Hair Loss Obsession Is Just Too Much...

[Pj889]

Hey everyone,

I hope I can find some relief to share my story here, I’ve tried on many other forums but I feel like people just don’t get me.

I am 27, female and I suffer from OCD, depression,... I’ve been struggling a long time with these feelings, but last 2 years were just already so crazy. I also developed in these years an exhausting, very disturbing “habit”.

In 2016, I went to the dermatologist because I’ve had the feeling of losing more hair and itchy scalp. She said I’ve had a hair root infection and hair loss could be stress. So I was on vitamines. Zinc, alline and cystiphane ( I am from belgium ). i’ve started taking them until last year. In this period of time I’ve started to count my hair, I became so obsessed. I needed to know if I was not losing my hair. Started counting between 2 washes, on washing day and after brushing. Also spended lot of time with brushing ( still do ). It can take up until hour or more that I just stop until I feel I can let it go and not much hair comes off ( controlling hair on hairloss ).
Then I would count and divide the hairs by the days to have my average. My average was up until a few months ago under 100 , when I am over it, I just freak out since I’ve read u can only lose until 100... Pretty much I’ve been focusing more on my hair last months, more checking between 2 washes, brushing long... I didn’t do this much before, I am even more obsessed and freak out. My average is now always between 150-200. I am paranoid, exhausted. I am scared I am having something, cause whenever I run trough hair first time each strand there is already a lot in brush... Then I panic, brush more, brush until there doesn’t come hair anymore,... etc etc. Also my hair is in a lot of knots and dry from the heat...
i jut don’t know what to think or do. Any advice?
Thank you for taking your time to read.

 

[Cue Bald]

so wait you are counting your hairs that you shed? like if they are on the pillow, you count them?
and then brush your hands/hairbrush through your head until no more come out?

sounds like a shed to me, when my shed started i could ruffle my hands through my hair and literally each time, 5 hairs would come out. i remember doing it for 15+ minutes and hairs were still coming out. i thought "damn if i keep doing this i will be bald in a day"
i had so many hairs on my pillow after 1 nights sleep you could bundle them together and it almost looked like a small ponytail.

luckily finasteride stopped the shed and the scalp itch literally within days. a few days and i was back to shedding only 5 - 10 hairs a night again

 

[Heinrich Harrer]

I know a lovely escort, she’s on tour and affordable

 

[Pj889]

so wait you are counting your hairs that you shed? like if they are on the pillow, you count them?
and then brush your hands/hairbrush through your head until no more come out?

sounds like a shed to me, when my shed started i could ruffle my hands through my hair and literally each time, 5 hairs would come out. i remember doing it for 15+ minutes and hairs were still coming out. i thought "damn if i keep doing this i will be bald in a day"
i had so many hairs on my pillow after 1 nights sleep you could bundle them together and it almost looked like a small ponytail.

luckily finasteride stopped the shed and the scalp itch literally within days. a few days and i was back to shedding only 5 - 10 hairs a night again

Thank you for your message.
Yes, because I have this fear of getting bald I need to constantly check my hair. So I brush much in it. But when I start combing I lose already more hair then I used to.
Does everyone go trough ‘ a shed ‘?
Like maybe I make my hairs lose bcs of manipulation?

 

[jasonstatham]

Thank you for your message.
Yes, because I have this fear of getting bald I need to constantly check my hair. So I brush much in it. But when I start combing I lose already more hair then I used to.
Does everyone go trough ‘ a shed ‘?
Like maybe I make my hairs lose bcs of manipulation?

Your story sounds more like that you need as soon a possible a therapist.

This Forum will most likely make you feel even worse. So please go seek a therapist!

 

[Yakitori]

100-200 has always said to be a normal amount to shed in a day but actually noticing that many is quite a lot, then you know you have lost even more hair than that. What state is your current hair in?

 

[Cue Bald]

i just saw that you are female too , i thought that you were male.
females can get sheds where you will shed loads of hairs and then suddenly stop.
i am not an expert in female hair loss though i only really know about male pattern baldness

 

[Heinrich Harrer]

oopsie didn’t notice it’s a she. Well, as a woman, freaking out is understandable. Check thyroid levels, check ferritin, check iron, check hematocrit.

