Hi,

This is my first post here.

I've had two bouts of severe alopecia. The first one lasted for about 18 months, and took me to roughly 80% AT. It grew back, lasted for about a year, and now I'm five years into a second sentence that has me at full AT and is affecting my facial hair as well. Another unassisted remission is pretty unlikely at this point, and I've tried an endless cavalcade of medical, dietary, and homeopathic treatments with effectively no success.

I don't date due to this affliction. Maybe I could, but I just don't want to. I'm a very, very private person, and I refuse to have "that" conversation with people I know very well, much less someone that I'm trying to impress.

During my first bout, I also chose to abstain from dating and sex. However, I met up with an old girlfriend by accident and we had a brief, torrid "return engagement" fling that lasted for six or eight weeks. A couple months later, I entered a full, quick remission. I literally needed a haircut within four months of the first regrowth.

It's quite likely dumb luck, but it's left me considering the hormones and body chemistry involved with sex and how those things might affect alopecia. I understand that many alopecia victims lose confidence and stop dating, but I wonder if any of you have seen any ebbs and flows in your alopecia that might relate to your sex life.