not longer thinning, but refusing to grow back?

[tsuriganesuisen]

Hello :)
This is a touchy subject for me, but I decided to give it a try here...
About 4 years ago my hair decided it was bored.
I was 14 at that time and didn't care much about looks, so I didn't notice at first.
It's when my mother told me that she could see my scalp in the back of my head sometimes, that I knew something was wrong.
I started putting more attention into it, and to my horror, the amount of hair that I could pull out of my head was astonishing.
I tried many things, but it just continued to fall. I went to a dermatologist, and he said that there was nothing wrong with me (we run some tests).
At first, I focused on doing things that I knew well: drinking fresh baker's yeast with hot water, nettle and horsetail tea, fenugreek, some ready made rinses and rub ins from the herbalist, but nothing really worked.
I didn't know much about haircare at that time, other that some folk stuff I just used "a shampoo" (which was later replaced by recommended ones) and that was it.
Even when it became super thin and you could actually see my scalp without even trying, the doctors (yes, multiple ones) said nah, it's not that thin! But here ya go, try Minoxidil 5%. I also started taking various multivitamins and other supplements.
So I did, for a few months, it didn't work. I gave up.
I used to dye my hair black with indigo at that time and wear my hair up, I just wanted to forget about it.
Now I'm 18, and my hair stopped falling like crazy, about a year ago. I'm also back to my natural hair color (for the time being >:) )
The problem is, it doesn't want to grow back.
Especially in the back of my head, on the sides, and just about my forehead. Recently I cut myself some bangs so it's not as visible in the front, but they're extremely thin, to the point of looking embarassing...
Below I'm attaching a picture. Doctors say there's nothing wrong (really?). I went to a trychologist, he said something about minaturization of something, and about Minoxidil, but I already tried it and it didn't work. She said it was probably stress (about 5-6 years of anxiety and depression, it's sticking with me still, but I'm on medication). It's been half a year since I left school and started homeschooling myself (which feels great!), and my hair isn't budging anyway.
Not really hoping for much anymore, but it won't hurt to try, will it. This forum's so big, maybe someone went through something similar...
http://i68.tinypic.com/33u38cj.jpg

[Arctic]

Welcome! You will find lot of support here, come join the The Great Shed -thread where people chat with others having been experiencing hair loss issues.

You didn't give enough time for supplements or the medication to work, if you only used them few months. Hair grows so slow, and is not on high priority for our bodies, it will take more like 4-6 months for the effects to be seen. It can take years for the hair to grow back.

How is your nutrition? Do you eat enough calories, often enough, and healthily enough (wide variety of nutrition-rich foods)? How is your scalp? Is it healthy? Does your hair look healthy?


I am both surprised and not surprised that doctors brushed you off. I have have the same happen to me (for different problems) - they take you seriously untill they see that test come back all in acceptable range. Then they lose interest.

If doctors did say they can see minituriazed hairs, that could imply genetic/hormonal hair loss.

[Anya15]

It might take time, but your hair WILL grow. As Arctic said, the Great Shed thread will help you get advice. I had a similar problem-I lost a lot of hair between 16-19, and then I stopped shedding so much but didn't see any thickness increase until 21. I had lost all hope of regaining my original thickness, I had sort of accepted that my hair will be thin. But then it grew! Now I am back to being a iii. :)

Look into your diet. I recently started including milk in mine and my hair has never been healthier.

[lapushka]

Try looking at the great shed thread, as anou suggested, there is an open-to-the-public part and a more closed off follow-up thread (part 2).

It does, to me, look a bit thin in front at the part lines. When I was 13/14 I had bald patches too, my hair came out in clumps and that's when I changed textures as well, from 1b/c to 2b/c (when it grew back). It took a few years for it to settle back. If it's taken that long, there's very little chance it might be growing back. Have you tried a hair & nail supplement? Oh goodness, you probably tried just about everything, right?

Still, I wouldn't give up on the doctor. Did they ever take blood to see if you aren't deficient in anything major such as iron.

[Wusel]

It'll grow back. I've experienced the same when I was about 16 and my hair follicles took about 2 years to recover. It'll take you at least two whole years but IT'LL GROW BACK COMPLETELY!!! I PROMISE YOU. Just WAIT! :flower: You are young and have much time so give it some time! :) Worrying won't help. Stop worrying, wait and believe me that everything will grow back.

[Beborani]

My front thinned out like that at about your age and rest of hair also thinned but easily masked and remained more or less stable like that--neither thinning nor thickening up for nearly 30 years. I didn't try much in that time period either--life was more important than hair. A few years ago I started using minoxidil and now the hair is filling in but it is a slow process--a few months won't show results. Even after five years, there are areas that need more filling up. You are young and causes for hair loss can be different for different people--but solutions that work are limited both by gender and age.

If you have the privilege (25 posts?) you can take a look at my blogs.

[nakima]

Stress wreaks havoc on our hair I experienced a huge hair loss about 12 years ago it seemed to go on forever I was totally stressed out and I was going thru perimenopause as well, It was awful!!! I was in tears most of the time and the dr's couldnt find anything wrong with me either which I guess is a good thing but not when we want some answers ha! anyway I realized it had to be the stress so I had to change my mind about the whole thing and I started eating a lot of protein,drinking fresh water,and one thing that I think really helped was I started drinking spinach drinks, if you don't like spinach add it to your protein shakes or juice, you really cant taste it anyway.Also you said you felt that things have turned around and the shedding stopped but your not noticing new growth? could your medication be causing this? maybe ask your Dr. about side effects. Like so many others have said hair takes along time to grow so be patient and try not to think about it worry and stress only makes things worse. Mine did turn around and although its not as thick as it used to be I'm ok with it.Just hang in there you"ll get lots of good advice here. :grouphug: p.s. my bangs are thin too so I totally understand how your feeling but on a good note your hair looks very healthy and it's a really pretty color.

[tsuriganesuisen]

I just wrote a very long post describing my hair and scalp routine, what the doctors said, the meds I've been taking and blood test results, but I accidentaly clicked cancel and all that I was left with after trying to restore the auto saved content was "Thanks so much for all the answers!". Lol.
Too mad to write it all again right now, so for the time being, thanks again for all the kind words, I already feel like I have more hair just reading them! :)
I'll look into the Great Shed thread for sure, too.

[spidermom]

My daughter has a friend who went through hair loss around the same age, also a texture change. She still has the straighter, thinner hair at age 30 or so, but it looks fine.

[AJNinami]

There is such a thing as female pattern baldness, which can be induced at an early age. As females age, if they have the gene they will lose thickness naturally in the areas you described, but stressful events or periods of time/hormone disruptions can cause it to show up early and temporarily. I would give it some time, as others have said. I'm not an expert, but I hope you get your thickness back soon!