but I can’t even help myself!!! I just thought of sharing with you the little I found so far. I’m thinking about it for myself and don’t know whether to start or not.

I know trying to find a way to restore the hair or at least stop the hair fall through the RIGHT physicians is expensive and most frustrating, but it’s necessary to do it with them to make sure we won’t make a sad situaition, worse…

I wish you all best of luck! Rose

P.S. Meantime, I’m trying to study the proven medications mentioned by many of you in this forum, and may try them – who knows – there may be a light at the end of the tunnel even for an octogenarian!!! LOL!

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Kitty Herman July 17, 2008 at 9:40 pm

I too have thinning hair and have shed as many tears as hairs. I started loosing my hair when I was 18 when I first stared taking birth control. The Dr. at the time changed my prescription and said it would grow back. Of course, it never did. My hair has slowly thinned over the years and I am now going on 43 years of age. My hair loss has been limited to the top of my head and is becoming very whispy. I have considered weaves (which are very expensive, short term benefits, and cause more harm in the long run); I have tried rogain which made my head itch like crazy; and don’t know what else to do. My doctor has recommended that I stop taking birth control pills and go onto another type of contraceptive (IUD or somethin along those lines), but I am terrified of loosing what I have left. I don’t know if going off the pill will cause me to loose even more hair, or (like the original Dr. said) maybe my hair will return. My Father and my grandmother on my father’s side have experienced hair loss, but my brothers and sisters all have thick manes. I take Zovia 1/35 now. I plan to try to research what others taking Zovia have experienced in stopping usage. I have tried the Nexium shampoo, feels tingly, but that’s about it. Just more money out the window. I don’t know why I am comforted by sharing this, but I am a little. Like many of you, I think of it every minute of the day, spray my head with sunscreen and just try to keep my thoughts positive.

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Rachel July 21, 2008 at 4:42 pm

I have not posted on one of these sites yet, but I read your stories and thought I would give it a try. I am 25 years old. I took Orthotricyclen Lo for about 6 years and decided to stop…Bad idea! That’s when the thinning began. About 3 months later. I didn’t really notice wads of hair coming out. My hair had become thinner over the years, but I still had a good bit. But once I stopped taking the pill, my hair seemed to gradually thin.

I began taking Orthotricyclen in again 3 months ago in hopes to stop the hair loss. At first I thought it was helping but that was just wishful thinking. I also went to a dermatologist who did bloodwork and decided everything was normal except my iron was on the low side of normal. I didn’t get the exact ferritin level, but I am going to call tomorrow to get that info. I have been taking 325 mg of ferrous sulfate for 2 months now. I thought that was helping but in the past 2 weeks I have noticed drastic shedding! I never noticed it like this before. My hair is so thin in the front and top that I have to part my hair way over to the side to try and mask it.

I don’t know what could be causing this sudden shedding. I’m eating right and exercising. I’m taking my iron and a prenatal vitamin in hopes it will stop. I also continue to take the Orthotricyclen. I don’t have a family history of female hair loss. My grandmother still has a head of hair, my mom has thinning hair now, but she has only started thinning due to meopause. My father is bald, but would that effect me?

I’ve been able to cover up the fact that my hair was thinning for a while now. No one would believe me, but now it’s noticeable. I’m so scared that at 26 I won’t have much hair left. I have bought a minoxidil formula and spray that I can try. I didn’t want to do that yet just in case it is tellogen efluvium and not AGA. I also heard it makes your hair fall out more and I hate the high price.

Does anyone have any advice on this? Will it make my hair fall out a lot more before I notice any difference or is it subtle compared to the hair loss I’ve been noticing? Also, why is my hair thinning all over? Would this mean TE or AGA? Should I go ahead and use the minoxidil and just see if it works? I know if it does I will have to use it forever but wouldn’t that be better than losing all my hair? Also, how long does it take for iron supplements to take effect?

I’m so sorry for all the questions, but I thought that since you all seem to have gone through some of this, you might be able to help. Thank you!

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evey July 21, 2008 at 6:19 pm

Wow, just reading your stories I know I am not alone although I can’t stop the tears from falling as I write this. I am 28 (almost 29) and I first started noticing that I was losing quite a bit of hair a little over two years ago. It’s been very hard to accept because I was always known for having beautiful, thick, long hair. In the past two years though, I have lost about 50% of my hair. At first, no one would believe me and thought I was just imagining it, but now, it is hard for them to deny my widening part and the patchy area on my crown. I hate washing my hair and do it every other day because I get so depressed seeing all of the hair I lose. I am so obsessive about it that I am constantly checking my hair in the mirror to see if my scalp is exposed. I know that everything happens for a reason and I too believe that God wouldn’t allow this to happen to me if I couldn’t handle it, but it is still hard. We live in a world where we are constantly judged by our beauty and as vain and shallow as it sounds, I don’t know if I am ready to give that up yet. I don’t know what it is like to be unattractive; I don’t mean to offend anyone, but it is so hard for me to not be able to do anything about it. I know I am also intelligent, kind, a good friend, but it hurts when no one understands what you’re going through. I have researched so much about this topic already, but I have decided not to use minoxidil or any other medications that might help because I have always tried to keep the toxins that I put into my body to a minimum. I anticipate that at this rate, in about a year or two, I will need to buy a wig or shave my head. In fact, I am already giving serious thought to shaving my head. I know beauty is only skin deep, and I think maybe that is what God wants me to learn–that I am much more than my hair and my outward appearance. Thank you, thank you to all those who have shared your story too and I wish everyone the best.

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Rose Mardel July 22, 2008 at 11:55 am

Hi evey and others! Do shave your hair, especially now now that’s in fashion and many beautiful celebrities do it…while keep trying ways in which to stop the shedding and/or grow more hair. One never knows.

Keep finding out the medications or certain things the people in this forum mention and **cautiously*** try them. Some things may work for certain people and not for others.

But at least you’ll be most fashionable and enjoy yourselves a whole lot more! :o) Rosa Mardel

P.S. I’ll register with the new nickname: Rosedala

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Rhonda July 23, 2008 at 7:50 am

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to say to evey that I totally understand how you feel about your hairloss and relationship to God. I too have wondered if my hairloss is a lesson from God. I was always know as the “pretty one” of my three sisters. So much of who I felt I was as a person was tied up in my looks. As a child I was complemented after a band performance or basketball game on my looks and not my ability. Ex-“You were the prettiest one out there.” When I began losing my hair, I had a great fear that I would not be loved anymore. I also had to redifine who I am as a person. I am more than my looks or my hair. Beauty is only skin deep. My husband and family still love me. I knew my parents would, but my husband’s reaction I wasn’t as sure about. He has been excellent. After I lost my hair the first time. I wore a wig for over a year. My husband was constantly telling me I was still beautiful. I thought “Wow, love really is blind!” My hair did come back to a point that I could go without a wig again. I am now going through another major shed as a result of having my second child. It is funny, but it does get easier. Losing my hair has not been as traumatic this time. It still bothers me a lot, and I do still obsess, but not nearly as much as I used to. I ordered a wig which will be done sometime in Sept. hopefully before my sister’s wedding. I hope I have enough hair to make it until then. If not I go for the ball cap look. The only problem is I can’t wear it to church. I hope to continue to learn from this experience. I need to learn to accept what I cannot change, but if there is something out there that would help or solve my problem. I would go for it in a heartbeat. Best wishes to everyone.

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lisa July 30, 2008 at 6:46 am

I live in the uk and cannot find any sites that can even come near to knowing how im feeling at this hair loss thing that is going on. I had my son 16 months ago and literally 3 months to the day after having him my hair started to fall out, it came in handfulls and as someone else has said it got to a point where i was dreading washing it as i couldnt bear the sight of all the hair in the plug hole. No one has mentioned my thinning hair but i just think they are trying not to hurt my feelings, everday i look at my scalp to see if there is any new hair growing but instead all i see is more and more scalp, ive been tested for everything and all came back clear, yesterday i placed an order for something called Provillus for women, there are good and bad reports about it but i am willing to try anything, i have been taking vitamin supplements for hair for the past year but nothing seems to work. Approximately a year ago i had my hair cut into a concave bob and it seemed to stop the shedding for a while, i get it trimmed back every 4-6 weeks and this seems to help with the shedding. I cant believe that 6 years ago i used to be a hair model with beautiful thick hair.
Almost nine years ago i had a very traumatic experience with the loss of a child and i have suffered with depression since then and my doctor seems to think that this is why i suffer with hair loss, who knows? I only know that this is starting to really affect my day to day living, ie, scared of going out incase someone says anything. I will keep you posted on how the Provillus works.
Love to all, lisa x

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lisa July 31, 2008 at 11:24 am

hi all, ive just come across an internet site that looks fabulous, try this, Lucinda Ellery Consultancy, it is a company based in london. Look at the different types of hair extensions etc that they do.

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J Doe August 5, 2008 at 6:02 am

Hello, I’m 25 and have noticed that I have lost over half of my hair. I have been on ortho-tri-cyclen for 10 years, and noticed that I lost most of my hair when I was off of the pill (for about a year) during a stressful time. Since I started on the pill I noticed that over the years my hair was thinning gradually, until around 23 when it was dropping out in chunks (like stated before, I was off the pill and under a huge amount of stress at this time). I’ve been on and off the pill within the past year and have noticed that my hair is not falling out in huge chunks anymore but it still seems to be gradually thinning. Will this stop? When I stop taking the pill for good will my hair grow back? I’m kind of scared that I’ve lost over half of my hair in the past 10 years and am only 25; what will happen when I’m 40?! Is it the pill that is causing this?

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Miriam August 5, 2008 at 6:13 pm

Hello Everyone, I can barely muster through the tears enough rationalness to write this out. I am at the beginning of what you ladies seem to be going through. I am about over a month into realizing I am losing my hair and like another lady here, I’ve been hospitalized over the depression and shock.
I’ve always had incredibly thick and long hair, I also was a hair model like someone else here. Everyone knows me for my hair.
walking by the mirror in the bathroom on June 26th (how pathetic that I remember the exact date!) I flipped my hair and it stopped me.. I explain.. what the! I am missing hair!?! How have I not noticed this. I had noticed in photoshoots that my part was a little wider or stranger than it used to be, but chocked it up to a bad haircut maybe.
Well I started coming this way and that and it looks like the parts are widening or they are blending into each other, with just islands of thicker hair left in between. I noticed my crown just yesterday plenty bare with just a clump of strands in the middle.
The anxiety and the nauseaus feeling I have everytime I look at it is causing me so much stress and my loved ones as well. Sad fact of the matter, like many of you they “Can’t See” what I am talking about and I am either neurotic or crazy. Apparently it’s obvious only to me.
I am not losing anymore than I ever shed when I brush or shower. It’s about even LESS than we I first figured this out. So it boggles my mind. I am with some of you that I am counting them in the shower and on my hair brush. I won’t let my husband touch my brush, just so I know what’s mine or his (he has long hair too). I don’t get why this is happening. So far when I was hospitalized they did blood work on me including my thyroid and it all came back normal. Though I have yet to do one for hormones or iron.
I have NEVER been on the pill and I’ve never given birth. I am 37 years old and way too young still to even be in premenapaus.
I’ve gone to one STUPID dermatologist where I live and I am guessing he thought that I meant I had huge bald spots when I called. Because he blew me off and just asked.. is your dad bald or balding?? I said well balding.. but he is 70 years old after all! He didn’t prematurely go bald either. He said..well then you will be too… and it made my heart sink! He wouln’t hear of the fact that I was living on a couple of cup cakes and diet 7-up a day. Also I CONSTANTLY had it up in a bun with a metal clip that was anchored on the very top of my hair.. the weakest part, because of my highlights. Also I was suffering from a deep depression this past year and had worries and I stop taking care of my hair very well .. I’d wash it once a week, no matter how sweaty and greasy it was. So greasy that even a good shampoo wouldn’t remove the gunk! It was constantly itchy.. to the point I thought I had lice, and was always “damp” because of the bun it was in around the clock (my hair WAS down to my waist). I noticed it got dryer ..VERY dry around the middle of the length and nothing that I had EVER done before to make it snap back to a healthy state would work. Oddly enough the back has now gotten healthier trying to see what is wrong with the top.
Besides the derm telling me that because my dad is balding I will too without so much as a medical history on me.
My hairdresser and the girl who has shampooed my hair for ages say it seems to them like traction alopecia from the barrett pulling my hair cause of the weight of my hair..and also I might have had a mild scalp infection to boot. Because again I don’t shed excessively. But I’ve gotten to this point, so it has to have at one point.
It’s at the very top middle and the crown.

I’ve been hosptalized because of my severe reaction to this and every single day is a struggle. The doctor ordered me on Lorazepam in emergency, but he will not refill the prescription (which was a week’s worth) because he thinks I am at risk for addiction. So I guess he would rather me go crazy or worse! I am driving everyone around me nuts because of this. My parents are worried sick… I flew in to be with my parents and I sit here like a zombie locked up in the guest room, except for last night when I cried in my mother’s arms. I’ve gotten down on my knees and asked god for help, I know there are worse things in the world… but this is heart breaking. My husband who has been a jewel through this whole thing is finally losing his patience. They just CAN’T see it. I don’t know how or if they are turning a blind eye.. but they can’t. That is added stress that he will leave me because this is taking a toll on me and us. I can’t stop stressing AT ALL.. so I am sure that is making this worse and giving everyone a reason to say… it’s just stress!
I flew in to have my hairdresser (well the one who replaced my hairdresser of 18 years who passed away this January and caused me endless heartache over) give my hair my body and layers and free it up of the weight .. and it’s a catastrophe. It just looks like a fancied up mullet to me and yet I can still see the wide part and crown plain as day, as opposed to everyone teling me once it was cut I would noticed THAT was the problem. Now I have an UGLY cut and I am still left with those spots.

Can I technically be balding if I am hardly shedding? Was that all it was going to shed when I figured out this was happening and took up a healthy lifestyle again… will it grow back now??? and how long will it take??
For a week out of all this I tried to be optomistic and say it was just the hair clip that yanked my hair out for over a year, since I only took it off to wash my hair once a week…it had to take it’s toll. But for some reason I dread it’s AGA.

I want my life back. No matter how much I complained of it before, anything is better than this. There aren’t enough towels to wipe my tears.. My knees are bruised from praying so very much. I had two events I was sooo looking forward to attending and now ..I can’t. My mind wanders to suicide everyday. Doors just keep getting slammed in my face… no one can help me and I am chocked up to just being paranoid. I dread the point when they will finally see the truth. I pray that day never comes. I have cried so much I have no more tears left. I am in a constant half sleep state lying in bed and I see a flash in my mind of a balding head and it rips me to shreds. Even medication that I need to keep me calm, I am refused.

Here is the only place I’ve posted this. I haven’t been able to stomach going to hair loss sites… it all seems to futile, so pointless..everyone is desperatly searching for an answer or a miracle that might never be.

Good luck ladies… thank you for listening.

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d August 6, 2008 at 8:34 am

Miriam, I can totally relate to your story, feels like you wrote it about me. I too sometimes feel suicidal and my marraige is falling apart because of all this shit. I feel like, no, I HAVE alienated everyone in my life, the anguish over the hair loss is unbearable. I have seen a derm who was the only person who has given me hope. I’m hoping the iron and biotin will turn things around cuz I need my hair to improve or I’ll lose my mind. (can you hear me crying?) Has anyone out there seen regrowth and a major improvement once their ferritin levels got above 70 like they say?OMG!

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Miriam August 6, 2008 at 12:42 pm

D,
My relationships are falling apart as well. I am staying with my parents at the moment and like a little child my mother slept with me last night and listened to me cry about every awful thing in my life that I am now sorry for. She is shattered when she sees me cry,so I try not to do it in front of her much. Other than in Emergency back home and that nitwit dermatologist I saw.. I have no answers. They tested me in emergency just for the over abundance of pills (over the counter sleeping pills) I had been taking to numb myself. They checked my liver and kidneys and the doctor checked my thyroid, which all came back “normal”. I am on vitamins now that supposed to help regrow hair and keep what you have. I admit like I said.. I do not shed more than I am supposed to. I shed lately shockingly less than 40 hairs a day and I have very long hair.. except now on top where that idiot hairdresser chopped off hair yesterday. I can not feel “bald” spots… I just see the thinned areas. That’s why I am so desperate to figure out something now!! It’s proving impossible to wait the 3 months or more needed for hair to regrow if it was a scalp infection or traction alopecia.
Worst of all is NO ONE believes me! They are treated me like a crazy obsessive person. They think I’m actually mentally ill and need a psychiatrist (which I went to see and was a fiasco in itself). I keep telling them.. why can’t you seee!!! Do you not want to admit it to me because I keep freaking out!?! Everyone tells me..if we had seen anything or if we do, we’ll run not walk to a specialist. Yeah right, after reading all you ladies stories here.. it’s FUTILE. I tell that to my family and they turn around and just ask.. why is it hopeless? because you read it on the internet?? ridiculous!
My poor father because he has that half moon hair in the back and some patches of hair up front considers himself “not bald”… I seriously hope he doesn’t think I can go through life like THAT.
Slowly I’ve been trying to imagine going through life with a wig, or the endless doctors I am going to have to see. With no insurance to boot.
My parents have set up on a appointment with their doctor tomorrow 200-400 a visit, I am still NOT convinced I don’t have a medical disorder. It’s strange to me that just one day I look at figure out my hair is falling out ..after looking at it on daily basis.
I’m glad I found this site. The other sites out there are frightening and this one at least lets us share our pain.

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lisa August 6, 2008 at 11:40 pm

I went to see the doctor again the other day and he finally had a look at my scalp, he said i am definately thinner on the top than everywhere else, but couldnt give me anything, just asked if i had a healthy diet!! of course i bloody do, i was in tears as he examined my scalp and when he said yes it is thinning i felt my world collapse, i have now come to the conclusion that i will just shave it off and get a wig and get my stylist to cut it in the same style as my own hair, does anyone know of any good wig companies? My friend came to see my yesterday and she said she cant see a difference! is she blind!! i have looked on the websites and everytime i do it seems more and more hopeless, i dont know who to turn to.

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Elisabeth August 7, 2008 at 8:53 am

I can only say that after dealing with thinning hair all my life, at 47 I have given up on therapies and drugs and vitamins; they didn’t give me a thick head of hair, just a bit more “fuzz”. I have been wearing clip in extensions, after years of taped in, which I learned to do myself, due to expense. The only thing I do notice, is that most people who are overweight do not have thinning hair, unless over 40, while I do know LoTS of women over 40 with thin hair who are on the trim side – does this have something to do with it? I eat meat, vegetables, healthy mostly, except too much wine, to numb the pain and anger I feel most of the time. My husband is wonderful, he says he will love me with or without hair – I fear I won’t have any by the time I’m in my 60’s. But, as many of you have said, it’s almost more important than breasts – at least we can wear padded bras, or get implants. But the hair thing, is so noticeable! I now am ordering another set of hair pieces; I can’t go the whole wig route yet! Custom is best, but am trying a new one, top secret hair (.com) not the greatest people to deal with, but they have hair much cheaper. And before I could get by with side pieces, but in the past 10 years I have had to wear a crown/top piece as well.
Thanks for sharing, you ALL know what this is like! Complete Hell! I just wish I could find a remedy for all the anger and depression I feel. Hugs to you all! Elisabeth in Italy, 47

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Lydia August 9, 2008 at 12:04 am

I’m so glad I found this website. For a while I thought that I was the only young gal(27yrs) to have thinning hair. I started thinning @ 21 after the birth of my son. I didn’t notice really much hair falling out, all I saw was what appeared to be a receeding hair line. No one else thought much of it. It about 2 months later I began really shedding. Of course everyone said that it was due to pregnancy but I knew it wasn’t. My mother has lost about 70% of her hair, and all my aunts have thin looking hair. My sister was blessed with a head FULL of thick, curly hair and it shed quite a bit, but it never thinned out.

My “receeding” hair line seem to grow back in but I was definitely thin looking on top. I would have episodes that would last about 2-3 months where my hair would fall out like crazy, then it would stop. I did try a few shampoo’s and vitamins and such to try to thicken it up but honestly I was not that consistant with them. I definitly was sad and sometimes I would cry, but I guess seeing my mom with extremly thin hair and still beautiful reminded me that there are much worse things in life than going bald.
My hair was pretty stable for about 2 years. It was still thin all around, but because I could get alot of “lift” in my hair when I blow dry upside down, I could make it seem like I had normal hair. the front still looked thin but I was content. I just had to limit the ways I would style it so that I could hide the thinness.
Right before I got pregnant the second time, I started using rogaine for women. I only used it at night (I felt like it made my scalp too greasy to use during the day) and got excellent results. I had enough regrowth in the front that it actually looked like I had mini bangs! I was very pleased. After some research, I decided to purchase the Laser Comb by Hairmaxx. I wasn’t that consistant in using it, but I did feel my hair thicker.
I then got pregnant with my second son. I hoped that my hair would not thin out any more. I had to stop using rogaine and the laser comb while I was pregnant, but my hair was not thinning out at that time anyway so I was okay with that. After baby I used the laser comb for preventave measures, but again I was not very consistant. My hair definitely felt thicker. Since I was breastfeeding I needed to get Dr’s ok to use rogaine again. 4 months after baby and my hair is thinning out ALOT. I have that “receeding” hair line again and my scalp in the front is very noticeable. There’s no hiding it now. Dr said it is ok to use rogaine while nursing so for about 1 month I been using it day and night CONSISTANTLY and doing the laser comb CONSISTANTLY. So far it does not seem to slow down the shedding, but today I did notice that I’m having quite a bit of regrowth in the front. The hairs are only about 1/4″ long, but I see quite a bit. Thank you Jesus!
I’ve decided not to get to stressed out about it since there are many new ways to have hair. I mean, those celebrities with their beautiful hair aren’t born with it! They buy it! And so can I! One way or another, I will have hair!
Beleive it or not, there is one good thing about this second episode of shedding. For quite some time I have been suffering a number of ailments like thinning hair, vision problems, weight gain, fatigue, difficulty concentrating and a hoarse voice. Dr’s thought it my be my thyroid, but the levels always came back normal. My mom said that one of my aunts was diagnosed with a disorder that ran in families and it was thyroid related. Of course I told my mom that my levels were ok. I silently suffered for many years. It was not until this shedding that I finally asked my aunt what was it that she was diagnosed with. She said it was Hashimoto Disease, an autoimmune disorder. I began to tell her my symptoms and she said “yep, that’s it!”. I’ve made my Dr’s appt to finally get some treatment and hopefully things will start turning around for me. Funny how blessings can come out of distressing circumstances!

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kat August 11, 2008 at 6:14 am

My nightmare started when my menstrual cycles ceased for 2 months in March and then started up again in May. I was suffering from Anorexia and kept it from everyone including my doctor’s.

Well when I got my menstural cycle it didn’t stop until the middle of June. I was put on Loestrin 24 and a small dose of Estrogen in late May and continued for a little over a month. The reason I stopped? My hair started shedding badly, in clumps at times. I knew when the doctor’s prescribed me the birth control that I shouldn’t take it. I just had a feeling. I fought with the gynecologist, until they finally were able to talk me through it.

After ceasing the pills in late June due to the shedding of hair I noticed my hair stopped shedding some. Then weeks went by and the shedding ceased. I had shoulder length hair. The reason it stopped shedding? Well I was now off of the birth control pill and I was eating a good balanced diet again. I gained 4 or 5 lbs that I had lost. (I was down to 105 when I was anorexic, at a height of 5’4 1/2). I also am taking a multivitamin, Alive Protien Shake and eating veggies, fruits, whole grains, etc.

For the hair loss I decided to cut my hair into a short natural. I’m African American and have very curly hair and it looks cute this way. I am seeing improvement while I eat this way and treat my scalp like rare silk. I am careful with it. I keep it conditioned and do scalp massages all the time.

I want alot of you to be positive about this. When we think negative, usually negative things occur. I know that my hair will come back. It will take a couple of months, and I already see my edges coming back, and the back of my head where most of the shedding occured is growing in fine hair.

Just be positive and prayer helps as well. I hope this helped someone.

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michelle August 11, 2008 at 9:55 am

after expressing my concerns to my bf regarding my hair loss he sent me this link. i want to say i’m glad i found it but half way through the post i was sobbing uncontrollably. my hair has been falling out pretty rapidly over the past year but i thought that the loss was stress related as my grandmother had just died and left a whole box of unpleasant surprises for me to deal with. i have been mentioning this problem to friends who assure me that they “can’t tell” or that women start losing a bit more hair when they hit 30 (which i did last year) and frankly, it’s annoying. i mean, i’m all for reassurance but my hair is obviously thinning and the hairballs keep piling up! what the heck is left?? i started taking folic acid, vitamin b complex, prenatal pills (for the extra iron) and this hair nourishment vitamin i bought at GNC. i have also gone through bottles of nioxin shampoo and have now switched to a baking soda solution which is free of any detergents that might be harming my hair follicles and also allows me to go a full week without washing my hair as the baking soda causes minimal greasiness. i have an appt for a physical this wednesday but i am more than positive they will come up with NOTHING. like the original poster, i don’t expect my hair to bounce back into the condition it was… i had that hope a few months ago but now i just wish it would stop falling out. i took a photo of my hairline yesterday and cried for the first time about my hair and i guess that opened the floodgates because i’m sitting here sobbing as i write this and totally losing hope with every key stroke.
now as for the birth control, my bf and i are in a long distance relationship so i have been on and off birth control for the past two years. i’m not sure if this has anything to do with it, but like i said, the hair loss has only been happening for about a year but more rapidly for the past 9 months. i really hope the doctor has some answers because i’m absolutely losing it. i started going to counseling to seek stress relief however, i don’t think i can find any relief from the stress caused by my falling hairs.

i want to be positive but it’s soooo hard =(

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admin August 11, 2008 at 10:08 am

Dear Michelle,

Welcome to the site! I’m glad your bf sent you here, you are definitely in the right place to search for answers and find support. I am so sorry for your sadness and having to go through this. I personally think the pill could very possibly be responsible for your hair loss. I should state, I am not a doctor, but birth control pills seems to be responsible for a large number of women losing their hair. Oddly enough sometimes they can also help women suffering from hair loss by stabilizing the hormones. It is a very individual thing. When was the last time you went on or off the pill? what pill was it? You are doing the right thing going to the doctor… true many times they offer not much in the way of answers for women’s hair loss, but it is a place you should certainly start.

Also head over to the Women’s Hair Loss Project Network if you haven’t already. There are a lots of really knowledgeable and supportive women there http://community.womenshairlossproject.com

All The Best,
~Y

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Miriam August 11, 2008 at 8:36 pm

Michelle,
I know how you feel. I found this site last Wednesday after 6 weeks of dealing with this hell and uncertainty. My parents ended up taking me to their doctor Thursday. My mother actually wanted me to NOT tell him about my hair loss and make something else up and then maybe bring it up. He knew right away it was BS. Since I have NO insurance, he was hesitant on doing labs on me right then and there because I had labs done back home in the Emergency room and they were going to have them faxed down here where my parents live. He diagnosed me as Depressed.. geeee ya think!! But he also looked at my hair and this time I got a diagnosis of Telogen Effluvium. Where as the last derm/idiot told me without asking a single medical history question that it was AGA and to deal with it. I was satisfied for a bit, but I wondered how can he be so sure. Unless I arrested the hairloss about over a month ago… it’s no longer falling out in bunches. When it was I thought it was because I wasn’t washing it often and kept it up in a clip all the time. I did get scared at the time that my hair felt dead and was falling out more than usual (but I am a huge shedder anyway). Yes I guess you can say I’ve been depressed before this.. but now it’s 10000 times worse.
I just don’t see how from one month to the next I didn’t notice this wide spaces between parts and then I did. Just 4 weeks before my “discovery” I was going to take a family portrait and had fixed and messed with my hair then and saw nothing.
I am praying it is TE… during the months before this horrible discovery, I didn’t eat well or if at all, at the time I thought it was funny since I would lose weight. I’m not laughing anymore. I was also working out without the benefit of nutrients. I had that monster clip in my hair constantly pulling on it. I didn’t wash it as often as I should of. I WAS depressed, but not to this extreme.
I have arrested the shedding for the most part. I haven’t over shed for a month. But what disturbs me is wondering if they hair will ever come back! In the paperwork I got for the TE from the doctor.. it says a fine fringe will start to appear on the forehead hairline and it IS happening. But something that keeps making me sick to my stomach is now I’ve read that AGA mimics TE. I have lost NOTHING on the back of my head and sides. My ponytail is the same if I were to put it up, well save of course for the hair that my stupid new hairdresser butchered. It’s just the middle of the top of my head and a bit of the crown. I want to go to a really good derm here in Los Angeles that won’t blow me off… but part of me doesn’t, I don’t want to find out this is AGA. I don’t think I could live with that diagnosis. I had my poor dad in tears today.. he so afraid for my life. My panic and anxiety are THAT bad!

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Miriam August 11, 2008 at 8:37 pm

Also to Kat, thank you for posting that. It’s given me some hope.

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lisa August 12, 2008 at 4:04 am

go to the website that admin says, i have just joined yesterday and its fantastic

lisa

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Lily August 12, 2008 at 6:35 am

Miriam-

Try to improve your nutrition. You need more than cupcakes! 😉 Eat lots of protein and flax seed oil and B vitamins are good for hair. Chamomile tea can help calm you naturally.

It is not hopeless. Don’t forget that there is always a hair transplant as a last resort. Very expensive though and do your homework to pic the right doctor. But there are other things to try first (have you talked to anyone about topical medicine). If it is alopecia, it may take several years to improve. But it is important to remeber there is help out there. We are lucky to live at a time where there is help available! I hope you are feeling better.

Hugs,
Lily 🙂

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anouk August 13, 2008 at 6:53 am

I am overjoyed to have found a community of women who know exactly what I am going through. I have experienced the “it’s all in your head, you aren’t losing your hair” comments. But like another post said, who would know our bodies better than we would!? I am so embarrassed to tell anyone but my husband and even he, as well meaning as he is, can’t understand how much this affects my self esteem and daily life or offer me the support I need. I have also encountered doctors who are less than sympathetic to put it mildly and don’t believe my story. They think I have a family history (I am adopted with no way to know my medical history) and wouldn’t even consider that I knew myself and my body. I would like to tell my story and see if anyone has gone through something similar and maybe get some validation, if only for me.

I decided to dye my sandy blonde hair red a couple of years ago. I went to a very reputable salon and had a demipermanent dye put in. I had so much hair that the colorist would have to go back and mix another bowl of dye! Fast forward 2 years. I decide I want to go back to blonde and I asked my stylist the best way to go about this. She said we’d have to highlight it back but strip it first. I trusted her and she started to work. An hour or so into it she kept saying we need more toner and burned the living hell out of my scalp! I sat there stunned but thought this was normal. Went home and waited the obligatory 2 days to wash my hair. I am telling you, the very second that water touched my head, it tangled up like a mass of writhing snakes! I couldn’t even get my fingers through it. And on top of that, I would have strands ans strands of hair coming out. I had no idea what to think. As time went on, more and more hair was coming out, covering the shower drain, the bathroom floor and would even ball up in the dryer and come out in these tangles! At first I thought I was crazy because I was seeing a little bit of scalp in the front. It kept going farther and farther back and I was OBSESSING! So much so that I went to my derm and she ran all the blood tests and put me on a biotin supplement. Needless to say it kept getting worse and she referred me to a specialist. He did a few more blood tests and decided to put me on spiro and rogaine 5 percent. I hated being on medicine and the rogaine made my hair incredibly greasy. I am like my people on this site and I dread the days I have to wash my hair. Not to mention this doctor had no bedside manner whatsoever (aka he was a total ahole) and made me leave the office in tears. As if I could feel any worse and this guy is saying people make up every excuse under the sun for why they lose their hair and my salon story was my “cover up”. Can you believe the nerve? All I know is one day I had the thickest head of hair, one that would give me headaches if it pulled it in ponytail too long as it was so heavy, and the next I was having gobd come out! Why would I make up a story? Aren’t you supposed to be honest with your doc? One day I confronted him and never went back. I went to my general practioner who I trust and admire and he actually thinks that my hairloss is stress related and put me on lexapro to combat my depression and anxiety over this issue. I have to say it has helped me not focus so much on the hair loss. I am 28 years old and have dealing with this for 3 years. I have seen some hair growth sprouting in the front and not sure if it was from the spiro/rogaine but I stopped that months ago. I was getting facial hair (long peach fuzz and even a mustache!) And couldn’t take it any more. Talk about adding insult to injury. Now I am in holding pattern emotionally, kind of resigning myself to my fate. We are thinking about having a baby so I am hoping this could help me grow back some of my loss. And if it all falls out I can blame it on the pregnancy. Much easier than the truth. I think of shaving my head weekly but work in a professional that would not condone that behavior unless there was a serious illness. Does depression not count!? I used to be such an outgoing person and now I am so self conscious. Does anyone have a similar experience or any advice for me? I feel like no one can understand unless they’ve been through it and I feel like I’ve found my safe place in this community. Help please! Anouk

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karina August 31, 2008 at 9:44 pm

My story is exactly the same! How sad. Just i took diane -35 and it caused hair loss forsever, then i took another very light pill and it helpped a little. I didnt want to keep on taking it so i ve stopped it 3 month ago and since the last 2-3 weeks i ve noticed that i start to shed like a crazy again and the hair structure is worsened again badly….

