Still worrying about hair loss

[NewYorkgirl]

So I am into my 5th month of severe anxiety about losing my hair. I have had blood tests which all came back in the normal range. I even bit the bullet last week and asked my hairdresser if she thought my hair was thinning and she said no. But I simply can't shake this anxiety. If i see one hair i completely freak out. And my checking is almost constant. Do any others female anxiety sufferers feel there anxiety spikes just before their monthly period?..i have noticed that at this point in my cycle my thoughts and fears are extremely heightened. I have rang for an appt with a CBT counsellor but the wait in my area is 8-12 weeks unfortunately. I try and reason with myself that surely my hair would be noticeably thinner if it had been falling out since July.. or does hair loss happen slowly over months?

[bingjam]

I have really thick wavy hair

Everytime I was it there is so many hairs that come out, same as when I brush it. We can apparently lose 100 hairs per day which is normal. Just think of how many strands of hair there is on our heads.

Have you got any bald patches?

[NewYorkgirl]

Hi...no bald patches..and I was at the hairdressers last Thursday and she would have noticed had there been.. I have no idea why I've become so hyper aware of my hair fall, both in the shower and when drying it etc..

[elysemarie123]

Hi New York Girl! I ALWAYS get super anxious before my period. My period is actually supposed to come today and here I am -- on an anxiety board. It is completely normal and one of the joys of being a woman.

Also - whenever I wash my hair -- I lose probably 20 strands! It is completely normal. Think about how all animals shed -- it's just our bodies doing it's job.

[NewYorkgirl]

I definitely think the week running up to my period heightens my anxiety. I've literally checked my hair 50 or 60 times already today. Looking for thinning patches, seeing how easy it falls out. I'm exhausted with it.

[.Poppy.]

I've been through this. I even went to have my hair cut once and she commented on how much hair was coming out!

I also went through a really nasty period where I thought my eyebrows were falling out. Sounds crazy, but it was consuming.

We shed hair, it's just how it is. There are times when we'll shed more hairs than normal, but it will even out. There's not much you can do mentally other than acknowledge the fear and remind yourself that no, you are not going bald.

[NewYorkgirl]

It's a very odd anxiety to have, I know that. I feel like I'm not worth taking seriously as it's 'only my hair'. But it is seriously having an effect on my day to day life..the checking behaviour is driving me crazy. But also old health fears are creeping back too and that scares me..its seems like a never-ending cycle even though I know I've been through this before and come out the other side

[cattia]

Hi NewYorkGirl, I'm so sorry that you are still suffering with this. As you know this was a horrendous anxiety focus for me over the summer and actually is what tipped me into my current anxiety meltdown. All I can tell you is that it's not the hair shedding that's the problem, it's the anxiety. Now I'm not even worried about my hair any more although probably the same amount is falling out. I've shifted my anxiety on to other things that are noe equally as much of an obsession for me and even though I know rationality it's anxiety causing my problems I can't truly believe or accept it. Somehow we have to get this anxiety in check that is taking over our lives.

[NewYorkgirl]

Hi cat..im at the stage now of obsessing over my fringe..looking at photos from months and years ago to see if I can see any discrepancy or difference in my hair. And now I'm focusing on another health issue that is adding to the hair loss anxiety. I am so highly aware of everything happening on my body and any little change is sending me into meltdown. I'm managing to refrain from Dr Google at the moment which I know is the best thing to do. I am with you in not truly being able to believe it is anxiety making me feel like this..Keep on going is my little mantra to myself, Just some days are incredibly hard x

[cattia]

Yes, been there too, trawling through Facebook to find old photos of myself and trying to compare my hair to now, downloading endless photos off the internet of women's hair from different angles to compare with my own, feeling a panic attack when I see my hair in a mirror, I can so relate. It's totally exhausting. I'm also at the stage of just trying to make it through each day then I wonder when all this will end and I get tearful and depressed. I just try to tell myself that I haven't always felt like this so I won't always feel like this in the future.

[NewYorkgirl]

It has to get better.. I'm trying to find methods to stop myself checking..i try and tell myself that surely my hairdresser would have told me if there was evidence of thinning..and it couldn't have thinned so much in a week...then I look in the mirror again and the panic rises and the checking continues.

[xfilme]

I also share this fear. Ive had this one for about 8 years. I find showering terrifying. I have to brush my hair before i shower so the lose hairs ho on the brush and i dont know how many there are. The anxiety over my hair thining increased about a month ago when i looked in the mirror at a pub and saw what looked like a thinned out patch where i could see my scalp, like there was much less hair in the area. However, the thinned patch is also on my hairline at my centre parting, which coincidentally happens to be the area i had the most white hairs coming through and i found it embarassing. I have panic attacks when dying my hair when im anxious as i convince myself it will fall out in clumps, so over the past year when i wasnt dying it, i would pluck out the white hairs there. I didnt think about how long they would take to grow back. Maybe this is the reason. If you need to talk to some with massive anxiety over perceived hairloss, drop me a message. It will be nice to know im not alone with this fear x