Hair Help!!! I'm going bald! and I'm not a Guy!!!!

[3boymthr]

Sorry this is a little long. Some background...I've always had very fine hair but hairdressers always commented on how much I had of it despite it being so thin. Over the last couple years I had noticed that the hair on the very front of my head was getting thin. Bangs area only. Nothing really remarkable. Then over the summer it started getting alittle bit thinner so I decided to try some of the Minoxodil for Women (CVS brand). Well in the space of the last month since I started losing 10 times more hair and it's not just on the top of my head, its all over. I'm having to clean my brushes out daily and the hair is a fist full. Does anyone have any experience with Minoxodil for women? Can the minoxodil cause this?

Or could it be something else?

Can dying hair cause this? I started dying it about a year and a half ago - professional color only.

I will note that I have not been using the full strength recommended on the bottle because the area orginally was very very small. Could this be part of the problem? I also have a so-so diet.

Any insight or suggested remedies would be reallly appreciated.

 

[NotUrsula]

Has your thyroid function been checked? Hypothyroidism makes your hair fall out. Some meds do it, too, and so do quite a few hormones, which is why it normally drops out like rain after you have a baby.

Coloring normally doesn't do it.

From what I understand, minoxodil is one of those things that once started cannot be stopped; as soon as you let up on applications any new growth will immediately fall out.

Personally I just style my hair to minimize how easily you can see the thin spots, and keep the color intensity about the same as my skin tone, so that the contrast between skin color and hair color is minimized.

 

[ChristmasElf]

It could be hormones.

There is also a condition called alopecia.


http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/features/women-hair-loss-causes

 

[nskjerven]

Thyroid was my hair loss issue...it took me 3-4 years before I had it checked out and sadly, it still hasn't stopped thinning even on the right doseage of meds

 

[flying_babyb]

I have thyroid related hair loss. I dont remember what the stuff my doctor reccomend was but it had zinc in it. It sorta helped.

 

[3boymthr]

It could be hormones.

There is also a condition called alopecia.


http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/features/women-hair-loss-causes

Thanks for the article. A few years ago they suspected I had PCOS (a hormone related disease which causes abnormal periods, facial hair and weight gain) but nothing came of it - they said everything was on the edges of normal so not PCOS. I'm going to call the dr. tomorrow and insist they retest - hair loss is one syptom of the condition I had not heard of before.

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Also low iron levels can cause this. I've always had low iron levels, but after gastric bypass surgery seven years ago, my levels almost bottomed out. I thought it was my thyroid levels since I had had problems in the past with those, but it turned out to be my iron levels of all things. I didn't realize until I got to searching that both of those problems can have very similar effects.

Good luck on your search. I'm still trying to get mine thicker. And coloring actually makes mine thicker.

Kim

 

[Christine]

Also low iron levels can cause this. I've always had low iron levels, but after gastric bypass surgery seven years ago, my levels almost bottomed out. I thought it was my thyroid levels since I had had problems in the past with those, but it turned out to be my iron levels of all things. I didn't realize until I got to searching that both of those problems can have very similar effects.

Good luck on your search. I'm still trying to get mine thicker. And coloring actually makes mine thicker.

Kim

You beat me to it. Low iron is a big culprit for hair loss. By low iron, I truly mean LOW IRON STORAGE, you do not even have to be anemic.

Go to the doctor, tell him that besides a thyroid panel you would like your Ferritin tested. Ferritin is a protein that is bound to iron molecules in your organs and bone marrow. If you are low on ferritin then you are low on iron storage. You may or may not be anemic. I became mildly anemic when my ferritin level hit 5. My friend has a ferritin level of 3 yet she is not anemic. Some people get anemic if the ferritin is around 20. So don't let a doctor force you into thinking that if you are not anemic you are okay. Normal ferritin for a menstruating woman is around 70. My doctor doesn't like to see anyone below a 50. I am at 25-30 and I know longer have the hair loss.

I did not really notice gobs of hair falling out but I did notice that my hair was just not growing and it was thinner. Once I started on iron my hair went nuts!!

So, go to the doctor.

 

[KAMLEM]

I ditto the thyroid and PCOS. I have both and my hair has thinned out significantly, especially in the bang area. Since I have begun taking medication it's getting better very slowly. Good luck!

 

[3boymthr]

Also low iron levels can cause this. I've always had low iron levels, but after gastric bypass surgery seven years ago, my levels almost bottomed out. I thought it was my thyroid levels since I had had problems in the past with those, but it turned out to be my iron levels of all things. I didn't realize until I got to searching that both of those problems can have very similar effects.

