Hair loss, come and share your experiences (please)

[Wonderstuff]

Since finding a bald patch on Tuesday I have been looking on interweb and it seems that lots of people suffer from alopecia, about 1% of the population apparently, so there must be a few of you about with stories to share.

When did you lose your hair?
How much did you lose? - I currently have a bald patch about the size of a tennis ball
Did it grow back?
What treatment did you have?
Was your GP sympthetic? - I have an appointment at 11.15

I am really scared, don't know what of or why

Back from the doctors. He didn't know anything about it, looked it up on the internet and promised to talk to other practice doctors. It seems a bit mysterious, no know cause or cure, it may grow back, it may not, it may respond to treatment, or not. I have booked in for blood tests for thyroid function as I feel throuly washed out.

I have been on the go for a while and I always get a cold when school breaks up, I think its my body responding to me relaxing a bit after too much stress (does that make sense) Nothing out of the ordinary has happened, but 17months of sleepless nights finally taken their toll.

I have decided to wean my dd, as I think that is one thing I can do to reduce pressure on my body, I'm pleased we have got this far, I was aiming for 2, but I think at the moment its draining me and my needs out weigh hers on this.

Was pleased with GP dispite not knowing much he wasn't dismissive which was what I feared.

No experience wonderstuff but didn't want your posts to go unanswered...

can only suggest that you take as much care of yourself as possible - mineral suppliments, good diet, ensuring your vitamin intake is broad.

I think for many it's anxiety/stress linked so maybe relaxing techniques may help - and massage.

Hope you manage to find more time for yourself and your dd starts to sleep better for you

Thanks wabbit Massage sounds like an excellent idea..

DD did sleep better last night, her first night with out boob before bed, I laid wide awake waiting for her to stir, annoyingly with the squiggler theme tune in my head, I think I may invest in some nytol..

Yes, getting your sleep patters sorted will really help I'm sure, must be very worrying for you...

I posted a few weeks ago about my hair loss and my story is sounding very similar to yours. My hair started falling out in January and hasn't stopped yet. It's all over my head rather than patches though.

My ds is 15 months and has only really started sleeping since february. I'm also breastfeeding him, although I stopped night feeds when he was about 8 months old (didn't help him sleeping!).

The GP was sure it was stress but I insisted on blood tests. They came back last week and thyroid and iron levels all OK. I was still a bit about the stress thing as there's nothing huge going on, no death, divorce, moving, money trouble etc, just normal busy household stuff combined with 4 children....

She had quite a chat with me though and pointed out that I do very little for me. I'm so busy sorting everyone else out that there's not much leftover for me. I do spend far too much time online, but that's not really making me feel better about things. I need to be doing stuff I want to do (baking or crafty stuff). I know when I do those I feel happier. It's hard to find time when sorting the rest of my rabble out though.

GP told me to go home and bake! I'm under strict instructions to put myself first a bit more. I can't look after all of them if I'm ill.

Does any of that sound familiar?

hi i have a hair loss problem caused by dry itchy flaky skin. I t flares up with stress and every time i wash my hair great handfuls come out. my bald patchs are not noticable at the moment because the hair at the top of my head is thick and unaffected (at the mo) and covers my bald patches. i havetried special shampoos, not washing my hair only once every 2weeks, i avoid brushing it. no real dfference. I last had it 5 years ago when my hsband left me and have it back now as in a very stressful job! Ironically on holiday for the last 2 weeks and less hair is falling out so must be the stress of the job. it gets me down and i am worried that soon i wont be able to arrange my hair to cover the patches.

I think last time my did grow back and thicken up. but i cant remember how long it took. There was another hair loss thread on here about 6 weeks ago which had some good ideas.

When my ex-fiance dumped me 3m before the wedding, I lost a fair bit of hair, especially around the temples (receding hairline!) and it took over a year for the loss to settle down and for it to grow back in. I am not sure if it was all down to the stress or also due to the disturbed eating patterns - I lost 1 1/2 stone in 4 weeks because I was only drinking coffee-flavoured hot sweet milk and occasionally choking down a banana (NOT a recommended diet) - so could easily be partly stress and partly malnutrition.

