Please tell me what you are doing if you are losing your hair. My dermatologist said it telegren something and it will grow back.......but my bangs are almost gone. I don't think it can grow back in that area. Everyday so much hair loss. Any suggestions?
It's not something I have had problems with, but I think the general advice is to use a very gentle shampoo and not shampoo it too often.
Not sure if they have any where you are ('bangs' = fringe, I think, so you are over the water from us). There are several medications available over here, some on prescription only, which are said to deal with hair loss.
Hopefully one of our more knowledgeable members will be along soon.
My hair went frizzy - but it didn't fall out too much so, sorry, can't really help.
It will settle down - often just being ill is enough to make a mess of hair and then some medications add to it. But it will grow back eventually - and a lot of us developed curls!
My granddaughter has only just said how thick my hair is now. I was quite concerned about the hair loss but it is almost back to normal. I'm on 4.5 but it was coming in before that.
I am on 2.5 and its getting worse. Going to a functional medicine Dr. on tuesday. I have so many things to discuss. It could be from my thyroid medicine. But it never happened before and I have been on it for 15 years. I have Graves. My thyroid autoimmune. I hope mine gets thick.
I know this is not quite the same thing but I have alepacia areata. In case you don't know what that is, it is hair lost which comes out in patches. It too is an autoimmune disease. At the beginning of my AA I lost a good amount of my hair and what I didn't lose I shaved off and wore a wig or mostly just hats. I'm telling you this because I want you to know that I can appreciate just exactly how upsetting this much hair loss can be for you. But you did do the right thing and you saw a dermatologist. And I'm assuming the Dr did not think it was AA. And here's the odd thing, the treatment I get for AA whenever I have a spot is several injections of steroids in my scalp in the spot. How ironic is that.
Now I can not promise you that your hair will come back. No one can truthfully make that promise. But history of this disease and the treatment indicates that you most likely will. It is possible that the hair might come in white. I don't know what color your hair is, but sometimes when people's hair comes back in it will come in white and then will turn brown or whatever is their natural hair color. I looked a bit like a skunk with brown hair and white spots all over. Of course I could have colored it, but I was still wearing hats so I saw no reason to. But that will be a decision you will have to make if it even happens to you.
But the worst thing you can do is stress over your hair. And I know what you are thinking. That's like saying not to breath. But try to stay reasonable about it and don't dwell on it.
I wish you luck on this. And like I said, I do know what you're going through. Try restyling your hair so that you don't have bangs. Go to the salon and make a day of it.
Hello Karen,
I know how upsetting this is. I too was losing my hair round about the 12mg mark,and still not much better at 10mg. However I started taking a folic acid tablet daily, and washing my hair only once a week. I used a shower comb with wide teeth as I found my hairbrush pulled at my hair. Now I am on 8mg and hair is thicker,although growing in a bit wavy at the regrowth points. It is no longer falling out. It has taken since last December to now to improve. Please don't lose heart. It will get better. I am sure some of our fellow sufferers will have some good ideas too. I should also add that I did not use any special shampoo or anything. Just a good one and a conditioner.
Barbara
Telogen Efluvium. ( Have a Google ) A neighbour suffered this in a big way and lost almost all her hair but nothing to do with Pred. in her case.
She had always coloured and permed her hair but was assured this was not significant. We all thought for years that she had mid brown curly hair. She was told that one of the causes was shock often delayed for a considerable time and in her case this was very likely. No other health considerations. Mid sixties. No treatment.
She did wear a wig for social occasions ( she is a keen dancer ) otherwise just a rather smart Cleopatra-like head covering.
This was several months ago, probaly four or five at least. She came to see me last week and my first words to her " I really like your Judi Dench hair style." She'd let it grow back into a very elegant silver and it did look really good so don't be too despondent. Hers has grown back all over; fringe area included.
Thank you so much....I appreciate all you said. Good luck to you.
So happy for her, gives me hope. Thanks
Yes that is what I have.
Anybody know a very gentle shampoo to use.
Hi. I have certainly had a noticeable hair loss but not enough to cause bald patches. This has reduced as I have dropped my steroid dose. Perhaps you need more blood tests? I would ask your Drs to investigate maybe. Good luck
This gives me hope for the future. Thankyou. i needed that right now.
