Shedding Problems

[airmid]

Hey!
So I've noticed over the last month or so that I am shedding more and more. It started when I was weaned off the medication Epival (which caused me to lose hair when I went on the stuff, too). The shedding stopped, but now it's started up again. I don't know how many hairs I'm losing as I'm not very good at counting (math learning disability), but it's at least twice as much as is normal for me. I'm going to get tested for any deficiencies. I take lots of B-vitamins and omegas and eat very well, though my diet got a little bad over christmas, I am getting it back on track. ;)
I don't eat meat other than fish so perhaps I may have anemia.
Aside from that, I'm trying to pinpoint the culprit... My fantastic hairdresser cousin tells me it could be a number of things. One of the things she suggested is where I braid my hair every night for braid waves, could be causing traction alopecia. Could my braids be doing this? She recommended not braiding, however, my hair looks really terrible straight (kinky and unmanageable and awful), and if I wear it loose in bed, it tangles like woah! Is there any way I can braid at night without doing damage?
She suggested scalp massage and clarifying with a tea tree oil natural shampoo, which both sound just delicious. Is there anything else, natural and chemical free, that I can do?
Also, I found I shed more when I did an olive oil treatment... what's with that? Was it really the olive oil or just my hair being worse than usual? I lost a LOT of hair after that treatment. :(
Help!!! I don't want to be bald! :'( And thanks in advance!!

[Madora]

Definitely have a complete blood panel worked up (for anemia) and maybe have your thyroid checked as well.

Since I can't tell how tightly your braid your hair I don't know if alopecia is your problem. Alopecia will result if you braid tightly every day, pulling the hair back severely/tightly. Ditto for wearing ponytails in the same place day after day.

There's nothing deleterious about braiding your hair for sleep, so long as you detangle it first before braiding, then braid it loosely (you should be able to insert at least one finger between the start of your braid and your scalp).

Scalp massages are a good idea..but I'd just use my fingerpads and no product.

Good luck!

[kaned_ferret]

I tend to lose a lot of hair after olive oil soaks as well, I think it's a combination of the weight of the oil and the mechanical (hand) action used to CO it all out - but I don't feel it's an abnormal amount, I reckon it's just the hairs that were gonna give up the ghost anyway! (I also don't brush or do anything other than finger comb so my head will be hanging onto hairs that may have otherwise shed sooner as well I suspect)

I would only worry about it if your overall bulk feels like it's decreasing, but obviously it's a good idea to check in with the doc as there are more factors here than just olive oil use :)

[Amber_Maiden]

Anemia could definitely do that. Try to take care of yourself.

[airmid]

I'll get a blood test ASAP, I wanted to go to the doc for a few other things anyway. I don't want anemia yet again! (I've had it before)
The scalp massage... would it hurt if I used a little lavender oil? I love the stuff and I can't see it hurting in any way, supposed to be quite nice for the scalp.
I'll continue my braids, but make them much looser than I've been doing just in case.
I was very impressed with my cousin's advice as well, sometimes hairdressers can be very much, "use this product! and this!! cut your hair!!!" Hahahaha! But she was so organic and natural and informative. between her and any advice you all can give me, I can nip this in the bud!
Any herbal rinses I can try? Nettle, catnip, anything? I love playing with herbs but I don't often use them for hair so I don't know what to use.
And thank you all! :)

[jojo]

Definitely have a complete blood panel worked up (for anemia) and maybe have your thyroid checked as well.

Since I can't tell how tightly your braid your hair I don't know if alopecia is your problem. Alopecia will result if you braid tightly every day, pulling the hair back severely/tightly. Ditto for wearing ponytails in the same place day after day.

There's nothing deleterious about braiding your hair for sleep, so long as you detangle it first before braiding, then braid it loosely (you should be able to insert at least one finger between the start of your braid and your scalp).

Scalp massages are a good idea..but I'd just use my fingerpads and no product.

Good luck!

yep agree fully with all of this!

