Women’s Hair Loss Project

Thank you for that kick-ass story! But, seriously to focus on your positive results and having the courage to wait it out while your body adjusts takes faith and strength. Not going back on birth control is such a good example to other women who are wavering on what to do; it is an individual decision, but I’m sure you have inspired some women to go the natural route.
It is inspiring to me to read your story!
Thanks, Kristina

i lost my hair due to hormone imbalance. It was after having ovary removed in 2007. Still to this day, hair is coming out due to low female hormones and now the male hormones are the dominate ones(even though they are low too). I think my hormones were low to begin with.
Now that i take estrogen and progesterone.(natural hormones)..it’s getting better.
I think all the above causes AGA to be honest. It doesn’t always have to “JUST” be genetics to bring on AGA.

I am 22 years old and have recently been dealing with hair loss due to being on NuvaRing. Reading your story and others on the web has me in tears right now. I stopped NuvaRing two days ago in hopes my body will get “back to normal” (the opposite of what your were experiencing, it sounds like), but results with that, at least online, sound to be very mixed. I’m extremely nervous. For the last few months, my hair has been coming out in handfuls at a time, it covers my clothes and pillows. I’m afraid to brush/style it, and even wash it. I hope both your horror story and mine both have happy resolutions.

Im kind of confused.
My hair loss has been because of coming off the birth control pill too( now im sure after reading your story).
I also noticed i got dandruff all of sudden also. So now my hair comes off in hand fulls at a time!
my question is, i got dandruff because of coming off the pill?
and can AGA be helped in the case of coming off the pill?

Hi Jessica,
Thanks for your story. I just recently came out of a deep depression with my hairloss. I have been losing my hair for the past 5 years. I think my hairloss initiated when I switched up my birth control pills. I was on Ortho Tricyclen for about six years. Switched to the Nuva ring, then to Seasonel, then to Triphasil then to Yaz. All my switching happened over a 3 year period. What I later found out through extensive research on my own. Is Nuva ring, Seasonel and Triphasil androgen index are high. Thus explaining why being on Ortho Tri cyclen I never had a problem with acne nor hairloss. Now as for Yaz, yes it is a androgen friendly pill, but I had a lot of chin acne and my mood swings where horrible. This pill was not for me. Yaz was the last pill I was on 2 years ago. My hailoss stopped for 4 months exactly then it came back with avengance. I was not on any birth control pills for 18 months during that time the hairloss slowed down and got worse. I got pregnant and during my pregnancy, I did not experience any hairloss maybe 1 strain every other day. 7 weeks post partum my hair began falling out in clumps. It has been 2 months and it continues to fall out. I see scalp in the mirror. Also something disturbing I have noticed. I am starting to recede, which didn’t happen before. It’s like it has gotten worse and I am not sure if it will get better. It is a true fact your body does crave the extra estrogen you give it. And birth control pills in particular can activate AGA.
thanks, chameika

My story is a very positive one - perfect for those who are starting to give up hope. I went on the pill at age 17 with very very thick hair. It started coming out/shedding at a higher rate, though not horribly, and the thinness of it was actually preferable at first as my super-thick hair was unmanageable. Of course, over the years, the hair became thinner and thinner until I could see through it to my scalp. I never associated my thin hair with the pill - didn’t even know it was a side effect.

Ten months ago, I went off the pill (Loestrin) and my hair started coming out even faster - large amounts all day, in the shower, and on my hairbrush. My husband finally broke down and told me he was worried about my balding. I freaked out, went on Rogaine (which only made it worse and was pointless as my body was reacting to the lack of estrogen), and finally found this site. This site helped me so much! I was seriously depressed and anxious about my hair.

Well, ten months after stopping the pill (I’m not using Rogaine anymore, btw), my hair is growing in - and VERY thick! I have a whole layer growing in that’s all the same length - the part near my hairline could work as bangs! All it took was going off the pill, suffering the “dread-shed”, and hanging in there.

All I can say to anyone who has lost their hair from being on the pill is: go off the pill, use fillers (Topik is great), hats, extensions if necessary to get through the dread-shed, and you will be rewarded with HAIR. Just hang in there, use this great site for support, and you will get through this. DO NOT go back on the pill - you’re too sensitive to the the hormones, or you wouldn’t lose your hair in the first place. Use something else that’s non-hormonal for birth control and have a full head of hair. If I could go back in time, I would’ve done this years ago. My hair is gorgeous, at long last!

