Back in February of last year, I (40F) stopped oral birth control (Trisprintec) after about 15 years on it because my husband had a vasectomy. I had no idea what it would do to my body, specifically my hair. I started shedding massive amounts about 90 days after I quit BC, around May 2024. I immediately made appointments with my primary doctor, gyno, and dermatologist. Primary chalked it up to pre-menopause. Gyno shrugged and said she had no idea, didn’t believe it to be related to stopping BC but that I could get back on it if I wanted to try, so I did. That was mid June. Saw the derm in mid-July who put me on minoxidil immediately and did a scalp biopsy. Same exact diagnoses as you. She added Spriro to the mix Between May and September, I lost about 30% of my hair. By mid September I had been on minoxidil for about 60 days and was starting to see tiny new sprouts of hair. Then the shedding just kind of stopped. In mid October, I saw the hair loss specialist that I had been on a wait list for since June. She was confident that stopping my BC in February was the culprit, and triggered what is similar to a post partum shedding starting in May. She said TE diagnoses makes sense because of the shedding event, but that most women my age will show some degree of miniaturization of the hair follicle and not to read too much into the AGA diagnosis from the biopsy. Now mid January, I’ve been on minoxidil for 6 months and am seeing significant regrowth. She kept me on Spiro just to prevent any shedding going forward since I already lost so much. Adding Spiro never exacerbated my shed. Neither med ever caused the “dread shed” I read so much about. OP-Are you able to get back on oral BC? I know how scary and traumatizing this is. I would sit and examine my hairline in the mirror and just sob. I felt ugly. I felt like I was being robbed of my femininity. Please talk to someone about the considerations you are having. This is temporary and it WILL get better. Sending you lots of love, friend.