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Any alopecia areata success stories?
I am 22 years old and I just found out that I have alopecia areata. I found my first patch in early October and it stayed the same up until about a week ago. It grew an inch in diameter and I also found a second spot about the size of a quarter. Luckily I have long, thick hair so I can hide my spots. But I don't know for how long. I am really down about the whole thing and couldn't really use some hope. Are there any of you with success stories or advice? Please and thank you
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mary on
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I have had alopecia for over 25 years. It has come and gone. I am now 46. I find my outbreaks to be around hormonal issues. After my 2nd pregnancy I lost 40% of my hair....up until that point it was just patches - large and small and some patches met. My hair grew back and I continued to get patches here and there. When I was 34 I had a hysterectomy and lost all my hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. It was devastating to say the least. Thankfully insurance has come a long way in paying for good hair. I wore Follea pieces, which are natural and beautiful looking. I was on the hormone Premarin for years after my surgery and then switched to a new hormone....as soon as I did my hair grew back as did my eyebrows and eyelashes. They have all been back for over 5 years now. I still get patches but they seem to grow back pretty quick now. So as much as it really sucks right now....hang in there and look into your diet as well as any medications you are on. Sometimes it's just shit luck. Try to stay positive - good luck!
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Mary yes after surgery -- esp hysterectomy -- many lose all their hair. You had good insurance (I do too but oddly enough it never covers the stuff I have problems with like teeth and hair.) Follea is insanely expensive! I was wondering what the new hormone you switched to is, because I firmly believe it's the ups and downs of hormones have a lot to do with losing hair or hair growth in general. It's why women lose hair after delivering a baby (stress overall PLUS rapid decrease of certain hormones) or if they have PCOS. What hormone did you switch to?
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Hi Kailyn, My alopecia started with a single bald spot as well. I refused conventional treatment because I do not use cortisone in any form. I was referred to a dermatologist in Santa Monica CA who uses DNCB which worked for me. In 6 months I had hair growing and 2 years later, have all my hair back. I also changed my diet, eating a lot of greens, organic food, juicing, exercise, and taking care of myself. There are conflicting stories why this even occurs, stress being the easiest to blame, but in my own research, I have discovered that it is an autoimmune disease and I am changing my lifestyle to address this. Best wishes
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Stress is in fact part of all illness. When your body has any disease, autoimmune or otherwise, that places stress upon the body. When you are stressed physically or emotionally, your body willl suffer. Stress IS a factor for any illness. Whether it comes before and makes us susceptible or after and makes us worse, it will affect the body's health. To discount either physical stress or emotional stress is to ignore how important a role it plays. And you did the right thing by taking steps yourself; many docs are quick to recommend a treatment rather than altering one's lifestyle. What is DNCB?
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Hi Kailyn
I started getting patches in 2009 and lasted for 4 years, I took steroid injection in the beginning with not much help, hair comes in the injected spot but new bald patches will appear else where, I wore hair pieces ( not total wig , but partial ones and also hair extension clips )
Then started taking Biotin 5000mcg, oil massage etc now all my bald spots are covered with hair..I still get hair fall but so far no new patches coming in.. MY hair feels strong too now .. again do not know if it was my vitamins and oil massage which brought the hair back. I know how devastating it is .. I did not go for hair cuts for years because of embarrassment .. Totally relate to the trauma you are facing.. Have faith eat healthy diet food rich in iron and biotin foods and do oil massage( eat lentil/egg/meat/fish etc) I even started drinking coffee since one of my doctor friend told me coffee helps with hair growth ( which is strange) just plain coffee 1 cup in the morning.. . I also applied protein hair mask with 2 tbspn warmJamaican castor oil/1 whole egg/1 tbsp yogurt and 1tsphoney whisk all apply on scalp and whole hair wrap shower cap and leave it on for an hr and used Nioxin shampoo to wash off.I also used the conditioner you get at Traderjoes the one with tree oil..
