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Katze
March 11th, 2008, 04:32 AM
Hi everyone, so nice to be back here (even if it's so different...)!

Since LHC was down I have been trying to ignore my hair - to give it what it wants (more washing, more misting and oiling) but also to enjoy it. For me, that means wearing it down within reason.

I last trimmed in December, and took 1.5-2 inches of ratty, see through, tapered ends off. My hemline was still a deep V (I guess this is still layers growing out) but it wasn't as see-through and thin. I measured at 24 inches after that trim.

Fast forward...after two-plus months, my hair is feeling ratty again. The ends taper so severely that if I braid, the braid at my nape (for as long as it stays in) is a bit thicker than my thumb, and the ends, were I to braid to the end, are thinner than the thin end of a chopstick. Like a fine paintbrush. Elastics have a hard time staying in my braids.

Although I feel like my hair is growing in length (I measured 25.5 inches in February!) it is still so severely tapered, the ends wisping out to nothing.

This morning getting dressed I saw that my longest ends brush BSL. I've been coming to that point, then getting sick of how ratty they look and cutting them off, for YEARS now, literally. I think I started LHC with 22 inch hair - in January of 2006. Two years later I have maybe 3 inches more.

The last 4-6 inches of my hair are still in bad shape, despite all the babying - I can see this particularly when my hair is dirty. The crown lies flat but bumpy, then the last few inches wisp and float out with no weight whatsoever.

Is my hair truly not growing, or not growing beyond a certain point? Could I really have a genetic "brake" on my hair that prevents it from reaching BSL? to further complicate matters, after a stressful winter at a new job, and being sick pretty much since December, I shed more hair than I think I have ever shed in my life. Most of these were very long hairs. I notice that I've got thin patches at my temples again...scary.

I wash my hair every 3 days or so, CW or CWC or WO, wear it up when out in the wind or on my bike, oil it, mist it, take very good care of it. I do SMTs a couple times a month, or just honey leave-in treatments, and really feel like I am being good to my hair - but it isn't getting longer. My patience is running out.

I take Omega 3 oils and vitamins (have not found Biotin here) and eat relatively healthily, though I do need to lose some weight and get more exercise, as soon as I am well again. I'm going for a blood test tomorrow to see why I am so weak and sick all the time.

What is happening? Is there anything I can do?

thanks

Katze

Nat242
March 11th, 2008, 05:14 AM
Hi Katze!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you growing out old chemical or heat damage? No matter how much you baby your hair, there is some damage that just needs to be grown out. You can't undo some damage.

The shedding is making things worse, clearly - I know it's hard, but if it's caused by stress, well, that's a pretty clear sign that you need to change things. If stress is affecting your hair, it must be affecting the rest of your body and mind too. I'm sorry to hear you aren't feeling well. I hope things go well with the blood test tomorrow, and that you're given some practical solutions and approaches to manage your health.

Also, I know this is hard, but you talk about your patience running out. I can identify with this attitude, but it's not a constructive one. Hair grows. Take as good care of it as you can (and by the sounds of things, you already are) and let it do its thing. It takes time, but so do many things that are worthwhile.

Best wishes, Katze, I hope your health and happiness picks up soon.

-- Natalie

Anje
March 11th, 2008, 06:24 AM
I think I'm just going to be echoing Nat242 here... Don't you still have hair growing out that you bleached and heat styled a lot? It might not be that you have a genetic break at this sort of length, but your old hair care is going to haunt you until it's grown out a bit more. Babying damage helps, but it'll still only get you so far.

Maybe you need to step back for a bit. Hair is fun, but it's a journey, and it takes time and patience. Worry about it constantly, and you'll constantly be disappointed that you don't see results NOW. Wash and condition your hair, comb it gently, throw it in a ponytail, and don't worry about it. As long as it isn't getting dried out by cold weather or snagging on chairs, your hair will be fine. Take care of yourself for a while and just let your hair do its thing.

