Help! My hair's falling out by the combfuls. )=

[sun-kissed]

This morning I got up and quickly brushed my hair out with my Tangle Teezer, and it was coated in hair. I later combed my hair to put up, and more came out. Tonight I washed it, and I had SCARY amounts of hair coming out throughout the entire shower. After the shower I pulled out two balls of hair, about five strands coming out at a time. Then I combed it out and lost another 80 strands, easily. Now I'm sitting here with more at my disposal. It's been happening more and more over the last week and a half, and IT JUST KEEPS COMING! :-(

This is my first documented 'shed' in my hair history - I never really payed any attention to how much hair I lost before LHC. And I'm trying to keep calm. Should I be looking at what I'm doing with my hair right now? There are two very possible culprits, as my (very) inexperienced mind sees it.

First off, I very rarely eat meat. I gave up factory processed meat two years ago, and perhaps twice a month have a small helping of farm-raised beef. In my household during the winter, the menu consists of mostly beans and rice and greens. Lots of soups and hearty stews. Beans, potatoes, rice, beans, diverse greens, beans, and more beans. During the summer we eat mostly watermelon, pepper salads (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3657557733_3c10cc0df3.jpg), rice, tuna salads, and caviar salad (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gVe56iUjJEg/S4FOtihkEdI/AAAAAAAAI6k/asMn19JDQ6E/s400/006.JPG). For snacks I eat fruits, yogurt, and berries. For drinks I have milk and water year-round. My family probably transitioned over to the summer diet around April, so if it was somehow the problem then there would have been a two-month lag between the cause and me seeing the effects. The diet itself is very healthy as far as I can see. I feel great, and eat only wholesome foods. But could it be that the lack of beans is causing me to have a deficiency of some sort? Is two months a normal time-span of cause and effect on hair?

The second possible reason would be that I have started experimenting with CO-washing. My trouble is, I'm not sure if the shed started right before I started trying conditioner washing, or right after. I inclined to believe that it was right before, but I honestly was not paying attention at that point in time.

Or is it normal to have huge sheds for no real reason?
Oh dear. Help me, dearest LHC. I need you now. :pray:

[HintOfMint]

I've had wicked horrible sheds while using CO, so it wouldn't surprise me if CO was the culprit for you.

Also, there can be a delayed reaction between a diet change and hair shedding. You may not be getting enough iron and protein in your summer diet compared to your winter diet and your body is just now reacting to it.

I remember reading that people who did those trendy fasts for a long stretch at a time would experience shedding around 3 months later, almost on the dot. I doubt you're starving yourself, but there could be a vitamin/nutritional deficiency with your current diet.

Best of luck to you!

[MiamiPineapple]

If this were me, I would make a doctors appointment TOMORROW. There are so many medical reasons why hair could be falling out. Better to be safe than sorry.

[starry]

may be best to wait for the girls who know about this sort of stuff- I just wanted to send my best wishes :)

[TheMechaGinger]

Well from my personal experience, when I was a vegetarian I lost hair by the handfuls too. I even tried my best to make sure I had enough plant proteins but it didn't help. When I switched to a paleo diet everything got way better

And I also tried my luck with co-washing to no avail. I'd massage the conditioner in and several strands would come out each time I ran my fingers through, then a lot more when I rinsed it all out, and then after that when it was dry I'd lose several strands anytime I touched it. I have no idea why I reacted so badly to it but as soon as I went back to just regular shampoo and conditioner it stopped.

I hope your shed stops soon, I know how frustrating and completely upsetting they can be!

[Silverbrumby]

This morning I got up and quickly brushed my hair out with my Tangle Teezer, and it was coated in hair. I later combed my hair to put up, and more came out. Tonight I washed it, and I had SCARY amounts of hair coming out throughout the entire shower. After the shower I pulled out two balls of hair, about five strands coming out at a time. Then I combed it out and lost another 80 strands, easily. Now I'm sitting here with more at my disposal. It's been happening more and more over the last week and a half, and IT JUST KEEPS COMING! :-(

This is my first documented 'shed' in my hair history - I never really payed any attention to how much hair I lost before LHC. And I'm trying to keep calm. Should I be looking at what I'm doing with my hair right now? There are two very possible culprits, as my (very) inexperienced mind sees it.