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admin September 2, 2008 at 2:35 pm

Hi Karina –

I’m so sorry you are going through a bad shed. How long did you take Diane 35? What was the other pill you took? I know the feeling of not wanting to take a pill forever, so I totally get why you stopped. I think since you’ve already committed to stopping the pill you should see if through and give it some time to see if you hair loss stabilizes. Give you body a chance to work it out. In my opinion that would mean like 1 year. You can always re-evaluate thing later and get back on if you think it was helping you. I did this with Aldactone, I stopped taking it years ago (100mg) and then I noticed a worsening of my hair loss so I jumped back on, and increased the dosage to 200mg. Getting back on things is always an option.

All The Best,
~Y

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Mary September 22, 2008 at 9:08 am

My heart breaks for all of you who are going through this. But, please read my introductory blog that I just posted. Reading posts on alopecia websites, I feel like I’m really strange for just accepting my hairlessness and letting people see my bald head. It’s the way I am now. Other than one course of Prednisone, I never considered taking any medications that would affect my otherwise good health. For me, there was no question about damaging my health for the sake of hair….am I just weird, or what?!

Yes, I went through a time when I thought it would be the end of the world for me if I lost my hair. I cried and raged and obsessed for months. But when I shaved my head, I got some control back. Then I went through it again with losing my eyebrows and lashes. And when I finally lost all my hair a few months ago, I quickly decided that I couldn’t stand to cover up my head and be hot most of the time for the rest of my life. It’s so much easier, so much less bother and stress, and SO much more comfortable to just be my bald self. I have three looks: bald (much of the time), scarf (often, when it’s cool enough), wig (seldom, for dress-up, and only when it’s cool).

Please watch my YouTube video “Alternatives to wearing a wig”. While you’re there, do a YouTube search for “Gail Porter”. She’s a British TV personality who lost all her hair and who refuses to cover up at all. There are videos of her on the air, bald. She’s inspiring…I wish we had someone like her in the U.S.

I’ve come through all those classic stages – denial, grief, anger…..to acceptance. Once I accepted that this is who I am, and allowed myself (slowly at first) to be seen bald my friends and in public, it just didn’t matter so much anymore. Yes, it was hard, and still is at times. I went to an art reception last weekend bald – the first night-time event I’d gone bald to. After the first couple of introductions, I forgot about being bald, and everyone seemed not to notice. As always, I had a few conversations about alopecia, which just helps raise public awareness.

Hugs and best wishes to everyone,
Mary

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Kimberly September 24, 2008 at 1:55 pm

Mary you are my hero. I hoped to get where you are someday. I am still at the stage where I am trying various treatments in the hopes that something works. Through the strength of this group though I am finding I obsess about my hair less than without this community. Thank you.

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Vivian October 7, 2008 at 2:58 am

I’m always cold. I wonder if this has something to do with my blood circulation and hairloss. I’ve taken flaxseed oil for over a year but it doesn’t seem to help. Might start on iodine.
What are other peoples thouhgts?

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Calum October 8, 2008 at 5:01 am

I just want to thank all of you for sharing your stories. I am also at the beginning of the long process of figuring out why I’m loosing my hair. I first started experiencing shedding a year ago after a major surgery. The doctor said it was normal and not to worry and eventually it did stop. About 2 months ago it started falling out again by the handful. I have been through three weeks of blood tests testing just about everything they or I can think of. Thyroid functions are normal (although I’m sure many of you know the debate about what “normal” is for that), Iron levels are “normal” but on the low side at 40 so I’ve started taking a supplement, and hormones are supposedly normal. I feel like many of you do that this is just a bad joke. How can everything be normal and yet I still loose enough hair to fill a brush every day. I have been on birth control for years, taking Yasmin until it stopped my periods all together a year ago. I switched to Orthotricycline to try and keep some semblance of a normal cycle going but stopped after a month and the worst depression I have ever experienced. Then they put me on Yaz, but it didn’t really fix anything and I kept forgetting to take the pills. I made a decision to stop taking the pills and now I wonder if all the switching around and medications are the reason for the hair loss. Does anyone know if the hair will grow back once the medication clears my system? I’m going back to the doctor soon so if anyone has any other ideas as to what it may be, they would be appreciated. I feel like I have explored every possible cause at this point. And again, thanks for your stories…it is hard to be 22 and loosing your hair. I’m glad that I am not the only one and I’m not going crazy!

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Lilo November 24, 2008 at 1:22 am

Vivian
Me too feel always cold and my doctor said it was because my Thyroid functions is low and prescriped me pills for that

Unlike all of you who don’t know the reason why you loss hair, I have so many reasons that cause me to loss hair
1. My Thyroid functions
2. Genatic reasons
3. I have 3 major surgeries in the bast 10 years
4. I am always stressed and nervous
5. I am too busy to notice what am I eating

So my problem is which of those reasons are causing me to loss my hair 😀

any way… sometimes I feel its getting better after taking those pills for Thyroid functions , and sometimes not… I really can’t tell
Hang on there girls

Lilo

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Courtney December 30, 2008 at 7:53 pm

When I was 21 I lost all of my hair in two and a half weeks because O allergic reaction to Anti Biotic… I had a lot of hair and was super long and I didn’t have time to cope with the fact, I had no time at all to accept it. It just kinda happened so quickly

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Julia January 3, 2009 at 3:32 pm

Courtney, did your hair grow back?

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Beth January 9, 2009 at 10:45 am

I was also losing my hair and at first attributed it to having had a baby. But she turned 2 and i was still losing my hair at an alarming rate. After doing loads of research on my own, i found that (in my case) it was the TYPE of androgen in my pill that made a difference. When i was off the pill or on ortho-novum (for example), the hair loss continued. I started Loestrin Fe 1/20 and it stopped. Basically, what i found was that it was the combination of estrogen, progestin and androgen in the pill. For me, having a pill that was lower in estrogen and progestin and used norethindrone acetate versus some of the other types of androgen (i.e., norgestimate, desogestrel) worked the best and stopped 100% of my hair loss.
My sister, on the other hand, has lost her hair for years from being on the pill because of the extra estrogen. She has finally stopped the pill and with the use of Nioxin, her hair is in fact growing back. She has always had more estrogen than me, even though both of our levels are considered “normal”. I guess that everyone is different and you really need to take a look at your own personal make-up, if you will. Hope this helps somebody out there.

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Rhonda Holt January 11, 2009 at 2:34 am

Hi everyone, I just cry so hard to hear about your saddness and knowing what us ladies go though, no one can possibly understand until they go through it them selves…I too went off the pill and was adviced to go back on and the one i chose was the lo-estrin 1/5 30, its helped me stop mine too, and grow so much back but not like i had in my younger years, I am now 42 and my crown shows alittle and it makes you not want to go out side because this damn beauty industry has hurt us all and we now need to find that self love and exceptance, I have IC bladder disease, with MS and endometreosis, so many health issues may contribute to hairloss.. I want to share with you all that I have tried one thing that was amazing and my hair no longer sheds at all.. I dont know if everything works for everyone but please try this… First be on a very good multi vitimin, mine I get from vitacost, its the NSI womans formula, its the best and get your self some NSI royal jelly capsules and take them 2 times a day, then the important part, I have had a few mail me and gave them this advice and hope they have tried it, “Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar, no other brand… You mix to start equal parts in your spray bottle with water..Yes it smells, but if it grows your hair and stops the loss its worth it…I shampoo my hair with a few different shampoos i alternate with and they help too.. After you get out of the shower towel dry your hair, then spray the vinegar into your scalp and rub it in making sure to soak your scalp, then wipe off the drippings and comb it in and let in set until your ready to put your gel or styling products, this takes out the smell… You can get the braggs book and it too has topics on how to use this, its amazing and you can use the royal jelly in the capsules and rub it into your scalp at night when you sleep, them wash it the next day…I promise this has worked for me and I was just testing it out with no hope and the results are amazing…It feeds your follicles, and cleans them out..It detangles hair, and your hair styles great with it…I have been a nutritionist for years and went to cosmetology college, and have studied these things and tested so much on my self, if anyone wants any more advice they are more then welcome to email me at lilladyvixen@ yahoo.com, I know what you are going through and would love to help if i can and give you some hope… Please do try this as a few others who I have suggested are having amazing results….Well take care everyone and try and remember, we need to all try to except and love exactly who we are…We are all blessed to have each other to share with and it helps to know others are out there who share our same experiences… I do hope to hear from you in the future… And remember……
“A true friend is someone who knows who you are,
Understands where you have been,
Excepts what you have become,
Yet still gently allows you to grow” W.S.
Love Your Friend Rhonda

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BETh January 11, 2009 at 10:44 am

HI Rhonda–

That info is great. I have been reading about both royal jelly and apple cider. i just have one quick question about the royal jelly. some of the info i’ve come across mentions that it has a hormone effect (it supposedly contains some sort of estrogen and testosterone). this concerns me a bit, just because i am starting to think that my hair loss could be related to hormone imbalance (along with iron deficiency and perhaps minor adrenal fatigue). i’ve also read that royal jelly can act to balance hormones and help with thyroid issues but, do you think that the hormones in the royal jelly could be detrimental at all to my already whacky hormones?? also, is it more beneficial to to take ingest the supplements or to apply royal jelly topically?

thanks for any info 🙂 BETH

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Rhonda Holt January 11, 2009 at 11:19 am

Hi Beth, thanks for your reply, it was so very kind, and the more help and education we can give others the better…I my self take the supplements in the morning, the the womans formula vitimins help balance your harmones too, I take them through out the day not all at once, I am on many I love and that have helped me so much, the royal jelly I would cut the capsules a few and squeeze them into a small cut and add your vinegar just to mix it..They say you can add egg for more protein too…Just like a plant needs water it also needs some nourishment plant food to grow to feed its roots, well we feed out hair from our intake and can feed and cleanse the follicles on the outside in, I would take the royal jelly once or twice a day, onve to start then give it time see how you feel and you can go to two later, then once a week I would do the nightly scalp treatment…Royal jelly is high in protein and other aminos, it wont hurt your harmonal system, it will balance it out..Our bodies thrive from certain nutrition as a plant does…And just like the sweet lady said before my first comment, the lo-estrin helped her like it helped me…There is something in that pill that helpes hairloss in many and has no weight gain affects, other pills seem to cause weight gain and hairloss so this tells you there is something about this pill, it may not be the same for everyone…Please try this i really noticed after a few weeks with the vinegas, and get the braggs book it will help you alot, I also apply this to my skin all over after my shower and its done wonders…I also take gycolic Garlic capsules, these are in the bible as natural things god put down here for us and they say they have harmonal balancing, anti inflammatories, natural antibiotic and anti infection properties, plus my father is taking it in a juice drink or a capful when he has heart burn and it has worked great for him…I too would ue it as a drink in juice with the royal jelly capsule, it will benefit us more on the inside as well as using it on the outside of our bodies…I do hope this has helped you as well as many others, I am still here at lilladyvixen@yahoo if anyone would like any more help or advice…Take care my dear friends… Love Rhonda

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Rhonda Holt January 11, 2009 at 11:48 am

Dear Beth, Sorry I just went back and realized it is you who wrote the last paragraph that I responded too…Shows how much I pay attention..lol Anyway its great to be Hear from you and hope we can stay in touch…Hugs Rhonda

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BETh January 11, 2009 at 3:53 pm

thank you Rhonda. you sound positive and knowledgeable. i have just started seeing a naturopath because for 2 plus years i have been saying that ‘my body is out of balance’. she seems to think that i have food sensitivities (due to several major symptoms in addition to hair loss). i’ve done some reading on royal jelly and it certainly sounds like it is FULL of nutrients that can be taken orally or applied topically. i am going to give it a shot once i figure if/what i have sensitivities to.

you mentioned that you are a nutritionist (this is so interesting to me!!!) do you know anything about MSM for hair growth?
Thanks again SO MUCH

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Rhonda Holt January 11, 2009 at 7:45 pm

Hi Beth, thank you for your kind friendship, I hope your going to use the vinegar too, that is the icing on the cake… Yes I take a msm glucosimine/chondroiton, combo, I take 2 twice a day and yes its very helpful, and works great with chromium picolinate/ thes two alone will amazingly clear anyones skin…I have so much more iwould love to share with you and if you want to email me at lilladyvixen@yahoo.com I could have more info to share with you.. Take solaray super digestaway with every meal you eat, its amazing and helps with the simulation break down of fats, carbs and proteins… and the best calcium on the market is called prelief, its the purest most digestable calcium, and i take it with most foods and it takes the acid out of the foods so they dont bother your digestive tract…Its great!! I do hope you email me and would love to help with anymore advice you may need, nutrition, skin hair or nails, I am not perfect but i have studied for years and my own experiences speak for them selves… Thanks and hope to hear from you again… Hugs Rhonda

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lori January 18, 2009 at 11:43 pm

Did the Avodart work for the lady- I do not see where she has reposted?

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Vivian January 19, 2009 at 8:05 pm

I was wondering if anyone knows when the shedding will stop?
I went off thr pill 4 months ago and the shedding started to get really bad 3 weeks ago. My wedding is in seven weeks and at the rate I’m lossing hair I will be bald at my wedding. Will the shedding ever stop?

I was even beginning to see new hairs grow – they are still there for now and it’s the long hairs I’m losing.

I knew of the dreaded shed once stopping the pill but I was losing hair on it aso I can’t win. I just want someone to tell me how long it will last???

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Rhonda Holt January 21, 2009 at 12:18 am

Hi Vivian, I know when I tried to go off my hair fell out until I could see my scalp, it was devistating…It went on for over a year and would not stop until I read about the BCP changes our harmones and your body thrives from it and when you take it away your hair skin nails just change…I was advised to go back on because I tried everything…The only thing that stopped it was doing just that..And as the lady I have been talking too said she too went back on and the lo-estrin was the one that stopped…I was on ellese and when I went off it fell out..I was almost half bald…I could not leave the house..It was so hard…But like I said to my friend up there I read up about Braggs apple cider vinegar…And it alone has stopped my hair from shedding at all…I see maybe 4to 5 hairs in the sink…read up where I have explained how to use it and get on a good multi vitimin, and take royal jelly..These alone just may do the trick for you..Its worth the try to get your hairloss to stop.. Let me know how it works if you decide to try this… Best of Luck Rhonda

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Bees January 21, 2009 at 4:53 am

I have been to 3 derms, 2 endocrinologists and 2 haematologists. everyone says that the bloodwork is normal, just low ferritin which I am working on, so I am healthy and feel heatly besides my hair falling out. I am so depressed. My hair started falling out in Sept 08, just after doing a Brazilian hair straightener, always from the root, I did a relaxer and brazilian straightener in January 08 and loved the results and my hair was perfect. So now I am not sure what caused the hair shedding, the straightener from September or some other trigger, which I am trying to find. The ferritin issue, mine is 23 now working on trying to get that up, but the doctors are very split in this belief that low ferritin causes hair loss. I have been on the same bc pill for 5.5 years and never had hairloss with any other pill that I have been on, and that is many. I have 2 children and did not experience any hairshedding after their births. I do have thick cury hair, and a lot of it. No one would guess I am loosing hair because it still looks like I have a lot but I have lost about 1/3 of it in 4 months and I hate running my fingers thru my hair as I feel how thin it has gone. Everyone thinks I am crazy and that I blowing this hair thing out of proportion but they do not see what comes out the shower, comb after washing it at least 100 hairs. I do not style my hair anymore, will not blow dry it straight because I get so depressed and upset when I see the hairs falling out as I blow it dry. I just let my hair dry on its own, I have also not colored it for 4 months now, trying to just wash and leave it and give it a rest. Never mind the hairs lost from shower and combing when wet, as my hair is drying on its own I can have at least 30 hairs over the top that I am wearing while drying. I will not wear a tank top now, as I cannot stand that feeling of falling hair on my arms, been happy it has been cooler so I have been wearing top with long sleeves.

So now I am taking a million vitamins, some anti-inflammatory drops the derm gave me, just done a hair collection test for 7 days and sent that to the derm for testing and now the endocrinologist has give me aldactone, which I am really reluctant to take because I feel like I am taking so much. I am on feosol 3 x 65 mg per day and I feel so bloated. SO they say I have t.e. and that I must relax as stress makes it worse, but I is so hard to destress when your hair is falling out. My worst days are when I have to wash it every 2 days, my heart beats so fast when I have to comb it. Now I want to start excercising again, and that means rinsing and washing my hair more which means seeing more hair come out. My husband has had enough and he just does not understand, I keep telling myself so what is the worst position, I will wear a wig but then I start panicing again. I try and have good days and go and buy some new clothes and then I look at these clothes in my closet and think is this really going to change anything. I feel a mess, as I said I just let my hair dry on its own and clip each sideup. I am sorry but feel so depressed about this.

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suzanne January 22, 2009 at 2:36 pm

Iam on tomoxafin I cant take any hormones and my hair is thinning near my forehead really bad I almost have to do a comb over, Iam on propecia it seems like its making it worst, I was on spiro worked good but causes tumors in rats I had breast cancer so Iam scared to take it again. HELP PLEASE!

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suzanne January 22, 2009 at 2:41 pm

DR REDMOND IS A GOOD DOCTOR HE PUT ME ON SPIROLACTONE IT WORKS REALLY GOOD ITS A WATER PILL HELPS SKIN ALSO.

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Shivani January 22, 2009 at 6:54 pm

To Rhonda and all others.
Thank you so much for sharing your stories. I know all people respond to meds differently and here’s my story, so far. I have been slowly losing hair for a couple years, but nothing noticable. In September, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polysystic ovarian cysts) and my gyno gave me LoestrinFe24 and my GP had me on metformin and at the same time I had a bald spot of alopecia areata for which I got a shot of cortisone. The hair in that spot started to grow back and for a couple weeks, no more than 10 hairs fell out.
Then, (after about 6 weeks on meds) my hair started to super shed. Before, when it fell, i could still see new, little hairs. Now, even those are gone and every time I touch my hair, about 30-40 fall out and washing my hair makes me cry.
The dermatologist told me to start on Rogaine and I finally went to an endocronologist who prescribed Spironolactone, and told me stay on the pill, and get off metformin.
It’s been almost a month and the hair is still falling like crazy. I dont see any new little hairs and what I have is not growing.

My question to you all: I have been on Loestrin for 5 months, and now I just want to go off it since my hair loss got a thousand times worse when I went on it. How long did you guys take the Pill before you went off it? I’m wondering how long you have to be on it for your body to “rely” on it. Should I just stay on it? My endo says I should “stay the course” for at least 3 months with the spiro and loestrin, which would make it 6 months on the loestrin and 3 months on the spiro.

Rhonda, can you use the apple cider vinegar and royal jelly with the Rogaine?

I know that a person is more than their appearance but I can’t get past this. I used to have thick, long black hair and now it’s thinning and I don’t know when, if, it will stop. I am trying really hard to be hopeful.

Thank you all for sharing your stories.
Shivani

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Rhonda Holt January 22, 2009 at 11:43 pm

Hi Shivani, I was on ellesse and this was many years ago, I went off and figured I no longer needed since my hubby had a vast.. I started losing my hair and it kept thinning until I saw my scalp, like you I cried and did not want to leave the house..I am a cosmetologist and tried everything… I was reading a website on hairloss, and this is where I found products that work and why and how to use them, I tried several and kept coming across the Diane/35 and how each estrogen/progestrin worked at stopping hairloss… I was going bald and I already have the thinnest hair.. I went to my gyno and told him to draw blood and things were normal, he then said he would try going back on the pill, and I was on loestrin1/30 before and had no problems but after your body gets used to the harmones it gets addicted to them.. You stop your body withdrawls, I tried for over a year hearing it would balance finding it only was getting thinner, it practically ruined my marriage because my husband had a full head of hair and whould just say “Who Cares” because I would not go anywhere.. Well I went back on and it took a few months but the hair slowly stopped shedding and started to fill in.. It then just stopped.. I felt better and things got better, then I was diagnosed with IC bladder disease and the stress still caused some shedding but never like going off the BCP, I have had to study and try all nutrition, I then found supplements are a major factor, and so is protien, if you are not getting the right amounts you will throw your harmones and body off again.. I work out 3 days a week, I dont eat red meat..I do eat lots of fish, chicken, and especially eggs, they are a good source of protein.. I am 42 and 5’6 and weigh about 115lbs, I take supplements that now have balanced my body and eat foods low in carbs and saturated fats, but high in normal fats the good fats and lots of protien.. I have tons of recipes.. I been a nutritionist for years and have helped many with weight or nutrition issues.. I came across the Braggs Apple cidar vinegar and its raw and the only one to get… I get my supplements through Vitacost.com, you can get the braggs vinegar at any grocery store and I advise you to get the book… I used it for years for other things and with my IC disease I knew my hair would thin or shed if I was stressed.. So one day I decided to just soak my whole head with the vinegar, I worked out let it dry in my hair and just kept it up and in a few months my hair was no longer shedding but at a rate you see 5 to 10 hairs in the sink…100 is normal daily shedding but you should not see it coming out… Here is the trick i think worked..I use the vinegar for acid reflux, one cap ful, and you hold it in your mouth letting your saliva mix with it naturally, then swallow it, your heart burn goes away.. Its all about balancing your acid/alkaline in the body.. Well I also use it in a spray bottle all over my face and body after the shower, the pores are open right? Well It has cleared my skin and faded some freckles/agespots… Now the trick on the hair i find, the same thing..It cleans your pores out..It feeds your pores and allows the nutrients to go in.. and it balances your scalp oils and makes your skin and hair more balanced acid/alkaline… This is what I have gotten out of this and I used it straight on the scalp for several weeks.. Dont wash it out..Do it while you clean or before you shower let it set in long enough to dry into the scalp and message it in and comb your hair..I do it after i shower and some will think ‘Yuck I will stink’ well the smell goes away after it dries and you put in your gels and styling products and you lotion your skin too.. There is no after smell only when you put it on.. well what is more worth it? The smell and getting your hair back? or losing your hair… Its a natural antibiotic/antiseptic, the benefits are amazing.. I drink it with two capfuls daily in some juice.. And i take my royal jelly capsules with it..your feeding the inside and the out.. I hope this has helped you I know what it is like to feel your going bald..No one understands and this is a good place to find those types of people.. Anyone can email me at lilladyvixen@yahoo.com for any questions or things you did not understand or help with nutrition.. I been through it and I am more then happy to help anyone who is going through this devistating ordeal… Get off of the Rogaine.. Stay on your lo-estrin..Start your vinegar routine, and nutrition and I promise you will see those hairs growing back in… I have been wanting to put up a website and will do so soon when i get feeling better to guide others in all that is needed help in these topicks.. For now you may email me and i will be more then happy to help answer or give you any more advice you need… Best of luck to you all and do not give up..
Huggs to you all Rhonda

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Rhonda Holt January 23, 2009 at 12:08 am

Hello everyone, I just left a long comment and some great advice that I know will help so many of you, I did forget to ad that I know many of you have tried many of the hairloss shampoo products on the market.. I have tested many myself and so many are nothing but a scam.. So be careful, but there is a few that has worked great and wonders for me as well…If you need advice on any of those please do not hesitate to ask.. Again I would love to hear from you and can be emailed if you need any more information or just post your questions up here I am glad to answer them here as well for others to share…. Huggs Rhonda

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Jen January 27, 2009 at 2:00 pm

Heather:

I am experiencing some hairloss because I recently went off the pill. I was just wondering if it stopped for you, and if it is a temporary thing?

I may have missed it, but has anyone with excessive hairloss been checked for hypothryoid? I have it, and when my levels are out of whack, my hairs falls out a lot..
I am going to go back on the pill.
Thanks..

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Anne February 12, 2009 at 2:09 pm

I am so happy to have found this site. I have been experiencing hair loss for the better part of a year. About four months ago, I went off the pill (ortho tri cyclen lo) in the hopes of getting pregnant. In the meantime, I am experiencing hair loss that is worse than I could ever imagine. I can barely count how many hairs I lose after each combing following a shower. Even in yoga class, I an counting the hairs that shake loose and fall onto my mat. I am starting to think the hair I am losing is not growing back, as in any style at this point areas of my scalp peek through one way or another. Last year I visited two doctors, both of whom dismissed me. I elected to ignore it, but I simply can’t ignore it anymore. It’s so reassuring to read and hear from all the women here and feel a little less alone.

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Heather February 13, 2009 at 1:02 pm

Has anyone visited Dr. Redmond in New York and had success?

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Rhonda Holt February 20, 2009 at 2:01 pm

Hi everyone, I wanted to know how things have been going for you.. I read your posts and it makes me cry and want to do what I can to help with this devastating ordeal so many of us suffer from and others just do not seem to understand.. I have re-read and blogged with one lady by the name of Beth.. She is in some recent posts that her and I had a few good conversations about.. I do notice many are concerned with the birth control pills and I wish they never put these things on the market.. I also do think they are one of the main causes of hairloss… I also know because we are all different it does make a difference to find the right balance of androgen and estrogen… Some of us get to much or too little.. I also know that we need to find the right combo and as I and Beth have found the Lo-estrin 1/20 or 1.5/30 have been the right balance and have stopped our hairloss.. I have been on that pill for many years… And here is something I have found that may help you… They have the Lo-estrin24 that has not been on the market as long and I once wanted to try this BCP.. Well it started my hairloss up again and my hormones were going out of whack… I did some of my own research and found out that lo-estrin24 is not made from the same company as the 1/20 0r the 1.5/30 and the hormones in them are not the same and they are a total different manufacturer.. Now I am no expert and I only like to give advice and help on my own personal experiences and research.. You may also know that your own pharmacy may be of help in finding out what is the hormones in your BCP and do research by finding out the problems others have been having with these… I also know that generic and brand name from my own pharmacist and research are not the same hormones and will mess with your hormones.. I always stay on the brandname.. I have found that they have switched me and I myself have noticed a difference.. Then I then spoke to my pharmacist and with any brand name and generic they have to chance the fillers around so that of BCP is going to change the hormones.. and even if alittle bit to our bodies its not so little can upset the whole hormone patterns.. I have also been receiving a few emails from some of you and I have been greatful to of been able to help.. I also know that as I been giving the advice to them, as well as to all of you that what you eat food, vitamins and anything you put into your body is just as important if not more as much as what you put on the outside..So that combination needs to be balanced too.. I am 42 I have IC bladder disease and been diagnosed with symptoms of MS and chronic endometriosis along with other minor health issues and with trial and error, I have found the things that have balanced my body to where my hair does no longer fall out abnormally.. All it has taken is finding combinations of the right things to put on the inside as well as the outside.. And with a few inexpensive products for the outside and a few inexpensive vitamin supplements and things you eat like yogurt or taking a good combination of probiotics every day have not only kept my skin clear and my hairloss under control but it has balanced my weight as well… Our hairloss in made up of many different problems like our health, weight and other concerns and I know with all that I have had to fight and deal with trying to find that right combination… Its taken so many years and so many tears, not knowing what to do and you just feel like you dont want to even get out of bed, or go outside to enjoy the sunlight, or go to work.. Its that devistating to lose your hair, and I feel its even more so for us women because our hair is our crowning glory, our ideal image.. It makes us feel better about ourselves just to have the our hair and when we lose it we lose apart of ourselves… I know that self exceptance is so very important to find in ones self.. But our hair just makes us feel good about us, who we are, and waking up in the morning and looking in the mirror to see that it is all there is a vital importance to us, and those that dont go through this just dont seem to understand until they too experience it.. I persoanlly dont wish it on anyone and I sure hope I have and can help.. I also hope to set up a website someday just for this purpose and to help those with any of these issues and hope to make a difference and just to change one persons life is all that matters.. Why because I have been there.. I can be emailed if anyone needs or has any questions or advise on BCP, foods, supplements I am here if you need any advice and would like to know what I take and the things I have tried that has made a bid difference in my life… I am glad to be of help to any of you… ladyvirgo66@gmail or lilladyvixen@yahoo… I wish to you all “A very good hair day” Huggs Rhonda

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Rhonda Holt February 20, 2009 at 2:40 pm

Hi everyone, I wrote a few good comments about nutrition and if you get the chance go read it.. I really do think it will make a very big difference… This website is awesome and just to blog, talk and be there for each other really makes a huge difference… “My hair loss story” How did I get here? Is the best site I have found for people who just understand and their shared thoughts, tears joy and comments will mean more then one could ever know.. And a good poem to remember..
A friend is someone who knows who you are,
Understands where you have been,
Excepts what you have become,
Yet still gently allows you to grow..W.S.
Huggs and have a great hair day… Rhonda

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beth February 24, 2009 at 5:36 pm

hi rhonda–i tried emailing you at both the above addresses but they “weren’t valid”. any suggestions?
🙂 BETH

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D.E. March 22, 2009 at 3:49 pm

I have a similar story long thick brown hair-I think I had some gradual hair loss over the years. It is a big part of my sexual attraction and identity (girl with the pale skin and the almost black hair). At 32 I had some hair loss- Same thing- people say- “no, you have thick hair what are you talking about? I don’t see a problem” But I see the difference and I can see it in photographs. To me, my hair feels thin, definitely sparser around temples and all over the top in general. Looks thinner in general. Like parts per square inch has decreased. You all know what I am saying. I worry what will happen in the future. Part is wider- looks thinner at the top of the head etc etc.

My dermatologist had said female pattern bla bla blah, you have alopecia, etc. and told me to go on aldactone and take Biotin. (My grandmother had major f.p.b. so that worried him as well as myself. It (aldactone) made me pee a lot so I stopped it at once. I was waking up 4 times at night to pee. I have sleep probs/ anxiety as it is, so it was making my overall state worse. Dr. also said, once you start it you have to stay on it, although a couple years later, he contradicted that and told me he has weaned people off of it w/o hair falling out. I am considering restarting it.

By the way- he’s NYC area dermatologist- I wonder if others above have seen him- quite obnoxious, curly hair, but supposedly best in his field. Helps me w/ my skin probs so I keep seeing him. No other doctor in NYC area is willing to contradict him, because everyone says he is really smart.

Just kind of monitoring the situation now. When I saw the derm last year for something else, he was like, no, you don’t have alopecia. I don’t think anyone knows for sure what is going on.

I also saw Dr. Redmond the hair loss guy and he totally creeped me out. He had a weird authoritarian complex (he knows women who go see him are desperate) and told me to take aldactone, metformin and yaz (or was it yasmin). It seemed like a major cocktail and I was afraid of what that would do to my system. Metformin is a diabetes drug after all. I asked him if he was on any drug company payrolls and he got heated and disturbed and never answered the question. So it didn’t work out with him.

Back to the dermatologist- he said this happens when you have too many stray androgens. I also have been told by accupuncturists that my chi is out of wack and that you can have hormone buildups when that happens. I think this is a real issue- I KNOW my chi is out of wack- life takes a toll, and it has been a bumpy ride for me, so I suspect that is a big part of it.

Western doctors look at health biochemically, (what drugs, chemicals can they prescribe) and the accupuncturists look at it electromagnetically (fix energy pathways). I don’t like needles, but the few times I did try accupuncture, I destressed a little. I suspect that hair loss is related to a combination of biochemical and electromagnetic imbalances. Meditation, accupuncture, etc should help.

I am going to try to take my own advice on that and will report back if it helps. Meantime, will try the vinegar and the royal jelly. Question: Is royal jelly to swallow or to rub on scalp?

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Rhonda Holt April 1, 2009 at 3:34 pm

Royal Jelly is a supplement I get at vitacost.com…I buy the NSI products because they are so inexpensive… I take the royal jelly supplement and use the Braggs ACV on my scalp and body… Its an amazing product, I had a small Actininc Keretosis on my face and used a cotton ball and having it months not knowing what to do I decided to try the raw braggs with a Qtip, I did many times a day and that little AK is almost gone… I swear by the Braggs ACV, yes it smells but if its worth treating your hairloss and skin and balancing your body is well worth it…It dont smell once dried and you use other products one it, it just needs to be applied direct to the scalp, and massaged in… It dont work over night, I noticed results in about 2 weeks and now its been almost a year and I wont live with out it…. Here is a list of very good supplements for the hair and skin you can get most at vitacost.com.. I use them and tried many for years and found they are great!!! The Braggs ACV you get at you local grocery store and can order a book on the many uses of it for a few dollars.. Its not a waist of money!! I hope this helps.. Thanks and have a happy hair day….Huggss Rhonda

NSI- Synergy Womans muiltu-vitamin (Version3)
NSI- Royal Jelly 2000mg
NSI-MSM 1000mg
NSI- Chromium picolinate 200mg
NSI-KRIA Xanthin Antartic krill oil 1000mg
NSI-VitaminC, Quercetin, Green tea, L-Lysine and L-proline (all in one)
Now Sports (Amino Complete balanced amino acids ( this one i get at my own nutrion store or you put it in your search box and ask for the best price on Now Sports Amino Complete…It will give you a list of where to buy this and the prices..
I really like the NSI products, they were rated very high in quality when they tested and compared them to price and quality…. You will love them..