Stress can cause depletion of certain nutrients anyway because you use them up quicker, so it got me both ways.

Post-delivery, it took 3m for my hair to start falling out, and it slowed down after about 6m. I still have some dodgy growth areas (DS now 16mo) but no bald bits - although I did have hair loss in the templar region again.

my original thread from a few weeks ago is here....

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=general_health&threadid=722419-hair-loss-not-immediately-postal-natal#1 4729474

changename1, I also have very itchy flaky skin and not just on my head. I tired not washing my head so often but the itching drive me insane and I caved in by day 4! I hope you can manage to reduce your stress levels too. Hair loss is horrible

I forgot to say before, I'd previously had a patch fall out right at the front. It was about 3 years ago now and did grow back. I was tufty for ages though, it's only just grown back to the right length!

I read Gail Porters story and although she has really been through lots of stress she lost her hair when she was in a happy place. It does seem stress isn't always a factor. Thanks for the link to that thread, some good ideas.

I personally don't deal with any sort of stress well, and I think that taking it a bit easy can only be a good thing. Have spoken to dh about the need for me to not always be in charge, he is very good at sitting back and letting me make all of lifes decisions.

My scalp isn't itchy at all, I didn't even notice until quite a bit had gone as thankfully it is in the temple region on one side and is covered by hair at the top of my head. I feel a bit calmer about it than I did when I first found it. Sounds silly but I thought cancer - I KNOW that it's cancer treatment that causes hair loss rather than cancer, but I think the association in my head is so strong. Now I have accepted that the worse that could happen is going bald and that is unlikely I feel a bit calmer.

Has anyone had steriod treatment?

Hi
Don't be scared!! Reading your account I think you probably have hairloss related to having a baby called-blah blah (it's a latin word and I can't remember it).
I say this because I lost ALL my hair after DD. It receded on my head as male pattern baldness and disappeared on my arms, legs, underarms and eyebrows. I was referred to a dermatologist who said it would never grow back and wrote me prescription for a wig.

My hair has grown back although I have tiny bald patches that come and go but no-one can see them. Don't worry and please ask any questions on here and I will try to reassure you.
x

www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068833/
This is the condition I mentioned
x

Gosh that sounds horrific, so glad it grew back. I have alopecia areata (I think) I don't have thinning but one area that is bald, whether it will get worse or better is anyones guess, but I am feeling quite ok about it at the moment. DH promises he will still love me if I go bald it really could be worse. Annoying that I am quite a hairy person and spend a fortune removing hair from the rest of my body and only my head is going bald. Alopecia restricted to below my neck would be heaven
Thanks for sharing though, is comforting that others have gone through this too.

I just wanted to offer my sympathy to you .I know how scarey it can be .My mom is losing her hair due to a condition called Lichen Planus.She went private in the end, but there is no real treatment for it.She also has it in her mouth.She was told that it can take up to 10 years for the virus to burn out.

Hi,
I've never posted on here before, just been browsing. You are not alone. My hairdresser found a completely bald patch about the size of a golf ball on my head a couple of weeks ago, it's low down on the back, so hidden by longer layers, I've been feeling very down about it, it tingles most of the time, so it's hard not to think about it. There is still more coming out, but the hairdresser and my GP both said it looked as though some new was starting to come through. I had an extremely stressful time at work in Jan/Feb, think that's probably what's done it. My mum and dad have both had it in the past too. From everything I have found out there isn't a lot you can do apart from try and de-stress. I used to love styling my hair, now I'm scared every time I pick up the brush or wash it. It is comforting to have read through your thread to know that I am not the only one.