Hope you feel better soon, or at least that the blood test reveals the source of the problems.
~Anje

Silver & Gold
March 11th, 2008, 07:11 AM
I know it has to be frustrating to try to grow your hair and have this problem. I think the best you can do is to just try to make your hair be the best it can for now. I know it's not much consolation when you wish it would grow longer but realistically this is the best approach to be content now and for possible future growth.
I've had this struggle with my weight in the past. About a decade ago I had a lot of extra pounds to shed. I had dieted myself to obesity. (Anyone who has done this knows exactly what I mean.) I finally reached the point where I was ready to give up and decide that it was simply hopeless at my age to ever get my figure back. So instead of beating myself up emotionally, I decided to honor the body I had today by giving it proper nutrition and by exercising to make myself a bit stronger each day. No more reaching for some elusive goal. Just doing the best I could each day to be good to me.
By taking this approach and not wishing I was slimmer and looking for a quick fix I got to a very nice, healthy body for my age and all these years later I maintain it because it became my habit to take good care of myself.
I think the same should be your approach to your hair. Don't worry about some future goal or past goal that was not attained. Just focus on where you are today and do the best you can with what you have.
*hugs you*

jel
March 11th, 2008, 07:22 AM
Katze, I really, really don't think your hair has a genetic brake at BSL. You just have to let it grow... :flowers:

Recently you mentioned how your hair looks thick and beautiful down. The taper has moved downwards, hasn't it? And about the taper, why do you have to braid to the ends? I leave a couple of inches of tassle (I have a V-shaped hemline too).

Have you tried a challenge? A month of not examining the ends, just putting your hair back or up - and then see if you've passed BSL. I find that the longer my hair, the less I'm tempted to pick up the ends and scrutinise them. The more hair I have, the better it looks (to me) because I focus on the whole, not on the detail.

Overall health is, obviously, extremely important for hair too. Hopefully your test will uncover the reason you haven't been well, and highlight any possible nutritional deficiencies.

Hoe you get better soon! :grouphug:

FrannyG
March 11th, 2008, 07:45 AM
Katze, like others, I seem to recall that you're growing out chemical damage. If that's the case, then you will have damage at the ends, and no amount of babying them will fix it.

I don't know if you recall, but last year I had very see-through ends at BSL. I then let my hair grow almost to waist, but the ends were so sparse that I couldn't stand it. After long and careful thought, I chopped of 6 inches, which was the worst of my chemically damaged hair. This time when I reached BSL again, my ends were not see-through anymore.

I'm not telling you to have a major chop. Not at all. I'm just letting you know that once the chemical damage is gone, you will find that your ends get thicker.

I suggest small but regular trims. That way you will keep growing, but you will also regularly get rid of damage. Eventually your healthier hair will be right down to the ends.

As far as shedding, I think most of us go through a heavy shedding period from time to time, especially when you're sick or under stress.

It sounds as though you're doing all the right things for your hair. Just keep that up, and do the small trims and your hair will be as right as can be before you know it.

I do hope that you're feeling better soon. :flowers:

Altocumulus
March 11th, 2008, 08:05 AM
Katze, have you had your thyroid tested? Even borderline low thyroid can produce hair loss and changes in hair texture, as well as weakness, fatigue and a host of other problems. Make sure your doctors are testing your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and free T4 (thyroxine) levels. Hypothyroid is very common and frequently goes undiagnosed for long periods of time.

spidermom
March 11th, 2008, 08:33 AM
I agree. It's the old chemical damage that is preventing your hair from being the best that it can be. You may be a slow grower - I am - but I don't think you're doomed to never pass BSL. Just keep trimming and enjoying your hair. If it were me, I'm sure I would cut all the damage off as soon as my un-damaged hair reached shoulder length. Nightshade would just keep trimming a little bit every month or so. Either way works. Do what is right for you.

I'm sorry to hear that you've been sick; take care of you.

Here's a trick I learned about tying off very thin braid ends. I like to braid all the way to the end, then I wrap about a 2-inch strip of wet ribbon around the end, about 1/2 inch up from the tip, and put one of those little Goody ouchless elastics around that. With the protection of the ribbon, you could even use a little rubber band if you can't find the ouchless elastics there.

Nightshade
March 11th, 2008, 08:37 AM
Going to echo the others here, I think it's the chemical damage :(

Just hang in there and try not to fret too much until it's your 100% natural healthy hair that's at BSL, then you'll have a better basis on which to evaluate :)

You're doing everything right, the hard thing is patience.

