Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Hillary Howard on October 7, 2009 at 5:35pm

Hi Jennifer
My daughter (she's 6) was diagnosed with AA in July. She has the same thinning as well as some bald patches. She seems to go through cycles with major hair loss then it grows back only to start falling out elsewhere. She also has brownish coloring on the bald areas. It seems that the itching is a sign a spot will start but this is just our experience. Like you I rarely saw any hair until I talked to her about it and found out she has been throwing the clumps away or hiding them. We try to talk calmly and rationally to her about it (not always easy as I just want to cry some days) and it seems that she is handling it better than us. It's hard not to examine her scalp a hundred times a day but I try to control myself :)Like you we have two other children (4 yo and 18 months) and at times it feels like I am completely overwhelmed and just want to crawl under the covers for days at a time. The best advise I can give is use every resource available to you including this forum. It is a relief to read other people are felling/experiencing what we are - and they can relate where other people give you the "count your blessings- it's just hair" speech. I have to remind myself everyday - hair or no hair she is still my little girl.

Permalink Reply by Christine Messner on October 7, 2009 at 6:28pm

You are not crazy,,I can tell you that! With my son Kyler (he will be 3 this dec) started to loose his hair about 8 months ago.I notice one day he had a 2 small spots and 9 to 10 weeks later he had about 20% left on his head. I was too looking for hair everywhere and and couldn't seem to find any. Then one cold night I pit Fleecy jammies on Kyler and the next moring I notice hairs on his jammies..That was the hair we saw when this was all happening. So agian no your not crazy!

Permalink Reply by Angie, Gracie's mom on October 7, 2009 at 7:33pm

My daughter lost a bunch of hair, and is currently losing a bunch more, and I rarely find them. She is young, and still has baby fine hair, but still--I find my hair EVERYWHERE, and I have a full head of hair. I've even lint rolled her crib, not much there, and she wears fleece pj's every night, nothing. It is weird! I saw the other day a strand fall out as I was holding her, and sadly I thought about the Charlie Brown xmas where the little tree loses a branch. It is just so sad... Even though she can't talk about it, I have noticed her rubbing a spot, then find new loss there. Angie

Permalink Reply by Fizza on October 7, 2009 at 8:56pm

I'd love to hear other repsonses. My son also has aa and the patches are multiplying. I read your post and i felt like I was reading something I wrote!!

I dont see hair anywhere either. My son has pink patches where the hair is missing and the rest of his head is kinda stubbly black/blue - he has black hair.

I wish we just had more answers. It would be so much easier fi we knew what we were up against.

I wish you the best

F

Permalink Reply by Lisa on November 10, 2009 at 4:03am

Rub your fingers through his hair and some should come out(gently pull). That is what our dermatologists does to our daughter every time he sees her. We noticed her hair in the bathroom sink when she brushed her teeth. Her head itched and I think that was when it was coming out. It itched all the time and she could not stop scratching it. Her scalp was also very sensitive if you touched it. We are very lucky, she has been on Dithro Scalp and a foam, her hair has been growing back. She began loosing hair at the end of March, beginning of April 09 and I think she started using the Dithro Scalp in June, we noticed hair growth around August. She was pretty close to totally bald and now she has 1 inch of hair all over. But we have heard stories of hair growth and then falling out again. So, it is very emotional. We used to check her scalp at least 3 times a day, we were amazed everytime we looked at her, there was more gone. It is extremely frustrating and you have no control over it. After a few weeks, we just accepted that she would go totally bald. It seems to be the norm. Just try to keep life as usual -lots of playing and laughter:)

Permalink Reply by Cindy on November 10, 2009 at 8:57am

Jennifer, Alopecia is so frustrating to deal with. My daughter Sam lost her hair 2 yrs ago and I have no idea where it all went either until it started coming out in clumps. And I washed as her eyebrows and lashes faded away. The more I could not do anything, the more I cried. Here I have a beautiful daughter, my only daughter and she is going to be bald. As devastating as it was to watch my daughter did not care. I tried all kinds of creams with no avail, but I did not give up. She now has 98% of her hair back and her brows are growing. We talk all the time that it can fall out and she understands and is unphased. I think you need to support your son the best way you know how and give him unconditional love and support. As you can see from being on AW he nor you are not alone..