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M April 28, 2009 at 7:50 pm

First off, I suffer from hair loss, but due to trichotillomania. (Long story, perhaps I’ll share another time). In searching for a new wig, I came across this site. It’s brilliant! One post that really stood out for me was about doctors, so in response to this from way back in 2007, (excerpt):

admin 09.18.07 at 7:13 pm

Hi Julie –

What an awful whirlwind of events you had to go through, I’m so sorry to hear that. I hear stories like that and I just get sick to my stomach. Doctor incompetence. That’s what it is. We all are raised to believe that the doctor knows what’s best for our body, take this, take that.. After all he went to medical school. Nothing could be further from the truth. Doctor’s are people to, and as such, they are not exempt from making horrible horrible mistakes at the cost of their patients lives.

~~~~~~~~~~

I am here to say, that is ABSOLUTELY correct! I met one doctor a few years ago, at a “diagnostic clinic” of all places, who looked at my questionnaire (before even looking at me!) and within 5 minutes said he was convinced I had “too much testosterone.” I said “What?” He ticked off all the “symptoms” (weight gain, acne, etc) and then rambled on about a conference he’d just been to, about that very thing. I was suspicious IMMEDIATELY! First of all, the fact the guy just glanced at my answers to come up with a quickie diagnosis was bizarre, but even after trying to tell him the weight gain had happened over the period of more than a decade, and that the acne I’d suffered was 8 years ago, he wouldn’t budge on his theory. (The fact he’d been to a conference and was looking to diagnosis a patient with all these new findings was just the icing on the cake). I knew in every fiber of my being he was completely wrong…and when the blood tests came back normal for testosterone, I chuckled inside. HA!

Although I continued to see the guy (he was correct about my high blood pressure and was great about giving me free samples), I didn’t respect him and let him know in various ways. For example, whenever he entered the room, I would never be sitting up on the table waiting. I’d be kicked back in a “guest” chair, reading a magazine. This completely threw him off! I’d harangue him about scheduling too many patients in a day and for the long waits. I would talk to him like a regular guy. I didn’t buy into his “I’m a doctor, worship me” crap.

I’d never done that in my life! In the past, I’d been star-struck by doctors. Utmost respect. But it was intensely liberating to suddenly realize how clueless some of them really were. I looked back over all previous experiences with doctors and wished I’d had the guts to speak my mind long ago.

Bottom line, never feel bad about questioning a doctor or going with your gut feeling. If something’s not right, SAY SO! If they don’t listen, keep talking until you find someone who will. You are paying THEM for A SERVICE, whether it’s via your insurance and/or out of pocket. You can always vote with your feet.

There ARE some doctors who are saints or near-gods with their medical prowess. But yes, even they make mistakes. The best doctors are the ones who understand their strengths AND limitations, and are humbled by the power they hold in their hands.

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CJ May 3, 2009 at 12:36 am

Wow! I just stumbled on to this site by accident while searching for “cures” for my hairloss and all I can think of to say is wow-

I’ve been in denial over my hairloss for about two years now. I’ve been ignoring it- if I don’t think about it, it doesn’t exist. I’m too young (27 years old) to have this happen, I decided. My hair will grow back. This is just temporary.

I was diagnosed with Lupus a year and a half ago. I was fine one moment and not fine the next, it seemed- one day I was running around being a normal 25-year old and the next I was suddenly running constant fevers. My joints ached, my bones hurt, my lymph nodes swelled, my hair began to fall out, I had rashes on my face and scalp, I was so so so tired, and something wasn’t right.

At first my doctor was baffled. She ran a bunch of tests on me and found (of course) nothing. Nothing was wrong. Cancer? No. An infection? No. Thyroid? Anemia? Wacky hormones? Nope, nope, nope. It wasn’t until she finally tested my ANA’s that she concluded I had both SLE (Systematic Lupus) and Sjogren’s Syndrome, with a possible offset of Fibromyalgia.

I was then shoved off to a few specialists, all who told me my case was mild (hooray!) but I’d have to likely live with it’s annoyances forever (boo).

“My hair, doctor!” I said to my rheumatologist. “Will it grow back? My hair?”

He leaned in and looked at my bald patches, growing in size all over my scalp. Then he sighed.

“Oh, I know how you women are with your hair,” he said. “My wife is the same way.”

And that was it. Nothing. No solution. No, “Well, you’re obviously concerned about this so what can we do to fix it,”- nothing.

I gave up on doctors temporarily after that, feeling that my hair loss was a side effect of Lupus I would just have to deal with. And frankly, I was mad. It took me months to even get my diagnosis; months of weekly visits to my GP, months of weekly tests, and months of waiting and waiting and feeling sick and not knowing why. And now I was being told, “Oh well.”

I was tired of it.

“It’ll grow back once you get straightened out on your meds!” everyone promised. “You’ll be fine!”

Two years later and I’m still not fine. I’m still tired, my hair is still falling out (and getting more noticeable by the nanosecond), and I AM STILL NOT FINE.

Which is why I’m so happy I found this site, to see other women struggling in the way I am. My hair used to be my crowning glory- really, it was. I never had a lot of hair. I was born with my mom’s hair, thin yet coarse. But oh, how I’d baby it. I only used the best on my hair- the best shampoos and styling products (Pureology! Bumble and Bumble! Frederic Fekkai!), the best styling appliances (Chi’s! Sedu’s! Solias!). I’d drop $200 every six weeks to get it highlighted and cut. Nearly $2,000 a year!

I’ll never forget my first appointment with my hairstylist, after the hairloss had started. “You can’t even notice!” she said.

And then the next: “Oh, it’s still not very noticeable.”

And then the next: “Well, it’s a little noticeable, so we’ll dye it blonder to make it blend in with the scalp.”

And then the next, “Well, um, I think it’s beginning to grow back, I think I see little fuzzy hairs sticking up. Ever thought about a hair piece?”

Yeah.

My husband tries to be as sympathetic as possible. He’s losing his hair as well, he pointed out to me. He has male-patterned baldness.

“Oh well!” I said to him one day in a fit of fury. “You’re a guy. Society doesn’t care.”

“That still doesn’t make it hard for me to see my hair go, though.” he said. Good point. It’s sad that my husband and I are going through this together. But at least I have someone by my side who knows what it feels like to have their physical appearance so severely altered in such a short time frame.

So, short story long, here I am. I’m ready to tackle this head on. My hiatus from doctors is over. I’m sick of losing my hair, and I’m sick of doctors telling me it’s nothing and rolling their eyes at me and it’ll grow back, and I’m sick of not knowing if this will ever stop. I think that’s the hardest part about this- what if my hairloss never ends? What if I lose it all?

I firmly believe that my hairloss is a sign of something. It is thinning out mostly on the sides of my head, with a bit of thinning now beginning at the crown and by my part. This is a sign of something, this hair loss. If everything was functioning fine and honky dory, I wouldn’t be losing my hair. Something is amiss, and I need to find the right doctor willing to work with me to figure this out (which is the hard part, as you all seem to know!).

I started Rogaine tonight (5% foam), Nioxin last week, and the Nioxin Recharging Complex (Biotin vitamins, essentially) two weeks ago. Doctors appointments are scheduled and I will be pressing for an appointment with a dermatologist. Hopefully one that deals with autoimmune disorders and hairloss, but I’ll take whatever I can get at this point.

So that’s my story. Thank you for letting me vent. I look forward to sticking around to update and figure out what else I can learn from you lovely ladies. ?

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M.J May 8, 2009 at 5:53 pm

Hi guys,
i am 20yrs old and after taking yasmin for a few months i noticed my hair appered to be shedding. i stopped yasmin and a year after my crown appers to be thinning even more. i have good days and bad days but in reality, i cant believe that some people would risk their longterm health with such drastic medication, which can increase the risk of cancer. i am moving away in a year after i have finised university and i have made the decision that if my hair gets any worse (havn’t tried medication yet, will do this throught the year) i will shave it and get a wig. This is not the end of the worl, my mum has had trouble with thinning hair and for a time it ruined her life. i wont let this happen to me, there are much much worse things to happen to people. we should be thankful for overall health and try our best in dark moments to think of people much worse off.
xxx xxx xxx xxx

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Mynue May 12, 2009 at 6:32 am

For the longest time I thought I was the only one struggling with hair loss. You ladies are so strong! I mean reading this was a breath of fresh air knowing that you ladies have it worst then I, but still you’re so strong! and I thought I had it bad? Just today I was thinking about shaving my head and using some scalp serum and let my hair grow back to see what the results are? But I’m really kinda scare… What are some of your opinions about that? I would love to hear…

Thanks so much for inspiring all ladies out there who are going through the similar situations.

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Liz May 25, 2009 at 9:55 am

Hi everyone,
Im so happy that I found this site. I have been losing hair say umm about 8 months now. I have a very high stressed life, but overall I do take decent care of myself. I am currently taking Yaz. I have gone to my gyno to have tests run due to the recent hairloss, and all my hormones were pretty good. She knew how concerned I was about my hair so she sent me to a derm. He sat and spoke with me for a while, and let me know he wanted to run some other test. After all my hormones were fine, and he did not believe it was genetics b/c that he stated occurs very slowly. I do however have my father who has been balding but only in his later years. Anyway just this Fri they called me with the results for my test and my A.N.A. test came back positive. I know that has to do with autoimmune diseases, so Im a little scare as I have my appt this coming week. I read someone else mention this a bit earlier and am seriously freaking out. I see how courageous you women have been with your hairloss, and I fell that I spend most of my time looking on line for different causes and cures. I do have to say however, about a comment posted earlier about apple cider vinegar, try it. I too have used it and notice a difference.I am thinning currently at the crown of my head, but it’s also great for your skin. Also I take biotin, vit C, a multivitamin, my omega 3’s (which has flax seed, fish oil, and borage oil) zinc, and super b complex. If anyone had any advice or if there is anything I can do to help please let me know. I hope you all are blessed.

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Liz May 25, 2009 at 10:02 am

….from my prev msg. I have decided to use the folicure shampoo and conditioners, rinse every 2 days with acv, and decided against rogaine. To me it doesnt solve the root of the problem just a temporary fix. Once you stop using it, it continues to fall, and I personally dont have the money to take it for the rest of my life. best wishes.

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Yaya May 25, 2009 at 4:04 pm

After having my daughter my hair started growing really long and really fast for the first time in my life.I loved my long silky hair.I waited a month after giving birth to get on birth control, a few weeks later my hair started to dull and fall out when I touched it, combed it and washed it. It was everywhere .It was thinning more every day even the edges of my hair thinned dramatically.My husband suggested that it could be the birth control i was taking.I stopped taking the pills and within two weeks my hair loss stopped.It even thickened up a little and the length i had grew back.Its good to know im not the only one out there that went through that.Im warning anyone taking birth control beware of the side effects.

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katerina June 2, 2009 at 3:50 pm

Hi! Thanks for sharing your story with us, and i ‘d like to salute this site, not only because one can find a lot of info, but most importantly for the support that women like us get. I really feel the need to share my story with you i am starting to cope with it and I just realised that I am not alone i thought so far. First I started loosing my hair when i was 11 years old! I am 19 now, so it has been 8 years now and as you all know, coming to terms with this problem is not simple or easy. When I was 11 years old my mum noticed that my strands odf hair started falling off. As my mum and a few members of my family are suffering from androgenetic alopekia, she instantly refered me to a dermatologist. For a few years i was using dermatological treatment, until my doctor figures out that it has to do with my hormones, and since them i am taking spiro and i have been informed that most propably i will have to take them for the rest of my life which is nothing compaired to the emotional impact. When my friends were worrying about the colour or the style of their hair, i was worried about the amount of my hair. From time to time I really feel this pressure, but most of the time I try to leave my problem to the back of my head and continue my life. I know how you guys feel, I have been through the same. Nights crying to sleep, asking the same question again and again ‘why me?’. And as a teenager I suffered a lot. I could never have my hair fixed the way i wanted and comparing my hair to my friends’ hair was sinking me deep into depression. Now I ‘ve learnt to cope with the things that i cannot change and i am in the process to accept it. At least i recognise that this problem make me the person i am now. I realised that life is not only about hair.
I really feel the need to thank you for creating this site! It has helped me a lot! Thank you! And please remember you are not alone!

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Andie June 4, 2009 at 12:31 am

I too started taking Ortho-Tricyclen via patch when I was 19. I had thick hair and I finally had it to start growing faster than it used to. However, I went off the patch when I broke up with a guy and months later I realized I was picking at my hair in the back like it was a foreign object. It felt like some type of residue that oozed out of my scalp and enveloped my hair follicle. I was able to pick out hairs in the back of my scalp without it hurting at all. I was pulling out hairs one by one, but it didn’t hurt. I mean, I can pluck a hair out of my head now and it hurts, but back then it didn’t hurt at all. I realized why now. It was because it was falling out. Falling out from who knows what. I always blamed the birthcontrol when I learned about and the effects of various hormones like androgen, estrogen and testerone. I also started growing hair on my face. My face! I was only 19. WTF?! My hair was falling out and I didn’t know how bad until one day I was going to walk out the door and my mother asked me if I was going to cover the spot in the back of my head with some hair. I told her not to worry and my hair was fine until a few months later I didn’t know it had gotten worse until one day I got curious about what the back of my hair looked like. I took a handheld mirror to look at the back of my head in the bathroom mirror and my mouth dropped. I had huge bald spots in the back of my head. I cried so hard. I was so embarrassed. Everyone at work had seen it and on the train and on the streets. Birth control also lead to my PCOS. I am pissed about this poison that they give women to take so men can have a better sexual experience without the fear of knocking you up. My gynecologist I had at the time said that birth control doesn’t make your hair fall out. Then I dumped her. How dare she. She wasn’t me. The birth control they were giving women as of today is chemically different from the ones our mothers took. Which is why my mother’s hair didn’t fall out. I also found out that I was also predispositioned to Lupus in which I recently have self-diagnosed after I realized all the inflammation my body was going through. My stomach, the sac around my heart, my lungs, my wrists, my elbow, my hip, my gums, and most likely, my hair follicles. I realized the inflammation goes from organ to organ, joint to joint. This is what Lupus does. So, I got a double whammy. Right now, I have done 10 years of studying by myself since I can’t afford the elaborate fees of a doctor to tell me to take spironlactone and other drugs…all of which will not state it will help your hair grow back. So, I just felt that the drugs will only mask the problem. I needed a fix. I think I finally found my miracle drug combination that I will be starting and it’s not MSM. Right now, I waiting for the “n acetyl cysteine” along with my “Emu oil”. Both have been proven with some qualities. I heard the cysteine will get right to the source of helping with hair growth problems from internal body issues. Cysteine has been used to clean the body from drug overdoses of acetaminophen even. It’s been known to work for cancer and AIDS, however it’s still being tested medically for it’s benefit. You have to be careful with this amino acid because it cleanses the body of minerals too. It’s a chelating amino acid which means you have to take Copper, Iron and Zinc along with vitamin C to replace it in your body. The Emu oil is a transcendent oil that mimicks the skin and takes out inflammation in the skin. It’s the perfect oil for the human body as no other oil transcends like it does. Not only that but it’s good with healing burns and it’s loaded with amino acid. There have been reports that Emu oil rubbed onto areas of the bald scalp encourages hair growth that minoxidil or any other pharmaceutical hair tonic can do. You can buy an Amino Acid mix or drink or liquid, but you will notice that it does not have n acetyl cysteine or glutathione because it’s just that good. I just don’t want anyone else to feel as awful as I do, but I will be coming up with a more complete combination to really work on hair growth and correcting the body hormones. It’s a start. I’ll let you all know how I do on this.

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Vicky June 5, 2009 at 3:21 pm

Can anyone let me know if they are thinning in the front? Because I feel like all the hair above my temples is getting thinner and thinner and am afraid it will all fall out and give me a huge forehead. Does anyone else have this? Seems like frontal hair loss but its also all over my head its aga. Please help!

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elise June 15, 2009 at 2:29 pm

My hair getting thin over the past few months and I thought it’s just one of the thing of getting older (menopause) that women have to endure, but becase the extrem uncomforable hot lasses a bout a month a go I went to see the GYN he presscrive Prempro 0.3mg and it help.
My hair now falling like getting a hair cut with out sissor, in on ly a week I can see a big ball spot in front of my head . I had a full set of hair even it after the last few month. ..
The GYN said it never happen to his patients before, but if I believe it happen to me I should stop taking the med. He can’t do anything else for me?
If any one suffer the same experient please advive

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elise June 17, 2009 at 12:26 pm

Can hair colored or strips teeth whitening making your hair falling out ?
OMG ! My pillow full of hairs this morning. I don’t want to comp or wash my hair any more… It’s a nightmare, but I can’t wake up.
How can I stop it or may be just die ?

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Marie-Eve June 18, 2009 at 3:38 am

My hair was never uber thick …it’s wavy and fine. I’m trying to find out reasons why it’s thinning out more and more. In my early twenties, I wasn’t exactly healthy..I smoked, drank, exercised excessively, had sproratic periods of anorexia and bulimia, broke up devastatingly with two boyfriends and was depressed – all the while being on the pill. However, in the last 5 years or so, I’ve been taking care of myself. I no longer smoke, I exercise moderately, I eat very healthy, I have a loving husband, and I have a good job. I just noticed that my hair has been thinning…it’s about two inches below my chin and I have what you call “see through hair”. Everytime I look in the mirrow I burst into tears, I’m angry and resentful that I have this hair. My dad’s sister is really unhealthy, has diabetes, is obese, and has NO hair. His other sister doesn’t exactly have a lot of hair either but she’s 67. I have nightmares of looking like that. My mom has nice hair, my dad is bald…I have three sisters, my twin has fine hair like me but not so bad, my two little sisters have more hair but one of them has gorgeous hair…I just wish I had nice hair! I’m off the pill now and taking minoxidil. Can things in the past really permanent damage your hair if you take great care of it now?

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Catlin June 23, 2009 at 6:33 pm

Hello everybody!:)
First of all, I would like to thank each and every one of you for being so open and honest about your situations. Reading these comments has given me information, strength, hope and resources.
I started losing my hair about 3 years ago. One day, inthe shower, I lost probably around 350 hairs (two big clumps). I FREAKED. I thought mOst likely it was from my drug use ( I’m a former opiate addict, clean now, but using at that point), and blamed it on that. I continued to lose about 40% of my hair over the next month. Surprisingly, I never had any bald spots, just a ton of hair loss. I would sit in the shower, pulling clumps and clumps out of my head, crying my eyes out. I went through an immense depression: not leaving the house, staring in the mirror fixating on my hair, not brushing or washing my hair for weeks at a time because that’s when it fell out the most, and eventuAlly losing my boyfriend because of my depression.
I went to see my dermatologist and he drew my blood: everything was normal.. I couldn’t believe this!! How could my full, thick HUMONGOUS head of hair be so thin, and nothing be causing it? I have never been on birth control, so I was pretty sure my hormones weren’t a factor. I saw a naturopath and was put on about 40 pills of suppliments a day.. I saw slight improvement, butafterabout 3 months of dealing with naseau and just frustration of having to swallow so many pills a day, I quit the suppliments.
My hair stopped falling out for about 1.5 years.. Then, about a week ago, it started falling out again. I know it isn’t drugs: I’ve been clean for almost 2 years. I’m only 23 years old and have no history of family baldness. My stress level is low (until my hair starts fallng out:) and I eat very well-balanced meals. I’m going back to my dermatologist this week to try to get more answers.
I would love some advice! I was so thrilled to find some similar storiesand situations, I wish you all the best!
Catlin

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Mel July 4, 2009 at 3:52 pm

For the past few days the only thing I can think about it my ever thinning hair. In the sun light you can see my scalp through my fine hairs on the top of my head. It seems like since I noticed that my hair was thinning it is getting worse by the day. I stopped taking Ortho Tri cyclen lo about 4 months ago. After reading these posts I am starting to think this is the cause of my sudden hair loss. There is no history in my family of female pattern baldness.
You can imagine how angry I am that I was prescribed this pill in the first place. I had been on Diane 35 for 3 years with no negative side effects, however I had to stop taking it because it got too expensive. I am 21 years old and find it extremely scary that my hair is falling out at such an alarming rate.
Has anyone on here noticed growth in the hair with time? or has any medications helped?

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Pauline July 7, 2009 at 4:43 am

I find myself so depressed today…. I feel like all I can do is obsess about my hair (or lack of it). I just turned 36 and my hair has been gradually thinning for the last 13 years. It is hereditary as my mom has the same issue. I see her and want to cry as I know it’s where I am headed. I am doing Rogaine again, but I can never seem to stay on it for long as it makes my scalp itch terribly. I usually get to a point where I can’t take it and quit. I am getting to the point where I worry all the time about the scalp showing in the front where it’s thinned the most. I find myself so envious of others who have thick hair. I have yet to find a doctor who really gets it. I have been to 2 dermatologists and 3 family doctors who all tell me my bloodwork is normal and to try Rogaine. Where do I go from here except to start looking at hairpieces? Yes I do thank God for the life I have. I am also thankful for this group of open honest women.

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Vicky July 8, 2009 at 6:58 pm

Mel since you just got off loestrin that is def the reason for your shed, When you go off a bcp this usually always happens. In order to stabilize the loss, you need to get back on bcp. A good idea would be to start diane 35 again because you already know its good for you and also its usually used to treat womens hair loss. Also, did you get diane 35 online? cuz i know its not fda approved in the US?

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Vicky July 10, 2009 at 4:36 pm

Pauline since you said your hair has been thinning for 13 years im guessing it started around 23? well im 22 and my hair started thinning a year ago, but i feel its progressing rapidly. Since you have been enduring this for much longer I hope you can help me by answering some questions. Is it obvious to other people> can you still hide it? ..My thinning is greatest on temples and hairline and just overall thinner in the front. Is that the same for you? Please let me know thanks so much

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G.S. July 14, 2009 at 10:01 am

ANDIE, thank you for your note. I was reading and couldn’t believe it was like reading my own story.
I have been experiencing hair loss over the last 2 months and just couldn’t put two and two together the cause of it, until I started researching birth control and hair loss. I have been taking Ortho Tri Cyclen for 8 years and stopped it several months ago in preparing to become pregnant, I am 28. I can clearly say that I lose my hair because of I stopped taking the pill because I have not been experiencing any stress, I eat very healthy, I take multi vitamins and supplements, and I have no medical issues or illnesses. My hair is shedding just like Andie’s were. I would see this residue around the hair follicle after it falls out. I thought it was hair products residue that I was using, so I stopped. But the residue didn’t go away. My hair continues to fall out and I continue to cry in front of the mirror and freak out when I wash my hair, forget about blow dry. It is absolutely devastating. I am so outraged that the warning on the pill package doesn’t say that this would be the case when a woman stops taking the pill after prolonged use. The warning mentions only the fact that one may experience hair loss as a side affect WHILE on the pill. If I would have known, I would have never taken the damn pill. Is the hair loss going to stop sometime soon or am I going to become bald? I can’t be on the pill any longer, I want to become pregnant but does that mean I am going to be bald? I don’t even know what I feel more – an outrage for these pills are so damaging or sorrow for the loss of my hair.
Anyhow, I am very happy to have found this website and read your stories. I feel your pain with all my heart. All of your advice have been extremely helpful and I can’t wait to try many of these methods.

Thank you all! You are wonderful. Only women that experience this can understand it. Continue sharing your stories and advice.

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Jessica July 23, 2009 at 1:22 pm

Hi everyone. I just wanted to share my story because I Do believe that the experts on women’s hairloss are the those that are experiencing it. No doctor ever gave me any advice that was worth a dime, and yet I’ve learned so much from other girls going through this. In 2004, 3 months after discontinuing Alesse birth control pill, I experienced a severe shedding. I was pulling strings of my already fine hair out of my head at an alarming rate. I thought I Was going bald, or that I had cancer, or that I was definitely sick. I had NO CLUE it could be my birth control pill. I was so devastated that I took a 3 week leave from work and travelled to relieve some stress so that I wasn’t completely devastated. I got extensions put into my hair to add volume, by this wonderful woman who made me feel like everything was going to be okay. And about 3-4 months into my shed, I went back on the pill, this time it was Yasmin as I heard it helped. Fast forward through two years of still wearing extensions, and taking the pill, and my stylist said – Hey, you don’t really need these anymore, your hair has really thickened up. She took them out and I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t need them anymore. I didn’t have thick hair but it was fine on it’s own. I felt like I won. My hair got thicker and thicker and I was pretty happy with it. It’s funny because the dermatologists that I went to said I had AGA – however, is that possible if when on the pill my hair comes back in? Wouldn’t AGA indicate that the follicle is dying?? Anyway, last year in March, I went off the pill and again – right at the 3 month mark it shed. However, I was trying to get pregnant and by month 4, I was pregnant. The hair continued to shed through the first 2-3 months of my pregnancy, but it was horrific. Then all of the sudden, it stopped completely. For 6 months straight, I swear I didn’t lose one hair. It was amazing. Now I will say that my hair thickened up, I didn’t have any sparse spots. It was perfect. I cut it shoulder length and it actually looked sort of thick! Here I am today at 3.5 months postpartum experiencing HORRIBLE post partum shedding. I mean, maybe 200-300 hairs a day fall out. What’s funny is that I’m totally calm about it. Maybe because I have this beautiful baby that I care so much about that my hair seems like less of a priority than it used to… but then again, I’m still looking for a solution. I hope that I don’t have to get back on the pill to stop this hairloss because I really don’t think that medicating yourself with the enemy is the key. It’s hormonal, and your body has to figure it out right? I don’t know what to do. I am breastfeeding so I really can’t go back on the pill unless I stop nursing. I also am confused because if I have AGA – why is my hair able to become thicker and full when I am on estrogen (whether my own from pregnancy, or the pill)?? I have to believe that because my hair has come back to normal when on the pill or pregnant, that I don’t have AGA despite with the “biopsies” say. It’s so confusing, I’m not sure what to do…. Just wanted to share.

Love you all.

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Tara July 30, 2009 at 9:38 pm

Rhonda – I sent a you note to your email address, but also thought I would reach out to you on the site in hopes you could share w/me how quickly your hair loss stopped once you went back on Loestran. I was also on Loestran and noticed my hair loss as well when I went, i’ve been off 5 months. At this point, i’m thinking of going back on this weekend.

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Rhonda Holt August 4, 2009 at 12:18 am

Tara, if you have emailed me then maybe I did explain to you as I have others, it takes about 2 to 3 months for your hair to stabilize and cycle, I also have noted to others to stay away from (Lo-Estrin24) its not the same company or drug, and I have heard more horror stories about this BCP, if your going back on you need to go to the old formulas.. Lo-estrin1.5/30 28day cycle or Lo-estrin 1/20 28 day cycle.. they are the same just the doses are adjusted… The Loestrin24 is not the same manufacture.. And has caused problems.. I also listed in a few forums what you need to balanced your body with the proper nutrients as well.. I hope this helps and i feel so bad when i hear what you ladies are going through… You will notice your shedding slowing down after you complete one month cycle, but it should stop after 3 months and will grow better if you take the nutrients I have listed above… Again I can be reached at lilladyvixen@yahoo, for any questions or if you just would like to talk… }i{ugs and }i{appy hair days to you all…Rhonda

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Tara August 9, 2009 at 9:21 am

This question is for the Admin who submitted her hair loss story on 8/30/07. I was wondering if you thought of going back on Loestrin since Orthotryclen did not seem to be working? This story is from 2 yrs ago and was wondering how you’re doing today?

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Donna August 10, 2009 at 1:43 am

Hello everyone. I’m happy that i found this website.

I’m 25 years old and been taking care of my hair for the past year now. I also experienced excessive hair loss way back year 2003, after a hair straightening treatment from a salon.

After several months, the hair loss stopped… but it comes back seasonally. My hair became thin as well.. From a thick black hair. I felt depressed and cried buckets too.

But there’s always hope. Have you tried using Virgin Coconut Oil? it really helps.. Everytime i notice excessive hair fall, i used VCO every night and i noticed that my hair fall reduced.I also believe that everything happens for a reason.

I really salute women here who remained braved and calm inspite and despite of…

As what the other poster here said on her blog, Life is more than a hair in our scalp. 🙂

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Monica Schmdit August 12, 2009 at 8:02 am

Hi.
I’ve never been one to make entries in these sort of links but in light of events i think i will venture today. I live with my husband and three kids in the north of Mexico. My life was so different a year ago. Our youngest daughter was facing her third heart surgery and i sat often to surf the internet for information on that. We had a period of five weeks to wait for the surgery and my husband and i kept the secret from our elder children, ages 10 and 7 and the overwhelming stress took a toll on me. NOt immediately because i kept a tight lid on it, and like all hot pots when the boiling got too intense it came out the top..my hair. Our daughter, thank God, is doing miraculously well today. The period of recovery was a challenge but overall smooth.
Four months after her surgery, i noticed my hair was falling off- in chunks. It was alarming to me because the last thing i wanted was to be sick when i knew i had to be alert and focused. My hair was falling so fast that the denial stage of both my husband and mother lasted only a week before they had to give in and accept, its not normal to comb your hair and get twenty hairs on the brush every time. I went to a dermatologist and she explained that it could be diet or stress related. I accepted the second choice more, she explained that after a giant shock or stress, because of the hair cycles, three or four months later the hair part affected would reach the surface and fall off which is what happened to me. Im not sure if this makes anyone feel any better, sometimes its scarier not to have a definite reasone, a concrete cause, because our quest in hairloss makes for self diagnosis. I spent a fortune on shampoo, lotions and some pills i took once a day. I know spending money is not the goal, but somehow psychologically it gives you comfort and your minds gets off it-its like passing the problem to someone else.
A year later, i find my hair has once again thinned out, im not sure if its worse or not than last year, though deep down i fear it is. I have days when i wake up and spend the entire day obsessing about it, constantly checking, pulling to see how many fall off, i have even caught myself with a magnifying glass! The situation is not too noticeable for others, ofcourse my way of speaknig out maybe doesnt help since everyone around me knows this, and i am proyecting my hair to come back, i hear sometimes this can take years. If your liver takes seven years to regenerate, i wonder how many it takes your scalp to do the same.
My little girl was born with a severe heart defect. Prayers and amazing intervention have allowed her to become a cheerful healthy three year old even when some sites or some doctors had told us this would never be possible. So yes, i choose to belief my hair will restore itself, and though sometimes i feel its unfair to have hardships again i still cant do anything more than trust and find ways to relieve stress.
What bothers me the most is that i dont like people touching my head, my kids try to reach for it and i pull away, so i guess as i write this , im writing it more for me, because i can replace my hair with high self esteem or a wig or go bald and proud, but there is no replacing the hand of my little ones on my head and i cant stand im missing out on that.
I want to say to all the women out there searching the blogs. Facts about losing hair are simple as far as i have seen. One. It sucks. Yes. Most people will try to deny its happening to protect you or not understand what you are going through. Two. It makes you feel shallow to obsess about this but hey..give yourself a break..your scalp is an organ so its just as important as the heart or your lungs,etc..Three. Stress is your enemy. Four. Nothing is impossible so dont let words like irreversible define you, God is limitless.
And finally, remember before your hair started falling? how you never even knew about this, alopecia, or hairloss in women? remember life before you would look at someones hair before their eyes? well…try to remember that time and understand that the world outside us goes on like that, most people dont give the importance to hair that we do, so most of the damage we feel is self inflicted. We talk about supportive husbands and partners, and whilst that is great news, i really long to say im supportive of myself.

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Kelly September 3, 2009 at 7:00 pm

Lets see…sixteen months ago, I stopped taking Yasmin, and for fourteen of those months I experienced major hair loss plus no periods all those months. I was constantly losing hair. I could run my fingers through my hair and have a hand full of hair. It was embarrassing to me to even go get a hair cut. I tried everything to stop it from falling out. I went to my doctor a few months ago, and had blood work done, everything came back fine. I did though, start the pill again, and for the past couple of months I have noticed that Im not losing as much hair. Dont know if this is a coincidence or what, but I hope taking the pill again has stopped my hair from falling out.

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Marie September 4, 2009 at 5:59 am

Hello!

So here is my hair loss story: I am 31 and have been in the military for 11 years. So, unfortunately, I am cursed to dealing with military doctors who are infamous for misdiagnosing patients. Approximately 2 years ago I developed a blood clot in my leg while traveling (I live in Japan). My doctors immediately put me on blood thinners and then concluded that I have a condition called Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome (APS). Well, they concluded that I need to be on blood thinners for life. However, all the research that I have done shows that I should have been taken off of it after the first 6 months (when the blood clot had resolved) and put on aspirin therapy-1 pill a day, since this was my first and only clot. Well, my doctors never took into account that I was on the Nuvo ring and was taking it (as another military doctor suggested) continuously for 3 months at a time, therefore I only had 4 periods a year. Well, this particular BC contains very high levels of a certain chemical that causes blood clots, and add into that two 20 hour plane flights in a 2 week period. Anyway, long story short…I cannot take BCP pills anymore because of the blood thinners, and have lost most of my hair in addition. I do not know whether its linked to stopping BC or the blood thinners, or even both. I want to come off the blood thinners, but the doctors tell me its too much of a risk. I know they are wrong, but I can’t tell them that, and I can’t get a second opinion because of where I live. Not only that, but they have decided to discharge me from the military based on the diagnosis of this doctor (even though all my current blood tests for this condition are normal). So in essence, I have lost my hair, career, confidence, and my sanity. I used to have extremely thick, gorgeous curly hair. Now I hate to leave the house. I have started minoxidil, Viviscal, and just ordered some Folligen to try. I just can’t bear seeing all that hair in the shower anymore. Just wish we had more options that actually work…

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Liz September 9, 2009 at 7:32 pm

