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New to AA - where to begin?
Hi everyone. I am new to this. I was just diagnosed with Alopecia Areata. In August I got one small patch and had no idea. Right maybe my hair had been pulled out and I didn't remember. :/ At the time I had just fractured my foot and was having an MS episode. (I have multiple sclerosis) I was seeing my doctor and told her about the patch. She said she didn't have time to cover everything in my one appt. Told me to schedule another appt. So I did. It took 6 more weeks to get in. By then I had a total of one huge spot, and two smaller. She said I had AA. She referred me to a dermatologist who can't see me until August 28... what? (That's not a typo... ) I've called around and one from another city about an hour away can see me end of February. Since August, I now have one long spot. Partially growing back. The length of my hand. Then 3 spots, larger than quarters, then like 4 more spots about fine size.. fairly new... and then one long one, the length of a finger.
My doctor says steroid injections and Rogaine. While I wait for dermatologist. Well either of those even work? I hear hair falls out with Rogaine before it works and that you have to use it 8 months to see anything... most likely at the rate of los right now I'll be pretty patchy bald singer than later?
I have always had very long, fine hair, but loads of it so it looks thick. I've been able to hide the ones I have except one that it's in the back on the middle crown of my head. I now have to pull my hair back in a clip or pony.
I'd never even heard of this, until now.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Pam on
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Hi Leisa: You will find alot of great information on this site in regards to managing this disease through good nutrition and managing stress, etc. My son had the steroid injections and they worked very well for him. We are in BC, Canada and here the dermatologists say that Rogaine is not effective for Alopecia Areata. We also had a very long wait time to see a dermatologist, so in the mean time he changed his diet, and started taking vitamins.
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Permalink Reply by Leisa on
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What type of vitamins does he take? I currently take a top line multi vitamin, 15,000 IU of Vit. D and 1000 mg of Vit. C. I eat a pretty good diet. I powerlift so I count macros.
Good to know on the Rogaine. I hate wasting time and money.
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He takes a biotin supplement and switched to natural shampoo, soap and deodorant - the idea was to go all natural - with diet and everything else.
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Our practices don't actually have PAs. :( that's why they all take so long.
I'm scared of injections... they will have to do a lot of areas.. :/
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Permalink Reply by Tovah on
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Hi Leisa:
I'm one of those people that don't believe that dermatologists know much about alopecia. Is there any way you can get an earlier appointment with an endocrinologist? You need to have blood work done and you need a really good doctor that knows and has helped people with alopecia,.
The sooner you get in, the better your chances are.
I knew that my hair was going bad, but I just kept hoping for the best until about 6 mos. ago when almost all my hair was gone.
This is a great site with incredibly nice people.who can give you the support you need. Read up on as much as you can, so that when you get in with a doctor, you'll know all the things you need to ask.
I wish you all the best!
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Hmmm. I had no clue about an endocrinologist. I could request that I think. Get a referral. I'll look into that! What do they look for in the blood?
I have been doing some reading and taking notes. :)
I hate most the unpredictability. :( I don't think I will have total hair loss since one old, very large spot is starting to grow back 6 months later. Just slowly and the new amount of los is more rapid than the growing back. Ugggg.
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I believe they look at your hormone levels and make sure there isn't an underlying illness that could be causing your hairloss, such as a thyroid issue. You definitely want them to do bloodwork as a way of watching over your progress.
I know that it's frustrating. For me, the change in seasons really affected my hairloss.
This last go-round happened after starting a new prescription. I didn't have alot of hair to begin with, but my husband has had to go into the drain with tweezers and drano.
I've been dealing with this for a long time and the thing I've learned is you never know when it'll get better or worse.
My feelings change by the day. Sometimes I think 'screw it' whatever is, is. Other days I'm just so down about it.
It's not "just hair" so don't feel bad when you feel bad. Just remember to get up again and face the world.
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The good thing is they did just check my thyroid and that was good.
OMG... I have had to unscrew our shower drain and get the hair out. It was so gross. That is when I realized it really was a LOT of hair. :( The shower was filling up with water in the bottom! I might have to use draino regularly in it... I don't want to pull out icky hair anymore.
Yeah, 'just hair' I go back and forth on that one. Yes, it is just hair. But sometimes with out it life is much tougher. Right now I have this one spot in the back top on the crown of my head about the size of a quarter and a half and I can't hide it at all! :( I have to wear my hair back in a Barrett and/or a pony tail and if I do the Barrett I have to make sure I am easy on the right side because I have a huge spot under there as well. *sigh* It just seems to be happening so fast.
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Hi Leisa,
Have a look at this website http://b12d.org/b12-signs-symptoms-assessment Have you had your vitamin B12 levels checked? I am going through this process with a neurologist at the moment. I had neurological symptoms and complete hair loss and all that came up in all the tests I had done were low B12 and iron ferritin. I have rectified both of these and my hair is growing again, also my neurological symptoms are so much better too. Doctors do not know anything about alopecia so my advice, do your own research. Have you had an MRI done? I am due to have this done next month, my neurologist said that B12 deficiency and MS look very similar on an MRI and also hair loss is not a symptom of MS. Early on I went to a dermatologist who did steroid injections and I tried Rogaine, both did not work. Good luck.
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I did just have a work up of some blood levels a bit ago but they were checking thyroid etc. I will see if we did B12 and if not I will ask for it.
I just had a series of MRI's done this summer. I do them once a year for my MS. I have been diagnosed with MS for about 8 years now. My last set only showed one tiny little lesion...
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Permalink Reply by Amy on
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Hi Leisa, I've been using the Alpecin Caffeine Shampoo. My hair fell out in early August 2013. I was diagnosed with AA and had 16 bald patches on my head. I use Alpecin every 2 days & the longest piece of hair is now around 2 inches and my last bald patch is at the very early stages of growing. However I don't know if my hair is growing because of using the shampoo or just because I have adopted a care free attitude (I was a massive stresshead before this happened). I'm also looking into Foltene as I know people who have used this and have said it works wonders (although it seems a bit pricey). Hope this helps x
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