Är det normalt att tappa nya hårstrån också?

Katie wrote: I want to write this post for all of those women and girls out there who may be going through hair loss with short hairs and are scared about what it means.

First of all, I can’t tell you what it really means, but I want you to know that my hair started falling out in March 2009, and I then spent an entire YEAR of my life consumed with worry, incessant worry, about what was happening.

I am 30 years old, have always had fine hair, but the loss I was experiencing was more than normal – like, hair coming out all day long, in the shower, etc. , more than normal.

I went to two derms and an endocrinologist; the first derm said it was telogen effluvium because he did a pull test and looked at the hairs under a microscope. The second derm said it could be AGA or TE, not sure. My bloodwork was normal. I did not take any drugs for the loss. I did start taking biotin, and multivitamin. And I also started eating meat again after 16 years as a vegetarian.

In any case, what alarmed me the most in that year of crazy, mindless, obsessive worry were the short, weak little hairs that seemed to start falling out around October 2009. They had the bulb and everything, and there were more of them coming out than any other type of hair (i.e., strong, long).

These hairs were anywhere in length from 3 inches to ones that were the same length and diameter as hair on my arm. Some were normal in diameter, but some were weak and very thin. I nearly went crazy with these; seeing too many on my sweater could send me all the way home, even if I had places to go. I counted them, I lined them up, I took pictures of them and pictures of my hairline.

The sides of my head seemed to be the worst affected. I also noticed that I had a TON of little baby hairs growing all around my crown – way more than normal fringe hair – especially on the sides, and I was worried that these were falling out.

Basically, I was worried that I was going through miniaturization and that this meant AGA.

What I want to say is that for the most part, the short hairs have stopped falling out. My hair may have gone through some TE phase for a year (probably from going off BCP in December 08), where it fell out for 8 or so months, and then the new hairs that came in were weaker, smaller, not ready to return to their natural cycle.

Now, as of February 2010, I have no noticeable thin spots, my hairline looks the same, the short hairs still fall out from time to time, but mostly it’s back to normal shed.

I guess my reason for posting is just to give those women and and girls out there who are experiencing short hairs falling out, something to read that might give them hope, that short hairs falling out don’t necessarily mean that you’ve got a pattern hair loss on your hands.

I know I read this exact page about 140 times during my worst bouts with worry. So be strong, understand that your body is going through something, and try to redirect your thoughts. I know how hard it is to do that, but everything’s going to be ok.

One more thing – I have a problem with anxiety, stress, worries. This doesn’t help with hair health. Do what you can to calm yourself and be compassionate to yourself.