Wow, I had no idea anyone else experienced this same phenomenon. I’m so glad I found this site … I stopped my BCPs over a month ago after taking them for 2 years, and I kept noticing several strands coming out every time I combed my hair or wash my hair. I thought it was a coincidence, because I’ve always heard that taking BCPs can cause hair loss, but I never heard that STOPPING them can cause hair loss too. Thanks so much for the advice on the ortho-tricyclen. I will give that a try, because I took it before and swore that it made my hair thicker — just thought it was my imagination. HA! … I’ve always had thin, fine hair, so it’s something I’ve lived with and have (so far) been able to work around. Jeez, I wish the best of success with hair growth for all the women reading this.

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Nanette September 22, 2009 at 4:51 pm

Wow, I am so moved by everyone’s stories. I feel a certain level of comfort knowing how common this has become and I am not alone. My hair is definitely thinning. I look in the mirror everyday at my hair and express my concerns to friends and family, but they all tell me I’m crazy and I’m not going bald. I know I am though. I have seen the progression for several years. I obssess about it so much at times that I find myself staring at the top of other women’s heads (my 15 year old daughter’s most often) to compare their hair thickness or amount of part exposed (mine is becoming wider). I fear that in the not too distant future it will become impossible for me to conceal my hair loss.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism 4 or 5 years ago. If I just played with my long hair, which I used to do quite often, it would wind up in my hands. It got to the point where for the entire 2008, I would lose clumps and clumps in the shower and when I brushed my hair. I would count the hairs that I placed on the shower wall and would lose at least 100 in the shower every day, then another 50 to 100 when I brushed. It sent me into panic mode since it didn’t begin to get that bad until 2008 when I was 38.

I periodically read up on female hair loss when it starts to really bother me looking for any help. Many times I would come across sites that stated Synthroid, the synthetic medication for hypothyroidism, can actually cause hair loss in rare cases. This is also stated on the pharmacy printout. I switched to the natural thyroid replacement Armour in January and about a month later I was not losing clumps like I had been for so long. I still continue to see my hair thinning, albeit its a slow process, it still appears to continue. My immediate “fix” for my thinning hair is a product called Nanogen, which are small fibers that attach to existing hair and help to conceal it slighly. For now, it raises my level of confidence, but I’m still waiting for that miracle that restores my hair to what it used to be…or at least lets me keep what I have.

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Vanessa October 8, 2009 at 8:31 am

Hi, I’m 28 and my hair started thinning when I was 21. I was not on birth control at all and I didnt really pay much attention to the hair falling. But 6 months later, i realized i had a problem. 6 months after that, my brother died and i thought maybe my hair was falling out because of that. My parents both have pattern baldness and so did my brother. My other brother has a thick healthy head of hair. I went to get all the checkups and I’m fine. I’m in great shape, eat well, and there’s only one solution – hair piece. Also – by the way, i take a generic form of Loestrin called Microgestin – the hormone levels are really balanced. All stylist have told me the same thing – once the hair starts shedding/falling, its not going to grow back. I aceepted it and all of you should too. It may be depressing, but it is what it is. So, what hairpiece is good for you? Its especially difficult when you have thinning at the crown of the head like me. If you have the $, there are places that will custom make a hairpiece for you where your own hair is pulled out of little holes, so that your scalp can breathe and get cleaned, etc. Obviously having your own hair would be best, but you can’t look backwards, only forwards.

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Sachinky October 21, 2009 at 6:16 pm

Hi. I’m 22 years old. I have been taking OrthoTriCyclen since March 2008. I always had a thick head of head, nearly unmanageable but it has thinned out quite a bit — not noticeable but I can definitely tell. I chalked that up to regular shampoo/blowdry/straightening during the last four years in college. Never thought about my BCP. I didn’t lose a lot of hair in the shower or blowdrying — just a few strands here and there.

I stopped BCP exactly 2 months ago since my husband and I are on separate continents and will be for the next 3 months. I wanted to give my body a rest. However, from the last month my hair has been coming out in chunks — in the shower or even if I run my hands through it. I’m terrified to even comb it. I have discontinued using a blowdryer or straightner — I’d rather have curly messy hair than no hair at all. I am also under a lot of personal stress currently. My question is should I go back on my BCP (since I didn’t lose a lot of hair, just a little thinning — not that I’m happy about that) or should I remain off it for good and hope this hairfall ceases in another month or two? Thanks. Please advise!

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Hannah November 9, 2009 at 7:11 am

Hey Ladies-

Thank you sharing all of your stories. I can completely sympathisize with all of you, hair loss can be an emotional rollercoaster and very hard to overcome. I started losing my hair at age 20, and now I am 23 and still losing a lot of hair everyday. I am not sure what the cause of my hair loss is exactly, I have been diagnosed with Androgenetic Alopecia from my doctor but do not have anyone in my family who has had this kind of hair loss. I have been on BC for the last 4 years, starting with Orthotricycline and switching to Yasmin. I am not sure what pill is better for me, but they both have not seemed to help with my hair loss. Currently I am taking the essential multivitamins, spironolactone, and rogaine. I have only been on rogaine for about a month, but am hopeful it will work to regrow my hair. If any of you have been diagnosed with the same problem, I would love to know what, if anything, has helped you. I am a young woman who has, unfortunately, become depressed with the amount of hair I have lost over the years. I have lost friends, a boyfriend, and so much time worrying about my hair. Please reach out to me if you have some solutions you think will work for me. Thank you all, I wish you the best of luck in finding the solution that works for you. Stay strong and continue to live life to the fullest. Just know that you are not alone in this fight with hair loss.

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Mary B November 14, 2009 at 7:23 pm

I have been reading and feeling the pain all of you are going through. I started loosing my hair about 3 yrs ago when I stopped taking BC. I had been taking it from the age of 14 and now I am 28. I honestly think it has something to do with my hair loss. Like most of you I went to the doctor, then the dermatologist and in the end they didn’t find anything wrong. I tried stuff I found on the internet which just made me break out and look greasy. I tried rogane but I didn’t want more to fall out first so I just stopped. Then one day talking to a friend she told me to try a vitamin supplement called Biotin. In a couple weeks after taking the recommended dose I started to see little hairs growing back. My hair is still not full and I don’t think it will ever get back to the way it used to be though it was very thin before; its something. I found the vitamin at Target for very cheap. Who knows if it will work for everyone but I thought it was worth a try. After reading a entry on here I see there is a shampoo by Nexxus that is a Biotin Shampoo and cream. Tomorrow I will be going to the store to find it.

Much Love and strength to all going through this. —

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Jocelyn November 17, 2009 at 6:38 pm

As a teenager I remember being embarrassed because my mom wore a wig. At the time I had no idea that I would inherit hair loss!! At 33 I’m married with two great kids and still find myself consumed by my own hair loss. It’s completely irrational when there are so many people fighting for their health, but I can’t stop myself. I worry that I won’t be attractive to my husband, I worry that people are staring as the sun glares on my head where you can see straight through to my scalp, I worry and worry. I just started taking Rogain after 3 months of Nioxin. I’m hoping this will help me to retain the hair I have. With each year I notice it getting thinner and thinner and try to ignore it, but it’s not going to go away. I’ve been through many difficult things in my life so I don’t plan to walk away from this without a fight. Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories. It’s so helpful to feel surrounded by women who really “get it”!!!

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Tara November 30, 2009 at 11:37 am

Hi,
This question is for the admin who posted her story on 8/30/07. I was wondering if you could email my personal email, I would love to talk w/you because I feel our stories are very similiar. I was also on Loestrin and when I stopped, my hair began to shed in handfuls. Please email me @asiu@live.com. Again, I would really love to speak with you directly.

Thanks!

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MiaFlores December 3, 2009 at 2:06 am

I’m glad I found this site. I don’t know that, in the end, it makes me feel a ton better about what’s happening to me, but at least I know there are people here who understand and with whom I can be honest about what is happening. I think the worst part is how alone and ashamed I feel to even be around friends and family right now.

I’m 35 years old. I’ve never felt I was a beauty, but I was decent looking, and the one attractive feature I always had was nice hair. My hair has been waistlength to tailbone length, dark, shiny, nice texture…. Also, I’m of a cultural background where long, full hair is very much valued–expected really–for women (even more so than in American culture at large.) So, I’ve cared for it well, used no dyes or harsh chemicals, treated it gently and kept it healthy and nicely trimmed.

I’d realized I had some very gradual thinning probably over the last 10-15 years, but nothing drastic. I’d been on the NuvaRing for about 7 years without any big incident. Then, this summer, I tried to go off the NuvaRing. And all hell broke loose.

In three months time, I went from having a full, lovely head of hair and no major skin problems to incredbly awful cystic acne and my hair falling out by the handfuls!

At first I thought it was just a temporary shed…but soon I noticed my hair was getting a LOT thinner. At this point, I have lost 1/3 – 1/2 the hair I had in June. In the last month (month 4) it’s reached the point where it’s become really hard to hide it. There is a patch at the top-back of my head that is so thin, it’s become hard to cover. The temples and sides of my head are also thin and hard to cover, and all over I can just see rivers of scalp when my hair separates or is put up/pulled aside.

It’s stunning how quickly and relentlessly this has happened!

My doc put me back on NuvaRing (there were other side effects from going off of it–skin and hair aside, I reacted very poorly to the drop in estrogen and increase in testosterone–mood, dysmenorhea, etc.) She said the hairloss should stop and hair start growing back. I’ve been back on it for almost a month. Other symptoms have started to slowly improve, but my hair continued to drop and I don’t see any signs of regrowth yet. I’ve started Nizoral (1%) about a week or two ago. I’m taking hair formula vitamins. I’ve had blood tests. My ferretin was 32 (normal, but low-ish end maybe?). B12 and the TSH4 also in normal range. I’m waiting for results on testosterone, progesterone, and two other levels. I have an appointment with a dermatologist in a couple weeks (soonest I could get.) But in the meantime, I’m so lost, and so desperate.

I am just devistated I don’t know what to do. I’ve reached the point where I’m afraid to go out of the house without a hat on. I cry (sob, really) over this every day, which makes me feel silly and cry more. I’m afraid to see friends and family. I feel ugly and ashamed all the time. And I worry about what the future will bring. (Will this hair loss stop? Can I grow enough of it–any of it–back and feel normal again? Will I be too unattractive to men to be loved and desired again? What about having children–will I have to choose between keeping my remaining strands or having a baby?) Some days, I almost feel like killing myself. I won’t, but I…just feel like I don’t want to live like this. 🙁

It’s even affecting my work. Day job, I avoid office situations as much as possible because of harsh overhead lights. For my other job, I teach flamenco and I also perform (sing, dance) regularly. But now…I’m afraid to stand with my back to my students (are they staring at the balding spoton the back of my head? Will they still want to take these classes with me if they notice, or will they want to find someone else who meets the more glamorous image they have in mind?) And what about my performances? Am I going to lose gigs/not have guitarists, choreogs, and clients because I don’t have the look and the hair needed to pull it off? Up to now I’ve been hiding the loss with partial hair pieces and accessories, but I don’t know how much longer that will work if this doesn’t stop. Probably not more than a month. Plus…for certain types of performance, the fake hair is difficult–can’t be changed quickly between numbers, changes the feel of how I move, etc.

I’m also struggling with at what point do I need to (partially) give up and cut my (remaining) hair? And how short do I need to go? I know, it may sound silly and not especially rational, but the thought of surrendering and cutting my long hair hurts and depresses me terribly. (Again, the cultural thing, plus the prospect of just not looking like what I feel like/not looking like me.) I know even if I can regrow some hair (which is a big if, from what I can tell…) it would take years for the new hair to reach the length and texture of what remains…and even if I get to a more “normal” shed cycle, over time, that “old hair” will just fall out due to natural cycle…probably before new hair has grown in to the same length.

And that’s if it grows. 🙁

In the meantime, I’m trying (unsuccessfully) not to think about it ALL the time…yet here I am at 3:30 in the morning, awake again and on this site. I don’t know which I’ll lose more completely first–my hair or my mind. *sobbing*

Thank you all for listening, and thank you for sharing your stories. It is good to be able to “come out” to some people who might understand. I think my poor partner is just beside himself unsure what to say/do to be supportive. 🙂

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Corrin December 6, 2009 at 9:52 am

Hi hon! I totally understand your pain. I too have had the sobbing spells, and the insecurities that thinning hair brings. I just started reading a book, that is recommended by a physican that specializes in womens hairloss, and comments on “the bald truth”. Anyways, the book is “The Hormonally Vulnerable Women” by Geoffrey Redmond. He dedicates does a great job explaining hormones, and the impact they have with hairloss. He also explains the effects of different birth controll pills and makes recommendations. I definitley learned a lot from reading this.
Good Luck- It’ll be okay… Just do the research, and educate yourself. I’ve had to recommend things to my MD that he was clueless about that has really helped me out.
Take Good Care!

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Earthly December 9, 2009 at 4:58 am

Hi
I’m a person that does not notice stuff around me, so when I started to lose my hair I didn’t pay attention to it. My hair started to come out slowly and it never came out in handfuls. So when I was washed my hair and strands fell into my hand I just put my hand into the water and washed them away. It was not until one of my friends said something that I really looked at my hair. As I was standing in the bathroom looking at my hair I could not see what she was seeing. After my friend said something I really started to look at my hair when I washed it. I noticed that when I was having a shower and I would put my hand through my hair I would lose strands. I would not lose much but over time they added up.

I started to hate taking pictures because when we tock school pictures, I could see hair on the top of my head was missing. Then the grade 11 pictures for the next year were even worse for more hair loss. The worst pictures to be taken at that school was are grade 12 cap and gown pictures because they would be out all year round in the hallway for every one to see. In the end I was lucky because the person who tock the pictures did a little thing ware he made it look like I had more hair on the top of my head when I really didn’t. In a big blown up picture of me you can see that it does not look right but thank god they use small pictures in the year end ones.

The only time now a days when I notice that I lose my hair is when I’m in the shower and I put soap in my hair. As I wash my hair I can pull out a couple of strands easily. I find it a little weird that my hair feels a little week when it is dry but once I get my hair wet it feels really, really bad. Like when it’s wet, it feels really brittle.

Since I started to lose my hair 3 to 4 years ago I have never seen a doc about why it has happened to me. I don’t know who to talk to about it. In the city I lived in was the capital but it was very small and I didn’t have a family doc because there was not enough to go around. I never though to do to the hospital because to me that was a place for people who ware dyeing. I never talked to any one about it. This is the first time I ever talked to any one about my hair and lossing it. I hated it when I see my mom starring at my hair or when she say why don’t you do something different with your hair. Like I have not tried many different ways to make my hair look better and she is trying to tell me stuff. I know she is just trying to help me with ideas because now days I just get my hair cut to my chin and if they want to give me bangs they can. I don’t feel like I will ever get a guy because I always think that they are looking at my hair and why would they want me when I’m losing it. The kind of hair that I have now is thick near the neck area but as you go more up to the top of the head it gets thinner and thinner.

So I don’t like to talk about my hair because what if they ask me why I’m losing it and I can’t answer it because I don’t know. If I could give people a reason why then I don’t think I would not mind talking about it because then it gives me expiation why. Does that make since, I don’t know but I find stuff easer to talk about when I understand it.

I wanted to say sorry for all the bad writing and spelling. I have a problem with reading and writing since I was a child and I tried my best to make it sound sane. So if it sounds too weird, well, even I can could back in a day or two and reread it and not understand what I’m talking about. So all I can say is that I tried.

Bye All and Take Care

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Alyssa December 10, 2009 at 7:57 pm

I found this web-site in the beginning of November because I started to have sudden hair shedding (200+ hairs daily). I have to say, watching my hair come out in what seemed to be a never-ending amount each day was petrifying. It was not only the fact that it came out, but it was the fact that despite all my efforts I could not control it and had no idea if and when it would ever stop. Went to my primary doctor who had no idea why my hair was falling out. I felt fine and my blood work came back fine. She sent me to an allergist (an allergic reaction?) and a gastrointestinal doctor (body not absorbing vitamins?). After going to both, I can say that I found some answers. My allergist, despite myself having no symptoms of Lyme disease (no soreness, fatigue, joint pain, bulls-eye rash, etc) tested me for Lyme. And what do you know, it came back positive for the beginning stages of Lyme. I was shocked since I do not live in a rural area. Right when I got the call, I googled ‘Lyme and hair loss.’ And what do you know, ‘unexplained hair loss’ is a symptom for it. There was also a bunch of forums for women who have Lyme related hair loss (although all had many other Lyme symptoms as well). I just started antibiotics and am hoping that the hair loss will stop. I read that, if caught early, your Lyme symptoms will stop after the antibiotics, but for others the symptoms persist.
I am hoping that the hair loss is related to the Lyme. Either way, the hair loss really saved my life. I would have never went to the doctors and would never have been tested for Lyme if my hair did not fall out. Lyme can become really bad and for some, the symptoms never go away. I just wanted to bring this to peoples attention because I had no other symptoms of Lyme except the sudden hair loss. For those who had sudden shedding, perhaps you should look into this. It could be a long shot for most, but if it could help someone who reads this then that will be great.

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Renee Vinis December 30, 2009 at 6:02 pm

I am 50 and bald on top and back and the side are about 1/2 of inch. I feel really ugly and tirer of looking at my self. There is no hope of me ever having hair again. So i wear wigs and with hot flashes it is not a great feeling. I am not a pretty person so going bald even make me more unpretty. Sorry for feeling this way but there’s really no one esle i could talk to. Very sad but true.

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so sad and scared January 13, 2010 at 9:33 pm

i am 32 i have had my tubes tied for 9 years and prior to that i was on depo in the last year i have noticed some slight thinning then over the last couple months i have noticed significant loss right in the front like when men go bald. i have been told by a dermatologist that it seems i may have pcos but i haven’t had the chance to have the labs done. i am so scared i gained almost 100 lbs when i was on depo then never could lose it and it has been a real hard thing to deal with and now this… my man is wonderful about it and i know he loves me but how can i feel sexy or be sexy if i don’t have hair and i am about 70 lbs overweight it is so hard. i feel so ugly and i am afraid o fhow my kids will see me if i go bald? i just feel so insecure and sad. i am sorry to vent to u all

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Doris Gibson January 15, 2010 at 7:35 am

Hi I have been on all morning looking at hair problems. I will be 69 in March
of this year. I was looking for some homemade conditioners to help my
hair. I have another problem. Perms and using them way too long is
ruining my hair. But I have a girl friend who is 73. She was having bald
spots in her head. I started using vitimins for hair which is easy to find.
They are called hair vits or vits for hair in the vits aisle of almost every store.

She told me to use biotin vit 5,000 mgs I guess that is the last part of it.
She is diabetic and it doesn’t hurt her. and I am am allerigic to lots of
things so I got biotin 1,000 and begun taking 1/2 for awhile. Then I
found Jason biotin shampoo and conditioner on line. I am sure they
have it at the stores but I walk with a cane way too much trouble for
me to run around looking for it.

Her hair is growing back. And mine has grown about 1 inch in the last 6
weeks. I do pray this will help someone. The biotin alone is about 4.00
for say 100. and the shampoo and conditioner was about 8.00 per bottle
not real cheap but reasonable.

God Bless you ladies.
Doris Gibson

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Char January 21, 2010 at 4:53 pm

I’ve been dealing with hair loss since I was a kid. My hair never seemed to grow like so many others (including boys). No matter what I did, nothing worked. I tried endlessly by going to dermatologists (who would run tests, find nothing wrong and then try to sell me on their, “hair growing” products or give me collagen shots-which had no effect on me at all), doctors (who ran tests on my thyroid, blood, iron, etc. and found everything to be, “normal and told me not to worry about it), taking vitamins, drinking lots of milk, scalp massages, etc. All failed to no avail. Folks in my family have a variety of types of hair (short/long/thin/thick/wavy/straight, etc.). Just thought I would share and vent at the same time….,

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so tired of this January 22, 2010 at 4:20 pm

hi I just came accross this site as I was trying to do some more research on my hair loss. I started shedding back in August and it hasn’t stopped. I have had tons of bloodwork done, and i was checked for POCS- everything came back normal except my DHEAS level was slightly elevated- which I guess means I have more testosterone in my body. I was on orthotricyclin lo for 8 years- I’ve been off it for two years and my derm, endo and gyno think going back on it will help lower this. I’ve been back on it for 3 weeks-still no change. They sounded so sure that going back on the pill would stop the hair loss but all I read online is that birth control has caused people’s hair loss. I never had ANY problems like this when I was on the pill all that time- my hair was super healthy and thick and it never fell out for 8 years plus the first year I was off of it. So I’m trying to remain positive that this will work for me- but after reading all these posts I don’t have high hopes.
Like all of you I am getting really depressed- I’m 28 and single- who is going to want to date someone who is balding? Like many of you- I always had such pretty hair and now it is half as thick and so limp. I dread showers in the morning and when I have to comb it out.

Has anyone else on here experienced hair loss due to high testosterone levels? If so – how we’re you treated?
thanks so much, its good to know I’m not alone

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admin January 24, 2010 at 12:20 pm

Hi so tired of this –

I know it can get discouraging reading about what everyone else is going through, and what seems to work and not work, but you have to remember, everyone is different. What doesn’t work for someone else might work for you. My hair loss wasn’t due to high testosterone levels, my levels always came back as “within normal range,” but I was put back on the pill to treat my hair loss. I can’t say whether or not it has helped because ultimately I just don’t know where I would have been had I taken nothing at all. I like to *think* it did help though. Listen to your body and be honest with yourself, if you don’t think it’s helping, I definitely think you might then talk to your doctor about discontinuing it. I haven’t felt too good about having taken the pill for as long as I have, but I also feel trapped and cannot at this time get off of it without risking some massive shed.

I think it’s important to remember that we often are the only ones looking at our heads, others usually are not. There are so many women in the network that are married or have boyfriends that are so wonderful and understanding, and who are very supportive of their girlfriends/wives. There are GOOD men out there. You don’t want the crappy ones anyways, think of it as a weeding out process.

xoxo

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Cindy February 5, 2010 at 2:16 pm

Has anyone noticed hair regrowth after they stopped taking BCPs??

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Liz February 14, 2010 at 9:02 pm

Hi Cindy and all,
I stopped my BCP back in August and noticed the shedding for about a month immediately following that. It finally stopped and just recently I have noticed new hair growing in. I’m still rather anxious about it, because I already have fine, thin hair to begin with. … I can’t believe this has happened to so many other women when all we ever hear about hair loss related to BCPs is while we are taking them! Curiously, I always thought my hair looked its best and thickest when I took ortho tri-cyclen in my 20s. I thought it was my imagination, but now I know I must have been right. I do not want to go back on BCPs because of other side effects, like migraines with aura and hands/feet swelling, so I’m just going to try to relax and make sure I’m getting enough vitamin A, C, and Bs in my diet to augment the new growth. It can’t come soon enough! … Thanks to everyone for sharing. Best of luck to us all! 🙂

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Savannah February 14, 2010 at 11:39 pm

Hello, beautiful ladies,

Came across this website today while researching “baby or broken hairs.” I have been on birth control three different times in my life (I’m 23), and each time I got off of it (generally after a year or so of being on it), I lost quite a bit of hair. The last time, I was on a generic pill called Microgestin, and to be honest, it was the best pill, if I can say that, of all of the ones I have tried. I am not sure why, but this time when I went off the pill, I didn’t get a bald spot, as I had in the past (alopecia areata). It has been almost 7 months since I quit (in August of 2009), and the shedding has slowed considerably. What is puzzling to me is that I have these 2-inch hairs all over my part line. I cannot tell if they are broken hairs or baby hairs coming in after all that shedding in 2009. Any advice on this, please? If they are baby hairs, wonderful, but if they are broken ones (I blow dry my hair frequently, but use the best products out there to protect it, and I have switched from permanent hair dyes to semi ones (Clairol Natural Instincts), which damage hair SOOO much less and surprisingly, last much longer), that is not the best news. When I get out of the shower, it looks like I have a puff of hair around the top of my head.

If I may, I have tried nearly every hair loss solution in the book (especially when I had a bald spot), and I have visited several dermatologists, researched the heck out of the topic, spoken to many doctors, had blood work done, etc. For me, and I know everyone is different, Rogaine for women was useless, and I didn’t want to commit to it for the rest of my life. Dermatologists were very unhelpful and without empathy and told me I had a lot of hair and it would all grow back. Usually when I went in, I felt like I knew more about hair loss than they did. Blood work always came back normal. My only thought after researching this since I was 16 is that it is the birth control. If you think about it, putting hormones into your body like the ones in BC, changing up the natural cycle of your body, such things could definitely cause one’s hair to come out! Everyone’s bodies are different, and I have some friends who have gone on the pill for years and never had a problem, but some of us ladies are just more sensitive to these things! I am one of them without a doubt. Furthermore, I do not think (from what I have researched) that getting back on birth control is a helpful solution. If anything, I think it puts you into a dependency cycle, which can sometimes make it worse because your body must take another 6 months to get used to a new pill. (Generally, it takes 6 months for your body to get rid of any effects of a pill, like birth control, so I think that I am finally starting to see some regrowth, I hope, although 2 inches worth on my part line, I am not sure.) I noticed a lot of people were getting onto another pill or taking all of these other medicines as prescribed by a doctor to help with the hair loss, and I strongly feel that these prescriptions are the worst thing you could do for your hair. I am not one who only uses natural products, but I have a strong hunch that medicine after medicine is not going to give you ladies the results you deserve.

I have also tried Nioxin, Biolage, the works, and I think that Nioxin does have a very good vitamin that is for hair growth. Kind of expensive, and it does take a while to see any results, but I can say that it works. Also, keep your hair really moisturized. I have shelled out big bucks from everything from Kerastase Masquintense (fabulous stuff) to drug store brands. I recently tried Enjoy hair products, and I think that their deep conditioner really helps with tangled, dry hair (another culprit that does not help shedding in the slightest). Always use a wide-tooth comb when hair is wet, but I am sure you all know that already. Basically, you have to treat your hair with kid gloves as it is very delicate and fragile.

I know it is extremely hard to do, but try not to think about it. I used to count the hairs I lost, too, after showering, combing, styling, and it’s not worth it. You just stress out more, and stress and tears do not help the hair grow back (really try to relax, too. Stress can be hair’s worst enemy). I have noticed that when I don’t freak out about all the hair, I feel a lot better, and I notice it shedding a lot less.

Something to cleanse your hair of any styling products or greasiness, making it shiny, less itchy (sometimes my scalp gets pretty itchy), etc. is apple cider vinegar. I rinse my hair with it about once a month, and it is great. Much gentler and more effective than an anti-dandruff or clarifying shampoo. Again, I emphasize the necessity for good conditioners. Cheap drug store ones have harsher chemicals (generally-speaking) and can be much more damaging to already sensitive scalps and hair follicles. I also mix in a few drops of peppermint or tea tree oil into my shampoo (currently using Kerastase), and it not only feels delicious, but seems to help loosen up a tight, dry scalp whenever you have one, allowing those hair follicles to breathe more, so to speak. A congested scalp will not yield new hair growth.

Diet is also very important. Keep up with those Omega-3s, biotin, iron, etc. Drink a lot of water, as your body is primarily composed of it. I used to eat spinach from bags like potato chips. Funny, I know, but that stuff is a super food for your hair. 🙂

I am currently in China right now teaching English, and these girls have amazing hair, and boy, do they know how to take care of it. I love anything with olive oil in it. Good stuff. Also, if you can go to a salon, ask them to put you under something that is like a steamer almost, cover your hair in some deep conditioner (Wella’s Color and Perm is fantastic), your hair will feel like a million bucks afterwards, and it does seem to fall out less! No lie. You can do this at home, too. Just add the deep conditioner, wrap your hair in a hot, wet towel, or put a grocery bag over your hair (another funny thing I have tried, but it is a recessionista’s alternative to healthy hair at a lower cost!), tighten it with a clip in the front, and let the humidity work its wonders.

I take a multivitamin everyday plus two biotin tablets. My hair is growing a lot faster, and I think that over the past 7 months, my shedding is finally slowing down. If you need any advice, have any questions, or just want to vent, please let me know, and I can send you my e-mail address. I know how painful it is to lose it, and as women, hair is so important. Best of luck to you all, you are in my heart and prayers, and I truly hope things will go up for each and every one of you.

Hugs and love.

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Finally Getting Better.. February 16, 2010 at 3:43 pm

I’m 28 and I used to work in Cosmetology. I had a gorgeous head of hair (gots lots of compliments on it)that was thick and full up until 2.5 years ago. All of a sudden, my hairdresser noticed it was coming out a lot in the shampoo bowl. She and the shampoo ladies just chalked it up to a protein problem. But after a year of watching it get thinner rapidly and seeing the diameter increase on the bald spot at the top of my head (they called it my weak spot..ha!) I stopped going to the salon out of embarrassment. My primary doctory and derm visits proved to be unsuccessful. I was readily diagnosed with Alopecia pending a scalp biopsy (that I never got) and all the derm could say was that one day there would be transplants on the market. I’m only 28 years old and I never heard of someone my age getting alopecia so quickly.

Not one to sit by and wait, I did my own research and here’s what I’ve found.

Problems…
#1. at one point during my hair loss my iron level was 9! No one bothered to tell me that it was low and that I should get on supplements. The only clue I had that I had a problem was constant fatigue. This went on for a least a year. Once I found out I was low in ferratin I started taking the liquid iron (floradix) and that helped a good deal within a 3month time period.

#2. I was working out heavily. I was gaining lots of muscle mass which has something to do with testosterone, which leads high levels of DHT. This was definitely at the height of my hair loss when I could grab a handful out of my head at any given time.

#3. I started taking the BCP-Brevecon. I started and stopped 3 x’s ( i hated the side effects) and due to the horomone fluctuations, my hair fell out rapidly each time. It’s only took 2 weeks and I had strands everywhere. I had no clue that BCP could do that. I also gained weight quick! I think my body is highly sensitive to hormones.

#4 My scalp was was itching a lot. Possible allergic reaction to the products I was using or that serraboic/dandruff thing. The shampoos I was using wasn’t helping a thing. I needed an rx.

Solutions…
Now that I know all of this, I take iron supplements daily, I stopped lifting weights, I use Nioxin shampoo and conditioner and scalp therapy (dht blockers), I take a DHT herbal blocker that has lots of B Vitamins and Biotin (RidgeCrest Herbals Hair ReVive — 120 Vegetarian Capsules).
The derm gave me some kinda oil for the dandruff and now my scalp is super clean and there are no flakes.

So now my hair is growing back! I have edges again and my bald spot is almost gone and I can’t wait to show the derm. It’ll take a couple of years to get back where I was in 2006 but I shed less than ever.

I know DHT is the primary culprit and the BCP horomones second because I read that it changes your hair texture…it become finer and weak and you also see a coating on it. And sure enough my hair texture is thin and baby like and I used to see a white coating around it. I thought that was the root. My hair isn’t springy and strong like it used to be either.

However, the kicker is that I need to workout again. It’s a mainstay in my life so I started taking OrthoTriCyclen because it’s supposed to help block DHT. I think b/c it’s high in Estrogen/low in Androgen that it helps to fight the testosterone levels. Of course, I’m scared that I’m possibly going to lose more hair but I’m willing to try and see it through for at least 3 months. And possible use some Rogaine on the side for more DHT blocking abilities.
If the BCP is still taking a toll after 3 months then I will just stay away from BCP forever.
I hope my story helps someone.

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Cole February 25, 2010 at 12:16 pm

This site is a huge relief to me! My story is very similar to the stories posted here. I’m only 19 years old, and afriad that this hair “thinning” is never going to stop. I was on birthcontrol for three years, and stopped it completely about four months ago. I’m so confused about what I should do. My hair has showed no improvment since I stopped the medication and now I’m not sure if going back on bc would help me or hurt me even more. I’ve been to doctors. Had the blood work, and nothing has come of it. Just huge doctor bills and no answers. How did I get here? Today I FINALLY got my roommate to realize that my hair is really falling out when I showed her a part on the back of head that just keeps getting longer and harder to cover. My family still refuses to believe that I’m losing my hair. How would they know? They don’t see how much hair comes out in the shower or in my sink everyday. I’ve told myself a million times to ignor this. There is nothing I can do but wait till it’s time to get a wig. But it’s hard. I want to have my thick hair back. Thanks to everyone on this site. I know i’m not alone now.

-Cole

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Savannah March 4, 2010 at 5:44 am

To Cole,

You are definitely not alone. I remember when I had a bald spot, and I put my hair up in a ponytail in college, and my roommate gasped and said she could see it! It was so embarrassing at the time. Honestly, I wouldn’t get back on the pill to stop your hair loss. It will take approximately 6 months for your body to rid itself of all the hormones from the pill, and then a while after that for you to start seeing new hair growth. If you get back ON the pill, you will need another 6 months for your body to adjust to the hormones, and the cycle will never stop. I have been off the pill for almost 8 months now, and the hair loss did decrease greatly. I am actually seeing new hairs coming in, and my hair is very shiny and healthy. I know how you feel about no one believing you are losing your hair. My family always said “Stop complaining. You aren’t losing anything more than normal. You have more hair than we do.” etc. Very frustrating. Also, doctors are a joke. None of them are empathetic, and no matter how many tests they seem to run (for extra money in their pockets later), they all come back normal. You get the run around so many times, you just want to give up. The best thing you can do is try to relax and not freak out (very hard, I KNOW!!) with your hair loss. The more you stress, the more you will lose, I guarantee it. I used to count the hairs. This isn’t helpful, and it makes matters worse. Try to be as healthy as you can, working out really helps stress and takes your mind off your hair for a bit, and keep your body clear from all those hormones. Think of it as detoxing. If you need to vent, have any questions, feel free to ask me. I’m 23, and I remember being in your boat not that many years ago.

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Sky March 8, 2010 at 1:17 pm

Hi,

I have a question for the women who stopped taking birth control to avoid future hair loss… Did you find a better method of birth control to put in the pills place? Or are you just willing to take the chance of getting pregnant? I too have had hair shedding for 6 months now and am debating going off the pill, but I do not know which would be worse, getting pregnant, or losing more hair.