Mahars
March 11th, 2008, 09:42 AM
I agree with everyone else about chemical damage. It can cause breakage and thinness. Also, I think you said you still have some layers. Not having all one length can make the hair look scraggly at the ends when they start to grow. Good luck!

Lize
March 11th, 2008, 10:26 AM
Katze, I don't really have anything to add that has not been said already. I just wanted to give you a hug and say that I really hope that everything works out. I hope you get well soon!!

trollkjerring
March 11th, 2008, 11:01 AM
I know it has to be frustrating to try to grow your hair and have this problem. I think the best you can do is to just try to make your hair be the best it can for now. I know it's not much consolation when you wish it would grow longer but realistically this is the best approach to be content now and for possible future growth.
I've had this struggle with my weight in the past. About a decade ago I had a lot of extra pounds to shed. I had dieted myself to obesity. (Anyone who has done this knows exactly what I mean.) I finally reached the point where I was ready to give up and decide that it was simply hopeless at my age to ever get my figure back. So instead of beating myself up emotionally, I decided to honor the body I had today by giving it proper nutrition and by exercising to make myself a bit stronger each day. No more reaching for some elusive goal. Just doing the best I could each day to be good to me.
By taking this approach and not wishing I was slimmer and looking for a quick fix I got to a very nice, healthy body for my age and all these years later I maintain it because it became my habit to take good care of myself.
I think the same should be your approach to your hair. Don't worry about some future goal or past goal that was not attained. Just focus on where you are today and do the best you can with what you have.
*hugs you*

I have to quote your entry, Silver & Gold - everything you wrote is so true!

I also think that acceptance for how your hair is now is the first step to change something. It's easier said than done, I know:(

Take good care of your health, Katze
trollkjerring

Elenna
March 11th, 2008, 11:28 AM
Katze

I have chemical-dye damage on my length too.

Can you oil and wet bun your hair? It's the only way, I've found, to improve the texture for now.

Elenna

prosperina
March 11th, 2008, 11:58 AM
I totally know how you're feeling right now, since my hair does the same thing. :) Silly damage, I can't wait for it to be gone.

jojo
March 11th, 2008, 02:03 PM
my hair kept doing this too, now i have no dye or chemicals on it, mine was down to layers. Ive just cut my length to the longest layer, which took an inch off my length but my see through ends have gone and my hair looks much more thicker. I have one more layer which is just shoulder length but once this has grown to BSL, i will equal up again. Is this an option for you?

I also echo the advice of getting some blood work done with regards to your thyroid.

Keep positive, you WILL get to waist and longer, just hang in there. Look at spidermom shes a slow grower but look at her length, the best comes to those who wait. xx

Nightshade
March 11th, 2008, 02:48 PM
IJust keep trimming and enjoying your hair. If it were me, I'm sure I would cut all the damage off as soon as my un-damaged hair reached shoulder length. Nightshade would just keep trimming a little bit every month or so. Either way works. Do what is right for you.

Missed this earlier :) Spidermom is right, there's no magic bullet, save, perhaps, time. You'll get there! Focus on getting better, your hair will grow in the meantime

Lixie
March 11th, 2008, 03:00 PM
Hey Katze, I'm sorry you're not enjoying your hair so much recently. I agree with what has already been said, it sounds like chemical damage that's affecting your hair.

It's good that you've often been wearing your hair the way you enjoy it most - down. I would suggest you continue to wear your hair down as often as you like and keep up with the small trims untill you've gotten rid of the chemical damage.

I'm also sorry to hear you've been unwell and stressed, hope you feel much better soon. :grouphug:

Isilme
March 11th, 2008, 03:09 PM
this is just a shot in the dark as they say, but do you use products with protein? Unbalance between moisture and protein can cause weak hair. If I were you, I would keep my hair up and focus on your health instead.

Gilly
March 11th, 2008, 07:36 PM
I know what you mean Katze, I was getting very frustrated with my hair not growing but when I look at it now, it is much healthier but due to the fact I have been trimming damage, it has not got much longer than when I started!
My ends were very wispy and awful but now the ends feel nice and I know it will grow long eventually, I have decided to go for quality over quantity.
Feel free to PM me if you want to vent :grouphug:

Katze
March 12th, 2008, 07:23 AM
thanks everyone. It's PMS time so I have been having an "ugly" past couple of days.