Thanks for posting. I read that often alopecia runs in families, I think my mum lost some hair when I was little and she was under lots of stress. Did your mum and dads hair regrow? I read 80% of peoples hair grows back, hopefully yours will. I am feeling much better now that I know I've not got some crazy disease. Hopefully 6 months from now I will be in a new house which will reduce a lot of my stress and my hair will regrow. I keep checking it and it isn't getting worse, its about the size of a tennis ball..

my mum suffers from this problem and has done for years, my understanding of it, is that it is an auto immune condition (i suffer form under active thyroid, which is one) she has hair loss it appears to be hereditory.

i would love to give you all an answer but my mum has suffered for 30 years and is now bald (apart from a kind of 'baby growth')

i do think that attitude towards baldness can help confidence though - my mum wears the most bloody awful, cheap wigs (this is partly down to her upbringing, sense of self worth/esteem which, i believe helped cause the problem in the first place)

go for the most expensive wigs you can afford!, go for outragous styles/obvious wigs etc, if you can and flaunt it!

and truly belive that normal, kind humans feel for you!

Wonderstuff -I've had hair loss after pregnancy, and also when I stopped breastfeeding my dd2 who was 19 months. I stopped very suddenly, and was quite upset about it, and loads of my hair fell out (no bald patches though); and I can only assume it was due to my body returning to 'normal' after being pregnant or breastfeeding or both continuously for four years. It only stopped falling out when I became pregnant again.

I'm breastfeeding my third child now and I will wean him very gradually, and hope I don't loss so much haior.

Wonderstuff, I suffer with a general thinning of hair - have done for past 4 years - no pregnancy or change in diet/lifetstyle

It's getting continually worse.

Dr sent me for full blood test. Everything's as normal.

Referred me to Endocrinology dept at hospital. More blood tests - everything as normal!

Referred me to dermatologist. My appt is this wednesday.

It's affecting my confidence greatly.

Washing and styling is a nightmare - always end up with a handful of hair!

What/who is your next port of call?

My next port of call is a blood test on Friday to check thyroid function, after that its a case of wait and see, at the moment the baldness isn't visable as its under longer hair, if it moves up and is visable then I'll ask to be refered for steriod injections which work well but can only be used on small patches due to them being painful!

Wuxiapian good luck for Wednesday, keep us updated, I hope there is something that works for you.

Belgo hope that the gradual weaning works, I lost quite a bit all over when dd started on solids, as I understand it when you are pg you stop losing hair and so after pg inevitably some hair lose will happen, but some people lose more than others I guess.

jesuswhatnext (love your name) thanks for your support, lets hope your family alopecia skips a generatio!n

When do you get results of blood test, Wonderstuff?

I went to dermatologist on weds. She checked my previous blood test results, asked questions and said it could just be im my physiology.

She sent me for another test to check iron levels and I'll go back again in 6 weeks for result.

Still too much coming out and still trying no to let it bother me too much.

Sigh

Hi again,
Mine's getting worse, my first patch is so big now the longer hair only just covers it, it got wet when I was outside earlier and I put my hand up and it was completely exposed. Also think I'm starting another patch, right in my parting, there is hair all over the house and I just feel totally miserable, but feel shallow that I should be miserable over my appearance when there are so many worse things in the world. Think I might go back to Drs. Mine's unlikely to be anything to do with children as weaned youngest very gradually ending about 6 mo ago. Aargh. Thinking of you all.

wonderstuff am that the GP didn't know about alopecia. A dermatologist is a good specialist to consult. Sometimes steroids are helpful. I think this can also be stress-related so perhaps some biofeedback techniques?

Hi

I have alopecia. Three years ago I lost all my hair, well, I looked like Andy off Little Britain and so shaved off theremainder and my wonderful husband bought me a wig which looked really natural. I wore scarves and hats too.

Since then, I have lost varying amounts at various times, and my head too tingles and fizzes where the hair comes out. At the moment I have a big patch right on top of my head.

I've come to realise there is sod all I can do about it, if it is going to go then it will. I still have my scarves and hats and my wig, and if I lose a lot I will shave it off again because bizarrely I look bettertotally bald than very patchy.

The worst thing was feeling the pillow cold under my head at night...I bought a couple of sleep hats to wear, which my husband hated and took off when we got intimate - lol!

I find that massaging lavender oil in to the fizzing parts helps, and seems to slow down the loss. Might be psychological but IMO anything that helps me feel better is a good thing.

I feel that, too, ilove.

Hits home just how much hair I'm losing - also when I'm out and the air's cold against my scalp...

Horrible