hair falling down- looking for similar experiences

[Hopewhite]

hi all , I hope you’re well and keeping strong on your journeys xx

My hair has started falling down more than normal within the last month or so, this follows an ivf treatment in May, which ended as MMC at the end of June.

I’m looking for similar experiences to check whether this could be just a normal readjustment after all the hormones ?

I had blood tests and they couldn’t find anything out of range, only MCV was higher but the doctor didn’t think I’m anemic given all other tests look normal, I’m going to re test next week.

I’m waiting for my period by mid next week to start the FET medicines, so now I’m getting the jitters thinking what if my body isn’t quite ready yet … just looking for reassurance if anyone had similar experiences.

Thank you all, wishing you all the best of luck for your journeys xx

[Tarasunny]

It happened to me as well after a MMC had another fresh round a few months after with similar results to previous so don't think it affected me in a negative way. Just all the hormones I think that's what causes it.

[Hopewhite in reply to Tarasunny]

Hi Tarasunny, thank you very much for sharing this, it helps as reassurance , I’m just getting a bit nervous before starting treatment again. I hope everything is going well for you xx

[Flora_bah]

I have have the same experience sadly. Which adds to feeling really crap about everything. Good luck ! Xx

[Hopewhite in reply to Flora_bah]

Oh no Flora, I hope it gets better soon! , I just started getting a bit nervous about it because I’m about to start prep for FET , and you know how this is, there are so many variables involved, I’d rather wait longer if my body is no quite there yet, hopefully is just normal readjustment and it will improve soon xx

Wishing you all the best for your journey x

[Rhubarb5]

So sorry to hear. I lost a lot of hair during ivf cycles and losses. Think it’s a combination of all the drugs and the stress. It does grow back though. Xx

[Hopewhite in reply to Rhubarb5]

Hi Rhubarb than you for taking the time to share your experience, it’s a bit scary tbh, I have loads of hair and it normally falls, but the way it’s falling lately made me think whether something else could be wrong and because I’m due to start treatment for FET prep next week made me wonder how normal this might be.

Thanks again for sharing your experience, I hope you’re doing well in your journey xx

[Koala365]

Hair can fall out for so many reasons and it is so upsetting when it does so you have my sympathy. I lost a lot due to the drugs on my last couple of rounds of IVF but strangely not after my MMC or after my first 3 or 4 stim cycles. One thing to look out for is if you have been taking DHEA then your testosterone levels may have risen too high or at least high enough to activate the thing that gets activated in people with PCOS who start experiencing male pattern baldness. An endocrinologist should be able to look into this for you. Also regarding anemia- I have had that a couple of times but as vegetarian I have had very low iron levels which have resulted in hair loss even though the standard blood test for anemia doesn't show it up. You need your doctor to check your ferritin levels. 100 is the optimum level for new hair growth although the NHS will tell you anything over 50 is classified as normal in terms of general ferritin levels. My level was 15 last time I checked and I had a private iron infusion which took it up to 149 and make me feel great. On that occasion I had started losing hair when my levels got down to 35. It's definitely worth looking into as treatment could speed up the new hair growth process. Wishing you all the best with it xx

[Hopewhite in reply to Koala365]

Hi Koala, thank you very much for sharing your experience, sorry that you also had this side effect, it’s just a bit scary to see, I checked my test results again and it says this for ferritin serum, do you remember if it was that measurement what you’re referring to? They just ranked me as normal.

Serum ferritin level 38 ug/L [5.0 - 204.0]

Regarding the DHEA I don’t recall having this , sorry to be so clueless, what medicine would this be ? I had 1 week of stims with meriofert and then trigger which I cannot remember the name , and the progesterone pessaries only. I do have polycystic ovaries but I have not been diagnosed with PCOS. Before treatment my periods were very exact every month. What would I ask endocrinologist to test for only testosterone?

Many thanks again for sharing your knowledge, I hope everything is going very well for you xx

[Elmo13]

Hi Hopewhite. I’m so sorry to read what you’re going through.

I had quite bad hair loss after a MMC late last year, which then settled after a month or two. Had more hair loss earlier this year following another miscarriage but again that settled again after a month or so. I’ve read it can happen depending on the cycle of growth your hair is in and the hormones etc.

Try not to worry too much. I know that’s difficult- I ended up buying all sorts of weird and wonderful shampoos and treatments after my first bout! Don’t know how much they helped tbh and I believe it just settled by itself once my body my finally recovered. Hopefully it will settle down for you very soon.

Wishing you all the best. Xx

[Hopewhite in reply to Elmo13]

Hi Elmo , I hope you’re well. Thank you for your kind message, glad to hear it eventually settled for you , I hope its the same for me, in the meantime I decided to try to put it at the back of my mind and not to wait any longer. I’m currently waiting for my period to start meds for FET 🤞🏼, I hope you’re doing well on your journey, sending you loads of hope, very sorry to read about your losses they are such a heartbreaking thing to go through xx