My hair started falling out in December and in January I was diagnosed with alopecia areata. I now have 6 patches. The only treatment I'm doing right now is a topical steroid cream that I apply twice a day.

I'm concerned that my doctor told me there's no cause and no cure, but when I look online, I see people talking about vitamins, stress management, etc. Is there some special shampoo or hair treatment I should be using? Does stress make it worse? I don't feel stressed. Well, losing my hair is stressing me out. That's quite the vicious cycle!

I'm trying to stay positive about the whole thing, because really in the grand scheme of life, what does it matter? I don't have cancer, I'm not dying from it, my kids and husband are healthy. I try not to complain, but inside I really want to. I just feel guilty about wanting to.

I'm glad that I found this site. My husband is very sympathetic, but doesn't understand and all he says is, "You'll be all right." Well meaning, but totally useless to me.

At what point should I start to worry about losing all my hair? Is 0-6 patches in two months normal? I swear, every time I have an itch on my head, it throws me into a panic!

Views: 34

Comment by Suzanne Kennedy on February 8, 2010 at 3:48pm
Kristen,
Thank you for much for responding. I've been looking at some of the wigs on this site (just in case) and they look amazing! I have a daughter who's almost 5, a son who's 3 1/2, and another son who's 15 months. Hey, maybe that's why I'm losing my hair! :)

How old is your daughter?
Comment by lynne on February 8, 2010 at 6:09pm
hello welcome to alopecia world, i lost my hair last april and after readin on here that lots of people have tried lots of treatments and still alot of people have no luck, i never wanted to use anything as i always believe ur hair will come bak if n when it wants to, its so unpredictable, but i have had regrowth for a few months now its still very short little longer than stubble all over my head as i lost most of mine within 2wks, and its pure white, so im still waitin to see if its comin bak for gd or not,
i was very stressed and suffered depression when my hair fell out but i seem to be doin better now, once i got my wig i had some confidence bak, maybe now im not so stressed it may well come bak, but ive been told its all to do with ur immune system so if u feel that takin vitamins would help strengthen ur immune system there is no harm in tryin, i took multi vit's for a couple of months,
and i lost my hair after sufferin an allergic reaction to the sun, so it happens for lots of reasons,
hope ur doin ok tho, and try to keep positive, take care, x
Comment by Suzanne Kennedy on February 8, 2010 at 6:15pm
Thanks Lynne, I really appreciate your thoughts! I think I might grab some multi vitamins the next time I'm at the store. I'm glad to have a friend here!
Comment by lynne on February 8, 2010 at 6:20pm
no worries, i would never have gotten thro the last yr if i hadnt found this site, they are the only people that understand exactly how u feel, and they always know wat to say to u wen ur happy or sad, amazin placem even if i got hair bak id still come on here as ive also made some great friends, x
Comment by Mary on February 8, 2010 at 7:02pm
Welcome, Suzanne. I was where you are about 9 years ago, but didn't have Alopecia World. I'm glad you've found this wonderful community. There's no predicting what course it will take. I'm quite sure that stress was not a factor for me...I'd been under much more stress at earlier times in my life, and under much less stress and in good health when my AA first appeared, and when it suddenly progressed.

Please check out my page for more about my experiences, and for my photos, blogs and videos. I won't repeat it all here, but maybe you'll find something helpful. There is life after AA.

Mary
Comment by Suzanne Kennedy on February 8, 2010 at 7:20pm
Thanks, Mary, I will do that.
Comment by JeffreySF on February 8, 2010 at 7:58pm
Hi Suzanne,

I've had alopecia just over 2 1/2 years now. I take Biotin 5mg and Vitamin D 2000 iu daily along with 5% minoxidil to my head twice daily.

Best of luck to you with this.
Jeffrey
Comment by Suzanne Kennedy on February 8, 2010 at 8:23pm
Thank you!
Comment by Robert on February 9, 2010 at 4:53am
Hi Suzanne.

Welcome to AW. One thing to realise when it comes to AA is that everyone is different so don't panic if you read that someone lost all of their hair within 2 weeks. It is an unpredictable condition.

My AA started just over a year ago and I went into total panic mode. I googled relentlessly for more information and read every story and thought that my condition would go the same way. Then I discovered AW and I was surrounded with supportive and friendly people but it was soon apparent that everyone's AA journey is different.

Some people do little or no treatments, some people do a few, and some people (like me) panic and try everything and pretty much anything. Just do what you need to do to get you through it.

After losing approx. 20% of my hair during the course of 2009, most of it came back towards the end of the year. I'll never know whether this was due to any treatments or if it would have came back on it's own anway.

As for the cause, you will always be asked if you were particularly stressed. I didn't feel that I had been - although, like you, was stressed by the thought of losing my hair. You'll be asked about family history and my mum had a small patch of AA almost 60 years ago and it cleared up within a few months and never re-occurred. The truth is that no-one knows what causes it and there isn't a cure (which is very hard to accept in these times of so called advanced medical care). All that the dermatologists can do is try to regrow the hair faster and that's what the steroids do (they worked for me anyway).

I hope that you find the same amount of support from this community that I found.
Best wishes
Robert
Comment by MiNAH on February 9, 2010 at 5:26am
Glad you found this wonderful community of Alopecia Fighters!
We are here for each other and this has helped us so very much.
I too wish to give you courage, strength to stand assured, walk proud and feel strong about the new you!
I found this site thanks to my beautiful daughters.

As Mary said...we had no site to reach out, share and be comforted, with knowledge that there are millions of other Alopecians living this new experience.
Even though it would be wonderful to see one another in the real world, other than Alopecia World....Mary had "BALD OUT DAY"...thanks Mary!
Thea has "BALD GIRLS DO LUNCH"....thanks Thea!
Also without Cheryl and Rj Alopecia World would only be a Dream!
Excuse me anyone if I got that info wrong.
Hi to Lynne...haven't spoken to Lynne in a few months!
Hi Mary....I keep tabs on Mary, cause I'm waiting on those fantastic bald pictures, taken in the Antarctica.
See without Alopecia World...we wouldn't have a "HOME AWAY FROM HOME" which by the way is one of my blogs.
So with all that said and done...welcome Suzanne to our big family world wide!

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