r/TelogenEffluvium

in September 2025 i was diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia. a few months before the diagnosis i lost half of my hair in a short period of time. my hair was falling out everywhere, most noticeable as a receding hairline, at the back of my head and on the sides. since september i have been using minoxidil foam and gradually increasing my spironolactone dose to 150mg. my hair loss has decreased somewhat and i have noticed new growth at the hairline. however, now for a short time i have been losing a lot of hair in scattered pieces all the time. throughout the day i notice how the loose hairs hang from other hair, fall onto my shirt without me doing anything. when i brush my hair, a lot of it falls out, even just when i put it in a ponytail while i wash my face. i have had comprehensive blood tests last autumn and everything was fine. this has a very negative effect on my general well-being and dating people is almost impossible because of this. if my hair is constantly falling out at this rate, i will have no hair left. i don't understand what could be behind this. sounds a lot like TE but i’m not sure about the cause

Hi- already diagnosed. Looking for input, I’ve been on HCQ for 5 weeks and suddenly my hair texture is different and the volume is much thinner. This is not my baseline.

If this happened to you, did it go away? And how long did it take?

I have been shedding heavily (and I mean losing fistfuls of hair every shower) for over a year. I have lost a lot of volume, and I get extremely anxious and depressed seeing my hair thin.

I've seen my GP twice (different people about 1 year apart), and both times they took maybe 1 second to look at me and I was told that even if I had bald spots, there is nothing they can do. I was just refered for a blood test and recommended some vitamin D. That's all.

I seriously can't take this. It doesn't feel normal, I don't know why it's happening and nobody is taking the time to actually examin me. What do I do???

I've always had super thin, fine hair. Then in August 2024, everything else went to shit, too. I caught my partner of several years, who I was planning on spending the rest of my life with, cheating on me. Went and got an STD panel/pap and it came back indicative of high-risk HPV which I'd never had before. Then my "best friend" got engaged to a man she had known for two months and decided she didn't want to be friends with someone "who wasn't in the same life stage" as her. My dog/actual best friend was diagnosed with a fatal degenerative disease. I got rear ended while stopped at a light. A week later I was diagnosed with ADHD and put on stimulants. There was the election. Then at Christmas, my brother got extremely drunk and slapped me across the face in front of the entire extended family and no one did anything about it.

It was the perfect storm for one hell of a case of TE.

In the following year, about 50% of what little hair I did have rapidly fell out. If I didn't wash and meticulously style my hair every single day, there would be a huge bald spot at the back of my head. But shampooing meant watching another huge handful of hair fall out. This went on uninterrupted for almost two. fucking. years.

I went through several rounds of seeing these weak, mousy brown, wispy baby hairs sprout up, but every single time they'd get to ~1-2 inches and then fall right out along with everything else. Eventually I stopped even bothering to look for regrowth. I didn't want to look at my hair at all. It went on so long I became convinced it was AGA, but specialists here are booked out so far in advance I'm still waiting on an endocrinologist/derm opening.

Throughout everything, I just kept trying to treat myself nicely, got into therapy, made sure I consistently got enough nutrients and sleep, made sure I did at least a little exercise every day, and cut contact with everyone who was making me miserable.

You guys, I just washed my hair and five total hairs fell out. Five. My baby hairs are now a whole 4-4.5 inches long, thick, and almost jet black. And there are tons of them. I had no idea! I could cry. 🥹🥹

I just wanted to make an update to document my journey as someone with ongoing shedding (in the 8th month now). I search for other posts about this length of TE/shedding so hoping someone can relate!

I have posts on my page which show results from my blood test in May but I have been keeping up iron and vit d supplements since.

My hair is still shedding, however, looking back at old photos of hair fall it’s definitely reduced. I am shedding more short hairs now though but I wonder if this is short cycling and any regrowth that grew when I was deficient is falling out?

I have contacted my gp again asking for referral to a dermatologist as I want to check for signs of aga. I am concerned as my part is widening and scalp is becoming much more visible in the part line. I’m not surprised though as the amount of hair I have lost is insane. I don’t have other symptoms of pcos or high androgens so i am hoping it is just an awful course of TE recovering from low iron, vit d and folate.

