Im in a bit of a pickle here.... a month ago I started using rogaine, 2% for women... I have thinnning hair, mostly at the top which has been slowly getting worse over the past 5 years (im 31). I did start with very dry, very brittle hair at 23 (ive read this is a sign of hair loss to come) ive never seen a doctor about my hair loss, but have been diagnosed with hashimotos thyroid disease (when i was 24) and my hormone profile was very out of whack (very high testosterone level, very high estrogen and low progesterone). Ive been pretty shy about my hair loss and never really talked to anyone about it. my hair was noticabley thin, my part quite wide, but you wouldnt look at me and think i was bald, but definitely thinning.
so i ordered rogaine online and used it for nearly two weeks, just applying it to the top of my head where it was noticably thin. toward the end of the two weeks i noticed my hair on top thinning considerably more, actually to quite a shocking degree, and it happenned really very quickly (i was expecting a shed, but not so fast), to the point where actually i was starting to not only look like i had thnning hair on top, but actually almost balding... i read the forums, and everyone saying you have to expect this before growth. I had my toppix on hand so was trying not to freak out too much...but at around this time too started the major headaches, body aches, and just a huge 'hit by a truck feeling' in my whole body and mind. it was pretty severe and demobilising. I had a feeling it was the rogaine, especially because it seemed that the headaches got even stronger immediately after i put the solution on. i have always had quite low blood pressure, and ive read that sometimes rogaine doesnt work well for that. so i stopped putting on the solution and i started feeling better pretty quick, and didnt start back on it again. But im left with quite a lot less hair on top now after that whole saga. Like, really, its very noticable, and i feel terrible for even trying rogaine, as you can imagine... ive heard that some people dont re grow the hair that they lose from these initial rogain sheds. this scares me!! I feel kinda silly for even trying it. please lend your support... id love to hear from poeple in similar situation, with thyroid problems, who tried rogaine, had to stop, but DID re grow the hair they shed... o that would put my mind at ease!!! I know probably im gonna have to wait a loooong time now for the re growth and that sucks. and of course i have in the back of my mind that fear, that it wont re grow. seems kinda crazy for this to happen after a mere two weeks use right??? I definately wouldnt have started using it if i knew this could happen...
- - - Updated - - -
I wanted to add also- with my possible hair loss causes. At 24 years old also, i was diagnosed as having a severe iron deficiency, i had to take high stregnth iron pills for 1.5 years to get back to normal. Im not sure if this could have had an effect on things.... A few months ago i was diagnised with having very low vitamin D also. it was the first time my vitamin d was tested, so im guessing it must have been low for quite some time without my knowing it... i just read that a vitamin D deficiency can cause hair loss. i didnt know this!! A few years ago my shedding was out of control. these days it seems better. i remember one day after a very intense period at work (where i spent nearly 2 weeks worked to the bone on very little sleep) i went through a period of a week afterward where i shed so much hair it was positively alarming. There was hair covering the floor in the whole house, it was just everywhere. and after this, it was normal for me to find my hairs just falling off everywhere, always a few on my clothes. or fallen on the table after I sat there a short while. Its definitely not like this anymore, a fair amount in lost in the shower, but i dont just shed all about the place like before. but from all that my hair thinned out a great deal.
so i ordered rogaine online and used it for nearly two weeks, just applying it to the top of my head where it was noticably thin. toward the end of the two weeks i noticed my hair on top thinning considerably more, actually to quite a shocking degree, and it happenned really very quickly (i was expecting a shed, but not so fast), to the point where actually i was starting to not only look like i had thnning hair on top, but actually almost balding... i read the forums, and everyone saying you have to expect this before growth. I had my toppix on hand so was trying not to freak out too much...but at around this time too started the major headaches, body aches, and just a huge 'hit by a truck feeling' in my whole body and mind. it was pretty severe and demobilising. I had a feeling it was the rogaine, especially because it seemed that the headaches got even stronger immediately after i put the solution on. i have always had quite low blood pressure, and ive read that sometimes rogaine doesnt work well for that. so i stopped putting on the solution and i started feeling better pretty quick, and didnt start back on it again. But im left with quite a lot less hair on top now after that whole saga. Like, really, its very noticable, and i feel terrible for even trying rogaine, as you can imagine... ive heard that some people dont re grow the hair that they lose from these initial rogain sheds. this scares me!! I feel kinda silly for even trying it. please lend your support... id love to hear from poeple in similar situation, with thyroid problems, who tried rogaine, had to stop, but DID re grow the hair they shed... o that would put my mind at ease!!! I know probably im gonna have to wait a loooong time now for the re growth and that sucks. and of course i have in the back of my mind that fear, that it wont re grow. seems kinda crazy for this to happen after a mere two weeks use right??? I definately wouldnt have started using it if i knew this could happen...
- - - Updated - - -
I wanted to add also- with my possible hair loss causes. At 24 years old also, i was diagnosed as having a severe iron deficiency, i had to take high stregnth iron pills for 1.5 years to get back to normal. Im not sure if this could have had an effect on things.... A few months ago i was diagnised with having very low vitamin D also. it was the first time my vitamin d was tested, so im guessing it must have been low for quite some time without my knowing it... i just read that a vitamin D deficiency can cause hair loss. i didnt know this!! A few years ago my shedding was out of control. these days it seems better. i remember one day after a very intense period at work (where i spent nearly 2 weeks worked to the bone on very little sleep) i went through a period of a week afterward where i shed so much hair it was positively alarming. There was hair covering the floor in the whole house, it was just everywhere. and after this, it was normal for me to find my hairs just falling off everywhere, always a few on my clothes. or fallen on the table after I sat there a short while. Its definitely not like this anymore, a fair amount in lost in the shower, but i dont just shed all about the place like before. but from all that my hair thinned out a great deal.