Hair loss

marylee

Daughter has stopped taking Dianette on the advice of her GP. She has been taking it for years to control acne, but not really effective, she still get spots in her late twenties. She thinks, she is cursed, and I do feel for her.

The problem now is that since stopping the pills, she has not had a period for over six months and she has started losing her hair a lot and this is really distressing her.

Went to her GP who was not really sympathetic and thinks she is making a fuss, she has lot of hair and looking at her hair you will not notice there is any problem. It is not normal for her to lose so much hair everyday? I honestly do not know what I can do to help, GP is not helping much. She did the usual blood tests and they all came back negative. The problem now is spots and losing hair.

She is also taking evening primrose 3000 mgs as recommended by some of you in the forum and a multivitamins. I am wondering whatelse I can give her. She is very stressed at the moment, as she has had to cope with acne or still coping with it now in her late twenties. She feels losing her hair is the last straw and find it difficult to cope. I know stressing herself will not help and she is focussing too much on the problem. I do not seem to be able to reason with her. Please help and advice. Thanks.

maggie1976

I can sympathise, I still get spots and am 29 :rolleyes:

I didn't find the pill helped particularly with the spots to be honest, but I have found that taking zinc tablets and soluble vitamin C daily do help.

Can't help with the hair loss, sorry. Although that would point to some hormonal reaction to stopping the pill.

It can take quite a long time for cycles to settle down after the pill, maybe your daughter should see another GP for a second opinion or at least a more sympathetic response?

Nile

Sorry to hear about your daughter and her unsympathetic gp.


Sunlight is very good for clearing acne spots, does she get outside much? I know that ultra violet treatment at the hospital used to be offered for severe acne. Just make sure that she wears good sunglasses when she's outdoors and she avoids the 10am to 3pm hours.;)

Does she use Benzoyl Peroxide lotion/cream on her spots? If she uses Oxy10 for example...........there is a much cheaper product (same active ingredient) called Panoxyl 10. I posted a thread on this board.

If you do a search on the web for Cheryl Baker (ex Bucks Fizz) she recently had a hair loss problem and found a cure. She promotes a product that may help your daughter..........I've seen adverts in magazines.

Have you asked at your hair salon? The senior stylist will be very knowledgable and will try to help her with appropriate products to use.

I hope I haven't crossed the line with my suggestions..........I don't want to break any rules about giving health advice. I only mean to help, I understand how distressed your daughter must be.

Nile

I've sent you a personal message Marylee.

Gillby1

Hi Marylee,

I feel terrible for your poor daughter, and it's great that she can rely on you to help her out.

About two years ago I went through a very stressful period - splitting up with long term boyfriend and various other things - and I started noticing that my hair was falling out in what seemed like huge amounts. I was clogging up the plughole in the bath and the back of my top/coat was always coated in it. Believe me, once you start worrying about it you notice it everywhere - especially if it's long hair. I worried about every strand for months. But two years on I still have the same amount of hair as ever! Humans can lose well over 100 hairs a day completely naturally - and if you are worried about losing them you'll be aware of every one. I can't promise that your daughter isn't losing abnormal amounts of hair - but bear in mind the possiblity that she may just be anxious about it and therefore just notices the hair that comes out naturally far more than before? Have a look yourself when she brushes her hair - is it coming out in clumps? Are there bald or thin patches. Reasure her that there is not noticable difference, and I know reasurance from my mum helped me a lot.

Otherwise there are hair restoration products - available from Boots etc... - which may help.

Not sure about the spots, but visiting a dermatologist, or even a nutritionist, may open up other avenues of treatment.

marylee

Thanks for this post, it will reassure her when she reads it. I do agree, she is losing more hair than usual, she has got long black hair and honestly looking at her you will not see there is a problem. To me, she is focussing to much about it and this is not helping.

Bendybops19

I have always had a problem with losing a lot of hair, it seems to run in my family :rolleyes: i am forever blocking up my bath plug and having to unclog it! It drives me up the wall! Im quite self conscious about it because i am forever having to pick all the hairs off my back and shoulders. I have cut down on washing my hair every day and it seems to have helped a little bit.

Anyway, the reason i posted this was because i am due to stop taking my dianette next month and now i am really worried it is going to make my hair loss even worse :eek: Is this a common thing that happens?

marylee

I would not worry about it, just see how it goes, it's just with my daughter she has an hormone imbalance, I think. Since she stopped dianette, she has not had a period for 6 months. I am starting her on course of supplements for healthy hair and hopefully this will rectify the problem. Please keep me posted how you got when you stop the dianette.

catsonic

Hi marylee

just a few questions, is she eating ok? i know when you're stressed you tend to lose interest in food. The reason i ask is i have had a problem with hairloss for the past 8 years. the first time it was thyroid problems, but if the doctor has tested her for this then it might not be that. The next time was just "oh well sorry nothing we can do" I did grow back but only after a few courses of steriods.

this last time was due to a defienency of b12!! I was really shocked cause i do eat ok but dont eat that much red meat. Apparently its quite difficult to get if you dont eat the right things! So maybe an extra supplement of that might help. It wont hurt to try anyway.

marylee

Yes, she eats a healthy well balanced and always make sure she eats five portions of fruits/vegs. I just hope, it will settle down in time. She is OK, if she does not focuss too much on it and keeps herself busy. She still has a head full of hair and can easily compensate for the loss. Thanks for your post.