Thinning Out! What am I doing Wrong?!

[fluffypuffy]

Hello all. Over the past year, I've noticed something kind of frightening: my hair has thinned out like MAD. Mind you, it's gaining length faster than it ever has in my life, but I've lost about half my thickness. I had several blood tests, ultrasounds, and MRIs done (to check for thyroid irregularities, various hormonal issues and such) and apparently I'm fine. I don't heat style or eat badly. The only thing of note is that I'm often stressed out, and there have been quite a few deaths in my family recently :( I realize I may have answered my own question just now, but to be fair, I'm used to high levels of stress and whatnot at this point, and this is the first time I've noticed any ill effects on my hair. One more piece of background if it could be of any use, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis and things like that have popped up periodically on my mother's side, and she has some hair loss issues as well (mind you, they didn't appear until she hit her forties and I'm in my late teens).

Anyone have any suggestions, ideas, or similar experiences?

[racrane]

Well, all I can say is that when I was stressed my freshman year of college, I started to lose hair. Once I pulled myself together a year later, improved my diet and exercise and felt generally better, my hair went back to normal - actually glossier and healthier. So, I very much sympathize. I would suggest walking or yoga - or some form of relaxation exercise that's good for the body. It helped me a lot! Again, make sure you are eating right, too. But really, I don't know about the genetics side. Wish I could help you there but I don't. I'm only telling you my experiences! I know losing hair is traumatic!

[Audrey Horne]

Hello Fluffy,
First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I wish you strength!

My mom has the same issues: hair loss and endometriosis. My grandmom too. I can only hope I won't get it. My mom has extremely thin hair, F/i. I've seen her old photos and her hair looked more like mine M(I think I might be medium, I'm unsure), ii.
Last year and better to say till now I lost huge amount of hair, it hardly grew as well. But I must say I was extremely stressed, there was no single day without it. Later I neglected my diet... Not to mention I was clueless before I found this site and used wrong products all my life until now. I used to shed so much I thought I was going bald. Now I know what it was all about. I moved to another country. Water quality, minimal stress... It was better but I still used to shed. I'm on protein diet for some time now, I take suplements and don't use any cones, sulfates. I gave up my birthcontrol pills as well. So now my hair began to get its volume back! I have a lot of new growth, little baby hairs!
What exactly triggered it? I don't know... What puzzled me really is WHY my mom's hair never came back to solid ii... :-( She said she lost all her hair when she was pregnant. But then again... It never came back to normal and I wonder why and how could I help? I was afraid my hair loss had something to do with my mom...
What is your routine? How about your mom's hair? What type is she? What products does she use? Did she lose hair since endometriosis?

I'm sorry for a long reply, I got carried away.

[Audrey Horne]

Hello Fluffy,
First of all, I'm sorry to hear about your situation. I wish you strength!

My mom has the same issues: hair loss and endometriosis. My grandmom too. I can only hope I won't get it. My mom has extremely thin hair, F/i. I've seen her old photos and her hair looked more like mine M(I think I might be medium, I'm unsure), ii.
Last year and better to say till now I lost huge amount of hair, it hardly grew as well. But I must say I was extremely stressed, there was no single day without it. Later I neglected my diet... Not to mention I was clueless before I found this site and used wrong products all my life until now. I used to shed so much I thought I was going bald. Now I know what it was all about. I moved to another country. Water quality, minimal stress... It was better but I still used to shed. I'm on protein diet for some time now, I take suplements and don't use any cones, sulfates. I gave up my birthcontrol pills as well. So now my hair began to get its volume back! I have a lot of new growth, little baby hairs!
What exactly triggered it? I don't know... What puzzled me really is WHY my mom's hair never came back to solid ii... :-( She said she lost all her hair when she was pregnant. But then again... It never came back to normal and I wonder why and how could I help? I was afraid my hair loss had something to do with my mom...
What is your routine? How about your mom's hair? What type is she? What products does she use? Did she lose hair since endometriosis?

I'm sorry for a long reply, I got carried away.

[shikara]

Well, all I can say is that when I was stressed my freshman year of college, I started to lose hair. Once I pulled myself together a year later, improved my diet and exercise and felt generally better, my hair went back to normal - actually glossier and healthier. So, I very much sympathize. I would suggest walking or yoga - or some form of relaxation exercise that's good for the body. It helped me a lot! Again, make sure you are eating right, too. But really, I don't know about the genetics side. Wish I could help you there but I don't. I'm only telling you my experiences! I know losing hair is traumatic!

Pretty much this is what I would say. I had a few years of stress and anxiety, and while I'm not sure if my hair thinned, it certainly did not grow. Stress/anxiety use up so much of the energy you eat, and can cause sleep problems, shallow breathing, and I'm sure many other things, and I understand that nutrients will be used up by the more 'important' parts of your body and if there's nothing left for your scalp......

