Questions about shedding

[Rapunzal2Be]

I never knew before coming to this site that things like the type of product you use (shampoo, condish, etc.) or things like coloring or henna or cassia can all cause a shed.

Now I'm taking much more notice of these things than I ever did before.

Most of my life I've been used to having hands covered in hair during my shampoo/condition in the shower. It never upset me much, I thought it was just my norm, because my hair never seemed to get thinner.

Until this past year when I realized that my hair was thinning out overall and very sparse in my temples. I was told it was probably stress and also a genetic predisposition for female thinning in my family.

Through using Nioxin I started to regrow hair all over and noticed less thinning.

Then I joined LHC and started using garlic with awesome results. Right away my shedding went down to almost nothing. Like I could count the hairs daily - maybe only four in my scrunchie when I took my hair down and only one or two in the comb or during a wash. (This was drastic vs. the handfulls I'd used to have).

However, about two weeks ago I started shedding the handfulls again (and by that I mean roughly 50 hairs in the hairball) and it hasn't let up yet. I've measured my pony tail and lost about 1/4 of an inch, I think.

Here are the changes I've made in that time period:

*8 day color (Loving Care I think?) that started the shed during the rinse

*The next day I travelled transatlantic with my toddler for a five week holiday in the US - so I wonder if the slight travel stress or the change in the water might be causes?

*I've used cassia (for the first time ever) once (mixed with boiling water, some EVOO, and some honey - I used Rainbow neutral) and then once added into an SMT (also the first time I tried that) as a gloss.

*Started using the Tangle Teazer

*And the only other additions to my routine have been Nature's Gate Jojoba conditioner on my ends and some aloe in my spritzer (with water and Jojoba conditioner).

The reason why I've done so many new things in the past two weeks is because I have been waiting to get to the US to get things like the aloe gel, NG products, cassia, and my tangle teazer which I had sent to my Mom's house. So I was excited to finally get the products that I've been waiting for!

Anyway - first of all I am not totally stressing out over this. I realize that that will only make the problem worse and I also realize that it is what it is, freaking out won't make change it.

But I did want to ask (and I apologize for all the erroneous info, just wasn't sure what was relevant or not)....

Generally, how long does a shed last (meaning one that was set off by either color or cassia or stress) usually?

Do those of you that regularly use cassia and experience a shed afterwards just consider the benefits outweighing the loss?

At what point during a shed do you consider it worrisome vs just a normal occurrence?

Is there anything else I should be doing to stop the shed? (I take garlic, MSM, and prenatals, I drink fenugreek and spearmint tea, I'm going to use fenugreek as a treatment, I use bhernji (sp?) oil, and Nioxin products.)

Thanks for any answers or insight, I appreciate it. :)

[Rohele]

Well, I can't comment on product stuff (since I haven't used many of the products), but 50-100 hairs a day is about a normal amount to lose. You say it's making your ponytail circumference smaller, which I wouldn't think "normal" daily hairloss would do, but ponytail circumference can vary depending on which part of your head you make your ponytail (especially if there are layers). I'm not sure if that's coming into play for you or not.

That being said, if it were me, I would start to be concerned if my circumference went down, and I was sure it wasn't just due to a difference in measuring - I've been watching mine too, since my hair seems somewhat thinner than I'm used to lately. :(

I've only had one really massive shed in my life (due to illness). I think it lasted about 3 months and then settled down on it's own. I noticed re-growth a few months after it stopped. Other more minor sheds (due to stress, seasons, whatever) have lasted only a couple of weeks and stopped. I think certain products make me shed more (I seem to shed more with certain conditioners), but that stops immediately one the product is discontinued.

Sorry for the long, rambly post... I'm still working on my morning coffee, and the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet :rolleyes:

[Denebi]

I don't know what might stop your current shed, unfortunately, but I want to indicate that shedding normally starts several weeks to months _after_ the event causing the shed. (Was that understandable?) So, maybe you're searching the reasons in the wrong time period and should look a bit farther into the past.

E.g. if you had lots of stress three months ago, this could be the cause for your recent shedding.

I hope you can stop it soon, though!

