I'm a research scientist from NJ. Until last year I had a full head of blonde (chemically treated) hair. This is my story:
I've dyed my hair for over eleven years. I've never had a problem with my scalp or the loss of my hair.I could show you photos from last year and I had so much hair it looked like a wig! No female in my family has any hair loss.
I have a "type A" personality. I took up running last year. I was an avid runner, up to 30 miles per week. I was working a lot of late hours, substituting coffee as a meal. I wasn't eating a lot of protein. Basically I wasn't eating all that healthy but I was a good weight, 105 lbs at 62 inches. In the normal range for my frame. But I think the stress of my job got the best of me, and I sort of lapsed into "exercise bulimia". Running, eating poorly, skipping meals. Althought my hair began to look pourous and brittle it was still thick and plentiful. But all that changed.
This is the chain of events that occurred: one day, my hip began to hurt. It was awful pain- really sore. I thougth it was a muscle issue and took Advil and kept running. Turns out I had a stress fracture of my hip. At the same time, I was put on depakote for about two weeks, but it didn't work well for me, so I went back on Wellbutrin. At this point my hair was still fine. Dry and brittle, but fine.
I stopped running to rest my hip, and I went to get my hair dyed and it broke from about my ear lobes down. I mean it just broke like twigs. I cried, but it wasn't falling out from my scalp, so I hoped that it would just grow over time. I was ticked off, but it was a new hair dresser and so I figured he didn't know what he was doing. I was still resting my hip and not exercising.
About two weeks later, during a routine OB/GYN exam, my endometriosis acted up and I was rushed into surgery. They took out my left ovary, a fallopian tube and most of my right ovary. I lost a great deal of blood during the surgery. And, for some reason, it took me eight hours to wake up after the five hour procedure. I was thin to begin with, but after the surgery I was sick for about a week in the hospital (UTI) and I probably dropped five lbs.
Four weeks into my recuperation, my scalp began to fell "strange". It was almost like it was hyper-sensitive. As if pins and needles were poking around up there. Then my hair began to shed. I mean SHED. I would cry in the shower, my hair was everywhere- on the bath mat on my back on the sink. It was unreal!! It was already short and brittle because of the last dye job! And now it was thinning!!!! Terrified, I went and got blood work done to rule out a thyroid problem or anything of that nature- but every thing was fine. It got so bad I went to three dermatologists who said it was TE and that my hair would grow back. One doctor tested my free ferritin levels (iron precursor) and it was on the low end. He suggested eating more red meat and taking an iron supplement. He thought my iron levels were in the low range before the surgery due to my running and poor diet. I still am taking iron supplements to this day. It boosted my ferritin up to a better range. In the litterature, there are studies about women runners and free ferritin levels, so it made sense to take the supplement.
After one month, my hair stoppped falling out. Alhough I was heart broken at the amount that was gone, I was *thankful* that I wasn't bald. I kept dying my hair (dermatologists said it was fine) and went back to running. I got back up to running 30 miles per week, but I was eating better. For six months, things were okay. Then, a month ago, my scalp began to feel "funny" again- tingly and hyper-sensitive. Almost like a sunburn. Next thing I know- whammo- I'm losing TONS OF HAIR. Now my scalp it clearly visible. I'm terrfied people at work can see it. Esp. in bright light.I've quit running altogether. I just do step class or spin.
I don't know what to think or do. I had a battery of blood work again, and everything is normal. Thyroid, testosterone, LH, FSH. Could it be the running? All 3 dermatologisit still think it is post-surgical stress (although my surgery was last August). They swore my hair would grow back, but it not only hasn't grown back, it's begun to shed again! I can't get appointments with them for another two months!!!!!
I am a differnt woman now. I hate to wake up in the morning. I freak out if someone takes my picture. I'm ashamed and embarrassed about my lack of hair. I have trouble maintaining eye contact with people. I don't want to shower becuase seeing how much hair is in the tub terrifies me. I'm nasty to people.
When I see a woman with nice hair I want to cry. Or scream. I still can't believe this has happened to me.So to summarize:
I had a normal head of hair
I got into running and heavy exercising
My hair "broke" during a visit to a new hari dresser
I was on depakote for several weeks
I had a stress fracture of my hip due to excessive exercise
I had major surgery
I lost hair
It stopped falling out
I began to run again
Now it's falling out again.
Thank you so much for listening. I'm just so sad. I don't even want to leave my house. I'm tired of everyone saying it's "stress". My scalp feels strange. Like it knows I'm terrified of losing more hair. I was given topical steroid shampoo (clobex) and used it for a few weeks. It didn't do much.
How can I cope with this? I cry to my therapist every week about it. My husband is sick of hearing about it. But I can't get away from it. I see my reflection everywhere. Fianlly, I've booked an appointment with a hormone doctor in NY in the event that perhaps this is a hormonal issue. Although my blood work was fine. My husband is a doctor and thinks this is sort of absurd. But why is my hair falling out again?!
MB
Please, if you can offer any help, I would greatly appreciate it.
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But I went to my psychiatrist tonight and he is going to put my on a medication to help treat the obessive nature of my condition. He thinks that the more I obsess about my hair,t he worse it will get. I'm so type A that i AWAYS worry. In fact, the only way I could relax was by running really hard or by having a few drinks. (I gave up drinking last year). I hope this new medication doesn't cause hair loss. He promised it wouldn't but soemtimes I don't think he's always so up to date on things 