I read your post and send you out a warm heartful hug. I am sorry you are going through. The one thing I have learned so far from this hairloss journey. Is that going through this horrible ordeal can help mold us into different people. More understanding of others pain and how to hold hope for other people suffering, no matter what they suffer from.

I had an issue with a rude women the other day and even though she was way out of line and rude I said to myself ” She must be going through something and I am her outlet” Poor thing. I believe in order to grow we receive these gifts from GOD or the Universe and even though it is a bother and truly painful we can get through this. We are here for our sisters. Women can be so judemental to one another and hurtful.

Let’s change that around today and start smiling more and love our inner selves. It is almost like a death when hairloss happens and then we are reborn with a new ego with a sharpen spirit. best of luck to you on your journey!

Blessings,

ShanLaree

I am a 45 year old women who started to notice hair loss about 14 years ago. It started very gradual, but has increased over the years. At the age of 39, I had a partial hysterectomy and then at 41, my ovaries were removed. Six weeks after the first surgery,I was in the bathroom combing my hair and started screaming and crying because it was all in the sink. My GYN assured me that was common after a major surgery such as the one that I had.

I became confident, certain that it would regrow; it didn’t. The thinning and the shedding increased over time. My stylist noticed and said it was a result of the HRT I was taking, so I stopped but the hair loss continued. Suffice to say several co-pays and multiple physician visits later, I am still dealing with this confidence shattering nightmare.

I have seen several dermatologists, had a few scalp biopsies and even injections to the scalp(this was sheer torture) and had also been placed on steroids. Thank God I did not balloon to porportions of enormity.

My children have been real supportive, but my relationships have suffered because I had lost my confidence and self-esteem as a result. When a boyfriend would touch my hair (a wig), I would shrink back and scowl. My secret was mine alone and I didn’t want them exploring through an intimate touch.

The hair loss continues to spread and at this point, I don’t know what to do. I am not on any medications, I have tried a lot of things including Women’s Rogaine, but I am african-american and that did not work for me everyday because of the time it took to apply and then style my hair.

Wigs are okay, but they itch and become hot after a while. Today, I washed my hair and had palms full from the comb. I look like “Homey the clown” and I am not laughing. My hairline is still in tact, but barely.

Thinning hair is genetic for me. My great-grandmother, my grandmother and my aunts suffered with it, but not my mom or my sister. The females on my father’s side are all bald. Even my paternal grandmother suffered. My dad and my half-sister are also dealing with hair loss and thinning. Funny thing though, my mom and my sister have beautiful hair. Another funny thing, all the dermatologists I have seen have said it is not genetics. I wish I knew for sure, maybe I could cope better and not keep asking “Why”?

Brenda Kay does mostly integrations and wigs but she seems to know what she is talking about. I hope you find her info, if not let me know.

Blessings

Shanlaree

I am in my mid 50’s now. My mom’s hair and all of her sister were full, but my mom died of cancer at the age of 54 so I do not know how it would have been later in life. I can only judge from her siblings who had a full head of hair. My father’s mother had thin hair but she was in her 70’s when I first noticed it. And his sister had thinning hair but even in her 80’s she still had enough to look decent. Another one of my sisters’ hair has thinned dramatically. She had several problems with her ovaries and was never able to have children. She has her hair streaked and it makes it less noticeable. I started going through menopause at the age of 38 and have been on estrogen since then. I can still relate to the pain you are all going through because I felt each and everyone of the emotions here expressed over the years. I am constantly researching what would be the best solution to help hide my problem. I have a professional job where I have to meet with the public so it is very hard on me when people stare at my head. I want to find something that could gradually add fullness to my hair so one day I don’t show up with a mass of hair. In the meantime, I keep researching but most of what I have seen are costly, high maintenance and low quality. Again, I feel for my daughter more than myself now. She is only 28 and her hair is much thinner than mine now. I don’t know if it is the birth control she is on. I think she uses depro provera and maybe that has caused her hair to thin early. Does anyone have experience with that type of birth control? I hope I have answered your questions. Even though the hair falls out some if it comes back but the strands are much thinner then they use to be. It has taken 15 years to where I feel it is getting too noticeable. So I want to encourage everyone to be gentle on yourselves, find something that helps you to relax and remember that each and everyone of you are very special to your loved ones. Would I think any less of my friends or family because they have this problem. No, but I would want to help them carry their burden too.

I so agree with you about putting things in perspective. I mean we could have something much more serious or life threating. Thank goodness we can choose how we can move through our life and thank goodness for supportive people like you and this community.

It really helped me to heal inside to have this opportunity to vent and release and reach out to others. Man- it is not fun for anyone. I do appreciate having a family and for the opportunity to be a mother and to make a choice how I live and move through my life journey. I think meditation, yoga, helps me here also reading tons of books about other people’s life journeys.

Chat soon!

Are you in Portland or in Oregon? Feel free to look me up on the community network and then you can ping me anytime. I would be interested in learning more about you and your story/history.

I had a biopsy and was told I had female Pattern Hairloss (sometimes I call it baldness when I want to be extreme and angry. Anyways she said to take Spironolactone 50 MG 2 times a day. Well that made me feel strange so I am taking 1/2 of what she recommended 2 x a day, good or bad- who knows but I want to be gentle on my body and am trying to research other ideas as well. My Ferritin levels are 25.9 so my goal is to take Iron with Vit C to boost it and see if I can get an improvement here. She referred me to Yasmin but I still have not taken it -a little wary of this birth control. Let’s see, she also told me to take Rogaine 5%. So, last month I noticed shedding but now it seems to not be but this is how it has been the last 2 years. Have you seen a hair specialist about ideas? There is a lady by the name Of Brenda K and she is 2nd street. She can help fit hair pieces and or wigs. She said I need to wait before one fits well. I did purchase several hats from her that I like to wear on bad or rude hair days.

Many Blessings!

Shanlaree