Alopecia World
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Officially diagnosed now
Hi
I was diagnosed over the internet through photos I sent, but today I finally saw a specialist in Paris who told me what I already knew.
When I got off the train this morning my stomach dropped - I was sick and scared- even though I knew I was just going to get a confirmation.
However she was so nice, and so calm and undramatic about my hair. She didn't prescrible anything internal to take (I am grateful!) - I am only going on Minoxydyl and topical cortisone treatments. Then she wants to do more exporatory bloodwork to check out the autoimmune factors, but even there she was very mellow. And she took her time, which apparently she does with everyone b/c she was running an hour late...
So here I am on the train home, and the only real "issue" now - ridiculously minor - is she said to leave my curly hair curly. No more Brazilian straightening - she even said this could be what caused it - at least partially!! Crazy crazy. No more blow-drying it to straight. But I can keep the highlights. She said to treat my hair as if I were African, with cocoa butters, and oils, etc. I like that (and no I'm not African, and I can't say African American b/c I don't live in the States.) She says she is seeing more FFA b/c of the straightening, especially among Africans. You may not think about it if you've got straight hair, but there is a real pressure for us curly-heads to fit in - I grew up with my mother always saying "what are we going to do with your hair???" It's a THING, and it effects your image, and who will hire you - everything.
So I will be a frizzy-haired Who (as in my screen name) and we will see how it goes. It may be a pain to rub crap in my scalp every night but there are much worse things.
Oh - and no more nail polish (eczema). Continue AIP diet but watch for vitamin deficiency. And voilà that was all. I feel lucky, relieved, and again, grateful. Will my hair continue to fall out? Je ne sais pas (I don't know). She said it could stop, that it seemed to be slow (since the loss has been over two years) and it was good that I came in now.
So again, the only thing a teeny bit worrisome is the underlying autoimmune "something".
So I'm glad I went.
- Half Baked Who
I was diagnosed over the internet through photos I sent, but today I finally saw a specialist in Paris who told me what I already knew.
When I got off the train this morning my stomach dropped - I was sick and scared- even though I knew I was just going to get a confirmation.
However she was so nice, and so calm and undramatic about my hair. She didn't prescrible anything internal to take (I am grateful!) - I am only going on Minoxydyl and topical cortisone treatments. Then she wants to do more exporatory bloodwork to check out the autoimmune factors, but even there she was very mellow. And she took her time, which apparently she does with everyone b/c she was running an hour late...
So here I am on the train home, and the only real "issue" now - ridiculously minor - is she said to leave my curly hair curly. No more Brazilian straightening - she even said this could be what caused it - at least partially!! Crazy crazy. No more blow-drying it to straight. But I can keep the highlights. She said to treat my hair as if I were African, with cocoa butters, and oils, etc. I like that (and no I'm not African, and I can't say African American b/c I don't live in the States.) She says she is seeing more FFA b/c of the straightening, especially among Africans. You may not think about it if you've got straight hair, but there is a real pressure for us curly-heads to fit in - I grew up with my mother always saying "what are we going to do with your hair???" It's a THING, and it effects your image, and who will hire you - everything.
So I will be a frizzy-haired Who (as in my screen name) and we will see how it goes. It may be a pain to rub crap in my scalp every night but there are much worse things.
Oh - and no more nail polish (eczema). Continue AIP diet but watch for vitamin deficiency. And voilà that was all. I feel lucky, relieved, and again, grateful. Will my hair continue to fall out? Je ne sais pas (I don't know). She said it could stop, that it seemed to be slow (since the loss has been over two years) and it was good that I came in now.
So again, the only thing a teeny bit worrisome is the underlying autoimmune "something".
So I'm glad I went.
- Half Baked Who
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