Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by stephanie robertson on November 19, 2008 at 6:50pm

Amy, I am so sorry that you are going through this. I have been losing mine for fourteen years. i started losing mine after my son was born fourteen years ago. I still have hair but it gets thinner and thinner each year. anyway check this site out if you want to I was thinking about trying it but before I spent the money on it I was hoping some has tried it already. it is called regenix if you want go to regenix.com and let me know what you think. Stephanie

Permalink Reply by Amy on November 20, 2008 at 10:27pm

Hi Stephanie -

I don't know, its really hard to tell as there are so many products out there. I did google "does Regenix work" and found a site http://www.hairloss-reversible.com/discus/messages/7/2461.html?1159... created by someone actually using the product - there is some information there. It seems so expensive - $500/month for 8-10 months and then maybe $50 or so a month for maintenance there after (according to this site). That just seems outrageous. I don't know - I suppose it would work for some people (like Rogaine works for some people). Let me know if you decide to try it.

Permalink Reply by Laurie on November 20, 2008 at 5:07pm

Amy, I am so sorry you are dealing with this. I have chronic telogen effluvium and have also lost about 50% of my hair. My biopsy actually does not confirm AGA, but I still know the pain of losing hair. Trust me, I've been going through this for about a year now. At this point, I have actually detached myself from my hair. I am focusing now on my health. I am waiting on the birth control pill to get out of my system and I am going to seek treatment at a Wellness Center in Houston. I have exhausted my options with traditional docs. The most they could find was slightly low B12 and ferritin levels. Everything else, including hormones, they say is all normal. I have also noticed excessive hair on my lip and arms so they say I have an androgen sensitivity (body over-reacts to normal testosterone levels). For me, I want to know that my body is healthy. I will rest easier when I know this. As far as the hair, it will either come or go. If it goes, I'll get a great wig!!

Permalink Reply by Amy on November 20, 2008 at 6:17pm

Thanks for your response. I am trying really hard to get to the point that you are at. I have been losing my hair for months now and my acceptance of this tends to swing wildly. Now that AGA has been confirmed, I am trying really hard to accept the finality of the condition. I really believe that I have angrogen sensitivity - but I will have to wait another month to speak to a doctor about this (a month seems like an eternity - I keep feeling that every day makes it worse - that there is a solution being withheld and every day it is costing me more hair - probably irrational, but this feeling comes from desperation). Do you know of treatments for androgen sensitivity? Are there pills or medications that can improve this condition? Also, do you know if this impacts the possibility of pregnancy? I am so frustrated that I don't have one doctor that can answer these questions!! Sorry to sound so down - I am in the process of coming to terms with the issue. I have started wig shopping though - just to get an idea :) There are some really nice options out there. Thanks again for your response - it is nice having someone to talk to about this!

Permalink Reply by Marina on December 1, 2008 at 2:09pm

Hi Amy I've been diagnosed AGA 2 years ago and I'm only 23. I've been using minoxidil 2% (that is the non commercial name of the american Rogaine) for more than 1 year now and I must say that it works more than a bit. It can't give you your lost hair back of course - even if some new hair actually grows - but it can slow down your hair loss or even stop it. Of course you have to stick to it: when you stop the therapy, all the benefits will be lost. I've read that a pill named Diane can work a lot, that's why I'm going to see a gynaecologist next month, and I heard similar opinions about Yasmine. Of course you have to choose whether to try to have a child or take the pill, but once you stop it your fertility is unchanged, or even enhanced.
I don't know what kind of interaction exists between Rogaine and the pill, that's what I'm trying to discover these days.

Permalink Reply by Tawny on April 28, 2009 at 8:33pm

Hi Amy. I am new to the site and also wondering how you are doing. I was diagnosed with AGA when I was in my early 20's, but my hair began to fall out when I was around 15-16 yrs old. I had long thick black hair then. At first, it came out in handfulls and it was very disturbing. Doctors were suspicious that I had Lupus, as I had a number of other health concerns going on at the same time, including a huge traumatic family situation, so we look back and think stress may have been a factor too. But my Mom has the classic thin hair, my aunts (her sisters) have it and my Grandma had it, although theirs isn't even as thin as mine is now (them being much older than me).
I saw a dermatologist for Rosacea recently and as an aside I asked her about my hair - she confirmed that it was Androgenic Alopecia or Female pattern baldness. I had blood tests done and like you, the results were all normal.
My Dad had hypothyroidism, so that is always a fear of mine, but that seems fine so far too.
The dermatologist I saw recently prescribed Rogaine (or minoxidil) but I haven't tried it yet. Like you, I would like to have another baby soon, so I don't want to start the process and stop either.
I took the Diane birth control pill for quite a few years before my first baby. I took it mostly for controlling acne and honestly wasn't as concerned about my hair back then. But ... now that I look at recent pictures of me, I think I may have or am losing more hair since the birth of my daughter (and being off Diane). I didn't know until I joined this site that Diane could help the hair loss! Maybe that's why the rate of my hair loss seemed to plateau... hmmm. Never even thought of it until this moment.
I am wig shopping and seriously considering shaving my head, or at least buzzing it real short.
Such a rollercoaster of emotions and back and forth decisions....

Permalink Reply by Nikita on June 2, 2009 at 10:29pm

Hi I am Nikita and I have AGA ,

It is good to no that others out there feel like me and I hope everyone is coping well, but now I am going to hit you with all the info I have

and I have just seen a dermos that speciliase in hair ( 1 year bloody waiting list)
and THERE IS A WAY TO STOP IT, They could put you on these tablets called Andocurer or Spiralactone, these do not usually make hair grow back but it should -90% stop it from failing out in the future. Andocurer didn't work for me but Spiralactone did.
I think it blocks the folical from testosterone or whatever it is that causes it. But with Spiralactone you also have to be on the pill- as it messes with periods.
Also as an added precausion she changed the pill I was on - I was using Levelen ED but that has testosterone in it, she said it would prob make no difference but she put me on Yasmin just to eliminate the possibility.
She also prescribed me MINOXIDAL 5%, which is Rogaine, but there are generic brands which are EXACTLY the same, it is the Minixidal that is important, there are Hair Again and Retriever that are a quater of the price. I only just started but she said it should help.

And you no those horrible hair aids that make you cringe, that hair spray follicle that coveres up or disguises thinness, I actually tried and it works, it actually does make a differece, particularly because mine is bad in the very front. It is called Good Looking Hair- it is $13 and you can get it on line, there is a similar one called Toppick but that is a powder and not as good.

I suppose the only downfall is that it takes a bit of the shine away and it feels like hairspray, you no that stringy feeling.

Sorry to bombard you with all this info, but I just figured knowledge is power. Talk soon xox Nikita

For women the dermo said Minoxidal 2% twice daily but better yet the 5% once daily.