hair loss products for women

[MissKate]

so well, hi all. I have to confess that I have been hesitant about starting this thread due to the fact that I guess we all can see that it is such a taboo subject. but anyway, I still decided to make it as you can see. but what I am trying to say is that it really seems to be just fine for men in general and that's especially since we can see that there is an entire section on men's hair loss and generally I think that you can find information on this much easier and a lot much more. plus products for men seem to be easier to find. I've been shocked to see that here I've found one thread about women, but I still noticed that there aren't much responses. again, not compared to men's section. that is why I am now writing this and I am hoping that you guys are going to be actively involved in this subject and each one of us would write something about it, our experiences, knowledge, information and so on and so forth.

 

so, obviously I am going to be the first one to start my story so… a few years ago I have firstly noticed too much hair that was coming out in the drain. I am having just a thin hair, however I have started out with a lot of it. besides, it is also frizzing and that is why it is not really looking that bad (or at very least, that is what I am telling to myself). but the thing is that it just seems to keep on coming out without stopping and it is now just about as fine as it is a baby's hair: a ponytail it is about a quarter of an inch in thickness. and then I have been trying on something in the store the other day and I have got really depressed about it due to the fact that I could see the thinning in the back along the part. my other hair is mostly covering it all, however, I am still in my mid fifties so… this should be taken in consideration too, of course, I do know it very well but… shouldn't this actually happen when I am going to be like 75 years old?? to be honest, I am now wondering what other women are doing about it, what do you do in order to keep your hair healthy? and yeah, don't think that I haven't read anything about this online before posting this. I do know that there is rogain for women as well as loreal is making a treatment. plus, I have also found that there is ulta that it is selling a product in order to make hair fuller as well. the reason why I wanted to post this is to ask what is your opinion and even more importantly your experience with any of those products (if there's anybody of you who has some). I would really like to know if you had any success with it and if any of you tried any of them - please post everything in little details.

 

generally, why I ask it and I am not trying it myself is that I do know that these are some really heavy duty chemicals with some really scary side effects and all of those treatments are really expensive as well… and especially if they are not working. so in the end this means that I am just spending a lot of money for getting 0 results and only suffering from side effects. as you can understand this is not the scenario I want to be in. so I just thought that maybe there are some other women here that are braver than I am and already tried them? is there anyone of you who has any solutions at all? do we just need to cope with it and that's it? I mean, that's just doesn't seem to be right. are wigs the only answer in your opinion? after all, we're in 2017 and medicine has gotten far, maybe there's something for this too. I am having no idea what I can do but what I do know for sure is that I hate a lot getting older… ooooh… where are my ages?

 

[Tiffany]

MissKate hello. I am sorry I am not able to tell you something that is going to help you for sure but I just think that I may be able to at very least give you some advice about this all which I hope is going to help you. also, I can't say anything from personal experience since I have not tried anything but I still want to help and I would try doing so. do either of your parents are having thinning hair thing?? as you can understand, why I ask you it is because this could be inherited. also, I think that you may want to check this out with your doctor/ dermatologist on this problem as well. in fact, they are going to be the ones who can tell you which of the products that you shared up there might or might not work best for you. since we're discussing about docs and meds I can tell you that there are sometimes when using some medications can also cause hair loss so you need to be careful on what you are using and if you do take some medications then read their label very carefully and look for their side effects. another thing is that stress is able to cause hair loss as well and you should pay attention to it either. hormones should be checked as well since it is very well known that hormones are playing an essential role in hair growth and thickness. so you need to go to doctor and have your blood collected, you need to test your hormones and to diminish stress. also you need to check your medications and their side effects. all of this is very important. then you need to check with your dermatologist. when you have all of this information regarding all of that then you could go with that information to your doctor and dermatologist and there they would be much more likely to help you.

