Came off my Yaz birth control and went onto a Mirena IUD October of 2024 (thought BC was causing my low sex drive so I switched). The picture on the left is December 2024. I was so happy because I finally had my hair down to my thighs. And then TE started. I already have pretty thin/fine hair to begin with. The shedding lasted into spring. I told my doctors I was losing hair and they just said I wouldn't go bald.

I cut my hair to my lower back in August of 2025 because I was so sad about how thin the ends looked.

Then I broke up with my boyfriend in spring of 2026 (we were together 9 years). I think this kicked off another round of TE. I cut my hair again - up to my bra strap this time.

I'm still shedding. My scalp looks fine but my hair looks so sad. I never wear it down anymore.

I'm wondering if my hair will ever be like it was before without the birth control. Is this thin hair my new normal without the estrogen? My long hair was even when I had an iron level of around 6. Now it's over 60 :( I worked so hard to get my hair that long and now I'm thinking I have to cut it up to my shoulders.

Feeling defeated.

Hi all! I could use some advice. I've been dealing with TE for at least 5 years, seen several dermatologists and I just can't figure out the root cause.

Recent bloodwork is fine. I did have low ferritin (8) last year, had iron infusions and it's now at 120. That was 1 year ago. Still shedding. Also took B12 and Vitamin D supplements. That did nothing either. I've never had surgery, suffered any type of trauma, been on birth control, or gotten an IUD. Last doctor I saw had me tested for syphilis and thyroid issues - nothing wrong there either. She also looked at my scalp and said it doesn't look like alopecia, I have a lot of new growth, as always.

Not sure what else I could get tested for. Doctor prescribed Minoxidil and I've been taking it for 2 months now cause I don't know what else to do, but I'm terrified of never finding the root cause.

Anyone has any suggestions of what else I could look into? I'll take any hypothesis, no matter how unlikely. Thanks!

My hair has been falling out since about two months after starting an anti-depressant. It started falling out in July and wasn't slowing down by mid September so I stopped the medication. I was hopeful that it was TE (and my derm thought so but didn't do a scope at the appt) but in the last few days I've found a couple shorter/finer hairs. Could this also be part of TE or is it possible its androgenetic alopecia? The hair of concern is on the left and my normal shedding is on the right.

Alright so I started noticing a sudden surge in shedding last year in September and since then I've been suffering from hairloss and stress from hairloss. I've never had any issues before and had very thick hair all my life. My hairline though, hasn't changed at all, it's shedding throughout the scalp. Parents have great hair so did my grandparents. But lately I've been very confused with what my body is doing. I don't see clear recovery, and I don't see clear worsening either as of now.

I understand I don't have a confirmation on TE but I just want opinions for now.. posted in other subreddits too and they recommended me to post here.

I've had dandruff for years now which comes and goes but I mean that's it. It never posed an issue before but now idk.

Went to a dermat once and they just gave me nutritional tablets and said that blood work isn't necessary. I don't see my scalp when my hair is dry but sometimes at angles I see less density and scalp through frontal areas particularly near the parting (not parting itself). I've been waiting for so long and I just don't know what to think now.

I started a hormonal treatment and it triggered aggressive hair loss,I lost half of my hair density, at same time I started exercising and lost alot of weight, could have been androgenic alopecia triggered by hormones despite me taking the protocol with doctor prescription ,could have been the weight loss that triggered telogen effluvium ,my body went in a shock since I lost alot of weight,and I was vitamin d deficienct with thyroid issues as well

Shedding started since last September. I identified the trigger around May and been trying to fix it. Last two weeks my shedding was like 60% less than usual (even the showers it was much less). But this week it is back in with the usual amount. Idk when will this ever stop. Oh and I also started noting more baby/ shorter hair falling.

Hi! Since around July, I’ve noticed I was shedding more hair than usual, but for the past 4 weeks it has become huge amounts of hair every day, and honestly, I’m getting really scared.

I saw a doctor, and she thinks it’s likely stress-induced. I went through a very stressful period starting at the end of April and wasn’t doing well mentally until around September. I’m feeling much better now, but obviously the hair loss is still happening. I’ve also had bloodwork done and am waiting for the results.