Just trying to hang in there and hope i’m close to the end :(

I have been experiencing hair loss for years! The reason why I wasn’t truly convinced it was AGA (maybe underlying) is because my shedding has always been so intense, wash days, styling, between washes, running my fingers through it.

I have tried minoxidil for years, did nothing for me. Tried DHT blockers nothing. Have had chronic low iron, supplements never really brought my levels up.

Then recently (last year) my hair, my hair stopped shedding so intensely ( still more than normal) but it was no longer consuming every part of my life.

I recently got lab work done, and my ferritin was back at 15. My doctor recommended 5 iron infusions (venofer). I started them in February, once a week for 5 weeks. I noticed my hair falling out in handfuls almost immediately. It especially picked up after my last infusion March 13th. I am going on nearly 4 months of intense shedding with no end in sight.

Some positives I see some regrowth my ferritin is now 102. But seems as if regrowth can’t keep up with shedding.

Has anybody else experienced this? Weren’t the infusions supposed to make things better?

Thank you for reading so far!

Iam worrying alot

Why still iam shedding. It's been exactly 3 months since I started using minoxidil 5 percent!!

Taking hair vitamins!!

Taking iron supplements

Taking iron supplements

Eating well still !!!!why iam shedding

Iam putting my time , my money on dermatologists visit ..still why my shedding is not stopping!!!

How long I need to suffer with this dred shed !!!!

Why my dred shed phase not yet completed

Why this is happening to me

Why

This facial hair

Why this side locks

Why ??

Why ??

My life is ruined..

My neighbour has a female pattern hair loss grade 2 !! She is not taking care , even though she is not using any hair serum !!

Not visiting a dermatologist also .. not taking any hair vitamins!!

She is not taking care of anything about her hair !! Her loss is stable....

Mine is grade 1 !!! I am taking care of everything, spending money like water on my hair care .. still no use !!!!

I have been doing a bunch of research into why my hair is thinning out so badly along my part, and all signs point to a sensitivity to DHT and shifting hormones. My follicles are just being chemically triggered to drop hair way too early.

Because of this, I am completely bypassing topical peptide serums and looking exclusively for a comprehensive internal solution. 

I want something scientifically formulated to support hair density from within. Has anyone successfully used an ingestible blend to counter hormonal shedding, what kind of timeline am I looking at?

I am almost 23F, have been dealing with excess hair shedding for over a year now, considering my hair is and has always been naturally thin and fine, I'm shocked I am not bald yet lol. But what are the next steps then. Been to my doctor who ran blood tests and everything came back normal, I am not low on iron, vitamin d, no hormonal issues, and I cannot remember anything traumatic that would have triggered such an event, my hair line actually looks perfectly normal, but I know it's hair loss because I am constantly picking hair off of my arms, clothes, bed, which I did not have to do before. And private health insurances do not cover hair shedding because it is viewed as cosmetic so...what now. Also I have no family history of hair loss/balding so I don't think it would be something genetic. I'm not asking for a diagnosis or anything but just advice on how to go about with an issue no one seems to want to further investigate.

I am so incredibly exhausted looking at my widening part line every morning. My doctor finally confirmed what I already suspected this is a total androgen and hormonal imbalance, not mechanical damage from heat styling or bleaching. I haven't changed my hair routine in years, but my internal chemistry clearly shifted, and now my hair is just shedding straight from the root.

I want to treat this from the inside out. Has anyone with severe hormonal thinning actually had success with a specific ingestible,  need something that targets the root cause, but I also want to keep my expectations realistic I know it won't happen overnight.

I am so tired of being told to just "stop using straighteners" or "get a trim" by people who don't understand. My hair loss is entirely driven by a hormonal shift my androgen levels are out of whack. My hair is literally coming out from the roots, and my overall density is just tanking.

I really want to avoid topical peptide formulas because they don’t fix what's actually happening inside my body. I am looking for an ingestible routine that targets the internal hormonal trigger natively.

Has anyone actually seen a difference with a daily supplement? I know our hair growth cycles are slow, so I'm not looking for an overnight fix, just something that works if I stay dedicated to it.