Hair loss worry

[NewYorkgirl]

Hi I'm new to this..i have been noticing my hair shedding excessively since july...i don't have any bald patches yet but my scalp is more noticeable. I moved house at the end of March this year and ridiculous as it sounds was a really traumatic and stressful time that resulted in me not eating and losing almost a stone in 2 weeks..ive since read about a condition called Telogen Effluvium which can present itself 2 to 3 months after a trauma or stressful event. I'm terrified I will go bald. I haven't been to the doctors yet but have started taking an iron supplement, a hair skin and nails supplement and using a caffeine shampoo..i hate washing or brushing my hair, I'm constantly checking my hair, counting hair, checking the carpets ..Has anyone else experienced this and had a positive change? This anxiety is simply controlling my life as stupid as that sounds..i think about it constantly and juat want my life back..
Many thanks

[hanshan]

Hi NewYorkGirl - Welcome to NMP. If you are young and female, the chances of you going bald are absolutely minimal. Everyone sheds hair every day. If you notice lots of hair around, it's actually a sign that you have a thick and healthy head of hair.

No-one has taken your life from you. It's right there waiting for you, but you must overcome irrational anxiety to be able to accept it.

[NervUs]

OMG, I am going through this too!!!!

I have had a lot of stress since May (all health/ health anxiety but actual testing for possible cancer). I am also going through perimenopause.

IN the past couple of months, I have noticed my hair shedding and it is definitely thinner all around. In my case, I don't know if it's stress, perimenopause, or a combination of the two!! I spent yesterday looking at wigs online, lol!

I think you should definitely see a doctor, as there can be multiple causes of this AND you don't want to go too high on iron. HOw old are you?

p.s. I am worried about it BUT, at the same time, it isn't as worrying to me as a real health issue. I have had a persistent cough for months, keep getting colds, wheezing, and I am MUCH more worried about that than my hair. Maybe you could make a pact NOT to count the hairs? You will see them fall out with or without counting, and the counting and checking is just bringing your mind back around to it.

[melfish]

I've had numerous episodes of telogen effluvium throughout my life, starting in my early 20s. Usually I notice the shed about three months after the triggering stressful event. There really isn't much to be done about it, apart from trying to keep healthy and waiting it out. IT WILL STOP. I take a biotin supplement, zinc a few times a week, and all the other B vitamins.

I know what you mean about washing your hair. Try to cut back to about twice a week and remember, the longer it is between washes, the more hair you will notice. Stop counting. Try to put it to the back of your mind. It IS self-limiting.

I remember, the first time it happened, I called my mother in tears, sobbing "You have to help me pick out a wig." I'd just come from the GP, a man with the worst bedside manner. He grabbed a chunk of my hair, tugged, put in down on a white A4 sheet of paper and shook his head, saying, "That's a LOT of hair." I FREAKED OUT.

I subsequently went a saw and very respected and very old dermatologist, who explained telogen effluvium to me. His advice? Eat jellybeans, lol. Also, massage my head for 10 minutes each day. He said to slide my scalp back and forth over my skull, if that makes sense. It said it will loosen the area up from all the tension and bring more blood flow.

Sure enough, within a few admittedly LONG weeks, I could see all the little baby hairs coming in. Now, I don't have much hair to begin with. I have even less now that I'm in perimenopause, which is a whole other thing when it comes to thinning hair. But I promise, it will stop and you won't need a wig.

[NewYorkgirl]

Thank you for your replies. I'm 41 and not experiencing any other symptoms to suggest postmenopause. I have suffered HA on and off for years and have previously taken Citalopram, which I was prescribed in June. But them read it can cause hair loss!..i have no idea why I have fixated on this. Throughout June I totally convinced myself I was developing psorasis and had the same intense overwhelming fear that I have with this. I saw a gp who alleviated my panic and suggested CBT. I have read up on this and think it could be beneficial as I don't talk to anyone (including my partner) about this. I say every day don't count the hairs and reading what I'm putting I realise how bloody shallow and superficial I sound, worrying about my hair..Thank you for your kind words

[NervUs]

I did NOT mean to imply you are shallow for caring about your hair! Absolutely anyone and everyone would care about this!!! I mean, I certainly do and didn't mean to imply I don't- it's just if I have to rank my paranoia, hairloss is not my #1. I am certainly not happy about it, at all!!!

We will get through this!!!

[NewYorkgirl]

Oh I didn't think you meant that at all! I simply meant I realise that to worry about my hair so much makes me look incredibly shallow and only concerned with my looks. With my children, partner and family I am the level headed rational one they all come to, If only they knew!. I am debating with myself whether to see a gp or to continue to wait it out.. my trigger was March 31st so I'm guessing the timing is right..i don't want to be dictated to by this..thank you all again

[cattia]

Oh my goodness, I have been through this exact thing since June. I totally could have written every single word that you wrote. I spent my entire summer counting hairs, panic attacks every time I had to have a shower, taking the most expensive vitamins ever, constantly (and I mean constantly) checking my scalp in the mirror and doing the pull test, reading hair loss forums... basically I sent myself mad. I spoke to a number of other women about this and they ALL told me that they lose big balls of hair in the shower AND a heap more when they are brushing and drying. My daughter, who is a healthy 7 year old with long hair, loses 70-80 every day in the brush (obviously she has no idea that I have counted her hair because i don't want her to go insane like me) but somehow, in the end, I managed to talk myself down from this fear (probably by developing a new fear that I have ovarian cancer which has distracted me). I still believe that my hair has got thinner although you can't visibly see my scalp other than at the parting. I am still not totally OK with this but for the time being it has taken something of a back seat. I think for me this is symptomatic of a massive increase in my anxiety. I am 40 and I also wonder to myself whether this has to do with my fear of getting older and losing my attractiveness. Not that I am saying older women can't be attractive, but healthy hair is kind of a sign of youth and vitality, for me I think that this OVERWHELMING obsession with my hair could perhaps be linked with a fear of aging.
I don't know when the perimenopause starts, but I do know that since turning 40 my anxiety has gone crazy. I have just started Sertraline. Like you, I read all the horror stories about anti depressants causing hair loss, but from what I read, prozac is the drug most likely to cause this and as I have been on that in the past and I didn't lose my hair then I am hoping for the best. Happy to chat on PM if you like as I totally relate to what you are going through.

[Magic]

I have the same trouble. Now I am looking at my hoover brushes. I am taking vitamins, but I believe it takes time for them to work. I have certain medications to take and on all the leaflets it says hair loss.
I have noticed that women of a similar age to me have thinning hair, but I have also some women 's hair has gone thicker and causer as they get older.
I remember telling my GP about the hair loss and she gave me a different drug, but it still said hair loss on the instruction paper. Can't win!!

[au Lait]

The same thing happened to me about 6 years ago. It lasted maybe about a month and then normalized. My hair has since thickened back up and somehow looks healthier than it did before it happened. You won't go bald, don't worry. You just have to wait it out, take a multivitamin and eat good for you foods. Those things will help your over all health and mood anyway, so it's a win/win.