Thanks,

Sky

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Savannah March 11, 2010 at 7:57 am

Dear Sky,

The best pill I found was Microgestin, which was a generic brand surprisingly, but please remember that what works for my body to slow the shedding might not work for you. It’s a tough decision to make. I am not on the pill anymore. I don’t think it’s worth the stress and tears of losing all that hair, and I’d just rather find another method of birth control. If you can’t rely on the most commonly used form (condoms), then I would consider a copper IUD, which is inserted by your gyno, and it stays in place for years. I believe it has less hormones, if any, than anything else I have heard of for birth control. Maybe that would help? Expect up to six months (but most likely, less than that) of shedding after you quit for your body to regulate itself from the hormone withdrawal. Good luck!

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mary williams March 16, 2010 at 5:27 pm

I suffer with hair loss because of a staph infection that comes back every 3 to 4 years, it sometimes gets depression because I can’t style my hair and I want it to grow back so bad, its so thin in the front and top,I always have had thick hair.

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mary williams March 16, 2010 at 5:33 pm

I spent out tons of dollars trying to get my hair to grow back,nothing helps so I just stop,now I just hope and pray

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Cole March 30, 2010 at 8:52 am

To Savannah,

Thanks so much for the information. I was really debating about getting back on bc or not. It will be about six months at the end of april that I quit the pill. I suppose I’ll wait it out and see how that turns out. My mother has just recently become more supportive since a recent visit back home…she could see how much this whole thing really bothers me. It still sucks though to be getting ready and hear my roomate and my friends gasp at how much hair covers the sink and floor around me after I’ve brushed and styled my hair. They feel the need to point out to me every singal time that that isn’t normal and I should go get some medicine! I know that. I’ve tried. There really isn’t much you can do when this happens to you! And then there was yesterday when a girl I didn’t even know started picking hairs off the back of my jacket in class. It was all I could do to keep from screaming at her. I realize my clothes are covered in hair…I try to keep them off myself but as soon as I pick them all off it’s only a couple minuets until i’m covered again. I feel like I think about my hair constantly. I feel like i’m always staring at others peoples hair and comparing it to my own. I try to think about something else when I realize i’m obsessing, but it’s hard to forget when the evidence it everywhere i go.

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Pilar March 31, 2010 at 7:09 am

Hello Ladies!

I was on Yaz for only 1.5 months from August-September 2009 and by the end of November 2009 I was starting to shed like a mad woman! I went to see my doctor and had blood tests done. The only thing that came back abnormal was my CBC and ferritin – I was severely anemic and a ferritin of <5! I was quickly put on prescription iron supplements and sent on my way. My primary care thought that maybe the anemia and low ferritin was causing the HL, but wasn’t too sure. My hematologist completely denied that anemia/low ferritin had ANYTHING to do with hair. Well after reading through this forum I think my excessive hair shedding has been caused by both low ferritin and the cessation on YAZ. I was on Ortho TriCyclen Lo for almost 10 years, went off that pill and I experienced NO shedding and felt a million times better. 2 years without being on BCP, I decided to try Yaz…BIG MISTAKE! Not only has my hair been shedding like crazy, but I’ve also been breaking out (I never broke out like this before, not even when I was a teenager or on Ortho or even off the pill). It’s been about 6 months since I’ve been off the pill and I’m hoping things will get better. I have noticed some re-growth (1-2 inch hairs all over but mostly along my hair line) but the shedding hasn’t decreased at all.

Cole –
I’ve also been debating about going back on the pill, but something inside of me tells to stay away. I remember when I went off Ortho Tricyclen Lo after being on it for 10 years, I felt soooo much better. I feel so stupid for even trying out Yaz. I wish I would of never touched it.
I know exactly for you feel about finding hair everywhere. It can get extremely depressing, but I keep reminding myself that this will pass. Reading Savannah’s story gives me so much hope that soon the shedding will stop and my head will be covered with little new hairs! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the both of us! 🙂

Savannah –
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your story! You have no idea how much hope you give me that soon all of this will pass.
Were you losing hairs while on the pill or after you stopped taking them? How long after stopping did you notice the shedding?
I see that after 7-8 months you finally saw a decrease in shedding – was this 7-8 after stopping the pill or after the shedding began?
I’m sorry for bombarding you with all these questions…and even though we’re all different…I’m just hoping my story with like yours.

Thanks again!

Pilar

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Danielle April 3, 2010 at 8:28 pm

I have to say first off HAIR LOSS SUCKS!
I understand how everyone feels. I have PCOS and my primary concern over everything else, including spots, excess body hair, excess weight…etc etc the one that I think about the most is my hair loss. I think about it a lot and I feel like its starting to consume me. As a child I had very thick hair which I’m guess i’m grateful for otherwise it would be even worse now. Basically its very thin at the hair line and I would never ever wear my hair back it looks terrible so I have bangs and I thought I could deal with it but literally in the last few months it has noticeable starting to thin on top and at the crow and this I find really really upsetting. Its affecting my confidence my esteem and everything. I have gone to the doctors and originally she prescribed my the pill but I decided against taking it and then prescribed me metoformin but I decided against that as well. I am so afraid to take something that will make the hair loss worse! I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was about 15, I am now 22. I was prescribed dianette and took this for about a year but stopped taking it because I started to get headaches. For the record it did do wonders for my skin! But made me fat and depressed. I don’t remember their being any immediate hair loss if there was it might have just been slow that because I had so much hair it took me a long time to notice but over the years its just been getting worse and worse. I am simply to scared to take any medicines because of the chance they might make things worse. I can agree that I am my diet is not particularly healthy and I don’t really exercise. I was probably to lazy! But because the shear stress that my hair is causing me. I am going to try the natural approach! Seriously overhaul my diet (maybe see a nutritionist) and seriously start exercising. I am also planning on combining this with the herbal remedies for PCOS and hairloss. I’ll let you guys know how it goes…

xxxx

Dani

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bina April 15, 2010 at 12:34 am

Hello everyone.I am reading through this site since long and been a sufferer of hairloss due to BCP.I had always experienced hairloss since i was 14 years but since i had a full head of thick,silky,black hair i never thought of it much and the thinning was never visible.In 2007 i was diagonised with PCOS.My doctor prescribed me Krimson 35 a bcp.I was on it for six months after which i decided to stop it since i was scared of its side effects on my health.After going off it i noticed my hair was falling out after 2 months.It continued falling for 4 months after which i went to a gynac who told me to start diane 35.My hair was becoming better before starting it but since i was concerned about the hairs that i had lost due to krimson.So i started taking diane 35.Suddenly after 5 months i again thought of going off the bcp ie. diane 35.Taking diane 35 was the biggest mistake of my life.It been a year I am off it but my shedding hasn’t stopped.I shed almost 300 hairs a day.Since i had very thich hair after a year now the shedding has made my hair really thin.I can see my scalp widening.I cant understand what is wrong.I had my iron checked,it was low so i have started taking iron supplements.I dont want to go on the pills since it can have serious side effects other than hairfall.And once again if i stop it this massive shedding will start.Please can anyone tell me if they had the same expereince and how long did shedding went on when not on the pill.Will this ever stop.

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Kaci April 15, 2010 at 1:22 pm

Bina,
Your story is similar to mine. I began shedding at 13 also, unbeknownst to me it was all PCOS-related. I was/am very skinny and get regular periods, so no doctor suggested it might be PCOS and it is only recently, after an ultrasound, that I have figured out the cause of my thinning all these years.

I was put on Diane 35, like you, from the age of 16 onwards. By 18, it seemed the pill had worked in stabilizing my condition. I never grew back the hair I lost from 13-16, but it was still manageable.

Also like you, and with a history of breast cancer in the family, I was keen to get off the pill. So I thought, hey, what better time to do it than now – given that things look stable. I switched on to a lighter, neutral pill (Diane is anti-androgenic with its 2mg of cyproterone acetate). I used the lighter pill to wean myself off birth control pills entirely. Last year at age 20, I got off them.

Things were fine for a while and then the PCOS struck back with vengeance. After 5 months of quitting the pill, the shedding started and still goes on 12 months later. I tried my level best to do everything possible so I wouldn’t have to get back on the pill to solve this issue. I was even patient and tried the Metformin they prescribed once they diagnosed the PCOS.

Problem is, and I realize this after a year of BCP cold turkey, that some of us will have increased hair sensitivity to the male hormones which are released by the ovaries in PCOS. This is the part of PCOS which I find to be genetic.
For example, I have good genes for skin and so hardly suffer from acne, though most PCOS sufferers will cite this as a major symptom for them. I also do not suffer from excess facial/body hair, or at least nothing that bothers me too much. But because there is a history of hair thinning in the family, PCOS has targeted this most predominantly.

Back to my journey of the last year and the lessons I have learned:
1) If you are overweight, there is a big chance that PCOS can be reversed or minimized through weight loss, and Metformin is especially useful for this.
2) There is another system out there called Insulite, which i have just ordered, which also promises to (herbally) reverse the underlying causes of PCOS, and hereby alleviate the symptoms (e.g. hair loss).
3) While I have faith in these courses of action as far as the PCOS goes, I have little faith in them helping my hair. No matter what I do, or how little testosterone my ovaries produce, they will kill my hair follicles. C’est la vie for me.
4) So I resorted (after 12 months of contemplation) back to the pill, in addition to Androcur (cyproterone acetate – the antiandrogen found in Diane). It worked in stabilizing my condition, and until they find a permanent cure to hair loss, I am going to have to accept the risks which come with taking the BCP along with heavy androgen blockers.

It’s a question of quality of life: spend my youth closeted and feeling ugly, and potentially risk disease in later life by the sheer stress of these feelings VS take the pill and an antiandrogen, stabilize the condition so it is not at the forefront of my mind, PRAY for a hair re-growth medicinal break through, and deal with the side effects of my medications in later life, when appearance isn’t half of what defines me (sad, but it’s true for most women).

So I want to clarify with you: Diane was not the culprit of your hair loss. The antiandrogen in it was helping you for a while, and of course quitting it meant your body had to find its own hormonal balance – which as you know, it can’t with PCOS.

I do not know the specifics of your situation: your weight/your diet/other contributing PCOS factors. But my advice to you after having gone a similar experience as you, is to attack the PCOS as far as you can with either Metformin or Insulite (please research the system). If you find that your hair is still shedding in the hundreds, your best bet IS resuming a pill like Diane, and perhaps adding to it more cyproterone acetate (i.e. supplementing it with more of its main component).

It makes me sad sometimes, that I have created a lifelong dependency to the pill. But I know, and I pray that something will come along that will restore our hair, and with the progress of science in stem cell/regenerative medicine these days, I strongly believe it will.

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laila April 16, 2010 at 3:41 am

Hi, I am 20 years old and am experiencing thinning of hair. i dont have any bald pathces but there is at least 3mm between each hair root especially on the top part of the head, and when tied up it is visible how thin my hair is. i used to have very thick hair since a child, until around 16. before 16 i remember getting a friend to iron my hair several times! and thought maybe thats why my hair has thinned. or that i had higlights in my hair and dyed it 5-6 times till now and use hair straighteners and blow dry my hair very frequently. Another thing in my body which may relate to the hair loss is that i had hair growth under my neck during my adolesence in which was very thick and quite long but thin, everytime i pluck it it grows back much thicker and prominent so i shave it insted of plucking. also, my breasts are very small almost completely flat. I am also overweight, and have done many diets including crash diets and constantly a cycle of losing and gaining weight very fast. at the moment, i am taking vitamin supplements (perfectil) for hair skin and nails. haven’t seen a difference and doing a healthy diet now too. is there a case where maybe my testosterone leves are high? would taking birth control pills increase the estrogen levels in my body thus resulting in promoting hair growth? i have seen the doctor but they wernt very helpful.

Thanyou

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Kaci April 16, 2010 at 6:24 am

Laila,
It sounds like you have PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which is often characterized by increase in body hair growth and loss of hair on the scalp. It is sometimes caused/exacerbated by weight issues (though you should know that if you do have PCOS, you probably have something called Insulin Resistance, which makes it even harder to lose weight than the average person).

If your periods are irregular, and you have dark patches on your body, I would be almost sure of this diagnosis. You need to see a gynecologist, who will do an ultrasound of your ovaries to confirm the presence of cysts. These cysts are caused by Insulin Resistance, and they produce a lot of testosterone which women are extremely sensitive too (sensitivity can be manifested in the form of acne/hair loss/body hair).

As far as treatment goes, the gynecologist will most probably ask you to either take the pill, which effectively shuts down your ovaries and stops the production of cysts. Or he/she will prescribe you something called Metformin, which will help your Insulin Resistance, help you lose weight, and reduce cyst production via another route. I definitely think the latter option is the better one, for people who are over weight, because it is the weight which is causing the syndrome in the first place. Furthermore, going on the birth control pill means there is a possibility of further weight gain (the pill sometimes has this nasty effect).

Any way, before I drone on more about PCOS and possible medical solutions, you need to research the syndrome a little more. Please know that it is very common, something like 1/5 to 1/10 women have it, so it’s not a freak disease! If you think you have it, there are three appointments you will need to make: the gynecologist, the endocrinologist (who will check your hormones and how high your testosterone is as a result of the PCOS), and the dermatologist (who will scan your scalp to see how far along the hair loss is).

Stay strong Laila! You are young still and there is plenty of opportunity for hair regrowth. I wish I had been diagnosed at 16!

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Savannah April 17, 2010 at 4:15 am

To Cole,

I totally know how you feel! I used to sit in class in high school, and this annoying kid, Stephen, would pick the hair off the back of my shirt and say “Wow, you have so many hairs on your shirt!” Turns out he had a crush on me, and thought he was being flirtatious. That was not the way to my heart! I was so mad and embarrassed! Also, I have lived all four years of college with girls (some sorority girls so we all shared the same bathroom), and it sucks when you know they only lose a couple hairs, and the hair that is on the floor is primarily yours! A broom and dust pan were things I often made use of. I know EXACTLY how you feel. My boyfriend is the only person who never mentions it like the roommates would, and I am really grateful for that. I remember another time when I was cleaning out my brush in the back of class, and I accidentally dropped this giant hairball on the floor, which was immediately noticed by a couple boys in my class. I denied it was mine. I guess that over time, it does get easier, and I haven’t had a bald spot since freshman year, but I always get scared it will happen again. One time I was walking to class and my roommate gasped because she could see the bald spot on the side of my ponytail. I actually used to make her check for more because I was worried one wasn’t the end of it. I remember comparing other’s hair to my own, but eventually, you will stop worrying about it AS much, and you will see a decrease in shedding. The mind is a very powerful thing, so keep that in mind when you are stressing. I used to wear a little rubber band around my wrist, and I’d snap it every time I thought about my shedding hair. Maybe it is a little silly, but that slight pain helped my mind acknowledge that every time I think about hair, a little snap on my wrist will happen. Kind of like Pavlov with the conditioning of the dogs and food. I did it for a little while, but now, over the years, I just don’t think about it as much. I’m more focused on eating healthy, buying good products for my hair, and always protecting my hair properly before heat-styling. My hair is really nice now, so I think all of these inner body changes are really coming to fruition. If you need to vent or talk about anything else, please feel free to e-mail me at starryeyed555@hotmail.com. I reply much more promptly via e-mail than on the website. And I am always ready to help and share stories! 🙂

To Pilar,

I am so happy to hear that from you. To answer your questions:

I have been on three different pills at different points in my life. I have had the EXACT SAME side effects EVERY time, so I have no doubt in my head that it is because of the pill. When I first got on the pill, I started noticing shedding for the first couple of weeks, almost immediately, and then it slowed considerably, but I was still losing more hair than I normally would OFF the pill. However, when I quit the pill back in the beginning of August 2009, I immediately started losing a lot more hair than what I lost during my time on the pill. It was awful. Hair everywhere, and even combing it out after showering was a complete nightmare. It is now April, and my shedding is completely back to normal; if anything, it is much less than it ever has been. Odd, I know, but I am grateful. I think a huge part of it is that I try not to think about it as much. But I just got a beautiful haircut with side bangs (to blend in the new tiny hairs), and it looks fantastic. My hair is shiny, medium-thick, and healthy-looking. I would say that the shedding began to really slow a couple of months ago, maybe February, so that was a grand total of seven months for me of my body trying to readjust after the pill. I have been eating very healthily, drinking a TON of water (hair loves water!), and taking a multivitamin. I really try to pack those greenies into my diet, as well as tuna, chicken, etc. It works! I do agree that we are all different, but I really believe that the pill can be terribly destructive, as can stress (I can fall victim to this frequently, as my boyfriend tells me), and a poor diet/exercise plan. If you need anything else, please write me at starryeyed555@hotmail.com, and I can respond to you much sooner since I don’t check this as often as my e-mail. I will keep you in my prayers, and I’m sure things will go up for you! And feel free to bombard me with all the questions you like. I just wish I could have talked to someone who could empathize when I was in college going through all of this.

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bina April 19, 2010 at 2:42 am

Kaci,
I understand how it feels when everyday getting up in the morning u just think how much hair you are going to lose today.i have gone so crazy that everyday i just count my hairs that i have lost.I was losing hair since the age of 14 but it never appeared so thin.2 years back i still had thick black hair since my hairfall was limited to 100-200 when i washed ie after every 2 days.But after starting with these pills my hair becomes oily in a day after i wash.so i have to was it alternate days and also i lose more than normal hairs.Also after stopping the pills the sudded hairfall was almost 500 a day.after 4 months it reduced but i had lost more than half of my hair.And now it still going on since a year and i lose almost 100-150 hairs a day.I dont know whether its normal but since that sudden shedding made my hair so thin that now that even at this rate of shedding i can feel my hair is thin.I want to regrow my hair.So many years,I always had a hairfall so I have somehow got used to it but I want my hair gone due to those pills back.I am really scared to go back on the pills.How long do you think you will have that.Even i have heard about stem cell treatment and just waiting for it to come since transplant is not a good option for us who have diffused shedding all over the head.A year back when i stopped those pills i started taking homeopathic medicine.It helps in regulating your periods but not with hairfall.I have tried each and everything.I am still on that homeopathic medicine to keep my cycles in check but i am also concerned about my hairfall.I have green tea regularly and also take blackcoshosh.I have been to a dermatologist who gave me blackcohosh.She said androgenic alopecia is different.It does not cause massive shedding but the hair thins out slowly and then falls.Its slow.But they have some or the other reasons for my hairfall.My serum feretin is low its 9.so they say its because of that.I also take a multivitamin and have started with a aroma therapy hair oils recently.Lets c how it works.But for that i have to apply oil everyday and wash everyday.:(.Before taking the pills in late 2007 when i was diagonised with PCOS my hairfall was there but not sp severe and not so oily hair.But with this pills my hair gets oily the next day i wash.Even i feel like going back on the pills but after 2-3 years again when i will have to stop cuz you cant take it continously again I cant bear those days of 500 hairs shedding a day since now already my hair has thinned out.How much hair u use to lose before starting the pills and after taking the pills?Your thinning is only at the crown area or diffused?

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Pauline April 23, 2010 at 6:58 am

Hi,
My story is the exact same as yours…I am 25….my hair loss started in 2007 and I am also losing more and more hair each day.
I was also on Spirolactone and the pill….but I STOPPED. You must stop taking these things. They are only hurting you, not helping you. I suggest stopping these crazy false desperate things that we try to save our hair and start focusing on whole nutrition, exercise and happiness!
I am going to see a Homeopath soon. I was seeing a Naturopath but I have decided Homeopathy works better.

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Naggs May 19, 2010 at 8:06 am

Hi all.

I am glad that I found this site too:)
My hairloss began when I was 22, when I was undergoing
some relationship problems.Now,I am 24.
The bald patches remain and am using minodixil which
makes me lose more hair.At times, I wonder if I should
shave my hair off too.My next appointment with the doctor is in 3 months time and I hope I can see some hair on the bald spots.

As a young lady, it is hard to have a bf either, since men are visual beings.
Oh well, if I should have hairfall and nobody accepts me,so be it. Life is
not just about how much hair we have.It is about how much of everything else we have.I think people would be surprised how optimistic we can be with such problems.

Anyways, I think the more worried or stressed we are about anything,even our hairfall, the more it can fall.That is something I noticed. So,if you are experiencing hair loss,please remain calm and be optimistic.:)

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Sarah July 5, 2010 at 11:43 pm

Do we think losing an 10 hairs a day in the shower and another 30-50 during combing is normal or excessive?also has anyone been to see dr. Rassman in la?

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amajust July 11, 2010 at 1:56 pm

Hi Admin

I have been on this website all afternoon, I finally decided to write in myself,
I found your posts most helpful and i was wondering if you would not mind giving me a bit of advice as i am at a loss.
I am 55 years old, in menopause, I started losing my hair when I was 16 due to a bad straightening job which damaged my hair and made it fall out excessively, I have curly frizzy hair, it grew back but never to what it used to be, over the years I would go through periods of excessive shedding then it would subside, I have been using Rogaine for 3 years, although I continue to lose hair but nothing in comparison to what I lose when I stop it, I never was on birth control pills when I was younger, although I had to go on hormones for one year when I was 27 as a treatment after getting operated on for endometriosis, things worked out after that, I had the best hair when I was pregnant twice then lost a lot it again in my pot- partum periods. to make a long story short it has been an ongoing battle and I somehow managed until recently, since March my hair started shedding again nonstop, following a treatment that everyone I know including my ex hairdresser swore by as being the best thing that was ever created for curly frizzy hair like mine ( Keratin Complex by Coppola). I am losing the battle this time, I am practically balding at the top and sides, I bought a wig and I hate wearing it, my whole life has changed I used to work out and play tennis and had a pretty active lifestyle, I now no longer go to the gym I am too embarrassed with the with the way I look, needless to say I have put on a lot of weight in record time since I am not exercising , I cry all the time and have slowly but surely isolated myself from friends and society in general which has also affected my work, I am in Real estate and need to look presentable, so I just avoid people and that is not good for business, I have no desire for anything or anyone, and I can’t seem to shake myself out of this depression, and to make matters worse I got a horrible haircut by another ex-hairdresser who’s only concern in spite of my insistence was to cut off all the damaged hair which left me with nothing to work with, I feel like I need to go into hiding for about a year or so.
My blood tests are normal, I just started a bio-identical hormone cream prescribed by my Gyno, I take tons of supplements, sometimes I think I take too much. but I never tried spiro, or any medication for that matter, except for the topical minoxidil, i have a dermatologist appointment on the 15 of July, I am not too hopeful but I have to try.
I was wondering about the PRP treatment you had done, have you seen any measurable results since the second visit, I am considering giving that a try…
I would appreciate any advice from all the wonderful ladies that wrote in, although i have been crying all day as i am reading these posts, since i so deeply relate to their situation, for the first time in months i feel normal, since all my friends and family have not been exactly supportive, all they can say is it’s only hair and you have your health, and i do agree especially when i was asked by the lady at wig store if i was a cancer patient, I happily said no and was thankful, but that did not last, and trying to minimize the issue and accepting reality does sink in until I have to go out or get involved in any king of physical activity, all my resolve flies out the window, and i’m back to zero.

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Pilar July 12, 2010 at 5:59 am

Hi Sarah!

It’s so hard to say what’s normal since we’re all so different. But I’ve been told that 50-100 hairs per day is normal.

I went off the pill (I was only on it for 2 months) and 2 months later the massive shedding began. I also had a ferritin of <5 and was severely anemic – so I have a few things that could have contributed to my hair loss. In the beginning I was losing 350+ just after a shower and styling (yes, I counted and still do 🙁 ). It’s been 7 months since my shedding began and now I shed anywhere between 40-90 hairs after showering and styling. I know that before this happened, I would lose a lot of hair. But my hair ALWAYS remained thick and full. My hair now is A LOT thinner and I think I’ve lost about 40% of my hair. I’m hoping that these numbers will continue to decrease and more re-growth will come in.

Were you losing more than the amounts you listed before? Or is this amount what you usually shed?

Pilar

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Nicky July 16, 2010 at 7:53 am

Hi Ladies,

I have been there with hair loss and just want to share my story if it helps you .I am now 44 years old . I was 20 in 1986 , when I got married and tried out the contraceptive pill 3 months before I got married. In the first month I noticed my first bald spot and then by the wedding I had to change the parting in my hair as the baldness was spreading. I was in 3 rd year iniversity and with getting married I just thought it was stress. By my first anniversary I was completely bald . I was 21. I had seen so many doctors and had blood tests which were all ok…but I did see my gynaecologist who took me off the pill. I wore a wig for a year but my hair did grow back. Actaully after I took my wig off it started falling out for the second time and I eventually saw a homeopath who was also a medical doctor and he said my liver had been affected. He said with the treatment he gave me my hair would start falling out even more and then stop and said it would be 2 weeks. Exactly as he said is what happened. He treated me with titanium, selenium and arsenic..those are a few of the medicines I can remember. Today I have lovely ,lushous hair …love my hair 🙂
It is a huge battle but you must stay positive. That is part of the battle.I beleive in grieving and you must do that . Grieve the loss, then go forward. I cried and cried and when I thought I was finished I would cry again. Then it was over and I began to have some very funny moments with my wig , thanks to my husband who would not allow me to enter the pit of self pity. At the beach I swam in my bikini with a bald head and it was fun whilst my friend wore my wig…..I would stick my head out the car window with my wig on my hand and scream out the window frightening people. You got to cry , then wash your face , then have a coke then have some fun and laugh about it …just do it .
I believe a lot of hair loss is due to some poison we have taken into our bodies and you have to sort that out by stopping the poison, cleansing your system and your soul by making your self right with God and with every one.
Hey , life is for living , enjoy it , make the best of it and always think of what you have ….do it …it is good for you . You are no less of a woman if you do not have hair ….if you do not have your uterus, if you donot have your breasts, …….beauty is from deep with in.
I feel your pain and I know your tears, I trust you can feel my arms around you and I pray you will know God’s comfort and healing.

Big fat hugs.
xoxoxoxoxo
Nicky.

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madisyn July 25, 2010 at 8:09 am

Hey,
i am only 14 right now and i am having real bad hair loss problems. I need help I dont know what is happening my hair is breaking, and i am loosing hair tremendously. Well i am not possitive if it had to do with the birth control I just got put on about a month ago but i already had thin hair to begin with but i could tolerate it but now it is way to hard i can do nothing with it. But if anyone knows what i can do about my hair or knows anything about birth control pills could u just email me please with your information? PLEASE 🙁

Thanks :/

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madisyn July 25, 2010 at 8:34 am

Hey its me again.. Well if anyone knows anything else that could be causing me to loose hair. Pleas let me know. But okay I play sports and during like hockey I had pretty thick hair comparing to now but I got done season in march but my hair was fine untill the end of school? I wont be starting hockey untill like septemberish but I also play volley ball and that should be starting in august and I am going to volleyball camp to, but I never put my hair up I dont know I just hate my hair up because it is soo thin maybe if my hair starts to get thick I will start putting it up but I doubt it. I just need info …. my mom dosnt really care about that my hair is becoming to nothin but if someone out there sould help me that would be great 🙂 ANYTHING. I think since I am worrying about my hair thats making me feel even worse? I dont know though. BUT also could SERTAIN HAIR PRODUCTS cause my hair to become brittle or making my hair fall out?. Well every other day i normally switch to either washing my hair with pantene Thin to Thick or Dove volumizing or Garnier volumizing shampoo. But then i normaly put some Got 2B glued gel on my roots then hair dry it upside down the I use Aussi hair spray maximun hold or something like that then I spray that on my underneath hair when my head is upside down. then I spay Got 2B glued hair spray on the top layers of my hair but i dont just put alittle bit in my hair I use alot. i just hate when my hair falls flat .. HELP.

Ugh please. im beggin you 🙁

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Leslie July 28, 2010 at 8:53 am

Hi Nicky,

I loved your post and feel that natural methods are the only way to really handle hair loss. I was intrigued by your homeopath story. Who did you go to by the way and what is their contact info?

Thanks!

🙂 Leslie

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Nicky August 5, 2010 at 10:30 am

Hi Leslie,

Thanks for your comments. 🙂 I was treated by a doctor/homeopath in South Africa but it is with graet sadness I have to tell you that he was murdered.What a loss. I believe some one has taken over the practice . I live in New Zealand and will ask my mom who still lives in South Africa . You can email me at rijnskn@xtra.co.nz and I can chat further to you.

Enjoy your day,
Nicky.

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Aseeya August 18, 2010 at 5:43 pm

Parts of my head were almost empty since I was 9 years old. I went to many dermatologists but non helped. I finally decided to turn to traditional medicine and some places actually STARTED TO GROW HAIR.
The recipe is: GARLIC. Smash a little garlic and mix it with very little olive oil then rub your scalp with it well… it should start burning a little. Cover your head and leave it for 4 hours then wash it.
Do this every 2 days.
Note: If you could get petroleum crude oil then mix it also with the garlic, it should make the process even faster.
I my self started to see tiny hairs growing in the first week (applying 3 times)
and so noticeable results in 3 weeks.
Try it … it helped me, it may help you too

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elena August 27, 2010 at 11:23 am

Hi been battling hair loss since 10 years, been on diane since 8 years now, use hair max laser comb, this year my doctor prescribed me topically 2% finasteride, will see how it works, hopefully i could get some good results.
xox

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Alex September 21, 2010 at 8:59 pm

I am 22 years old. I have been on birth control since I was 16. It seems like it has been about 2 years since I have been having hair problems. My hair is thinning considerably, but it is a combination of hair loss and breakage. I believe my main problem is breakage. All along the front of my hair line I have tiny little hairs that stick up. All along the back, my hair breaks off where it should be in a pony tail. My hair is naturally oily. I have to shampoo it every day or it will be noticably greesy. So, I don’t think it could be a moisture problem. After reading many of these comments, I am now scared that when the time comes for me to discontinue my birth control, things will get even worse than they already are. My pony tail is half as thick as it was two years ago, and at 22 this is a scary thing. At any age it is. I am taking vitamins and trying to be more careful with my hair but I feel like this is something that my tiny little weak hairs just won’t be able to overcome.

Obviously this is a huge issue, and something needs to be done. If birth control is the cause of these problems, the companies need to be forced to resesarch into what can be done to stop this. This website surely will help raise awareness and obviously already has offered many women a place to share their story, realize they are not alone, and begin start the fight against losing their hair. My prayers go out to you all.

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Tina September 29, 2010 at 5:39 pm

I’m so sorry to hear that you are all having the same problem as me. Hair loss is very damaging to our emotional health. I am only 19 and i have been going through hair loss for a year now. My hair is down to its last straw. I use to have thick nice hair. I have tried every shampoo and product in the book. Nothing helps. And I am sure you all know we would go through great depths to have our hair back and we spend an arm and a leg on products in hopes that it will restore our hair or at least stop the falling out. Doctors don’t give good enough explanations to restore the pain and damage we have gone through. Nothing seems to help. And no one seems to understand. I pray that all of you can one day have your gorgeous hair back and we can help other s that are experiencing the same pain as we have. I pray that no one has to go through this kind of trauma. Good luck to everyone,There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

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Jessie October 17, 2010 at 10:22 am

Hi

I stopped the pill 9 months ago as my hair started to fall out and it has not decreased or stopped.

I agree, this is obviously a side effect of the pill and I am so angry that it was not given as information as a side effect. It has dramatically changed the quality of my life and I have wasted so much of my productive time searching websites like this!!

HAIR LOSS IS A CLINICAL SYMPTOM AND PHARMA SHOULD WARN WOMEN ABOUT HAIR LOSS SIDE EFFECT

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Lisa October 27, 2010 at 3:41 pm

Hi
I started experiencing hair loss about two years ago, after the birth of my 3rd child. After my first was born, I had the normal postpartum shedding, but that stopped and I was fine. After my second was born, again I had the postpartum shedding but eventually that stopped. I did go on Loestrin 24 at that time, but it was only for a few months because we were trying pretty quickly for Baby #3. So, along comes baby #3 two years later, again I had the postpartum hair loss, but my Dr. put me on birth control about two months later and I have been taking it since then. I now realize after all this research that the Loestrin 24 is what is causing the major hair loss. I was anticipating that all the shedding in the shower would stop and that I wouldn’t see these hairs all over the place while brushing my hair, but even now, almost 2 1/2 years after my last son was born, this is still occurring and it makes me really frustrated. I just went and had my hair cut today, but I had to explain to the hairstylist about the hair loss because I knew it was totally obvious. The thing is, I don’t know if it would get worse by stopping the Loestrin or if I should switch to another pill altogether, or just totally quit and look at the IUD. I am 41 and definitely done having children so I need some sort of protection and the pill is the easiest right now, but this hair loss is not stopping so I feel like I am stuck. I also get really jealous when I saw women who are even older than me with these lush manes of hair that look so great and I wonder, “why can’t my hair look like that???” Luckily, I started out with a lot of hair so it isn’t extremely noticeable right now to others, but it is noticeable to me and it has really damaged my self-esteem as well. Help!

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Alicia Marie November 1, 2010 at 9:20 pm

My doctor just gave me birth control but after reading your story I really don’t want to take it..I’m losing enough hair as it is!!

What do you think??

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Pilar November 2, 2010 at 8:48 am

