Telogen Effluvium Recovery
 

Hi Everyone,
When I first started obsessing with my massive hair loss I would spend hours researching it online and reading everyones stories trying to find one like my own. Since there is a lot of stories about people who are still struggling I found it hard to not see anyone who has had recovery and promised that once I had calmed down I would post something in order to give hope. I started shedding at the beginning of May massively. It really scared me so I went to the doctor. We had figured out it is because I has switched from Yasmin to a mini pill. I was on the mini pill for 2 month and just like clockwork after 2 months my hair started shedding. I would say I lost at least 1/3 of my hair. It has now been 4 months and I do think the shedding has decreased. I still have some days where I am not sure if I am just getting used to it or if its actually slowly stopping and I do notice that I am losing smaller hairs 0 I am not sure why. I went to go see 2 dermatologist as well who said it was TE and told me I should be on the tail end of it now. They said it would take a year or so for me to get back to my normal condition. I am a healthy 26 year old female. I eat well and work out regularly so this was frustrating to me as I have always tried to help my body. I am a vegetarian and am not always good with protein so I am sure that did not help the situation. The dermatologist said that with someone in my situation Rogain is not a good option and that the only suggestion they had was to wait it out and take at least a 2500mg biotin daily. I am still on a pill but a different one and am hoping that this one will not send me into a bout of TE again. I can't say I have notices any regrowth yet but it is still early. I am hoping that in a year or so I can post a more positive update but I just wanted those who have just started to know that it will eventually slow down. I showered with my eyes closed for a while because I do believe that seeing the shed can cause major trauma so try take your mind of of it but trust me I know its hard. Keep positive and try to forget about it for a while.

Re: Telogen Effluvium Recovery
 

Hi

I too had a major shed in May following a long flu illness in March and so it would be good to compare notes! This may also help anyone else going through the TE nightmare. I can quite honestly say that it has been the most stressful time of my life and I feel for anyone going through the same thing. It felt like I lost half of my hair over a period of a few weeks. My hair is very fine and therefore I considered the loss to be very noticeable. Although my husband, who has been very supportive and friends who I have told have told me my hair looks fine, I know how different it is. Your hair takes on a different character - in my case very dry and I was for a long time too scared to do anything with it. On my first visit to the doctor I was told that "it's going to do, what it's going to do and most people's hair grows back". The only advice I received was not to colour my hair! Two weeks later I went back and saw a female doctor due to my anxiety levels, which was also causing me to lose a bit of weight. (Small mercies!) She was more helpful and I persuaded her to do some blood tests to rule out thyroid problems etc. The results were normal, however I noticed my Ferritin level was 28, which although in the normal range, considering I had been taking vitamin supplements for a few weeks appeared to tally with other stories on the internet as a possible trigger indicator for TE. The Doctor recommended a healthy diet with lots of leafy vegetables etc. After spending many hours trawling the internet for advice and reading similar stories I started taken Iron supplements and Lysine to try to encourage and speed up re-growth and even bought blackstrap molasses! I have just purchased Biotin and wonder how you are getting on with it, as I see it can cause acne.

I am fed up with finding my hair everywhere but I do think the shedding is now minimal. I have not had it cut at all since this started and as recommended by the doctor allowed my hair to dry naturally which does give it a bit of a wave to make it look a bit thicker.

It is now the beginning of September and I have noticed some re-growth which is encouraging. It is obviously going to be a long and painful process to get my hair back to it's normal shoulder length bob. Good luck to you and anyone else going through this.

Re: Telogen Effluvium Recovery
 

hello! I'm not sure if you still check this - but how is your hair doing? I went through two nasty bouts of telogen effluvium from stopping birth control pills and lost considerable density.

It stopped falling out about a month or two ago and I see some short sprouts, but not all of what I lost yet.

Please tell me you have seen more recovery! I hope you are diong well!

thanks!

Re: Telogen Effluvium Recovery
 

Hi there

All I can say is, it is a very long and slow process. I have quite a few hairs now that are about 6cm long, but the shedding has still not stopped completely. I saw a trichologist. She recommended I take a high dosage iron tablet, Vitamin C and Lysine to boost my Ferritin level up to 60-70. (It was 27 previously). I do not know what it is now but am due a further blood test to see. Have you had your Ferritin levels checked, as this is now commonly linked with hair shedding?

Re: Telogen Effluvium Recovery
 

Hi, I also have been experiencing TE since October 2012. My hair became very dry and it has always been on the oily side before. Has that improved for you? When I shampoo it with a anti-falling shampoo (IF brands) it feels fine but by the end of the day it is dry again, although sometimes it improves throughout the day. Also, I had noticed that before the shedding began my hair especially around the crown, which is where the most has fallen (although it is diffuse shedding), got very dry and was easily tangled (I have fine hair). Maybe several months before that I noticed some hairs were getting discolored - not white, just a lighter shade of my chestnut brown, and unevenly so. The two dermatologists I saw were pretty useless - wait it out. They did give me ketonazole 2%, however, since I had also developed some dandruff, which I've never had before - that started shortly before the shedding began. After a few applications the dandruff is pretty much gone.
I lost a good 40-50% of my hair in the course of 3-4 months. In the beginning of January I finally had a blood test and it showed my vitamin D deficiency was worse than last year (23 from 27) and my iron was on the verge of being low. My doctor said to take biotin and iron supplement. In January hair continued to fall and at the end of the month I had my usual heavy period, during which it shed pretty badly so I asked for more specific tests. My hormones appeared to be fine except for a DHEA of 600, but my ferritin was at 19, although my blood iron had practically doubled in a 6 weeks and was normal at that point. In the past two weeks my hair has stopped shedding in the shower as much, but it continues to shed throughout the day. I am unable to tell how many I lose but probably around 50, however I used to lose few hairs before this started. I'm wondering whether this is the end of it or not, because my hair quality has not improved. I can see many short hairs (2-3-4cm) growing on top of my head where I've lost the most hair, but not really in the front or anywhere else - maybe I cannot see them as easily on the sides.
Please update with your progress.
I'm also taking nettle tea and evening primrose oil -- this improved my heavy period significantly the last time. We'll see what happens next month.

Re: Telogen Effluvium Recovery
 

Hi there
Been waiting for my latest blood results. I'm no expert but it may well be your Ferritin. Mine is now in the 80s and things are getting back to normal. I read that ideally you should get your Ferritin up to 70 and keep it there for three months to see much improvement and touch wood, this has been the case with me.

I don't think the anti-fall shampoo did anything for me. I think it's more important what you are eating and what supplements you are taking to address the problem. My hair is still quite dry but I use Argon oil and anti-frizz serum to help with this.

I haven't had any hormone tests.

Good luck