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View Full Version : Loosing hair --- now what?!!?



dagny
July 8th, 2020, 07:38 PM
I had been ill last autumn and then was hit with a respiratory illness in February (possibly Covid-19 or Influenza....) and I am now loosing my hair. I have lost about an inch in thickness and it doesn't seem to be letting up. My hair has hardly grown in the past few months also (it used to be 2 cm every month). The loss is all over, not it patches, so it doesn't appear to be alopecia or auto-immune related.

Lab tests showed my ferritin level was low, along with DHEA and Vitamin D (both of which I have been taking supplementation for due to chronic health issues and then stopped). I have started iron and re-started the Vitamin D and DHEA, so hopefully the hair will stop falling out and will begin to grow back.

I admit that I am getting a bit depressed whenever I look at my hair and try to put it in styles that I used to wear. The hair 'toys" I used to wear are now falling out whenever I try and wear them. My Lazy-Wrap bun spits out u-pins and hair sticks, as well as Flexi-8's and I am constantly having to re-do the styles or just wear it in a messy bun with a scrunchie.

it is currently at TB length. I stopped measuring the thickness last week because it was making me depressed, but I know it is thinner now than it was last week -- which was about 2.75" circumference. I know that there are many people here who have hair thinner than I do, so I shouldn't complain. But at the same time, this is not a normal state for me and it is distressing and depressing because I don't know when (or if) it will end and if I will have any hair left when it finally stops!

Is it best to keep it long and wait for the hemline to thicken up eventually? Or best to cut it to where it is thicker (BSL, for example)? I really don't know what to do. For the moment, I am just trying to put it up with the scrunchie so I won't see it and think about it.

:(

Duchess Fuzzy Buns
July 8th, 2020, 09:52 PM
I suspect it is a shed possibly related to the stress of your illness earlier this year that will eventually subside. (I'm not a doctor though, so ya know). You mentioned you've had lab tests done and are taking supplements to correct deficiencies- that is great! Did you go to the doc/have the lab tests done because of the hair loss or was it unrelated? If you haven't been to talk to your doctor specifically about the hair loss, I would go and talk to them about it, considering it's been going on for a couple months already.

As for whether you should keep it long or trim it back, I would wait to do anything until the shedding stops and/or you figure out what's going on with it. That way you can see what's left after the shed has hopefully stopped and you have a better idea of what you're working with.

Best of luck finding answers and re-growing. I'm sorry you are experiencing this, I can imagine how upsetting it must be.

The Lizard Wife
July 8th, 2020, 09:58 PM
I had pneumonia last year--I got sick in February/March, was losing hair by May, and I forget when exactly it stopped but I think I was losing hair for maybe 2 months? Possibly 3 but I think 2 is more likely. I went from 4" to 3.5" circumference. It's really nerve-racking not knowing when it will stop, but hopefully if you're feeling better now and taking supplements then you'll see all that lost hair growing back in. All I can really say is to hang in there. :flower:

As far as cutting goes, I personally would wait until the shedding stopped, but you should decide what's best for you. If the hemline is really depressing you, maybe cutting off a few inches (rather than drastically chopping to BSL) could help you feel better in the meantime. (I have trouble with tension headaches, so my number one priority is always "Can I get my hair up in a way that doesn't kill me?" when I make hair decisions. The overall appearance of my hair takes a backseat to that.)

As far as not being able to do your usual styles, I'm not sure exactly what toys you use and what buns you do (some toys are literally just going to be too big, like flexis, while hairsticks might not matter as much). But I have changed the thickness of my hair quite a bit over the past year (massive undercut, then taking off a little more) and more recently the length (waist to "somewhere between shoulder and APL"), and I have found that every time I had to re-learn how to do my standard buns. I'm using a disc bun right now, and I was so frustrated that I couldn't get it to work anymore for no obvious-to-me reason--until I finally realized I had to change which fingers I wrapped the loops around in order to make the loops small enough to securely hold the now-tiny wrapped base of my bun. Maybe if you play around with how you construct your usual buns, you'll strike on a way that works with your current thickness?

