I just want to say to all of you that you are all so beautiful, and no i don’t know what you look like but thats not what beauty is right? Beauty is something you earn from being a good person, not something you were born with. This struggle is something so many people will never understand, and because of it you are more empathetic and understanding and caring. To me, that is so beautiful.

I am a 22 year old girl, and my doctor just told me i have female patterned hair loss ( a nicer word then baldness i think). When i found out i cryed and cryed, and i was so scared to tell my boyfriend because i thought he would leave me for a girl with beautifil thick shiny hair, and not want an ugly hag like me (i have been the meanest person in my life to myself). After glooming around our apartment for a couple days refusing to shower for fear of more hair falling out, i decided to give myself a good kick in the butt and give myself a make over, and NOT on the outside. I had to make over who i was on the inside and learn to love her. My docter gave me a form of rogain, and i have been on it for 3 weeks, nothing has changed but these things take time so i have hope. Even though he said it was female patterned baldness i refuse to believe him, no one in my family, both female or male, have suffered from hair loss so how can i randomly develope it? And at the age of 22? I think not! So i did some research and i have come to the conclusion that my birth control has been the biggest problem in my life since i took it, 3 months ago i stoped taking it and low and behold…my hair is falling out like crazy. I cant even put it in a pony tail without my scalp showing, so i have a vast collection of really funky hats i like to wear. I gave up brushing my hair long ago and i dont let my boyfriend touch it, and i woud never dye it either so i’m hoping the hair that DOES grow back isnt grey. At least i’m off those devil pills as i like to call them, and even though i’m baby free i really regret the choice i made. I’m sure all of you know the heartbreak you feel of watching your hair fall out.

Andrea, i would really love to know how the treatment is working for you, give a young girl hope! Please! It’s so embarrassing going out anywhere because all i do is stare at other girls hair and dream of having it on my own head. I get so spacy because all i do is day dream about having beautiful thick hair that i could style, and play with. I wish i could be as pretty as what seems like 99% of the rest of the woman out there, but nope. A problem like this always seems to happen to “someone else”, you never dream as a little girl that you’re going to grow up bald. But….i do believe i am beautiful despite my hairloss, and even though i avoid the mirror at times i still like working out and making sure teh REST of my body is healthy, and i enjoy make-up like any other young woman. This is a struggle i havn’t even told my family of, they live in another city so they can’t see me anyway and question me. Thats the worst, i hate the questions. Someone was staring one day, so i looked at them and said “why the serious face? Would you smile a little more if i did a dance? look at the bald girl dance!” Least to say they ran off, but at least i got a smile on MY face! (even though inside you cant help having those feelings of saddness..) Its good to let people know that yes, i have a problem, but No, it doens’t control my life. Now if i tell myself that every day maybe one day i will believe it!

I wish all of you the best, my heart goes you.

sincerly
~Angela~

Birth Control pills can definitely cause hair loss, and not to pick on seasonique but I wrote a blog post about their commercials here: http://www.womenshairlossproject.com/hair-loss/seasonique-birth-control-pill/

Having said that it isn’t so cut and dry. Sometimes getting on or off can trigger hair loss, so stopping the pill could worsen your situation. And.. to make it more confusing even though the pill can cause hair loss, a low androgen index pill is sometimes prescribed to treat hair loss, level out the hormones I suppose. For example, the pill Loestrin (high androgen) caused my hair loss and one of the treatment prescribed to me was Ortho Tri Cyclen (low androgen) to treat it. In all honesty I wish I never got back on the pill and just had given my body some time to work it out, but now I’ve been on Ortho for like 9 years and certainly feel trapped that I can’t stop it for fear of the huge shed that will surely follow. I know for some women Ortho was the actual cause in the first place. So ho hum, what to do, what to do.

If you are in the infancy of your hair loss it may be worth considering stopping the pill. If I could fly back a few years into the past, even after having been on the ortho for a short time, I would have gotten off. I had more hair then, so I could shed a lot and still have hair on my head. Nowadays things are different. For myself the only time I can consider dropping my aldactone and the pill will be when I’m resolved to just shaving my head and wearing a hair system, and not a day before. I hope I muster up the courage sooner than later, and just reclaim my life.

All The Best,
~Y

I was wondering if anyone has heard any new updates from Andrea?

I am in Austin also and I am thinking about making an appointment with her Derm. I have been on my current treatment for about a month and I have not seen any improvement at all. I am thinking about getting a second opinion as far as course of treatment.
I am taking Coozar for High Blood Pressure and Seasonique (birth control) and I am seriously considering stopping both medications for a while and see if that makes any difference.

Thanks - Lille

It is my understanding that LPP (Lichen Planopilaris) is an inflammatory condition so I don’t think that Rogaine would be good to use. I can’t state anything definitely, as I am not a doctor but logically it doesn’t seem like it would be a good idea. Some people find Rogaine makes their scalp itchy or red, all signs of inflammation in itself, so it doesn’t sound like something that would be good for Lichen Planopilaris.

If you are considering it, you should definitely talk to your doctor about it first before grabbing some from over the counter. Lichen Planopilaris is different than female pattern hair loss so I think it probably has its own course of treatment which it seems like you are already doing.

Welcome To The Site!

Best,
~Y

Thanks!
Lille

When you were diagnosed, was it just the top part of your head that wasn’t “white” or was it all over? My part is a little red/orange but I’m not sure if it’s just the sun because the other areas I can see aren’t really colored.

I can sympathize with a lot of you on here.. my hair is still “normal thickness” according to most and when my md did the hair pull test, nothing came out, but then when he is gone I brush it and 100+ hairs come right out form the root with no problem. I don’t want to be seen as a hypocondriac or crazy, because I really do have a hair loss problem, I just don’t want to wait around until I’m bald to do anything about it! It’s extremely frustrating and disappointing that the people put there to help you don’t want to!!