I never imagined I'd be on site for hair loss.

by Anonymous

Hello, I'm a 36 year old mother of two teenaged children (so I don't get to blame just having a baby on the hair loss ;-) Here's my story:

I started to notice that my once VERY thick,waist length hair was getting a bit thinner and not behaving the way it used to. So I started to look online and discovered TE may be the cause.

Here's what's been going on in my life since this past February. My marriage was in trouble already at this point and I went back home to visit my Granny for her 91st birthday. Her health was failing quickly and she was given 3 to 6 months to live. I knew it would be my last trip to see her. She passed away last month...August 17th. I am still grieving. Then when I got back home from the trip the very next day I got a phone call saying that the father of my children (we've been divorced for 11 years) was in the hospital. He then ended up in a coma with an illness the doctors could not figure out. The doctors thought he would die.

My children were a wreck. I was devastated at the thought of them losing their Daddy. About a week after finding out about my ex my husband left me. I was devastated. I was left with no car,no money and then my son got sick. He needed medical care and he ended up having to be taught at home because he couldn't attend school while he was sick.

Meanwhile the children's father was still in the hospital and still on life support. We didn't know where we were going to live,if their father would live or why my husband left in the middle of all of it. Their father finally recovered. Thank God!! Then my daughter ended up going to the E.R. by ambulance because of an emotional breakdown. This was just too much for all of us. I was hardly eating and lost about 25-30 lbs and this just in the first couple of months. I noticed my hair was starting to look dry during this time. But didn't think much else of it.

My husband returned home in June and then in about mid July I noticed my hair seemed thinner. Not a whole lot but enough for me to notice. As I said, I had very thick hair. Hairdressers,strangers were always commenting on how beautiful and long and healthy it looked. By mid August it was much thinner. It was coming out mostly when I'd comb it after a shower. It's gotten to where I actually dread washing my own hair! How sad is that? It comes out when I run my hands through it. When I'm just sitting and not doing anything. I'm constantly picking it off of my arms.


I've developed a habit of constantly running my hands through my hair to see how many hairs I get out of it. So much so that my scalp is actually sore around the hair roots. That can't be good for my hair! My family keeps telling me to stop touching my hair. The anxiety levels have gone through the roof since my hair has started shedding so much. I'd say I've lost 1/3 of my hair if not more.

There are no bald spots just diffuse thinning. I'm constantly checking my part to see if it's wider or more noticeable. It's become an obsession. It seems to have slowed down over the past four or five days. I hope that's an indication that the worst is over. I do see varying lengths of new growth all through my hair. Anywhere from 1/2 inch to three inch long hairs. They are sticking up all over the place wherever I part my hair. So much so that I can't get them to lay down and look decent! They stick straight up. They have tapered ends so I guess it's new growth and not broken hair. The hairs that I shed all have the little white bulbs on the ends. I lose short hairs and very long hairs. I do worry a bit about losing the shorter new growth. I've noticed a few of these coming out.

I went to my doctor yesterday and he took blood. I should get the results back this week. He's doing the basics. Thyroid,anemia,liver,blood glucose ect. He about made me cry. He asked if I was stressed (he knows what's been going on here at home) and then he so compassionately said to the student doctor, "She has such long, thick, beautiful hair and she losing it." I about started sobbing.

To anyone else it would look like I have a normal head of hair. But I know how much of it is gone now. It scares me that it's happened so quickly. Will I simply go bald? Will it ever really be the way it was before? It amazes me with all that has gone on in the past month that I'm so focused on my hair!!

I know this was long. I guess I needed to get that off of my chest!