singular

Humiliated By Hair Loss

by Y on April 30, 2009

I went to an allergist today because I have really been having a lot of skin issues, itchiness, eczema,  a lot of contact dermatitis around my mouth, itchy eyelids, itchy eyes and of course my usual asthma. I am always apprehensive about going to a new doctor because the patient form you have to fill out always has that place that asks you to list the “current medications” you take, and putting “Aldactone” on there always triggers the question, “You take Aldactone? What for?” So I get nervous going to new doctors.

Off I go to the consultation, the doc doesn’t even ask anything about the Aldactone, moving full speed ahead, talking about my allergies.. blah blah blah. Then he gets to the part where he wants to suggest the asthma/allergy medication, SINGULAR. Well I already know from previous searches on that medication, from previous docs trying to get me to take it, that some women complain that it causes hair loss! I had resolved myself into taking Advair ( https://www.womenshairlossproject.com/hair-loss/advair-muppets-poor-health-decisions/ ) because I had previously taken that without any issue to my hair, but this? The unknown?

I had to bring up my concern with the doctor. I HAD to let him KNOW, what was going through my head. So out with it, I told him that I suffer with hair loss, hence the reason I taken the Aldactone, and that I had read on the Internet that it can cause hair loss. He seemed to not focus too much on my personal hair loss situation, which, was good, but then he sort of made light of it, in a quasi mocking way “Well if it’s on the Internet, then it has to be true.” He said he never heard of an instance of singular and hair loss. Well neither did my gynecologist that gave me one of the highest androgen pills on the market, that started this whole mess. He proceeded to pull out the insert of the singular medication and looked in the side effect area, and pointed out that “hair loss” isn’t listed there. Hummm, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen or hasn’t happened to people. I don’t think most doctors know how to react to a woman with hair loss, in all fairness he was a decent doctor, he spent a lot of time with me and genuinely seemed interested in helping me treat my allergies/asthma. This is just a separate and unfortunate issue.

But, back to the point, the title of this post. When I had to bring up that “I HAVE HAIR LOSS,” I felt so small, so humiliated, like I was running around the office with my shirt off or something, actually I probably would have preferred that over telling him I had hair loss. I was so down when I left the office, so defeated. I didn’t feel liberated or empowered for sharing that tid bit of information, I felt ashamed. It saddens me to think that no matter how far I feel I’ve traveled, I am reminded that it isn’t quite far enough. I know I should not be ashamed of my hair loss, yet I had those feelings anyways. I guess it’s time for a little self-reflection.

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