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By Vanessa Lyn Gonzales | 6 min read
It happened on a Tuesday in November, in a bathroom that was otherwise entirely ordinary. I pulled my wet hair back and reached for the plug to clean the drain — and what I found there made me sit down on the edge of the bath and stay there for a very long time.
I was 47. I had been losing hair for about eight months at that point — I knew it, in the way you know something before you are ready to face it.
But the drain made it impossible to look away. That much hair.
In a single wash.
What nobody had told me — what I had to piece together myself, over months of research, forum posts, and one very useful conversation with a trichologist — is that what I was experiencing had a name, a mechanism, and crucially, it was not something I simply had to accept.
Here is what the research actually shows.
The thing my GP did not mention
I saw my GP about six weeks after that November morning. She was kind and thorough.
She checked my thyroid, my iron levels, my B12. Everything came back within normal range.
"It could be the perimenopause," she said. "Hair changes are quite common at this stage."
And that was it. No further explanation.
No mention of why it was happening or what the mechanism was. No suggestion of what I might do about it beyond waiting.
What she did not explain — and what I later learned is rarely explained in a standard GP consultation — is the specific hormonal process behind menopausal hair loss. It is not simply that oestrogen declines.
It is that as oestrogen declines, the body's ratio of androgens becomes relatively higher. And androgens — male hormones that women also produce in smaller amounts — can trigger the conversion of testosterone into a hormone called DHT.
DHT, in turn, binds to receptors in hair follicles and causes them to progressively miniaturise. Each growth cycle produces a slightly thinner, shorter strand.
Without intervention, this process continues.
This is not ageing. It is chemistry.
And understanding the difference changed how I approached it.
The things I tried first (and why they did not work)
In the eighteen months between that bathroom floor moment and finding what actually helped, I tried quite a lot. Collagen supplements.
A very expensive keratin treatment. Washing my hair less frequently (which achieved nothing except making me anxious about when I last washed my hair).
I bought three different "volumising" shampoos that smelled wonderful and did essentially nothing.
The problem with most of what I tried is that it was addressing the symptoms rather than the cause. Volumising products make hair look temporarily thicker.
They do not address the hormonal environment in which that hair is growing. I needed something working at the level of the follicle — and ideally, working to counter the effects of DHT specifically.
If you recognise what's described above, ThickTails has built a detailed guide to perimenopause and menopause hair changes — covering the hormonal science and how to build a consistent routine around it. Read the full guide here →
What the research actually says
I am not a scientist, and I want to be clear that what worked for me may not be right for everyone. But I found it useful to understand which ingredients have published clinical research behind them for hormonal hair loss, and which are simply good marketing.
Topical caffeine, for example, has been studied in multiple clinical trials for hair loss. Research suggests it may help extend the hair growth phase and counter some of the effects of DHT at the follicle.
In one open-label clinical study, a caffeine-based topical was found to be non-inferior to a 5% minoxidil solution — the main licensed treatment for hair loss — over a six-month period. That is not a cure, and results vary.
But it is meaningful published evidence.
Saw palmetto extract has been shown in some studies to inhibit 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme responsible for converting testosterone into DHT. Red clover extract contains compounds that may similarly help modulate DHT activity.
Neither of these is a pharmaceutical intervention. Both have clinical research supporting their use in this context.
What shifted things for me was finding a routine that combined these kinds of ingredients — topically and internally — and using it consistently for long enough to see results. Hair responds slowly.
The research consistently points to a minimum of 90 days before meaningful change is visible.
“This is not ageing. It is chemistry. And understanding the difference changed how I approached it entirely.”
What I know now that I did not know then
I know that what I experienced that November morning was not unusual. Around half of all women report significant hair changes during perimenopause.
I know that the NHS page on hair loss does not mention menopause, hormones, or oestrogen once. I know that most of the advice I received early on was either irrelevant or wrong.
And I know that there is a growing body of information — and a growing number of products — designed specifically around the hormonal mechanisms behind female hair loss, rather than adapted from products originally created for men.
Your hormones are changing. Your hair can still feel like you.
ThickTails has developed a detailed guide to perimenopause and menopause hair changes — what is actually happening, what the research says, and how to build a consistent routine around your hormonal transition. Use code HORMONEAWARE15 for 15% off your first order.
Build Your Hormone-Aware Routine →
Clinical references
1. Dhurat R, et al. "An Open-Label Randomized Multicenter Study Assessing the Noninferiority of a Caffeine-Based Topical Liquid 0.2% versus Minoxidil 5% Solution in Male Androgenetic Alopecia." Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, 2018. View on PubMed →
2. Evron E, et al. "Natural Hair Supplement: Friend or Foe? Saw Palmetto, a Systematic Review in Alopecia." Skin Appendage Disorders, 2020. View on PubMed →
3. Lueangarun S, Panchaprateep R. "An Herbal Extract Combination (Biochanin A, Acetyl Tetrapeptide-3, and Ginseng Extracts) versus 3% Minoxidil Solution for the Treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia." Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 2020. View on PubMed Central →
Vanessa Lyn Gonzales writes about women's health, hormonal transitions, and midlife wellbeing. This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your GP or a qualified trichologist regarding any health concerns.
