Hairloss

Hello,

I was diagnosed with MS in September 2007 and in October my hair started falling out. I thought it was minor and wouldn’t last but it never stopped. I also assumed it was the new MS meds so I begged my dr. to switch, which he did and still the hair continued to fall. They say it was caused by the stress of the diagnosis. To this day, it falls out for months, then comes back for months. The shedding period is always longer than the growing period and my hair is thinner now that I’m 62. I cut it short on top to hide the thin spots and hardly wash my hair. Minoxidil seems to work and special shampoo but I’ve bought myself a wig and have it ready. Missing my younger long, thick, poufy 80’s hair so much.

That does sound stressful. People just don’t realize how this impacts a person. Have you had a biopsy oft your scalp? Just curious. They didn’t biopsy mine, but the dermatologist and endocrinologist agreed on the cause. Still, I worry. I do feel better though.

How much do you think the Minoxidil helps? How long before you saw an improvement?

How are you doing with the MS treatment now?

I remember the 80’s big hair! Lol. Omg…..the bigger the better. I got perms and had wavy hair. But, my hair looked fine in photos as of early September 2023. So, this is recent.

I feel for you! For some unknown reason, my hair got very thin this year. I have tried all sorts of special shampoos for thinning hair, I take 10,000 mg of biotin. Not much improvement! I am 74 so is this just part of aging?

I think everyone is different. I see plenty of people over 50 with very thick hair. My dermatologist says it’s mainly genetics. Your mother’s hair condition often predicts what you will have as you age.

Of course, vitamin deficiencies can cause shedding (I did have vitamin B12 deficiency in April of 2023). I got shots and got it back up, but maybe, that contributed to mine. Idk. But, the rapid weight loss came right after that too. Plus, post covid syndrome. I got that in Sept 2023. Within days I saw huge hair loss. You can find photos of hair loss from covid online. There are other causes too like hormonal and autoimmune related. Sometimes, no cause can be determined.

Thanks! Since your hair loss just began, but I would have to say it’s probably age related. You can try Minoxidil too but make sure it’s safe for you to use. I’ve been using it for many years and I’m assuming it’s helped. Could it be medication side effects?

Right now my 82 year old mother has more hair than I do because I’m in the shedding stage of this dreadful telogen cycle. This wasn’t genetic from her. It came after my MS diagnosis.
My dermatologist put me on iron, vitamin c and zinc but then my dr. told me to stop.
Didn’t know about the Covid thing and I’ve had it twice. Interesting.
All of my friends still have their hair at 62. It’s very difficult to be a woman without hair.

Have you had any steroid injections? I used to get an annual corticosteroid shot for eczema and it cause major hair loss about a month after the shot , going of for about 3 months, after an injection.