Hello All, I too have been experiencing hair loss for over two years. I’ve been to many doctors who all tell me the samething , “it’s stress”. I’ve had blood work done and nothing seems to be off balanced. I have to say it gets very stressful at times when you know something is wrong with yourself and nobody can give you an answer. I started to go back in time and think about what I did differently over two years ago and it finally clicked! I was one Orthro TriCyclen low since I was 16 years old and me and my husband at the time decided we wanted to try for a baby. This is when my hair began to slowly come out. I first noticed a small bald spot on the back of my head. It wasn’t until 2 months ago when I really started to notice. I feel like I can never wear my hair down. My hair is always up. After reading many of your stories it has given me hope to hang in there. I did recently start taking Yasmin in hope that this will help my hair grow back. I just want to do everything one step at a time. I wish you all the best of luck. We have to hang in there!

What should i do if my doctor thinks going on the pill is a good idea because of the estrogen in it also i read that Yasmin has something in it that’s suppose to be equal to 25mg of Spironolactone..(i read that on Dr. Redmonds site) Ive never been on any birth control or medication so would trying this out make my HL worse?
Thanks xoxo

Anyone go through peri-menopause and started losing your hair?
What is the solution to hair loss in DHT sensitive women? I am on bio-identical to get this under control. I ordered Hair Essentials supplement because I heard it helps hair loss. The HRT is causing my thyroid top fluctuate and more brittle hair although sometimes I feel releif on it.
My ovaries are failing and so is my hair. I really am trying to get a ggrip because i also have burning scalp syndrome. It is absolute torture.
I was fine for nine years until peri hit. It’s hell on earth.

Traci, are you more tired/fatigued than usual? If so, your hair loss might have something to do with adrenal fatigue. Doctors don’t buy it but I noticed sudden hair loss around the time I was experiencing severe fatigue. Once I slept more and felt a bit less stressed I was shedding less hair. You need to take care of yourself, if this is the case. Sleep lots, drink lots of water, exercise for better circulation, practice deep-breathing, take biotin and vitamin B complex or brewer’s yeast (it’s much cheaper and contains certain B vitamins missing in most vitamin B complexes sold commercially) and lastly change your diet by avoiding meats, oils, preservatives, etc, and add more leafy greens to your diet. Something you might want to consider is a hair analysis for minerals and heavy elements. If your hair loss is caused by mineral deficiency, then proper mineral intake should help. Often people are deficient in manganese, zinc, and selenium. For some copper. And switch over to chemical free shampoo. There are lots out there. There are also internet sites that provide hair analysis. I’ve seen one or two that claims to identify from the analysis the source of hair loss? It’s something you might want to check out. I am considering getting it done for myself.

Christine

Hi,
I want to thank your post, and wish you all the best luck for your hair loss problems!
My wife has a hair loss problem for a long time (maybe since she was 18), she’s now 27, and she believes her hair is better nowadays, she started to take the pill at 24, but she always made the biggest effort to fight and understand the root of the problem, so since I know, her she takes vitamins, a spray lotion named “Minocalve” and goes to the dermatologist 3 times a year to do cryotherapy, which burns your scalp with liquid nitrogen at-196ºC. For what it takes to me, her hair is perfect, although it’s thin, but perfectly controlled. We’re now thinking of having a baby, and she is afraid stop having the pill (Belara), because she tells me her hair is better after taking the pill. But, obviously it’s inevitable stop taking it, and I’m encouraging her to never take it again (after the baby), because after taking the pill, her libido decreased, and affected our sexual life. I don’t won’t to sound selfish, I’ve always tried to ignore the side effects, but after reading this post I believe that it’s worth it to go throw less better times and recover after some time by your own organism.

DO NOT USE YAZ!!!! I am 46 years old, went on YAZ about one year and a half ago to control the sebaceous glands on my face. Had acne that was worse than anything i had at 14. The acne cleared up immediately and I thought everything was fine. This past July my doctor advised that my white blood cell count was off the stratsophere. After calming down I realized the only thing I did within the last year and a half was start using Yaz. I stopped. Some four months later my hair has broken off , just inside the middle area of my head. For some reason I have been blessed and have hair all around the crown, but only new growth in the middle. I went to a herbalist who advised that I also have an overabundance of sebum in my scalp, and the hormone imbalance is causing the hair loss. She made me a vitality tea and I have been drinking it for just about a month. My skin is almost flawless. I am hoping my hormones are also adjusting and until finding this site, was in a state of panic about my hair. DO NOT TAKE YAZ or YASMIN, the side effects are not good and if you do internet research, there are many lawyers who are collecting information to bring a class action lawsuit. REading these stories has calmed my nerves about what is going on. I am, however looking for a doctor who can give me a hair analysis. FYI, the herbalist recommended hemp oil around the thinning areas. I also use hemp shampoo and conditioner, when shampooing my hair I leave it on for about one half hour before rinsing it. Thank you all for sharing your stories, and I hope my experiences will be as helpful to others as yours have been to me.

