What my dermatologist explained about the shedding phase

The regrowth was the strangest part. Short new bits everywhere, standing up, for about four months, and then it evened out.

I cut mine short during the worst of it, which I resisted for weeks and then found enormously freeing. Less to lose visibly, less to notice.

What my GP checked was ferritin, thyroid and B12, and one of them was low and worth correcting regardless. Worth asking for, in my experience.

The drain was how I found out. I had noticed nothing until then and then I noticed everything, constantly, for about a month.

The thing that helped was a photograph at the start, which I hated taking and which meant I could see the regrowth six months later rather than guessing.

No wisdom, just: I am sorry. That sounds genuinely hard.

I stopped washing it less, which I had been doing on the theory it would help, and it made absolutely no difference except that my hair was greasy.

Something I read here that steadied me: shedding is often a response to a change several months earlier rather than to what is happening this week.

My hairdresser was more reassuring than any clinician. She had seen it many times, said so plainly, and told me what she expected over the next six months.

It is generally described as temporary and mine was, and I want to be honest that the temporary part took the better part of six months.

Here, reading, and glad you posted.

Practically: a softer brush, less heat, and leaving it alone. None of it dramatic and collectively it made the daily experience less upsetting.