I know the bottom part of my hair is damaged, and I know the taper has moved down. If I had the thickness at BSL that I do at my jawline, and the rest tapering down to nothing, I'd be really happy (and have a lot of hair!) but since I have been growing for so long it is hard to know if it really and truly will get thick. Two years of patience should be enough, right? Well, not with damage...

Thyroid, yeah, I just had blood taken and I really hope they check that. I'd suspected it years ago but everything was fine even though I insisted I have symptoms...I guess there are a lot of borderline low thyroid people whose blood tests don't show anything, so they don't get treated.

Even though my nice German health insurance (which you only get with a "real", not freelance, job) pays for all of this, and the doc. is nice, I'm not sure if she would want to treat me for a low thyroid if the tests don't show it. Germans love playing by the rules, and it is sometimes hard to get them to think outside the box, though if any doctor would, she would...

Yesterday I did a WO wash and shed 110 hairs just detangling under the shower. Really sad...this morning I shed even more. Every time I finger comb my hair to detangle it, more hair falls out.

I'm just going to keep thinking positively (hard today with rainstorms and PMS) and hope that it all gets better.

thanks everyone for your support.

tiny_teesha
March 12th, 2008, 08:10 AM
i have 3 points

1-try the miconizonal or whatever cream to speed the growth. It may extend your terminal if it is this short, as it speeds growth, not sure it that means it lives just as long.
2-if your ends are still damaged you have hope, as once they are cut out you will have virgin growth that is more resiliant!
3- trimming so often may not be a good idea. You are cutting some hairs off while they are in the "sitting" stage, which means they cannot grow longer. So theoretically you're stopping your chances of getting more hair down to the hemnline.

oh and a 4th- maybe you should aim for a more U or striaght hemn, that is what is leaving the end of your braid thin. I'm at waist now. I choose to only cut 1-3cm a year, because i still do have damaged ends to cut out and i'm aiming for knee. My ends pretty much taper to nothing. When i had layers it was worse, but i can see a line from where i last trimmed to the growth now, there is a thinner growth of hair- which is illustrating how many hairs on my head are in the sitting stage- a noticable amount. I have a V hemn too which really tapers the last 3 inches of my braids.

GOOD LUCK!
( oh and getting healthy will help ofcourse! There are many other good thigns, culfur, biotin, silica, protein, WATER !)

eta- my mum is haveing a major shed too due to hair dye. Still going and it was 2 months ago.
I'd like to also add that i shed 165 a day, don't be too worried. Perhaps you should stop bruching/touchign your hair. Not to the point of matting but like hold the hair at a pony tail with one hand (like pig tails tackle one secition at a time) squeeze while you untangle the bottom with the other hand, this way it won't tug on your scalp. Do the other side then gentle with one finger get a few tangles off the top. ??? Maybe?

Katze
March 12th, 2008, 08:37 AM
thanks TinyTeesha! :D

1. I don't like the idea of smearing fungal cream on my scalp, even if I COULD get it here (meds are sold only by pharmacies here...) it scares and weirds me out. I'm the kind of person who automatically mistrusts something that everyone else is raving about - maybe due to being an outcast in school. ;)

2. I think my virgin hair is stronger than the fried ends, but just despair that no amount of cutting/trimming/S and D really gets rid of the damage. And that I grow SO slowly.

3. ??? trimming would stop my hair from growing? I don't get it? Anyway, after trimming in Dec, I'm going to leave it until summer (unless the ends look bad again) to try to move that taper down, hopefully this year, to BSL.

4. I followed the trimming directions for a straight hem, but my 2004 "shag" trendy haircut, and many salon "trims" before I found LHC, seemed to give me this deep "V". I've cut it every time but the taper is still there - if I cut to the front and top layers' length, I'd be at above shoulder, which is a bad length for me.