Thank you so much! Reading your story makes me feel as if im not alone. When I was 17 took Tri-Sprentic for a year due to horrible periods that caused em to miss school. All was well when I took the pill and after a year of taking it I decided to get off it. A month after stopping my use of the bill my hair started falling out and breaking off! My mother and everyone told me it was due to stress but I knew they were wrong. I went to my hair dresser and she put me on Nioxin thin and fine hair. I havent really seen any change from using this product but I have only used it for about a month. Also after three months of hair loss I finally realized that maybe it was due to going off the pill. I went to my doctor and she put me back on the pill. Im so confused Im 18 and im going bald! I used to have gorgeous curly brown baby-fine hair and now its dry breaking and extremely thin

Ladies,
Another thing, like I said before I am not on any BC and never have been, but the last several months I’m spotting between my periods. It makes me thing this has to be hormonal related, but nothing is showing up on my tests. I have the Yaz in the cabinet, but am scared to try it. I see my hemotologist again in February. It is so frustrating to think that I’ve lost the thing that I liked the most about myself. Something that I have found to be helpful is to stop counting hairs. I’ve found that if you stop counting you stress less and can move on a little easier. Anyone have any ideas on what could be up with me?

Stephanie- not sure if you check this anymore but my doctor also said my DHEAS levels were high (I’ve always had extremely oily skin and hair as well). I was on ortho tri cyclin for 8 years. Never had any hair loss until about a year after I stopped taking it I noticed more hair falling out in the shower and when I combed it when it was wet. Not the clumps that some other people describe- but this has been going on since August and no new hairs are growing so it is finally starting to get thin on top (I had fairly thick hair to begin with). My derm, endo and gyno told me to go back on ortho since they found no other cause for the high DHEAS level. I’ve been on it for three weeks and haven’t noticed a difference yet. Has anyone else had an issue with their DHEAS level? Not sure if the birth control caused this or not- but like so many other women I was looking for a quick fix so I went back on it immediately. I also just started using apple cidar vigar rinse and ordered that Jason’s shampoo so I’m hoping I have some success- have those products worked for anyone?

I definitely agree with the earlier post about not counting the hairs. Like all of you I’m sure, taking a shower and combing out my hair after is such a stressful time. I pray before I run my comb through that I won’t see all the hairs fall out- and I’m constantly checking the shower walls to see if there is hair on them. All this stress definitely does not help the problem! I’m really going to try to stop doing this- stressing about it doesn’t stop the hair from falling so why bother!

Part of me wanted to stop reading all the postings because it gave me a feeling of dread and denial was so much more comfortable even for fleeting moments . But I kept reading and some gave me hope, some gave me answers and some made me laugh as i recognized myself in the obsessing of hairloss. I have thinning areas at the temples and in the fringe and back of the crown but no bald spots. I noticed thining in my early 40’s but could not find any reason why as all the tests for blood, hormones, and tyroid were normal. I had a poor diet, high in fat and sugar, lots of stress and a genetic predisposition as my mother and grandmother thinned over the years. I, unlike many of you, went on the pill, yasmin to correct the prolem diagnosed from a hairpull by a dermatologist, as male pattern hairloss. Problem is I went very aggressive. I went on yasmin, used minoxidil, added supplements such as flax seeds, oils, b12, nizoral shampoo, decreased my sugar intake and made a conscious effort to stop fretting and counting shedding hairs. I started this regimen in Aug 07 and by April 09, put hairloss worries behind me as my hair was fuller, stronger and had a lot of new growth. I switched to yas in May 09 with continued positive hair results until Jan 10. Now, it is shedding again and thinning and I’ve fallen off the wagon and counting the “fallen” again. I am back on the computer researching, and back to the doctor for blood tests. Joy. I have no idea what is going on as this new wave of shedding is 8 mos after switching from yasmin to yas. Debating going back to yasmin??!!

Ann/Robin
I’ve researched this quite a lot and from what I have found out it seems the dread shred starts approximately 3-6 months after stopping the pill and can last for 6-12 months apparently. I’m not sure how accurate this is as you don’t seem to find any stories from women after their hair has grown back. I’m just hoping that this time next year I have my hair back! I think we’ve all got our fingers crossed for this!