[Forever_Sophie]

I was shedding for maybe 4 months last fall, a couple months in I was worried and it seems to have stopped w/ the help of Evening Primrose Oil. It's amazing how much less my hair's been falling since I began taking it (the EPO pill also has vit. E in it). Hope this helps a bit! I'm definitely no expert.

Edit: It could have been caused by stress, although...I'm not really sure. Definitely not products, in my case.

[Rapunzal2Be]

Well, I can't comment on product stuff (since I haven't used many of the products), but 50-100 hairs a day is about a normal amount to lose. You say it's making your ponytail circumference smaller, which I wouldn't think "normal" daily hairloss would do, but ponytail circumference can vary depending on which part of your head you make your ponytail (especially if there are layers). I'm not sure if that's coming into play for you or not.

That being said, if it were me, I would start to be concerned if my circumference went down, and I was sure it wasn't just due to a difference in measuring - I've been watching mine too, since my hair seems somewhat thinner than I'm used to lately. :(

I've only had one really massive shed in my life (due to illness). I think it lasted about 3 months and then settled down on it's own. I noticed re-growth a few months after it stopped. Other more minor sheds (due to stress, seasons, whatever) have lasted only a couple of weeks and stopped. I think certain products make me shed more (I seem to shed more with certain conditioners), but that stops immediately one the product is discontinued.

Sorry for the long, rambly post... I'm still working on my morning coffee, and the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet :rolleyes:

Thanks for the reply, not rambly at all!

Well, the measuring could be a part of it because I just had a major difference in measurement of my length going from having my husband doing it to my mom doing it (change in both person and measuring tape) - with a difference of over .5 inch.

And this was only the second time I've measured my pony tail - once when I first joined here and I was pretty lax about it just wanted to know for hair typing, and this time was with a different measuring tape and quite possibly at a different pony tail position (and I do have layers).

So the accuracy of the measurement is definitely in question. I certainly don't feel like I've lost a MAJOR amount of hair and like you said, it seems to fall under the "normal" amount of daily shed (I counted two hair balls in the past two weeks, both were roughly 50-60 hairs, plus maybe another 10-20 during brushing with the TT or combing).

But considering I don't have that much hair to begin with, and the shedding was so much less in the weeks before this, I just wasn't sure how concerned I should be.


I don't know what might stop your current shed, unfortunately, but I want to indicate that shedding normally starts several weeks to months _after_ the event causing the shed. (Was that understandable?) So, maybe you're searching the reasons in the wrong time period and should look a bit farther into the past.

E.g. if you had lots of stress three months ago, this could be the cause for your recent shedding.

I hope you can stop it soon, though!

That makes sense - and I definitely WAS under a great deal of stress a few months ago. Hopefully it will let up soon!



I was shedding for maybe 4 months last fall, a couple months in I was worried and it seems to have stopped w/ the help of Evening Primrose Oil. It's amazing how much less my hair's been falling since I began taking it (the EPO pill also has vit. E in it). Hope this helps a bit! I'm definitely no expert.

Edit: It could have been caused by stress, although...I'm not really sure. Definitely not products, in my case.

Okay, so at a few weeks of shedding and not a daily amount to cause alarm, I guess I can stop worrying for now and just hope it lets up soon.

Thanks for the replies!!

[andrea1982]

Arghh.. I can sympathize. I just started shedding handfuls, and I haven't shed this bad since after I had my son (which was 2 years ago). However, I did move three months ago, so I'm thinking that's why.

Last time taking iron supplements seemed to help, so I'm going back on the prenatal vitamins. Maybe that would help you too? Thanks for mentioning the garlic, I'm going to have to try it!

I'm really trying to ignore it, and tell myself that I must be shedding so much because maybe I'm having a growth spurt:).

[Nypsy]

I've been shedding a lot lately too. Does anyone have any other suggestions to stop it?

[Charlize]

I've been shedding a lot lately as well. I've never lost so much hair before. I also notice it more now because my hair is darker than it was before. When you talk about garlic do you take as a supplement that you buy at the drugstore or do you just make sure to eat a lot of garlic?