Hi;
The people on this forum seem to be very knowledgeable about hair loss. I thought I'd try to get some answers about my own experience of hair loss.
I'm 22 years old. I'd like to think I'm pretty healthy. I can't exactly say when my hair loss started, because I know that it's normal for everyone to shed hair slightly, but I'd say that over the last year and a half my hair loss has been excessive. I had extremely naturally curley and long (about 20 inches or more) thick brown hair which is now super thin both with the thickness and structure of the strands. Over the past year and a half, I have lost over half of my hair. I'd say at least 60% is gone. Most of the time in the shower, Id say at least 500+ strands are left in the drain. And that's not including blow-drying/brushing/etc. When I look at the strands that come out, most if not all of them have a little white spot/ball on the end. So I know that it must be some sort of internal problem that is making my hair fall out. Most of the time its the long hairs falling out, and sometimes I also notice short hairs falling out also.
I am not positive as to what the actual reason for my hair loss is. I think it may be from the starting of BC pills, but I am aware that there are many other reasons also; stress, anemia, diet, thyroid problems, etc etc etc. I've had my thyroid checked a few years back and everything seemed normal. As far as a quick overview of my life, I am a college student who is double majoring and working 2 jobs (telemarketing job and digital maping job). I have a long term boyfriend of 4 years, there is some stress here because we do get into arguments frequently. Friends and family also cause some stress, but nothing more than what I consider would be normal. I realize stress can cause hair loss, and although I have had quite a bit of stress in my life (who hasn't?) I don't feel this is the main reason to lose 60-70% of your hair!
The only thing that I can think of that can be causing this is the BC pills. I am currently not on any other medications. I started using birth-control pills about a 2 1/2-3 years ago. A couple months after I started using Mircette, I noticed that I shedded quite a bit more hair than usual. I didn't think anything of it, because I was often reminded that normal shedding ranges from 50-100 hairs/day. After 6 months or so I could tell there was something definately going on, so I was switched to Lesinna. It was frustrating because since I don't have any bald spots, both times I went in for this problem the doctor just kind of laughed at me and seemed as if she thought I was stupid for coming in. Well I know that Im not bald but when your hair starts falling out excessively you sort of want to STOP it from becoming bald or getting any THINNER! I started noticing gobs of hair falling out in the shower, in my brush, when I blow-dry, and even just during normal times throughout the day. When I run my hands through my hair I always get even more that come out. I've been to the doctor and dermatologist a few times since this has started... and of course they said the typical 'its probably from stress, it will go away eventually'; they had wonderful suggestons such as "getting rid of my stress" and taking a "multivitamin". I could have gotten better advice from my 6 year old neice. I thought that this would all eventually just go away once my body was use to the BC pills. But it's been over a year and a half and this situation is getting out of control. The switching BC pills idea obviously didn't seem to help, as I am still shedding even more to this day.
I tried to believe that the hair loss would just go away magically, but it never did. I started looking online for answers, and found this website. Its amazing that most of the people on here are going through the same things as I am, you know you always feel sort of alone when these things start to happen and it's somewhat releiving when you know others are there to talk about it and try to find out solutions. Its nice to know theres someone out there who actually cares/trys to find a solution to problems rather than just collecting a paycheck and giving standard b.s. answers such as 'its from stress,..itll go away eventually'.
It makes me extremely angry that doctors in todays society seem so lazy and indifferent to the problems of their patients; hairloss is a major problem with an extremely large percentage of the population. It's definately not just a 'vanity' problem. I realize that when you get older your hair thins a little, and even more if you have heridity problems... but I am only 22 and have no family history on either side of hairloss at all! I have relatives in their 80's with full heads of hair!
My shedding continues. I've noticed that I don't have regrowth. This started to alarm me. I can't really pinpoint where the hair is falling out; to me it's just a thinning overall. I do notice the front is receding a bit, and the bang area seems much thinner than before. When I put my hair half up, I notice that the top portion is EXTREMELY thin compared to what it once was, so my guess would be the loss is comming from the middle sections. I don't have a noticable 'bald' spot yet (thank god) but the thickness of my ponytail is about 60% less than what it use to be.
I haven't been to a dermatogolist yet, but I plan on seeing one soon if I can get some info as to where the best one around my area is. I would like to go to one with in a days drive of me (fargo, nd) but would be more than willing to go anywhere in the US/Canada/Mexico region if I could find a really good doctor.
To sum it all up my questions are these:
1) What do you think the cause for my hair loss is??
2) What do I need to do to find a solution to my hair loss problem? I've tried doctors but they give me the run-around and don't seem to care.
3) Will stopping my birth control pills make my hair fall out more? Or will it make my hair stop coming out?
4) Are there any sort of b.c pills that DON'T cause hair loss? and
5) Half of my hair has fallen out over the course of the past year and a half; Im scared that the other half will fall out this next year 1/2...when does the hair loss stop?? Does it just keep going until you are bald? Is there any cure, or are you just stuck with thin/no hair after it starts coming out??
Its so stressful to see your hair fall out to this extreme at any age, but I'm just 22 and never expected something like this to happen so young! I've been to doctors, and searched for information on the internet, and I just don't know what else to do! I don't really know what my options are, if there really is a cure or what steps I should be taking to treat this.
I'm pretty bummed about this whole mess. I don't know what to do anymore. I hope someone could shed some light on this confusing and depressing matter. I'm asking anyone... if you might possibly know what's wrong with me ...please direct me somewhere. I don't know where to go, where to start, who to ask. I want to get information from worthy and reputable sources; I don't know anyone around my area who specializes in female hair loss/alopecia. Thank you.