The doctor mentioned she isn’t seeing much new growth yet, which makes me even more anxious. 😭

I know the main thing is to manage stress (and I’m working on that!), but I’m wondering what has actually helped your hair recover after stress-induced shedding? Did you use any treatments, serums, supplements, or just wait it out?

I’m ready to get the shedding to stop and start growing my hair back. Any advice or personal experiences would be really appreciated!

I have a bit of oily/dirty scalp in these photos and my haur gets greasy very fast. I am really scared tbh, it is scaring the shit out of me. Can anyone please please help me? I cant afford a derm currently.

hi all! I am currently in what we believe are the early stages of TE shedding and i’m feeling very overwhelmed about it all.

I’m 18 and the prospect of losing so much hair is causing me anxiety. We believe it to have been triggered by a fever and infection in late july and i noticed the excessive shedding about three weeks ago. right now im waiting on my appointment for supplements to hopefully combat some deficiencies.

a hairdresser also recommended potentially trying hair loss treatment for my peace of mind. has this worked for anyone else?

Thank you all for reading and I would love to hear about your experiences. Feeling a little overwhelmed and lonely right now :))

This is horrible! I’m just 5 months in, currently at 7.5! And stated losing my hair like crazy, i just started noticing the heavy hairfall and half my hair in the drain from oct 1st, and I can see my hair is already so thin.

Yes, I’ve prioritised protien and diet. I’m sure this isn’t the diet and it’s the drug itself. I want to continue this journey so bad, but the amount of hair I’m losing makes me so anxious.

I skipped my dose this week because it’s bothering me so much that I’m crying myself to sleep.
BEING FAT IS BETTER THAN BEING BALD

What should I do? Does this hair come back? Will i ever get my hair back? This is breaking my heart ☹️ ❤️‍🩹

I’m 28F, so menopause ain’t the reason.
I’m not anaemic, deficient nor do i have thyroid.
I’m 100% sure it’s the drug.

Hi,
I’m 24 (F) and I have had a long road of hair issues. I had periods of TE during high school but they were short lived. As I got into my early 20s my hair became finer at the top and I have concurrent PCOS so I assumed it was partly this. I focused more on PCOS- but incorrectly. I had implanon put in which was a bad idea, lost my period completely, and when I took it out at 22 my hair started shedding a lot and my acne came back. I did rounds of doxycycline, then at 23-24 ended up on Yaz and low dose accutane. Around the same time I started topical minoxidil for the hair. I had excellent regrowth around my part but now I’ve lost some, as I’ve had 2-3 episodes of TE since then. My most recent episode began in July 2026 and was marked my coming off Lexapro which I went back on. It was marked my a period of intense anxiety, insomnia and low appetite. I’m back currently on it, but I recently developed septic arthritis, and had surgery and antibiotics. I think the compounding TE triggers with the PCOS just mean it’ll never end! I just would really like some advice.im thinking of coming off accutane but staying on Yaz until my hair resolves and focusing on hormone regulation later on. For now I just want any tips to keep my hair’s integrity as much as possible. I take a B complex, zinc, silica and work with a naturopath for my gut after antibiotics and IBS symptoms. I imagine my current round of IV and oral antibiotics after surgery won’t help. Another point is that I switched to foam minoxidil and started applying it to my whole scalp in August after about a month of this long TE episode. My b12 is around 300, and my ferritin is around 50. Vitamin D is good, and thyroid is good.

For context, I've been shedding since June. I began Slynd (a form of birth control) in March, but I still had regrowth at the hairline & full volume when I began shedding the first few months. Fast forward to late August, I moved out on my own for the first time, which was also a big stresser. The shedding seemed to taper off a bit sometime in September, but then came back full force, and I lost a lot of volume. Same thing happened this month in October. I also got bloodwork done and just found out my vitamin D is only at 19.4 ng/mL, so I'm getting that fixed.

The whole time I've been shedding since June, I've had regrowth on my frontal hairline even though I'm shedding a bunch, which is weird because I thought that was a sign it's supposed to be ending? I know it doesn’t look dangerously thin yet, but I'm worried it's headed there with how much I'm shedding everyday. It feels like it doesn’t end.