Real Talk: Postpartum Hair Loss

Postpartum hair loss is one of many topics that isn’t openly discussed about life after you have a baby. I hope that by sharing my real experience with telogen effluvium, or extreme postpartum hair loss, that it might help someone in a similar situation and provide a source of hope for you. This post will also share what I found that helped my hair grow back as well as tips for getting by in the meantime. Thank you to Amandean for sponsoring this post; all opinions expressed are my own.

My experience with postpartum hair loss:

When I was three months postpartum my hair started falling out in clumps. I chalked it up to the regular postpartum hair loss I had heard about, confident that this was “normal”. A month or so later I went to Oregon to visit my parents and my mom noticed how thin my hair was. She said that she could see my scalp in several places which alarmed me, because while I have naturally fine hair, it’s never been so thin that you could see my scalp! Still, I assumed it was regular postpartum hair loss and that it would stop soon.

It wasn’t until I was eight months postpartum and still losing hair at a rapid rate with no signs of regrowth that I decided to visit the dermatologist. I had blood work done to rule out any underlying health issues and they all came back negative. I was eventually told that I had telogen effluvium, which is when a stressful situation (i.e. childbirth) causes more hair than normal to be in the resting state and fall out. Some women get it after they have a baby and some don’t– I happened to be one of the “lucky” ones. My doctor told me that there is basically nothing you can do for it and that it “should” get better within a year. I left feeling relieved to have an official explanation. But I also felt defeated because a year is a LONG time AND in some cases 60-70% of your total hair can fall out…which is a LOT of hair.

I never expected losing my hair to affect me as much as it did. After all, it is just HAIR. I am otherwise healthy and I have a healthy baby–those are what REALLY matter. I’m not losing my hair to chemo or some other illness. It “should” grow back. I realize all of this and am aware that it could be so much worse.

But even with that realization, dealing with an unexpected and dramatic hair loss is not easy. My self confidence was at an all time low; I felt so unattractive and insecure. I couldn’t even throw my hair up in a “mom bun” because I didn’t have enough hair to form a bun. I was constantly worried that I would have brown hair stuck all over my clothes and I was paranoid that I was going to serve my husband dinner with my hair in the food. Every time I would wash my hair I would cry, because of the crazy amount of hair that I would lose. I often avoided leaving the house, just so I could go a few days without having to wash my hair.

I spent some time feeling upset about my situation– then I started researching what I could do to help my hair start growing again, because while the dermatologist told me to wait it out–I knew there had to be something that I could do to help speed up the process!

What helped my postpartum hair loss:

I am a year postpartum and my hair is STILL shedding more than normal, however I am no longer so upset about it. Why? Because I can finally see new hair growth!

I spent hours and hours every night googling hair regrowth methods. I was desperate, but I also wanted to only try methods that were natural and backed by science. One suggestion that I kept seeing over and over was to take a collagen supplement. Collagen is the building block of hair, skin, nails, joints, internal organs, and more so I thought it would be a good starting point.

It was important to me to find a supplement that was sustainably sourced and I preferred a marine collagen supplement (over bovine). After a lot of research, I decided on Amandean Marine Collagen. I love that it is sourced from 100% wild caught fish and is tested for purity regularly. It it is also non-GMO and free of common allergens.

I have added one scoop of collagen in my coffee every morning for the past four months and have seen lots of new hair growth all over my scalp. The new baby hairs make my hair look crazy, but I couldn’t be happier with the results!

I sampled a few other brands of collagen and found that Amandean dissolved the best and was the only one that I truly couldn’t taste! I actually love having it in my coffee and find that since it adds 9 grams of protein, it helps hold me over until I have time to make breakfast in the morning.

I’ve also been loving the individual stick packs for on the go and are now a purse (ahem..diaper bag) staple.

Collagen has so many great health benefits and is a supplement I will continue to take long term, hair loss or not. Other benefits that I have noticed are that my nails are strong and I can actually grow them out for the first time in my life! Also, my skin has been clearer than it has EVER been. These are obviously cosmetic “side effects”, but at a time when my confidence was at an all time low, I appreciated any boost I could get!

If you want to try Amandean collagen, you can save 10% by clicking here or any link above!

Tips for dealing with hair loss:

Waiting for your hair to grow back can seem like waiting for water to boil…x1000. Here are some other things that I did in the meantime to help make it easier to handle and to give myself a feeling of hope!

The links below are affiliate links. Anything purchased through these helps support our family at no cost to you and for that, I thank you!

1. Find someone to talk to. Losing your hair can really make you feel isolated. I always felt better after I could talk about it to someone. None of my friends IRL experienced hair loss the way I did, but I’m part of a few mom groups on FB and found some solidarity there!
2. Dry shampoo!! Dry shampoo was a life saver for me. I have dark hair, so I used this brown dry shampoo (they have other shades for different hair colors too). It not only gave my hair more volume and body, but covered up the thinning areas on my scalp. Be warned that it does leave a dark residue and will get on your hands if you touch it; but it gave me a temporary sense of confidence on days I needed it!
3. Hats and headbands. I wore both baseball style caps as well as beanies in the winter on days when I previously would have thrown my hair up in a bun. This adidas hat is cute and comes in tons of color options! This set of floral headbands was great when my hairline was thinning as well as for the little regrowth hairs!
4. Nioxin shampoo. Now I don’t necessarily think that this shampoo did anything to make my hair grow back, but it did make it feel and look better! I used the 3 part System 2 kit.
5. Visit the doctor! I went to my primary care physician and a dermatologist to rule out any underlying causes. This gave me a little bit of peace of mind that at least it was not a more serious health condition causing the hair loss.
6. Keep taking your vitamins! Nutrient deficiencies can sometimes cause hair loss, so make sure and keep taking your prenatal vitamin.
7. Remember that this too shall pass. I know it is easier said than done–but have hope and remember that it will get better eventually.
8. Stay off Dr. Google. I didn’t follow my own advice on this one and seeing (rare) horror stories defintley didn’t help the anxiety that I was already feeling about my hair!
9. Don’t forget to take your collagen! 😉 Like I said previously, I truly think this is what supported my hair regrowth the most. Plus– the other beauty benefits will help increase your confidence at a time when you need it most!