Alopecia aureata
 

I have this, or so the dermatologist says. I started losing clumps of hair in mid-july. I went to a doctor in late august, thyroid tests and blood count were normal.
I saw a dermatologist last week and he said this is what I have. It's autoimmune. It gets worse with stress. I am REALLY stressed out in summer! My job gets out of control and I'm scheduled more.

So now I'm going bald and I have patches of scalp that show and I actually bought spray-on-hair.
It works, but it sucks. It rubs off on my hands, ears, pillow case, etc.
It makes my hair feel like a brillo pad, but I keep using it because it covers the bald.
Anyone know of a better hair toucher-upper? I'm using GLH "Good looking hair"
The worst part is the more hair I lose, the more stressed out I get.

Today I got fed up with all the hair falling out and decided to help it along. I went to a hairdresser and got it ALL chopped off into a pixie-like cut. Almost like Halle Berry's hair or Demi Moore back in the day.
Thing is, now I need the damn spray on hair even more.
Suggestions...please?

A hat? A wig?

less stress? jesus, stace. i thought this thread was going to be about nipples. i don;t really know why. are you getting laid enough? i bet you're not. once every two weeks is not enough. buy a vibrator. and smoke more pot, and get the fuck out of food service.

I also would suggest wig or perky or funkky cap of some kind. Maybe some colorful bandannas.

Is your thyroid okay?

(You didn't get mange from the dogs, didja?)

My thyroid is fine, at least my TSH is fine. They didn't test for T3, T4, etc, but I figured maybe the TSH covers the overall function? Or maybe my doctor was an idiot- wouldn't be the first time!

I have signs of hypothyroid, like dry skin and fatigue, but I can easily lose weight and I'm not overweight at all, so I don't think that's it.

I'm pretty sure it is from stress and autoimmune seems right. I have a bunch of other autoimmune issues that started at times in my life when I was stressed- Multiple food allergies and gluten-intolerance, cysts in my uterus/ possible endometriosis, etc.

Yes, the best idea would be to REDUCE STRESS, but I have to make money and my job is kind enough to give me a week off every month for my period issues.

I've never heard of sex-therapy for har loss. Interesting concept!
Getting out of the restaurant business is probably the biggest factor in my recovery!

I am dreading the possibility of having to wear a wig!! I'd rather cover up the bald areas with a spray/cream/anything. What if I got the hair caught on something and it came off? And wouldn't it look like a damn wig? I'm not spending $800 on a human hair wig, so synthetic's my only choice.
(I hate hats and I can't wear one to work anyway.)


I'm calling out sick today. Probably tomorrow too. Then I have 9 days scheduled off anyways. I have to figure out the best way to cover this shit within the next 11 days.

Oh, and I asked the dermatologist about the possibility of mange or anything else I could've cought from the dog- he said no way. Besides, it's not itchy, red, inflamed, flakey, or anything. Nope, it's just falling out by the root- you can see the follicle at the end of the hairs that fall out. They call them "club hairs". A big sign or alopecia aureata or hair loss from trauma.

You know, I did get in a car accident about 3-4 months before this all began and that is a very real possibility of why my hair is all falling out. BUT, I didn't get hurt in the damn accident, and I've had much more traumatic things in my life (divorce at age 19, my current husband almost dying on a fishing boat, finding those emails my husband wrote to that other woman, working at the vet and bagging dead bodies, watching them use a saw to cut the head off a lab puppy to send to a lab for rabies testing, etc, etc.)

So, really, the car accident wasn't even all that bad!

Damn, am I rambling or what?

Just wear a wig while you're losing hair...It's better to have a wig rather, right!?

Sinead O'Conner pulled off the shaved head alright. What do you do for stress management? Running, cycling, or working out would be my suggestions.

I went to a wig shop and tried on about 15 wigs. Even the $600 human hair, hand-tied wig looked so FAKE to me. I'd rather quit my job and not leave the house until the hair grows back.
Thank God winter's coming! Hats are better than wigs :)

Stress management? I sleep. A lot. And I cry, bitch, eat chips, smoke cigarettes, take a nap, rinse, lather and repeat.

I used to go to the gym every day and I felt great, but I had to stop when I started waitressing.
Even light cardio before work makes me feel so drained, and after work I am too tired to even think about exercising.

I am naturally high strung. I was born that way. (My grandmother tells me some stories!) I have no stress tolerance. I belong on a farm milking cows and feeding chickens. Seriously.

I accompanied a friend to a few Alopecia support group meetings. There are three levels of ,Alopecia,areata, totalis, and universalis. I have seen people with all three.

I have also seen very good wigs. If you are unhappy with what you were shown, consider going to a different store.

Just remember, that unless it's a symptom of something else, Alopecia by itself is not life threatening and can be temporary. A lot of women get it. The support group in Philadelphia I went to was run by a woman who used to be a model.

Have you ever seriously thought about it?

yes, I have. (The farm thing). I figured it would take more money than we have right now. We need to pay off our last few thousand in debt and work on getting a better apartment/ savings/ new car, etc. It's financially imposiible right now, but maybe in the next ten years...

I went online and did some research and found out that dying hair won't make this condition worse, and would even thicken my hair.
I bleached my hair blonde and added highlights. I feel more girly now. And it looks thicker and the contrast between scalp and hair is so small, that it looks normal! :D
I'm feeling a whole lot better. I had blonde hair for 7 years and then I went back natural. The smell of the hair bleach was so nostalgic. It reminded me of my party days.
Arsen went blonde with me. We are a very sunny looking couple now!
If I don't lose any more significant amounts of hair, this whole thing will be resolved. And since I have 9 more days off work and the busy season is coming to an end, there is hope. Yay :)

less stress already! wtg!

any updates?

didn't she say she quit her job? trading one stress for another in my book. could be a net positive, of course. I think I saw her say that in the cost to fence a yard thread.

She said she was doing good in her blog. I don't know if that is still the case...