Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by jonpolo on January 12, 2016 at 3:33pm

I received injections initially also - they had no positive effect in me so the derm discontinued them. I did not have the indentations though

Permalink Reply by Lo on January 12, 2016 at 3:53pm

I go every 5-6 weeks for my injections... but a good friend of mine goes about every 3 months... so it is hard to say.  My derm said if the shots seem to be keeping the inflammation/redness down - then it is safe to say they are effective and to keep doing them every 6 weeks or so.  I did have small indentations form - so he stopped them for 2 months... they have since filled in a bit (so it feels)... and I am back to every 6-8 weeks or so.  He did say the indentations generally always fill back in.  Wishing you luck... How long have you had FFA and have those medicines helped at all to slow down the loss?  I, too, take finasteride. 

Permalink Reply by DW on January 19, 2016 at 11:43am

Hi Lo. Thanks for your response. I did reply to you some time ago- quite a lengthy reply but it didn't appear to send. I'm going to attempt again. The medications don't seem to be helping me much that I can detect. My scalp is extremely itchy, more so than it's ever been. I've now had the second round of injections and am experiencing more indentations. As far as the hair loss is concerned, I never really noticed a major shedding, it just happened gradually until it hit me that I had lost a significant amount, that would've been in the spring of 2013. Having said that, I realize in reading the posts of others, that I have experienced a lot of other symptoms that I shrugged off at the time and now I wonder if are connected ie: loss of all hair on arms (but never really had much), loss of hair on legs, and that I don't seem to perspire. As all these things were positive things in my mind and I thought they were part of the aging process, I really didn't take much notice. Because of this, I suspect this condition may have manifested many, many years earlier and I only took notice in 2013 with the hair loss.
BTW, two other side effects of the injections I'm experiencing are nasty headaches (the brain freeze type) and a band of redness across my cheeks and nose that doesn't seem to disappear.

Permalink Reply by Lynn on January 13, 2016 at 8:18am

I also had several indentations with the injections. I stopped having the injections because they were quite painful around my forehead and ears. The last few times I had the injections there was some bleeding as well. I received them every 6-8 weeks for almost a year and I dreaded the injections each time. I truly didn't notice that they were helping that much. I do still have one indentation on the right side of my upper forehead that has not gone away.
Lynn

Permalink Reply by Debs on January 19, 2016 at 11:41am

I decided not to have steroid injections because of the risk of indentations (atrophy) that can occur. Some ladies have reported that the indentations have not filled in afterwards. I was advised it is the result of injections not being properly performed. It is very much a case that each lady must decide what treatments they are prepared to try. These meds affect us all differently.