5. Touching/detangling my hair is a MAJOR problem I have. I've been sitting around a lot (sick but also doing my work, which involves writing/sitting) and when I get bored/nervous I touch my hair...detangling it by fingercombing, but also touching my scalp (which is a bad thing, i know). When I get healthy I'm going to try to consciously stop this (as well as consciously stop snacking, consciously go to bed early, consciously draw my boundaries more clearly with colleagues...).

thanks everyone for your advice. I think I need to take another break from thinking about my hair.

spidermom
March 12th, 2008, 09:05 AM
Trimming won't stop your hair from growing. If hair is in the resting stage, the next thing it does is shed out. There's nothing you can do to stop that from happening. Of course you have all three stages going on at the same time, so even when you can't see your length moving down, you have hairs that are actively growing -- probably newer, shorter hairs. They'll eventually become your longest hairs, then you will see length increase.

I used to comb conditioner through in the shower, but I can't at this length. Now I don't even try to finger-comb wet hair because I can feel my hair stretching when I do. I massage the conditioner in and then squeeze out excess conditioner and water. I don't even rinse the final conditioner out anymore; I need all the slip I can get. I let my hair dry before I try to comb it.

Perhaps your BF can trim the tip off that V for you. Just put in a low ponytail, slide the tie-off straight down, and cut straight across at the very bottom -- very little, just the tip. Do this every other month or so. Eventually you'll have a thicker, more substantial hem at BSL.

I agree with you about the fungal cream treatment. I'm afraid that if it makes my hair grow faster, perhaps a lot more of my hairs will reach the shedding stage at the same time. I'd rather leave the process as nature intended, slow as it may be at times.

spidermom
March 13th, 2008, 11:49 AM
Katze, I'm really curious about how much your hair has grown in the past two years, as measured from hairline to where your bleached bits start. I was just thinking about something you said earlier - that if you cut away all the bleach damage, your hair would be shorter than shoulder length.

Accolady
March 15th, 2008, 03:21 PM
Oh my gosh, Katze, how good to see you again!

I, too, took a lengthy vacation from the site, and have
even cut my hair. It is now only at waist, with bangs.
Yes, I'm serious. LOL. But I survived, and this time I'll
let it down on occasion. Or at least will try.

Looking forward to your posts, good to see you!

Karen Marie

:)

Katze
March 16th, 2008, 11:00 AM
Spidermom, it's hard for me to know how much my hair grows, because of all the different lengths. When I measure to the very ends - not my hemline, but the longest part of it. Also, I forget to measure on the first of the month or whatever - I am really not a linear-thinking person, and "having to" do something like that is stressful and hard for me to remember, given how stressful my life has been in the past several months (new job).

When I look at my hair in the mirror I see it looking healthy until about the last 4-6 inches or so. I've cut a lot off (and just did again the other day - just the "tip" of the V) so I have no idea how much damage I had. While I hope to continue to trim a couple of times a year to get a straight hem, I am OK with leaving my hair alone - as long as I know it will grow.

I just looked at my hair in the mirror from the back (trying some halfups) and saw how it looks thicker (it still doesn't look like most peoples' here) in the back. Unfortunately I wore my hair up yesterday (French braid and Buff, long bike ride) and the waves look really weird and ugly, so I will have to wash it again, but at least it's getting longer (and does look like BSL).

Basically, I want long hair that is pretty. And I doubt that I will ever have that, since I have not ever had it before. But I keep hanging around here hoping that you all's hair luck will rub off! :)

thanks everyone, again,

Katze

Milena
March 16th, 2008, 01:05 PM
I'm going to go against the grain here. I have no way of knowing what the cause of your hair situation is, but in general, I think it is undeniable that people have different terminal lengths, and when someone's hair continues to taper beyond a certain length despite trimming over and over, I think one must consider the possibility of this just being one's terminal length. I think it is a myth that everything can be blamed on chemical damage. I believe the main reason for taper is usually shedding.

I am saying this being in a similar boat as you, except that my hair has never grown beyond shoulder length yet because I am unwilling to live with any amount of thinned out ends, and have therefore consistently trimmed. That is just my personal preference.

