Help! Significant hair loss!

[sarah061]

I've always felt like I shed a lot of hair but 6 months ago I moved to Korea and my hair started coming out in fistfuls. So much that it clogs my shower drain after one shower.

However, I didn't realize until yesterday just how much hair I had lost. I hadn't been putting my hair up for about a month and when I recently tried to use my old favorite ponytail holders, they slid out. My hair is half as thick now as it used to be and I am absolutely freaking out.

I think my hair loss has been caused by several things:
1. stress - I have been so stressed about work that I break out into hives when I think about it. Awful.
2. poor diet - seriously, seriously poor diet since I moved here
3. awful Korean water
4. 3 weeks ago I got my roots highlighted recently and the bleach was so strong! It ruined the the hair that it touched and caused breakage.

My question: have you used rogaine for hair loss like this? I bought some today, but I read it makes you lose more hair the first 4 weeks and that you lose any regrowth after you stop taking it....

Also, please tell me your hair loss success stories. I just feel like crying, I am so upset. Any advice would be very, very welcome.

[Annelise]

Could this be some kind of hormonal issue? After each of my four babies, with all the hormonal changes that kick in after childbirth, I experienced months of those huge shower clogging clump losses. Of course mine was childbirth related but I read an article last year about the different things that can cause hair loss, and yes, stress, hormones and diet all can play a part.

And of course, the bleach. I am going through bleach inflicted hair loss right now too. (After giving birth a year ago, I just finished the postpartum big shed and now it continues on because I so horribly damaged my hair! It is breaking off like crazy!)

So...start taking a good multivitamin if you are not already. I take two Flinstones chewables every day (because I cannot swallow big pills) and also an omega 3 algal DHA soft gel. This was my doctor approved prenatal cocktail and boy oh boy, I had the most fabulous, longest, thickest, fastest growing hair of my entire life ever, during each pregnancy!
So even though baby número 4 is a year old now, I still take the same vitamins each and every day.

Hope that helps some...

[Annelise]

Could this be some kind of hormonal issue? After each of my four babies, with all the hormonal changes that kick in after childbirth, I experienced months of those huge shower clogging clump losses. Of course mine was childbirth related but I read an article last year about the different things that can cause hair loss, and yes, stress, hormones and diet all can play a part.

And of course, the bleach. I am going through bleach inflicted hair loss right now too. (After giving birth a year ago, I just finished the postpartum big shed and now it continues on because I so horribly damaged my hair! It is breaking off like crazy!)

So...start taking a good multivitamin if you are not already. I take two Flinstones chewables every day (because I cannot swallow big pills) and also an omega 3 algal DHA soft gel. This was my doctor approved prenatal cocktail and boy oh boy, I had the most fabulous, longest, thickest, fastest growing hair of my entire life ever, during each pregnancy!
So even though baby número 4 is a year old now, I still take the same vitamins each and every day.

Hope that helps some...

[Rainbow2911]

I had a massive shed last year and lost around a half of my thickness. It is scary! Mine was caused by a new medication and not helped by stress and a poor diet. I think one, or a combination, of three things helped (it's now growing back). One is just adapting to the medication, one is being really careful to use gentle shampoo and keep conditioner away from my scalp and the last is vitamin a. I started taking cod liver oil around the time my shedding stopped. I've been making sure to get plenty of preformed vitamin a ever since and my skin certainly is my much much better and my hair is back to normal. I can't say for sure which one thing did the trick, but time, careful washing and eating well aren't going to hurt.
I hope your shedding stops soon. Might be worth getting your Dr to check too. Mine checked for bald spots and checked my iron and thyroid. Didn't come up with anything for me but also well worth a try.

[MINAKO]

taking the bleach in consideration it reminds me of an incident when i lost hair due to a bad straight perm. it does feel like hairloss, but are you sure the hair you lost was coming out from the root? that would be the question here.
of course stress can be a factor too as can be diet, but no matter how crazy these two went, i never lost more hair due to it, so it doesnt happen the same way for everyone. so in case it should be really just alot of breakage it will grow back without any trouble and just takes alot ofpatience.

[Panth]

Stress certainly can cause hairloss, as can a poor diet. The bleach, though, sounds like a serious culprit too, especially as you have F hair. I agree with MINAKO - checking to see if your sheds have root bulbs or not will tell you if the problem is principally breakage (i.e. caused by the bleach) or actual shedding (caused by stress/diet/other factors).