I, too, have had what I consider a lot of hair loss.... but, to be fair, I have waist length hair. My hair brush always has some hair in it, and it looks like a lot due to the length. A few years ago, 2015, I had severe pneumonia, starting in January, and was put on Prednison, 20 mg, for 4 months. I put on about 30 lbs, and when I reduced dosage, 5 mg per week to zero, I didn't notice anything until that Summer. Steady hair loss continued froTelogen Efluviumm then to about mid Fall this year. In November when I was diagnosed with PMR. I was put back on the Prednisone, at 15 mg. Some of the hair loss has tapered off. But for a while I was getting a full hairbrush daily, even with long hair, I thought it was excessive. Talking to my hairdresser, she told me about the telogen efluvium, resting vs growth. She could see what I was talking about, because I only go 4 times a year for a trim. I brought in a clump from my hair brush and she thought it was alot more than normal, but would grow back once I could figure out what was causeing the loss. I always attributed it to the Prednisone, but other stresses in the last few years definitey could have caused it. Loss of both parents, (Dad the previous year, and Mom in the same Jan. of pneumonia), building a house and finding out the builder was a sleeze, charging us for stuff, and his workers walking off with items... (it was a horror story in the making), hubby's prostate cancer (he's good now, had the surgery, no recurance!). My hair dresser, also a biologist, like me, was very assuring that my hair would grow back... yep, and the telogen cycle has stopped, so my starte hair has started growth again. Problem is, I have long, long hair... and it will take many years for the thickness to come back. What IS coming back is now gray, and kinky. Those I pull. But the ones that are smooth, I leave. I can eventually dye my hair if I want. My Grandma had the most beautiful long salt 'n pepper hair in her early 70's that I ever saw! When she braided it, her hair was at her waist! She eventually cut it as it was too hard for her to take care of... I cried that day! But just to let you know... mine is coming back, just slowly and the hair is now about 2-3 inches of new folicle growth. Yours will come back too!
Baby Shampoo?
Apparently the latest approach is not to wash your hair with shampoo as much - wash it with water and conditioner!
I only wash my hair with shampoo every 2 or 3 weeks - it did take me a while to get to that stage mind! And I do live halfway up a mountain where the air is cleaner and we have a pretty dry climate, 20% humidity is normal a lot of the time. I struggle to go 2 weeks when we are in the UK, but I do manage.
The more you wash your hair - the more of the natural oils you strip out. The body notices and - produces more. It becomes a race, your body makes more, your hair gets greasier (you think), you wash it again - literally, rinse and repeat. When you stop stripping the oils out the body slowly realises that there is no need to try to repair the damage and produces less.
Any washing product that produces foam is stripping out those oils - from scalp and any other area of skin. The hair follicles produce mre, the rest of your skin isn't as good at it. But where is the logic of using soap to take away the natural moisturiser - and spending a fortune on replacing it?
Don't you remember the fuss when Johnson's baby shampoo was shown to cause hair loss????
No I don't, how could I have missed it!
"Johnson & Johnson’s “No More Tears” baby shampoo (don’t laugh – a lot of older babes with sensitive eyes still love it) recently removed Quaternium-15 (a formaldehyde-releasing preservative) from its ingredients without diminishing the product’s appeal. According to Dr. Dorin, “Formaldehyde and parabens such as methylparaben and propylparaben are often included to prolong shelf life. The latter can affect hormonal balance and encourage hair loss.”
The article I took this from has a long list of things to avoid including
"Foamers and thickeners. Dr. Dorin says that sodium laurel sulfate, or SLS – the chemical that produces all that nice, bubbly lather – “strips hair of essential oils, breaks down protein essential for hair health, and halts growth. Sodium chloride (better known as table salt) is used as a thickener in products containing SLS, but it can cause dry, itchy scalp and encourage hair loss. Polyethylene glycol (also known as PEG, polyethylene or polyoxyethelyne) is another thickener that strips hair of moisture. If you’re undergoing salon keratin treatments, these ingredients undo the benefits.”"
Really quite enough to put you off using the stuff!