Alopecia World
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Just diagnosed....feeling very scared
Hi everyone,
I was officially diagnosed with AA on Tuesday, June 19th after noticing a large bald spot on the left hand side of my scalp. My AA seems to only be affecting the left side of my body...my left eyebrow is half gone.
The dermatologist gave me some cortisone injections into my scalp, which was probably one of the worst experiences of my life. I have to have these injections done every 4 weeks, as well as apply a cortisone cream to my eyebrow (because they can't do injections in that area) and use another type of ointment all over my scalp in hopes of thickening it all over.
Of course she has told me that the injections work 80% of the time, and that my eyebrow MAY grow back in a few months or a year but that ultimately the only predictable thing about Alopecia is that it is totally UNPREDICTABLE.....great...
Anyways, I found this site and so I'm hoping that maybe by talking to others, I may not feel so helpless in all of this. I am incredibly scared of losing all my hair and very self conscious about my eyebrow...I am praying that the cortisone will work or that I go into "remission" and it never reoccurs. I try not to think about it too much, but it's very difficult.
Thanks for reading.
-Danielle
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Monique on
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Danielle,everyone needs a theme song, I love the one by INDIA ARIE "I Am Not My Hair". WILLOW SMITH "I Whip My Hair Back and Forth".
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Permalink Reply by Bald and Fabulous AKA Terri on
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I did injections to the eyebrows only twice. They did grow back but the pain was way to overwhelming to do it again after my eyebrow hair fell out again. If you ever think about tattooing your eyebrows. As I have. It hurts alot less than the injections. |Im also for Canada. Edmonton.
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Permalink Reply by Danielle on
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Hi Terri,
Thanks for the advice...ya, I definitely don't think I could handle seeing the needle go into my eyebrow as the back of my head was bad enough! At this point, it is only about half of my left eyebrow that has disappeared, so as long as the rest stays, it shouldn't be too bad to get the tattooing done
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Permalink Reply by Linda Rollins on
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Hi Danielle, I've had AA since I was in my early 20's and I will be 50 in about 6 mos. I wasn't diagnosed until last year. You are definitely not alone. I've tried the shots, creams, rogaine and none worked for me, now I just shave my head and wear wigs. I wish I was brave enough to just go bald and be done with it. It can be very stressful until you learn to accept it know that you are special and there are many others out there as well. I just found this site a couple of years ago and I love it, everyone is very supportive, if you ever need to talk just reach out. Be blessed
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Hi Linda,
I ironically bought hair extensions last year because my hair was only shoulder length and I wanted the longer look...now, I'm lucky if my hair will even stay in at all! It is growing, but also thinning so I can no longer wear the clip-in extensions cuz you can see them through my hair (what a waste of $200!!)...I will hopefully never reach a stage where I have to wear a wig because I even felt ridiculous wearing the extensions...I felt as though people knew it was fake and would look at me funny. We'll cross that bridge when I get there I guess...
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HI Danielle, first let me start by saying that I'm sorry to hear about your situation. IF your hair loss began around the time you started RX birth control- stop taking them and monitor your progress. For alot of women this has been the issue of hair loss myself included, even the mildest form of RX hormones can cause hair loss. Good luck with your treatment & keep us posted on your progress!
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Hi Monique,
I'm not 100% sure this is the case...I have been taking BC since I was 14 (10 years now) and was on a higher hormone dose one until recently when I was switched to Seasonique (a lower hormone dose BC)...could it be the lower dosage that has started this do you think?
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Permalink Reply by Paul on
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I hope that your treatments are going well. If they don't work don't be scared. There are many ways of coping with and also embracing alopecia. In the meantime I hope that you are able to connect with many supportive people here and in real life.
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Hi Brenda,
Ya it's very frustrating! No predictability and no guarantees! I'm just going to wait it all out...day by day right. I'm not very good with "maybes" so this is incredibly difficult for me!
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I think all of us worried our mates would not find us attractive when this happened. There are great wigs out there. You can have fabulous hair sometimes :-). Or you can sport that sleek space age babe look. I am going to assume he is a reasonable, intelligent person, because you love him and probably have a good sense for detecting that. You can't please shallow idiots for very long. They make terrible partners, long term. To lose one of those is no real loss. Try to keep a sense of humor, (I know, hard!). If he loves you, he will focus on your other beautiful parts. :-) Try not to let this disease mess with your mind. You are still you. If you always focus on yourself and focus on your pain, he won't get his emotional needs met and that is a real threat to the relationship. Nurture yourself. Do the things that you need to become strong. There is NOTHING sexier than courage, character and a good sense of humor. If you hang on to these things, he won't care that you have no hair.
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Permalink Reply by Fuzzless on
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Hi Danielle,
They don't usually inject the eyebrow area because the injections leave indentations in the skin that last for months. I had my eyebrow injected once and had an indentation there for quite a while. Luckily the dent eventually filled in.I use the Anastasia brow pen to draw in my eyebrows: http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2203844&... Use short strokes-like hair growing.
This may be an isolated incident, so don't panic. You can also use extra strength Rogaine which may help to thicken other areas of hair which will help to camouflage any missing areas.
Good Luck!
Gina
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