Here is the oil I used for massage :
cedarwood (2 drops), lavender (3 drops), rosemary (3 drops) and thyme (2 drops), in a carrier oil mix of jojoba oil (1/2 teaspoon) and grapeseed oil (4 teaspoons). massage the oil into the bare areas of their scalp for few minutes each evening and then wrap a warm towel around their head to enhance absorption and put a woolen cap on so u don’t spoil your pillow ( this I found in the internet ,I made more in quality kept in a ketchup dispenser bottles the types u can buy at beauty store )
Hope all goes well with you and hoping and wishing you also get your hair back..
Warm Regards
Laky
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people put coffee in shampoos and masks, but I didn't know drinking it was how to make it grow! I drink coffee bc I like it;) but it seems odd that something that raises cortisol would help hair come back, but it is true that caffeine ON the scalp has been said to stimulate hair growth. Also green tea, aspirin PLUS caffeine in a hair mask, mint tea, and so many other things I can't name them all here. I buy arginine, ornithine, all the good amino acids in bulk powder form and mix them with anything that goes on the scalp. But I guess it can't penetrate without a dermaroller and I don't want to try that until desperate. (Dermarollers help penetration of ingredients with molecules too large to penetrate the scalp.) The thing is so much of what we put on our scalp is useless if it can't penetrate, or if there is no follicle left at all alive.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Cas on
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The couple spots that I developed a couple years ago have filled in, and I have have not had a reoccurrance since. That came at a very emotional time in my life when my daughter was diagnosed with alopecia earlier in the year.
As my hair grew back with no issues, my daughter's hair has continued to fall out and grow back every year. She is currently almost completely bald again. She tends to have a lot of anxiety and stresses about a lot of things, when I try to live more care free and try not to get worked up over things.
We are all different and get affected differently. Just don't lose hope, because you can get through this.
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So sorry your daughter is having a rough time. It's so hard to watch loved ones go through stuff we KNOW but cannot completely fix. Stress and anxiety for me meant high cortisol which meant I couldn't handle or heal, plus I wasn't sleeping which as we all know is when hair grows and the body heals. Did she get her hormone levels tested? I know when we grow or go through changes that's when hormones especially fluctuate. I really feel for your daughter because it is TOUGH. Big hugs. My friend had too high estrogen and too low progesterone so as soon as she got that regulated her hair went back to normal -- so you see a GOOD doctor will look for certain things and know what to do.
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Permalink Reply by Dorothy on
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I can only tell you good luck. My parents knew a man whose hair over the years came and went several times. As for me it went, end of story.
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I would say I am, for now. What success means to one is different to another. Some find ways to cope even if nothing changed up top, for example. In my case malnutrition and medicine were probably the culprits -- but NOT ONE DOCTOR ever helped, listened to me, etc. I knew more than they did going in and became more and more frustrated walking out. This is in fact typical for most illnesses, so I now trust almost everyone less. Mine is very different since I at least had some idea why this happened. SSRIs (anti depressants) and missing vital nutrients are most likely WHY. It helps to have an idea so I at least had that. I still have a bald patch that will obviously never grow back but I do a Trumplike combover haha. I had thick hair to begin with and now my hair looks so bedraggled most people annoy me with their nagging me to "condition." Oh if they only knew. Sorry to go on so long; in sum, try to maintain the hair you have since there are so many ways now. You are not alone with this, and if you ever feel that way, please reach out. PLEASE. I have a wig I have never worn since mine at least quit really falling out badly. I need to shape it and cut it better, and get strategic highlights to hide the thinner areas (this works.)
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Hi Stacy, do you know if Hair Essentials from Natural Wellbeing is safe for kids to use?
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It's scary I know. We've all been there. Feels like the wind gets knocked out of you first time you notice it. In my case it worked out OK. It was triggered by a flu shot years ago. I opted for no cortisol injections when it was offered because I didn't want to compound one problem with another. The whole thing seemed to occur in 3 phases. 1) The spot appears out nowhere and it expands as hair falls out easily 2) After about 6-8 months it just stops expanding 3) After about 9-11 months it starts growing back and then a little over a year, my hair is all back - like it never happened. One thing I should add is that I've had allergies all my life (dogs, cats, grass) but my personal feeling is that occurs because of some sort of trigger. No matter how insignificant you think it is, try and remember what you were exposed to recently. Don't worry about it - trust me worrying doesn't help. In fact it might make it worse. Just grow your hair long and don't lose hope.
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