Hair Loss After Failed Frozen Embryo Transfer
I start this post about my recent hair loss with a picture of my mom and me. My mom - from whom I inherited my (normally) thick, flowing locks. My hair - it’s my comfort, my confidence. Seems silly to say, but it’s a part of me, my identity. And it’s been really hard and scary and confusing to lose it…in handfuls.
My third and final frozen embryo transfer (FET) failed last month. I was pregnant for a few precious weeks…and then I wasn’t.
The emotional healing has been a Bee-yotch with a capital B, to say the least. My friend recently told me she could see the sadness in my eyes. It’s there, no doubt about it. I try to be “Super Kristen,” but all that mindfulness and gratitude and big-picture-thinking stuff can only carry me so far.
Today I’m writing about the physical healing. The post-miscarriage, post-hormone-tsunami slap-in-the-face. The four rounds of FET hormones and meds I’ve endured in the past year that hijacked my system.
My sleep has sucked. I’m out of shape (hormone fatigue + sadness + an autoimmune disease leaves one with little energy for an after-work walk or an early-morning yoga session). And more worrisome than all, my hair has been falling out. Like a lot.
(I’m gonna share some pics of my hair loss at the end of the post - so feel free to skip those if you’d rather not see.)
Towards the end of January, I started noticing more than normal amounts of hair coming out in the shower. My shower wall had enough hair to make a luxurious wig for a Barbie doll. (I’m one of those gals who puts her stray hairs on the shower wall to gather at the end of the shower, to avoid clogging the drain - anyone else do this?). I sent Snapchat videos frequently to my mom and sisters of my hair loss for that day. Nearly six weeks into this madness, I’ve lost nearly a third of my hair.
The hair loss kept getting worse and worse, so I decided to go see my primary care physician (PCP). She was pretty sure my hair loss was related to the hormonal volcano eruption that had been blasting my body for the past year…PLUS the immense loss I’ve experienced this past year (two miscarriages, two deaths in the family)…PLUS stress (DRESS syndrome debacle, raising a toddler, and everything in between).
She decided to run comprehensive blood tests just to make sure. They came back squeaky clean normal (thank God). After reviewing my labs, she wrote me a message: “Hi Kristen. All your blood work is normal. As we discussed I feel is due to loss of pregnancy, hormones, and emotional health. Too many losses. Hugs.”
Too many losses.
I feel that.
So - the two main purposes of this post are:
To educate: y’all - this happened to me. Just know this could happen to you too if you’re going through hormone supplementation, assisted reproduction, and/or are healing from a miscarriage. UPDATE: my friend just texted me to let me know that COVID19 can also cause hair loss. I had COVID in September and December 2022. There’s no doubt that’s adding to this. (Thanks for the info, friend.)
To ask: has this ever happened to anyone else?
Thanks for reading another less-than-glamorous, not-super-happy, but-definitely-the-real-deal post. I feel yo your virtual support (or virtual voyeurism at the very least. lol).