Hi Jessie:

I stopped the pill 13 months ago and also lost a lot of hair after stopping the pill. My hair started falling out in ropes 2 months after I took my last pill. The abnormal shedding lasted for almost 10 months. Throughout the 10 months the shedding decreased SLOOOOOOWLY and I did see re growth around 2 months into the shedding. Some little hairs fell out and some are now 3-4 inches long. At the end of September my shedding finally stabalized and now I’m seeing a lot more re growth. Even though I’ve lost about 40% of my hair, most haven’t noticed since I started out with a lot of hair. I know how depressing this can be…but hang in there! The shedding will eventually stop and you’ll start seeing some re growth.

What pill were you on? How much hair do you think you’re losing per day?

Hugs,

Pilar

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Vanessa November 10, 2010 at 8:12 am

hey girls! i’ve been visiting this site for some time now and its been a source of comfort to me, knowing that there are others out there who can sympathise with what i feel when going through hair loss. i just want to share my story with all of you, and bring hope to you ladies that hair loss can have a happy ending.

im quite young to be experiencing hair loss- im only 17. my hair loss started about 7 months ago, triggered by extreme stress from school, extreme emotional stress, lack of sleep (i was only getting about 3 or 4 hours of sleep a day) as well as my crash diet (i only ate salads for about 7 months).

my hair loss started suddenly, and came from nowhere. all my life i was always complimented on my beautiful, thick, long hair. my hair was always the envy of my friends and my sister, and it was one of the things i loved most about myself. my hair was so thick, my hairdresser had to thin it just so i could tie it up properly- all the rubberbands i used werent big enough to hold all my hair.

i remember the day it started- i went from dropping about 25 strands a day (i washed my hair everyday) to 100 strands A MORNING. the day it started, i woke up and clumps of hair just fell out. i was so scared.

over the next three months, my hair loss started taking over my life. at first i wasnt too concerned by it, because i still had plenty of hair. but slowly, as my hair got less and less, i got more and mroe depressed. i would wake up every morning and run my comb through my hair a couple of times and 40 to 50 strands could come out just like that. and dont get me started about how much hair i lost when i washed it. when i combed my hair after washing it, i filled the sink with piles of hair. as i peaked at about 150 to200 strands per day (im sure much more dropped when i wasnt looking though so this is probably an underestimate), my self confidence crashed. i didnt want to go out, i didnt go out of my room, and i cried alot. sometimes in the monring when i woke up, i just wished i didnt, because i didnt want to go through aother day of seeing handfulls of hair come out. i had severe telogen effluvium, and i remember that whenever i ran my hands through my hair, 15 to 20 strands could easily come out in my hand.

it seemed like it would never end. throughout the course of the day, my hair would just keep falling and falling. i’d go to the kitchen to get a drink and as i passed by the mirror in the corrider, i’d see 6 strands dangling out of my hair at the back. i’d wake up and drop 15 strands on my pillow. so what did i do? i ditched the diet and the stress. i told myself to chill and take things easy. i booked hair appointments with two hair specialists and cancelled on both because i didnt have 250 dollars, which was the cost of a single consultation. as a teenager with little pocket money, there was not much i could do. i went to my hairstylist twice and got two treatments done, and none of these helped. meanwhile, my friends continued to comment on how much my scalp was showing and random people on the street stared at me when i walked past.

after about 7 months, my hair loss has decreased, i am thankful to say. it has been a gradual decrease, with many ups and downs. i am seeing alot of regrowth, and i am back to averaging about 25 strands per day. while my hair is still thin, i am optimistic that it will get fuller soon. just stay positive ladies, hair loss can be beaten!

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Pilar November 19, 2010 at 9:52 am

Hi Vanessa:

Wow! Even though we had different TE triggers and mine lasted a little longer (10 months), our stories seem very similar. All the feelings and fears that you had, are the same ones I had!

It’s been 1.5 months that my shedding has been normal and I also see a lot of re growth!

Please keep us posted on your recovery.

Pilar

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Stephanie December 28, 2010 at 3:23 pm

To all the ladies who suffer from hair loss,

Please stop using those harmful drugs and look for the natural way of restoring the baldness. I would advised you all to give a try to Occupunture. It’s a natural way of making the body system to function normally which automatically makes the hair re-grow.

I have personally spent thousands of dollors going to the hair experts who provide a temporary solution of using the harmful drugs and a greasy lotion. The issue begins as soon as those drugs were stopped.

I know how painful it is to overcome the society. You may all look for occupunture.

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larc December 29, 2010 at 11:36 am

what is occupuncture? I’ve never heard of it??

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Mae December 31, 2010 at 7:13 am

Hi everyone,

This is long. Sorry. But, I’m a wordy person. Hopefully someone will read my story. Please.

I’m 27 and live in the Fairfield County area of Connecticut, USA.

Those who know me well know that I’m a nervous person. I’ve always been this way. Even when I don’t have something earth-shattering going on in my life, I feel as though I torture myself by thinking too much and over-analyzing everything. I constantly obsess and worry about things in general; I have come to believe this is just part of who I am. I’d like to think that this tendency has something to do with my hair loss (I’ll get to that in a minute). I’m a pretty stubborn person, but I do know I need to buckle down and go see a therapist. Between who I am as a person, the stress my job brings, and some recently discovered bad news in my family, I can’t imagine this is bettering my health.

Regarding hair loss, let me start off by saying that I thought I was the only one going insane until I visited this site (no offense). I know how all of you feel. I secretly resent celebrities, relatives, and close friends with thick, gorgeous hair. It doesn’t even have to be long; just the thick, tight parts get me. I want to reach through the TV screen and pull celebrities’ hair out. Though I know many of them probably wear extensions, the sight of their tight parts makes me cringe. I resent my one friend who has the nerve to complain that her hair is “too thin” when clearly it’s nearly twice as thick as mine. When I point this out to her, she just rolls her eyes and tells me to, “calm down.” So, I empathize with all of you who are surrounded by people who don’t “get it.”

I also am affected by “trigger words” such as hair cut, or phrases like, “How should I do my hair tonight?” (I’m secretly thinking, “I’ll help you out with that; I’ll rip your roots out with my bare hands, then you can ask me again!”) Just the other day, I broke into tears when my mom complained about her grays and how much it cost to fill them in. I burst into tears and shouted, “AT LEAST YOU HAVE HAIR!” Then, I got so angry that I threw the hair brush across the bathroom and broke a glass vase. Yeah, I know. Am I proud of this line of thinking/reacting? No. But this is what I’ve become.

As some background information, I’m of Italian Heritage. I inherited my father’s wavy (sometimes curly) hair. I always had very thick hair as a child. In high school, I noticed a little thinning, but definitely nothing significant or noteworthy. I chalked it up to teenage angst or whatever. Fast forward to college. I battled ED-NOS (which is the technical term for “eating disorder not specified” even though I called it “bulimia”) which lasted 1.5-2 years. Though I never really studied my hair during this time, my guess is that it was probably a bit thinner because of the havoc I wreaked upon my body. With counseling, I stopped vomiting. I did go through a significant amount of other stressors in college such as a few bad breakups, an incredible workload with a double major, and the sudden death of my uncle, all occurring sophomore year. Again, I can’t remember exactly what my hair looked like then. But, my mom did recently say, “It got a little thin in college, then grew back…But it’s not like it is now.”

My hair was thickest at 22-23. The curl texture was so beautiful and I sported a layered bob. I also think my hair was darker from looking at photographs, almost a very dark chestnut brown. The only medication I was on at the time was some kind of horrible antibiotic for my acne, which was my only physical complaint. I was also in a good place work-wise. I had just graduated from college and found a fun, creative, semi-laid back gig in marketing working as a freelance copywriter.

When I was almost 24, I switched jobs to work at another agency. At 24, I noticed my acne getting a tad bit worse. Nothing I couldn’t cover up, but still something to obsess over. I almost went on Accutane, but the yellow “death warning” booklet and a concerning call from my ob-gyn (“This will mess with your liver!”) was enough to send me running for the hills and resort to birth control as a treatment. Yaz. It was relatively new on the market and specifically formulated for acne, so I was told. I loved it. I never experienced any irregular periods. Within my first month on the pill, my system was running like clock work and…NO ACNE. My face was pristine, my hair was still the same. No more anti-Christ antibiotics! This was October of 2008.

(I had used Rogaine on and off, never religiously. I stopped the stuff completely in May of this year when I moved out of my parents’, admittedly out of laziness.)

Fast-forward nearly two years later…Late summer-early fall, 2010. Within those two years, I went through some more emotionally traumatic experiences, but none of which I thought were earth-shattering or death-defying. They all had to do with workload and more bad relationships and a horrible, inconsiderate roommate after just having moved out of my parents’ house. In early September, my family and I went on a two-week tour of Italy. This was around the time my mom started to get on my case about my hair. I shrugged it off, and tried to reassure her that my hair has always been on the finer side. A week before the trip, I had a nervous breakdown at work. I couldn’t handle some of the stress and ridiculous requests that were thrown at me. I saw my fellow writer break down and take a leave of absence for a week. It all affected me and I cried non-stop. Meanwhile, I was constantly watching Hurricane Earl’s track in fear that my trip to Italy would be ruined, shattering (albeit temporarily) my dreams of finally visiting my homeland for a much-needed getaway from work. I nearly went insane over all this.

Italy came and went, it was great. Still some comments from my mom about the hair, begging me to go see doctors and talk to the ob-gyn about getting off Yaz. The ob-gyn told me to meet with an endocrinologist before blaming the bill. I did meet with one in early November after I actually started noticing my scalp around Halloween. I didn’t get that great of an impression, but I went with it. He shrugged it off when I asked if I could be deficient in something. He took blood and tested my urine for adrenal disorders. After three weeks, I had to chase him down five times just for him to say everything was, “normal.” I forced his office to fax the results to me.

I went off Yaz in mid-November as instructed by the endo, who wanted to later get a more accurate hormonal reading.

Meanwhile, I visited a dermatologist in the area who’s apparently very famous and well-known for transplantation and hair loss. Total d-bag. I sat in his office sobbing as as he told me I had “Female Pattern Hair Loss.” He didn’t other to ask me any questions about my diet/lifestyle/stress/how long it’ s been going on, and was just really quick to assume that. He did say, “This is really strange for your age.” You think, a-hole? Any questions I asked, he simply shrugged off or replied, “We’re not ready to talk about this yet.” He then said, “I’m not sure this will grow back. I’m not sure you have that kind of hair loss. You need to be on the Rogaine.” (I started on the Rogaine in late October of this year). Then, he unemotionally stated, “I need to take a sample of your scalp to rule out any scalp diseases.” Um, what? So I sat there as he injected Novicaine into my head and tore out a chunk of my scalp, and of course, 5-6 hairs along with it. Was it really necessary for him to take it from the top, where I have the most thinning? Thanks, buddy, I’d love to have more of my scalp revealed! He simply handed me a box of tissues and left the room.

The results of the biopsy indicated that I had, “normal hair loss.” At my next appointment with him, I bought the Hair-Maxx laser comb, 500 dollars later! I’m using that along with the Rogaine.

While simultaneously seeing the D-Bag dermatologist, I decided to go out-of-network and visit another very reputable endocrinologist who digs deeper for thyroid-related problems and doesn’t rely solely on TSH levels in blood tests. Those are notoriously inaccurate, by the way. Get a second opinion. I love this doctor. I sat with him and had an honest conversation with him for an hour. It turns out that, in addition to the hair loss, he saw that I was depressed and unmotivated, my hands and feet were cold, my eyebrows were thin, brittle nails, I was always tired…all symptoms of the commonly misdiagnosed hypothyroidism (I do not have a weight problem. Common misconception that “everyone with hypothyroidism is overweight”). In addition, he looked at my blood work from the previous endocrinologist and right off the bat saw that my iron was on the low side of normal, but still low in his eyes.

So, this doctor and I proceeded with two tests for hypothyroid: a five-day basal body temperature test that you take around your period and a urine test which not very many doctors/patients know about. Sure enough, my basal body temperature was 98.2 around my period, and much lower in the following days. It got to 96.4 at one point. I am still waiting for the results of the urine test to come back as those are more accurate. But, in the meantime he has started me on a very low dose of Armour thyroid…15 mg for a week, then 30 mg a day, increased by 1/2 tab after 2-4 weeks as needed. He doesn’t believe in Synthroid or any other synthetic drug. In addition, we did some extra blood work and I learned I was incredibly deficient in Vitamin D. (Thanks, work!). So, in addition to the Armour, he has me on a vitamin plan:

-Armour Thyroid in the morning before breakfast
-Vitamin D3, B Complex, MSM, Flax Oil with breakfast
-Natrol “My Favorite Multi” with Iron at lunch or later
-BioSil by Natrol twice a day, 5 drops mixed with 1/4 cup juice. Tastes like fish guts.
-Vitamin D3 with dinner, more MSM and Flax Oil.
-Feosol (Iron) with Vitamin C on an empty stomach twice a day, but not within four hours of taking Armour.

Toppik….I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I use it to cover up the thinning areas on my scalp. I do sport some really cute, pretty thick headbands though. But I suspect people will start to question me.

All of this, on top of the Rogaine and the Hair Maxx will take forever to work, so I must be patient. In the meantime, I am hoping and praying that I don’t experience shedding due to stopping the Yaz. (It will be two months mid-January).

Yes, that’s a lot to remember. But I’ll do what it takes. Everyone, he also recommends to me that I do not under any circumstances go back on the pill. He believes in regulating one’s system naturally. I want to trust him on this. I’ve recently become very interested in (well, obsessed) with natural treatments for things and causes of certain things. For example, I learned that exposure to Radon can cause hair loss (thinking of getting my homes checked) or exposure to fluoride in water and toothpaste can contribute to hypothyroidism. Obscene doses of Vitamin A (Like in the drug Accutane) can cause hair loss.

Yes, I may be driving myself a little (well, a lot) crazy over here, but I’m desperate and willing to do anything to prevent it from getting worse due to being off Yaz and to hopefully grow it back. I am not a candidate for hair transplants, but I’d sooner get a wig than do that because I’ve seen some BAD ones out there and it’s not guaranteed to work permanently since people lose hair with age. Then again, the phrase, “You can always get a wig!” makes me cry.

As I was going through all of this, my body kind of just flipped out in the past month or so. I stopped eating regularly, would run to the bathroom at work to cry, I haven’t worked out in awhile (too embarrassed to be seen at the gym if my scalp sweats). 11 layoffs at my company and a recent cancer diagnosis in one of my family members has caused me to become very depressed. It is hard just to hold my head above water. I know this is probably worsening the situation, so I am trying to get a grip…I’m hoping for better things in 2011.

All that being said, how many of you experienced regrowth after stopping the pill? It looks like not many, so I’m quite terrified and feel as though I need to brace myself for the ultimate fallout.

How many of you from the U.S. know of any good wig companies that make natural-looking wigs? And how many of you who have worn wigs get questioned?

Also, this apple cider vinegar thing….Can that brand be purchased in the U.S. and can I use it along with Rogaine? The Royal Jelly…I keep hearing that it messes with your hormones. Is that true?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Anything you have to say will be helpful. Hope you enjoyed my novel. Time for some Vitamins!

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Pilar January 4, 2011 at 7:42 am

Hello Mae,

I was on Yaz for only 2 months from August-September 2009 and to stop taking them because I was getting scary heart palpitations and a little anxiety. By the end of November my hair was falling out in ropes. Telogen Effluvium lasted for 8-9 months and I lost 40-50% of my hair. Luckily I started out with a thick head of hair, so to most it wasn’t noticeable. For the last 2-3 months I’ve been losing normal amounts and seeing a lot of re growth. Even though my hair isn’t back to normal just yet, I think with time it will be.

Have you ever visited the Yasmim/Yaz Survivors site? There’s a lot of women on that site that have lost hair while on the pill and some after going off the pill. You will also read how a lot of women that took these pills suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks while on the pill and months after stopping them. When you get a chance, you should check it out.

Hugs,

Pilar

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Mae January 5, 2011 at 9:41 am

Thanks, Pilar. Come to think of it, I now remember having nausea and several sleepless nights in a row when I first started Yaz. But, heart palpitations and panic attacks? I would have never thought. The pill truly is poison. I really hope I am making the right decision in the long run by being off of it.

You’re quite lucky you had a thick head of hair to begin with. I don’t, so I’m quite worried about it getting worse. At this point, I’m just trying to brace myself. I just don’t understand how I could be on Yaz for two years and then start to lose hair suddenly. That’s why I believe that Yaz isn’t the only factor.

I’m glad you’re finally seeing progress and that your hair is coming in. As my endocrinologist said, hair is tricky to figure out. It can be reacting to something that triggered it several months ago, or shorter. You never really know for sure.

When you were losing your hair in ropes, what did you do to cope? What treatments did you explore? I’m doing everything under the sun right now in hopes that it will prevent some Telogen Efflevium from happening. January 18th will mark two months off the pill.

I apologize if you already explained all of this in a previous post. I just skimmed through, but didn’t read thoroughly.

-Mae

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Pilar January 6, 2011 at 6:40 am

Hello Mae:

When TE set in for me I rushed to see a doctor. She ran so many tests (she was great) and I also found out I was severely anemic with a ferritin of <5! Even though she thinks that also played a part, she believed that Yaz was the culprit.

In the beginning when I was losing over 250 hairs a day, I was trying to find shampoos that would help. I tried everything from Nioxin to natural shampoos and sometimes I would even skip shampoos because I hated seeing so much hair pour off my head. My doctor told me that with TE, the hairs that were shocked into the resting phase were going to fall out whether I washed or not and whether I used natural shampoos or ones with sulfates. I saw an Endo who also diagnosed me with TE (by a pull test) and said I could try going back on the pill. But she also said that once TE is started, I would have to let it run it’s course. She was also scared that starting the pill again would cause another bout of TE. I decided to be patient (which was the hardest thing to do!), wait it out and hope for the best.

I’m really glad I didn’t jump back on the pill and rode out the storm. I an honestly say that those 8-9 months of shedding were the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced in my life and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. But here I am, shedding normally for 3 months and seeing a lot of re growth.

From what I’ve read, it seems like most girls that shed hair WHILE on the pill, once they stop, the shedding begins to slow down. In my case, I didn’t notice shedding while on the pill, but 2 months after I stopped it.

If you get a chance, please visit the Yasmin/Yaz Survivors forum. I was offered so much help and support on the site.

Hugs,

Pilar

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Leslie January 11, 2011 at 2:35 pm

Hello, I took myself off of Depakote and Lithium (with doctor’s help) about two months ago. Since then, my hair has been coming out in chunks…it doesn’t hurt and my hair has been drier than ever. I started using Frutis, and it seems to help in the dry hair; however, I am still shedding. Is this common for this type of change? I was only on the meds for 6-8 months at most. I even started the South Beach diet, and it still comes out. Oh well…just hope this is just a phase.

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A January 13, 2011 at 7:58 pm

Hi, I’m so glad to have found this site because I am going crazy with the amount of hair I’ve lost. I’m only 17 years old, have had really thick and wavy hair since I was a child, and within the last 3 months I’ve lost more than 50% of the thickness of my hair. Showers, brushing, ponytails, even just touching my hair sheds incredible amounts that aren’t growing back. Before I used to have to sink my hands deep into my hair to feel my scalp, now I have a thin sheet to run through. What’s especially disturbing is the recession of my hair near my ears.

It’s a really scary thing to happen, especially when your hair was once your best feature, and yet no one around you, even doctors, believe you or even comprehend how awful and serious it is to go through. I’ve been taking Biotin and overall multi-vitamin diet supplement pills every day for about a month, have been using special shampoos that a rep at Sally’s recommended, and I saw a doctor and got blood tests, but nothing turned up. I’ve been under severe stress since December, and went off birth control (which I initially used to combat severe acne and level out moods) around early November or so. I’m convinced it’s a combination of the two, but my doctor is dragging her feet about it, telling me to wait a few weeks for a follow-up visit. I’m so scared I’ll lose even more by then.

As I look for a solution, I’ll feel somewhat comforted knowing I’m not the only one suffering and going through depression over this. It’s not easy being barely a young adult and losing most of my hair, but now I have a support system to at least help me deal with a situation I cannot seem to solve.

~A

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D January 18, 2011 at 3:26 pm

Best to all you ladies. Has anyone tried Dr. Lewenberg’s hair loss products? He claims a 90% success rate with women’s hair loss.

D.

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Nicole Galnte January 23, 2011 at 4:51 pm

Hi Julie, I am so sorry for what you are going through, though I hope with through exchanging stories and treatment information, we might be able to hope each other.
I, myself, am a 39 year old female who has be suffering the affects of hormonal acne, hair loss and PCOS since 2005 and have been on a mission to get to the bottom of this mentally and emotionally draining disorder.
I have always had fine hair, but with the right products and hair style I have always managed to grow it long and make it look full, whereas most people thought I had thick hair, afterall, isn’t that what people expect from Italian genes? In my opinion, hair is what makes people physically attractive, and I haven’t felt good about myself in years. I refuse to be photographed, and I am very self conscious, and I too shower in the dark because I am disgusted. I have no idea how much hair I was losing in the shower, but it was clumps, and if I don’t wash it every day, then I lose even more. I too have tried Nioxin. It really didn’t do much for my hair loss, but their hair gel is the only thing that makes my hair full enough to style it. I have tried every product on the market from Bumble and Bumble to Aveda to over the counter products from the store, and nothing works. I refuse to go on Rogaine or birth control pills due to health concerns about it, and I was on Spironolactone on and off for a couple of years, and that mostly helped my constant nagging acne that has also accompanied this PCOS and hair loss. The funny thing is that my periods are totally normal, and I don’t have any cysts on my ovaries. My blood tests even come back normal for hormones and thyroid, but my cholesterol was alittle high. I have given up on medical science completely because I feel like it has failed me miserably. I have become a believer in holistic medicine, and I have become a vegan as of 6 months ago. I am currently taking 160mg of Saw Palmetto 2x per day and washing my hair everyday with a natural Nettle shampoo which is supposed to be a DHT blocker. I have noticed the hair loss getting much less in the shower, but I am worried I won’t be able to re-grow any of my lost hair again. The product says to give it 3 months to start noticing a difference, and I am only on week two. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I also use pure body art Henna to color my hair which adds body and dept and is really good for the hair. I stay away from all chemical hair dyes. I take 5000mg of Biotin per day and a multi- vitamin. I have noticed that if I eliminate sugar and processed foods from my diet and only eat foods that are low on the glycemic index, my acne starts to clear up, so I am convinced that PCOS is diet related. It obviously effects people who are pre-diabetic, and the weight gain and diet trigger the insulin sensitivity, so that is why my body thrives on a low carb diet. My Dad was pre-diabetic and his father, my grandfather, was an insulin dependent diabetic, so it sort of makes sense. I consider myself a work in progress, and my biggest worry is my hair never growing back.

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Tamanna February 8, 2011 at 4:11 am

i also have thinning hair problems,i shaved my head for that.i donno will it be thicker or not…..i am so embarrassed.

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Tiny February 17, 2011 at 3:57 pm

Hi everyone, I can’t believe the amount of women going through this same problems. I go out into the world and see all these women with beautiful hair and think I’m the only one going through this stressful, god- forsaken problem. I ask myself ” why me” haven’t I been through enough crap already in my life and now another thing to try and get through. Well, it don’t seem like I’m going to win this battle by trying to do this naturally without a growth stimulant. I’ve been trying this product through one of my local salons here in Vermont that deals with womens and mens hairloss problems. Benn using this product for 4 years now. I’m maintaining the hair I have but thats about all I see. I’m so sick of hair issues. I remember I time when I was happy to get up in the morning and begin my day, now most of the time I would love to just sleep most of my day away, that way I don’t have to get up and look in the mirror or shampoo and try to style my hair. Grant it I have hair, but it’s thin and it’s just not like it use to be, the texture ,the volume, the beautiful shine and healthyness I use to have. Where has it gone, what is wrong, it just drives me crazy. I have never felt so depressed in all my life. I try to pull myself out of it and then I’m heading right back down that same road. My hairdresser and my family say they don’t see what I see, and sometimes I think maybe I’m just imagining it or maybe I am crazy but when I go get my haircut every 2-3 months, why is it we can only cut a half or a inch off the back and maybe snip the bangs and never the sides, never, never,never. So hairdresser why keep pushing me on and giving me the encouragement to keep going on. I love you and all that you have helped me get through but this is not your head of hair and this is not you screaming inside that you feel totally awful about the way you look and hate this sad feeling that lives inside you each day, when all I want is to feel the way I did before this crazy hairloss problem came along. I want that feeling back again so if that means I need to go through crazy shedding and regrowth madness to get my beautiful ending results then that is what I’m going to have to do besides watching the months and years go by and just feeling lousy. I’m going to my doctors this month to see if anything related to this problem is medical, if not, I do have big decisions to make, and yes I’m very scared but I need to make my next move soon.Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

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Mae February 19, 2011 at 11:42 am

I can’t take this anymore. I have some good days; I have some bad days. I don’t know what I did to deserve this and I feel like I am going to lose this battle. I don’t see a point in having hope, because I feel like it will only let me down. The other day, I looked at pictures from a few years ago when my hair was amazing- curly and dark and thick. Now, it’s flat and lifeless and thin. It’s depressing to know that I probably won’t ever get that back.

I’ve been fighting this battle since November. I’ve been on thyroid medication, been using the laser comb religiously, been using Rogaine religiously, and have been taking vitamins religiously. I have been off the pill since mid-November and have been counting the hairs lost on my head every day since to make sure it has not gotten worse. I’ve been exercising and eating healthy, and while I cannot escape the incredibly stressful environment at work, I try to make a point to erase the events of the day from my brain once I step out of the office.

Sometimes, I swear it looks thicker.Not much, but a little bit. Sometimes, it seems like it’s just not getting any worse. And on days like today, it seems a whole lot worse. Yesterday, I must have only lost 15 hairs. Today, I have lost over 45 and expect to lose more throughout the day. Is it normal to fluctuate like that? I know the average person loses about 50-100 hairs a day, but lately I have been losing less than 40. So, days like today concern me. I’m afraid it’s at the point where it’s going to get worse from being off the pill even though I am doing everything in my power to prevent it.

Not to mention, I have horrible ugly acne on my back and some on my chest. I don’t know what to do. If it’s not one thing, it’s the other. I’m sick of doctors, sick of products, sick of wasting money, and sick of not wanting to have a social life or meet a man. I mean, really, people are shallow. The sad reality is no man is ever going to want to date me if I look close to bald. Sure, there are wigs but I’m 27 years old and don’t have that kind of money. Or time. Or the strength to not fear that everyone will notice I’m wearing someone else’s “hair”.

I can’t take this anymore. There are days I want to just not wake up at all. How long must we fight this battle? Why should this happen to any of us? I know there are worse things, but it’s no consolation to have that rubbed in your face by those who simply do not understand.

Kill me.

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April March 13, 2011 at 4:59 pm

Mae,
I know it’s been about a month since you posted. I totally understand.

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April March 13, 2011 at 5:14 pm

Ok. Wanted to make sure my comment actually posted. I have been dealing with hair loss since stopping Yasmin in april 2010. I first noticed a little shedding in June/July. I’ve never had much hair so didn’t shed hardly any prior. Then, in August it really started falling out. I did find out my ferritin level was 9, but it has since raised. The texture of my hair completely changed, oily roots, fried ends, even something that looked like dandruff, but wasn’t. The hair loss was through the temple areas back more than the top of my scalp. It then got better nov, dev, & Jan. I thought it was the iron & my nightmare was over. Then, in feb I started noticing the same texture change & knew it was getting ready to fall out again. Sure enough, it began soon after. My gyno has recommended I go back on the bc pill (mononessa), prescribed spironolactone, minoxidil 2%. I was already taking biotin, multi vit, & using nioxin shampoo & conditioner. I did start the spironolactone, but am hesitant to go back on the bc pill or use the minoxidil. I know it’s my hormones! I didn’t have a period till Dec, & still am only bleeding 1-2 days. My face & back have really been broken out, but seem to be getting better. I don’t know what to do. If my body is trying to get normal, why would the hair loss get better, then start again? What should I do?????????

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Kristy March 14, 2011 at 6:33 am

April, please read Jessica’s story. She wrote a story called “I will beat this” on the network and the admin shared it because of her positive attitude and how she overcame it. Her original story talks about how she has thin hair but feels okay then when you go down into the comments you see her commenting months later and tells the story of how she now has normal hair, no thin spots nothing just normal hair. It was all about her going on and off the pill and for 5 years she dealt with the ups and downs of hair loss in the midst of the 5 years she had a child. She uses nioxon shampoo and conditioner and her hair is normal now. Her theory is that she allowed her body to “heal” if you will and normalize again. After reading so many stories on hair loss and bcp I think it is the main culprit. It is as though bcp puts you in a “man state” and causes hair loss just like what they experience. This is purely theoretical, but what I’m thinking. Read her story it is very inspiring.

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Mae March 16, 2011 at 12:19 pm

I’m sorry for being so negative in my previous post. I’m probably not being a huge help.

I’m thinking a huge part of this is also stress related in addition to the pill/thyroid. Only thing is, I never noticed losing hair in large amounts, or is it possible that I just wasn’t paying attention? I’m more stressed than ever right now with two relatives going through cancer. I know it’s terrible to worry about my hair in light of that. But does anyone have any advice?

I’m really self-conscious about how thin it looks at the top, in front. I don’t know what to do. I just lost five long hairs as we speak, and I know the longer ones are coming from the top. I just can’t take this emotionally. I really can’t. I’m almost ready to either scream and break things or just succumb to it and accept the fact that I’ll feel ugly forever.

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K March 17, 2011 at 4:49 am

Hi Mae:

I’ve read your previous post and love your blunt humor and the way you look at this situation. You get it. And you have a great personality. You are on my heart and I said a prayer for you this morning. You say you have been in a heavy shed since November that should put you at April before you see a slow down and even then it may be just a slow down but even so with a slow down that can help you tremendously emotionally. And yes you can fluctuate; but there is just no exact science to hair and shedding. My hair was slowing down on the shed then picked up for 3 more months after that due to steroid shots where I was inflamed. I thought I was going to lose my mind and still do at times and yes I too want to stay in bed all day at times, but life simply doesn’t allow that. We all wish that there were an exact science but this is one of God’s anatomies that He just hasn’t let the doctors in on. I’m glad you have your parents and they seem supportive and concern from your posts. I think the best way to deal this (which it is too early for you to be able to do this) is to accept that maybe it won’t get better and that you need to explore cosmetic alternatives. They do have the bonding system and there is maintenance is every 4-6 weeks I view the maintenance as having your hair colored. I know this is not what you want to hear but it gave me relief to know that is an option. I do not want to wear a wig and take my hair off at night; I emotionally can’t handle that right now. Read Jessica’s post. It is inspiring for all who have taken birth control pills. It will take your body a loooooong time to get back to normal and knowing you have just been going through this since November is good news. Also accepting that it may 2 years before you see a good change in your hair will also help you emotionally. You read so much about 6 months shedding then 6 months back to normal which hogwash and must be the exception. I do go to a specialist and they are conservative in what they tell you, while my extreme shedding has stopped I see wispy hairs and short strong hairs coming out which are very disturbing and I have told them everything I see, but they want me to sit tight for at least a year and see what grows back. I do recommend that you get a biopsy done. And go to a specialist even if he or she is an 1-2 hours away, most likely you can make one or two trips and they can set up a plan and at least tell you what is going on. I know none of this may help you but I so wish that I could. You are on my heart and believe me I feel your pain first hand. I hope you have a good day

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Pilar March 17, 2011 at 8:47 am

Mae,

I can tell you that I have felt so many of the same emotions you are feeling now. Even though for me, the abnormal shedding has stopped and I’m seeing re growth, I still have some bad days too. But from MY experience, I can tell you that things do get better. It’s been a year and 5 months since I have been off the pill and barely NOW am I really seeing an improvement in my hair. This entire process takes so long and during that time it just kills us emotionally, but all we can do is remain hopeful. I know just hard it is…I KNOW…and sometimes it gets so hard that giving up seems like the easiest thing to do. But please don’t.

Pilar

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K March 18, 2011 at 11:08 am

Mae, One more thing I went back to the specialist today and he said rogaine or the laser comb will have any affect on telogen. In other words it will not stop it. So just try your best to relax; it will get better; it will slow down. Stopping the major shed does absolute wonders for you emotionally. You are so early into this I know it is difficult to accept this. Only when I had 2 back to back sheds going through it for 1.5 years now, the shedding has stopped was I able to accept it. I have been able to accept A LOT more than I did when this first started. I am a perfectionist and thought I could never breath again if my hair wasn’t exactly as it was before all this started. Well the Dr. has assured me it won’t be the same and now I can accept it. But You may be the same. Yours is from BCP we know that! Mine was not; I’ve never taken BCP. So you have a lot of good things going on here. And Pilar has been a constant and wonderful support for everyone. She is so informative and candid with her experience. You are going to be fine. When You are going through Telogen you just continue to think there has got to be something to slow this down but there is absolutely nothing to slow it down only time. So Please just tell yourself that so you can function a little better and not allow it to completely rob you of all your happiness.

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Mae March 21, 2011 at 11:59 am

Dear K and Pilar,

Thank you so much for the support and well wishes. It’s comforting to know I have people who get EXACTLY what I’m going through. I’ve been trying to feel a little better and have been taking it day by day.

K: Is it possible to have TE and not notice clumps of hair falling out? (I could have just not paid attention.) I did, in fact, have a scalp biopsy back in November which determined that I had, “Normal Female Hair Loss.” But, I believe my loss is due to a combo of things: sublinically underactive thyroid, the pill kicking in genetic predisposition to hair loss, maybe SOME TE?, somewhat low iron (on the low side of normal), and a huge Vitamin D deficiency. It could be anything, really. A bunch of culprits. I went to my ob-gyn today and explained all of this to her, and she thought that maybe putting me on ortho tri-cycline low would be easier on the hair. But I’m hesitant to go back on any pill of any kind.

