I went off the birth control pill in March of this year to try and conceive. I have also been under considerable stress and pain after a shoulder injury (shoulder impingement).

Since then my hair has thinned, especially in the front. It's embarrassing. I'm only 28 years old.

My hairdresser pointed it out to me, actually. But she said that she can see regrowth, which I guess is good. But I still feel like I shed a lot. Every time I brush my hair or run my hands through it, several strands come out. When I comb/brush it, this is more pronounced.

Is it likely that the cessation of the pill is causing this, or the stress? Could it be the treatment for my shoulder (a cortisone injection)?

I want this to stop,as it's embarrassing. My GP said it's not my thryoid and that all my labs were normal. She said sometimes hair can go into extended phases so that I might be in an "extended loss" phase.

I don't know what to do and this is really hurting my self esteem. My hair has always been very fine, so I feel like it's more noticible on me then if I had thicker hair.

Advice? Anyone else had something like this happen? Help!

It could be as a result of the BCP.

When your doctor checked your thyroid, what did they test? Did she give you a copy of your tests? Always keep copies for yourself. If they only checked your TSH levels then that is a waste without checking the T3 and the T4. Sometimes you can fall within range on your blood test, but you could be out by enough to bring you closer to the figure which would result in thyroid symptoms.

The other thing could be your iron levels. Did she do a full check up of your iron levels, including your ferretin? Quite a lot of women are finding that when their ferretin falls below 70 that they get constant hair shedding. The hair does grow back, but falls out again. Before you know it your hair has thinned out a lot.

If you were on BCP for a while and you were not taking and additional multi B Vitamin then you could be depeleted in your vitamin B's, of which B12 is very important.

I would personally find out what tests where done and the actually figures. You can then check things out at the Anemia and/or Thyroid section of the Healthboard.