A little bit about me...
I've always had very thick, wavy hair - thick to the point where I couldn't wear it down because it'd get too puffy-looking. It thinned out permanently (maybe by 20%, nothing too bad) after a course of Accutane four years ago, but still looked full and healthy. I did go through a bout of seborrheic dermatitis in late 2012 but it didn't cause any hair loss.
Earlier this year (in January 2014), I tried Wellbutrin for depression for a couple weeks, and stopped due to side effects. A month or two after trying that, my hair began thinning noticeably at my hairline. It wasn't really thinning diffusely and it mostly fell out when I'd comb it in the shower. Apart from my thinned-out hairline, it didn't get too bad and the overall thickness of my hair hadn't decreased dramatically.
Then, in June, I was on a beta-blocker (proplanolol) for anxiety. I also had terrible side effects with this and went off it after 2 weeks. Again, my hair loss became more noticeable after trying this med, and side effects (like numbness/tingling of the limbs) continued for at least 2-3 months. The thinning stayed at my hairline but wasn't really diffuse, and I could still brush and style my hair without a bunch of it falling out. Around August I noticed my hairline was looking less "bald" and that new hairs had been growing in - not as thick as before, but enough that it no longer looked thinned out.
THEN...in September or so, I noticed that my natural part was looking a little ragged. I realized that it was because hair had been shedding at my part, which had never happened with my previous hair loss. Over the past month and a half, it has been falling out RAPIDLY. I no longer brush my hair and either leave it down or styled in a loose ponytail (earlier in the year I'd usually have it in a tight bun), but it's still shedding very quickly. I've been counting how much hair falls out daily and last night I had 100 hairs fall out in the shower. This morning I counted 85 (in the course of 10 minutes).
Like I said, I'm not brushing my hair - what I do is pull it back into a very loose ponytail with my left hand and run my right hand down the length of the ponytail to gently catch any stray hairs. No tugging is involved - these hairs just kind of slip out. On a good day I lose about 150 hairs, on a bad day probably up to 300. The density of my (already thinned-out) hair has literally halved in 1-2 months and the loss shows no sign of slowing. I'm concerned because I've been finding a lot of miniaturized hairs also.
I know that for most people, the loss is much more gradual - I know that mine was earlier in the year. I haven't experienced an unusual amount of stress or undergone any trauma in the past few months, so it isn't that. My diet could have been better, but I'm eating much healthier now. The only thing that's changed this year is that my seborrheic dermatitis has recurred (in a much milder form than before) over the past couple months. I don't know if it could be causing this massive amount of loss, though. I've been trying to treat the SD (with T-Sal, at the moment), but mine tends to be stubborn and hard to get rid of.
I don't have a family history of balding (in either the men or women - literally no one in my family is bald), and I don't think I have thyroid or hormonal (e.g. PCOS) issues as I don't display any of the symptoms. I'm having bloodwork done right now and my best guess is my iron levels are off, but even with that I feel like my loss is very dramatic. Like I said before... the hair has fallen out very rapidly.
Can anyone offer some insight on what could be wrong with me? I have very, very basic health insurance at the moment and can't afford to see any specialists, so I'm trying to figure it out on my own. It's been difficult and extremely frustrating. Thank you if you've taken the time to read all this.
I've always had very thick, wavy hair - thick to the point where I couldn't wear it down because it'd get too puffy-looking. It thinned out permanently (maybe by 20%, nothing too bad) after a course of Accutane four years ago, but still looked full and healthy. I did go through a bout of seborrheic dermatitis in late 2012 but it didn't cause any hair loss.
Earlier this year (in January 2014), I tried Wellbutrin for depression for a couple weeks, and stopped due to side effects. A month or two after trying that, my hair began thinning noticeably at my hairline. It wasn't really thinning diffusely and it mostly fell out when I'd comb it in the shower. Apart from my thinned-out hairline, it didn't get too bad and the overall thickness of my hair hadn't decreased dramatically.
Then, in June, I was on a beta-blocker (proplanolol) for anxiety. I also had terrible side effects with this and went off it after 2 weeks. Again, my hair loss became more noticeable after trying this med, and side effects (like numbness/tingling of the limbs) continued for at least 2-3 months. The thinning stayed at my hairline but wasn't really diffuse, and I could still brush and style my hair without a bunch of it falling out. Around August I noticed my hairline was looking less "bald" and that new hairs had been growing in - not as thick as before, but enough that it no longer looked thinned out.
THEN...in September or so, I noticed that my natural part was looking a little ragged. I realized that it was because hair had been shedding at my part, which had never happened with my previous hair loss. Over the past month and a half, it has been falling out RAPIDLY. I no longer brush my hair and either leave it down or styled in a loose ponytail (earlier in the year I'd usually have it in a tight bun), but it's still shedding very quickly. I've been counting how much hair falls out daily and last night I had 100 hairs fall out in the shower. This morning I counted 85 (in the course of 10 minutes).
Like I said, I'm not brushing my hair - what I do is pull it back into a very loose ponytail with my left hand and run my right hand down the length of the ponytail to gently catch any stray hairs. No tugging is involved - these hairs just kind of slip out. On a good day I lose about 150 hairs, on a bad day probably up to 300. The density of my (already thinned-out) hair has literally halved in 1-2 months and the loss shows no sign of slowing. I'm concerned because I've been finding a lot of miniaturized hairs also.
I know that for most people, the loss is much more gradual - I know that mine was earlier in the year. I haven't experienced an unusual amount of stress or undergone any trauma in the past few months, so it isn't that. My diet could have been better, but I'm eating much healthier now. The only thing that's changed this year is that my seborrheic dermatitis has recurred (in a much milder form than before) over the past couple months. I don't know if it could be causing this massive amount of loss, though. I've been trying to treat the SD (with T-Sal, at the moment), but mine tends to be stubborn and hard to get rid of.
I don't have a family history of balding (in either the men or women - literally no one in my family is bald), and I don't think I have thyroid or hormonal (e.g. PCOS) issues as I don't display any of the symptoms. I'm having bloodwork done right now and my best guess is my iron levels are off, but even with that I feel like my loss is very dramatic. Like I said before... the hair has fallen out very rapidly.
Can anyone offer some insight on what could be wrong with me? I have very, very basic health insurance at the moment and can't afford to see any specialists, so I'm trying to figure it out on my own. It's been difficult and extremely frustrating. Thank you if you've taken the time to read all this.