Comment by Beverly on October 29, 2011 at 8:51am

Hi Nachiketa! I did the steroid shots.

I started to notice my bald patches in August 2010 (my team kept telling me about the triangular bald spot on the top of my head). I was kind of against the steroid shots in the beginning, but my entire family seem to think I should do it. I was getting married in March 2011 and I think they were expecting long flowing hair by the time those pictures got taken!! My then boyfriend said I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I started my steroid shots in September 2010 and I visited my doctor about every four weeks sometimes 5 weeks depending on holidays (I work retail so December is not ideal) and vacation. I was not fond of them, they left me feeling like my head was swollen...and even though the needle was very small, I felt like they hurt way more than my doctor said they would. She concentrated mainly on the balding spot in the beginning, and I did see some hair growth in the area (about 3 months after the first shot), it was very thin light colored hair, and sadly, it eventually fell out...and at this point, I noticed that other parts of my body was starting to lose hair. I don't think 2.5 months is a long time...the hair has to start growing from under the skin so that will take some time.

I was told that sometimes, if you experience white hair growth, this is normal for Alopecia, hopefully it will continue to grow in and eventually return to your natural hair color. I was told not to be tempted to dye the white patches...but why would I want to, I'd have one dark patch and the rest of my head would be sparsely filled!!

I went to see my doctor from September 2010 until August 2011, I had 7 visits in those months...my last one was just another consult. She told me they only do 6 treatments of steroid shots and if I didn't see improvement, I could move onto more aggressive therapy, such as pills. I declined because I have heard those side effects are horrible.

I live in New jersey, but the doctor I saw was located in New York City, right by Bloomingdales. I searched high and low for a doctor and I got her name from a co worker!! She was fabulous...very patient, kind, and funny. I actually looked forward to going to see her, if it weren't for those steroid shots!!

Inbox me if you want her name and number!! Hang in there and good luck with your move!!

Comment by Cindy on October 29, 2011 at 1:12pm

I have done many rounds of steroid injections with some pretty good success. My hair would grow back in the spots that were injected but eventually I lost the battle. I just kept losing hair in other places and it got to the point where too many meds would have to be used. Basically half my head would have had to be injected. So, I gave up. But, I would say it bought me a couple more years and that was well worth it to me.

Comment by Nachiketa Sanyal on October 29, 2011 at 1:16pm

Beverly, so how's it going with the new doc? Yes, i'd like to get her name and number, i cant inbox you now, so adding you to my list.

Cindy,
Hmmm.. relapse is my biggest concern too. Just today I noticed a little fuzzy growth in my bigger patch too,. lets see how it turns out over the next one month or so..

Comment by Beverly on October 29, 2011 at 5:32pm

I agree with Aimee, everyone is different and not all medications will have the same effect. Just like Cindy, the steroid shots helped me short term, but I eventually lost more and more hair...my doctor actually asked me if I wanted to get cortisone shots in in my eyebrow area...I declined...I felt like I was chasing the hair on my body. In April, my doctor diagnosed me with AU.

I have used Olux, I actually used it initially in conjunction with the shots, it did not help and actually made my scalp break out. And it is super expensive, even with insurance coverage!!

Comment by Nachiketa Sanyal on October 30, 2011 at 1:00am

Good to hear some positive stories here.. thanks for your wishes! :)

Comment by Tijuanna Schumpert on October 31, 2011 at 10:54pm

I got steroid injections in my scalp and my hair began to fall out even more. I could only get them for three months at a time with a three month break in between. They're pretty painful to me. But it's nice to know that others have had positive experiences with them.

Comment by Christopher Blackett on May 14, 2018 at 9:04am

A little late to this party, but a lot of people have viewed this thread, and I did recently as well, so thought I'd comment 7 years later.

When hair regrows from alopecia, it sometimes lacks pigment, which is why it grows back white.  It regains its pigment after a few weeks or months.  The first time my alopecia regrew, in 8th grade, it came back as stark white, but only briefly, which I thought was kind of cool.  Since then, I've had it regrow a few times, but never white.  Steroid injections vary, but 2.5 months is pretty short to expect results.  I'm on month 3 of this newest bout, and I'm still losing hair.  That said, I've taken cortisone injections for 13+ years, and my alopecia (since it's first attack) has never exceeded about 30% hair loss, so I'd like to attribute that to the cortisones

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