As many of you know, the medications to treat serious illnesses often have side effects that include hair loss.
Since my diagnosis and because of different treatments, I’ve dealt with hair loss a few times and I do not like it! Thankfully, I have never lost all of my hair at one time, but what I did lose was traumatic to me.
My first experience was a few months after my son was born. I had noticed significant hair in the drain after showering and extra hair on my clothes, but I tried to ignore it. I also had several bald spots. One evening, my son’s little hand grasped my hair and the entire handful came out.
Another time, a friend’s son was sitting in the back seat of my car while I drove with the top down. Shortly into our trip, the boy started yelling, “Mrs. Beach, your hair is hitting me in the face.” I wasn’t sure what he meant because I knew my hair wasn’t that long. When we pulled up to a stop sign, I looked back and saw him literally taking my hair off of his face and there was a lot of it. The thought of having the wind blow through my hair, causing me to lose it, made me sick.
When I’ve expressed concerns about losing my hair, people have said, “You can always buy a wig.” I have never found comfort in those words! To me, it’s just not that simple. People seem to think it’s all about vanity. Unless they’ve experienced it, they cannot understand how it truly feels. Many times I’ve asked those same people, “How do you drive a convertible while wearing a wig?” or “How can you be intimate with someone while wearing a wig?”
Have you ever taken treatments that caused your hair to fall out or change the way you look? Did it matter to you? How did people react? What was your reaction?
I AM LOSING MY HAIR. I AM A FEMALE.
I FEAR PLAQUENIL IS CAUSING MY HAIR LOSS.
I HAD SJORGRENS SYNDRONE.. PLEASE HELP.
LILA (307-266-0775)
4 months and about 3 weeks ago, started noticing alot of extra hair in my brush, lots of hair coming out in my hands when shampooing, and my scalp even has a sore, tingling sensation. I feel like I've lost half of my hair- thinning everywhere is obvious because I otherwise had very thick, long hair. I have put a call in to dr, who, of course won't be in until tuesday. Meanwhile my hairs continue to shed. I am crying.
I went to a dermatologist who said that I had Alopecia areata, yet another autoimmune disease. This was so upseting to me because I felt like I was doing so good. Along with some small steroid injections to the spots, I was also recommended to get back on my RA meds which would help.
I almost hate to say it, but I am happy that I can, I am back on the MTX and there are no more bald spots. Yes, I lose more hair than normal, but there are no spots. And my RA is back in full force.....
The very first time I noticed my hair falling out by the handfull, was about 20 years ago. I was horrified and I tried everything - washing my hair in cold water, vitamins, more protein, not blow drying my hair, but nothing worked. I went from having long, thick hair, to short and very thin hair.
When I was younger, I was very self-conscious about it. I hated going to get my hair cut, because my hairdresser would always comment, "wow, you sure are losing a lot of hair!" Like I needed to be reminded!
Now that I'm (a little) older, it doesn't bother me as much. I guess it's just one of those things I've got to live with. BTW, a few years ago, before a hip replacement, the doc put me on pre-natal vitamins to build me up before surgery. I have continued with them, and they really seem to slow down the hair loss.
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