I was just thinking, have you had your thyroid checked? that can cause severe hairloss. either way, if it is not alopecia areata, it should come back because if the antidepressants caused it, then once you discontinue them, it takes a while for your body to go through the entire hair cycle. do you know how the hair cycle works? how long have you been shedding hair?
You know sometimes when people go on extreme diets and loose weight too quickly, they can loose hair. I am not sure how fast you lost weight, but if that is the reason you lost hair, it will come back too. Maybe you can go try on wigs with your hair. You don't need to cut your hair to try on wigs. When i go swimming which is not very often , I just wear a hat and don't go under water. I do exercise and i wear a hat when i do that because i don't want my wig to get all yucky. I don't work outside the home, but if I did, i know I would wear my wigs. It would actually take alot less time and I actually think I would sort of like as weird as that sounds. I really am used to wearing hats now though. i have been wearing them for almost 2 years and I think it took at least 6-8 months to not get upset when I looked in the mirror. I think I feel better about it all because I know if i wanted to, I could look nice with a wig and makeup ya know. i also figured out how to put fake eyelashes on. But to be honest, my entire hair loss experience made me really focus on my personality. I feel like I am a nicer, kinder person. I feel good about my actions and the way i treat people and i think that improves my self esteem. Does that make sense? You can ask as many questions as you want. I love to help people and i want to help you. :)
I want you to know Susan that I felt EXACTLY like you describe. It has taken me almost 2 years to get to this place. I did have to start taking Zoloft because I could not function at all! The Zoloft really helped me to get out of my rut I think. I think watching your hair come out is very hard, that I why I shaved my head. Shaving my head was also very hard, but also was helpful in some ways. I also learned how to wear wigs and got a few that I like to wear. They are short bobs with bangs, like Katie Holmes sort of. But i only wear my wigs when i get dressed up for special occasions, going out to dinner etc. I wear a hat in public when I go out and I just tell myself, "who cares". I really think time has helped me though Susan. i could imagine feeling so at peace as i do now when I was in my deep depression. I literally did not stop crying. It was terrible. That is why I decided to go on the Zoloft. If your Dr. says you don't have alopecia areata, then your hair should eventually stop shedding nd come back, unless you have female pattern baldness that runs in your family. With alopecia areata, our immune system attacks our hair follicles. You hang in there girl! you will get through this, i promise you! It will just take time. Love,Jenn
Hey Susan,
i just sent you "my story" hoping it may help you in some way. I didn't realize how much space it would take up on your page. I'm sorry about that. I think you can erase it from your page if you want to. Love,
jenn
I thought I knew what love was at 16. I thought I knew what love was when I met my husband at 21. I thought I knew what love was when we wed at 24. I thought I knew what love was when I gave birth to our son at 29.
My husband and I were as happy as we could be. It was November of 2006. We just had our first child, our beautiful son Thomas. We had built a beautiful home in Houston, Texas three years prior to having our son and had worked, saved, traveled and enjoyed our lives together. Everything was perfect. Life couldn’t have been better.
One morning as I was putting on my makeup, I noticed my eyebrows were thinning. I assumed it was Telogen Effluvium (post pregnancy hair loss). Over the next few weeks and months I continued to lose hair. Slowly, small and large bald circles appeared all over my head. My husband and I had planned to go on our first ski trip alone, so I put off the Dr. visit until I returned. I could still cover the bald spots and I figured I would wear a cute ski hat most of the time. After returning from our trip I made an appt. with the dermatologist, still assuming my hair loss was Telogen Effluvium. I thought that maybe she could give me some sort of vitamin supplement or something. After all, I had recently given birth and we all know what a toll a pregnancy takes on a woman’s body.
I will NEVER forgot that day I went to the dermatologist. It was life changing. I brought my 7-month-old son with me. Of course, he wanted to get out of his stroller and I had to work hard to keep him occupied as I waited in the waiting room. At this point, I had already lost my eyebrows and eyelashes and only had about 30% of my hair left on my head. I was very self-conscience and feeling depressed and irritated that I had to go through this. I thought to myself, “there are millions of women who have babies, why does my pregnancy hair loss have to be so severe!”
As I waited for my name to be called, people would stare at me and then look at my son with pity in their eyes. I think most assumed I had cancer. I had to get used to feeling self-conscience. This was a new feeling for me. My entire life I was told how beautiful I was. I used to walk into a room and all heads would turn my way. I used to have thick, naturally blonde hair. The type of hair other girls hate you for. I was honored to be the Prom queen in high school and even won a beauty contest, Miss junior Orange Bowl Queen. My sorority sisters would tell me I had Barbie hair. I did have Barbie hair. If I knew then what I know now, I would have appreciated how beautiful my hair was.
