I got a nice compliment on my hair in my last WIW post, and I wanted to make a few comments as I am one of those women who has the misfortune of thinning hair related to menopause and hormonal change. I think there was a thread a while back about hair, and it's a topic that is very sensitive if you are going through hair loss.

My hair is better than it has been in almost 5 years. In my late 40's I was shocked when it started falling out unusually heavily for extended periods of time. I had just hit perimenopause and my hormones went nuts. I also have no thyroid function and have to take thyroid meds which truly amplified the hormonal imbalance. Most of my doctors wanted nothing to do with this problem. It was very difficult to regulate everything. I have been through about 5 cycles of extended hair loss over the past 5 years, and it's incredibly depressing. As it is hormonally related, I usually feel crappy overall durign those cycles, exacerbated by the horror of hair falling out. My hair was probably 1/2 of its original thickness at the worst times. I literally felt like hiding in my house during those episodes.

Fortunately, I had really thick hair to start with, but there have been times when I seriously worried I would need to get a wig. I even located a woman in NJ who specializes in wigs for women with health related hair loss (she's amazing). I spent too much time on the Internet reading things that were scary and mostly unhelpful. I was obsessed with every woman's hair thickness!

I have an amazing hairdresser who has become a dear friend and is half-therapist and half-stylist. She has gotten me through some bad stuff, she is an angel sent from Heaven.

I've finally gotten my thyroid and hormones in good balance after all these years of trying, and realized just recently that my hair has really been filling out. i have learned a lot about the medical profession through this experience, and how much we need to take control of our health and find the right physicians. I've also learned a lot about the endocrine system.

I always feel like I could go into a hair loss cycle at any time, so I hope I don't jinx myself by writing this. But, when I was low, I took comfort in hearing other womens' stories. It's sort of a taboo subject -I really had no idea that this was not an uncommon side effect of menopause.

Thanks for the boost yesterday, lovely YLF'ers!