Wow, I would have to say that reading about everyones elses struggles certainly makes me feel less alone. I am 22 years old and had been on birth control for about 4 years. About a year ago, I decided I wanted to stop taking the pill because I felt that it made me a little bit more emotional than I normally was. Although I did want to go off of BC (I was on othro tri cylen low), I generally responded very well to it- I just had this feeling that it was not good to be on. After talking to my boyfriend about it, we decided that maybe it wasn’t the best move to get off birth control. So I went to the gyno and she put me on nuvaring. I started nuvaring in Feb-March 2009 and loved it. It was a little weird to have a ring in there, but I had a steady boyfriend and he was okay with it. I didn’t really notice any side effects other than being slightly crampy and having much fuller breasts. Later on towards the end of the summer, my mom kept telling me my hair was getting thin. It pissed me off and I would argue that it wasn’t- it had been that way (I had horrible skin as a teen and went on accutane- as a teen I had very thick hair, so losing a little was not that noticable). I insisted that it was from the accutane and began my search/obsession with finding a cause for thinning hair. Originallly, I set out to prove to myself that accutane was still affecting my hair. After another month, I started to realize that my mother was right- my hair was definitly thinner. I continued to research my problem, cut my long hair above my shoulders, and made an appointment at a dermotologists office. The first thing my derm asked was if I was taking any medication and I said no just BC. She seemed to not even care that I was 22 and pretty much just told me that women lose their too and well, its a part of life. She began giving me cortisone injections in my scalp. About 2 months later, my constant research brought me to the topic of BC and hairloss. I freaked. I realized that I had really noticed my hair about 5 months after starting a new BC. Could that be it? I was so pissed at the derm for not even thinking twice about BC when I had found so much on the web to link the two. I kept looking on the internet both to prove my theory and to help find a solution. I read on nuvaring’s website that scalp hair loss was a side effect and found out that nuvaring was on webmd’s list of the top four birth controls that cause hair loss. I took the nuvaring out despite claims that stopping it would make it worse because I thought that it would probably work itself out if I stopped more than continuing on a cycle of birth control. After I stopped BC, I started to take this stuff called Nuhair because I was desperate to help it in some way. I read about it online and it contain a chinese root that was suppose to really help hair grow. I did not use the whole regimen because I was afraid to start a hairloss regimin that was for male pattern baldness if my problem was not that. Anyway I took the nuhair pills for about 3-4 months. I started to wean myself off because my derm (I started seeing a different lady who was much more responsive) said it probably was not smart to continue (the chinese root- he shou wo is said to be photoestrogenic) because again it would affect my hormones. So now I have been taking a mulitivitamin, a hair, skin, and nails vitamin, and boitin for probaly about 2 months now. It is really hard to tell if anything is helping, but I am defintly not losing my hair like I used to. It is still a huge issue for me though because of all the hair i did lose. I do not have any bald spots necessarily, but the back crown of my head definitly suffered the most loss. I use toppik and it works like magic, but I just hate having to use it everyday to conceal my problem. I wonder what I will do when summer comes around because right now- I cannot let ppl see me with my hair wet. Even though my situation is still bad to me, about 3 weeks ago I realized I had little hairs sprouting out all over my head at different lengths. Some hairs are about 2 inches while others are about 1 centimeter. My baby hairs too keep growing to the point where they look pretty funny. I was imediatelty relieved when i first noticed my hair coming in, however it is still bad to me. I keep telling myself that the short hairs that are growing in now are probably from the first hairs that fell out, so all the hairs that fell out later have just yet to grow in. I truly hope my theory is correct, that it was nuvaring, however I have a feeling that using that nuhair stuff probably interferred with the process. I use thicker, fuller hair products and toppik and it really seems to allow me to hide it, but my ponytail is rather thin so I always wear it in a low bun or claw clip. The vitiamins defintly make my hair grow pretty fast though so I am praying that it will all return to normal in a year. I may have to keep cutting my hair so it is less noticable when I wear it down, but really this whole situation really just took a toll on me. It is devasting as a female to lose hair, especially because no one seems to know anything about it. Even to this date my derm does not want to say it was the birth control, but for the last year I had to be my own advocate. If it weren’t for my obession and devastation, I probably would have never linked my hair loss to nuvaring and probably would have been bald. Like everyone has said before, I will make sure I continue to update everyone on my hair situation. Good luck to everyone as well, you are not alone.

Is anyone else suffering with terrible painful spots that just won’t shift?