I had to get used to people staring at me. That day I learned I had an autoimmune disease called Alopecia Areata. The dermatologist told me there was really nothing I could do about it, and I will probably loose the remaining hair I had left on my head. She said, “It may come back, but then fall out again.” “The course of this disease is unpredictable.” Those words haunted me for a very long time. I left the office holding back my tears with a millions things going through my head. I got to the car, buckled my son into his car seat and completely “lost it”. Over the next weeks and months, I would vacillate from feeling deeply depressed and sad as if someone I loved died, to feeling angry, to being in denial.
I eventually decided to shave my head because I couldn’t bear to see hair in the bathroom drain, on my pillow, on the floor, and on my son’s clothes. My beautiful hair was everywhere as a constant reminder that it wasn’t on my head anymore. I still remember as clear as day sitting in our guest bathtub while my husband shaved my head and our son watched as he sat in his baby Einstein excersaucer, playing with his toys, watching his daddy use this weird thing that makes a buzzing noise. Over the next few days and weeks I avoided mirrors. I couldn’t even bring my son to a mirror to smile back at his own reflection because what I saw when I looked in the mirror was too painful for me to endure. I was all alone a lot during this time. My husband had to work, my family lives in FL and all my friends were working. I would look forward to my son’s naptime so I could cry really hard in private. I never wanted my son to see me upset. Although he was very young, he could still sense if his mommy was sad or upset. I would sing to him, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray”. I could never get to the end of the song because I would start crying midway through.
My other “sunshine” was my husband. His presence was gentle and calm. I could always sense his strength and concern. He would hold me and just let me cry and sob. His love for me was a shining star during this most difficult time in my life. I am not sure I would have survived if I didn’t have him.
It has been almost 2 years now since I lost my hair. I have full blown Alopecia Universalis. There is not one single strand of hair on my entire body! I have not seen any signs of regrowth and don’t know if I ever will. I am 30 now and now I know what love is. From all of this, I have learned what true love is, I mean deep love, the kind that runs so deep, you know it’s not leaving. The same weekend I shaved my head, my husband shaved his. He told me that if I was going to lose all of my hair, then he didn’t need his either. He has shaved his head ever since.
I have recently learned to embrace my hair loss and have most recently accepted it. I have come to realize it really isn’t that important. How does that song go, “all you need is love.”
Some may look at me and feel sorry for me because maybe they think I have cancer or maybe they just feel sorry for me because I look so different. But I have it all. I have love. The love of myself, my husband, my son, my family and friends keeps me going.
I hope this story will inspire those who don’t feel attractive, have lost their hair, or just have lost focus on what is important.
Hi Susan, You asked about what to wear at the beach. I always wear a bandana or some other type of scarf. One of my favorite "beach" looks, especially with longer hair is braids with a bandana. You can get it wet and it still looks really cute. But it depends on your style and if you are comfortable with that look or not. But if I had as much hair as you but was just afraid of scalp showing through when it was wet, i would definitely go for braids and a bandana!
Regarding where I wear my wigs, I usually don't wear them to work out just because I sweat a LOT and I don't like to be that hot. The synthetic wig feels secure on me for most activities but if it is really windy it could possibly blow off...maybe? i don't know. luckily that has never happened! you could definitely wear the wig if you are doing a stationary bike, stair climbers, ellipticals, etc. because it doesn't require you to move your head around a lot. I don't know if it would work as well for yoga or kickboxing, but it might be fine. Anyway, i hope that helps and good luck wig shopping!
Hi Susan,
Thanks for your compliments on my wig. It is synthetic and was pretty inexpensive, which is funny after all of the money I've spent on custom wigs over the years! I got it at a wig shop, but they also carry it online. The brand name is Rene of Paris, the style is Gillian. I would recommend trying wigs on at a shop if you can find one because they look a lot different on you than on the models. Good luck!
Hey Susan!!! It's me Brandy....hope all is going well. Would love to hear from you and see how your doing? The kids??? That part time job??
Must say...I bic'd my head lastnight for the first time and DAMN...is it cold!! LOL!!
Hugs to you!!!
He aint my hubby yet!!! 7th june and counting - but yeah - him joining was awesome to me. he has been such an amazing support to me. Dont know what I would do without him.
Hi Susan, Thanks for adding me as a friend. It is really cool to meet people my same age going through the same thing that I'm going through! I know this can certainly be hard on the self-esteem. It is so helpful to meet others that can help boost us and help us realize that there is so much more to beauty than what grows out of our scalp. You are a beautiful woman and your sons are gorgeous!
