I'm 26 years old and have had long, brown, curly thick hair for as long back as I can remember. I did get into the highlighting phase, but I'm back to my roots now (no pun intended) and have steered clear of chemicals for about 8 months.
I have had an insane amout of hair loss from June 08 up until the present.
I have read everything I can online and can't figure out what I have, how long it will last, or how to treat it.

Here are the details on my hair-
*I loose anywhere from 80-120 a day (I have my good days)
*hair falls out rather easily. I used to have to tug tightly on my hair to have it come out.
*looking at the strand close up I can see a small white bulb (I've been told that this is good, but the bulb used to be stronger and more robust)
*as I feel the strands coming out, they have a texture change from root to end, about midway through the strand, more towards the top, my hair gets thinner/weaker
*my hair is straight at the scalp until my ears, then it is wavy/curly
*my hair tangles more
*when I get out of the shower, my hair feels dry... like it doesn't hold the wetness/nutrients in, but then when it is dry, it is soft and doesn't feel dry at all (weird)


Here are the details on me-
*I workout daily and consider myself to have a well balanced diet
*I have been taking iron to see if that helps, I haven't seen any change as of yet
*My parents don't have a history of hair loss- matter of fact, they are in their 60s with great, thick hair
*I went to a dermatologist about 4 months ago, but he said that whatever "stage of stress" I had was over. I'm very acute to my body and it's changes, and I feel that there is still something wrong. (no blood work was done)


Below are one/more things that I think may be the cause-

*not showering directly after working out (now I DO)
*swimming at the YMCA (chlorine?? dryness?? but usually conditioners have helped)
*STRESS- ugh I hate that cause, it's such an easy way out. I had some rough months early 08, but hair loss didn't start till summer and it's still going
*I had a hair cut and a "glaze" put on 8 months ago. Hairdresser said that the "glaze" would bring back my natural hair color.
*I was pretty sick end of May and I was taking dayquil/nightquil daily
*Nuvaring I have been on nuvaring for 2 1/2 years though...why would this just start happening that late in the cycle of taking it?

ok, that's it folks, anything you can shed light on would be more then welcomed.

I have another dermatologist I'm going to see next week, and then I'm going to see my OGBYN the following week. I'll report back if I find out any useful info (which I'm hoping I will)

thanks again for your thoughts!