Teen losing crazy amounts of hair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s probably telogen effluvium. Next most likely probably anemia. Unless it itches-does it itch?

What would itching mean?
-OP

Fungus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has a true phobia of throwing up. She has not thrown up since she had the flu when she was about 7 years old and is literally terrified of ever throwing up again. Bulimia is out of the question. I prepare and serve her every meal so anorexia is also out of the question. She’s not had any major life stress other than starting high school a few months ago.
Thyroid sounds like the most logical culprit. For some reason is this a typical age for this to happen? She’s had her period for several years now. Does it coincide with puberty or starting menstruation?

Thanks for any more details people can provide. By the way, I have doctors appointments lined up for her, but I thought I could come on here and get some firsthand advice. The snarky comments about taking her to a doctor or not necessary.

-OP

OP this happened to me at age 25. Turned out I had diabetes. Ignore the snark on here. Just appreciate the helpful replies. Hope the doc appointment goes well.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had two episodes of significant hair loss, diagnosed as alopecia areata. I do tend to get a lot of itching with it, and for me very high stress levels seem to be a trigger.

Main takeaway from this thread is that are a lot of different things that could cause this and you need a doctor to evaluate, diagnose, and treat.

[Anonymous]

Losing crazy amounts of hair was my cancer symptom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Losing crazy amounts of hair was my cancer symptom.

What kind?

[Anonymous]

Alopecia, perhaps? Take her to her pcp and figure out what's going on.

[Anonymous]

Definitely see a derm about it, but telogen effluvium is a fairly common thing. It happens when something stresses your system and interrupts your hair's growth cycle---the hair that stopped growing sheds all at once a couple of months later. The stressful event can be anything from a virus to emotional trauma, and your hair eventually grows back.

I've had it happen to me twice, both times we think was from a viral illness (one of them being Covid). It also happened to my DD after she had Covid. I lost about 25% of my hair over the course of four months, and then all of the sudden it stopped shedding.

If nothing else, the derm will be able to tell you if the hair loss appears to be autoimmune in nature (which telogen effluvium is not).

[Anonymous]

Eating disorder
Disordered eating
Anxiety
PCOS

[Anonymous]

Possible issues:
Being around a smoker or being a smoker
Malnutrition
Malabsorption disorder
Other auto immune disease

[Anonymous]

OP disappeared like most threads. Suggests bait and A.I.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have her seen by a / her doctor.

This. I am baffled when people crowdsource medical advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have her seen by a / her doctor.

This. I am baffled when people crowdsource medical advice.

Often necessary and wise in this day and age of dumb doctors or corrupt corporate pharma/insurance controlled medical practices that are often harmful, if not just neglectful or wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not something you should be crowdsourcing. Get your child to a doctor, you idiot.

=1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have her seen by a / her doctor.

This. I am baffled when people crowdsource medical advice.

Often necessary and wise in this day and age of dumb doctors or corrupt corporate pharma/insurance controlled medical practices that are often harmful, if not just neglectful or wrong.

Truly, my DD had a health issue for which we’d seen multiple specialists and pediatricians without getting a diagnosis. I took suggestions from DCUM to her ped, and after appropriate bloodwork, got a diagnosis. There’s a lot of really smart people on DCUM.