Anyway, I’m 26 now, and while I mostly have coverage, my hair is stringy and thin and there’s a bald spot on my vertex that can be seen in bright light. Like you said, most days you can ignore it, but some days it just really sucks. I have started avoiding looking at mirrors and blow drying and styling my hair in dim light. What makes it worse, nothing seems to be working. I have changed my diet to avoid gluten and sugar, I have gone to dermatologists and naturopathic doctors, I even started meditating and going to a therapist to manage my stress/depression, and nothing is making it grow back. I just signed up for a 5 month treatment at a clinic in Beverly Hills (I live in Los Angeles) where I get low level cold laser therapy on my scalp 2 times a week. If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what will. The before and after pictures from this place look promising, and the doctor seems confident that I’ll be successful, so we’ll see. I’m just so insecure about it all the time, and it makes dating a real nightmare. And it sucks when you feel like you’ve put so much effort into something, and it’s not making any difference. Plus, most people are very unsympathetic to my struggle. I dunno. I just really need to vent to someone who understands. If you ever want to chat or email and have someone to vent to, I would be totally ok with that.

Anyway, I’m brand new to this website, so hopefully I can find a lot of support and acceptance from women who really understand what I’m going through. Watching your video made me feel a lot better, so thank you. And for the record, you are beautiful! <3

I think you have a lot of wisdom 🙂 There will probably be more occasions for tears about your hair, so don’t be surprised if they come but it is great that you are interested in what options may bring your happiness back even if it doesn’t mean you hair comes with it.

“if I could talk about my wigs”- I LOVE to talk about my wigs 😀 They are kind of my favorite thing ever, lol. If you are a member, check out the other videos on my profile. I’ve made them on ‘transitioning to wearing wigs’, detailed info about new wigs as I’ve gotten them, some things I’ve learned along the way, and an ‘awkward wig moment’, etc. If you are not a member, I have a youtube channel now where I upload them called ‘Hellcat and hair loss’ that is viewable to the public. To answer your question directly: I told everyone. I told my family, my students (all 170 of them), my coworkers- I just spat it out at lunch one day, I announced it on Facebook, I even told strangers that commented on my hair, I told anyone that would listen! I did this for 3 reasons. I hated the thought of hiding and hoping no one would discover it. I didn’t want to worry about if someone was staring at my hairline. Bam! Done. It was out. The second reason I told everybody was that I had started the seed of wanted to raise awareness for alopecia of all types. Being open about hair loss created the opportunity for people to ask and then I could share info about it. I know there are people hiding with it and maybe it will reach them that they are not alone. Reason 3: If I am at the point where my hair loss has left me wearing wigs, then dammit I’m gonna have fun with it! So now I buy wigs of all colors, lengths and textures. I change them like shoes. It’s awesome!! Do they itch sometimes? Yes. Are they hot? At the gym, yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Wigs aren’t for everybody, some women don’t find success with them. Some women love their toppers, and others go for integration systems. Lots of options are out there, but wigs are for me all the way 🙂

I’m writing a book here, lol, but the last thing I’ll comment on is your mention of people pitying you. What has worked for me is owning it in the delivery. If you seem sad and uncomfortable then you will likely get those looks. I talked about it as matter of factly as I could and then had excitement in my voice about wearing different hair styles. It has been received hugely positively 🙂 Thank you again for your kind words, and I wish you all the luck!

I am not sure if I want to start using Rogaine although I haven’t completely ruled it out yet, I am happy to hear that it is working for you.

Also congratulations on telling your boyfriend! I am actually in a very similar situation as you are. My boyfriend is Muslim and I am not and it has definitely caused us to break up more than once but somehow the love we have for each other always brings us back together. He has been a true gentleman throughout my hair loss and he always knows the right things to say even if its in the form of a joke.

I am a young woman and of course my hair loss has caused me some insecurity. I would be lying to you if I said I haven’t thought of the possibility of him leaving me because of my hair (which is silly because he has never given me any reason to believe he will). What I think is key though is loving yourself and knowing that you are worthy, you are beautiful and you are more than hair. I don’t want to ruin my relationship because of my insecurities due to my hair and if for whatever reason the relationship doesn’t work out, loving myself first will assure me that my hair didn’t cause it nor will it impede me to find love again. Loving yourself is hard whether you have hair or not but I think it is very important and something I am currently working on.

Thanks for sharing your story. I am so grateful to have found this website. Good luck to everyone!

Thank you for your touching and encouraging response. This weekend was the first time I was able to cry for my hair. That was rough but honestly this whole time I have been so panic stricken and filled with anxiety that I have not been able to cry (as much as I’ve wanted to I just couldn’t). I feel a certain relief now that I’ve cried for the first time.

After reading so much about hair loss I truly believe that the key to happiness is acceptance and I am on my way to accepting this as difficult, painful and unexpected as this maybe. I wanted to know if you could talk about your experience with wigs… I know you’re wearing them full time now. And although I am not ready to wear a wig full-time yet, I wanted to know if you tell people you wear a wig or did you just start wearing one without mentioning it. I too feel that I will start wearing wigs before it is “warranted” whatever that means, like you I feel like once my self esteem becomes affected then that’s the time for me to do something about it. I guess my biggest fear and what causes me most anxiety is coming out to people. I don’t want to keep my hair loss a secret but I also don’t want people to pity me.

I also wanted to mention that I made my mom watch your video because she has truly been my support system through this (I don’t know what I would do without her) and she cried along with me. Thank you for articulating how I feel so well. I will also show this video to my boyfriend so he can understand what I am going through better. Lastly, I want to say that you are such an inspiration and so gorgeous as well. I hope I can be as courageous as you in the very near future.

Your video brought me to tears because I can relate so well to you. I’m 25 years old and have been dealing with HL for 10 or so years in silence until recently. I just posted a blog if you want to see my full story.

I’m really lost. I don’t know what to do. I’ve seen the dermatologist who prescribed me with cypreterone acetate. Have you heard of it? I haven’t seen any difference yet, and I’m currently going through the worst shedding phase of my life. Have you heard of any reviews of trichologists? I think that’s my next step, either that or a natropath.

It’s getting to the point where I can’t hide it at all anymore.

Any feedback would be appreciated 🙂 x