 

you've mentioned about the rogaine for women… well, indeed there is such a thing and indeed there are a lot of women saying that it was helpful. and also there are other some similar solutions as well which are also known to help. however the problem with all of this is that in the time they do work, they are only being helpful only for the time that you take them, they keep their effectiveness for as long as you take them…

 

also, is your hair being chemically treated or not? I guess I don't need to explain here. thickening shampoos can help hair to feel thicker, however they really do not ""cure"" the hair loss. you've got to know that there are many women that are in your age bracket have the exact same problem as you now and over a lot of years I have seen a lot of women with this problem. I really hope that any of this is going to be at least a bit helpful for you but in the end, I really just want you to know that you are not alone and whenever you need help you can get it here.

 

and yeah… lately I only want to say… getting your hair trimmed or maybe some kind of a ""new do"" really could help and to make you feel at least a bit better as well. I do know that many of you do not want to get it trimmed but eh… in the end you don’t know… maybe you're even going to like it? wishing you all the best.

 

[Lisssa]

hey Miss Kate. I may know a little bit about this either so I hope that I am going to be able to help you. generally Tiffany has touched the idea a little bit and I felt it well, however I still want to emphasize the idea that you really need to look more into the reasons for the hair loss before you are going to start on searching a treatment for your hair loss. why I tell you this is because the root of the hair loss can be different and if you cure the root you cure the problem. however different roots are being cured with different medications and if you have one but you give a medication for another one then it is going to be useless. that is why, as I have said, you need to look firstly into the reasons and then into a treatment. you've got to remember that what may help for one cause of hair loss it may very well exacerbate another one so pay big attention to it. just try to go step by step. easily but steadily. you should go and find out either is this hereditary what you have or if it is being caused by some kind of a medical condition or maybe by some other external factors (such as using medications, drinking  or eating something etc. etc.). just remember that there could be multiple things playing a role in this. it could be an autoimmune disease, it can be thyroid hormone imbalance or it can be any number of other things as well. but yeah, exactly as you said… pay attention to your age but still, it is definitely not normal at your age and that's not the age only for sure… there must be some reason for that, this is the reason why you really need to find a dermatologist or some other medical professional in whom you are able to trust because a good professional found be able to find the root of the problem and therefore the solution because, again, it is not your age, there must be a reason.

 

and yeah, another important thing to remember is that I have went through this issue so I do know what you are talking about, I can surely feel your pain and I do know that this can be extremely frustrating. the cause of my hair loss has still not been established with a full certainty, however most likely it has been autoimmune. it has been really horrible so I do know what it is that, but yeah, I did have resorted to hats and to wigs for approximately one year or so… as sad as it sounds… that was what I have went through… of course I can't be sure what it is going to be for you, however personally for me the hair loss has stopped after a while and I am really glad it did, but I just also hope that this is going to happen to you as well. unfortunately and sadly… I am having absolutely no guarantee on the fact that this is not going to happen once again and that's even though my hair has finally gotten pretty much close to where it has been in the past and I am very happy it does. but the thing is that you never know when it can get back to you and that's why I am trying to learn about this more and more. I just want to be prepared for the next time when it happens… if it would happen. good luck to you.

 

[HaNNaH]

there are some blogs about hair loss that I really loved. they are quite old (2013-2015) but they are really good. at least I loved reading them even though I don't have this problem (at least so far). I have them because there's a friend of mine who has this and she's been the one who showed me those. In fact, I'm so sorry… she is female with bald patches at the age of only 29… and yeah… by the way, I do believe (though I can't be sure) that her treatment has been with the corticosteroids. if you want I could ask her and tell you what helped her. anyway, going back to the blogs. I am not going to share them here since this is against the rules, but if you want to then I am going to share them privately. hope you like it. 

 

[MissKate]

hello there… unfortunately, both of my parents died when they were young (in a car accident) and so I am having no baseline for hair loss and I can't seem to know either this is hereditary or not, however exactly as Tiffany said it, this really seems to be pretty common. I can't be sure but yeah… probably some kind of a new short style is going to help a lot. I have been used to think that going grey early has been a bad thing, but now I can see that this is even worse than that and I would rather have my long thick hair and grey than its natural color and nearly no hair. and yeah, HaNNaH, thanks for the link of the blog. I have read it and I found it really interesting. if there are some other women in similar situations like I am now then you should ask HaNNaH's link and read it. it has made me feel a little better and that's why I think that it is worth reading. one of the thing why I am feeling so I guess it is because she is a lot much worse off than I am now and that is why I can guess that I should simply get used to it. maybe even this hair loss would stop by itself… but generally… yes… losing hair is very and very hard and that's because women surely are not supposed to… either way… I just keep on telling myself that middle aged women are being invisible and that's why… who is going to notice anyway? too much hassle here. but oh… it is still so hard… whatever, thank you very and very much for all of your help and suggestions! best wishes to each of you! 

