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Permalink Reply by dawggonit on January 20, 2014 at 10:48pm

I've had bald spots in my head since a kid but they was always small, never bigger than a dime in size, so I never paid attention to them as they grew back in eventually.  Well about almost a yr ago I noticed the bald spots in my beard, and now it has gotten worse.  I'm bald naturally, but now I'm about to lose my eyebrows and I still have most of beard and all of hair.  I do notice my hair is getting bald patches too, like right above my sideburns.  I've noticed I can pull hair out all over my body, but my eyebrows are going to be the first to go, I guess.  It sucks

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Permalink Reply by Heidi on January 22, 2014 at 5:24pm

Hi, I was diagnosed with Alopecia 2 years ago, but I suspect i've had it for many years. I noticed that most of the hair on my legs and under arms was gone over 10 years ago, but I enjoyed it because I no longer needed to shave. My eyebrows also had thinned to the point that I haven't plucked them in many years.

Also, my head was thinning, but since I always had thick hair, I was actually glad to have it thinner, especially at the nape of my neck. But several years ago I felt these shiny silky smooth strips getting wider up from my ears and neck and now i was really alarmed. These past 2 years I had cortisone shots which immediately brought new growth. But this past fall they stopped working and all of my hair suddenly began thinning extremely fast.

The uncertainty during those gradual fall outs was maddening. I thought it was caused by stress or nutritional deficiency or supplements I would try now and then. My nails are another problem. I can't get manicures because the chemicals and polishes seem to saturate straight through my paper thin nails. Every few months my nails get hard and then they get baby soft again. So, i stopped worrying about eating gelatin or nail hardeners which i used to to fanatically.

In a way it is a relief to finally have a name and lots of support for this condition. I no longer need to beat myself up for believing I was bad or that I did not know how to take care of myself.

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Permalink Reply by Heidi on January 23, 2014 at 3:51am

Yes, my eyelashes seem to be intact, but I worry that they will start going, too.

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Permalink Reply by Joseph on January 27, 2014 at 4:15pm

I technically have Alopecia Universalis. The hair on my body is pretty much non-existent except for hair on my head. The hair in the back of my head is thin, though. It's actually pretty thick on top.

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Permalink Reply by Schatten on January 28, 2014 at 4:57pm

There's no pattern about the progression! It's different for everyone... My alopecia affects my eyelashes, eyebrows and nose hairs... I've had the condition for 2 years now. My head hair is still intact. 

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Permalink Reply by Heidi on January 28, 2014 at 10:16pm

My hair continues to fall out in large amounts every day I brush. I have the Ophiasis where it is receding up the nape and sides, but not the top front. At the same time, I'm getting thinning spots at the crown, so I have a combination of Alopecias. One doc gave me an anti fungal shampoo a few months ago, but it didn't seem to make things better.

Last week I saw a hair stylist who brought out a skimpy straight hair piece in blonde which did not go against my remaining wavy auburn hair. I felt slighted but I was also not in te mood to argue - this is so sensitive stuff. All the hair pieces were in the hundreds of dollars - so I just left it at that.

Yesterday i went online and ordered a couple of very inexpensive wigs. I figured I could afford to play with them and not worry about sending them back or dealing with a stylist. I guess I'll report again when they come in the mail. Meanwhile, I am losing the remainder of my braid very fast.

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