I will say though, that while I have not noticed significant regrowth, the hair I have seems stronger and shinier. Less dead and broken-looking. I think maybe the vitamin regime is helping. It’s a bit of a commitment, but nothing a pill organizer can’t help out with.

Anyway, thanks again for all the support and K, I’m glad you’re a fan of my blunt humor. I guess I like to tell it like it is, sometimes.

Hoping for a cure one day,

Mae

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K March 22, 2011 at 5:03 am

Hi Mae,

Yes my first bout with TE was completely unnoticed by me only because my hair was incredibly dense not thick but dense. After the end of the 1st bout I noticed how thin my hair had gotten then it started up again 3 months later and was coming out in ropes. There is also a version of TE where your hair simply goes into a rest mode without a huge out pour of it. I had a biopsy done and it confirmed TE however my new strong hairs kept coming out and my Dr was not alarmed by this but my guts certainly told me something wasn’t right. Then I started noticing a lot of wispy hairs growing and I could easily extract them with no sensation at the root. I took them in and then he diagnosed me with AGA. I went to 5 doctors and have been going to the specialist since August and he has just recently diagnosed me with AGA. He said it was atypical. He was devastated to tell me the news. But I already knew something wasn’t right. He did say I can assure you; you will retain what you have if you stay on rogaine for the rest of your life. I have been using the hairmax lasercomb and do have to say it has helped in my bang area and I believe has helped with the shedding. I think they were confused because I have massive regrowth with many layers, yet my hair is miniaturizing. It has been a long road and I became angry this morning so angry and resentful. I stay anxious and irritable a lot. That is not me I am a joyful person that loves to laugh but I have sowed a lot of tears this past year and a half. I’m ready to have me back. But things have gotten better. It was in an odd way a relief when he said it is AGA. Not that anyone ever wants to get that news; it has just been going on for so long and me not knowing what to do and scared of everything in fear I would mess something up with my recovery and now I’m just ready to try different things instead of sitting idle.

Mae, I’m forty I’ve never taken BCP but you have. I think you are going to be okay. Just keep up with your regimen. If your hair doesn’t recover know there are options out there. Look at AmberC on the Network. She does and wears a bonding system and is at peace with it and she looks like a rock star. It is very hard at first because it seems so morbid, but then you just get to a level of acceptance. I was so relieved to know there was this option. Just be you and be honest with yourself. Be true to you. And never ever compromise who you are for a man. The right one will come along. And you are probably going to have a full of head when he does. I know it is hard when you are 27 everything is so confusing and honestly somewhat superficial. You don’t know how to be comfortable in your skin. I didn’t know how to be true to myself until I truly became a Christian and even then I still get a little a confused but have come a long way. Things just happen in life that you don’t understand and I would say this so far is my monumental one. But I am so thankful to have this network and the resources that are available to us today. I can’t imagine what it was like for women even 10 years ago. Concentrate on improving and doing the things you have control over. And know that no one notices your hair. I certainly notice anything like this before I suffered from it and now I SEE it everywhere. And know if one does notice it is just a fellow sufferer and they understand. And whatever you do don’t lose that humor it is one of a kind.

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Mae March 27, 2011 at 4:23 pm

K,

I’m so sorry. I hate, hate, hate when the bouts of anger take over your life. It’s just not fair.

I’m glad you have found comfort in becoming a Christian. It must help to talk to/hear an encouraging voice.

Reading this site from time to time has helped me to put everything in perspective (not just hair loss, but recent cancer diagnoses in my family): http://www.tinybuddha.com. It’s not “religious,” just very insightful, full of wisdom, and helpful. Check it out- it may brighten your day.

Best,

Mae

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Natalie March 31, 2011 at 3:21 pm

In response to all of you, and in particular Miriam,

I know what you are going through. I feel it too, in the exact way you are feeling. I am 19, almost 20, and am starting to experience thinning near my hairline. I know it is in direct relation to when I started taking Loestrin at 18. I took Loestrin for about 5 months or so, noticed my hair looking thinner, and bloating/weight gain, so I switched to Yasmin. Yasmin didn’t seem to make a difference for the better or worse, so I stopped all birth control almost a year ago. Some days it seems better or worse than others, but I am getting to the point where I do not even want to look in a mirror. As shallow as this may sound, I just can’t fathom myself going through this, it makes me who I am, and I feel very unattractive, where I used to have very high self confidence. I am going to my doctor in a couple weeks, just to see what she thinks. I am scared, and dont want to go because that means admitting to myself that it is happening. I am hoping its because of the birth control, possibly even a thyroid problem. I told my mom for the first time today about it seriously. She had known I thought my hair was thinning on birth control but I never made it out to be a big deal. Now it is a big deal, and I spend about 90 percent of my day thinking about it, having anxiety over it, and crying over it. I sometimes feel suicidal as well because of it. I don’t even want to go on some days, because the pain is so intense. I can’t stop thinking of anything else and it seems pointless to try and act like I’m alright and go on like I’m alright when I’m not. I feel like I’m in a dream, honestly. I don’t feel like this is really happening to me, or should really be happening to me. I’m in college, this is supposed to be the best time of my life, the time where I have fun, discover myself, fool around. But it is quickly turning into a disastrous spiral.

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Jessica April 14, 2011 at 8:15 pm

Hi,
I just wanted to take a minute to say how excited I am that there is a website like this. I am 23 years old and my hairloss has really become a problem for me in the last 3 years. I am an actor so the way I look is constantly being judged, and trying to manage my hair loss as part of that can be really overwhelming. Anyway I am just hoping to find some comfort and resolution and it seems like this will really help.
Thanks.
~Jess~

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girly May 27, 2011 at 5:15 am

Hi. I jus want to explain wad i have gone through for the past 4 years. I am 32 this year and my sudden hair loss began at 28. It was sudden, i am not on any BCP, i am healthy, no medical problems at all. It started dropping at first on my arms, on my shirt but i chose to ignore it as i had thick curly hair. Subsequently, it became worse. I could shed up to 100 hairs a day and i was DESPERATE! As i was so embaressed abt my hair loss, i could not find anyone to confide in til one day my fren commented about the bald spot on the top of my head and the thinning hair. I then decided to take action. I went to a hair treatment centre tt cost me $6ooo and it helped slow down the loss, but i wasnt growing any hair. I decided to c a dermatologist who prescribed Spironolactone and minoxidil. It worked really well for 2 months then i decided to stop taking spironolactone as i read it caused cancer in rats and could cause breast cancer. After 2 months of stopping spironolactone, the shedding began again and worse this time as not only was the top of my head getting bald but the hairs at the sides of my head were dropping as well. Immediately i went back to c him and again i started on spironolactone. It worked but it took much longer and my hairs grew back. But then i stopped the medication again and now as i am typing this, my hairs have started falling in CLUMPS this time. I am scared to wash my hair cause i saw balls of hair dropping and when i get out of the shower, another 10 hairs would drop on my shoulders and arms. I am so depressed, i cant do the things i used to do as i am so sad and i am scared to comb or even touch my head for fear more hairs will fall. Yesterday i have decided on accupunture and i have gone for my first session without any impovements as yet. I am giving myself another month of treatment before i am going to shave bald and wear a wig. I am tired of fighting this hairloss, i dun c a solution out of this. I am spending a ton of money and i only c temporary results. Basically i have told my husband to prepare himself as i may shave bald soon.

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Namrata b gandhi June 12, 2011 at 6:09 am

Hello
I am 28 year old I am getting everyday 60 to 80 hair fall down and my scalp is week when i pull hair it will break easily and half hair is not growing pls suggest i live in india(mumbai) which doctor i have to meet mail in my id.
I

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K June 13, 2011 at 12:46 pm

Hi Namrata, You need to go to a dermatologist. I wish you the absolute best.

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Cindy girl June 17, 2011 at 4:51 pm

This is hard for me to write. I was in an auto accident on March 15, 2011. It has been a rough road to recover. About 2 weeks ago I noticed my hair shedding like crazy! Twice I washed my hair and the shower was covered. I notced a difference in my hair suddenly. I went to the dermatologist on Monday of this week. He said that he could inject my head w/ a hair stimulant. (KENOLOG?) I was desperate and agreed. I found out later that it was actually a steroid. He didn’t tell me that. That had me upset. I noticed my hair coimng out faster since the injection. I got in to see another doc today for a 2nd opinion. She said that she thought that it was the trauma from the accident due to the time frame. Don’t do anything and it will come back. She said don’t let him inject you. WELL too late. He already did. This has just added more stress. I don’t know what the chances are once you inject someone w/ TE. Does anyone know? I was thinking of doing a detox, but I know that my body also needs the vitamins…. I am scared. Does anyone know anything that can help me?

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Cindy girl June 18, 2011 at 5:30 am

Has anyone tried the laser comb? Does it work?

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K June 21, 2011 at 5:29 am

Cindy Girl, The doctor is correct your car accident has triggered Telogen Efflivium (TE) and don’t do anything it will come back. And steriod injections do cause some extra shedding. Let the TE run it course anywhere from 6-9 months of shed and it will slow down and things will start to turn around. It will take around a year or so the dr’s say 6 months but that is not always the case. The best thing to do is to accept there is nothing you can do to stop the shed because once it sets in TE will run it’s course no matter what you do. Believe me I researched like a mad woman and lived it. You could try the laser comb. It will not help hair grown but it may help you hold on to a few. The laser comb will cause an initial shed though. Try your best to calm down. It will get better. It just takes time.

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T June 22, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Hi, I was looking at this site a few weeks ago when I lost a lot of my hair (I’m 20). I stopped taking loestrin 24 fe and thats when all my hair started falling out(taken it for 5 years). my hair was very itchy and had red bumps and I was loosing all my hair around my temples and receding back. I also gained a few pounds and broke out very badly. I just want to say a month or so later my hair is actually growing back! More on the front top of my head but i think theres a few hairs on the side too. Its great. i know they are new because they are dark and thick! Ive been taking vitex chaste berry, dong quai, saw pallemento, fish oil and good multi vitimins. my hair is still shedding( i think its just normal shedding, 20 or so hairs a day) but i believe I will get a lot of my hair back. using aubrey organics shampoo and conditioner. morroco method international scalp oil to help with my irritated scalp. I stopped drinking coffee and i am trying to exercise as much as possible. best of luck to everyone. Try not to stress, it makes it worse! I use a cloth head wrap when i get nervous people are looking. with my head band i just look like a hippie

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Angie September 2, 2011 at 5:50 am

hey everyone, i am 19 years old and about three months ago i started taking a generic birth control because i no longer have health insurance. About a month after i started taking the pill i noticed little pieces of hair throughout my head(about 2 inches long). I go to beauty school so i asked all of my instructors about it and they said it was breakage due to heat. I believed them so i stopped blow drying or flat ironing my hair. After noticing even more little pieces i became determine to find out what it was. i bought many products for “damaged hair” but nothing seemed to work. I started to become obsessed with my hair loss and thought about it everyday. About a month ago i linked my hair loss to my bc. It started happening at the exact time i started the pill. After doing a lot of research i knew that it was because of the pill. i decided to stop taking it and my hair is now shedding like crazy! i notice more and more hair in the shower and on my bed. I’m really confused and don’t know what to do at this point. My hair means a lot to me and this hair loss is really affecting my social life. if anyone has any advice for me i would love to hear it..I’m desperate!

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preetygirl September 16, 2011 at 9:00 pm

I am a 30-yr old woman who is experiencing hair loss for the last two years. A few months ago, I’ve been on the verge of losing my patience in searching for the right hair loss treatment that would help me fight my worsening hair loss condition. Fortunately, I came across Advanced Hair Studio and made it a point to visit them. Thanks

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Jan September 21, 2011 at 4:25 am

Prettygirl, So what did they do for you?

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Kathleen September 22, 2011 at 10:17 am

I use Topik to cover thin areas. It makes me feel better about myself. Eventually a wig will be necessary. Figure it will be cheaper than a cut/color every 2 months. I understand the depression but have shed it (no pun intended). This forum is great for us ladies.

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Teresa September 30, 2011 at 9:32 pm

I am 33 years old. I have Been on several different BCP’s over the years. I noticed about a month ago that I switched from Desogen to Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo and ever since that switch my hair is falling out like crazy. I only took one month of the Tri-Cyclen and I have now stopped the BCP all together. I have known PCOS but not on any meds currently for it. I am scared I really am going to go bald and quick. I started taking Viatmins for hair, skin and nails. I also placed a call to my doctor to figure out where to go from here. Is it best to stay off the pill or go back on it? Does anyone have any suggestions? I am desperate and starting to think within a month I am going to go completely bald if I don’t get help soon.

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theresa November 29, 2011 at 5:19 pm

god this is nothing compared to what all you guys are going through,i had a bad fall to my face 4 years ago.too afraid to go to the docter.a small part of my hair began to fall out.i had killed my face.my top right pallette was resting on my lower jaw,because im dentophobic ive done nothing about it.so then i started to pull my hair out.now im in a mess and dont know what to do about it,

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Grace Batten December 3, 2011 at 3:43 am

The same happened to me after taking the pill for 5 years. I took Yasmin for 4 of those years. After living a miserable life on the birth control pill, having gained so much weight, sleeping too much, eating too much, and having OCD thoughts, I decided to quit taking that crap. My quality of life increased so much. I am now fit, normal weight, have energy, BUT I AM LOSING MY HAIR! I got pregant in 2009, and it made my hair loss subside. A couple of months after giving birth, the shedding began again.

I will NEVER take contraceptives again. I am very sad about my hair, but the pill was ruining my body and mind. I was tormented by guilt over stuff that was trivial or not even real.

WOMEN, BEWARE! DO NOT TAKE CONTRACEPTIVES! It will destroy your body and mind!

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V Jones January 7, 2012 at 10:35 am

Hi, I first came across this site as I was experiencing extreme shedding after coming off a high androgen contraceptive pill. I wanted to share my positive news now as it seems like there are so many negative stories out there. So for anyone looking for some hope please read this.

About 3 months after stopping Marvelon I began to notice drastic shedding in the shower, when brushing or drying my hair, and generally throughout the day. It was all over my clothes, my pillows, my sheets, my plug hole. I was devastated and convinced I had alopecia or female pattern hair loss, as i was losing around 300-500 hairs a day. I saw doctors, dermatologists, specialists and spent a fortune on supplements, Rogaine, oils and pills. No one could tell me why it was happening or when it would stop. After a lot of personal research and a terrifying number of negative internet posts, I deduced that I had Telogen Effouvium, and more importantly that it was temporary.

Your hair naturally goes through 3 phases – a growth phase that lasts from 3-7 years when they hair continues to grow. Then a 3 month rest phase when it stops growing, before it’s finally pushed out by a new hair follicle coming through, causing it to shed. When you’re on some pills, they act very much like pregnancy hormones. Due to an increase in oestrogen your hairs stay in the growth phase for much longer than the standard 7 years, meaning that fewer hairs fall out than they should and your hair gets thicker. When you stop taking the pill, your oestrogen levels drop and all the hairs that had been in the growth phase for longer than they should, enter the 3 month rest phase at the same time before falling out. This is by no means all of your hair – just those that have only been continuing to grow because of increased oestrogen.

It can be very scary and feel like all your hair is coming out, and I certainly noticed that my hair got thinner fairly quickly. But for most women this is completely normal and is just your body’s way of getting everything back on track when yor hormones are adjusting. My shedding lasted for around 3 months and has now slowed right down to completely normal levels. It still feels like I’m losing more hair than I used to but this is only because when I was on the pill I was losing fewer hairs than normal, and this is what I was comparing it to.. In reality around 10% of your hair is in the resting phase at all times and it’s therefore perfectly normal to lose around 100 hairs a day.

If anything, I think I made my condition worse by stressing, and using pills and products to try and stop it. I wish I had known that it was completely temporary and would stop in a few months with no noticeable difference to my hair thickness or quality.

I know each case is different, but I hope for many of you, this will be the same outcome and everything will get back to normal in a few months. Just try not to worry and let your body do its own thing.

Good luck with it all and stay positive.

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MK June 23, 2012 at 12:45 pm

Hi everyone,

It has been such a relief to find that other people have gone through this, but also saddening to see how much hair loss due to the Pill has affected woman.

I too was on Ortho lo off and on since high school . I have been off and on BC for 10 years when finally I decided that I was sick of it and wanted to go au naturale. After stopping for a few months I started getting horrible cycstic acne so in a last ditch effort to gain self esteem I started the pill again for three months. Then…I lost my health insurance and was paying out of pocket and couldnt afford it anymore, so I went back to using condoms.

2-3 months after stopping the pill I started shedding a lot of hair. I really noticed it when the drains were clogged and I could see the shine of my scalp through my hair in the bathroom mirror.

Its safe to say I lost my mind!! I did everything to try and regrow it quickly. Doctors, antidandruf shampoos to help keep my scalp clean, biotin helped my hair grow faster and made my nails strong, and rogain for women (once a day for me) for the first few months …. I think it helped. It took about 6 months to feel confident in my hair regrowth. I am now almost 12 months since I started to notice my major shed and with a much shorter (and cuter) hair cut and lots 0f patience I feel like I am almost back to my normal hair thickness.

As a side note I did notice a mini shed 4 months ago which made me very worried again. The new little hairs that grew in that were obviously only a few inches long and light in color were literally popping out of my head.

Thank goodness though a month or 2 ago I noticed regrowth. I think those little baby hairs that grew in were being replaced with hairs that are a little thicker and darker. I am not sure what caused this second round of hair growth but I def feel like my hair is finally back to normal!!! It only took a year (sarcasm). My advice: 1) See a doctor and get some routine blood tests to rule out underlying condition 2) dont stress about it and dont hold it in; tell your loved ones what happened and that its making you a little self conscious. 3) take a good multivitamin to give your new hair growth a boost. 4) Go to a good hairstylist and cut your hair to a flattering length if it doesnt look good in its previous style. My hair used to be past my shoulders and quickly looked stringy and flat. I had it cut so that its just past my chin and a little shorter than that in the back for extra volume. 5) Lastly find a reliable and safe method of BC and stick with it. For example I chart my cycle so I can predict when im ovulating (this takes lots of education and practice!) and use condoms. Luckily I have a partner who supports this.

Please be patient, optimistic and look at the big picture..I realized the big picture when I found many sites online of hair loss from cancer patients. Not to belittle the trauma of any sudden hair loss, but it could be worse.

Lots of love,

M

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Sherry July 19, 2012 at 5:48 pm

I have been on Thyroid meds since my Da Vinci robotic full hysterectomy 4 years ago. I had noticed my hair being thinner before my surgery, but it really became worse after my surgery. I read that 20% of women have Thyroid issues after a hysterectomy. My mom and her sisters all had to take Thyroid meds, but they all seemed to have healthy hair so I think having a total hysterectomy adds to my problem. I am not on any hormone therapy, except for Thyroid meds, and I feel fine. I have fine hairs all over my scalp so I am not going bald, but I shed like crazy. 🙁 It was taking me forever to style my hair so I purchased a wig to see how I would like it. That helped speed up my getting ready time. Now I am am looking for a wig style that is more me. I like the idea of the band I just saw in a video here. I was worried about my wig moving out of place when I wore it. I have only worn the wig once.

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Sherry July 19, 2012 at 6:12 pm

One thing I should let you know I stay away from drugs as much as I can. They ONLY prescription I take is for my Thyroid. I recently started taking Selenium and three drops of Iodine a day to help my Thyroid meds work better. I read on line (looking for hair loss relief) that many Americans are low on both of those. I have had to have my Thyroid dosage raised twice since I started them. Each time my dosage was raised it was like starting over again–Frustrating. I am hoping by taking Selenium and 3 drops of liquid Iodine a day my Thyroid will do better and not get lower and my hair will get thicker. The time when my hair looked the best was when I was pregant with my son. I look back at those pictures and sigh. I had beautiful hair like a lion’s mane. I do think stress can cause hair loss. I take a super B vitamin every day and that has helped with stress. I look back in my past when my hair looked the worst and it was when I was very unhappy. One really bad time was when my dad remarried to a terrible woman. Long, sad story, but I remember my hair falling out in my hands so bad I had to get a pixie cut. So considering my history, stress can be a factor in hair loss as well as drugs can. B vitamins, Selenium and Iodine may do the trick. I will post a few months from now and let you know if it is working well for me. I am not bald, but my hair is sickly thin and I hate it.

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Doctor July 29, 2012 at 10:17 am

Hi Everyone,
I have read most of your posts on here so I know most of you probably won’t like me. I am a doctor. I am sorry that those derm, internal med, OB, specialist, psych doctors had mistreated some of you. I am a female surgeon. I too am experiencing horrifying fast paced hair thinning and hair loss starting 4 years ago. I have always been on BC. I jump from brand to brand because I have never felt sick or cramp on any type of BC. I didn’t get off it. I am still on it but I am going through the same thing. 4 years ago, I was on my way to an important medical conference, while waiting for a red light, as all the girls we love to check ourselves out so I looked into my mirrot in the rental car. Suddenly I noticed that my hair has gotten much thinner and shorter and I could see through it but I definitely didn’t sleep walking to a salon to get it trimmed. I do not go to hair salon period because my job consumed 99% of my life and my time. I am those ghetto doctors I trimmed my own hair when I sat on my own hair. Every time I sat on my own hair? I knew I was due for a 3 minutes self DIY trim.
I know some of you had very bad experience with your doctors. In fact, I was told by many patients of mine that I am a good doctor with amazing hair. Most importantly, I do care. I care about my patients. I cried with my patients if they didn’t feel well. I was criticized by my male surgeon colleagues as the “girly softy”. I struggled and fought my way through this male dominanted medical profession/industry. I have taken so much shit left and right from those typical egotistic male doctors I work with. Because they think girls should be internal medicine, family doc or an eye doctor. Male haters are way more acidic than girl haters. They do not want to call a female surgeon boss. I fought through hell to get to where I am today. I have no regret because I am good at what I do, I love what I do and I love all of my patients. I wish I was a Bosley hair transplant surgeon or FUE specialist so I can do all of you ladies’ hair transplant pro bono. I really wish.
I studied my own case, I have always been on BC and never gotten off it but all these years of working under high stress didn’t kill me……..so what made my hair suddenly become pathetically thin and coming off whenever they feel like to? I was desparated to find something to blame. So to me it must be the ginormous stress and pressure and years of sleep deprivation and lack of healthy food and the exhaustion from going through my cut throat Ivy league medical school, competitive surgery residency….. but now I made it….I am a great surgeon but my long silky beautiful hair decided to divorce me!!! I am still a girl after I took off my surgeon cap and my scrubs. I remembered looking into the mirror joking to myself “thank God I am a surgeon so I can hide in my surgeon cap forever and no one will ever know my tradmark, much talked-about, long, shinny, beautiful silky hair is gone”. Being a doctor, I feel even more helpless since I supposed to be “expert” and know it all and solve the “medical problems” when they happens. I held my feasts so tight till my knukles turned white. I have no tears left because I used up all my tears to cry myself a river when I was bullied daily in my surgery residency. I devoted my life to medicine so today I don’t have a husband waiting at home for me at 2am after a long surgery day, I don’t have children waiting for me to kiss them goodnight. I am alone! I can proudly say that I have saved quite a few lives during my surgery days all these years but when I take off that surgeon cap and standing in front of my bathroom mirror? I do not know who this girl is. She has this hair looked like she came from a horror movie set . Was I too ambitious to get through my surgeon career that’s why I get punished by the hair fairy with an idiopathic androgenic alopecia?? I drew my own blood numerous times and read my own blood test results. The results? just like most of you ladies. Everything is normal. I feel ashamed that me the doctor can’t solve this “androgen” related criminal case???
I know there are hair transplant, wigs, hair extensions, minoxidil, medications, pre natal vitamins, biotins, B12 injections, B complex injection, amino acid, L-cystine supplement, laser stimulation procedure, prednisone scalp injections…..I will hook myself up with a jumbo IV bag to my own arm if all these stuff are gonna bring my hair back! Sadly, I know they won’t at least not through short term. I even took a speciman of my own scalp and went to the pathology lab studied myself. my hair folicles are not viable. If you told me my eggs are no good, I really don’t give a damn because its not like I have time to have a family but HAIR???? Com on! its my freaking hairs.
Yes, human hairs do go through 3 phases. However, as a doctor, I too do not have an answer for myself nor to any of you about why are we going through this undeserving early hair thinning and early hair loss devastation. Yes, some of your situations are caused by high dose androgen BC, discontinue BC, child births, hormone imbalances, some of you perhaps do suffer from genetic pre-disposition. Again, I deeply sorry about this and I apologize to all of you ladies that are frustrated from going to one dumb doctor to another. I am very very sorry but here I am. I am also a doctor. I am suffering from the same thing as all you girls do.
I don’t have time to think about myself. I need to put on my smiley yet strong face and march into the hospital to comfort/take care of the patients who need me. I do not have the right to tell my patients “hey you are crying over a yeast infection or I won’t write you anymore pain meds but I have a crisis here myself….my hairs are like cotton candy/spider webs thin and I am about to turn into the rapper Pitbull (btw he is pretty hot…..to me)!! I can’t tell patients my life is sadder than theirs. Its against medical ethic. My patients are always gonna be my first. I smile until my facial muscles cramp.
My father demandeded “now you are a big shot surgeon so when are you going to get married before I die? I want to walk you down the asile” I was biting my lips to force my tears back. I didn’t want to tell my father “dad, I might have a problem meeting guys because first of all I work 7 days a week and on top of that? I looked like a walking halloween charactor because I am going bald” My father in his late 60 has more and thicker hair than I do. How funny or should I say how sad??!!
I know eventually I will get hair transplant but trust me, those TV infomercial is not that accurate. Not all the transplanted folicles survive. I know the chance for me to still looked like Pitbull after the pricy hair transplant is not gonna be low. For now? I can only point my fingers to my years after years of sleep deprivation, malnutrition, high stress, high pressure, high tax and high malpractice insurance and me still paying my student loan debt for taking my long beautiful hair away from me.
Last night, I received my best friend’s wedding invitation. After work, I called her and told her I can’t go due to my busy surgery schedule but I will buy her a very nice wedding gift from Tiffany. She was upset “NO!!!!! you have to come….you are my best friend” then I went “well since I am your best friend I guess I just have to break it to you…urghh….the fact is I lost 80% of my gorgeous hair in these past 4 years and I am officially bald” she was slient for a minute then bursted out laughing “you stop it….you stop it…like I am gonna believe that BS” I was over this side of phone bursted out laughing as well because I didn’t want her to worry about me pity me before her big day. I think some of the ladies on here probably think to yourself “you can easily put a wig on, attend the freaking wedding and stop being a party pooper” No, I am sorry. I really can’t. I am just like everyone of you. I am completely heartbroken and I am empty inside.
I will continue being a great doctor as I supposed to and do all of my best to serve/help/care for all my patients. I put huge scarves covered all my mirrors in my house because I no longer need them!

God bless all of you ladies and please hang in there for your own sake
Dr. Pitbull

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Ann T. July 29, 2012 at 11:26 am

Hey, Pitbull! Or Dr.? Which should we call you?

I don’t have time for a long post but just know that it is wonderful to have your presence out here. You are a PERSON first…a woman and THEN a doctor. I have run across my share of crappy doctors who don’t want to listen and basically, dismiss you. One even told me “our practice doesn’t take hair loss cases”…this from one of the leading derm. practices in Atlanta.

Have you thought about a wig or a topper? Watch our lovely Admin’s videos. That should inspire you. I have only been going through this for two years but I’m about to get a topper because I am absolutely NOT resigned to look bad for the rest of my life. I am single as well (a single mother) and so I feel your pain. I can’t really imagine dating right now.

I hope you go to your best friend’s wedding! I think you might really regret not going one day.

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Beth S. August 11, 2012 at 7:54 am

To the lady Doc:
First of all, thank you for sharing. The most valuable thing about your post does is illustrates that doctors are just human beings like everyone else — they may have more medical knowledge than many of us, but there is certainly no magic or voodoo involved.

You never mention stress as a factor in your hair loss situation, but it your job does sound extremely stressful, so it is a possibility. As someone who has suffered with this problem for over 35 years, I know that the hair loss itself causes stress — sometimes enough to put someone into the hospital over it — so there is a vicious cycle of stress causing hair loss/hair loss causing stress which is hard to get out of. Maybe you should think about some de-stressing activities like acupuncture, yoga, massage or whatever works for you, but I know there is no magical cure out there.

Also I agree with Ann T. that you should attend the wedding. I understand you’re not wanting to go, but your friend will always resent it, and to tell you the truth, you are just letting hair loss win by letting it take over your life. Besides what is more important, your friend’s happiness or your vanity?

Yes, hair loss is way worse than a yeast infection or a weight problem, but as a doctor, I am sure you must also see patients who have terminal illness, are paralyzed etc. While this does not make your hair loss problem any less upsetting or real, it may help you put things into perspective. I know my own mother is blind, in a wheelchair AND bald, and I thank God every day that I have vision and health. Just saying ….

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Sade August 29, 2012 at 6:28 am

Hi,
Reading all your stories was more helpful than anything I tried in the past two years. So thank you all for sharing.
My story is pretty much similar to Mae’s, I too am 27, I live in Istanbul/turkey and I was on ginera bpc between 2008-2011. I never really had regular periods (diagnosed as pcos) and when I was 18 they checked me up if I had diabetes and couldn’t find any particular reason why I had pcos. The facts that I’d like to point out are these, I had a sweet tooth since I was born, I always had a few pounds I wanted to lose I wasn’t fit between 13-20, always on diet. Just like Mae everyone knows I am a difficult person, I get angry easily and feel (felt) anxious most of the time. On 2011 I had the worst work experience and as I was feeling anxious all time and feeling like peeing every half an hour I thought I had diabetes so I went to my family dr. She saw that my colestrol was abnormal so wanted me to get tested for my tyroids because there are researches about links between hypothyroid and colestrol. I visited 3 endocronologists last year and they all said I had hashimoto’s and pcos but the euthrox they prescribed to me made me have Tachycardia attacks and I lowered the dose. After learning that I had hashimoto’s I thought that was triggering the irregularity in my periods so I stopped using bpc. Oh well…after 3 months I had hair loss in incredible amounts. 300 pieces everyday. The worst thing was that I didn’t know why this was happening after all they found out about my tyroids and I was supposed to get better!? When I told my dearest cousin that I had lost half of my hair she told me I always had few hair and I was exaggerating. No one believed me. So after 6 months i had to go back on the bcp and try to see if that was the reason. Hairloss stopped in the first week. But then again i was having just one day of periods so i wanted to go off the pill and see if my ovaries still function well. To take thse tests i had to go off the pill again in june. So it started all over again 4 weeks ago. And today I was again hopeless and crushed into tears at the office as I was trying to make a pony tail, I found this site and read your comments. You wouldn’t believe the things I had tried. I tried eating mints (still trying because the researches say it help you get your estrogen level back to normal), I tried putting bcp in my shampoo, I tried mezzo therapy, different diets, agnucaston, Gyno-ferro tablets, vitamin d….and yet nothing helped. I honestly lost all my trust in doctors because I haven’t found one who really cared. I will try to wait for 8 months after reading vjones’ comment I am convinced that my body will recover and my hair will at least get back to normal. I wish I could find a doctor like Mae’s but I guess it’s a matter of luck…I will stay strong and beat this thing I know it but until then I will need support. I also believe we could have a class action case against pharmaceutical companies for this matter.
I’d like to say that if there is some sort of healing energy we carry on our body, I wish i could send you some just because you are the only ppl who does understand me and I do feel for you sincerely. Please stay strong! The fact that no one really realizes that we re in trouble means actually we still look healthy to them. Let’s just use that. Let’s just keep on searching for answers and not surrender. I will keep you posted with every positive insight that I find.
All the best,
S.

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pati September 17, 2012 at 3:17 pm

PLEASE ADVICE!!!
Hello All,
After reading all the posts, I felt encouraged to write my story.
My story goes like this. I am 29 years old and have had irregular periods all my life. They occur every 4 months and it runs in the family. I never went to the doctor to take advice for irregular periods because of lack of awareness untill I became 23 years and started noticing changes in my body. I was 25 years and started living by myself. Finally I went to a gyno in 2008. She diagnosed I have pcos and prescribed bcp. I did not take them. I used to weigh 110 pounds in 2008 and I am 5.4 in height. I did not pursue this issue until 2010 again.

Physical changes noticed in 2010 – 2011: When I don’t get my period for more 3 months, physically my skin on my face became dark. I started seeing brownish spots on my hands and neck randomly. My facial features change and I don’t look feminine. I had a terrible hair fall. I am also sensitive to heat and cannot stand hot sun. My face becomes bloated in heat. I also noticed that I got few new moles. I went to the doctor and she ran all kinds of tests and said that I have pcos and prescribed bcp and aldactone. Regarding the spots she could not say what they were. I did not have thyroid or diabetes. This time I took both the pills for 1 year. I went to a dermatologist for brown spots, she could not say what there were. My periods were regular for few months on bcp and then I did not get a period for 5 months. I stopped the bcp and aldactone. I felt like they were not helping me and I gained 15 pounds. Some of the factors that contributed to my weight gain could be marriage, eating more food, reduction in the exercise. Along with the weight gain I was getting horrible burping ( doctor said could be acid reflux) and the weight accumulated around my waist and put pressure on my pelvis. Also I was peeing every 15 minutes. I went to the doctor again and she said my bladder could be weak. In 2011 July, I had another hair fall for a month. I have been noticing that each year between June and September I am having hairfall. I forgot to mention that I also suffer from horrible dandruff from the past 7 years. I am a hygenic person and have tried neutragena t-gel and nizorol and wash my hair every 2 or 3 days, but the dandruff keeps coming back. When my hair falls it falls with the root which is so devastating.