 

[Madison30]

hey girls here, unfortunately… I am in the exact same boat as you are because I am only 31 years old (never though gonna have such problems at this age) and I have the same issue as you have with hair loss. it has started and I've noticed it but then I noticed that it has gotten even worse after I had my kids. in the past my hair used to be very and very thick, I remember that I was so proud of this… seems like I was too proud… now it is like you could wrap a ponytail holder like 6 times around. this is so so damn annoying. I am not really feared of the fact that I am going to have no other solution than to get extensions or to get wigs. and taking in consideration that I am really young… 31 years old… what would happen to my hair when I am going to be your age?? 55… but especially what is going to happen when I am going to be even older like 75? I have discussed about this with my doctors… obviously… I have told them everything and I have tried to get some help but they were not of very much help to me, unfortunately. I would just tell you that in the first place you need to make sure that your thyroid gland is functioning properly because I have heard that issues with thyroid gland are often the most commonly reasons of hair loss. but if talking about the shampoos and other things like this then I can tell you that I personally have tried nearly every one of them (at least the best ones and the ones that I have heard of) and even so I have noticed that there is nothing that would really help, unfortunately. I just can say that I did have gotten at least some relief when I have started to use the vitamin E, vitamin B12 as well as Biotin. these are helpful and I would recommend those ones for you to try. as for the rest… they haven't really worked. for hair restoration shampoos I've seen myself that this is all only marketing and nothing more. if such an shampoo exists then it is surely not in those simple ones and I have a feeling that the price for it must be "cosmic".

 

[Tiffany]

hi to all… I am sorry that this is happening to you and especially when you are only 31… I just think that since you're that young then maybe this problem might disappear soon by itself… but anyway I just wanted to ask you… did the doctors check your hormone levels? it is very important and especially after having kids because often females hormones are getting off track after having kids… and very often they are playing a really big part in hair loss and (doubt a coincidence) after having kids… hope this is going to be helpful to you. 

 

[Madison30]

you know…. I did have had my thyroid checked out, however no female hormones…. 

 

[Antaked]

I have been fighting with hair loss problems for quite a long while now… it has been like 5 years now or so. in fact, I would say that it is a wonder that I am not bald now. anyway… just please, keep in mind that even though your doctor is telling you that your hormone/ thyroid or anything else is being in normal state, remember that they are only referring to the standard lab ranges and nothing more and this means that you can be in the normal range of their lab numbers, however you can still be in unbalance and this is very important to know. that is why, the best thing that you can do (in my opinion) is that you can get some copies of all of your labs done and to do your own research on your levels - IMO this is going to be more helpful. trust me I do know what I am talking about because this is from experience I have… after some years of dealing with this problem and still in all this time getting the results showing that everything is in the normal range, I later have finally found that I am hypothyroid and when I've found out about this I am finally able to get in a treatment and therefore my hair loss finally shows some signs of stopping, or at least slowing down. it is true what has been said up there by someone else that firstly you need to find out what's the problem that's causing your hair loss. you can't just start treatment with different stuff. you firstly need to find out what you exactly have to know what you need to treat. after that to pick a proper treatment and only then to start it. this way it is going to be most effective. 

