I've always loved my hair. I used to say it was one of my best features. Once I understood and appreciated my curls, I learned how to take care of them. Throughout college and before having kids, I had long (mid-back length), curly hair.
I started cutting my hair shorter around the time No. 1 was born. I would go back and forth between wanting it short and wanting it long. The Mr. has always liked my hair long, and I think for the most part I prefer it that way.
But over the last few years I've realized how much better my hair looks when it's shorter. I thought that the weight of my long hair was taking the curls away. Several years ago my mom about had a heart attack when she happened to see the top of my head and thought that my hair was entirely too thin. I was unemployed at the time, had two kids, was desperately searching for a job, was growing deeper and deeper in debt and was pretty depressed; I thought the hair thing was stress related.
But Saturday I realized that I think my hair is indeed getting thinner and it's not a result of stress. While getting another roughly two inches of hair cut off (so it's shorter and looks better after having spent the last several months growing it out), my hair dresser mentioned a product that "might help stimulate hair growth because your hair is pretty thin right now."
Ack!
So off to Google I went. After oodles of Web sites offering remedies that amounted to a bunch of BS, I found a story on WebMD about the causes of hair loss. I thought it might offer some suggestions on how to thicken things up. Actually, though, it gave me reasons:
- Thyroid issues? check
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome... no, but often present in women with diabetes, particularly those with type 2; and while I don't have type 2, LADA does have an insulin-resistance component
- Autoimmune disorders? check
- Chronic illness? check
- Anemia? no, but my half-sister is anemic and I do love my sleep.
So now instead of consulting Beauty Brands or a dermatologist, I think I'll bring this up at my next endo appointment.
I thought it was SO STRANGE that one of the symptoms of hyperthyroid is thinning of the outer eyebrows. I guess our hair tells a lot more about us than even Samson knew. Good luck!
Hi Michelle. Did you see this in today's NYT?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/fashion/30SKIN.html?_r=1&src=twttwt=nytimeshealth
Let's try that again!
Michelle..I helped men and women professionally with this problem of thinning hair for 9 years.Yes it could be all of those reasons but it could also be hereditary and also you could have slightly low iron levels and it could affect your hair. This is not a very unusual problem. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me and I will hopefully answer them for you. Unfortunately your endo will probably not offer much help.