2012: The frequent peeing has stopped. I have been having lower back pain for about 8 months now. In this year, I did not get a period till April, I was bloated and looked pregnant and felt sick mentally. I felt like there was a huge rock in my stomach. I feel full after eating small meal. I went my doctor and she gave me 10 pills to start the period. She also ordered tests for my lower back and it came out that I have minor scoliosis in my lower back. I got my period in May form taking those 10 pills. From may, I seriously started exercising and became a vegetarian and included Yoga in my daily routine. I lost few pounds. I got a period on my own in June and then September. I notice that after getting a period, the bloated feeling disappeared, my face got back its feminine features, the complexion improved and the size of my stomach has reduced.

September 2012: Currently I am planning to go to a endocrinologist and dermatologist as I noticed some more moles on my skin and new dark spots. I also had a bad hair fall this month. I am not sure if it’s harmonal or because I moved states. I still excessive burping. I don’t eat spicy food or junk food and I am still a vegetarian. I still feel full after eating small meal. My stomach is slightly jutted in the front, as I am pregnant. I am not pregnant. I am not sure if this is because of my back scoliosis.

Please let me know if anyone has noticed dark spots on skin from having pcos.
Does any one know if insulin imbalance can cause moles on the skin?

Thank you,
Pati

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Olivia October 1, 2012 at 8:03 pm

I am 21. My gyno put me on Loestrin 24 fe as my first BC pill because I’ve never had a reg. period ( hypothyroidism ) And because I was 237lbs at the time said I had PCOS. I listened to him and took it for 2months3weeks. In that last month I was noticing ALOT of hairloss. I have thin hair as is. because of my hypothyroid… so i already had some scalp showing through… now I cant go outside without some kind of covering. It’s really really bad and I am so depressed! Just touching my hair I easily pull out 10 strands. Brushing my hair is a no-go. And I just throw it up in a ponytail With a head band and am on my way. MY hair used to be about a Nickel/quarter thickness…. Now its more like a Nickle/penny thickness…. I am afraid that the loestrin has messed me up for the rest of my life and I am very very scared. Can someone please reassure me there’s still hope? I can see the image of my stark white scalp showing through my part with thin strands dispersed widely acrossed it in my head ALL the time. I’ve started taking BIOTIN 5000mgs a day. and eat healthy, exercise and drink protein shakes packed with nutrients. I got my thyroid levels checked and doc said they were within normal range… I just dont know what to do anymore. I stopped taking it about 3 weeks ago. I don’t know if stopping it led to more hairloss or not. its about the same amount either way ( A LOT) ITs just… I’m 21.. Ive had a hard life, ive struggled with so many things already, but atleast I still had healthy thin hair.. Now I dont even have that.

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Candi October 2, 2012 at 2:16 pm

Hello, I need help/advice. I recently got the IUD Mirena and just the last week or so I started to notice I was losing chuncks of hair after I washed or brushed my hair. Then this passed weekend I noticed I missing a lot of hair in the front and you can really see my white scalp! It scared me and I tried desperately to figure out what was wrong and why this was happening to me. I just had a baby and I’m still nursing so I thought this might be the reason but, I could not find anything about hair loss related to nursing but, I did find several sites stating hair loss is a side effect of Mirena. I immediately emailed my doctor but, have not received a response to so I called to make an appt to have the IUD removed. The problem is my appt isn’t until November and I’m terrified by then I might be BALD! I’m not a vain person but, losing hair is something I emotionally cannot handle. I cried all weekend and I can’t sleep just thinking about it. Which I’m sure doesn’t help the situation. I’m looking into buying Ovation Cell Therapy in the mean time until I can get the IUD removed. Has anyone tried using Ovation…Has anyone had the same side effect from Mirena. When you had it removed did the hair loss stop, did your hair start to grow back? Ugh! Please help… I’m desperate and having anxiety over this.

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sade October 16, 2012 at 4:58 am

Hello again,
unfortunately i don’t have answers for the last 3 posts but i visited again to post good news. Since 1.5 months i noticed that my hairloss decreased in a significant amount. I have been drinking mint tea and trying to avoid sugar and carbs in my life. I found a good shampoo (don’t really think it is much about the shampoo though) and i stick with it – i used to use different shampoos every two weeks. (it is vichy-new one)
For PCOS, a friend of mine who lives in japan uses a prescribed Japanese kampo medicine that solved all her problems. I tried to get it from here but sadly i think i need to go there and get it prescribed. It is called Tsumura68.
After all the research i have done i came to understand that my pcos and hashimoto’s is caused by high dose usage of SUGAR. Sugar and bpc they are all very bad for the body and if you are patient enough, i recommend you to try eating organic and avoding sugar. I can’t say i solved all these health problems but at least the hairloss is under control. I just wanted to share what i learned with you. BPC trigger hairloss but If you have PCOS and loosing hair that might be because of your diet. Sugar use gets your testosterne level high. I also suspect that i have hipoglycemia.

Hope you all find a cure soon,
getting depressed and crying doesn’t (didn’t) solve anything ladies, just try to research and find similar cases to yours.

all the best,
S

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amanda October 22, 2012 at 6:43 pm

I have been experiencing severe hairloss for the past 2 years. It seemed to coincide with stopping bioidentical fertility hormones I had been on for about 2 months.
(By the way, I had never been on bcp EVER! ) I have hashimotos thyroiditis as well, and had never experienced hairloss with this disease.
I not only had HL,but felt exhausted, as if my whole body had crashed. My hormones were tested and were found to be super high in testosterone, as my estrogen levels fell. My testosterone level before these fertility hormones were only 11! I also found out that my ferritin was now about 40,whereas before the hormones it was 70. It seems as if taking these hormones hugely imbalanced my system , favoring androgen production as like in taking bcp as i have been reading from most of the posts. My level of test. is back down to 11 or so, but estrogen has not restored itself to its original pre-hormone level. Seems as if it has been altered forever.

I am curious to hear if anyone else has experienced scalp soreness/sensitivity,fatigue,insomnia,low ferritin now , after using bcp or stopping it while experiencing HL. Or any of these symptoms together with HL. I feel as if my adrenals took a huge hit as well, and this may be one of the reasons why the hair loss has been triggered. Adrenals may be favoring the androgen pathway now. Maybe strengthening them would help?

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Martha November 12, 2012 at 12:30 pm

I had a keratin treatment 2.5 months ago and immediately started shedding hair. I have lost about 30% of my hair in two months. There are a lot of women losing their hair after having a keratin treatment. I have seen 3 dermatologists who misdiagnosed me. My blood work is normal. I dont know how long the shedding will last for. I am taking biotin, vitamins, protein shakes in addition to a balanced diet. I am also taking collagen pills which people dont know but they help thicken hair and growth. My mother has had very little hair since childhood. You could have analized her scalp completely by visual inspection. She started the collagen pills three months ago and now it is hard to see her scalp because of the new growth. . She has tons of new-thick growth. She is seventy and getting the hair she never had to begin with. Please research collagen pills to learn about the hair growth benefits. I am hoping the collagen help my hair come back.

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Jenna V. December 26, 2012 at 12:12 am

This is a great website,
Women losing their hair is dramatic and having a website with tips and other stories is always comforting to see.
I am 27 and my hair began drastically thinning at 19. I went to different dermatologist, had blood work done ( had low iron), went to a specialist and even had a scalp biopsy. No one could pin point a reason as to why my hair was falling out, so female pattern hair loss is what I’ve learned to accept it as. It is really a difficult thing to grasp, losing your hair as a young female. Activities like swimming become a pain because its hard on wig hair and takes a while to dry. There are hardly any great hair replacement salons that really understand what your going through, luckily I did find a really good one and travel to a different state just to go there! I am on my third hair piece right now, a custom Follea lifestyle wig. It is a custom cap (that took 3 months to make) because I can not stand the temples, neck, and ears on full coverage wigs, as I still have SOME natural hair I like to keep my own hairline in the back and temple area. So far this Follea wig is great. They are certainly expensive though!
I look forward to looking at this website more.

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Jenna F. December 27, 2012 at 5:12 pm

Thank you so much for your story. I don’t feel so alone anymore. I too have struggled with hair loss. It’s been a downhill battle for 10 years now, and at just 26 I think I’ve just about lost. I’m also so depressed, and completely consumed with my hair loss. It’s at the point now where its becoming impossible to hide it. I’m at the point where I’m considering a wig, but from the research I have done I don’t think that I can afford one without taking away from my family. I’m so upset about it that I don’t want to leave the house or go to work. I feel lost, and beyond devastated. I don’t know where to go, or who to turn to for help. I started taking (nu hair) about a month ago but I swear its making it worse! Thank you for your story, it makes me feel as less then a ‘freak’ knowing that I’m not alone. If you have any suggestions or help you could send my way it would be so appreciated. Thank you.

Jenna

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Kylee L. December 28, 2012 at 8:16 am

I have been losing my hair since I was 21. I am 27 now. Nobody believed me at first, until my mother, sister, and friends started seeing it too. I am very honest about going bald someday, because I do feel that is probably what is going to happen. So I do tell people- friends, family, and collegues. However, I did have great sadness when it first started. I would obsess over it and cry. I have been taking oral birth control on and off for almost 10 years. I finally went to a dermatologist who found nothing wrong and then I went to an endocrinologist. The endocrinologist found the problem… my androgen coverting enzymes were sky high. She explained that this made my follicles weak and my hair would fall out and not grow back. She tried me on a diuretic- aldactone. It did not work. It made me very dizzy. So, I then began Propecia. Yes, the medication only for men. It worked. Hair did not grow back, but I saved what I had. My hair is noticeably thin to me and my friends and family, but at this point I don’t think people pay too much attention to it. However, the problem I face now is future pregnancy. I do want to have children with my fiance, we get married Sept 2013. I will have to go off the medication, I am told, for a month prior to starting to try. Then be off it for the pregnancy and breast feeding. I am afraid this is when I will go bald. My fiance is wonderful, he says we will get me some gorgeous wigs and I know he will love me no matter what (he is bald too!). I think that is what is going to get me through this… his support. I wish everyone peace.

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L Fields January 10, 2013 at 2:25 am

It is shocking to me to read about so many young women losing their hair.
Something is going on!

When I see all these posts and then think about those who visit this site for info and don’t post or women who are dealing with permanent hair loss of some type but have yet to land on this site or do any kind of internet research because they are waiting on their doctors for the answer, or even those who are posting on other websites. This leads me to believe, this is not a small population of women going through this. Something is happening to our hormones through our food, water, daily chemical exposer and radiation from different devices. Something just does not sit right with me.

I’m 50 and now dealing with female pattern baldness. My heart goes out to all of the young women who have to deal with this mess so early in life. Things have been bad for me over the last 2 years (menopause kicked off the massive shedding). I think my hair started thinning at 35 but it was mild and I was still able to style my hair and it still had plenty of density. Now it’s falling out in buckets and has become very thin. Not sure what my next move will be. I take a natural DHT blocker, Viviscal and Saw Paletto and I’ve been using Rogaine 5%. I really want to get off the Rogaine because it is not agreeing with my skin. I have thought about asking my doctor for a prescription for Propecia since I’m in menopause and obviously will not be having children. But in the back of my head I keep thinking, maybe I should just get me a good lace front wig and call it a day. I just don’t want to get on any medication to put off the inevitable. DHT is going to take my hair out either now or later. I cried about it, but now am ready to just move on and accept the inevitable , because it’s making me miserable, stressing me out and it’s stopping me from enjoying my life and that ain’t good. I do not want this hair loss stuff to mess with me emotionally and mentally in 2013. I’m tired.

I looked into 100% human lace front wigs, and they have very realistic wigs with temple hair that looks really good. You can go on youtube, there are very good tutorials that show you step-by-step how to install it, so you don’t have to pay someone crazy money to do it for you. I decided to purchase two and start practicing my installs so I can get them to look as realistic as possible. The more I start using them the better I can get at the install process and making them look flawless and more realistic. Practice, practice, practice. If I start getting use to wearing wigs, then I can stop focusing and spending all my time, energy and money on the actual hair loss.

If this is the only cross God has given me to bear, otherwise in good health. Then I just got to deal with it, doggone it and go on living my life, I can’t make this problem affect my day-to-day and destroy my quality of life.

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Awaken January 20, 2013 at 1:25 am

Hi ladies, I was reading your posts and I feel for all of you. I am a male and just wanted to share some of my thoughts. I hope this helps many of you, but even if some find it helpful, then that would be great! There is a very big chance that most hair loss is connected to our diets. There are many people out there that have an intolerance to wheat. Wheat can be causing more damage than good, and more people should look into this for themselves. Some are even allergic to gluten which is in wheat, and don’t even know it.
I’ve read some posts that say after they stopped eating wheat, after a period of time, their hair started to grow back.

If your interested, there is more info on the net about this. Take care!

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Maria March 20, 2013 at 5:57 pm

I have lost all of my hair twice in my life. Once when my wonderful mother was battling cancer and once when my father died. I have toughened myself up and I do not cry and did not cry over the deaths. But on the inside, in my heart, and my soul I cried and I lost all of my hair. The first time I went to all the doctors – dermatologists, GP, gyno, all labs were normal. Then I went to a Psychologist who I could put into words, words that I couldn’t say to another person. I prayed so much for knowledge- what am I doing to myself? I kept on praying…. I learned to not hold it in to give it to God. My hair came back in 6 months. Now I am much, much older when I lost my hair this time I went for laser hair restoring treatments even though the doctor said I had no hair folicoles and it was a waste of money. I saw very little result. I prayed, looked inward. I was so embarassed with no hair even though I wore wigs. My self image was extremely poor. I would tell myself ‘stop this’ but it is like losing a limb. After 2 years I tried 6% Rogaine & saw improvement. I use only Wen products on my hair now. I have a full head of hair – praising my Jesus every day. I exercise, use multi – vitamins and relax my scalp, relax my shoulders. I do think for me scalp tension was a factor.

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Maria March 20, 2013 at 6:16 pm

Dr. Pitbull, You – I want you for my M.D. !!!! You are so caring. Your personality type has caused your hair loss. Tension and stress and pressure. ME TOO! I am an RN and recognize the enormous burden on the shoulders of M.D.’s. It is a sacrifice that you have made to help others. Decrease the tension!! Scalp tension, shoulder tension, jaw tension – all autonamic. You live in a zone regular people don’t know. You are so gifted to be a M.D. to help others now help yourself. In my journey with hair loss I asked Jesus to carry the burdens, I found peace there.

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gdoll June 21, 2013 at 6:14 pm

i feel this hairfall is as equal to as a deadly disease which kills us horriblly better than this are other deadly diseases which comes with some expiry date….. like some days or weeks or months or years but hairfall is much painfull than all these…………..painfull

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Philip July 4, 2014 at 6:26 pm

Hair loss sucks. Ruined my life but I guess I’ve accepted it now. I know how you feel.

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Kelly October 23, 2014 at 7:00 pm

Philip, you DON’T know how we feel, its more acceptable for a man to lose hair but women are treated worse. People look right at our head instead of our eyes. Girls with great hair always make comments to make those of us without it feel horrible. I have two sister in laws that snicker together and I want to die at times.

And here’s a really great story of humiliation. In 2007, I was at dinner with 3 of my friends. One of them TOTALLY humiliated me in front of the other two with the comment she made about my hair. The other two looked at me then each other and they knew right away how bad it was for “sue” to say that about me. I was SO upset, after I made it thru dinner and was driving home I was sobbing so bad. I had to tell my husband what happened and he couldn’t believe it. I told my ma (she also has thin hair) and she said “Dont bother with that woman anymore she is not your friend and that was a horrible thing for her to say especially in front of your other friends”. Guys don’t humiliate each other that way.

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Kelly October 23, 2014 at 7:14 pm

I have also become such a hermit. I dread going anywhere ESPECIALLY without my cap (hat). I often look out the window at others who are walking, running, bike riding, or doing simple yard work without the need for a hat. And I wonder like many why me or I say to myself “I never thought I’d have this problem.” Sometimes I think my neighbors think I’m weird for wearing a hat all the time. My husband tries to be understanding but feels I should have the attitude “screw others” but its not easy when your a woman and others including his two sisters are whispering and laughing. Yes they are adults and this is how they act. It would be easier if he were an only child and I didn’t have to worry about them. They constantly talk about their hair and I think they do it on purpose. They always try to take my picture knowing I hate my pic taken. My cat loves me no matter what I look like. Why can’t people be like animals in that respect. I remember the days of getting perms and etc. and feeling great about my hair but now that is all history. Lately I’ve been telling my hubby that “I hate myself now” and he says “don’t say that” but its true. Also, he thinks that because he loves me that it should be enough. I am glad he loves me but its not fair for him to toss that in and make me feel guilty for feeling bad about my hair situation. Lately its coming out more and more.

Its on my ma’s side. When I was little it would take my ma forever to get ready to go shopping as I was bugging her “come on let’s go, come on” as she was trying to fix her hair and one day she said “I’ll be ready in a while, you better hope this doesn’t happen to you” and I didn’t know what she was talking about, but now I do. I want to be normal and do things again, I cancel dinners, I often just wanna stay home cuz I’m too embarrassed. At least I know I am not alone and this site has given me alternatives. In my next life I’m going to have THICK hair!!! (Well, at least I can dream) 🙁

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Sam November 29, 2014 at 5:55 am

If can please trouble you for some advice as I don’t seem to be getting very far with my problems. I have jotted down what has been going on over the past few years and would love if you could give me some advice.

I have a question on hair loss as it is a huge thing for me at the moment.

I have had so many different things been told to me about hair loss that I am so confused and I have now become very depressed.

Here is my story.

From Nov 13 to Feb 14 I was under a lot of stress at work and have had a lot of stress in my life over the past 7 years.

I was not well between Nov 13 and Feb 14 with weird symptoms and had several visits to the dr with fluid in my ears, a bad cough, I had extremely bad nausea between Nov 13 and Feb 14.

Then at the end of Feb 14 I had a bout of vomiting for 6 hrs and felt very unwell after with nausea. I then had very swollen glands under my jaw and especially behind my right ear which is the same ear I had fluid in earlier. Then in the middle of March I still had extremely swollen glands behind my right ear and I also noticed I had hair loss and a very sore scalp and I still had the nausea.

I then visited a dr who told me I was making things up and I had no hair loss and I had none of the symptoms I had and told me I just wanted something to be wrong with me.

He did some blood tests to check my hormones and everything came back fine.

I have been to numerous hair specialists, drs and dermatologists and everyone has a different opinion. The last dermatologist I went to said it was impossible for my hair loss to be female baldness as I have lost so much hair in such a short period of time (I had a photo of what my hair use to look like). I have now lost over 50% of my hair and it continues to fall out. The hairs that do fall out still have the bulbs on them and I have lost hair all over not just the top and sides. The strands of hair have become very brittle they were not like that before the hair loss started and I have noticed many of hairs have very tappered ends not the end that is connected to the scalp but the other end. My hair just seems to snap, and it seems to come out very easily. The hair loss now has been for 10mths and the worst ten months of my life.

I have tried Spironolactone and it made me very depressed and the 4 weeks I was on it I lost even more hair. I have also read that hair loss and depression can be side effects of the medication. I stopped it as I could not handle seeing so much hair fall out.

I have had problems with iron, B3, Vit D and iron. I also had very bad eating habits for the past 5 years with skipping meals as I have had stomach problems. I also have low blood volume.

I had a hair analysis done which should I had very high levels of copper. Has anyone else had a hair analysis done? I also get a funny rash on my face, shoulders and neck after showering and I am not sure if this is related to the copper in our water. The dr that did this test thought I had adrenal fatigue. I always have had low-ish blood pressure and cholerstrol, my insulin levels have been a bit up and down but my blood sugars have been fine. I had slighted elevated liver test and I also had an elevated IgG4 test. I have hyperplastic polyps in my stomach. All of these I have been told is fine and I just need to get over things .

I have had one dr prescribe me natural progesterone to help if I am estragon dominant and he said this will help with the free testosterone that effects hair follicles even though my tests haven’t really shown much.

I wanted to know your opinion on the matter, also is it better to have low SHBG levels in women so the hair does’n’t fall out or is it better for the SHBG levels to be high so there is not as much free testosterone? If the SHBG levels have to be in high range to keep hair on the scalp what can you do to increase the SHBG levels and what is considered low?

Also the halo’s around hair follicles how quickly do they appear in womens hair loss, do they take time to appear as I am assuming womens hair in female baldness does not all fall out all at one time and it takes a years to progress?

This whole matter has affected everything I do in life, I have quit my job, I don’t leave the house and I don’t really speak to anyone as I just don’t feel like myself and have lost all confidence that I did have as a 40 year old self employed person.

The hair continues to fall out each day, this part is heart breaking.

Stress wise I would so I felt like I was on the edge between Nov 13 and Feb 14. I had lost my libido and also felt like I did not have the patience for anything. I was working extremely long hours including the weekends and getting about 5 hours sleep a night before I go the vomiting.

The hair loss started as I mentioned with very swollen glands behind my right ear and a sore head and I had bad nausea, this was all after the vomiting I had for 6 hours.

I had an hair analysis was done end of May but no one gave me any advice on what to do , other than telling me I had adrenal fatigue. I also had high Calcium, Magnesium and iron these were the nutritional elements and my Cadmium and Aluminium were above the reference range.

The ratio scale shows I have low ZN/CU ratio and Na/Mg ratio .

The test was done by InterClinical Laboratories.

After seeing 4 x dermatologists – 2 x saying no to female pattern hair loss – as they think it should have progressed over time and I don’t really have any blood tests to show high androgens

1 x biopsy done that 2 x dermatologists think is incorrect ad they don’t think female hair loss can happen as quick as mine and in the manner that is falling out and continues to fall out and how quickly it came on

One dr thinks it due to the fact I have low blood volume and the fact I have not eaten well for a long time.

And now a naturopath thinks its the Copper that the issue.

I am so tired and run down with the whole situation, I wake up each morning like I have not slept and I am pretty depressed about it all. I don’t have elevated cortisol levels at the moment as they were checked, but I do feel anxious and depressed.

So overwhelmed, unsure of myself and at times suicide has even crossed my mind. I know that sounds terrible but I just don’t feel like myself, always tired, funny symptoms with no answers and now hair loss (which is a big thing for a women).

I have never used birth control for a long period of time may be for 2 years around the age of 17. I had my first child at 17 and second one at the age of 25. I had my gall bladder removed before I was 25, tubes tired at 28. We used no birth control at all between the 8 year gap between our two boys as I just didn’t fall pregnant actually i had a miscarriage in between.

I also had abnormal cells in my uterus when I was 17 that were burnt out.

Also since Nov 13 I would say I have been more constipated as before I didn’t have that problem is was the other way around plus I feel cold more often.

I have had gut issues since 2008.

These are some of my recent blood test results- would you class these as normal for someone who is 41?

normal testosterone – mine was .9 (range is .3 to 1.7), free testosterone mines was 13.6 (range is 3-24), DHEA – mine was 3.5 (range 1.65-9.15), SHBG – mine 46 (range 32-128), Androstenedione mine was 4.9 (range 1.0 to 11.5).

Also I got some test results back would you say these are normal or a bit to low?

Ferritin – 32
Iron – 13
Transferrin – 30
Transferrin Saturation – 22%

I am desperate for any advice, thanking you in advance.

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alyz January 8, 2015 at 1:25 pm

I believe that everybody should make all effort and on all fronts ( media, TV, cat walks, fashion designers) to promote wigs as a hot style. After all not everybody has gorgeous perfect hair. If wigs become trendy, this will be the perfect currently available option for hair loss sufferers. Why are high heels, eye lenses, boobs job , nose job, plastic surgery, botox, fillers……) acceptable and wearing a wig is tainted with shame? Don’t you agree that this attitude should change?

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Con Momper January 20, 2015 at 9:21 pm

I feel sorry for what you have been to. I also suffered a terrible skin condition because of birth control pills. The pill is the culprit here. It will make our body imbalance. But don’t loose hope dear.. Nothing’s permanent, u just have to believe in yourself that u could cure yourself without the help of any quack doctors who do nothing but to rob our pockets. You just have to change your diet. Balance your inside body, try to eat whole food. Juice the raw green veggies and eat fruits everyday. As in everyday. Stop consuming white rice, buy organic brown rice instead. Stop eating dairys and white sugar. Ice cream, sodas, cakes, chocolates, milk etc. If you brave enough try to become a vegetarian. Coz meat in our market are full of injected hormones which can cause us hormanal imbalance once we consume. Loads yourself with lots of vitamins and minerals. And buy some balancing hormone supplements. Pls make sure your buying a vegetarian supplements coz they’re safer than drugstore stuff. U can check the iherb.com i often buy supplements from them. Im not paid to commercial their products anyway. Im doin this from the bottom of my heart just to help you. Drink superfoods like chlorella, spirulina and wheatgrass powder. Drink those everyday. Drink green teas, and herbal teas everyday. All natural is better, try to get organic stuff as possible. Search everything on the net, dont stop learning. Food is our medicine.. God can see your pain.. Pray for Him to give you knowledge and wisdom for you to see what is the right thing u should do to get well. Be patient.. Blancing your body takes time, its better late than never. Goodluck and God bless you.. And one more thing, do a healthy lifestyle, exercise regularly.

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Dani March 16, 2015 at 7:08 pm

I took a vitamin that was advertised for women. It said that it would improve energy and libido. The sales rep at GNC said she took it and loved it. It had testosterone in it. I bought it, took it for 2 weeks, hoping to see the effects. But instead of any of the stuff the pill promised, I got a horribly itching scalp, facial hair, back hair, hair everywhere. After 2 weeks, I stopped taking the pill, but the itching didn’t go away, so I tried Rogaine. Didn’t stop the itching. After about 2 months, the itching died down on its own, and I thought I might have made it through this situation unscathed. But just this week, 4 months later, this unquenchable itching has reappeared. I need help. I don’t know what to do. I guess maybe I’ll be loosing my hair soon. And its all my fault. I just feel like if the itching would stop, I might be able cope with impending hair loss. But I can’t even get to that point. Did anyone elses hair itch this much? Are there any suggestions on how to manage the itching?

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LK May 8, 2015 at 7:42 pm

To start, let me just say I am so grateful to find this website and read stories so horrifyingly similarly to mine. Though I wish hair loss was not a commonality at all, it is incredibly helpful to learn that i am not alone in this ordeal.

My hair loss started in 2007, after my first few weeks of law school. Prior to 2007, my hair was long and thick, and just fucking fantastic. I never had a problem with hair loss – in fact, i probably abused my hair back then.

i realized quickly after my first couple classes that law school was no joke. i was unbelievably stressed out, and my anxiety was through the roof. every morning after setting foot in the library, i immediately had to go to the bathroom from the intense anxiety. I lost like 15 lbs. Shortly thereafter (like in a matter of weeks), my hair started falling out in clumps. it got so thin that all my friends and family noticed, though my scalp was never visible. the shedding slowed down after my first year, but regrowth was minimal. i didnt regain the full volume and density i had lost until 2 years after graduation.

So I graduated law school in 2010, and since the economy was in the shitter, i was not gainfully employed until 2 years after graduation. however, during that time, stress was minimal, and my hair miraculously grew back. it wasnt as thick as it originally was, but it was definitely normal.

Approximately 3-4 months after starting my first real attorney job in 2012, i started losing my hair again. i wasnt losing the massive clumps that i had been in law school, but the shedding was intense, and left my hair incredibly thin. i dont remember when the shedding stopped – i felt like it took longer for my hair to thin this time. my hair started to regrow at some point during that time, but for the large majority of 2 years, i practically had nothing. again, my scalp wasnt visible, but my hair was just pitiful. during that time, i started taking biotin, and i truly believe that helped with the regrowth.

moving along – by August 2014, my hair was wonderful again. it had not all grown out, but the top was super thick, probably what is was before law school. then in Dec 2014, i stopped taking my birth control for 1 week (i have been on Yasmin for 15 years), and my hair started falling out. without realizing the connection, i started taking BC again and the hair loss seemed to stop. However, in January 2015, my job became hellish, and i was under an unbelievable amount of stress because i thought i was going to lose my job (turns out my boss is just a huge prick and wanted to put pressure on me so that i would bill more hours). i started losing my hair in January, and approx. 200 hairs would come out a day. In march, i stopped taking my BC again for 1 week (still not realizing the connection) and my hair started falling out even more. after hours of internet searches, i realized that maybe BC was the trigger this time, and so i resumed BC. However, my shedding became worse, and over the past 2 weeks, i have been losing approx. 400 hairs a day. i am still taking biotin, and now Vit D, and a multi vit, but i feel so fucking hopeless. i know all i can do is wait this out, but it’s just so hard, because I feel so helpless. i dont know when this will stop and it’s fucking terrifying.

long story short, it feels good to memorialize the hell in which i have lived for the past 8 years. i’m also thankful this forum exists so i can post my experience.

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Diane September 10, 2015 at 10:53 am

Has ANYONE found a solution of any kind? Is it pointless to jump from Dr to Dr trying to find the answer when there isn’t one?

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pam April 6, 2016 at 1:30 pm

hello ladies !

The only product hair doctors ( in France & in the US ) have recommended me to use is Rogaine. I have androgenic alopecia. I have started using this product around 15 but lost a lot of hair around 21. Used it for another couple years and then stopped because of itch ( and worn out completely …) I am 38 now and have to use the product again as the hair loss is still f** there. I am going to try Viviscal just for the heck of it.
I am searching now ( I live in the US now ) a good gentle shampoo for sensitive scalp if you have any recos ???

For the comments on the pill, I don’t know what to say – due to greasy hair I had to take a pill to dry out my scalp. Never quite stopped. Now that I am older I was prescribed another pill called Desogestrel ( said to provoke hair loss but it is kind of already the case so I see no difference ! )
I am struggling to use everyday Rogaine 5% ( so sick of that product !! ) as results are not very visible or very veryyyyy slow….

Anyway, I am happy to join a website with woman who understand my everyday life & struggle !! Any exchange of products I can buy in the US would be nice. We can help each other :o)
Thanks beautiful ones!
Pam

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maddy October 31, 2016 at 12:46 pm

Oh, dear God. In reading your story, this is exactly what happened to my daughter. They said she had a hormone problem and needed OCP, I said Ok, not knowing what else to do, and said very clearly NOT AN ANDROGENIC PILL, they gave her Lo Estrin. And the shedding commenced. I trusted that doctor. It was awful, I cried and cried every morning cleaning the shower after she went to school. Another endo said no hormone problem, take her off and wait and see. 6 months later, normal T, but high DHEA, which they said would just go down on its own. Andro was OK, DHEA-S was Ok, top of range but in range. shedding got somewhat less. She has migraine, and her food intolerances got worse and worse until she could tolerate almost no protein. Shedding got worse again. I thought maybe being vegan, no protein, hair is protein. We were able to put poultry back in thank goodness. New Endo at Columbia said “you don’t have to treat it”, yeah OK. I can just sit by and watch??? So we started OCP again, Natazia. Anyone with experience? supposed to be antiandrogenic. I’m thinking I should do PRP for her ASAP. Can a teen tolerate the treatment?
I wish it was me, not her. I’d give my right arm. left arm too.

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Christine July 31, 2017 at 9:45 am

One year ago I noticed a lot more hair in the shower drain and on my hair brush than was normal for me. Also my sister noticed that my hair didn’t look as thick as it had, months earlier. I was on it for over 5 years before my 4th dermatologist came to the conclusion that the Nuvaring might be the case (diagnostic: AGA). I don’t have a family history of androgenetic alopecia or diffuse hair loss. And what I’ve recently discovered is that, of the many birth-control pills on the market, Nuvaring (etenogestrel) is one of the most androgenic available. For women, whose hair, across all cultures, associated with sexuality and feminine beauty, a thinning scalp can be highly traumatic.

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Natalie August 15, 2019 at 11:29 am

I am 45 and have been having excessive hair fall for the past year now. I have always had a lot of shedding–my mom and sisters do as well. A family trait. But I had hernia surgery in Feb 2018 and nothing has been right since. I have also experienced serious stress in my personal life and that continues to happen. My formally beautiful thick, Latina hair is a former shell of its past glory.

It falls all day long and its everywhere: bed, shower, couch, car, desk at work. It falls like a leaf on a tree while sitting and doing nothing. I have cut my hair into a bob but my hair just keeps falling enough to where I think I may go pixie, just to deal.

I have seen my DO, GYN, Naturopath, and Dermatologist. My blood work is great and now I am waiting on my hormone test. The DO didn’t find anything wrong but did a blood test and sent me to a very nice Dermatologist, who thinks its maybe a mixture of hormones, stress and triggered by the surgery. She gave my Ketoconzole and Fluocoinde to help. The GYN said it may be contributed to being peri-menopausal and we are doing a hormone test to see. There is a possibility is could be hereditary as my Dad is bald but Mom still has a thick head of hair at 68–she still has to get it thinned out! COME ON!!!

I have fallen into a deep depression and my husband is fed up. He tells me that yes it has thinned but I know have to buck up and be a positive role model for our 11-year-old daughter. And I need to stop obsessing about my hair. I cant work and this hair fall is going to drive me into the loony bin. If I died, it would be a welcomed relief to all of this.

Can anyone understand me because no one in my personal life does or says it is ok. And its not ok.

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Heather April 25, 2021 at 7:48 am

Hi, I was just wondering how you are doing nowadays with your hair loss. I took Loestrin from 2011-2016. My hair started shedding massively 4 months after stopping that pill. It is now 2021 and my hair is still shedding badly. Ive lost so much of my once thick and beautiful hair. It is depressing. I just wish I had known about the possibility of this occurring as I would have never taken the chance. I had been on and off other birth control pills (low androgen index) in the past and never had any problems. Thanks in advance for any advice. Heather

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