SleepyTangles
July 9th, 2020, 01:11 AM
I'm sorry you had to get through all this!
I think that when your health will be back to normal, your hair thickness will improve too. My approach would be continuing the supplements/treatments, with a good diet and a bit of physical activity if you can. I'd just try to avoid stressing about it, and focus on things you love.
Pamper yourself and your hair, you've both done so good at handling this situation :grouphug:
I'd personally maintain your current length, at least while your body it's still assessing the situation. For trimming, unless it's very dry and damaged, there's always time later.

I personally handle better thinner ends in hairstyles, maybe because they are easier to tuck in? Not sure :confused:
Anyway, I agree with previous posters: you need a bit of time to get used to the different thickness. You'll soon adjust on how tight/loose your new buns need to be.

spidermom
July 9th, 2020, 05:52 AM
You might be surprised how quickly hair can grow back after a massive shed. I had this last fall, and other than having thousands of shorter hair that love to stand up and wave around, I can't even tell. It's like my hair kind of evened itself up somehow. The longest hairs haven't grown much, but shorter hairs have caught up to the longest lengths so that it no longer looks thin at the bottom.

Male Ponytail
July 9th, 2020, 06:21 AM
I've had this sort of thing happen due to a stressful situation. What's incredible is how quickly the hair fullness comes back to normal. Cutting length makes no sense to do when this occurs. You will see in a couple of month the problem will reverse itself. The problem will leave unexpectedly like it came if it is just due to catching a serious flu. The thing I would work on is building up your immunity so it doesn't occur again in the future.

Ylva
July 9th, 2020, 02:03 PM
I'm willing to bet it's telogen effluvium triggered by the illness. I know how devastating it can be, but all your lost thickness should grow back in its due time. :grouphug:

sipnsun
July 9th, 2020, 02:14 PM
I lost about a 1/3 of my thickness (on my already thin hair) due to an iron deficiency in 2015 so I know, understand and sympathize with how stressful it can be. My hairdresser encouraged me not to do a big chop but I insisted and regretted it until it grew back out. Hair fall is usually temporary so like my hairdresser, I encourage you to wait until its over and reassess at that time. If you really need to trim, micro trims can do wonders for thickening up a hemline.

lapushka
July 9th, 2020, 02:42 PM
Iron levels are so so important for hair. Slightest shortage and *bam*. I'm thinking it's going to get a lot better once you get your deficiencies back OK. Good luck to you.

Try to look forward; that's what I told myself when I went through it age 13/14 at the start of puberty when my hormones where so out of whack I had massive loss and bald patches to boot. It took a full year, but it got better! :)

CuteCrow
July 9th, 2020, 07:09 PM
I'm surprised how similar your story is to mine. I also had a respiratory illness in early February (that could have been covid, who knows) and a month or so later I started losing hair. A ton of it. I think it was related to the illness because I couldn't think of any other stress or situation that could have caused the shedding.
I don't know how much thickness I lost because my hair is very short and wasn't measuring it, and I got my blood tested and only Vit D came low. I have to say it lasted until last month more or less and now my hair is shedding way less than usual. So I guess it was telogen effluvium.
I'm just here to say there's light after the tunnel. I wouldn't cut until the shedding had stopped, just keep it up and after the storm you can see if you feel like your ends really need to even up. :grouphug:

dagny
July 10th, 2020, 11:36 AM
Everyone,
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words! It has put my mind at ease and I will wait to do anything with my hair at this time and enjoy what I have and try to come up with new and different ways to wear it.

Duchess,
Yes, I mentioned to my doctor (in an unrelated visit) that I was loosing my hair and he checked me for these things, along with hypothyroidism. While my ferritin levels were on the low "normal" side, I was not yet anemic thankfully. I am hoping that with my food-based supplements (heme and non-heme iron rich foods) it will bring my ferritin levels up to one that is conducive to growing hair.

Lizard Wife,
I am sorry to hear that you have also been having similar problems as I am. I will try and change my current hair toys and come up with variations on the styles that I usually wear. I have tried one that I find particularly helpful: a French braid in which I braid all the way to the tips and then weave the last 4 inches or so of the braid back up through the braid. The end result is that while my braid is much shorter (about mid back length) the thin ends are hidden up into the braid and it makes the whole thing look thicker than it would have otherwise. :-).

