Comment by Gail on July 18, 2010 at 10:43am

First off, let me say that as a parent who has seen her own child suffer with an illness (epilespy), I am fully aware of how your little girl's alopecia and the psychological effects are breaking your heart and have you frantically looking for answers. As I am the one with alopecia and not my child, I have no experience with this disorder in children or how it is treated. My first suggestion is to do a lot of research and also see other physicians - not just the pediatrician - dermatologists, immunologists, etc. Unfortunately, the medical community as a whole really doesn't know much about what actually causes alopecia (it is autoimmune - that's all they seem to know for certain), nor have they discovered consistent effective ways to treat it. In your daughter's case, they are very unlikely to prescribe oral steroids (or even injected?) because of her age. There are other topical treatments, all with varying and limited success. Read up on the various "varieties" of alopecia, the treatments (medical & holistic) and then determine your next course of action.
Obviously, support your child in every way you know how, as this is a disorder that has significant psychological impact. Have a meeting with your child's school teachers and/or administrators to explain the disease and make sure they are part of the support group. As you know, kids can be either profoundly kind and understanding, or just plain mean. Your daughter will experience both kinds. (This is true with adults with alopecia as well; if you read further on this site, you will see that one of our biggest struggles is acceptance/understanding by the population as a whole).
I know this reply does not sound very positive, but I am not able to tell you "don't worry, it will grow back just fine." Every case is different. I think you know in your heart what is best for your daughter and will do the best you can to relieve her suffering and dry her tears. You made a good choice by reaching out on this site. There are many parents of children with alopecia on here that understand and can offer help.
Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

Comment by Tallgirl on July 18, 2010 at 11:30am

My alopecia started at age 10, and my parents took me to appointments, then in teen years bought me wigs, but never, never showed dispair in front of me. My mother was a jovial person, who loved life, education, art, dancing, music, entertaining and working at her job...so these were the values I learned to pursue as a female, rather than merely appearance. Your strength may just become her strength!

Comment by Gail on July 18, 2010 at 11:40am

Well said, Tallgirl, all points that I left out.

Comment by Kevin K on July 18, 2010 at 2:17pm

Thank you Gail and Tallgirl! I appreciate your insite and comments. I know we are just starting down this path but I already appreciate having a forum and kind people like you to respond to my call for help. Thanks again!

Comment by Karen Grevious on July 18, 2010 at 2:33pm

If your daughter has allergies and asthma, then she already had the autoimmune cycle started. I'm very much into "we are what we eat". Do some reading into anti-inflammatory eating/foods. Dr. Daniel Amen is a good source of information. Also check out The Perricone Promise (a book). Don't be thrown by the title or the cover. It has a wealth of information about autoimmune/inflammatory disorders and doing a better job at choosing what you eat. One of the other big things you can do to help your daughter is not let her see how much her hair-loss is stressing you out. You can't pretend that her hair isn't falling out, but just support her and find ways for her to better deal with the changes in her self-image.

Comment by Cindy on July 18, 2010 at 6:25pm

Hi Kevin, I have an 8 yr old daughter who began to actively lose her hair at age 5. By her 6th birthday she was completely bald. We were in shock since no one in our family had this condition, yet there is a history of autoimmune disease in my family. One of the best things you can do for your daughter is let her know how much you love and support her and both educate her about Alopecia so she can stand up for herself and understand it and always be honest with her. We have followed these principals and my daughter is very happy and well adjusted. She also understands what Alopecia is and has been able to stand up for herself. Because of that she has earned tremendous respect from her teachers and friends and everyone in her life.
I also encourage you to encourage your daughter to continue doing all the things she loves and surround her by people that will be a positive influence on her. My daughter is a figure skater and it has help mold the strong person she is. She never stopped because of no hair. Unfortunately, there is no cure for Alopecia, but there are things that you can try. You will be giving yourself and your daughter false hope by thinking there is a miracle drug. Our hair follicles are dormant and at anytime her hair can regrow on its own.

I do suggest contacting the Childrens Alopecia Project www.childrensalopeciaproject.org. They maybe able to connect you with a family in your area and more. They will also be holding their 2nd Alopeciapalooza in Aug. It is a weekend devoted to the kids and a lot of fun. Your daughter would meet so many girls her age going through this as well. If your daughter would like to write to my Sam who is also 8 I know she would be happy to.

I wish you all the best during this adjustment period.

Cindy

Comment by Eric Dane Mattson on July 18, 2010 at 7:32pm

Kevin,

I developed Alopecia as a young child just like your daughter and it has evolved into Alopecia Universal. I have very bad allergies and I also have Ulcerative Colitis. See the autoimmune trend?

There are treatments out there but like some of the posts above...they could have serious side affects depending on the individual. The treatments, if they work and there arent any serious side affects, attack the problem. They supress the immune system's response which slows the attacks on the hair folicles. Some of these drugs aid with other issues like Psoriasis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Crohn's Disease, and other autoimmune issues. There is no cure for Alopecia, but some of the immune system therapies have shown some promise. I am currently seeing a Dermatologist who has gotten me on a treatment plan which involves immunotherapy.

If you would care to talk just let me know and we can talk about them. Here is my email for anyone who would like to discuss this....

eric_mattson2000@yahoo.com

Comment by cristina guerra on September 24, 2010 at 10:03am

My son has had alopecia for over a year and a half now. We are seeing a homeopathic nutritionist. My son does take moducare 6 caps a day and 2,000 mg of pure fish oil. Some fish oils are not as pure as others. We alternate the fish oil for 2 weeks with primrose oil. The primrose has omega 9's in it and helps with inflamation. My son also has ADHD which the fish oil is supposed to help with that too. My son does have the allergies also. Severe milk and egg and some enviromental ones too. I do have to say my son's hair is growing back. It took a while for the moducare to get into his system. We also tried steroid creams and they do not work. My son had lost his eyebrows and eyelashes also. His eyebrows are also starting to come back. I have a wonderful nutrionist here in south fla. If anyone is interested email me and I can give you his name. He's got a gift to heal that's for sure.

Also, just an fyi, some of these vaccines that the kids are given can cause alopecia especially the hep B. Google it and you will see some reports about it. If your kid has a marker in him or her a vaccine can absolutely trigger the alopecia and in some cases like we heard int he past autism.

Cristina

Comment by Kevin K on September 24, 2010 at 5:27pm

Cristina - how old is your son? Is the nutritionist OK with the Moducare and Fish Oil? What brand of fish oil / primrose oil do you give your son? Our dermatologist was totally against the Moducare for my 8 year old daughter because plant sterols could start the menstral cycles. Thanks for the input!

Comment