About two years ago I started having a serious hair issue. My hair began to shed in massive amounts. Much bigger than the usual shedding that we all go through from time to time. Naturally, I freaked out, but people around me, including my doctor, dismissed my concerns, claiming that it was a seasonal thing that everyone goes through and that it was normal. These comments made me even more upset. After all, I’m old enough to have gained some experience in life. I know myself, I know my hair, and I definitely can tell when something is wrong with me. So, I’ve decided to take matters into my hands and find the root cause for my hair loss.
My full hair at its glory 
2 years after…
I suspected that it could be due to the fact that I was anemic. When searching online, anemia did come up as a major cause for hair loss. Blood works I had done did show severe anemia, and I spent a few months taking large amounts of iron to replenish the iron in my body. I also added vitamins D and B complex to attack the hair issue from all directions.
At the same time, my doctor, who started taking me more seriously, suggested that sometimes major hair loss is a result of some trauma or a very stressful situation. I could put a check next to that one, too. Over the last few years we’ve been going through many challenges and many things have been unpredictable. Sometimes, the amounts of stress I felt were off the charts, and I needed to deal with that. One way was to go back to meditation, something I used to practice on and off in the past, but not so much in recent years. It’s funny how we can’t find the time for the things we need the most at the time we most need them. It took me a while to regularly fit meditation into my schedule, but now I finally meditate every day (with some exceptions over the weekend). Another thing that I’ve found very helpful in managing my stress and the uncertainty in my life was practicing gratitude for all the good that I have. And I have so much to be grateful for – my husband and children, the love and the beautiful relationships that we all have in the family, our physical and mental health, my amazing extended family that is very loving and supportive, the fact that I was fortunate enough at the age of 50, after not being an employee for over 10 years (had my own business), to find a job that I enjoy doing with people that I’m happy to work with, and the list goes on…
The effect being grateful had on my life is beyond words. I truly learned to appreciate more the closest people in my life, the ones that are usually our punching bag, and as a result I love them more. I’m more aware of the little and mundane things that are part of my life and I enjoy them. My levels of joy, happiness, and peace of mind have gone up, unrelated to many of our challenges, some of which incidentally have started to improve as well.
I also got a new haircut, which I happen to like a lot. Everyone who knows me tells me that my new haircut makes me look much younger. So, what more can I ask for? It seems like losing my hair was a blessing in disguise. I did lose and still continue to lose hair, but I’m transformed from within and I feel that I’m a better, happier version of myself. And if that means I need to accept having less hair, so be it. Besides, do I even have a choice?…
The new me 🙂