First off, I very rarely eat meat. I gave up factory processed meat two years ago, and perhaps twice a month have a small helping of farm-raised beef. In my household during the winter, the menu consists of mostly beans and rice and greens. Lots of soups and hearty stews. Beans, potatoes, rice, beans, diverse greens, beans, and more beans. During the summer we eat mostly watermelon, pepper salads (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3657557733_3c10cc0df3.jpg), rice, tuna salads, and caviar salad (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gVe56iUjJEg/S4FOtihkEdI/AAAAAAAAI6k/asMn19JDQ6E/s400/006.JPG). For snacks I eat fruits, yogurt, and berries. For drinks I have milk and water year-round. My family probably transitioned over to the summer diet around April, so if it was somehow the problem then there would have been a two-month lag between the cause and me seeing the effects. The diet itself is very healthy as far as I can see. I feel great, and eat only wholesome foods. But could it be that the lack of beans is causing me to have a deficiency of some sort? Is two months a normal time-span of cause and effect on hair?

The second possible reason would be that I have started experimenting with CO-washing. My trouble is, I'm not sure if the shed started right before I started trying conditioner washing, or right after. I inclined to believe that it was right before, but I honestly was not paying attention at that point in time.

Or is it normal to have huge sheds for no real reason?
Oh dear. Help me, dearest LHC. I need you now. :pray:

What is your wash routine now? Days apart, are you handling the hair less?

[SerinaDaith]

My family has seasonal sheds, talk to your family members and try to see if there is a time of year that they notice that there is a lot more hair in the comb or drain, every spring it's terrible for us, it almost feels like you are going bald. Best of luck!

[Arden]

my first question would be is it comming out in clumps from the scalp? Or are you just noticing more hair in your brush / drain / hands

patchy hairloss is something that needs to be medically addressed... definatly....


After my kids where born I had this massive amount of fallout. I use to joke it was like "psycho" in the shower but with hair... it would seem like clumps... it would paste the wall of my shower... like no joke... it seriously stressed me out... I asked my doctor and he said that it was normal to have alot of shed after pregnancy but to watch for little bald patches on the head because that could be a sign of somthing more serious...

Regardless of the obnoxious fallout amount i was having I never saw skin... I never had any "bald" places.... but I'm not quite sure why... it was ALOT of hair... lol

[spirals]

I'm going through this now. It's not coming out in clumps, so I think I'm ok. My hair does this in spring and fall.

[Silverbrumby]

I had huge sheds when I switched to CO only washes and stretching my washing. My hair likes to be washed every 2 or 3 day with sulfate free shampoo.

[Madora]

Could be anemia. Please see your physician ASAP to have a blood panel done, plus a thyroid check too.

Take it from me, who was losing hair like no tomorrow and needed emergency transfusions, anemia is serious. I never regained the thickness I once enjoyed.

Good luck!

[spidermom]

I agree. If you can, see your doctor and have blood chemistries and count done.

Sometimes I will shed for no apparent reason. I just figure that a lot of hairs reached the end of their growth cycles all at once. I remember once standing in front of the mirror combing out my hair, then noticing a PILE of hair on the floor. Scary!

[Theobroma]

It might be low protein in your diet, but even a vegetarian diet in itself won't make you shed as long as it's balanced. Are you eating grains? Wheat flour contains a surprising amount of protein and if you're getting that plus tuna, I wouldn't immediately suspect the diet.

I'd get blood work done if you can just to be on the safe side, but above all I'd quit CO washing right now. If this is what's causing it, you should see a difference the moment you return to shampoo. I used to CO and experienced similar shedding to yours -- three or four times as much as with shampoo -- but it stopped the very moment I stopped putting conditioner on my scalp!

