Alopecia, daughter devastated

[insanityscratching]

Dd is 21, her hair has always been her pride and joy even from being small. It's beautiful, long and healthy and it's beginning to fall out She has a bald spot about 5cm round at her crown but it's thinning at the nape of her neck and in general really. We were on holiday last week and it was just as it always has been, she went away with friends at the weekend and everything was ok so the hair has come out in the last two days.
Does anyone have any experience of this and words of hope? She's seeing the GP later who can hopefully give her some advice but I'm not sure how to help with how upset she is.

[Pancakeflipper]

I haven't but a friend has this.

I know she sometimes turns to this organisation. And she has on-going therapy for her ability to cope with it. She has good and bad days. She found her eyelashes going the hardest.

There's degrees and there's temporary alopecia. I hope the Dr is of help, but keep pushing for help.

//www.alopeciaonline.org.uk

[RubbishRobotFromTheDawnOfTime]

Your poor DD. I had this at a similar age. Over a couple of weeks I lost all my hair and my eyebrows thinned significantly too. I was distraught (so was my mum, and I wish she had kept herself in check a bit more as it didn't help) and had to wear a bandana as I was too embarrassed to use a wig. Now, I think I would go for the wig option.

After about a year, it started growing back. Obviously I saw doctors at the time but we never discovered the cause. That was around 15 years ago. I still have little patches that come and go but they are manageable.

Hopefully this is temporary for your DD. Steroid injections can help where there are just patches of hair loss.

[Mousybrown]

Bless her it's really tough, I had similar when I was 16. Lost all of my hair over the course of 3 weeks ( although I had previously had small patches from the age of about 7)

gp was useless so my mum and dad paid for me to see a dermatologist privately and following some treatment my hair grew back in about 9 months.

I have had the occasional patch following but I have to say ( not sure if it is a coincidence) but since I have gone carb free I have not had any hair loss??

She may need so blood test done to check her thyroid... I also have a thyroid condition and the two can be connected.

Hopefully she won't lose all of her hair and it will just grow back on its own, maybe suggest having a shorter cut and some layers so it looks thicker, I always felt it is less upsetting to lose. If I can help in any way please feel free to pm me x

[Dietagainmonday]

I had this at 14, saw GP who was useless, he said it was hereditary even though we don't know of any family members with it.
I would recommend Mane spray, it is a coloured thickening spray that you buy to match hair colour it gave me confidence as nobody could see it.

[insanityscratching]

Thank you all, she has been to see the GP who has ordered blood tests and will refer her to a dermatologist. Dd has spent much of the day in bed feeling really low. She's spoken to work (she works in a bank) and they've told her to take the rest of the week off sick and then she has got a week off anyway. Hopefully by which time she will be feeling stronger even if we don't yet have any answers. I'm trying to be reassuring which is hard when I can't say whether it will stop falling out or not and I'm not letting her see I'm upset too so hopefully I'm doing the right thing and of course I'm mopping up the tears and giving hugs as needed.

[Happydaystoytown]

I remember when this happened to my daughter, she too had beautiful long thick hair. Naturally she was devastated, as I was. The worse thing was not knowing when it would grow back. We got her a wig which looked lovely. Then, less than a year after it fell out she started to get new growth, it took a while but eventually it all grew back. Thankfully apart from the odd very small but not noticeable bald patch she's never looked back. I'm sure it'll be the same for your daughter OP. She'll get her lovely hair back.

[ragged]

She gets a wig, she'll find a way. Heck, maybe she could even earn an Olympic gold medal or 2 along the way.

[DarylDixonsDarlin]

My younger sister had sudden bald patches appear, thyroid issues turned out to be the cause. Hopefully the gp will be able to help they weren't going to treat my.sister as she was only borderline but she was insistent.and they have medicated her, hair is now growing back. So don't let them fob your DD off if she is borderline on the thyroid tests, oh come back in 6 weeks and we'll test again, that kind of thing.

[BL00CowWonders]

No alopecia help, I'm afraid but a very quick fix would be to get a hair piece/ extensions to help her through the next few weeks while tests are being run.
I've had the 'Hairdo' range by Ken Paves from QVC and they look genuinely real. You could order Several to check colour etc and make the most of the 30 day money back guarantee.
(Apologies if you only want medical advice -just want your dd to have something to try)

[insanityscratching]

Well she's gone back to work today because she thought if she had a long time off she would find it even more difficult. She's styled and tied her hair to the side to hide the worst of it and it's only noticeable that her hair is thinner to those who see her regularly. She has an interview today, her confidence has been knocked but she usually interviews well so hopefully that will come through.
Thank you for hair extension recommendations I'll tell her about them. She's pretty unshakable as a rule so yesterday was a shock to me to see her so fragile today she's got her grit back and I think she'll get through now.

[RubbishRobotFromTheDawnOfTime]

Don't hair extensions attach to existing hair? You couldn't use those while it was falling out. At this stage maybe a wide headband/scarf would be best to cover up the thinnest bits and patches.

I think your daughter is right to go back to work. It's very hard but you have to continue your life as normally as possible. I do hope it's just a temporary thing for her.

[Carriemac]

How is your daughter doing? The same happens my son and he is using the eyelash regrgrowth stuff which I researched on med line and it is starting to work

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

It happened to me, six years ago, almost certainly stress related. I'm in a hurry now, but will come back and post later. Mine grew back BTW.

[HubertCumberdale]

Happened to me, although I didn't lose all of my hair, just some of it. It grew back to normal after about 6 months.
I remember at the time my dr said if I lost all of my hair I could get a coupon from the NHS for money off a wig, but this was a while ago. Wigs are so good nowadays though.

What I'm saying is, you can have alopecia without losing all of your hair.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I lost about a third of mine, in patches, over a few months. After about 6 months I noticed that it wasn't spreading so fast and at the same time some patches started to grow back, by about a year after the first patches starting to show they had all started growing back. My GP was sympathetic but wouldn't refer me to dermatology, I had to go privately, my insurance only partly covered it too. However I had a good long appt with a sympathetic consultant who prescribed steroid gel, advised on wigs and other disguising tactics and transferred mecto his NHS list. My follow up appt was a rushed 5 mins, big difference! My stressful circumstances (job related) resolved themselves, I have no idea whether that or the steroids helped but it made me feel better knowing I was doing something about it. 6 years later I haven't had any recurrence on my head my hair is thick and full but my eyebrows are almost non existent. It is very distressing, big sympathy to your DD.

[openthecurtains]

I'd recommend iron supplements. DB suffered from it for years. Lost eyebrows, everything. Then he was put on iron supplements by a doctor abroad - turns out some other countries intervene on iron levels at a higher count than the UK does. A couple of months after he started the iron we suddenly noticed the alopecia had gone. He wasn't put on iron for the alopecia but after it went we googled and found it can be a cause. Worth a try.

[Dietagainmonday]

How is your daughter doing op?

[Lloydgeorge]

Hi OP, How is your DD? Can you get her B12 and ferritin checked too? The reference range for B12 in the UK is rubbish but there seems to be a march towards below 500 being a problem. Have a look on the Pernicious Anaemia website for more info. Good luck

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

[paxtecum]

I had alopecia and it was stress related.

Diet will help a lot. No junk at all, no alcohol, no fizzy pop.
Everything that she eats and drinks should be nutritious.

A good quality multi vit and mineral supplement.

Lots of sleep and fresh air.
Increase the Blood flow to the head, by lying on the bed, head hanging over the side and then massage the scalp twice a day.

A good herbalist would help too so would acupuncture.