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I'm taking control of my alopecia- it's not controlling me! Head shaved
I was having a routine hair cut in July 2013, when my hairdresser noticed a bald spot the size of a pea. I was upset but tried to put it out of my mind. Within weeks it had grown to the size of 10p then an egg size, soon bald patches were sprouting all over my crown and merging together!
Gutted is an understatement on how I felt. (Im 35years old.) But I was able to hide them by tying my hair up in a pony tail for about 4 months. In that time I never really noticed my hair falling out and hiding the bald spots became normal.
Doctors were useless as they prescribed steroid in liquid form that I applied twice daily - didn't work.
I spent money on vitamins, and a product called Plantur by Dr Wolff for meagre hair loss - didn't work.
I paid for the Aveda revitalising shampoo/conditioner/revitaliser spray - didn't work.
In short I don't believe anything works.
I decided to purchase a wig 4 months after the balding started and believe me it was the best thing I could have spent money on - Fact!
Shortly after getting the wig I then suffered even more hair loss that was noticeable when combing/washing and just running my fingers through my hair. That was a depressing fortnight where I pretty much cried daily, as until then I had tried to put a brave face on it.
It wasn't long after that I decided that there was no point holding onto half a head of hair that was shoulder length, so I had it shaved off. I cried for my 4 kids more than me, as who wants a bald Mum (I know that's silly, But its how I felt)
I wasn't going to let the alopecia control me, I was taking control of it if that makes sense?
Since then I have felt more relaxed as Im not having to deal with the hair loss anymore, and now I cant tell how much hair I am losing, in fact I don't think it has got any worse. Ive even grown a peachy fuzz on the top, which is as soft as baby hair. My bald head looks like a patchy mess and there are days I feel so tearful.
I know its a long road, but Im loving my wig its always a perfect blow dry lol, and its not half as annoying as I thought it would be. Obviously I would rather have my own hair but accepting it may never grow has relaxed me, so if it does come back, well it will be a bonus.
I think another thing that has helped me, is trying to put this into perspective, its only hair after all its not life threatening Im healthy. Things could be worse.
The thing I find hardest is trying to work out why this has happened to me, what has caused it and and the fact there is no cure!! and the unknown of if it will ever re grow... Mine was very likely stress related :(
Im under no illusion after reading so much that this may not be the only episode of alopetia I may suffer in this lifetime, but Im trying to weather the storm the best way I can.
One of the things I am so sad about is that my youngest daughter has never seen my real hair, I really hope it grows back just so she believes I really did have hair!
I want to be able to take her swimming and go to the beach, these things are not wig friendly and Im not confident to go bald in public yet. Maybe that will change.
Lastly I just want to say Im so grateful for this site and to just know that I am not the only one.
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Comment by Emma on January 14, 2014 at 9:04am
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Hi Vicki I run too, but I wear a hat to cover my bald head it would be unbearable running in my wig.
Well done for shaving your hair off too, I have to say it does make life easier not having the hair.
But it's just not the same as having your own full head of hair is it sadly.
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Leisa,
I think the best thing you can do for yourself is maybe take a multi vitamin that focuses on healthy hair, and includes zinc. Buy and wear a wig or be bald and proud.
Eat healthily and exercise.
Everything else is just a total waste of time. What works for one person will not necessarily work for you, and say something works that means you will have to afford it forever as you will be too scared to stop incase your hair falls out.
I for one cannot live that way.
Good luck with the insurance costs by the way :(
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Comment by Leisa on January 14, 2014 at 9:15am
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I take a good multivitamin but I am not sure what the zinc content is... and I am hit or miss on it. Sometimes I will remember it daily and other days I forget for like 2 or 3 in a row. :( I do eat healthy and exercise almost daily. I actually powerlift 4 times a week. :)
I believe I agree after reading everyone's comments about how things didn't work for them etc. :( Everyone is different and this may go on and on and on and then I have wasted TONS of money on trying to 'cover it'. But right now my hair actually covers the majority of my spots.... if they could just stop now it would be perfect. :) but I doubt it will!
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I really hope yours does stop. I truly believed it would never come to the point that I would have to shave my head. But it all happened quite quickly in the end.
Pray it doesn't happen to you also.
Think your doing all the right things.
But let's face it people that are high on crack cocaine are destroying their bodies yet they still have full heads of hair!
It's within us unfortunately.
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Emma, my mother just said the same thing to me the other day. "people that are high on crack cocaine are destroying their bodies yet they still have full heads of hair!" she might have used 'drugs' in general.. HAHAHA.. it is quite interesting how that works.
I figure if I can easily hide it without too much trouble. (trying for more than 3-5 minutes) then I will keep it. When that time doesn't happen any more, I will shave it. :\ Hopefully my head would look as good as yours and some others on here. :)
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Being honest I would never have shaved mine if I had been able to hide it successfully. But it's actually not as bad as I thought.
Thinking about it is far worse trust me :)
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That is good to know. I always wonder when people 'decide' to shave it... I'm assuming it is when you can't realistically hide it. Right now I have a spot that is toward the front and if it expands... then I won't be able to hide it!
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Right now I switched the side part I do to the opposite side and it hid it. :)
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I had loads of spots all around the crown, but it gradually crept forward to the front they almost merged into one in the end. It wasn't until I had shaved it all off that I realised how many smaller ones I had that were hidden.
Did you get the "alopecia itch"
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Oh, wow... Yeah, see that may likely be EXACTLY what happens to me. It has been since August. So it may still take some time.
I haven't really had any 'itch' that I have somewhat read about. I found the first one by putting my hair up one day and someone told me I had a giant bald spot. The second one that came in down just above the neck had a slight itch one day and that is when I realized that one. but besides that it has not been itchy at all...
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