[SurferB]

My hair fell out the way you described when I was vegan for a year. It was also thinning, then I started paying real close attention to it. I made a decision that it's best to start eating fish, pasture eggs, etc., again. It stopped.

Anyhow, diet changes can do this. However, my diet change shed didn't happen until 1 yr after. This means I must have been malnurioushed. There are many other reasons why hair sheds...

[Debra83]

I'm suspecting diet.....are you taking supplements to fill the gaps? RESEARCH for sure before starting anything.

[Angelica]

I'm vegetarian and shed very little. Either you are thinking you are losing more hair because it is so long, and therefore more noticeable, treating it harshly, or you have a medical problem. I would see a doctor. Plenty of people are anaemic and don't lose hair like that. I also heard that calcium can be a problem, because hair is made of the same substance as nails and nails can become brittle and break easily with calcium deficiency.

To be on the safe side I'd check with your doctor.

[amantha]

My hair shed like that for the better part of a year before I realized that I was severely iron deficient. Given that you don't eat red meat very often, and since you didn't explicitly say you make a point to eat iron-rich foods, you might want to have your iron checked to see if that is the culprit.

If it is, it is relatively easy to fix. Your doctor will most likely prescribe some heavy duty iron supplements. However it will most likely take months before you'll see results with your hair. I hope you find out what's going on soon!

[Astraea]

Could your body be reacting to environmental factors? Mold in the home or even the scalp due to co-washing?

Also, I had extreme hair shed, breakage and severe scalp pain due to over medicating on Retin-A, the excessive Vitamin A threw my my body into turmoil. I've also done damage by improperly mixing niacinamide powder for at-home face creams. It only stopped when I researched, got a blood panel and stopped using these products and flushed my system.

What I'm trying to say is, I've induced hair loss reactions through topical skincare misuse. If anything similar applies to you and you see a physician (and get a full blood panel) please bring that up! Hugs, I know what this anxiety feels like, hope it's temporary.

[dollyfish]

If this were me, I would make a doctors appointment TOMORROW. There are so many medical reasons why hair could be falling out. Better to be safe than sorry.


I second this advice. Dramatic sudden hair loss can be associated with a variety of medical problems, and it's always better to be safe then sorry when it comes to these things. Go to a doctor now and make sure your hormone levels are OK and you don't have any serious problems, *then* focus on restoring your hair!

[LadyTheta]

Could be anemia. Please see your physician ASAP to have a blood panel done, plus a thyroid check too.

Take it from me, who was losing hair like no tomorrow and needed emergency transfusions, anemia is serious. I never regained the thickness I once enjoyed.

Good luck!

Thank you, Madora, for this excellent reminder for us!

[Talma]

I have definitely heard people complain about shedding with CO before this. I didn't experience shedding but I stopped CO recently because I constantly had this GIANT patch of irritated and itchy raised skin near my nape that would develop into a dry skin flake about the size of a quarter or BIGGER and I'd have to constantly scritch the area and gently try and remove it without breaking any hair...and then it was constantly happening. I started getting another less severe patch but about 3 times as big at my temple. It was very scary. It went away when I had to used a bar of castile soap to rectify a rhassoul clay hair washing experiment. The doctor thinks it may have been eczema but all I know is that it stopped as soon as I stopped CO and hasn't come back except for when I didn't wash my hair for about 8 or 9 days due to illness.

Being a vegetarian won't necessarily bring on health problems or nutrient deficiencies. I've been strictly vegetarian for the better part of the last 16 years, a couple of times going back to an omnivore diet during that time. I have been anemic once, during a time when I was eating an omnivore diet and had an incredible amount of fatigue. More recently I have had a vitamin D deficiency which again, leaves you unbearably fatigued to say the least. My point is that I am less likely to believe that you have an iron deficiency because you haven't stated any other symptoms but looking at your diet, you may have a calorie deficiency.