I am good cant complain. Niyah met charlie Villanueva at the meet n greet they had this week. Other than that trying to stay strong for her since she has developed 2 new small spots. I had to change her hair style and have been lucky to let her go natural and it covers the spots. The treatments have been working for her so far so I am keeping the faith it will all work out
I getcha!! Well, ya know, you should wear something on your head to the beach anyhow cause you don't want to burn your scalp (it really does hurt - for days lol). If you have a hat or bandana on you won't be going scuba diving but can still enjoy the water. As far as shaving your head is concerned that will always be YOUR perrogative, don't let anyone tell you cause you must be ready, it is quite a difference and you'll want a wig as back up incase you really don't like the bald look. I didn't have much of a choice as everything fell out on it's own and I find for myself that the patchy look isn't very becomming (even if you shave the patch you'll still see the dark spot where your hair once was). There are pros to shaving your head though. A wig is so much easier to manage in the morning (you can fix it the night before even and they are workable, I know a lot of wig tips), you will be so much cooler when it's warm out, you'll never have hair blown into your eyes, mouth, etc. The list goes on!!! lol If you have any questions lemme know! take care!
Hi Susan.
Im good thanks for asking, how are you? :)
I started with the juice for.. 4 months ago, because some of my friends with alopecia tried it before me, and they hair where on their way back. It thought it didn´t hurt and I'm so glad i tried it! Off course, maybe it isn´t the juice but I think so. Its the only thing I've ever tried which gives my hair back. You found alo vera juice in healthshops. I drink 100 % alo vera juice, 25 ml each day. For me it works and I hope it works for other people to :)
Thank you! I would appreciate all the sunshine I can get here! We need it! haha. By the way i love your page, its so cute, & makes me think of summer, which i am very ready for! =)
Hey Susan! It has been a while...but I'm doing pretty well. We got some flooding in our area & it flooded our basement, but it has all been sucked up & has started to dry out...thats why I'm dreading the rain we're supposed to get today & tomorrow. Also because I'm supposed to go fishing with a friend tomorrow & I don't wanna miss that! =)
How are you doing?
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You know sometimes when people go on extreme diets and loose weight too quickly, they can loose hair. I am not sure how fast you lost weight, but if that is the reason you lost hair, it will come back too. Maybe you can go try on wigs with your hair. You don't need to cut your hair to try on wigs. When i go swimming which is not very often , I just wear a hat and don't go under water. I do exercise and i wear a hat when i do that because i don't want my wig to get all yucky. I don't work outside the home, but if I did, i know I would wear my wigs. It would actually take alot less time and I actually think I would sort of like as weird as that sounds. I really am used to wearing hats now though. i have been wearing them for almost 2 years and I think it took at least 6-8 months to not get upset when I looked in the mirror. I think I feel better about it all because I know if i wanted to, I could look nice with a wig and makeup ya know. i also figured out how to put fake eyelashes on. But to be honest, my entire hair loss experience made me really focus on my personality. I feel like I am a nicer, kinder person. I feel good about my actions and the way i treat people and i think that improves my self esteem. Does that make sense? You can ask as many questions as you want. I love to help people and i want to help you. :)
i just sent you "my story" hoping it may help you in some way. I didn't realize how much space it would take up on your page. I'm sorry about that. I think you can erase it from your page if you want to. Love,
jenn
I thought I knew what love was at 16. I thought I knew what love was when I met my husband at 21. I thought I knew what love was when we wed at 24. I thought I knew what love was when I gave birth to our son at 29.
My husband and I were as happy as we could be. It was November of 2006. We just had our first child, our beautiful son Thomas. We had built a beautiful home in Houston, Texas three years prior to having our son and had worked, saved, traveled and enjoyed our lives together. Everything was perfect. Life couldn’t have been better.
One morning as I was putting on my makeup, I noticed my eyebrows were thinning. I assumed it was Telogen Effluvium (post pregnancy hair loss). Over the next few weeks and months I continued to lose hair. Slowly, small and large bald circles appeared all over my head. My husband and I had planned to go on our first ski trip alone, so I put off the Dr. visit until I returned. I could still cover the bald spots and I figured I would wear a cute ski hat most of the time. After returning from our trip I made an appt. with the dermatologist, still assuming my hair loss was Telogen Effluvium. I thought that maybe she could give me some sort of vitamin supplement or something. After all, I had recently given birth and we all know what a toll a pregnancy takes on a woman’s body.
I will NEVER forgot that day I went to the dermatologist. It was life changing. I brought my 7-month-old son with me. Of course, he wanted to get out of his stroller and I had to work hard to keep him occupied as I waited in the waiting room. At this point, I had already lost my eyebrows and eyelashes and only had about 30% of my hair left on my head. I was very self-conscience and feeling depressed and irritated that I had to go through this. I thought to myself, “there are millions of women who have babies, why does my pregnancy hair loss have to be so severe!”
