Unexpected Hair Loss

It must have started at the beginning of the summer, but I didn’t really notice until the end of August.

For months, my husband had been complaining that my hair was all over the place – the floor, the shower, the bathroom counters, etc. I told him it was because my hair was long; long hair always falls out more than short hair.

So I continued to clean the hair catcher after every shower, not really paying attention to the volume of hair that I was cleaning up.

In early August, I got sick of my husband’s complaints, as well as always having to wear my hair up to keep cool, so I cut my hair to a short style, like in my profile’s picture.

But the hair kept falling out.

The last week of August, I was in an Anaheim hotel room (I was attending Worldcon) when I looked in the mirror and realized I could see my scalp through my hair.

Now, this may not sound like a big deal to some of you, but it was for me. I’ve always had such a densely populated scalp that I’ve had to dig through the hair just to see it. Now I could see it without trying.

Yikes! Once I got home, I called my doctor and made an appointment. However, before my appointment, I got my hair cut again and the hairdresser mentioned that certain vitamins were good for hair growth.

Then it occurred to me. Not only have I been on a diet and extremely stressed out, but I hadn’t been taking my vitamins for at least a couple of months.

I started taking them. And within a day or two, the volume of hair in the hair catcher plummeted.

My doctor examined my scalp and took blood tests to rule out anything metabolic. I’m happy to say that I’m relatively fit as a fiddle. She sent me home with a handout explaining “Hair Loss in Women.” My favorite part was at the end. After discussing causes and treatments, it said, “If your hair loss doesn’t get better with treatment, many types of wigs are available.”

Gee, thanks.

Anyway, the finale analysis is that stress and vitamin deficiency caused my hair loss. This morning, I looked in the mirror and noticed that I could no longer easily see my scalp. My hair is still thin as the new hair growth catches up to the older hair, but I’m no longer going bald. I’ll count that as one of my blessings.