Appointment Friday. What should we ask the doctor?

Hi all! Our last pediatrician told us that Rebecca (3 years old) has Alopiecia. His comment was that she will probably "grow out of it". At first I took that as an answer but as I have read on these boards and on other websites that is not neccesarily the case. Due to insurance we are switching doctors so I am going to be starting from square one with a new doctor. I plan to go in with a list of requests for testing and would like to know what I should be asking....I was looking at some of the discussion boards and so far my list is as follows:

Blood Test for Hormones, Thyroid, Vitamin deficiencies
Autoimmune Diseases
Biopsy of Head for assessment of presense of excessive white blood cells
Allergy Testing for Milk/Dairy, Shell fish, Soy, Gluttens etc.

Is there anything I am missing from this list?

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Permalink Reply by Heather L on January 6, 2010 at 10:50pm
Hello Lara,

I've had this condition for while and have seen many specialists ( Derm. Rheumatologist,Endocrinologist, Immunologist, ..and the list goes on! ) Here is a compilation of the their recommended blood tests:

Comp. Metabolic Panel
Lipid panel
Thyroid function test (include TSH, T3, T4)
Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy, D2 & D3
CBC
RA factor (rheumatoid arthritis)
Sed rate (sedimentation rate detects signs of inflammation)
ANA (antinuclear antibody/lupus)
CRP (c-reactive protein)
Serum iron and ferritin
Hormone panel (including free testosterone, estradiol, luteinizing hormone and FSH)
a pituitary function test

Also for anyone using steroids: (either topical, injections or oral) a urine test was needed for Adrenal function.

I do not know if all of those tests would be appropriate for a child. Sure your Doc would know.

Is she having any other type of symptoms?

Also- each doc I have seen did agree that a scalp biopsy was not needed. They said that in a clear cut cases of AA there is not a point to do a biopsy that it will not tell them anything they do not already know. However in cases where the diagnosis of AA is not clear they would do it... (like if hair loss looks suspicious of ring worm, fungus...etc. ) For me- I have multiple smooth round bald patches- which they identified by simply looking at my hair.

Hope this info helps!!

good luck- hope all goes well at the doctors on Friday!

Heather
Permalink Reply by terri on January 14, 2010 at 9:32pm
Hi Lara
I agree with the posts that say to stay away from having the biopsy. When our daughter's hair started to fall out, we also wanted to do everything to help her. We took her to the head of John's Hopkins Pediatric Dermatology, Bernard Cohen. And he said that a biopsy wouldn't prove anything. He also gently let us know that there wasn't anything we could do and to stay away from steroids because of her young age. At the time we were beside ourselves to help our child, we are now very grateful for the message we heard loud and clear from him. I went there with a complete chronological timeline of every date, month, every vaccination, every cold dated, every stressful event in her life, every googled info on telegen effluvium, alopecia, you name it, I was armed with my folder.
He was calm and let me know that time would tell and whatever will happen will happen. He said sometimes sunlight helps. So I booked a flight to Mexico that week to get her sunshine. LOL.
It was in Mexico that our family healed. All her hair finally fell out from all the sunscreen applications. Everyone was so incredibly nice. She got to visit the pilots in the cockpit. And when we checked into the hotel, they upgraded our room to oceanfront. Some boys at the resort made fun of Claudia while she was on the balcony and my husband told them off. Then Claudia threw fruit at them. We high-fived her.
That was the turning point of accepting that life without hair was going to be just fine.
Sorry for rambling, but it felt good to write about it.
Good luck with your appointment.

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