The bleach damage, as I'm sure you know, is irreversible. You're just going to have to put up with it and cut it out sooner or later. You can baby bleached hair by using conditioning ingredients that temporarily patch-repair the hair and/or ingredients that penetrate the hair shaft. These include things like silicones, panthenol, ceramides and protein (patch-repair) and coconut oil (a penetrating oil). Otherwise, your best bet is to avoid further damage by preventing tangles, avoiding damaging treatments and generally being very gentle. So, to prevent tangles you can use pro-slip, anti-static ingredients like silicones and/or you can do stuff like wear your hair contained (e.g. braid) and/or in a protective updo. To avoid doing more damage, cut out things like bleach, dye (except deposit-only dye), flat irons, perms, Brazilian blow outs and hair dryers (when used hot - if it's cool enough to blow comfortably on your skin, it's fine for your hair). To be gentle, do stuff like detangle gently and patiently with a wide-toothed comb and/or tangle teaser (not a brush and certainly not with one with ball-tipped bristles), wash your hair without piling it on your head and scrubbing, consider protective updos to prevent rubbing on chair backs/collars/bag straps/car seat belts/etc. and cut out all styling that uses techniques like backcombing.

As far as the stress/diet issue... you're going to have to work that out too, for your health as well as your hair. If you're particularly concerned about your diet, you could get your doctor to check your vitamins, minerals and hormone levels. In particular, check for iron/ferritin, vitamin B12, vitamin D, thyroid hormone and sex hormones. Imbalances of any of those can cause hairloss and in some cases once you get beyond a certain point it's very difficult to correct the imbalance with just food. Please don't try random supplementation without seeing a doctor and doing the tests. Firstly, some vitamins/minerals (e.g. iron) can cause hair loss (and other health conditions!) when you have too much, as well as when you have too little. Secondly, many vitamins and minerals either boost or repress the absorption of other vitamins/minerals - if you randomly supplement, you can risk causing a second deficiency.

[Panth]

So...start taking a good multivitamin if you are not already. I take two Flinstones chewables every day (because I cannot swallow big pills) and also an omega 3 algal DHA soft gel. This was my doctor approved prenatal cocktail and boy oh boy, I had the most fabulous, longest, thickest, fastest growing hair of my entire life ever, during each pregnancy!

Also, to add: this is a common misconception. The supplements taken during pregnancy do not cause the thicker, faster-growing hair seen by many women when they are pregnant. That is caused by the hormones of pregnancy - they stop hair follicles from leaving the anagen (growing) phase whilst you're pregnant, resulting in less shedding and therefore a greater proportion of your hair follicles actively making hair. It's also the reason that many people experience a massive shed after they give birth - once the pregnancy hormones are gone, all of the hairs that should have shed during the entire pregnancy shed within a very short space of time.

Although taking a regular multivitamin as per instructions is unlikely to be harmful, it's merely a patch over a poor diet and should not be used as an excuse for eating poorly (the clue is in the name - it's a supplement not a replacement). As I said above, random supplementation with individual vitamins/minerals is more likely to be harmful and is generally ill-advised. See your doctor if you have concerns about deficiencies. Otherwise, you risk making things worse.

[Agnieszka]

I'm so sorry you are going through this! First thing I would like to add is please check your ferritin levels, I know now it's tricky as you are in Korea, but as soon as you come back home it would be a great idea. I did correct my ferritin levels and now I loose just few hairs everyday.

Second thing it happened to me too when I moved to China (Shanghai) for 4 months. I don't know what it is but the water over there was not suitable for drinking, but it was apparently ok for bathing/showers. Chinese food was unfortunately not edible for me and I was struggling big time there. My scalp was itchy and hair would come out in clumps. It's confusing as people over there had such a beautiful hair. I'm sorry I can't give you any advice but just to let you know my hair did grow back at the end.

[lapushka]

Since you are eating so poorly. Have you had your blood checked lately. I'd do that, and see if everything checks out.

[Hotrox]

When I first moved to China I lost a lot of hair, I put it down to the combination of changes in environment, water, diet along with stress and general upheaval. I think they also use stronger concentrations of dyes for their hair as need to lift theirs so much more and I also had a few bad hairdressers experiences!
I've been here 7 years now and have the thickest, healthiest hair of my life so all is not lost!!

For actual advice I second all the good suggestions above and add tryinig to find an outlet for your stress. Even just 5 minutes of deep, slow breathing can do wonders

[In2wishin]

I have had two major sheds like you are describing. One was when I went on a diet. Several months after starting, my hair shed like crazy and I lost 1/2 my thickness. It turns out I wasn't eating enough fat and protein. Supplements can help with vitamin or mineral deficiencies, but you need to make sure you are eating balanced.

The other shed was 2 months after having a couple of days of really high fever (102°). Have you been sick recently?

Stress is also a huge culprit with hair loss. I would see if there are ways you can reduce the stress in your life.

[spidermom]

I think you would get a lot more benefit from finding ways to relieve your stress and improve your diet than you would out of rubbing Rogaine on your scalp.

[Agnieszka]

Oh yes, please hold on with Rogaine. You would have to be hooked with it all your life. It's mostly for people with androgenic alopecia. Try to cook from scratch over there and shop in expat markets if available. Maybe multivitamin supplement?

