What could be causing my shedding?

[Heatherzilla]

For the last month or so my hair has been shedding much more than is usual for me. I haven't changed my hair care routine at all, or had any really stressful things happening in my life so I'm at a bit of a loss as to what could be causing this. Any ideas? What can I do to help it stop?

[In2wishin]

Have you changed you eating habits?

[Heatherzilla]

I've been eating more fruit and veg because all the good stuff is in season and I can get a tray of mangoes for $15, but apart from that nothing has changed.

[G1ll]

I'm pretty sure hair has shedding periods, similar to growing periods. I just got out of a very bad shedding period. Just soldier through it, be very gentle with your hair!

[hairpleasegrow]

Iron? Maybe check your iron levels....or take an iron supplement :)

[Firefox7275]

Various nutritional imbalances or deficiences - you should be eating a wide variety of different foods from all the main groups, one type of fruit counts as one serving regardless how many pieces you eat. Various health conditions, anything the body finds stressful (not just life events) in the past three months or so. See your family doctor or a dermatologist, few here have any medical qualifications.

[In2wishin]

See your family doctor or a dermatologist, few here have any medical qualifications.

Good general advice but I don't see anyone here trying to diagnose or treat anything, just offering suggestions as to areas to look at.

[Firefox7275]

Good general advice but I don't see anyone here trying to diagnose or treat anything, just offering suggestions as to areas to look at.

My response was to the OPs questions which effectively does seek amateur diagnoses and amateur treatments.

[Heatherzilla]

I'll definitely make an appointment with my doctor anyway. It's probably a good idea for me to get my levels checked regardless. I'm just looking for suggestions for anything I might have missed.

[In2wishin]

Good general advice but I don't see anyone here trying to diagnose or treat anything, just offering suggestions as to areas to look at.


My response was to the OPs questions which effectively does seek amateur diagnoses and amateur treatments.


I'll definitely make an appointment with my doctor anyway. It's probably a good idea for me to get my levels checked regardless. I'm just looking for suggestions for anything I might have missed.

ten characters

[Firefox7275]

ten characters

Instead of trying to pick an argument over perfectly sensible advice you could read the post that suggests taking an iron supplement. Since you have studied nutrition/ dietetics at degree level just as I have you know which specific populations and health conditions this amateur treatment for an undiagnosed condition is safe for. And of course we know from the wealth of information in the OP which group(s) she belongs to.

Oops we don't! Well never mind it was only a suggestion right? Not like anyone blindly follows advice on these forums without bothering to conduct their own research is it?

[Kate199023]

I have some pretty bad shedding myself . I just had to get my hair cut due to it being uneven. I've been under huge stress for years with family drama. Not much I can do to get away from it. I hope by now you find the issue and had got in under control now.

[CrystalStar]

Definitely see a doctor to get a professional opinion, but when I had a period of very bad hair shedding (ponytail went from 5.8 inch circumference to 3.8 )my saving grace was iron supplements, and a daily vitamin D3 pill that's 5000 IU. It might not work for everyone, and for all I know it was the placebo effect but it definitely fixed me up!

[Theobroma]

Definitely see a doctor to get a professional opinion, but when I had a period of very bad hair shedding (ponytail went from 5.8 inch circumference to 3.8 )my saving grace was iron supplements, and a daily vitamin D3 pill that's 5000 IU. It might not work for everyone, and for all I know it was the placebo effect but it definitely fixed me up!

Seconding the advice to see a doctor and definitely to get iron levels checked before taking iron supplements. We had someone in another thread recently who was losing hair and it turned out her iron was far too high. It's a bad idea to pop iron supplements on a just-in-case basis.

[Johannah]

Like everyone says, see a doctor. But indeed get your levels checked BEFORE you take any supplements. Like Theobroma said, it can be dangerous to take too many iron (or vitamins).