I'm not saying that you're anorexic or anything like that but sometimes, when you cut calories drastically your body will react by shedding hair on top of other unpleasant reactions. You're eating tons of high fiber, high water content food which will make your body feel full on fewer calories. Aside from the milk products, I don't see many calorie dense foods in your current diet like beans, grains/breads, starchy veggies, nuts/seeds, etc. You're cold weather diet looks very healthy but I would say count your intake of calories for a few days and see if they are too low. And most importantly, talk to your doctor. Hope this helps. Big hugs.

[ratgirldjh]

This morning I got up and quickly brushed my hair out with my Tangle Teezer, and it was coated in hair. I later combed my hair to put up, and more came out. Tonight I washed it, and I had SCARY amounts of hair coming out throughout the entire shower. After the shower I pulled out two balls of hair, about five strands coming out at a time. Then I combed it out and lost another 80 strands, easily. Now I'm sitting here with more at my disposal. It's been happening more and more over the last week and a half, and IT JUST KEEPS COMING! :-(

This is my first documented 'shed' in my hair history - I never really payed any attention to how much hair I lost before LHC. And I'm trying to keep calm. Should I be looking at what I'm doing with my hair right now? There are two very possible culprits, as my (very) inexperienced mind sees it.

First off, I very rarely eat meat. I gave up factory processed meat two years ago, and perhaps twice a month have a small helping of farm-raised beef. In my household during the winter, the menu consists of mostly beans and rice and greens. Lots of soups and hearty stews. Beans, potatoes, rice, beans, diverse greens, beans, and more beans. During the summer we eat mostly watermelon, pepper salads (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3657557733_3c10cc0df3.jpg), rice, tuna salads, and caviar salad (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gVe56iUjJEg/S4FOtihkEdI/AAAAAAAAI6k/asMn19JDQ6E/s400/006.JPG). For snacks I eat fruits, yogurt, and berries. For drinks I have milk and water year-round. My family probably transitioned over to the summer diet around April, so if it was somehow the problem then there would have been a two-month lag between the cause and me seeing the effects. The diet itself is very healthy as far as I can see. I feel great, and eat only wholesome foods. But could it be that the lack of beans is causing me to have a deficiency of some sort? Is two months a normal time-span of cause and effect on hair?

The second possible reason would be that I have started experimenting with CO-washing. My trouble is, I'm not sure if the shed started right before I started trying conditioner washing, or right after. I inclined to believe that it was right before, but I honestly was not paying attention at that point in time.

Or is it normal to have huge sheds for no real reason?
Oh dear. Help me, dearest LHC. I need you now. :pray:

Wow you have almost the exact same diet as me! Except that I rarely eat rice because it doesn't do well with my body. I have never had a big shed eating this way but I do shed a LOT when I use conditioners ESPECIALLY when I tried CO washing with a protein conditioner (Cure Care from Sallys). It was horrible!

I also lose a lot of hair when I wash with anything that contains SLS.

Recently I re-visited CO washing once and hated it - and for days after even when I had done a clay wash to get the rest of the conditioner off my scalp and hair (hopefully) I was still shedding.

Normally I do not shed at all during the day or during washes but instead will find a few shed hairs in my brush after combing and brushing and getting ready for bed.

Personally if it was me I would blame the conditioner. This has happened to me every time I have tried conditioner washing and since I normally stay away from conditioners it is easy for me to figure out what caused it.

I wash with soap or clay and do an acid rinse and then rinse again with filtered water.

Hope you find the cause.

[heidi w.]

See a doctor IMMEDIATELY, and have your thyroid checked, for both types of thyroid conditions. Also have iron levels checked. Hair falling out in globs, by the handful, is a symptom, often, of thyroid problems, usually hyperthyroidism, but sometimes hair related concerns can show in hyperthyroidism.

Rule that out immediately. I was just responding to another thread that asked about an increase in hair shedding as part of CO hair washing, and I told that person that I have noticed a lot of LHC folks talking about increased hair shedding as part of starting CO hairwashing. It seems to be a common complaint.

