Hi everyone,  like the title says I am New to the site.  I have had alopecia for well since the start of 3rd grade.  I am now 39.  Things like this didn't exist when I got Alopecia.  In fact it I think about it almost never, and it didn't occur to me to put it in Google till I saw a ad for Alopecia on a random website.  I skimmed through the site very quickly and decided to sign up.  I have lots of experiences that could maybe help some people.  I for one am thankful I have Alopecia!  It has made me who I am.  Sure I hated being mocked and teased as a kid.  And didn't have a girlfriend til, after college.  Funny thing is I found out later in life several girls, like dream girls had crushes on me in school.  But I was so set in my mind that I would never have a girlfriend that I didn't see it.   In college I got courages enough to shave my head because it was gaining mainstream acceptance.  I still never had a girlfriend, but had opportunities.  Then one day I met my girl and I was scared to tell her.  She comforted me and said to me as I was nervous, "You mean your Alopecia" before I said it.  Turned out her Grandfater which she adored had Totalis.  We were together for 14 years.   Still love each other.  I didn't know about finding someone again.  I thought that was my one chance.  But over the last three years since we split I've been working on myself.  I started out with POF and sure more disappointment than success at first.  I wasn't happy with myself.  I had gotten depressed and gained weight, I had a heart attack right before we split.  I didn't think I deserved to be happy.  Then I met someone I liked, who was 11 years younger.  For a younger person she had great insight and basically told me I needed to be happy with myself and the rest would just happen.  Forward 2 years.  I lost 118 pounds, I hit the gym everyday, I like what I see in the mirror.  And as a result I get hit on all the time.  Grocery store, bar, gym, bowling alley, people from 27 to 45.  I even went out with my Ex last week.

I guess my point in sharing that is because scanning through the site I saw a lot of "I'm ugly", people worried about looks, people afraid to tell someone they like.  There is someone for everyone.  In my experience with Alopecia we are more the cause of failure than our Alopecia.