Wow, has it really been so long since I posted on here??? I used to trawl this wonderful site numerous times daily searching for hope and kindred spirits. What a help it has been, and I'm a little ashamed to neglect it in recent weeks.



Alopecia has actually been in my life for over 20 months, but it went into overdrive a year ago, and turned me into a stressed out/anxious/depressed wreck.



One year on, and I'm doing really well (the turning point actually happened after… Continue

I thought that it was about time that I updated my regrowth blog. I'm really happy to say that the regrowth of hair on my head has been pretty impressive. I've gone from having 20+ patches to them all filling in. Some have still to thicken up a bit.



This is the patch on the back of my head near my crown.

This is the first patch which appeared a year ago. Strangely, it has been the slowest to fill in. It is still filled with… Continue

A few months ago I was referred by the dermatologist at my local hospital to a "hair clinic" run by a dermatologist at another hospital. I went yesterday and it was all fairly positive.



She examined my scalp and was very encouraged by the regrowth which she said that she could see in all of the patches. For this reason, she didn't recommend doing any other treatments and that I was to continue using steroid foam once a day. She could see a bit of pigmentation coming through in the… Continue

I thought that it was about time that I posted another blog. I haven't blogged in a while, mainly due to feeling so low about my hairloss that I didn't want to post another negative one.



Everything is still far from rosy, but I thought that I'd try to post a positive blog focussing on the regrowth that I am having in my original spots.



It's quite hard to get decent pics but I took some today which turned out ok, not brilliant but ok.



The first one is the patch… Continue

After having some of my worst days recently since I was cursed* with this condition where I don't think I could have felt any lower, I had my follow up visit to the NHS dermatologist this morning...



It was a different doctor from last time (which surprised me) and we went through the usual checklist of questions...

- family history (yes my mum had a small patch of hairloss almost 60 years ago that never reoccurred)

- stress factors in leading up to the initial hairloss… Continue

Dear Blog,



Another 2 week(ish) update...



My spots are now in double figures and now not just confined to the back of my head thanks to a new spot on the top of my head which I found tonight. I'm trying to keep myself busy so that I don't dwell on or cry about this latest development. That's ten spots now in sizes ranging from a small dot to fairly large patches. Up until June this year I only had one large spot. This has really been a sh*t 3 months.



Treatment… Continue

Another update from me...



After a few weeks of feeling really low, I have been feeling a lot more positive recently. I don't really know what the turning point has been but I'm hoping that it lasts.



I went to see the private dermatologist again last week and she said that she was very encouraged by the amount of regrowth in my two biggest spots. She said that the best advice that she could give me would be to try to forget about the alopecia, but understood how difficult… Continue

That's me been using the Dermovate cream for two weeks now.



The good news... on my 2 biggest patches I can see some white fuzzy hair coming through. My wife tells me that the patch on the top of my head has even longer white fuzz (but I can't see it very well). No dark hair yet but I'm keeping everything crossed.



The bad news... I can see the start of 3 possible new patches, 2 of which are really close to the patch on the top of my head. That makes 7 patches on my head now… Continue

I got my second opinion from the private dermatologist on Wednesday.



Overall, I was more satisfied with her explanation of what was happening and felt that she did a much more thorough investigation of my scalp.



The dermatologist said that the alopecia could be hereditary, but she also asked if I had ever suffered from eczema to which I replied that I had patches on my legs and hands when I was younger. It's the first time that I'd heard about a possible link with… Continue

I went to the dermatologist today and here's what happened...



He asked where and when my hair loss patches occurred



He asked if there was any family history of:-

- alopecia - my mum had an issue for a short period of time when she was 16 (50+ years ago) but full regrowth occurred after it was treated with some cream and has never reoccurred

- thyroid problems - none that I'm aware of and I'm sure that I was tested for this by my GP and there was no… Continue

After finding 2 new spots over the weekend, I decided to contact the hospital to see if there was any news on when my appointment with the dermatologist would come through (thanks for the suggestion Jeffrey!) I expected to be told that it would be at least another 8-9 weeks. To my surprise, after speaking to the most helpful receptionist EVER, she managed to get me an appointment for later this morning. They had just received a last minute cancellation and wouldn't have had time to contact… Continue

Arrggghhh!
My wife found another bald patch on the back of my head so that's now 3 on my head and one on my beard. This is so difficult to deal with, and I've got at least another 8 weeks until I get an appointment with a dermatologist. I really really hate that I'm losing my hair and that it just seems to be getting worse.

I'm almost 42 years old and noticed a very small patch of alopecia on my beard in September 2008. I never really thought anything of it at the time other than it was a bit odd. I don't have a heavy growth and never thought about growing a beard anyway. The patch slowly expanded and is still growing to this day. I did an internet search and tried Calosol beard cream which didn't help.



In January of 2009, my wife noticed another small patch on the back of my head (behind my right ear).… Continue