As I waited for my name to be called, people would stare at me and then look at my son with pity in their eyes. I think most assumed I had cancer. I had to get used to feeling self-conscience. This was a new feeling for me. My entire life I was told how beautiful I was. I used to walk into a room and all heads would turn my way. I used to have thick, naturally blonde hair. The type of hair other girls hate you for. I was honored to be the Prom queen in high school and even won a beauty contest, Miss junior Orange Bowl Queen. My sorority sisters would tell me I had Barbie hair. I did have Barbie hair. If I knew then what I know now, I would have appreciated how beautiful my hair was.
I had to get used to people staring at me. That day I learned I had an autoimmune disease called Alopecia Areata. The dermatologist told me there was really nothing I could do about it, and I will probably loose the remaining hair I had left on my head. She said, “It may come back, but then fall out again.” “The course of this disease is unpredictable.” Those words haunted me for a very long time. I left the office holding back my tears with a millions things going through my head. I got to the car, buckled my son into his car seat and completely “lost it”. Over the next weeks and months, I would vacillate from feeling deeply depressed and sad as if someone I loved died, to feeling angry, to being in denial.
I eventually decided to shave my head because I couldn’t bear to see hair in the bathroom drain, on my pillow, on the floor, and on my son’s clothes. My beautiful hair was everywhere as a constant reminder that it wasn’t on my head anymore. I still remember as clear as day sitting in our guest bathtub while my husband shaved my head and our son watched as he sat in his baby Einstein excersaucer, playing with his toys, watching his daddy use this weird thing that makes a buzzing noise. Over the next few days and weeks I avoided mirrors. I couldn’t even bring my son to a mirror to smile back at his own reflection because what I saw when I looked in the mirror was too painful for me to endure. I was all alone a lot during this time. My husband had to work, my family lives in FL and all my friends were working. I would look forward to my son’s naptime so I could cry really hard in private. I never wanted my son to see me upset. Although he was very young, he could still sense if his mommy was sad or upset. I would sing to him, “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray”. I could never get to the end of the song because I would start crying midway through.
My other “sunshine” was my husband. His presence was gentle and calm. I could always sense his strength and concern. He would hold me and just let me cry and sob. His love for me was a shining star during this most difficult time in my life. I am not sure I would have survived if I didn’t have him.
It has been almost 2 years now since I lost my hair. I have full blown Alopecia Universalis. There is not one single strand of hair on my entire body! I have not seen any signs of regrowth and don’t know if I ever will. I am 30 now and now I know what love is. From all of this, I have learned what true love is, I mean deep love, the kind that runs so deep, you know it’s not leaving. The same weekend I shaved my head, my husband shaved his. He told me that if I was going to lose all of my hair, then he didn’t need his either. He has shaved his head ever since.
I have recently learned to embrace my hair loss and have most recently accepted it. I have come to realize it really isn’t that important. How does that song go, “all you need is love.”
Some may look at me and feel sorry for me because maybe they think I have cancer or maybe they just feel sorry for me because I look so different. But I have it all. I have love. The love of myself, my husband, my son, my family and friends keeps me going.
I hope this story will inspire those who don’t feel attractive, have lost their hair, or just have lost focus on what is important.
Love,
Jennifer
Regarding where I wear my wigs, I usually don't wear them to work out just because I sweat a LOT and I don't like to be that hot. The synthetic wig feels secure on me for most activities but if it is really windy it could possibly blow off...maybe? i don't know. luckily that has never happened! you could definitely wear the wig if you are doing a stationary bike, stair climbers, ellipticals, etc. because it doesn't require you to move your head around a lot. I don't know if it would work as well for yoga or kickboxing, but it might be fine. Anyway, i hope that helps and good luck wig shopping!
Thanks for your compliments on my wig. It is synthetic and was pretty inexpensive, which is funny after all of the money I've spent on custom wigs over the years! I got it at a wig shop, but they also carry it online. The brand name is Rene of Paris, the style is Gillian. I would recommend trying wigs on at a shop if you can find one because they look a lot different on you than on the models. Good luck!
Must say...I bic'd my head lastnight for the first time and DAMN...is it cold!! LOL!!
Hugs to you!!!
How r u
Im good thanks for asking, how are you? :)
I started with the juice for.. 4 months ago, because some of my friends with alopecia tried it before me, and they hair where on their way back. It thought it didn´t hurt and I'm so glad i tried it! Off course, maybe it isn´t the juice but I think so. Its the only thing I've ever tried which gives my hair back. You found alo vera juice in healthshops. I drink 100 % alo vera juice, 25 ml each day. For me it works and I hope it works for other people to :)
How are you doing?
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Any mention of products and services on Alopecia World is for informational purposes only; it does not imply a recommendation or endorsement by Alopecia World. Nor should any statement or representation on this site be construed as professional, medical or expert advice, or as pre-screened or endorsed by Alopecia World. Alopecia World is not responsible or liable for any of the views, opinions or conduct, online or offline, of any user or member of Alopecia World.