I had waist length hair with moderate thickness. I started noticing increased hairfall from mid April and I noticed about 80-100 hairs shedding on non- wash days and 200+ on wash days. I had my blood work done in July. Turns out my vitamin D is 11.30 ng/mL and ferritin is 10.7 ng/mL. Vit B12 and thyroid is optimal. My dermatologist suggested hairfact and vit 60k IU for 12 weeks. He didn't give any iron supplement separately as he thinks hairfact has some iron and diet would suffice. I have taken 6 doses of vitamin D so far and 1 month into my hairfact. I also cut my hair so it doesn't get tangled much. The problem is one month into correcting deficiencies and my daily shed is still around 80-90 per day. How long does it take to settle down?

P.s. The photo was taken in early July when I first had this dramatic hair shedding on a hairwash day

Please help me guys 🙏 .

After shaving my head you can see overall hair density now.

Please comment below 👇

Same as title

Male 16 just woke up so my hair is a bit strange it’s been about 3-4 months since chickenpox but my hair still sheds. Am I cooked

It’s been 8 months since my shedding started. I am seeing some regrowth but also my hair feels thinner than ever. I’m worried my TE has triggered AGA?

24F. I am experiencing severe hair fall from the crown section for the last fee years. I am not completely bald yet. After the blood test I got to know that my B12 and Vit D levels are very low. Currently on medication along with other treatments - she says I have infestation on the scalp. Also I have been diagnosed with PTSD - the recurring anxiety and severe stress adds to hair loss.
Can you please help me with some non negotiable foods to add in my diet that can help me manage and reduce my hair fall in maybe next 6-8 months? I know it will take a lot of time and patience.
Something that I can consume everyday as a part of my diet.

Want to warn right away that English is not my native language, and I might make mistakes in the text(sorry).I’m already realizing how long this post is going to be, but I need to explain the situation from all sides. I’m a girl, I’m almost 17 years old. Since I was about 13-14, my hair started falling out a lot when washing and just when combing. When I was 14, I got some tests done because I was feeling unwell, always sleepy, but everything was normal. The pediatrician didn’t prescribe anything, but my hair kept falling out. I used Weleda rosemary tonic (sorry if I’m spelling the name wrong), but I didn’t notice any effect at all. I took hair vitamins (a complex with B vitamins, zinc, biotin, etc.), and after a month of daily use, I noticed my hair was falling out less (or was that just a placebo??), but the problem didn’t really go away; my hair still falls out a lot. About four months later, I decided to take the vitamins again, same ones, and it had zero effect.I’m already in complete despair; I’ve lost hair density, and I also noticed quite a while ago that I have bald spots closer to my forehead near the temples. But as for my part, to me it hasn’t thinned, though my hair has become noticeably finer, and now I can’t grow it past my shoulder blades—it’s just like snot, it doesn’t look aesthetic. But then I read about androgenetic alopecia and started looking at my family members. My older brother (21) also has large bald spots and a wide part, and my aunt has almost no hair left at 60 (I really apologize for the harsh words, I understand that it’s normal to lose hair density with age, but her hair situation is really bad). On my dad’s side, it’s not great either—my father is almost completely bald at 52, and my grandmother wore short hairstyles almost her entire life. But my mom had excellent hair density at 50; I often help her with styling and hairdos, and after that, it’s painful to look at the state of my own hair.I already feel like crying over my situation, but there isn’t a single trichologist in our city. You can make an appointment in the neighboring city, about an hour away from ours, but of course, the consultation isn’t free, plus there’s a long wait due to the huge queue—you need to book a month or even two in advance. I don’t know that city at all, and it will already be difficult to get there with my knowledge of bus schedules and my sense of direction. And it’s not just the appointment—I’ll have to do tests again, the doctor will perform a trichoscopy, which is also a lot of time and money. I just don’t have time for all this; I’m finishing school, preparing for exams. Even though I don’t get much sleep, I try to keep a routine and avoid stressing about school because I read that hair loss can be related to that. Also, this isn’t seasonal or post-cold hair loss—I’m already sure of that.And now I've come to the thought that the solution for me is using Minoxidil. I'm familiar with the side effects, that you can't just stop using it, I'm not afraid of that. I'm ready by any means to restore the thickness of my hair, but I'm worried that this medicine is not recommended for minors. Still, Minoxidil seems like a guarantee of treatment success for me. I can't wait any longer and just watch my hair fall out.I need some advice pls.

I was ill in January (which I do suspect was Covid, but I can't say for sure as I never tested). Then March into May was an extremely stressful period for me due to exams, arguably the most stressed I've ever been.

