Feels like I am going backwards

[Cupofmilk]

Sorry. I don't mean to be down. It really feels like my hair is getting shorter and shorter.
I am not trimming. I am being nice to my hair. My routine is now: Day 1 evening - CO wash, braid and leave. Day 2 evening - coconut oil all of hair except roots and leave until Day 3 Co wash and repeat.
My hair feels nice but there was no damage really there before anyway.
I wake up and I still feel bereft every morning.... those 18 +inches are taking forever to grow. It's been 5 months. I can't understand why I feel so down about my hair. It's only hair for goodness sake. My baby was very sick when he was born in Ocrober and we spent 6 weeks in NICU and I coped with that!
I am taking hair vitamins, vitamin B complex, alfalfa and eating a good diet and doing exercise and losing weight.
I can only suppose it's a hormonal thing!

[UltraBella]

I am so sorry you are feeling discouraged :(
Years ago I had a very bad haircut and ended up going from waist length to chin length trying to fix it. I felt so ugly and blah ! What's funny is, I found a picture of myself with that short hair just a few days ago, and I looked so cute ! I just didn't know it at the time.
It WILL get better, it will get longer, and you will be happier. In the mean time try not to worry about it so much...... Stress is unhealthy !

[LittleOrca]

I know how you feel.

I just got done with a major shed because of my surgery back in December. Even though I have babied my hair, and I haven't gone swimming (which is hard for me!) to help give it every chance I can to grow, it is hovering at 42 inches. The virgin hair is growing for sure, since I can easily measure that and it's going up, but the over all length has been the same for a while and the thickness has been lost.

All I can say is chin up. We all have our down days-weeks-months about our hair, but it will come around. Treat it well and it will grow and shine for you! :) :grouphug:

[virgo75]

Cupofmilk, I'm so sorry you're having a hard time right now. :(

I have to agree with you that it may not actually be about your hair.

First, very belated congratulations on your beautiful baby! Going through an experience with having a hospitalized child is extremely stressful. Even if you "got through it" sometimes it can take months for the actual stress of the time period to kick in and wear you down because while your baby is sick you're in "get through it" mode and trying to help them get better. From my own experience, there were times when I got through having a child hospitalized(NICU as well which is a special kind of hell to have a newborn baby that you can't take home :( ). Then when my child is recovered and everything is peaceful is when my brain says, "it's ok to break down now" and I can be sitting at a stop light and just burst into tears. This may not be the case for you, but it's what popped into my mind.

As far as your hair is concerned, if you're looking at growing 18+ inches - that can take some time and patience. Do you know what your average growth rate is? It can vary, but most people grow an average of 1/2 an inch per month. If we assume that your hair grows at the same rate, it may take about 36 months to get to your goal length give or take some months if your hair grows faster or you get some trims in between.

I think my goal length(tailbone) is about the same length - 18-19 inches. So I have a long wait too. Since I know I have a ways to go, I'm mainly focusing on the health of it and hoping it will grow faster than 1/2 an inch per month, but I'm not holding my breath.

I hope you feel better soon. :flower:

[FrannyG]

I've gone through many phases like that. Although you do not have damage, and my story is completely different, I am on my fourth trip to BSL, as three times since joining LHC I have had big cuts to remove past damage.

Most of the time, I'm very happy with my hair, now that it's much healthier, and I know it is growing.

Some days though, when I'm feeling blue or anxious about something else, or if my hormones are acting up (PMS), I get very, very frustrated about my length. It does feel like it's going to be forever until I reach BSL and I wonder if I'll ever get to waist length.

On days like that, I try a new hairstyle to cheer me up, or I just put it up and forget about it.

Anyway, believe me, you're not alone. :blossom:

[Speckla]

You may just have a small stall going on. Or maybe your hair is wavier and curlier as it gets longer and it just seems like you're getting no new length? Those are the times that it's best to put it up and forget about it. You'll be surprised at the amount of length you gained while not paying attention. Focusing seems to s-l-o-w things down. Congrats on your bundle of joy.

[luckyduck]

I also lost a lot of hair each time I had a baby. The birth process is very hard on your body, it is almost like it shuts down all non essential body functions. I even had a horizontal ridge grow out on all of my nails when I had my last one.

[countryhopper]

I think this is one of those "the straw that broke the camel's back".

I think you and your body are finally feeling the stress that you went through and now even small things seem huge.

As others have said, patience! You will soon have all your inches back!

I can't seem to see my hair's growth, either. Measuring every month has really helped since I can see my hair go from 18.5 to 19.5 to (May's measurement) 20.5!!

[Debra83]

Ironically, I'm feel like my hair isn't growing fast enough now, 18 years after my baby!!! When I was pregnant, and the next couple of years after having him, my hair grew at an incredible rate.

I've been going through frustration now, feeling like it's not growing etc, not liking the color, not liking the texture, etc - but I faithfully take pics every month and discovered that it is growing after all. Patience is a virtue that I still haven't quite got a handle on yet. Sounds like you're struggling with the same.

May I suggest that you take a monthly pic as well? Same date every month, and see if it will help you track the growth that you are most certainly getting? Just a thought! Hope you feel better soon!

[julliams]

I'm feeling the same thing at the moment. I have been taking photos each month since september of last year and I find that I've made such little progress. I see some people's yearly progress where my jaw drops and I don't think I'm going to have anything like that. It's very discouraging but at least I do see some growth and I know that my hair is undamaged and it's only a matter of time. So, I guess I'm there with you but hopefully this feeling won't hang around for too long.

[Pandora.]

Although I don't think we're experiencing the same kind of hair issues, but I definitely know how you feel. I don't know what's come over me, but I'm just feeling really down about my hair, when I used to be very confident about it. It's probably because I miss how my hair used to be a few years ago, when there was much less colour/heat damage. I mean, I'm so stupid that I often find myself crying over it pretty often. I just don't feel as good about my hair, and I feel dull and...uglier? Idk.

All I can say is, you're so definitely not alone. Maybe feeling depressed about our hair is all just in our minds? That's what a lot of my problems seem to be anyway, just a vicious mindset, where everything is really no where near as bad as you think it is - if that makes sense? I mean, hair is our obsession and fixation, and we're paranoid about it; so anything small, or even delusionary, is likely to set us off (well, that's probably the case for me).

I just hope that we will all overcome these miserable feelings soon.