I’m a Female with Thinning Hair

Hi Dr Rassman,

I am a 27 year old female. Just under 2 years ago I began to notice my hair was quickly becoming thinner and thinner and stacks of it fall out each day. I have not counted exactly how much hair falls out, I just measure more by the thickness and amount left on my head and also the density on my scalp. I am about 1/4 Lebanese on my dads side but his sister has lots of hair and she’s 60. The men in my family still have full heads of thick hair, and most of my female relatives do too, although my mum and grandmother have had hair thinning, but after menopause, some stress and in my grandmother’s case, after prednisone.

My hair is sort of wavy/messy curly and I used to have very thick hair up until the last few years. I have many health concerns at the moment, but I’m pretty sure I have been tested for things like thyroid function, lupus and hormone levels. I have been on and off medicines such as the pill, some antidepressants, epilum and zyprexa, but even after being off all medications for a couple of months, my hair continues to fall out. I do not brush it very much, but I am not concerned that the loss from brushing is a build up over days, I also do not blow dry, straighten and colour my hair more than a few times a year. I even tried laureth sulfate free shampoos which seemed to possibly slow down the loss for a couple of weeks, before it resumed again, but its hard to tell. Do you know of anywhere in Sydney or Canberra Australia that does this miniaturization testing you speak about?

Are there any other causes you know of, or things I can do to help this problem? I am pretty young to be on Rogain or permanent medicine.

Any advice or insight would be appreciated, as I am frustrated and concerned by the hair loss and the lack of answers.
Thanks.

You clearly need a good doctor to take charge of your complex situation. See ISHRS.org for a doctor in your area. There are a number of good doctors in Sydney and throughout Australia.