I understand that LHC' method for CO washing is different from the book Curly Girl's method. You might check out the book. If you don't have curly hair, you don't need to CO wash, but a lot of non-curly haired folks seem to like CO washing anyway.

The book Curly Girl suggests that those with low level curls, such as merely waves and a slight amount of curl do not CO wash the scalp related hair. To only CO wash the length. Those with a lot of curl, such as Black hair (ethnic Black not color is what I mean), or super kinky curly coils, CO wash the scalp hair too.

I never advocate putting stuff on the scalp skin for a lot of reasons. I think it leads to problems too often. So take it easy on apply stuff to scalp skin. When you do, you're messing with your acid mantle which is a combination of sweat and sebum. Just stuff you ought to know.

I hope everything proves fine at the doctor, but don't mess around with anemia or thyroid issues. A problem with both can lead to all manner of issues, as especially with thyroid, a thyroid condition can affect every single body system. So get that checked out. Hopefully, you already have.

heidi w.

[CurlyCurves]

Just wanted to say sorry :(

[sun-kissed]

Thank everyone for your replies, I am sorry I have not been able to respond back to you sooner, but I have had very limited computer time since posting.

First up, I should clarify: my hair is not coming out in chunks, rather it's coming out via many individual strands. I'm sorry for not making that clear in my original post. I swear I would get medical help the same day if the former were the case!

Off of that point, I should say that going to the doctor's is almost out of the question, as I am a minor and my mother does not believe that my hair problem is worthy of such a degree of concern. If it continues even after I have eliminated all other possible causes, then yes, she would agree. But until then, it's not going to happen.

After reading through your posts and thinking it over for a full day, it hit me that it probably is the CO that is causing my problem. Right before posting this thread I had just COed again, and the shedding was so bad that I decided I should consult ya'll. The next morning, however, the shedding had gone back down by a huge degree, and has stayed at a still kind of high, but decent level since then. I now remember it was that night that I had decided while COing to leave the conditioner on for fifteen minutes, instead of my usual five. Rinsing the conditioner out, the hair started coming out with it. This has been the case(even though it was less severe) every other time I've COed, I shed a lot in the shower and while my hair's drying.

That sound pretty valid to me, anyways.

My trouble is, what am I to do as a routine now? I don't really have a good routine to revert to.
I enjoyed the CO method (even though it was heavy on my straight hair) because it was easy to work into my hair, cleaned my scalp well removing all of the gunk, and left my hair looking very healthy and silky. I ALSO liked it because I seem to react to shampoo. My face burns when I use it (literally hot), and I get a red rash all over it that takes about a half hour to go away. With the conditioner it wasn't so bad, though leaving it on my scalp made it red-looking. Also, the consistency and feel of conditioner makes it so easy to get it into my hair, whereas with shampoo my scalp was never clean, and my hair would be stripped yet gunky, if that makes any sense.

[bumblebums]

Thank everyone for your replies, I am sorry I have not been able to respond back to you sooner, but I have had very limited computer time since posting.

First up, I should clarify: my hair is not coming out in chunks, rather it's coming out via many individual strands. I'm sorry for not making that clear in my original post. I swear I would get medical help the same day if the former were the case!

Off of that point, I should say that going to the doctor's is almost out of the question, as I am a minor and my mother does not believe that my hair problem is worthy of such a degree of concern. If it continues even after I have eliminated all other possible causes, then yes, she would agree. But until then, it's not going to happen.

After reading through your posts and thinking it over for a full day, it hit me that it probably is the CO that is causing my problem. Right before posting this thread I had just COed again, and the shedding was so bad that I decided I should consult ya'll. The next morning, however, the shedding had gone back down by a huge degree, and has stayed at a still kind of high, but decent level since then. I now remember it was that night that I had decided while COing to leave the conditioner on for fifteen minutes, instead of my usual five. Rinsing the conditioner out, the hair started coming out with it. This has been the case(even though it was less severe) every other time I've COed, I shed a lot in the shower and while my hair's drying.

