Hi Everyone! I got diagnosed a couple of months ago with alopecia areata. It started off with 2 small spots then quickly went from 2 to 5 spots and they got large, FAST! I went to a dermatologist and he prescribed clobetasol 5% liquid. I tried it for about 2 weeks but couldn't get past the strong alcohol smell and the burning on my scalp, I couldn't receive the injections because the spots were too large. I decided I was just going to shave my head because I couldn't handle watching the hair come out. I shaved my head and started using baby shampoo. I went off my birth control patch that the doctor put me on for hormone replacement therapy. ( 30 yrs. old & going into premenopausal.)2 weeks after going off the ortho evra patch my hair started to regrow! In all of my spots! It started off as very fine vellous white hair. Then turned to my color of brown. In just one month my regrowth is over one inch long. My hair that was still around is now 3 inches long. My dermatologist was very surprised that I had such a rapid fallout and now a rapid regrowth. And he said it normally doesn't regrow from the inside to the outer. I think it may have had something to do with my body being used to the elevated levels of testosterone and didn't know what the heck was going on when estrogen was introduced. Or it could have been the fact that I no longer had to stress about my hair cause it wasn't there... I hope this helps someone going through this that there is hope and to just believe that with hair or not you are a beautiful person!! With a positive attitude anything can happen!