Good luck on your search. I'm still trying to get mine thicker. And coloring actually makes mine thicker.

Kim

You beat me to it. Low iron is a big culprit for hair loss. By low iron, I truly mean LOW IRON STORAGE, you do not even have to be anemic.

Go to the doctor, tell him that besides a thyroid panel you would like your Ferritin tested. Ferritin is a protein that is bound to iron molecules in your organs and bone marrow. If you are low on ferritin then you are low on iron storage. You may or may not be anemic. I became mildly anemic when my ferritin level hit 5. My friend has a ferritin level of 3 yet she is not anemic. Some people get anemic if the ferritin is around 20. So don't let a doctor force you into thinking that if you are not anemic you are okay. Normal ferritin for a menstruating woman is around 70. My doctor doesn't like to see anyone below a 50. I am at 25-30 and I know longer have the hair loss.

I did not really notice gobs of hair falling out but I did notice that my hair was just not growing and it was thinner. Once I started on iron my hair went nuts!!

So, go to the doctor.

Wow I had no idea it was related to Iron loss as well.

I do have cyclical anemia. My flow is very heavy as I'm approaching menopause (I'm in my early 40s) and I do get anemic. They told me when I went about it last year that it was related to PCOS but since they couldn't confirm the PCOS they couldn't confirm the cause of the anemia aside from being pre-menopause related. I don't usually take an iron pill though just iron rich foods (lots of red meat - there goes my cholestoral ) as I don't react well to the pills and since my iron levels haven't been staying at anemia levels constantly (I am anemic for about 1 week after). I'll have to see if there is anything else they can do.

You guys are the bomb! I'll to call my dr today. It's that time of year anyway. This just prevents me from putting it off

 

[Christine]

Based on what you just said, I would place odds that you have no ferritin. This is very common in perimenopause (I'm there too). My mom spent her entire 40s in and out anemia and having her hair fall out all over the place.

Iron is tough. I found a brand called Natural Factors. It is only 24 mg of chelated iron but it doesn't bother me a bit and I have a very sensitive stomach. You can also take up to 2 Flinstone's with iron vitamins a day. Each one contains 18 mg of iron. I haven't run into too many people that get bothered by it. When you are having a good amount of cyclical blood loss, iron-rich foods aren't going to be enough.

Also, I wanted to say that hair loss is not normal and it shouldn't be accepted and treated with minoxidil until all other medical reasons have been researched.

 

[Jeafl]

I have kind of a different story. I was losing a lot of hair in my bang/hairline area. I went to the doctor and he did all the blood work and couldn't find anything wrong. I made an appointment with a dermatologist thinking he might help, and he told me it was female pattern baldness!

To make a long story short, he told me to use the Rogaine for WOMEN (NOT the men's--too strong). Also, he told me to take 300 mcg. of Biotin which is a B vitamin found at any health food store. Between the (Target brand) Rogaine, the Biotin, and this WONDERFUL shampoo and conditioner called Nioxin (found it at Ulta) my hair all came back and you would never know how much I had lost. The Nioxin hair care comes in mousse, gel, hairspray, etc. too. It actually makes you look like you have a lot more hair while it is coming back in.

I do agree that you should rule out a metabolic or thyroid problem before you do anything else though!

Also--have you lost a lot of weight recently? Rapid weight loss can also cause hair loss.

 

[LuvN~Travel]

Wow I had no idea it was related to Iron loss as well.

I do have cyclical anemia. My flow is very heavy as I'm approaching menopause (I'm in my early 40s) and I do get anemic. They told me when I went about it last year that it was related to PCOS but since they couldn't confirm the PCOS they couldn't confirm the cause of the anemia aside from being pre-menopause related. I don't usually take an iron pill though just iron rich foods (lots of red meat - there goes my cholestoral ) as I don't react well to the pills and since my iron levels haven't been staying at anemia levels constantly (I am anemic for about 1 week after). I'll have to see if there is anything else they can do.

You guys are the bomb! I'll to call my dr today. It's that time of year anyway. This just prevents me from putting it off

What I finally had to do in my case, was alternate days with Children's chewable vitamins. I use a regular one one day, and one with iron the next. That way I don't have the close your eyes men constipation that comes with too much iron. I spent about three years shivering even in the summer my anemia was so bad. Now everything feels normal again.
After the surgery, it wasn't easy to get a lot of red meat down in big quantities to keep my iron levels up.
Kim