Hi I’m Diane. I thought I would share my story with everyone. About 20 months ago, I was going through a rough time. I was exhausted all the time, had no energy & constantly fell asleep in the chair every time I sat down. On top of all that, I was also losing my hair really badly. Every time I got out of the bathtub after washing my hair, I would see a ton of hair floating on top of the water. I also had to clean a lot of hair off the bathroom sick on a daily basis. One day I went to my Doctor for a routine checkup and I mentioned the symptoms to him. He did some blood work and the results showed my thyroid counts were low. He said that definitely explained all the symptoms. I took thyroid pills for 4 months and my energy returned and I felt a lot better. However, my hair continued to fall out. So I went to an Endocrinologist and he said the thyroid counts were not low enough to make my hair fall out. So, I went to see a Dermatologist. She diagnosed me with Alopecia Areata. I explained to her this was the second time I had lost my hair. The first time being 13 years ago when I got a very rare lung disease and my lungs shut down. I was on respirator for almost 3 days. To get my lungs working again, the doctors put me on steroids. After I was released from the hospital, I noticed my hair was falling out. I thought it was from the steroids and demanded to be taken off them. Unfortunately, steroids you can’t just stop taking and I had to be weaned off them for 3 months. It took months for my hair to finally stop falling out and it took a full year and half for it to fully come back. Now here I am again. The Dermatologist said it was Alopecia 13 years ago too. So, I’ve been doing Injection treatments for a year. I also did Rogaine and taking Biotin. Nothing has helped. My hair continues to fall out and my Dermatologist has basically said the injections have not helped at all. We’ve now decided to stop doing the injections. I now have 3 bald spots on my head (one right in front above my bangs, one at the top of my head and another at the back of my head). It seems like I’ve been crying for months and months. I think i'm pretty much cried out. About a month ago, I went and bought my first hair piece. It’s an intragrated top piece. At first, I felt completely uncomfortable wearing it. I took it to my hairdresser who I totally trust and she shortened it. She also layered my hair and it looks completely natural. I’ve told a few close friends and family members about it and everyone says they can't tell it's a wig. It’s slowly grown on me and I can actually put it on and pull my hair through it in about 3-4 minutes. So, while my life is still spinning from this re-occurance, it’s slowed down a little and I’ve cried a little less since I got it. I’ve contacted a support group in my area and I was referred to this site. I’m so glad to be here. I can’t wait to get to know everyone.