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Permalink Reply by RAPUNZEL on January 19, 2014 at 10:54pm

I don't know much about Alopecia Areata as my loss is genetic but in researching for myself I learned there can be a link for some people with Celiac disease. This isn't a scary disease it would just take some dietary changes to see if it helps.

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Permalink Reply by Tovah on January 20, 2014 at 2:00pm

Good for you for being proactive!

 

The experience you had with your dermatologist is not rare. They don't understand. You need to get with a specialist to halt the progression for your alopecia.

 

You're the one that's going to have to take the lead, otherwise doctors will just blow you off.

 

Wishing you well,

Tovah

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Permalink Reply by Epo on January 21, 2014 at 11:02pm

I agree with the recommendations wise1 gave you for tests to get done. I had a full panel done as well, and I was generally fine with within range but on the high end for thyroid (but I'd always had that even before my alopecia, so no one really thought that it correlated).

In regards to being proactive.. that's a hard thing to do if your goal is to stop the hair loss, since it's just really hard to figure out what ones triggers are, or if it is genetic, or if it really was a "one and done" kind of event. For example, I was (and still am) trying to be proactive about my AA which started about a year ago, but the hair loss has persisted to today. I did change a lot of things in my life just to promote better health, and I get treatments done by my dermatologist and trichologist almost monthly so maybe those things helped a decent amount of my hair regrow, but at the same time, no one really has a clue so I'm trying to learn to do the best I can for my health and just go with the flow. In my case, stress really makes my hair fall out more, so I've made it a goal to lead a much less stressful life by... not stressing about most things! 

In addition to asking your doctor to run the minimum of tests that wise1 suggested, or the whole shebang with a full panel work up, maybe try to write down what has happened in the last 3-6 months. My doctors said that it is usually 3-6 months before your alopecia is noticeable that something happened/started to happen that caused the hair loss. In my case, I was on an extreme work out craze, and basically didn't feed my body enough protein, which may have been one of a few triggers that made me have an AA event. And in the last year, I've noticed that my AA gets worse when there is a traumatic event. Maybe noticing a trend in your emotions, behaviors, diet, exercise, etc might give you some idea in terms of if you had a trigger.

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Permalink Reply by Epo on January 22, 2014 at 7:55pm

Though doctors can't really give a yes or no to stress being a cause of AA, I definitely think stress can cause one's body to malfunction, so it wouldn't be illogical to then believe that AA and stress can be related. In the last year, I've had several traumatic events in my life - my brother was seriously ill a few times last year, the first time being early Jan 2013, just a few weeks before I found my first very tiny spot. And since my body was already weakened by over exercising and under eating, I definitely think my AA was ultimately triggered by the stress. At least my thought process is "Well duh, how ELSE would a body react when it is already ravaged, and now you add a traumatizing situation?!"

I looked at your images, and my AA looked like that about 8 months ago. Right now, a lot is growing back in many of my patches, but some patches are pretty bare still so theres that. Since your AA looks shockingly similar to mine, and we are roughly the same age, and got our AA in adulthood, I think it is very possible (but obviously no one can promise the following) that you will regrow your hair. AT LEAST... my doctors tell me that since it did come in adult hood, and since no one in my family or extended family has AA, that it is not genetic, so it could be AA as a reaction to something. I just turned 25, 5'0", and 100 lbs, though I don't think either of our heights or weights matter in regards to AA. If you think stress might be the underlying culprit, its really worth it to do what you can to lower your stress. 

In my case, I do a lot of yoga, and I try to eat better most days of the week. I also try to let most things go, instead of my usual festering but like you, I get anxious before anything even happens, so that's rough. My therapist, however, has been helping me with that. In fact, I think my therapist has helped A LOT with my stress levels, just be talking to me, so maybe that too can be an option for you. And if you can't leave your job (btw you should never let someone abuse you like that, no one deserves to be insulted!!!!), a therapist is def good for letting off steam and ranting about said terrible coworkers, which may help lower stress. 

In terms of doctors treatments, I went the proactive, radical approach, and my dermatologist agreed. She gives me steroid injections in my patches every 3-4 weeks, and though I have some side effects now like a wonky menstrual cycle, I do see regrowth. I do some other things too, like take biotin, and other supplements, and I go to a hair scientist who gives me shampoo, conditioner and other topical treatments which may or may not have helped but I still do them. 

Finally, in terms of the blood panel, I hope you get it done, if only to rule out any other things other than stress! Though a lot of people with AA that I know of, and myself included, had nothing show up on the panel which might make it seem like what's the point of getting a panel done, it can help comfort you a little to know that you don't have any other health issues. That's how I took it at least.

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