I think you shouldn't give up hope, as it is of course possible that your hair will grow beyond BSL, especially if you get that shedding down. What I would like to suggest, however, is to try to come to terms with the possibility that your hair may stay shorter than you would like. I also would love to have very long, thick hair, but knowing that I can't change my genes, and from my lifelong hair history, I just know I can only achieve so much, and I'm trying to be happy with what I have rather than suffering from the thought of not reaching BSL, as I see you doing in many of your threads. Contrary to the ideology of this site, I think that even shoulder length hair can look pretty and very feminine. ;)

And regarding the miconazole -- I also tend to be very skeptical especially of things that everybody believes (maybe because I was also an outcast in school!), but I also like to experiment (of course on the basis of sound research)... By the way, you can get that stuff in Germany, even in a very nice formulation that contains only water, miconazole, and PEG (Dr. Hollborn Miconazol Lösung viskos).

In any event, I wish you the best and hope that the shedding will stop soon. I think getting the thyroid checked out is a good idea. Have you tried selenium supplements? They've helped me even out my thyroid, I believe. Zinc is also really important for me to keep the shedding in check.

spidermom
March 16th, 2008, 01:25 PM
So you can't stretch the sides of your hair straight out from the scalp and get an idea of how much it has grown in 2 years by seeing how many inches are your natural color?

ycelong
March 16th, 2008, 02:01 PM
Katze, have you had your thyroid tested? Even borderline low thyroid can produce hair loss and changes in hair texture, as well as weakness, fatigue and a host of other problems. Make sure your doctors are testing your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) and free T4 (thyroxine) levels. Hypothyroid is very common and frequently goes undiagnosed for long periods of time.

This is very good advice - 18 months ago I discovered I had HYPERthyroidism - which is now under control. But when I was going through it, I shed hair like crazy. Scarily so. Now my thyroid has returned to normal and i don't even need meds any longer.
Thyroid problems are very common in women - both hyper and hypo - and both cause hair issues.
I hope you feel better soon.

Chamomile betty
March 16th, 2008, 02:04 PM
I really can't add much more but wanted to give you ((hugs))

If your shedding that's bound to make you feel like your not growing. If your also growing out out color it might be breaking off.

You might want to get a check up and some blood work just to make sure things are working ok. You just never know if your lacking or getting too much of something.

hth

jel
March 16th, 2008, 04:35 PM
I'm going to go against the grain here. I have no way of knowing what the cause of your hair situation is, but in general, I think it is undeniable that people have different terminal lengths, and when someone's hair continues to taper beyond a certain length despite trimming over and over, I think one must consider the possibility of this just being one's terminal length. I think it is a myth that everything can be blamed on chemical damage. I believe the main reason for taper is usually shedding.

I am saying this being in a similar boat as you, except that my hair has never grown beyond shoulder length yet because I am unwilling to live with any amount of thinned out ends, and have therefore consistently trimmed. That is just my personal preference.


That's an interesting way to look at it, Milena. I have always considered my terminal length (which I haven't reached yet, I hope!) to be the very longest any of my hairs would grow - including the taper. You, on the other hand, are looking at the 'top range' of terminal - the first length where some of your hairs stop growing, so as to avoid a taper. Made me wonder, if you would let your thinned ends grow, maybe they would reach waist or tailbone..? There are quite a few people on this board that enjoy their long hair regardless of the taper. But I'm not trying to convert you! I completely understand people who just don't like that look for themselves - it's really the blunt hem vs. fairy tale ends preference.

Katze, it's great that your hair looks thicker and longer! :)

Milena
March 17th, 2008, 01:08 AM
That's an interesting way to look at it, Milena. I have always considered my terminal length (which I haven't reached yet, I hope!) to be the very longest any of my hairs would grow - including the taper. You, on the other hand, are looking at the 'top range' of terminal - the first length where some of your hairs stop growing, so as to avoid a taper. Made me wonder, if you would let your thinned ends grow, maybe they would reach waist or tailbone..? There are quite a few people on this board that enjoy their long hair regardless of the taper. But I'm not trying to convert you! I completely understand people who just don't like that look for themselves - it's really the blunt hem vs. fairy tale ends preference.

