I guess I spoke too soon (postpartum hair loss)

[MonicaJean]

I said in another thread a month or so back that I was lucky not to be experiencing the postpartum shed, and I believed it since I honestly did not deal with it after my first three children... well it's coming out in clumps now! It's the most depressing thing ever when you're trying to grow your hair out and to constantly see hairs falling every time you touch your head. The shower is the worst. I pull out approximately 10 hairs at a time every time I run my fingers through. :( Has anybody dealt with this and come out alive (not terribly thinned out)? lol I've read that it usually stops around 8 months or so... that's way too long! D:
I've also got what I think is my eczema acting up on my scalp. Anyone know if that could cause extra hair loss? It's itchy and I'm flaking a lot, which is not normal for me.
I'd rather not end up with a receding hair line since I already have a huge forehead! :rolleyes:

[morrigan*]

Wow that's sad. Sending hugs to you. I hope you will sort things out quickly.

[barely.there]

There are lots of women on this forum who have dealt with postpartum hair loss. I havn't, but baby #1 is due in August.

[MonicaJean]

Thanks. Maybe I'll have myself a search tonight of the forum about it then. :)

[Phexlyn]

Sending hugs to you :blossom:
Your eczema could just be hormonal and balance itself out, but if it doesn't get better I'd suggest seeing a dermatologist.

[Lalital]

Eczma definitely does cause extra hair loss. Try massaging oil into your scalp. I use 1/2 castor oil, 1/2 coconut oil mixed with essential oils - (any mixture of rosemary, lavender, neem) - there are other oils to promote hair growth. It has done wonders for my dry scalp and moisturises the hair and makes it grow strong. It also detoxes the scalp so the blood and oxygen flow to the hair follicles. Sometimes hair does not grow or it sheds because the follicles are being choked by product build-up or lack of nutrients to the follicles. See a nutritionist about supplements to strengthen your body.
My experience is that hair often sheds when the body is lacking some mineral or nutrient because it cannot spare the energy to grow hair. Find what that is and supplement and replenish. Hope this helps;)

[shutterpillar]

I've been through it, and lost a great deal of hair after my son was born. It does suck, and I ended up cutting my hair into a bob because it just looked horrible otherwise.

The good news is, it grew (mostly) back to normal by the time my son was 2 years old. I still think my hair is a bit thinner than it was before my son's pregnancy, but i'll take whatever I can get. Nothing could possibly be as bad as what it looked like during the hair loss. *shudder*

[Katze]

Yes, I lost over half my hair. I would run my fingers through and pull out HANDFULS - over a thousand hairs a day. It started around our wedding, when DD was almost three months old. I had a difficult labor, C-section, and two infections in the incision so perhaps my body just decided to dump hair.

When DD was 6 months old I started taking biotin and it finally stopped, though it is still growing back - the new growth is at about shoulder, and DD is 3. My friends talked me out of hacking, though I am not sure if I would have been happier if I did.

I'm pregnant again and praying to all the hair gods that this does not happen again. It was literally hell, and I will shave my head rather than go through that again.

You are not alone!

[lushlocks]

Postpartum Hair Loss is evil. I've read that it's only the hair grown during pregnancy that is shed. LIES!

Mine started at about 3-4 months postpartum after both of my pregnancies. I lost hair around my hairline and crown. For me the shedding lasted about 6 weeks but since my hairline grows oh so slowly, it was months before my hairline started to come back. Ds is nearly 2 and it still hasn't fully recovered but at least I have enough to blend with the rest of my hair now.

[ravenreed]

I lost so much hair after both my sons were born. The good news is that most of it did grow back. I have never had quite as much hair as I did before that. Ah well.

[Babyfine]

I had this with both my sons and also after stopping oral contraceptives but I think a lot of it has come back and I'm almost 56 so there's hope.
I think one thing to remember, too, is that when most women are pregnant they are NOT shedding the hair they normally would so when the baby comes and they start shedding they are actually shedding extra hair they would not have normally had if that makes sense, due to the extra hormones giving longer growing cycles.
My hair was a bit thicker during my pregnancies, so I was losing a lot of hair I normally did not have.
anyway, I've found that gentle care and good diet and vitamins have helped a lot.

[1nuitblanche]

As Babyfine noted, when we're pregnant, we don't usually shed as much as we would normally, so it may seem like a lot, but really, your hair is likely just "catching up" on shedding. My hair looked a little thicker by the time DS was born, and 4 months later, I feel like I'm shedding tons, but in all reality, it's just going back to the way it was before I was pregnant.

Try to relax and ignore it. Put your hair up. Maybe brush or comb before you shower so that you don't have gobs of wet shed hair after washing. If you hate how it looks, you can trim back a bit, since shorter hair and blunt cuts tend to look a little thicker and then start growing again after the shedding is done.

[CrunchyMama]

I'll give you some encouragement. Here's my progression since January (April is missing). I finished my awful pp shed sometime in December, I think... so it had already started to recover in January. But look at what can happen if you just stay patient-- your hair WILL recover! You might have to cut bangs though if you can't stand all the wispy regrowth in your face all the time (check out my blog if you want more info on that, lol).

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/577496_10150846202468463_502498462_9785271_3330825 28_n.jpg

[Amber_Maiden]

Agh. *big hugs* I hope your shed stops soon.

I'm expecting my baby very soon now- anytime in the next few weeks. I'm scared of postpartum shed, and am hoping to avoid it- I've been shedding hair my entire pregnancy. I loose about 50 hairs in the shower alone! I'd hate to see how many I would loose in pp shed! GAH!

[torrilin]

If your first 3 were close together and breast fed and the new one is starting to wean, it might be that your body is the sort that sheds when breastfeeding stops and not so much immediately postpartum. Whether that's the case or not, plenty of older women with children have perfectly lovely hair, so I don't think you need to fear going bald from postpartum shedding.

Plus, my *normal* shedding is 5-10 hairs every time I run my hands through my hair. I wear my hair up a lot, and at elbow length my shed hairs do not fall out readily. So unless I comb out the sheds... they try to stay in my hair and cause tangles. So I don't think you need to panic just yet on that front either.

The eczema (as others have said) is the worrying bit. My sister and my sister-outlaw both have it, and while they care for it differently, it can cause problems. My sister is very sensitive to scented and fragranced products, and her body reacts very strongly to even slight stresses in all kinds of ways, so she tends to stick to very specific products for hers. She actually uses her special eczema bodywash as shampoo as well to help minimize her body's stress at being exposed to different stuff.

[MonicaJean]

Thanks! It's nice to hear others have experienced this and it gives me hope. :) I'm trying to remain positive because I know stressing and worrying can't be beneficial.
I've been doing the oiling thing for the eczema, and I'm also going to eliminate a few things from my diet since I have a suspicion that they might be triggering it.
I'm also thinking maybe my body is just worn out. I've been breastfeeding for basically the last 5 years non stop and to be honest I don't have the best diet. Plus I tend to be anemic, and I got severely anemic with each pregnancy, despite taking iron supplements. So I think it's time to focus on all of that as well.
I washed with water only the last two washes though and that seems to have calmed the eczema a little bit. I'll try to keep it up to see if it makes a real difference.
CrunchyMama: Your hair has made a great comeback! That is encouraging. :)