 

[Pj889]

100-200 has always said to be a normal amount to shed in a day but actually noticing that many is quite a lot, then you know you have lost even more hair than that. What state is your current hair in?

Thanks for your message. I don’t understand good what you mean. ^^ you say 100-200 is normal, but at the same time abnormal? My hair is really dry with the heatwave. I don’t see any bald spots or so either. I am just also fixated on the temples that I keep staring if it gets thinner and I just keep thinking and thinking and thinking

 

[Pj889]

oopsie didn’t notice it’s a she. Well, as a woman, freaking out is understandable. Check thyroid levels, check ferritin, check iron, check hematocrit.

No problem! I’ve had my blood levels checked september 2017 and everything was fine except vit D. I always let it check every year.

 

[Pj889]

@ everyone thanks for the messages, I really appreciate it.

Just to make the story bigger.
I have anxiety issues ( duh ) and I am in therapy for it.
I just have very bad OCD and now really focused on the hair. So what I do is brushing my hair every day for quite a while because I want to control how much hair I lose.
So I just go in it with my brush between 2 washes few times, most of time I do my tail, but then I have moments I get so insecure I brush my whole hair for like an hour or so on the wash day it can take longer, I have lots of knots. And I have been doing this pretty recent ( the hairbrushing between 2 washes ). My psychologist thinks it’s a way of dealing with stress ( brushing ). I collect all hairs together from brushes between and keep number together. Also what I lose on my washing day and brushing after and then I divide by the amount of days and that is how I count my average...

 

[WheeljackG1]

I relate very much. I am 28. My shedding started when I was 27. I'm a male, but my shedding is very unusual. It's from my whole head. Sideburns, back, top, everywhere. I got a biopsy and it came back negative for male pattern baldness. Dermatologists can't figure it out.

It has completely halted my life. I too have OCD, and it's has focused on my hairloss. I have developed intense Body Dysmorphia and am currently in therapy for it.

Dealing with the shedding has taken such a huge mental tol on me I barely have room for anything else in my life. The only thing I have found that works is to do a double wash of diluted apple cider vinegar every two days. But it ruins the texture of my hair.

I totally get what your going through. I may not have all the answers but at I am hoping that you get through this, cause I know how much it sucks.

 

[Pj889]

Thank you for leaving a comment on my post. I am sorry you can relate to what I feel
Did you have your bloodwork checked? Did your derma did a hairpluck test? Since when did it started? I’ve read also about BD OCD and trust me I really can find myself in it. What kind of therapy do you follow?
For me it’s like I just brush my hair a lot to check how much there comes off cause I am always convinced I am going to lose my hair. I have this huge fear that I even can’t place for myself. It’s so overwhelming. I just brush to see how much hair there comes off and it’s really tearing me apart. I don’t want to lose my hair, since it’s so important to me. I also lost 2 hairs with a black bulb and I know that natural shedding has a white bulb, which I have mostly, but now I’ve noticed these hairs and I immediately freak out cause a black bulb means it’s growing and now I freak out about why I shedded black bulbs... It’s driving me insane and I feel so so alone in it. Spended the half day combing in my hair, stopped until there came no hair off anymore but then a few mins later I had lose in my tail and I freak out and then I brush even more... I am so tired.

I also have the feeling that my hair feels thinner and lighter then last weeks and idk if it’s because I am so focused. Sigh.

I relate very much. I am 28. My shedding started when I was 27. I'm a male, but my shedding is very unusual. It's from my whole head. Sideburns, back, top, everywhere. I got a biopsy and it came back negative for male pattern baldness. Dermatologists can't figure it out.

It has completely halted my life. I too have OCD, and it's has focused on my hairloss. I have developed intense Body Dysmorphia and am currently in therapy for it.

Dealing with the shedding has taken such a huge mental tol on me I barely have room for anything else in my life. The only thing I have found that works is to do a double wash of diluted apple cider vinegar every two days. But it ruins the texture of my hair.

I totally get what your going through. I may not have all the answers but at I am hoping that you get through this, cause I know how much it sucks.

 

[Cue Bald]

I would say brushing hair is pulling them out, that is why you have black bulbs. Brushing your hair for an entire hour can't be good for it. you will get traction alopecia.