Expert: Norman Solberg - 11/20/2011

Question
Hello,
My name is Mary, I am 25 years old and I gave birth to my 19 month old daughter via c-section on 4/6/2010. When my daughter was 3 months old I resumed taking my birth control pills. The birth control pills I started taking were Tri-Nessa (the off brand of Ortho-tri-cyclen) these were the same pills I took for 8 years before getting pregnant. A few weeks after starting the birth control I noticed that I had bald spots above my temples in my hair. My mom is a hair stylist and I called her panicking. She told me that she saw it all the time in women who just gave birth, had a surgery, or started birth control...and I had just done all three within a short time. So, I quit worrying about my hair loss. The bald spots slowly filled in over the next 19 months...but my hair is still thinning. It is so much thinner after having a child than it was before getting pregnant. Can having a child change your hormones? Could the hair loss still be a result of my birth control pills? I had my thyroid checked, and it was normal. I just feel so different after having a child, sometimes I feel like I am still pregnant (mood swings, fatigue, etc.) I also noticed since having my child that when I am menstruating I have heart palpitations...I mentioned it to my doctor and he said that they are probably hormone related. So, I guess my main questions for you would be can having a child change your hormones or give you some type of hormone imbalance for these things to happen? Is it possible for me to react differently to a birth control pill that I took for years because my hormones are different after having a child. I am sorry this is so long, any information or advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated!

Answer
Hi Mary,
The hair loss that comes from pregnancy or the pill is a temporary one, and the hair comes back.  Since you still have hair loss, it's something different, most likely androgenetic alopecia.  I would recommend seeing a dermatologist about it.  There is more information here http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/features/women-hair-.

Having a child doesn't change your hormones.  In fact, as long as you're taking the pill, you have the same female hormones as any other woman taking the same pill.  The pill takes over for a woman's ovaries, so that they're resting and not making hormones.  It is possible for your body to react differently to a birth control pill, since our bodies change over time, and the way they react changes, depending on stress, general health, etc.  But I don't think that your hair loss has anything to do with hormones.