22 and dealing with thinning hair.

[andieaare]

Hello,

I just discovered this site and read through a number of the posts and am touched and inspired by the stories and level of support among women here. We all understand how it feels to be dealing with hair loss and just knowing I have a supportive environment to talk about it is thereputic.

I am 22 and I have always had comfortably thin hair. It wasn't that I didn't have a lot of hair, it was more just the thickness of each strand was very fine. Recently, the last couple months I noticed my hair starting to appear thinner on top near my part.. I was in denial at first, but then I just started to really notice. It's not that I pull out clumps.. its just a few hairs here and there when I comb, or shower. I went to a dermotologist and had my thyroid and iron levels checked - all normal! The dermo did a hair pull and again normal (pulled out 2 hairs when combing about 100) He suggested it was TE - as I had experienced emotional stress about 3 months prior to the shedding and had been under general stress in grad school and moving recently.. just lots of good, but major life changes - like moving to Hawaii.. perhaps the change in climate causes hairloss?
The dermo recommended Biotin supplement and possibly rogaine for men if I felt I needed it. I have been taking the biotin for about 4 weeks now and recently started taking a multi-vitamin and increasing my water intake. I just (today) started using Nioxin and am hopeful that it will stop the hairloss and clean my scalp and possibly thicken my hair.

I am having trouble being patient and controlling my stress about my hair. I worry about it, stare and cringe in the mirror, hate combing, compare to other women. I am tired of worrying about something that was never of concern to me. When I look at some of the thinner parts I do notice a good number of short (almost 1-2inch) hairs and am hoping this is a good sign and if it is TE is is clearing up. I have always been pretty active and eat a fairly balanced diet. I have been focusing a lot on managing my stress levels and trying to remember not to sweat the small things in life. I am focusing on happiness. At times that is hard to do - and my hairloss does not make me feel great. But, I remember that I am alive and I am loved. And this is my story. I hope to post good results soon with the possible aid of Nioxin shampoo, vitamins, low stress, happiness, good sleep, and drinking lots of water.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, share yours, and for supporting one another.

<3

[mabaker]

Read your story - wishing you well.x

[ImJena]

I'm new and saw that you're 22 so I went to view your post because I'm around your age (23). You sound like such a positive person. :) I hope that the short little hairs are a sign that the TE is clearing up for you!

[Sukhi]

Hi. Your situation sounds alot familar to what I went through. I'm currently 32 and have been experiencing HL since my teens. All tests done, nothing out of the ordinary. I didn't even experience TE, as it started while in highschool. I don't have patches of HL, my scalp is thin all over. I always had thick curly hair and even today I can conceal it if I take the time. However, I got myself a topper, which naturally blends with my existing hair.

I strongly feel the BCP and childbirth has negativly affected the condition of my bio hair. I am no longer on BCP and just had my second baby 9 months ago. I've decided to start using Rogaine Foam. I have many tiny tiny sprouts of hair and just noticed the other day that they indeed are longer then before. Many more seem to be making thier way through :). It's only been 1 week, but my hair does look somewhat thicker. I am also using Nioxin 2xs a week and try to massage my scalp daily. I'm still on prenatal vitamins and take daily doses of omega 3-6-9 pills.

I was really happy to discover this site and to learn that there are people out there who are willing to listen.

My husband has been supportive and doesn't care for the topper. He loves me the way I am. But he understands how difficult it is for me, being a women suffering from HL. We are actually in competetion to see whose hair grows back thicker as he is balding from the top :D, but I love him the way he is.

My only concern right now is that I hope my two little girls don't have to go through what I did. But the plus is that at least I will know of all the treatments out there, so that I could get the issue addressed before it gets worse :)

Anyhow, I do have pictures of my topper on my page. Feel free to check it out. I plan to post pre/post Rogain use pictures in due course.

Take care ladies.

[NYCGirlie]

Andieaare, get your iron ferritin levels checked! All my tests came up normal too, so my dr blamed grad school stress too. Another dr decided to look deeper and do a ferritin test. Most labs say normal ferritin is 10-200 but a hair loss specialist said it should be 70-100 to maintain healthy hair and have normal regrowth. Worth checking! I;m on iron and praying it works

[LucyJ]

Have you had any luck with the biotin supplement? Can I get a regular B vitamin complex instead?