please help!!

Dindin · #1 12-10-2009, 02:25 PM

Hi There,
I was wondering if someone can help me .
Lat year in February I took Diane 35(dinette) just so I could have clear skin. My skin was not bad, just some breakout during the month. I am 39. I took this birth control pill for 6 months but stopped in July because of some weight gain. I didn't like the way it made me look and feel. EXactly 3 months later, my hair is falling out. Every time I wash my hair, a ton comes out and I can see it getting thinner. I have never had this. No one in my family suffers from hair loss. I went to see my dermotologist and he said that I have Telogen efflivium due to stopping the birth control. He said it can take a few months and claim my hair will recover. I don't know if to believe him or not. This is causing me so much stress I can't eat or sleep. I cry all the time. I am scared I am going to lose my hair and it will never grow back. Anyone knows anythng about this? Will my hair grow back??? Pleas, anyone who experienced this, please let me know... I am so scared,
Thank you

Dindin · #2 12-11-2009, 01:36 AM

bump...please help

MiaFlores · #3 12-11-2009, 12:54 PM

Hi Dindin,
I'm afraid I don't have much to offer you other than my understanding and support. I seem to be in a pretty similar place. At the end of July I went off my birthcontrol, and in the 4 months since then, I've lost close to half my hair. I went back on the BC about a month ago (was having other really horrid problems from going off/low estrogen) and doc said that should stop the loss/start regrowth, but the hair loss continued. (In fact, the last month is when it reached the point of being impossible to hide without a hat, a wig, or topik.) Of course...maybe it's too soon to expect a change, given that hair cycles take a couple of months, but I understand how distressed you are because I feel the same!!! I have gone back to have several levels tested, and I am seeing a derm this month. Afterall, time is follicles.

A couple things:
1. Telogen effluvium. God I hate when docs throw that out there like it's a diagnosis. By itself, the term is meaningless, really. All it means is "your hair is going into a dormant phase and falling out by the root." Well...DUH!!! I can see that. The key is *why* are you experiencing telogen effluvium--what is forcing so much of your hair into its dormant phase all at once??? Given that you've just gone off birthcontrol, there is likely a hormonal component to your TE (drop in estrogen perhaps, as happens after pregnancy, and/or increase in testosterone as your ovaries kick in again and start producing sex hormones.) Have you noticed any other testosterone-y things (e.g. acne, greasier hair, feeling more aggressive or, erm, horny?) or low estrogen things (e.g. depression)? I will grant your doc, he/she told you it's related to going off the pill (hormonal), but that may or may not be the whole story.

2. It's *possible* your hair may come back--afterall, in the TE that follows child birth (which is different but somewhat similar in that there's a hormone change/drop in estrogen when you go off BC too), many women experience a heavy, scarey shed, but regain the hair they had before pregnancy. But...other times, when you go off BC, you discover the BC's been helping mask something else that would have been causing your hair to fall if you hadn't been on the pill--ranging from AGA to other health-related issues (e.g. PCOS, thyroid problems, etc.) or nutrient-related problems. In those cases, no, the hair won't just come back on its own.

Talk to your doc--let her/him know what's happening and maybe get some levels checked. Get a second opinion if you need to, and if you haven't yet, talk to your primary care doc (they can run tests too)...as I'm learning, this is a difficult and not fast/easy road. It's made all the harder by the fact that so few doctors really know much about/understand female hair loss.

Again, wish I had a better response...but stay in touch, let me know how it goes, and here's hoping we both can stop the shed and get some hair back!

Big hugs!--Mia

ouchy · #4 12-11-2009, 05:53 PM

It really does sound like TE. I think just the change in hormones triggered a shed. It very well may end in a few months but can take up to a year. There is a good possibility your hair will return back to normal but you may just be one of those who's body is veyr touchy to hormonal changes.

After each baby I went through TE. The first time I was 24 and was scared to death. Nobody told me or warned me that my hair would fall out. I assumed it was due to the epidural and residual drug in my body. It lasted 4 months or so, then stopped and my hair improved. It happened with the next two babies as well.

So your not alone. The worst thing you could do now is get back on some hormones. Often people panic and get back on the pill or something else and that just makes things worse. You have to let your body reset itself. Say in 6-8 months it does not resolve maybe you could look into hormones but I bet it will stop. TE's are usually heavy shedding, hair in your food, mouth, in your bed, all over the bathroom floor after you get ready. Just monitor it over the next few months. Maybe you can throw in a good multiple vitamin, some biotin that surely cannot hurt.

Dindin · #5 12-11-2009, 08:31 PM

Thank you so much for both your replies. It is a very scary thing and I am going through hell right now. I just want the shedding to stop. I lost enough already and it's been less then a month. I cannot take more of this. I will certainly post and let you know what happens. I guess only time will tell. I never had any problems before and always had healthy hair. I was only on Diane 35 for 6 months, and now my hair is falling out. It's crazy and so sad.

Collette · #6 12-13-2009, 12:30 AM

Good luck you guys.

pilar · #7 05-26-2010, 01:48 PM

Dindin,

I'm going through the same thing. I'm wondering how you're doing now. Has the shedding improved?

Hope you're doing well.

Pilar

Dindin · #8 05-26-2010, 10:23 PM

Hey Pilar,

I wrote u a post on the other website you wrote in..

I am doing ok. Its been 6 months for me.. I think the shedding is much better. I don't really lose hair when combing now.. maybe one or two when brushing.. not always though and I lose very little when washing . I am not suer if I still have telogen effluvium.. but I still have the annoying itching and tingling. It is not as bad as before.. but it is still there. I started using Vichy Dercos anti itch shampoo, my sermotologist said it might help, so we will see. I do see some regrowth on top... but when will all my hair come back?? Do you have an e-mail address that we can just communicate with? It is coforting to know that someone else is going through that as well. Let me know,

here is the website I answered you on..click on the link..
Din
http://www.hairsite.com/female-hair-...st_answer.html

pilar · #9 05-27-2010, 01:24 PM

Hi Din,

I'm happy to hear that you're doing well and that the shedding has drastically slowed down.

Here's my email: pilarakemi@gmail.com Feel free to write me anytime! It'd be great to talk to someone that is going through the same exact thing as me.

Take care,

Pilar

whatoncewas · #10 07-10-2010, 06:42 AM

Hi Din,

I too suffer from hair shedding (I don't want to call it loss yet) after stopping birth control 7 months ago but unlike you I had been on BCP since I was 20 yrs now 30. My shedding has not stopped but I am not going bald either, however, I am worried sick the day that I won't be able cover up. Have faith I do!