 

[anaesa]

oh yeah… I have went through this already, it happened about 4 years ago and I can tell you that at the very least I have been really traumatized by all of this situation. I used to have a really long and a really thick hair and I went to the doctor and they have tested everything - all of the results from those tests were all fine, showing that each number was within the admitted range. they told me that they don't have anything which they can help me with. that was in the time my hair was falling like crazy, with a crazy speed. but also, this has been in a time when I have went through a horrible, and awful time in my life back then and so it ended up I found out I have it from stress. I couldn't believe that stress can be so powerful but it actually is because it has literally made me lose my hair and made me get so sick as I was back then. I have then started to up my protein (gotta say that it is extremely helpful), I am also taking biotin (I noticed that someone else up there also recommended it - I can recommend it either) and plus I started to take prenatal vitamins every day (generally, I guess we all know that vitamins are essential for our well being state). and then, ultimately and obviously… I started to rule out stress from my life. i can tell you that it has taken approximately 6 or 7 months or so for my hair to come back. a longer period of time until it has gotten to its previous time but whatever… what really matters now is that it is thick and it is healthy now. but I really tried to do it this way now.

 

so… OP, Miss Kate… think… are you under some stress right now? especially not as usual? or maybe you are using something that can cause hair loss? maybe you are taking some kind of medicines? but going and checking your hormones and thyroid it is still a good idea and always worth it. I really hope that you would be just fine in the end. but generally, trust me… I am so so sorry that you are now going through this. I know that this is destroying you emotionally.

 

[MissKate]

well… to think about this I can tell you that I am now underweight and I am on disability and that is why… there is that kind of stress going in my life so we should I'm sure I need to take this in consideration. there's an explanation to that either, I guess… when I have been 17 years old I could always get into bars due to the fact that I was always looking older than I actually was. and you know… I have never once got carded… I can guess that now I am paying for this. I can tell you that I have been looking like about 20 years older than I actually am. I guess there is no wonder why I have not had a date in the last 20 years now… people that are my age I guess have been thinking that I am the same age as their parents are… I have been showing some pictures to my grand daughter and she has been thinking that the picture of my grandmother (at the age of 75) has been me… to be honest… since I am 20 years younger than that, it has been rather depressing for me… it's hard when someone thinks of you being older than you actually are, but 20 years older that's a lot… but you know… it is not the fact that she was wrong or that I got upset on her. the worst part of it all is that she has been right about this… I was really looking like my grandmother. I can guess that if I am going to make it to 75 then I am surely not going to look like 75 but rather 95… but my grandmother did have had a full head of hair… not as I am now. anyway… enough of whining for now, thank you guys very much in advance for everything. I appreciate everything you shared.

 

[DirtyDiana]

oh yeah… I do understand what you are talking about… I can definitely feel your pain on this and that's since I am forced to wear wigs now… most interestingly is that when I was reading your first post and you made that last part on wigs I told to myself: *well, it seems that pretty much yes… we're forced to get wigs, at least myself..*in approximately 3 months or so after moving into this apartment, I have already lost half of my hair now and it doesn't stop as it just continues on coming out in clumps as it did in the past. and the worst is that there seems to be absolutely nothing that can stop this from occurring. there is just simply no getting around it… wigs are my lifesaver and that's it. nothing more. in fact I can tell you that now... my situation has gotten so bad (my hair) that I simply would not be able to step out of my front door without having one on. I simply wouldn't be able to by looking at myself like that. In fact, I hardly have any hair left at all right now so I just have to go bald if going without wig on… in fact… honestly… it is terrifying for me to look at myself right now when I am without a wig on. 

 

[Satterign68]

oh my god… I am so so sorry for you.. I am very sorry to hear that, it must be really hard to admit and to see that. I'm happy that at least a wig helps you and that it can help you a bit. I can feel your pain a bit since I am now going through a shedding stage right now and it is really hard… not clumps, however since I am having fine and thin hair, this is getting really very distressing. in fact, I would say that there's one logical reason and the worst is that we can change it but it's extremely hard. what I am trying to say is that I can feel like worrying about it is causing stress and therefore this is causing hair loss. this is some kind of an vicious circle that never ends but getting out of it might be the solution… so sorry for you… hope you're going to be fine.

 

In fact, I hardly have any hair left at all right now so I just have to go bald if going without wig on… in fact… honestly… it is terrifying for me to look at myself right now when I am without a wig on. <br />

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