feeling alone and scared

[bluebird]

Hi everyone,

My experience is not remarkable, but I'm feeling alone and needing to find out if there are other people who are in the same situation.

I'm 30 years old, and yesterday I made my first trip to my dermatologist about hair loss. She gave me some advice to eat more red meat, use Nizoral shampoo and handed me a prescription for monoxidil.

My friends say they can't tell my hair is thinning, but I know it's about half of what it used to be, say 10 years ago. Most of my life, I had VERY thick, wavy hair. Now, it's quite thin, and the texture has changed. There used to be these coarse, dark kinky hairs interspersed here and there within my mostly blonde hair. Now, those hairs are gone and what I do have is all baby fine and nowhere near as plentiful.

I know there are people on this forum who have experience a lot more loss than I have, but I believe this is only the beginning. My father has the standard dad horseshoe of hair remaining, and my mother (the scary part) has little coverage, particularly on top. I want to stop this before I reach her stage.

My boyfriend has been extremely supportive. But even that doesn't stop the swell of emotions -- from anger at myself for waiting so long to start doing something to shame at my vanity (it's not a cancer diagnosis!) to confusion about what to do.

I haven't filled my monoxidil scrip yet. I've heard a lot about the laser comb (ironic given the only thing I've used lasers for in the worl dof hair is removal from another area). But I worry about spending lots of money on a hoax. Or suffering some other damage/problem from radiation from the comb.

I'm anxious to start solving this. If that's even possible.

If you're in the same situation, or if you're well-read and experienced and have advice or information for a newbie, I'd love to hear from you.

 

[cloud]

Hi bluebird,

The female section of this board has moved to http://www.heralopecia.com, so perhaps you could post your story there as well. You will get more response since there are a lot more women posting there -- and they're all very supportive.
There are also a few women using the lasercomb. I for one have had some good results with that.
I can relate to how you're feeling. I'm 32 and have Androgenetic Alopecia, and like you I have a mother who suffers from hairloss as well. I know how confusing it is when you first start looking into treatments, just take your time and read A LOT

Good luck to you and looking forward to seeing you at heralopecia.com,
Cloud.

 

[bluebird]

HI Cloud,

Thanks for the heads-up on heralopecia.com. See you there.

 

[Guest]

Alopecia

This is my first time on one of these discussion sites, I too am looking for advice and to tell you my experience to be educational or help others.

My hair started falling out when I was 11 years old. I had only just had the Tuberculosis vaccination at school (which doctors think may have been a contributory factor...) Over the course of 4 months I had lost all of the hair on my head. I wore synthetic wigs throughout my childhood until I was 16,they were awful, too big for my head and itchy. I didnt get bullied as I was popular at school, so all things considered I was lucky. But I was often extremely detached, but had nice friends and I did very well in my exams.

I am now 21 years old. My eyebrows and eyelashes grew back when I was 17 (along with a full head of lovely brown hair-which fell out again) That was the devasting part. Having it re-grow only to fall out again. However, I have spent around 10 years with no hair on my head, but with fantasticly long and strong eyelashes. One of my eyebrows has recently fallen out. The other is perfect (weird)

I wear a Dermalite wig which is made from 100% human hair, I live in England so I am allowed one every 4 years for free on the NHS. They cost around £900 to buy, and i have bought myself 2 which I save all year round for. Repairs approx every 7 months cost around £100. Nobody I know (apart from close friends and my family) know I wear a wig, they really are beautiful. I have had several boyfriends all of whom I have managed to 'fool', the one I told was so fooled that he cried when I told him and Im not sure he could handle it aswell as me! But he was useless as a form of support as I had already been a strong person to cope with it, and we split up within a few months.

I am a confident person and enjoy my life, I also enjoy getting a kick out of people 'not knowing'. Dermalite wigs can give you a new lease of life, can be parted any which way but loose and I wash it every other day with shampoo as normal! I straighten it with irons and people always comment on how beautiful my hair is......only I know its fake. My appearnance now looks no different to that of a person who doesnt suffer.
Acceptance and learning to live is the hardest challenge of all. I think over time you learn to do that. I still have days when I think about my hir growing back....but then I have this fluff all over which I shave off every few weeks. My fake hair is better that the real thing will ever be!

 

[lorraineC]

Hi everyone,

My experience is not remarkable, but I'm feeling alone and needing to find out if there are other people who are in the same situation.

I'm 30 years old, and yesterday I made my first trip to my dermatologist about hair loss. She gave me some advice to eat more red meat, use Nizoral shampoo and handed me a prescription for monoxidil.

My friends say they can't tell my hair is thinning, but I know it's about half of what it used to be, say 10 years ago. Most of my life, I had VERY thick, wavy hair. Now, it's quite thin, and the texture has changed. There used to be these coarse, dark kinky hairs interspersed here and there within my mostly blonde hair. Now, those hairs are gone and what I do have is all baby fine and nowhere near as plentiful.

I know there are people on this forum who have experience a lot more loss than I have, but I believe this is only the beginning. My father has the standard dad horseshoe of hair remaining, and my mother (the scary part) has little coverage, particularly on top. I want to stop this before I reach her stage.

My boyfriend has been extremely supportive. But even that doesn't stop the swell of emotions -- from anger at myself for waiting so long to start doing something to shame at my vanity (it's not a cancer diagnosis!) to confusion about what to do.

I haven't filled my monoxidil scrip yet. I've heard a lot about the laser comb (ironic given the only thing I've used lasers for in the worl dof hair is removal from another area). But I worry about spending lots of money on a hoax. Or suffering some other damage/problem from radiation from the comb.

I'm anxious to start solving this. If that's even possible.

If you're in the same situation, or if you're well-read and experienced and have advice or information for a newbie, I'd love to hear from you.

sounds similar to wats happenin to my hair, although ive always had very exceptionally fnie hair which hair dressers always have to bloody comment on every time i go!!! (hence since a fairly young age ive hated goin to hair salons....)


im new here...suppose i better start my story seperate - im too scared to properly admit to myself however that this is really happenin to me...


@guest - im from the uk too, hello there! and tell me more about these wigs incase my hair does reach a stage where im so fed up im gonna shave it off.