[Ambrielle]

if i were you i'd invest on balancing out your diet and keeping stress to a minimal first of all. I have seen the impact those factors alone can have on hair and skin. Rogaine may or may not work but i personally wouldn't want to rely on it as a temporary "fix" unless all else failed. I travel quite a lot and my hair has had a hard time adjusting to the water and other external factors but to be honest it was only a matter of a couple of weeks and switching products at times helped. The key for me was to look after myself inwardly, eat well and fresh and handle stressful situations/people differently.
you mentioned bleach, there may be breakage, bleaching can be very damaging to one's hair as i am sure you're aware of, maybe a protein treatment could also help strengthen your hair if there is an issue there?

[Azy]

Suffering with a lot of breakage/shedding myself... Time to re-evaluate my regimen. I used to do so much for my hair when I first started 6 years ago but somewhere along I just got really lazy... My longest layers (at the back) are a few inches above hip length (stretched) and my shortest (mid and top) are Apl... I also have some really short curls all over the front of my head that my Bf thinks is breakage. I thought it was new growth. It makes me look really messy when I put my hair into a bun. I clog the drain every 2 days too. Wish I knew what's going on...

[M.McDonough]

You're obviously going through some hard time. You know being away from your family or feeling homesick and you probably still haven't adjusted to life in Korea. stress will only make things worse..just calm down and draw yourself a bubble bath ..that's all I can say

[ositarosita]

When I first moved to Mexico the stress of dealing with my immigration, my DH immigration, his AWFUL mother (she enjoyed making fun of me and jokes at my expense because i didn't speak spanish when i first here) and thieving sister (she stole my engagement ring, a rose quartz fairy necklace and a multicolour amber dragonfly necklace), horrible eating, my DH not having a job at the time... i lost hair like no one's business. The stress was so bad i pretty much stopped eating, i slept all the time, i was constantly sick, vomitting ... stress can be a killer.

So i did the only thing i could do.. i took it one thing at a time.. Got my jewelry back, let my MIL know that her behavior was not OK (my DH removed them from our life), got married, started to speak Spanish,my DH got a job... it took about 6 months for my hair to start growing back

In order to get my hair back i started some vitamin therapy (biotin, prenatal vitamins, hair skin and nails), scalp massages with growth aids (wild growth hair oil, wild growth light hair oil etc.), i increased my water (1 gallon a day), i stopped using shampoo for 8 months, changed my diet completely (raw vegan is the diet that works best for me 8-1-1.. i get all the protein and fat i need from a plant based diet), started working out.

NOW my hair is thicker, shinier, my stress levels are almost non existent...I still keep up with my diet, my vitamins, im still primarily CO wash only, i still use growth aids, scalp massages

It just takes time.. THERES NO OVER NIGHT TREATMENT

i wish you the best of luck

[monaaa75]

kalonji oil, it helped me immediately

[MJ1972]

Sarah061, you better believe stress causes you to shed. I've just been going through to a very stressful period myself (relationship break-up, move to a new part of town, new job, lots of obligations) and I'm shedding like you wouldn't believe. I hope it will stop once I'm more settled in my new life. In the meantime, I'm trying to minimise the damage by eating healthy food and trying to relax as much as possible. I'd advise you to do the same thing. Make sure you have plenty of green tea and sea weed while in Korea, and drink a lot of water. All these things will improve the quality of your new growth.


When I first moved to China I lost a lot of hair .... I think they also use stronger concentrations of dyes for their hair as need to lift theirs so much more and I also had a few bad hairdressers experiences!

Yeah, I'd stop dying my hair in Korea if I were you, Sarah061. The dyes Koreans use are designed for Asian hair, which is much thicker and heavier than Caucasian hair. They are quite capable of doing a lot of damage to Caucasian hair. In my experience, Asian hairdressers have no idea how to deal with Caucasian hair, least of all thin and fine hair like mine...

[vega]

Hi hope you have been ok losing slot of hair can be traumatic , my Aunt used pro gain after massive shed and it took her 9 months until she saw any benefit , her hair recovered 80 percent which she was happy with , now she is maintaing healthier choices and she took up Yoga , hang in there x.
I think my hair loss has been caused by several things:
1. stress - I have been so stressed about work that I break out into hives when I think about it. Awful.
2. poor diet - seriously, seriously poor diet since I moved here
3. awful Korean water
4. 3 weeks ago I got my roots highlighted recently and the bleach was so strong! It ruined the the hair that it touched and caused breakage.

My question: have you used rogaine for hair loss like this? I bought some today, but I read it makes you lose more hair the first 4 weeks and that you lose any regrowth after you stop taking it....

Also, please tell me your hair loss success stories. I just feel like crying, I am so upset. Any advice would be very, very welcome.[/QUOTE]

[vega]

Tech issue with post sorry

[hanne jensen]

If you start using Rogaine you will have to use it for the rest of your life. Stress and poor diet can really thin the hair. Eat a proper diet! Somehow or other deal with the stress.
Are your hair follicles clogged? That sure will thin the hair. If this massive shedding continues, seek medical help.