[jojo]

I'll get a blood test ASAP, I wanted to go to the doc for a few other things anyway. I don't want anemia yet again! (I've had it before)
The scalp massage... would it hurt if I used a little lavender oil? I love the stuff and I can't see it hurting in any way, supposed to be quite nice for the scalp.
I'll continue my braids, but make them much looser than I've been doing just in case.
I was very impressed with my cousin's advice as well, sometimes hairdressers can be very much, "use this product! and this!! cut your hair!!!" Hahahaha! But she was so organic and natural and informative. between her and any advice you all can give me, I can nip this in the bud!
Any herbal rinses I can try? Nettle, catnip, anything? I love playing with herbs but I don't often use them for hair so I don't know what to use.
And thank you all! :)

I eat a lot of garlic and hardly shed, seriously! I also have thyroid problems but it has never *touches wood* affected my hair. Don't know if this is just a coincidence.

Rosemary oil is supposed to be a good oil too.

[Long_Curls]

Hiya,

I think you have received some good responses so far. I don't have much to add other than my humble opinion. I can see four potential culprits here:

1) Medication: anticonvulsants such as sodium valproate (Epival) are known to have the side effect of hair loss. Epival is known to cause reversible hairloss in 10% of treated patients (check the Wikipedia stub). I have covered the more common medications that cause hair loss in my blog and it is worth checking all medications, whether Rx or OTC, that you may be taking (e.g nicotine gum can cause hairloss).

2) As pointed by others, hormonal status. Worth having some blood work, especially that concerning the thyroid. Thyroid function may be impaired without giving noticeable signs/symptoms (e.g sub-clinical hypothyroidism, autoimmune thyroiditis) and hair loss in people with a malfunctioning thyroid can be expressed in different degrees. There are more hormones involved (e.g insulin and metabolic syndrome) but the thyroid is a common cause and is easy and fast to have checked out.

3) Traction alopecia (which is what Madora was also hinting to). Pulling the hair too hard (whether momentarily or too much tension throughout the day) can cause the hairs to break away from the follicle. I avoid unnecessary stress on my hair follicles by always pulling back (against direction of tension) when I tie my hair in a ponytail (you can use headbands for this purpose too, to release tension).

4) Placebo. You are just seeing too many hairs you didn't see before because you are aware that the medication you took caused you hair loss. Thus, you are subsconsiously predisposed to looking for hairs everywhere! It happens to all of us :)

I have covered all these topics in my blog (www.manlycurls.com) in different articles. I have found out many things the hard way as I grew my curls long and shedding/hair loss has been a recurring worry since us men have a much tougher time when it comes to avoiding losing hair (the dreaded MPB!).

All the best.

[TammyT]

I've always lost a lot of hair especially for a person with so little of it. then I noticed when I started thyroid meds that it seemed to really slow down. then I quite the birth control pill and recently it has picked up again. I have no idea what correlates to what here. My hormones have been unpredictable since I hit my forties..

[airmid]

Long Curls: Wow, thanks you!!! You've helped me out a lot. My meds commonly cause hypothyroidism, and now I think of it i'm showing pretty much every sign. I don't want to look for illness that's not there, but I also want to know why I've been feeling awful in recent months and now my hair is falling out.
I'll make an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. I have to call the dentist anyway, might as well do both at once!
Also, I just discontinued birth control pills early in December. That could also be it.
I'm going to give my no-trim hair a trim, too, because it's damaged at the ends and I want to cover all my bases, it has been breaking. Braid loose... and even if my hair is not really falling out, doing all this will convince me I'm getting better so that it definitely won't be a placebo thing, lol! :D
I will figure this out and fix it, darn it!! :)

[Long_Curls]

Long Curls: Wow, thanks you!!! You've helped me out a lot. My meds commonly cause hypothyroidism, and now I think of it i'm showing pretty much every sign. I don't want to look for illness that's not there, but I also want to know why I've been feeling awful in recent months and now my hair is falling out.
I'll make an appointment with my doctor tomorrow. I have to call the dentist anyway, might as well do both at once!
Also, I just discontinued birth control pills early in December. That could also be it.
I'm going to give my no-trim hair a trim, too, because it's damaged at the ends and I want to cover all my bases, it has been breaking. Braid loose... and even if my hair is not really falling out, doing all this will convince me I'm getting better so that it definitely won't be a placebo thing, lol! :D
I will figure this out and fix it, darn it!! :)

I am glad my reply was of help :)

[airmid]

Oh, and another question: when I clarify, should I do the whole head or just the scalp? I CWC usually, and thus wash only my scalp.... shampoo on my whole head dries and intensifies hair loss for me. But I was told to do the whole head by someone when I clarified... I want to check with you folks, figured you'd all know!