The people on this forum seem to be very knowledgeable about hair loss. I thought I'd try to get some answers about my own experience of hair loss.
I'm 22 years old. I'd like to think I'm pretty healthy. I can't exactly say when my hair loss started, because I know that it's normal for everyone to shed hair slightly, but I'd say that over the last year and a half my hair loss has been excessive. I had extremely naturally curley and long (about 20 inches or more) thick brown hair which is now super thin both with the thickness and structure of the strands. Over the past year and a half, I have lost over half of my hair. I'd say at least 60% is gone. Most of the time in the shower, Id say at least 500+ strands are left in the drain. And that's not including blow-drying/brushing/etc. When I look at the strands that come out, most if not all of them have a little white spot/ball on the end. So I know that it must be some sort of internal problem that is making my hair fall out. Most of the time its the long hairs falling out, and sometimes I also notice short hairs falling out also.
I am not positive as to what the actual reason for my hair loss is. I think it may be from the starting of BC pills, but I am aware that there are many other reasons also; stress, anemia, diet, thyroid problems, etc etc etc. I've had my thyroid checked a few years back and everything seemed normal. As far as a quick overview of my life, I am a college student who is double majoring and working 2 jobs (telemarketing job and digital maping job). I have a long term boyfriend of 4 years, there is some stress here because we do get into arguments frequently. Friends and family also cause some stress, but nothing more than what I consider would be normal. I realize stress can cause hair loss, and although I have had quite a bit of stress in my life (who hasn't?) I don't feel this is the main reason to lose 60-70% of your hair!
The only thing that I can think of that can be causing this is the BC pills. I am currently not on any other medications. I started using birth-control pills about a 2 1/2-3 years ago. A couple months after I started using Mircette, I noticed that I shedded quite a bit more hair than usual. I didn't think anything of it, because I was often reminded that normal shedding ranges from 50-100 hairs/day. After 6 months or so I could tell there was something definately going on, so I was switched to Lesinna. It was frustrating because since I don't have any bald spots, both times I went in for this problem the doctor just kind of laughed at me and seemed as if she thought I was stupid for coming in. Well I know that Im not bald but when your hair starts falling out excessively you sort of want to STOP it from becoming bald or getting any THINNER! I started noticing gobs of hair falling out in the shower, in my brush, when I blow-dry, and even just during normal times throughout the day. When I run my hands through my hair I always get even more that come out. I've been to the doctor and dermatologist a few times since this has started... and of course they said the typical 'its probably from stress, it will go away eventually'; they had wonderful suggestons such as "getting rid of my stress" and taking a "multivitamin". I could have gotten better advice from my 6 year old neice. I thought that this would all eventually just go away once my body was use to the BC pills. But it's been over a year and a half and this situation is getting out of control. The switching BC pills idea obviously didn't seem to help, as I am still shedding even more to this day.
I tried to believe that the hair loss would just go away magically, but it never did. I started looking online for answers, and found this website. Its amazing that most of the people on here are going through the same things as I am, you know you always feel sort of alone when these things start to happen and it's somewhat releiving when you know others are there to talk about it and try to find out solutions. Its nice to know theres someone out there who actually cares/trys to find a solution to problems rather than just collecting a paycheck and giving standard b.s. answers such as 'its from stress,..itll go away eventually'.
It makes me extremely angry that doctors in todays society seem so lazy and indifferent to the problems of their patients; hairloss is a major problem with an extremely large percentage of the population. It's definately not just a 'vanity' problem. I realize that when you get older your hair thins a little, and even more if you have heridity problems... but I am only 22 and have no family history on either side of hairloss at all! I have relatives in their 80's with full heads of hair!
My shedding continues. I've noticed that I don't have regrowth. This started to alarm me. I can't really pinpoint where the hair is falling out; to me it's just a thinning overall. I do notice the front is receding a bit, and the bang area seems much thinner than before. When I put my hair half up, I notice that the top portion is EXTREMELY thin compared to what it once was, so my guess would be the loss is comming from the middle sections. I don't have a noticable 'bald' spot yet (thank god) but the thickness of my ponytail is about 60% less than what it use to be.
I haven't been to a dermatogolist yet, but I plan on seeing one soon if I can get some info as to where the best one around my area is. I would like to go to one with in a days drive of me (fargo, nd) but would be more than willing to go anywhere in the US/Canada/Mexico region if I could find a really good doctor.
To sum it all up my questions are these:
1) What do you think the cause for my hair loss is??
2) What do I need to do to find a solution to my hair loss problem? I've tried doctors but they give me the run-around and don't seem to care.
3) Will stopping my birth control pills make my hair fall out more? Or will it make my hair stop coming out?
4) Are there any sort of b.c pills that DON'T cause hair loss? and
5) Half of my hair has fallen out over the course of the past year and a half; Im scared that the other half will fall out this next year 1/2...when does the hair loss stop?? Does it just keep going until you are bald? Is there any cure, or are you just stuck with thin/no hair after it starts coming out??
Its so stressful to see your hair fall out to this extreme at any age, but I'm just 22 and never expected something like this to happen so young! I've been to doctors, and searched for information on the internet, and I just don't know what else to do! I don't really know what my options are, if there really is a cure or what steps I should be taking to treat this.
I'm pretty bummed about this whole mess. I don't know what to do anymore. I hope someone could shed some light on this confusing and depressing matter. I'm asking anyone... if you might possibly know what's wrong with me ...please direct me somewhere. I don't know where to go, where to start, who to ask. I want to get information from worthy and reputable sources; I don't know anyone around my area who specializes in female hair loss/alopecia. Thank you.