Hello fellow ophiasian...Today I finally have a name for it, and can put pictures and faces together to show what I have, and I thought I was alone....HELLO ....!!!! Nice to meet u

Hi Ashlie,

I would love to get together. I have not met anyone else in person with alopecia but have spoken to others on the web site. My email address is doiron@telus.net. Good luck with going back to work. Just remember you are beautiful no matter if you have hair or not. (So much easier to say than to feel , but it is true) I look forward to hearing from you and seeing if we can plan a meeting. Take care.

Jacquie

Hi Ashlie~
Thanks... your daughter is beautiful and so are you. Nice to see pictures on here. I am still not comfortable posting any pics of myself. I am AU so hate to see it for real. It has been 7 years for me but still does not feel like this is who I am.Thus alll the pictures of the puppy!
I grew up in PG and moved away in 2000. Have lived in Sask, AB, and BC all over since. I have met other alopecians along the way. I do not know any in PG tho. There was a guy that was on a few sites that was called Alopecia Boy that was in Prince George. Do not know if he still is tho.
Email or post any time. I know this is tough.
Cheryl

Hi Ashlie. I am so glad that you like the clip-in extensions! They have made all the difference to me too and helped me to feel somewhat normal again. I purchased some plastic shoe-style containers and I store my extensions in those when I'm not using them. I have acquired quite a few of them so I have them sorted in these boxes. You could also hang them. I also have a new "favorite" that you might enjoy. I found some new hair extensions from Ken Paves. He is Jessica Simpson's hairstylist and I saw him advertising his hair products on QVC. If you go to QVC.com and type in "Hairdo" his extensions come up. They are fantastic. Although they are not real hair, they look great and are very light weight. They are also good for our type of hair loss because they have a panel that prevents your scalp from showing through. You can go on QVC and watch the various videos showing how they are worn. The great thing is that you can also easily return/return them if they don't match your hair color, I almost like them better now than the clip-in hair extensions. Take a look and let me know what you think. You can also go to Ken Paves website at KenPaves.com and see his hair products. I also e-mailed his website with questions and they are great about responding quickly with answers. I am so happy that these worked for you and I hope you are doing better. Although my hair continues to fall out, I have really been able to deal with it much better with these extensions. Keep me updated on your progress.

I am happy for you, and it looks like you will be able to conceal the spots because the top of your head looks full and healthy.

That's great news! I hope you post a picture of your piece. What specifically are you getting?

Stephanie

Hi Ashlie
Sorry I don't know anyone that you mentioned but Guelph is pretty (not neccessarily convient though). Since this website has been develloped to the lovely Cheryl and her husband RJ, I have found an increasing number of alopecians in Canada making their way out of the wood work. Previously there were only really MSN and yahoo groups that mostly people in the USA joined. It is fabulous to see so many Canadians here now though. If you ever want to chat, same goes for you. I'm not on all that often but if you send me a message I will get it. Take care!! :)

Hi Ashley, Im sorry I took so long to reply. Been busy with the kids.
You had asked me when I knew it was time to shave. When my hair started shedding I thought it would stop..everday I woke up with panic attacks. It got to the point where my husband told me that at night I would shake all night and of course that was the anxiety built up..I thought I was loosing my sanity. I thank God for having Him in my life to be able to cope with this. Anway when I saw things were not getting better I decided to purchase a wig and told my husband that I did not want this to control my life anymore. I bought the wig this past July. I still would not were it and just used hats but honestly my hair was looking so bad that one day I just said... why hold on to this hair that is doing nothing for me at all. I was trying to wait for my husband to come home from work but that was one of the days he had to work late so i went in the bathroom and without thinking twice shaved it off. Did I like how I looked at first??? no, but I did not like how I looked before anyway. I felt such a sense of reliefe and not counting hairs and finding them everywhere was GREAT!! I decided to let the people I know know about my problem and that they would be seeing me with different looks. Doing both of these things gave me a peace that I did not have when I was going through the shedding. I stopped shaking at night and have more peace than ever. This is a process and it step by step and sometimes we take two steps forward and then two steps back but then we move forward again. Lord willing you will be OK. Im here if you need to vent. By the way I flew from Germany to US and drove to Canada to get my wig. I had never been to Canada and really like it.
Big Hugbr /> Kim

Hi Ashley,
Hang in there. When I went through the shedding from Feb-May it was horrible. Like out of a horror movie horrible. I was depressed, anxious, scared, you name it. I was sent to a therapist through my work which was useless (for me) She told me nothing I didn't already know. My Dr. put me on anti-anxiety meds which made me feel nothing...this was worse! I hated the meds and quit cold turkey and embraced all the sadness, anger, remorse, grief etc. I cried many a night. But I'll tell you, I found my smile. I found my life again. It's getting perspective on everything. The night my husband shaved my head was a sad but relieving day. I didn't have to go through the shedding anymore. I embraced my hair pieces and put my new look together and walked out with confidence. People don;t notice hair as much as they do your presence. Fake your confidence, if need be, and one day you will find you are confident. I still have some bad days...but they are less and less. You have to let yourself grieve...it's normal. I didn't even know what alopecia was until this february and now I'm universalis...it's an adjustment, but you work through it. What helped me was telling people what was happening. I'm an open book and knowledge is power so I wanted people to learn about this disease. We are still fortunate to be agile, have our wits and not have cancer or some other life threatening disease. Take it day by day, hour by hour if you must and visit this site for support. I will be an ear to listen. You will be okay...start listing things you love about yourself and your world. Embrace those in the tough spells...all the best.