Hair Loss....Extreme and Sudden

[[Pr...]]

RTBW - wow...that's a LOT to go through in such a short space of time. So you are on thyroid meds then? I think that endo's are only as good as you make them. Lol. The trick is finding one open to what you have to say. I ONLY see doctors that are fine with me bringing suggestions for them to explore.

 

Maltese - the thing is, I think it's the amount of smoothie and also keeping other things that can clog up your system (like meat, carbs) out as well that does the real healing. It's all well and good for us to eat natural and add smoothies but I think once the damage has been done and the body is sick, a drastic diet is necessary to correct whatever imbalance it is. But alas, we are stuck in w/d. I hope that going back to juicing will at least keep your problem from getting worse in the meantime. You and I are very close in our jumpoff dates as well. I am about a month in front of you. Let's resolve to go on a juice fast together when we are fully healed I am having setbacks this week possibly bc I decreased my Lexapro last Tuesday

 

 

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I lose my hair after a hormonal change (going off birth control or postpartum). I've also lost my hair after going under anesthesia. AND, I lost my hair after going off a month's worth of prescription strength NSAID pain relievers. I never went bald, but it was a pain in the neck! Yours will come back. It's just a way for our bodies to purge I think.

[[ma...]]

Thanks princezz. Let's hope we both get well quick so we can do the juicing diet. I want my thick hair back and my arthritis pain to go away. Can't figure out what is causing it.

[[Re...]]

One thing - one of many!  - that frustrates me about this hair loss issue is that, overall, I was doing really well.  I was moving into the new school year, actually excited about the craziness of football season and even the upcoming holidays...because I was long since now off benzos and feeling better and could count on some sleep most nights.....

 

I'll be eager to get to that doctor and just KNOW what is going on.  I'm TERRIBLE at waiting. I can be patient all day long w/ the boys but with my own things......nope.

[[ma...]]

Hi readytobewell. I"m just a week behind  you. I am still struggling with insomnia, my worst symptom. I do feel a bit better and can mostly sleep with melatonin and oat straw tea but wake up multiple times during the nite and can't go to sleep without melatonin. Still some sweating too.

My hair loss started in 2003 when I stopped hormones. It has been gradual but worse during withdrawal. Very scary...especially when your hair is one of your best features. Mine isn't just thinning, its gone at the temples and now partly on top with very thin on one side. I'm taking every supplement for hair but don't see any new growth in the bald areas. Why can't someone come up with a cure for this?

[[Pr...]]

Football season! Go Steelers!

[[Re...]]

LOL. Today after the trip to the dermatologist (oh please oh please oh please say this is has treatment/can be cured!) I have our town's first football game to attend. My son plays in the band, so I'm a band mom.  Gooooo Bulldogs! 

 

I'm in Saint's territory, so I kinda go along with rooting for them.  Not really a big football person but trying to learn.

 

Will post what the derm says.  Thank goodness my husband cancelled classes and is going with me.  I need the support and to NOT have to drive in a city today. 

 

 

[[Pr...]]

LOL you are like me. I had never watched football until I moved to the Burgh for two years. Then it was safer just to walk around saying "Go Stillers!" than not. Lolol. Those people take their football SERIOUSLY. And then we had our Super Bowl run and it got to be kind of fun, so I'm going to watch again this year.

 

Fingers crossed for you at the derm today that this is not w/d and that it's curable

[[Re...]]

Thanks, Prince. Yea, I don't give a crap WHAT is causing this, as long as it stops, at the very least.  Where I am now is bad but I can still cover it all with a pony tail and could probably fix it with a weave.  I'm sick of almost bursting into tears every time I touch it and hair falls out.  :'(

 

Our town is nuts for football. N-U-T-S.  I almost have to say "Go bulldogs" when I greet people.  Like a ceremonial thing or something. LOL.

 

More later - thanks again for the friendship.  This is tough  - all the support is helping.

 

[Guest [Ma...]]

Best wishes today at the MD appointment. 

 

Drive safe,

M

[[Re...]]

Hey, folks. Back from the doctor. She's great, I think.  She was very reassuring that she sees this all the time, that there are varying degrees of success with it but largely she sees either big improvement or total recovery with 3 months of monthly steroid shots to the affected areas.  So I started that today.  She warned: you may see it get worse at first, purely because it will progress til the meds catch up to it.  She also said, rarely, the steroid just don't help.  She also said (Major league LOL) that it might grow in grey. I said, and I quote, "I don't care if it grows back in PURPLE, as long as it grows back in!"  I've lost a lot and she said "holy cow" too, just like my doctor.  I guess what's what they are taught to say other than "Holy Sh$(!" LOL

 

I'll keep you posted.  Anyone else that has info or experience with this, I'd love to hear good news!  Or even real news. I can take it. I think.

 

[[Pr...]]

So what did she call it? Did she say what causes it?

[[ma...]]

That is great news. Did the Dr. call it alopecia areata? The dr. told me that was the only one where the cortisone shots worked. It didn't work on androgenetic alopecia like I have. Mine didn't come out at once, but over years of thinning. No hair at my temples and starting the same thing on the top now, with thinning on the sides.