SleepyTangles,
Thank you. I find that when I wear my hair down I get the most depressed because I have a tendency to touch my hair or grab it into a pony-tail, and it is then that I am reminded of how thin it has become. I am going to try and play around with different styles and come up with some new ones so I won't constantly remind myself that my hair is different than how it used to be. The Flex-8's that I have are now too loose and heavy, so perhaps I will purchase a smaller size of my favorites as a way to pamper myself. :-)

Spidermom,
Have you noticed that the shorter hairs are growing at a faster pace than the longer hairs are, or would have been growing prior to the shed? (if that makes any sense). Your words are very encouraging. Thank you so much!

Male Ponytail,
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words! You are right about building my immunity---I started to get ill 2 days ago AGAIN!! :-( I have chronic illness and I think thing are just compounding and piling upon themselves. last Autumn I was so ill that I couldn't eat for a week and lost a tremendous amount of weight. I thought at that time I would have a shed but it didn't happen until after the respiratory illness this winter/spring. I guess my poor body had finally had enough. I am hoping that this current illness won't tip me back over the edge again, especially if my shedding were slowing down. :-(

Yiva,
Thank you! I am hoping things will thicken up quickly. Reading others' accounts on how quickly their hair rebounded after a major shed has been very encouraging and comforting. As I mentioned above, I have gotten ill again (!) but I am hoping it will not precipitate another shed or a longer continuation of this current one. Fingers crossed!!

Sipnsun,
I am sorry to hear about your chop and regret afterward. I will definitely heed your (and your hairdressers) words!!! No chop!! Best regards to you.

Lapushka,
Thank you for your advice. I will not think about any change at this point in time and will wait until the shed stops before I make any decisions. I am currently ill again, so I hope it doesn't extend this shed or bring on another one. I am sorry to hear about the shed you went through in the past. It must have been very traumatizing, especially at that young age. Cheers to you!

CuteCrow,
I am sorry to hear that you are going through the same thing! :-(. If you had your ferritin levels checked, make sure you are at least in the 50-70 range, because lower than this does not foster hair growth. I have had chronic illness for about 12 years now, and it is possible that I had shedding at certain points because of the illness (there were several times in which we did not think I was going to live through the night, etc). But it wasn't until I began to intentionally grow my hair long (my sons wanted me to grow it to my knees) that I started to notice. Of course, loosing 100 hairs a day when your hair is over 3 feet long is about 300 feet of shed hair (far more noticeable than when it was chin length, for example). I am glad to hear your shedding has stopped. Happy growing!! :-)

CuteCrow
July 24th, 2020, 07:43 PM
CuteCrow,
I am sorry to hear that you are going through the same thing! :-(. If you had your ferritin levels checked, make sure you are at least in the 50-70 range, because lower than this does not foster hair growth. I have had chronic illness for about 12 years now, and it is possible that I had shedding at certain points because of the illness (there were several times in which we did not think I was going to live through the night, etc). But it wasn't until I began to intentionally grow my hair long (my sons wanted me to grow it to my knees) that I started to notice. Of course, loosing 100 hairs a day when your hair is over 3 feet long is about 300 feet of shed hair (far more noticeable than when it was chin length, for example). I am glad to hear your shedding has stopped. Happy growing!! :-)

I just checked my last blood work because I have become anemic from time to time, but my ferritin was 63 so I think I'm good for now in that aspect.
I'm so sorry you have to deal with chronic illness and I can not even imagine how stressful those nights could have been :( Your sons sound like really encouraging in your hair journey though. I hope this too will pass soon enough and you have a happy growing too! :grouphug:

baanoo
July 25th, 2020, 03:15 AM
How did I miss this thread?? Duchess, we’re in the same boat and my deepest condolences!

I’ve been using claw-style clips this summer because my regular tools and tricks don’t seem to be quite working properly but I’m beginning to feel encouraged.