Introduction. looking for other women to talk to about alopecia.

Hey everyone. I'm 28, and my hair loss began with just my eyelashes in November of 2014. Doctors didn't think anything of it because I didn't have hair loss anywhere else. So until last week, I have been losing and regrowing my eye lashes and that was normal for me. About two weeks ago I lost all of my eye lashes, and then my eyebrows as well in the time frame of 2 days. I also started shedding head hair like no other. I've got bald patched on my legs, though I'm not complaining about that. Lol. My eyebrows are what scared me. I thought if my eyebrows can vanish in 2 days so can my head hair.. So I finally saw a dermatologist. By the time I got in_ and it was within a week of my head hair thinning, my head hair was about a third of the thickness its been my whole life, no bald spots except a really odd patch by my neck. I was freaking out. They said that I had alopecia areata and that I should try shots in my eyebrows since it was so recent, it had a good chance of regrowth.
Those shots HURT!! Lol. I have chronic pain and This was worse than my worst pain day. I was screaming. I will never get those shots in my head. And I'm only going to get the shots in my eyebrows again if it regrows and doesn't fall out again. Lol. They told me not to straighten or put my hair up as that could make it fall out faster. As a woman, with long hair those two are impossible. If its not straightened it looks like its not brushed, so I throw it up if I can't straighten it.. Which is no longer an option. Lol. About a day or 2 after my appointment I shaved my head to about 1 inch of hair. It was scary. I've never had short hair like this. I've gotta say though, I think I love it. I'm way more confident now than I was with long thinning hair.

Before my hair loss, I've never heard of alopecia, and I don't know anyone with it. I'm looking for women to talk to-about anything really,life, kids and what not, become friends.And when we have bad days or our hair is falling out I think it'd be good to have another female to talk to about it and know they understand what we're going through.

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Permalink Reply by Pmack64 on February 16, 2016 at 12:01pm

Hi, i was diagnosed with alopecia areata in June of 2014. So, it's close to my 2nd anniversary. It's been a roller coaster ride from day one. There are good days and bad days. I've always had thick long hair throughout my childhood and adulthood so losing hair was traumatic. I thought it had to do with hormonal changes due to menopause. But, it turns out, there's more to it than just changes brought about by menopause. My dermatologist tried everything possible to help me. I didn't want to do steroids or injections, so that was off the table. He tried me on blood pressure medication which seemed to work on some of his alopecia patients but because i have low blood pressure, the medication was causing me to bruise all over. So, i stopped that, too. Now, I'm just letting it run its course. I've lost 90% of my hair. I cut it really short but I'm not ready to shave it all off. Maybe, i will some time. My husband has been great through all these. He has been my anchor. He says, hair or no hair, I'm always beautiful in his eyes. I joined this site to read about other people's journeys. It's comforting to know that i am not alone in my journey.

Permalink Reply by Mandapanda on February 22, 2016 at 10:26am
Thanks for sharing! It is good to see that we are not alone. :) I also don't want to take steroids like in a pill form and decided a few days ago for no more injections. My eyebrows are growing back fast but I already lost one just a week after the injections. It's not worth it to me to have it grow back just to fall out -which it does on its own anyways with out painful injections. My husband has also been a great support. I'm glad to hear you have that support too! I think I'm just gonna Let it run its course as well. I'm not a fan of medications. Does it hurt when you lose your hair? Mine itches and then hurts.
Permalink Reply by Pmack64 on February 29, 2016 at 2:42pm

Yes, there are areas on my scalp that are red, itchy and tender to the touch, almost painful when i brush what's left of my hair. I tried to research on this but could not find any article that actually mentioned these symptoms. I thought that it was just specific to my condition. it's good to know (in a way) that someone else has these symptoms. As far as my treatment regimen, I've gone back to the basics. I'm taking vitamins (biotin, vit d, multivitamins and I've been trying out hair la vie, it's a concoction of vitamins that seems to help). I've been using an ordinary shampoo. I tried the more expensive ones - aveda and some other brands-but really, they didn't help.

Permalink Reply by Mandapanda on March 1, 2016 at 10:57pm
It is good to see I'm not alone in the itchy tender spots! I had a rough weekend. I got my first 3 bald spots on my head in a matter of.... 4 days? And today two of the spots linked together and now are one huge spot. I was not ready for that at all. Lol. I mean I get this is alopecia and that's what happens but it had only just touched my eyelashes and eyebrows completely bald before. I've been wearing wraps and I see my dermatologist next week. I'm pretty frustrated though because my hubby wants me to try the shots in my head since ONE of my eyebrows stayed he thinks they will stay forever. I'm not budging on that though. Absolutely not. The shots in my eyebrows were bad enough if he witnessed them happening I know this wouldn't even be a conversation. Lol. I'm taking biotin, a multi vitamin and a hair regrowth pill called viviscal. It's got shark and oyster in it plus biotin and a few other vitamins and tastes funky(like a fish oil pill-i hate fish lol), but it's more natural than steroids. Hopefully it works. Does hair ever permanently stay? I'd assume with alopecia that's definitely not guaranteed.

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