Alopecia World
Jessica Lau
Female
New York, NY
United States
Profile Information:
- Relationship Status:
- Single
- About Me:
- I am a 26 year old girl in law school in NYC. I have had alopecia for 5 years now, and I've been bald for about 2 years (though I have a bunch of patches of regrowth now!). The first time I had it, I was about to be a junior in college--I was blow drying my hair while getting ready to go out, and my friend told me that I had a little bald spot. That spot started getting larger and larger, and then other little spots started sprouting. At that point, I was so angry I just told myself that I wouldn't let it fall out anymore...and it worked! It actually stopped falling out and grew back in with the help of cortisone injections and Nioxin shampoo. But after I graduated college, I moved in with a boyfriend who wasn't very nice to me, and I started a new job in a new city, and I think the stress of everything got to me. My hair started falling out again. I would cry in the shower as it came out in my hands. I felt lost and nothing I did seemed to help. I went off the birth control pill, I changed my diet, but nothing helped. After my boyfriend and I broke up, I realized how much stress and anxiety I was holding inside while I was living with him. My hair continued to fall out slowly and I spent hours each week trying to figure out new ways to wear my hair so that I could cover all the bald spots. I got a wig when it just got too thin, and it continued to fall out until it was all gone. I am now on my 3rd wig, though I am hoping it will be my last...
It has taken almost 3 years for the anxiety from that bad relationship and the stressors from my job (which I quit about 2 years ago) to go away. It has finally subsided, and even though I still feel the anxiety every so often, I know that the more relaxed I can make myself, the better outcome I have for my hair. I run, hang out with friends, party, paint, listen to music, read...anything that makes me happy, I do it. And even though I lost it all, and I even lost most of my eyebrows and my top eyelashes, now my lashes are growing back in and there are now a bunch of little patches growing back on my head!!
While this has been one of the hardest things I've ever gone through in my life, I am probably happier now than I have ever been. I realized that when I had my real hair, I was so bogged down by little things that didn't matter, and those things made me unnecessarily sad. I moped around and did nothing but watch tv as life passed me by. But since I have had an obstacle that I have needed to overcome, I have found new happiness in getting to meet and to know new people, making friends, and doing things that make me happy. Overall, it has made me a more interesting and much more joyful person. - Do you have alopecia?
- Alopecia totalis
- Are you age 18 or older?
- Yes - I am 18 or older
JeffreySF
I came across your page tonight and wanted to say hello.
Hope all is good with you.
Jeffrey
Jan 29, 2010
Drakes
very well written.. your choice of words illustrates you are coping well ..
Cheers.. :)
Dec 13, 2010
Hand Made Wigs
Feb 3, 2021