That sound pretty valid to me, anyways.

My trouble is, what am I to do as a routine now? I don't really have a good routine to revert to.
I enjoyed the CO method (even though it was heavy on my straight hair) because it was easy to work into my hair, cleaned my scalp well removing all of the gunk, and left my hair looking very healthy and silky. I ALSO liked it because I seem to react to shampoo. My face burns when I use it (literally hot), and I get a red rash all over it that takes about a half hour to go away. With the conditioner it wasn't so bad, though leaving it on my scalp made it red-looking. Also, the consistency and feel of conditioner makes it so easy to get it into my hair, whereas with shampoo my scalp was never clean, and my hair would be stripped yet gunky, if that makes any sense.

There are a lot of alternatives to CO and shampoo.

1. What shampoo were you using before that was causing your skin rashes? Have you considered getting sampler sizes of gentler shampoos and trying those?

2. If there is an Indian grocery store nearby, you could try a shikakai/aritha/amla wash. Here are some recipes (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=3).

3. You can wash hair with ghassoul (rhassoul/rasul) clay--ask at a natural food store, or look for it online.

4. Got a jar of non-chunky applesauce? You can use it in place of CO. No kidding. Water down 1/4 cup of applesauce, apply to wet hair for 15 minutes, rinse out thoroughly. Voila.

5. If you are not a vegan and are not averse to egg washes, they can be very effective. I just use an egg yolk diluted with water, but some people use more elaborate recipes. Here's the thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=40386).

Don't switch methods in rapid succession--give each a few weeks to work, and read up on them before trying. Good luck!

[CurlyCurves]

There are a lot of alternatives to CO and shampoo.

1. What shampoo were you using before that was causing your skin rashes? Have you considered getting sampler sizes of gentler shampoos and trying those?

2. If there is an Indian grocery store nearby, you could try a shikakai/aritha/amla wash. Here are some recipes (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/vbjournal.php?do=article&articleid=3).

3. You can wash hair with ghassoul (rhassoul/rasul) clay--ask at a natural food store, or look for it online.

4. Got a jar of non-chunky applesauce? You can use it in place of CO. No kidding. Water down 1/4 cup of applesauce, apply to wet hair for 15 minutes, rinse out thoroughly. Voila.

5. If you are not a vegan and are not averse to egg washes, they can be very effective. I just use an egg yolk diluted with water, but some people use more elaborate recipes. Here's the thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=40386).

Don't switch methods in rapid succession--give each a few weeks to work, and read up on them before trying. Good luck!

Very good suggestions, thank you x

[Lightningfury]

I had no idea CO caused shedding then again my shedding has seemed to stay the same except I noticed I shed MUCH more the day after washing, CO or otherwise. Then again I stretch washes so I figured that was the culprit. Hmmm

One thing I've not seen anyone mention is stress. I once got a bald patch because of massive amounts of stress and I shed more during those times. When I feel bad from that I'm constantly asking my husband if I have any bald spots.

[Theobroma]

My trouble is, what am I to do as a routine now? I don't really have a good routine to revert to.
I enjoyed the CO method (even though it was heavy on my straight hair) because it was easy to work into my hair, cleaned my scalp well removing all of the gunk, and left my hair looking very healthy and silky. I ALSO liked it because I seem to react to shampoo. My face burns when I use it (literally hot), and I get a red rash all over it that takes about a half hour to go away.

In addition to what bumblebums suggested, you might also investigate shampoo bars. There's an entire thread (http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/showthread.php?t=74)on it where you can find info on how to do it and what kinds of shampoo bars are available. (If you try it, don't forget to do a vinegar rinse afterwards. I've done one shampoo bar wash so far, so I can't yet report on how it relates to shedding, but that one wash left my hair feeling as soft and moisturised as CO.)