Stopped birth control pill after 5 years...losing hair...link?

[david'sgirl]

I recently stopped taking birth control and for the past few weeks have noticed an increase in my hair falling out. I have naturally thin hair and thinning spots due to genes, but I am getting worried that too much hair is falling out. Does this have to do with my stopping the pill and if so, is this going to be a permanent problem?
Anything will help, Thanks!

[MrsARF]

I have experienced hair loss twice in my life and both from the pill.  The first time, I was 25, and had been on Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo for years.  I decided to come off, because I just didn't want to be on any medicine anymore.  I wanted a more natural lifestyle.  A month or so after coming off, my hair started falling out like crazy.  I was starting to be able to see my scalp.  My hair is not thick anyways, but very fine.  I had alot of hair, but the texture was very fine.  The shedding was so alarming that after a few months, I immediately got back on the pill out of fear.  Once back on, the shedding stopped, and the regrowth began.  Well, that's all great and wonderful, but I was still on the pill (which I didn't want to be).  Over the next year I switched my pill to regular Ortho Tri Cyclen (not the Lo version), and developed melasma (skin condition where you get dark patches on your face), and I researched and found it was from my pill.  Gotta love all these side effects!  Anyways, this was July 2011, and I decided, I was coming off the pill once and for all.  I bought a $400 skin lightening treatment, which has faded the melasma, and I was praying that hair loss would not come this time.  Well, it did, about September I noticed it starting, then in Oct/Nov/Dec it was like super shedding.  Coming out in handfuls, mainly in the shower.  I kept telling myself, this is only temporary, I am a healthy 28 year old woman that has no family history of hair loss, and this is just my body readjusting itself.  Although there were some days when I would just break down and cry.  As we all know, this can be very traumatizing...especially to women.  Anyways, in mid-January, I found the hair loss slowing down, and new little hairs along my hairline.  By February, the hair loss I think has regulated itself back to normal.  The little new hairs are growing in, but are still a very fine texture, and I'm not sure that all of the hairs lost are being replaced by new growth.  My part is still not as dense with hair as it once was, but I remain hopeful that by July or August (that will mark one year since I quit the pill) my hair will be close to what it was.  I'm not a doctor, but from what I have read, this is called telogen effluvium.  Basically a shock of some sort to your system, or starting or stopping, even switching forms of birth control.  Ah, the joys of being a woman :)  However, I think alot of the loss is only noticeable to me and not to everyone else.  I just keep on praying that my hair will restore itself back to its original state, and that my regrowth will continue.  FYI I take a multivitamin each day too, just to make sure that my iron, zinc, B12, and Biotin levels are where they should be :)  I hope this will help someone!

[analoo]

Let us know how you got on with your doctor.... thanks .

[analoo]

Hello. I found your comment very reassuring. Thanks for that. As well as the comment bellow yours(9more) i stopped the pill last year in sept and around 2 months after noticed my hair falling alarmingly quiclky...so i panicked, thinking i was going bald.. didnt know it could be because i stopped the pill until i found this site. My GP never mentioned anything to me about this possibility... I do have subclinical Hypothiroidism too, but my hair really started falling after i went off the Pill.

Thanks everyone here for their comments,,, Its been very useful to me and to many others im sure..

Analoo

[9more]

I am glad i found this.  I had friends tell me that hair loss could occur when going off bc but they didn't seem sure so I went searching on the internet and couldn't find much.  This site has reassured me that going off Nuva ring may be the reason my hair is suddenly shedding a lot.  I went off in September because my husband I and I are ttc and in November, I started noticing so much hair in the shower drain that I freaked and started taking less showers and just wearing my hair up so I would touch it less.  It's now February and I noticed the shedding has definitely slowed and hoping it will grow back.  I am waiting to see my doctor at the end of this month because I also have spotting before I get my period and I never did before . . . have read on forums this can also be a sign of hormone imbalance.  I wish everyone the best.

[goldilocks77]

I recently experienced this problem, and searched the internet for help. I just wanted to come back on and reassure people that the hair loss does stop!! I came off microgynon after being on it for 5 years. After a month I noticed my hair was falling out a lot. I have always had thick hair and it did shed more than the average person, but nothing like what happened after coming off the pill. It came out in handfuls, especially in the shower and after brushing. I became terrified of having a shower, bought products that were supposed to stop hairless, and poured over every piece of info I could find. Whilst I realised while it was happening, it did not make it any more scary, and for a time my hair did feel much thinner. For someone who is used to having thick hair this was terrifying, but then I guess I was lucky I had a lot of hair anyway! After about 4 months I realised the hairloss slowing down and now it is completely back to normal. What a relief!! Now the only issue I have is the return of spots, which disappeared for five lovely years. Now this is getting me down, but I will just have to go back to the products I used before I was on the pill, as my skin wasn't great before.  However I have lost weight, although I wasn't big anyway, but often felt bloated, and this has definitely reduced. So I just wanted to reassure people that your hair will stop falling out eventually. Just be patient, try not to over brush or over wash your hair when its at its worst. Good luck!

[Babynatebear]

It is interesting how even a change from name brand to the generic version will initiate hair fall as well as other symptoms.  Some people seem to be more sensitive to hormone changes than others, I am one of them, which makes it frustrating because unless my hormones stay in a delicate balance, which birth control seemed to do for me, I lose hair.  It does grow back obviously, otherwise I would be completely bald because of the amounts that I lose daily for 3 years now, but, it is much thinner overall than it was all the years I was on the pill, and I did shed alot, during those years too at times, but not like now.  I am hopeful still that it won't get worse and that it keeps growing back.  I have tried various supplements, vitamins, shampoos etc.  which only seem to exasperate the shed, oilyness, dandruff, etc. If anyone else has found anything to help, please share.