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To Lisa and delilah (Androgenetic Alopcia (AGA) Female Pattern)

posted by Fashiongal, 02.07.2008, 14:51

» Wow, FG - How I've missed you! You are so upbeat and positive - I need to
» adopt your mind set. I also wonder what happened to EB and Rae. EB was
» always so informative. I too am in a state of resigned acceptance,
» although I'm still plugging away with the spiro (50 mg) Proscar (2.5 daily)
» and Rogaine (foam nightly), bioidential estradiol and progesterone, in
» addition to my daily arsenal of vitamins and supplements as well as 3x
» weekly use of the laser comb and Nizoral 2%. I got my iron under control
» within the last six months - I think it's over 85 now, so that's currently
» a non issue. Yet, my hair continues to thin. I've also added accupuncture
» to my regime, started at 3x then 2x a week and now down to 1x a week. I
» started the accupuncture for my fibroids this past Feb, which came back
» after my surgery last june, but I've asked the accupuncturist to also treat
» my hair loss, which she claims she has done with other patients. The
» accupuncture worked on my fibroids 100% - I have no pain or bleeding. I
» too have visible miniaturization of the hair and shortened cycles - most of
» my loss is between 2 and 4 inches. I lose anywhere between 50 and 100
» hairs daily with shampooing and drying in the morning; I don't notice much
» falling during the day. I hope I'm not doing more harm than good by
» staying on the Rogainen foam, but I'm afraid to go off. My TSH is in the
» "optimal range" (1.2) according to the endocrinologist specializing in
» Thyroid at Cedars that I went to using reference range of .4 to 4.0. You
» didn't say - are you treating your thyroid? I have very high thyroid
» antibodies which can't be good but my internist (an integrative medical
» specialist who is very on top of H/L treatments) and the thyroid expert
» said to do nothing, which is somewhat unsettling. Where is your thinning?
» Mine is mainly at the sides, but hair comes out from all over after
» shampooing, and I feel that now it is finally noticeable especially when I
» pull my hair back, which I don't feel comfortable doing anymore. When my
» hair is in a ponytail, it is like it is stuck to my head at the sides.
» Also, on top where my part is, there is definite thinning. I don't know if
» you check the other site at her alopecia but there is a woman named Merry
» who is so inspirational and instructive about "toppers" that I feel
» encouraged that there is a viable solution. You should see her pictures -
» her hair looks amazing. I am going to be in NY in August with my 14 year
» old daughter and a friend and her daughter, and I am going to try to
» squeeze in a trip to Brooklyn to meet with Merry's wigmaker, but I feel
» weird explaining it to my friend that I'm going with. I may just have to
» fess up. I also wanted to see the magic Dr. Redmond, but honestly, I don't
» think he can do anything for me that I'm not already doing. Please keep in
» touch - I don't feel so alone when I read your posts! Have a great
» weekend. - Lisa
Hi Lisa and delilah! Thank you so much for your kind words; trust me, gals, it totally depends on which day or even moment you happen to catch me to determine whether I'm feeling optimistic and so happy w/ my life that I can't be bothered with the hair stress, or whether I'm feeling in despair about my future with potentially worse hair than I now have. The outlook can go either way, but when it's on the downside, I just try to remember to pray for God's outlook and not my own self-pitying one :-P !
...and Lisa - thanks for your informative update; I can't believe your fibroids came back :confused: ; I'm so sorry!! Thank God the accupuncturist is successfully dealing with that! I forgot how long you've been on your regime? Listen, I wouldn't worry too much about your Rogaine use; you would definitely have seen by now if it was detrimental in your situation after 3-6 months, so hopefully it's doing good things for you ;-) . I too have heard great things about accupuncture; my father is a doctor (ob/gyn) and he recommended accupuncture to my mom for an ankle/bone problem she had and presto-chango, problem solved with the accupuncture!! I may need to look into that for the hair issue; would you mind giving me the name and location of your accupuncurist and integrated internist? I'm always up for picking new brains and attempting to trust new professionals :-P !
To answer your question, Lisa, about my thinning, well, I would have to say it's diffuse, but my hair is very straight like an Asian girl's and so I do see my part widening a little, especially since my hair is chestnut brown, but I first noticed the thinning on the sides of my head above my ears, and that's still where it's really the worst, I'd say a SOLID 50% thinner in density than it normally was. Overall, though, I can tell that my two braids which I put my hair in when I go to the gym are not 50% thinner than they used to be, but definitely 25% thinner! If not 30%. That's not a great sign, considering that I just discovered this issue 4 years ago and back then it was so so so barely noticeable to me, and certainly not to anyone else. I'd say it became noticeably a bit thinner two years ago, and it's happening to my sister as well (my only sibling), who has been experiencing it for about 13 years but it seems to have stabilized w/ her because she went back on the pill (I don't know which one.) She doesn't care to do any other damage control and was just letting it run its course because her hair was as thick and curly and crazy as Rosanna Rosanna Danna's hair (remember? Gilda Radnor's skit on SNL :lol: ) so at first her hair thinning was a good thing and she just perceived it as a gradual texture change which sometimes happens. However, it kept thinning and now her hair is thinner than mine when her hair used to be twice as thick as mine and curly. As for my thyroid, interestingly (but not surprisingly) I only discovered that I was what they call subclinically hypothyroid (Tsh was 5.5) 4 1/2 years ago, but I didn't want to treat it because I didn't have any symptoms at the time, and I am usually very very pro-natural and homeopathic, so I opted to go to a naturopath and try to treat the causes of the slow thyroid instead of just supplementing it. Then, about 9 months later is when I noticed my hair getting thinner and my doctors (internist and derm) told me that this is a major symtom of hypothyroidism and so I was put on synthroid, but apparently too low a dosage (first 25 mcg and now 50 mcg); no hair change ever and now I struggle with feeling quite tired frequently throughout the day which I do hate. I used to have more energy than anyone I knew. This tiredness actually started when I started using Spiro (100 at first and then backed down to 50) and Proscar (1.25 mg) which was just too much assault for my system to take; you may remember all my bad news symptoms. Anyway, after a year and a third of the Proscar and Rogaine and no improvement, I was like, no way am I going to suffer the way I was for no results so off the meds I went but I feel like my system has never recovered :-( . I'm still holding onto the ten pounds the meds put on me and I'm dealing w/ this minor fatigue issue, both of which I would have withstood had there been any improvement or at least no continued worsening on the hair front, but alas, neither was the case.
Well, girls, I may look up your "friend ;-) " Merry's pictures and see what is a possibility in my future if my hair comes to that, which thankfully it's not there yet. I just look like I have naturally thin Keira Knightley-type hair if someone never had met me when I had thick, straight Jennifer Garner-type hair to compare it to. Please tell me how your trip to NY goes...have fun! Go see a fantastic play on or off Broadway :-D ! New York rocks. I think you should go see the knowledgeable Dr. Redmond and Merry's wigmaker if you can, although I would be surprised if you couldn't find an amazing wig/hair specialist here in LA with all the beautiful wealthy black gals here in the entertainment industry needing hair extensions and/or wigs.
I too so appreciate hearing you ladies' "voices"; we've been through a lot together and you are close to my heart! Delilah, you are like a mentor and example for me for when I go through the change and how to be brave and take-charge; I certainly will go your route and look into your regime when the time comes...I'm no martyr :-P ! I will post a bit more frequently now; I didnt' for a long time not only because I come to visit the site much less frequently but also there was that weird new bit about having to have a password and I was just never in the mood to take the time to set it up :-D ; blessings to you gals!! Take care....FG ;-)


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