Hi everyone,
I’m a 19F and I’m honestly a bit overwhelmed and hoping to hear from anyone who’s been through something similar.
About 2–3 weeks ago, I suddenly started losing a lot of hair. Around the same time, I was dealing with a really serious health situation. I was on holiday when I developed horrific back pain, which turned out to be a severe herniated disc (L4/L5). The pain got so bad I ended up in A&E twice because I literally couldn’t get out of bed.
During that period, I was given a mix of medications including morphine, diazepam, naproxen, amitriptyline, and later a high-dose prednisone taper (starting at 60mg and reducing over about 10 days). I was also taking paracetamol and omeprazole and alongside this continued with the amitriptyline.
I’ve since had surgery (an endoscopic discectomy earlier this week under sedation + general anaesthetic), which went well overall, but my hair situation hasn’t improved at all.
At the same time, I had blood tests that showed:
- Low (but technically “normal”) B12
- Low ferritin (iron) for hair loss but normal nhs range
- Low potassium (in the lowest ofrange)
- Slightly low zinc
- High white blood cells (likely from inflammation?)
I’ve now started:
- Iron supplements
- B12 supplements
- Increasing potassium through diet
- Trying to stick to an anti inflammatory diet
For hair care, I’ve been using strengthening shampoos (the kerastasse fortifying shampoo) , deep conditioning mask (loreal absolut mask), and applying olive oil, plus keeping it in loose braids to reduce breakage.
But my hair is still:
- Falling out constantly (even just touching it)
- Extremely dry and brittle
- Not improving since surgery (yet)
I’m wondering:
- Has anyone experienced sudden hair loss after trauma, surgery, or medications like steroids/opioids?
- Could this be stress-related or something like telogen effluvium?
- How long did it take for your hair to stop shedding and recover?
- Did supplements actually help, and how long before you saw a difference?
- Anything else I should be doing (or avoiding)?
This has all happened really fast and it’s honestly quite scary seeing so much hair come out daily.
Would really appreciate any experiences, advice, or reassurance. Thank you 💛