GrannyIris i can sympathise with you, i am having the same problem with hair loss, but i didn't notice mine coming out in handfulls, just sddenly noticed i had a few bald spots,
It could still be down to menopause, even though you say you are not menopausal, your hormones especially oestrogen will have dipped
It could be down to weightloss,or stress even,
I started taking Biotin which has made the rest of my hair grow like weds,
Eventually when i realised how bad it was,which was a huge shock, as i hadn't even seen hair in the plughole after showering ,i went to the Drs, saw 2 different Drs [female] who were no help at all, then saw my own Dr whao had been away after an op, he has given me some steroid lotion to try, as i had seen on here about ladies with hair loss who had used it and their hair grew back
I have to use this for 3 months and then see him again
A couple of the ladies had steroid injectionjs in the scalp and that worked too
Have you been on HRT? i was on livial, which has a kind of testosterone in it,so wondered if that was the cause, Dr has now changed me to patches which he says might help
Also read it could be low iron, but mine isnt especially low, but ferritin level should be at 80 consistently for hair health,which mine hasn't been
It could be any one of these reasons
I would see your Dr for tests, also thyroid out of whack could cause it
Are you losing it in patches or round hairline?
I had been having a lot of itching on scalp before this happened, and Dr said my scalp looked inflamed, my daughter had said a few weeks before i saw Dr that my scalp looked red
I hope you can get some help,it is very depressing isn't it