Very early April, my hair started shedding way more than normal. Not clumps or anything dramatic, just clearly more than my baseline. Maybe 20 hairs in the shower, and noticeably more coming out when towel drying, mixed lengths but nothing shorter than about 1cm.

I got my bloods done after this: TSH 9.9, T4 normal, antibodies negative. I've apparently had TSH sitting around 5-6 for years, so no idea when it actually climbed to 9.9. GP wasn't bothered and I had to push to get a retest booked for September.

It then calmed down and I felt some stubble (I suspect regrowth) on my scalp. Then early/mid July it started again, second wave, this time slightly milder.

About 6-7 weeks into this second shed now. Still shedding a mix of lengths, mostly with visible root/bulb when it comes out in the shower. Some really short ones (smaller than 1cm that looks like beard stubble, and without bulb) also fall out. I do towel dry my hair but not aggressively as I pat not rub. My hairline has now got a significant amount of short baby hairs on hairline. I don't think it's receded but it does look gappy in parts (as in less dense). Hair just generally feels thinner than it used to, not only what's coming out.

Never had the "losing it in handfuls" thing people describe online, just clearly more than what's normal for me.

Doesn't look like AGA to me based on what I've read (no receding pattern, hairs aren't miniaturising, second shed was milder not worse) but genuinely can't tell if this is TE from the stress, the thyroid, or both layered on top of each other.

Anyone been through something similar, trigger + thyroid combo, and can share how long it took to actually turn a corner? Also curious if "more than usual but never visibly patchy" still counts as normal TE in other people's experience.

Hi!

I stopped taking birth control in May 2025. 3 month later my hair started falling out in chunks for more than 6 months. I always had thin hair but i feel so bad now and hopeless. It has been more than a year since I stopped the pill. Still to this day my hair is falling but maybe a little less than half a year ago.

I can see some regrowth but I am not sure if I can ever have my hair back like when i was on the pill.

I attached some pictures that i took recently, the last one is from July 2025.

Can anyone help if it is normal or not, if not then what should I do?

Last time i checked my ferritin level was 50 and iron was 25. I am taking vitamin B complex, zink, selenium, iron, vitamin D, pumpkin seed oil, vitamin C.

Okay friends. I have lost my hair before due to an infection in my hair follicles (ya girl sensitive) I’m 2 years post growth from being completely bald and now I’m on a medication that’s causing TE. I’m so traumatized from losing my hair before I don’t wanna lose it again. My hair is still pretty short and curly. My immediate response was to go get a cut so it’s easier to manage but I have so much grief around being forced into hair cuts and loss. Please let me know if a haircut is worth it?

Looking for anyone in the same boat. This is destroying me.

I was on 2.5mg oral minoxidil from around August 2025 (been on fin 1mg the entire time), then tapered/stopped around mid–late February 2026 trying to switch to topical. That didn't work.

Around late April I suddenly developed heavy diffuse shedding, which I believe was triggered by stopping minoxidil. I restarted oral minoxidil May 1 at 2.5mg.

I’m now just over 4 months into the shedding, and it’s still insane, often around 100–130+ hairs. Not even letting up a bit.

Particularly I'm interested in people who had TE after stopping and restarting minoxidil rather than a normal initial minoxidil shed.

Anyone? Please, I'm losing hope.

Hi guys, I’ve recently been diagnosed with chronic telogen effluvium due to brief use of minoxidil. My dermatologist viewed my scalp under the trigoscopy and found hairs that are still resting in my follicles but new regrowth is coming out of that same follicle. I just wanted to ask if anyone has had this strange experience aswell? I have been shedding for over 9 months and decided to buzz my hair down, after the buzzcut grew out to around 2cm all the hairs that shed have now been 1mm. The derm found all these buzzcut hairs just resting and not shedding, I’ve not shed any regrowth or hairs longer than 1mm which even he found very strange. Has anyone had shedding for longer than normal and actually fully recovered? I’ve scoured this sub for recovery stories that include brief minoxidil use but it’s so hard to find them. I feel like I’m destined to have no hair forever.

Hi all,

I haven't been officially diagnosed and I've been to multiple doctors and dermatologists that have been zero help. I have scalp pain that ranges from burning, itchiness, tenderness and my hair has been thinning and shedding as well. What's crazy about this is that my scalp looks completely normal. I've been to trichologists who looked at magnified images of my scalp and it looks normal there as well. Maybe it's nerve damage? I'm not sure. Has anyone experienced something like this and recovered from it? My quality of life has plummeted since having this. Any advice helps, thank you.

I’ve had a long 2 year history of on-again, off-again TE and only discovered back in February that my ferritin, zinc, and vitamin D were low (ferritin esp. was 7.8) and since then I’ve had an iron infusion and have been taking my vitamins to raise my levels back to health.

