Some lessons hurt more than others, don't they?  On the brighter side, your hair will continue to grow and at least now you know what to do to keep it healthy!  Welcome aboard, by the way, if I didn't say it before. 

You'll need to be patient, but your hair will calm down.  I colored my ash blond hair aubern/red for about a year before I decided to grow it out (Dec. '04) and so when I told my stylist, she used a stripper to take the color out.  I should mention that 6 weeks before I made this decision she had deposited a ton of color on my hair.  So, it eventually took 2 sessions of stripping the color to where it was light enough she could put a semi-permanent brown on to blend my new growth.  It worked really well but my hair was so dry it felt like straw.  I nearly panicked.  I was not told how harsh the process was.  I was afraid my hair would stay like straw.  Good news is that it hasn't but I did weekly super deep conditioning treatments for several months which has helped my hair get gradually softer. 
I find wearing my hair in a bun also helped my hair look less multi-tonal.
Good Luck!!!