Katze, it's great that your hair looks thicker and longer! :)

I think you misunderstood the point I was trying to make. I was actually talking about the terminal length of, let's say, the majority of the individual strands. I don't think there is such a thing as THE terminal length of ALL of one's hair, so I don't think there is a point in arguing about how to define it. As you are saying, what you are talking about is the question of the preference for a blunt hemline vs. fairy tale ends. This wasn't the issue I was trying to discuss, as the OP made it quite clear that she didn't like the taper and was wondering how to get rid of it.

The natural taper on anyone will start where a large part of one's hairs reach their terminal length. Everybody is free to let the rest of their hair grow beyond this and count that as their overall length (I wasn't trying to convert anybody to cutting), but the OP was concerned about exactly that taper and how to overcome it, that's why I suggested that it might be necessary either to make friends with the taper, as it might not go away, or to put up with shorter hair.

Nat242
March 17th, 2008, 03:15 AM
Also - don't individual hairs grow at different rates? I know sometimes I have a few hairs that are much longer than my hair as a whole. Doesn't that mean that if you left it long enough (once the damage is dealt with so you can be confident that your hair is no longer breaking off) that hair might "catch up" with the longer ends, due to the different rates of growing? Just a random thought. It still means you'd have to deal with taper for some time, at least, I guess.

Hmm. Don't mind me.

jel
March 17th, 2008, 05:58 AM
The natural taper on anyone will start where a large part of one's hairs reach their terminal length.

Yes, I absolutely did misunderstand your point, Milena, and thanks for explaining it. I always imagined a taper to be gradual, starting where some of the strands reach terminal, and going on until all of them do - a couple of inches, or even a foot longer. But I see now that it can also be quite sudden.

I find it fascinating and enlightening to learn about other people's points of view and that's why I share mine too. Not in any way did I intend my comments to be argumentative and I'm sorry if they came across as such. :flowers:

Nat242, I think you've got a point about different growth rates. I seem to recall that Parijata experienced her hemline thickening and straightening naturally, but that was on the old LHC.

quidscribis
March 17th, 2008, 06:13 AM
Thyroid, yeah, I just had blood taken and I really hope they check that. I'd suspected it years ago but everything was fine even though I insisted I have symptoms...I guess there are a lot of borderline low thyroid people whose blood tests don't show anything, so they don't get treated.

Even though my nice German health insurance (which you only get with a "real", not freelance, job) pays for all of this, and the doc. is nice, I'm not sure if she would want to treat me for a low thyroid if the tests don't show it. Germans love playing by the rules, and it is sometimes hard to get them to think outside the box, though if any doctor would, she would...
The doctors shouldn't treat the symptoms of low thyroid as if it were low thyroid. There are far too many other things that have many of the same symptoms in common with low thyroid, plus if you don't have low thyroid but were to take thyroid medication, while you might have more energy in the following month or so, after that, the body (as it was explained to me by an endocrinologist, although she was a bloody horrid one, so I tend to think she's a lousy doc anyway ;)) will adjust itself to its previous thyroid levels.

I was tested for thyroid problems three or four times a year for a decade and a half because my docs were convinced that I had thyroid problems (or diabetes, hypoglycemia, mononucleosis, or an iron deficiency, all of which I was constantly tested for). Turned out that no, I didn't. Not even close. I have something much rarer with more complications and other things that go along with it, but it still causes the same symptoms that people with low functioning thyroids have.

Point being that it's entirely something else that's going on with you even though it looks like thyroid. I hope you get it figured out quickly. It's no fun feeling ill. Or tired or rundown or whatever you're going through.

Milena
March 17th, 2008, 11:18 AM
Yes, I absolutely did misunderstand your point, Milena, and thanks for explaining it. I always imagined a taper to be gradual, starting where some of the strands reach terminal, and going on until all of them do - a couple of inches, or even a foot longer. But I see now that it can also be quite sudden.


I wasn't really trying to say that taper is sudden... I understand taper exactly the way you describe: gradual. However, the thinning is certainly more drastic for some than for others, depending on how many strands have a shorter terminal length relative to the longer-growing ones. -- And I didn't really think that you were trying to start an argument either... :flowers:

Milena
March 17th, 2008, 04:34 PM
The doctors shouldn't treat the symptoms of low thyroid as if it were low thyroid. There are far too many other things that have many of the same symptoms in common with low thyroid, plus if you don't have low thyroid but were to take thyroid medication, while you might have more energy in the following month or so, after that, the body (as it was explained to me by an endocrinologist, although she was a bloody horrid one, so I tend to think she's a lousy doc anyway ;)) will adjust itself to its previous thyroid levels.