Did she say what caused this? Withdrawal...stress?

Where is your dr. located? Sounds like she was more positive and informative than mine. Maybe I asked too many questions.

[[Re...]]

1) yep. Alopcia areata. 

 

2) Causes:  it's hard to pin down. She said it's one weird animal.  It's an autoimmune disorder where your body thinks your hair is the enemy. So it gets inflammed and tries to rid you of it.  The steroids stop the inflammation and make the hair start again.

 

She wasn't really interested in what might has caused this with me. She was very into "how to fix".  She DID suggest that, unless it was rocking my world, to dump the estrodial - estrogen - that I started in March because if she was going to pick something that triggered this, that would be it. She also said the fact that I went off 3 big meds since last September and had sleep, weight loss, etc. issues, that could be it too.  Again, she was really into "fix" and not so into "why".

 

I've found two more patches since I left her office, which I am trying hard to not let get me down.  I slept pretty ok last night (5 hours), and that helps me this a.m. to see this from a better place. 

[[Fi...]]

I experienced both hair loss.. prior to starting Benzo's.. hair gain while on them.. hair loss while withdrawing, until I reached much lower doses.. Hair gain at lower doses and we'll see how it goes since I've just leaped off.. The thing to keep in mind is that the hair loss isn't necessarily permanent.. at least that's been my experience. Seems that before I started on Clonazepam I was so stressed out that I had hair loss from nervous anxiety.. with all the work I've had to do to cognitively retrain the way I think and feel it's ebbed and wained .. gained and lost and gained again... so there is hope.. keep up the good work and it's likely your hair will be in indicator of how well you are doing.. *hugs Kathy

[[Re...]]

Thanks for the info/encouragement, Kathy.  It's just a shock. We tend to take your hair very much for granted.

[[Pr...]]

I think I would agree with the derm, that the combination of w/d and starting the hormones must have triggered this. Are you going to stop them? If so, maybe you should taper them off.

[[Re...]]

Yep, the opinion of all I've spoken with is to get off them.  If it turns out they WERE doing me some good (and my hair doesn't correct/get better) I can always start them again later.  I am currently researching what is the best way to discontinue their use.  I agree that tapering is the safest "just to be sure" thing but I also was very pointed in asking my GYN when I started them what was the plan when I want off and he and his nurse both said "just stop."  Unfortunately....they are closed on Fridays.  And won't, naturally, be open Monday.  So I'm on my own researching what to do on that.

 

I spent the whole football game last night chatting w/ a Registered Nurse who is just my age who also took hormones and she highly recommended dumping them.  She said she found that they just weren't doing enough to help her to balance the risks.  She reassured me that the discomfort/sx do get better, your body adjusts.

 

I fully suspect I took a system weakened and healing from wd and the hormones just didn't work in it.  I'm cool with quitting. I know I"ll have more menopausal/perimeno stuff but the hair thing sure has gotten my attention.

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this may be unrelated but once i had this and my thyroid medicine was too high.

[[ma...]]

Hi Ready. I don't recommend just stopping. I had to quit because of fibroids and thickened endometrial lining. My Dr. told me to wean off slowly and I took 6 mos. Did fine, altho when I stopped I got arthritis, worse insomnia, and the hair loss...along with dryness everywhere.

I recommend Black Currant Oil 1000mg. I use Health From the Sun brand. It was recommended for hair, skin and nails. Haven't noticed anything with the hair but my skin is very definitely softer and smoother and no more cracked heels. I buy mine from vitacost.com. Check them out. I love them.

Kathi

[[Pr...]]

interesting, pan. rtbw, didn't you say you'd lost your thyroid altogether?

[[Re...]]

Yep, and I watch my TSH level really closely. I appreciate the mention - just had bloods done this week and all my thyroid were not only within normal levels, but within levels that I know work for me.  If it's too high, but still considered "normal" I have trouble with sleep.  I do better closer to the "low" end of the scale of normal.  Which is where I am. : ) So that's good!

 

Ok, what my research shows:  a taper is best with getting off hormones.    Makes sense.

[[Pr...]]

I don't know much about thyroid stuff at all, but I do remember reading on an adrenal fatigue site about needing lots of different tests - T3, T4, and whether they are free or not?

[[Re...]]

Standardly, for just feeling well/no issues monitoring, she usually just runs a TSH for me.  But for this, she ran the whole profile.  Which is fine.

 

Hey, my hubby mentioned this in confidence to a friend of ours that is like a dad to me last night, and he reported that his daughter (just a little younger than I am) also had this problem and SHE was on hormones, which is what her doctor decided caused it. Man, wouldn't that be great - get rid of the hormones, get my hair back!  I emailed her and once the storm gives me reliable internet again (we are in Louisiana and are very damp this a.m.) I'll see if she answered me.  She and I are pals so if she had trouble, I'll hear the whole story!

 

 

[[Pr...]]

Oh wooooowwww that would be awesome, thumbs up for ya. I have a gyne apptment in half hr, wish me luck too :)