It must be frustrating going for medical advice, and getting tests, yet not finding any real answers. Keep informing yourself, and asking questions from the medical community, and perhaps holistic sources. I hope you find your way!

[Madora]

Have you had a blood panel done to check if you are anemic? That was the cause of my major hair loss.

Also, have you visited a trichologist (hair doctor) and been evaluated?

Are you taking any medications that might adversely affect your hair?

If you haven't already, try and seek relief for the stress you're experiencing. It isn't easy, I know, but try and find time in your day to chill out for a few minutes..with meditation, soothing music, reading...something to keep the stress under control..or take a short walk.

Good luck!

[RitaPG]

I'm usually used to deal with stress too, but last year I couldn't. Maybe this time you're dealing with too much and even if you don't think it's an issue, your body has started to react to it? Like Madora also mentioned, I also have a tendency for anemia (runs in my dad's family) and getting that under control makes a big difference.

One thing I almost forgot. Is your hair thinning all over? Like, your whole hair is thinning and making your scalp show?
Or is it just the ends that are getting thinner? Because if that's the case, you should know that hair tapers as it grows, so it's normal for some people to have thinner hair on the ends.

Whatever it is, I hope you find it and get a solution as soon as possible :flower:

[fluffypuffy]

Madora, I did get quite a bit of blood work done, yes. It was determined that I was mildly anemic, so I've been taking iron supplements and making sure I eat enough red meat and kale and such. As for visiting a trichologist, I hadn't even considered that. I'll have to try and find one in my area!

and to RitaPG, I can't really see my scalp, but it's definitely thinned out all over :/
Thank you all for all the support.

[Firefox7275]

Sorry to hear you have been having a tough time; the effects of stress are cumulative and you don't see or even feel many of the physical effects. :( It's also worth considering that live events are far from the only thing that stresses the body out - poor sleep patterns, being sedentary, obesity or underweight, smoking, drinking, drugs and poor diet all have much the same effect. When we are stressed we need MORE nutrients than normal, yet it's often a time that we take less care of wellbeing.

The good news is that there is plenty you can do to help your body manage the effects of stress. Diet-wise you would want to stabilise blood sugar levels by eating little and often, always breakfast, small portion of protein at each meal, swap empty calories for wholefoods.
1. more minerals (wholegrains/ pulses/ nuts/ seeds/ dairy 3 x day)
2. more low Glycaemic Index carbs (wholegrains, pulses, barley, jumbo oats)
3. less sugar and high GI carbs (cut out junk and white carbs)
4. more vitamins (fruit/ vegetables, 9 x day)
5. more essential fatty acids, esp. omega-3 (oily fish 3 x week+, nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil)
6. less saturated fats and trans fats (low fat meat or dairy, cut out junk).

Regular exercise, especially outdoors or group activities are proven to relieve stress and lift mood. 10,000 steps every day (3 miles) is the minimum for health, but if you can do a more intensive workout three times a week so much the better. :) Healthy eating, physical activity, good sleep patterns can all help prevent or manage metabolic syndrome which is part of the same cluster of health problems as PCOS.

[Firefox7275]

Sorry to hear you have been having a tough time; the effects of stress are cumulative and you don't see or even feel many of the physical effects. :( It's also worth considering that live events are far from the only thing that stresses the body out - poor sleep patterns, being sedentary, obesity or underweight, smoking, drinking, drugs and poor diet all have much the same effect. When we are stressed we need MORE nutrients than normal, yet it's often a time that we take less care of wellbeing.

The good news is that there is plenty you can do to help your body manage the effects of stress. Diet-wise you would want to stabilise blood sugar levels by eating little and often, always breakfast, small portion of protein at each meal, swap empty calories for wholefoods.
1. more minerals (wholegrains/ pulses/ nuts/ seeds/ dairy 3 x day)
2. more low Glycaemic Index carbs (wholegrains, pulses, barley, jumbo oats)
3. less sugar and high GI carbs (cut out junk and white carbs)
4. more vitamins (fruit/ vegetables, 9 x day)
5. more essential fatty acids, esp. omega-3 (oily fish 3 x week+, nuts, seeds, avocado, olive oil)
6. less saturated fats and trans fats (low fat meat or dairy, cut out junk).

Regular exercise, especially outdoors or group activities are proven to relieve stress and lift mood. 10,000 steps every day (3 miles) is the minimum for health, but if you can do a more intensive workout three times a week so much the better. :) Healthy eating, physical activity, good sleep patterns can all help prevent or manage metabolic syndrome which is part of the same cluster of health problems as PCOS.

[jojo]

^^ excellent advise firefox! and I cannot top that, only keep your stress levels low!