I agree, quidscribis, I was thinking the same thing. I don't think it's quite fair to call a doctor unable to think outside the box just because he or she doesn't want to medicate you for a condition for which there is no unequivocal evidence. The symptoms of low thyroid are characteristically unspecific, and I don't think it would be responsible for any doctor to assume that you have a thyroid problem if the bloodwork isn't even borderline, just because you have a bunch of symptoms that might as well have other causes. This approach might totally backfire.

This is, of course, not to deny the fact that borderline blood test results can mean different things in different people, i.e. that low thyroid starts at a different level in different individuals.

Mina
March 17th, 2008, 05:18 PM
This morning getting dressed I saw that my longest ends brush BSL. I've been coming to that point, then getting sick of how ratty they look and cutting them off, for YEARS now, literally. I think I started LHC with 22 inch hair - in January of 2006. Two years later I have maybe 3 inches more.

If it helps you any to feel a bit better: four years of LHC for me, and I am again at the same length I started off :silly: . I recently had to cut my hair back from 25 inches to about 21 inches because of severe canopy damage (and although I really miss the length, I felt liberated to part with the damage and will likely need to cut even more off in the future, because I still have some damage left there).

I think I might really qualify as a hot candidate for the category "has longest been on LHC with absolutely no length gain" now, LOL :lol: :laugh: :gabigrin: .

quidscribis
March 18th, 2008, 05:58 AM
This is, of course, not to deny the fact that borderline blood test results can mean different things in different people, i.e. that low thyroid starts at a different level in different individuals.
Absolutely. But this applies to a lot of medical problems, not just thyroid, and that can be where problems in diagnosis come in.

For example, my genetic collagen defect. I have it, as does a brother, a sister, and my father. BUT how we present is completely different from each other, and the only reason that the other three will ever get a firm diagnosis is because of their relationship to me, who has one very major characteristic of the syndrome. My sister has the other very major characteristic of the syndrome. My father, who gave it to all of us, has a very very rare characteristic of the syndrome. My brother has minor symptoms. Our symptom sets barely intersect on two minor points, but the rest is completely different. Without my diagnosis, doctors would never be able to accurately diagnose the rest.

Other people who have the exact same genetic problem present with an entirely different symptom set. Some of these medical problems can be extremely difficult to diagnose just because symptom sets can overlap with so many other health problems. Sucks for those of us suffering, of course.

vindo
March 18th, 2008, 08:31 AM
This morning getting dressed I saw that my longest ends brush BSL. I've been coming to that point, then getting sick of how ratty they look and cutting them off, for YEARS now, literally. I think I started LHC with 22 inch hair - in January of 2006. Two years later I have maybe 3 inches more.

I know that if hair does not groe even but with taper and maybe not too fast either regrowing a few inches of hair nicely can be a real challenge. Have you ever tried to maintain it at one length for a while. Meaning to trim your growth off monthly. That way you would gain thickness and its much easier to keep the hair in good health (You would also get rid of the damage faster). On top of that you get to keep the length.
Once you are more satisfied with the look and thickness you can continue to grow.


Is my hair truly not growing, or not growing beyond a certain point? Could I really have a genetic "brake" on my hair that prevents it from reaching BSL? to further complicate matters, after a stressful winter at a new job, and being sick pretty much since December, I shed more hair than I think I have ever shed in my life. Most of these were very long hairs. I notice that I've got thin patches at my temples again...scary.

I'm going for a blood test tomorrow to see why I am so weak and sick all the time.

Since hair grows between 3-7 yrs a shorter terminal length would be possible especially if the gain of length is not be much. It could also be that a sickness keeps you from gaining more length due to lots of shedding or even not so efficient growth.

I think going to different types of Dr.s is a good idea. "Internisten" are the type of Dr.s that check your inside very thoroughly. They also found my Fructose Intolerance when noone else ever considered checking for that (for 7 yrs.!!). Try different Dr.s with different Professions I would suggest.