Shedding...still. EFAs?

[Sarah4983]

Well hello my fellow long haired friends :)
I haven't been here in forever!
The last time I was on here I was thinking about cutting my hair to my shoulders because it had been shedding so much that it was much thinner...
However, I decided to keep the length and do a couple micro trims instead and began taking Biotin everyday which hasn't helped much... so now here I am, 5 months later since my hair started shedding, and it's still SHEDDING! Not as bad... it isn't falling out in clumps anymore, but it is falling out at a much quicker rate than it ever has before. And I have TONS of little 1 to 2 inch hairs coming through all over my scalp... this is a good sign right?

The other day I started taking EFAs (essential fatty acids) everyday hoping it will help.

Has anyone had good results from EFAs? Do you think it will help my hair to stop falling out and if so, how long should it take before it starts to slow down?

[Anje]

All the short little hairs are probably an excellent sign, assuming they're new growth and not breakage. (New growth typically has a tapered end, while breakage often looks split, or at least blunt on the end.)

A couple months of shedding can be a bit concerning, though, and might require more than just adding a supplement. How's your nutrition in general? Make sure you're getting enough fats and proteins (as well as carbs, which aren't usually the problem), and if you eat little to no meat, be extra sure that you're getting all the amino acids that you need. Take a multivitamin if you don't already. Have you recently been pregnant? Many women have a long, crazy shed postpartum. If all that checks out, you might want to consider going to a doctor for a few tests, just to make sure there's not a medical problem, which can often be indicated by shedding. Hypothyroid and anemia are prime culprits. So are deficiencies in vitamins like D and minerals like zinc, but you probably shouldn't start megadosing on any of those without getting tests first.

[Sarah4983]

aww you're the best- thank you for the informative reply!!!

I do take a multivitamin (mega women from GNC) and I take 1000 mcg of biotin a day... I just started the EFA's.

I had blood work done months ago when it first started because I was freaking out and the blood work showed that I was close to anemic but not quite (I had recently become vegetarian) so I reluctantly started eating meat again. Months later, I'm still losing my hair.

Sad.

I will try to eat a more balanced diet.... and I'm going to start exercising again soon.

Thank you again!!

ps- no pregnancy (yet!) :)