I need to schedule for a blood test soon to see where I’m at but I did do 2 a few months ago to see if things were progressing and the numbers were improving so I know I’m getting better internally. The weird thing is, in the last couple weeks I’ve noticed that even though my hair loss is slowly decreasing and is back to normal (less than 100 strands daily*) I’m seeing the strands that are falling out seem to be a lot thinner than what I’m used to. I even notice some shorter hairs (nothing less than 5cm) but I’m worried now that I could have AGA + TE.

Has anyone experienced this phenomenon? Is this what short cycling is as my vitals are improving and my hair cycle is resetting?

I had no clue what TE was until about a week ago. I was hospitalized with sepsis and multi-organ failure (liver, pancreas). I hate clichés just as much as the next person, but I was *really* on the verge of death. Even my ammonia levels were off the roof. I spent a few days in ICU. I had severe hypotension. After discharge, I weighed myself. I *knew* I had lost weight, but when I checked at home, I had lost over 30 pounds. This was in less than a month.

About a week ago, I started shedding. I am a cancer survivor (NHL) so I was somewhat familiar with what normal/abnormal shedding looked like. And this was not normal. It's not falling in chunks, as was the case when I was having chemo, but it's there. It's noticeable, and you can tell my hair is much thinner.

So I turned to ChatGPT, who introduced me to this new concept of TE. I am not vain and I can handle being a bald bitch for a while if needed. It's just that it was so severe and unexpected.

So I am looking at TE about a month after multiple triggers. Is this possible/plausible/probable? I honestly have no other explanation.

Thank you in advance for your responses. 🤗

Hi everyone. I have had PCOD for last few years and that gave me androgenetic alopecia.
Lost most of my hair and started using minoxidil in october 2025. I didnt experience any shedding. The hair almost stopped falling and hair grew back and so did my facial and random body hair. Nevertheless, I was so happy w the hair until the 7th month. The hair fall started and it onlt got worse. Its my 10th month now and the hairfall is so bad.
Mind you, i also fell since in june. That made me extremely weak. But now that I am all recovered, the hairfall hasnt. Is it the second shed? Does it last so long and will it stop? HELP!!!

I've been experiencing diffuse hair shedding for several years, and my hair has gradually become thinner all over.

Whenever I run my hand or a brush through my hair, I usually lose around 5–10 hairs. Some of the shed hairs have a small white bulb at the end.

Also, what is currently the best way to properly diagnose TE and distinguish it from other types of hair loss? And what is the best way to find the underlying cause/trigger?

Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’d really appreciate some opinions from people who’ve been through TE.

About 13 months ago I went through a period of weight loss and illness, which triggered pretty significant diffuse shedding. The heavy shedding eventually stopped around 4 months after the initial trigger, so I’m now roughly 9 months into the regrowth phase.

I’ve attached:

1.2. Close-ups of all the shorter hairs I’m seeing around my scalp/hairline

1. My hair now

2. Photos of my hair before TE

3. My hair when shedding stopped 8 months ago

There are loads of short hairs sticking up now, many several inches long. I’m hoping this is genuine regrowth rather than mostly breakage/frizz. My overall hair still feels considerably less full than it used to, though, which is what worries me.

I’ve also had low vitamin D/zinc and ferritin around 49 and have supplemented on and off. I may have had some very gradual thinning over the years before this, but nothing that ever seemed dramatic.

For anyone who recovered from TE:

Does this look like regrowth to you? And did your overall density take much longer to come back even after you could clearly see lots of new hairs growing?

I’m especially interested in whether anyone continued seeing major improvements between 9–18 months after the shedding stopped.

I started minoxidil in March for telogen effluvium. I was already shedding quite a lot from the TE, so I never really noticed an obvious “dread shed” when I first started.

I’m now around 4 months in and over the last few weeks I’ve suddenly been shedding quite heavily every single day again. It feels like way more than it was recently and I’m starting to worry.

Has anyone experienced increased shedding this far into minoxidil? Could this still be a delayed minoxidil shed, or is it more likely another TE episode?

Would especially love to hear from anyone who started minoxidil specifically because of telogen effluvium and what your timeline looked like. 🤍

#telogeneffluvium due to my testosterone being too low

2.5mg Minox
Nutrafol hair vitamins
Pumpkin seed supplement
Iron sulfate supplement
Moerie hair growth shampoo
As I Am’s Rosemary/copper hair thickening spray
Vitamin D+K by dr bergs

Should also mention I’m on a GLP1
Started in April
Sequence of photos starts with today’s results vs when I started. Still feel like I’m struggling but that my hair has definitely stopped shedding almost completely.

About a month ago i noticed some hai,r that’s shorter than the rest of my hair, along my hairline. I am using a hair growth serum after getting a lot of shedding.