Shorter hair falls out more easily

Well, now that my hair is chin length, I don't notice myself pulling the hairs out. They fall out easier because they don't get tangled amidst the other hair. It kind of minimizes the trauma of seeing all my hair in the drain. Because the hairs are smaller, they are kind of less noticable.
Everyone told me that my short hair looked nice yesterday. Unfortunately one woman that I confided in about wearing a wig asked in front of the class if it was a wig. Then she says, "oops." Yeah, thanks a lot. By chosing the same color and texture wig, I was able to hide the fact for awhile. But, the co-worker that overheard is African American and tons of African American people add extensions and don't think twice about it.
I see the dermatologist tomorrow. While the list of side effects for oral steroids is bad, I've seen double and had vertigo from seizure meds. I don't know if it can really get much worse. I think I'd be willing to take them for a little while anyway.

Washing my hair

I hate washing my hair and brushing my hair now. It is easy enough to forget that you are losing your hair when you put on a hairpiece that matches your natural color and texture so your appearance hasn't been altered too much. But when you wash your hair and clumps come out, there is the reminder.
My legs are nice and smooth now. I haven't shaved in over a week. A couple stray hairs growing long though. Not enough to notice. I'm going to keep them there to show the dermatologist on Wednesday to prove to her that it is universalis. She didn't even check five weeks ago when she gave me the injections.
While I thought I saw tiny hairs growing in the bald patch on my arm, it could have been that they just hadn't fallen out yet.
I read about how a sunburn will destroy some of the T cells and halt the progression of alopecia. Yesterday I decided that I would try to get some sun. Unfortunately, it was overcast. Any UV rays I received outside weren't enough to give me a burn. Maybe I'll try again after work if there is sun.

Coconut Oil Cures

Coconut Oil Cures

Haircut

After I woke up this morning, I decided enough with the long hair. The headband hair attachment is easier to put on. It matches my hair better. I took some scissors and did a rough cut to chin length. Now my hair fits easily under my headband hairpiece. If I still want to use the volumizer, I can just pull the shorter lengths of hair through. It will be a layered look. Maybe. Even if all my hair started growing in today, I would be wearing a hairpiece for awhile because of the bald spot on the top. The patches around the base of my neck are easy enough to hide, but not the growing bald spot on the top.

Amazing!

I just noticed that this blog has had 101 impressions. I don't know why people are interested in hair falling out or the emotional impact that it has on someone.
I taught swimming today in my volumizer. It looks absolutely awful with a loose ponytail. But, the good thing is that everyone's hair looks awful when they are in the water and no one has commented on it.
I don't demonstrate as much as I should partly because of the wig. I usually have a student who is doing the skill correctly demonstrate and I tell the other kids why it is right. This is actually a safer way to teach because I can visually see what the students are doing all the time. If I demonstrate, then they could be dunking each other or horsing around.
The aloe vera isn't working for me, but I'm going to continue taking it just in case it helps my immune system in other ways or it takes awhile to help your boday. After all, it is a natural therapy. I'm going to the dermatologist on Wednesday.

More fell out

A lot of hair is falling out. I can't stop it. The aloe vera might be repairing my immune system. The person I read about had her hair fall out for three months before it stopped and grew all back in. Does that mean it was the aloe vera? Hmm...it might not have been.
I got a new hairpiece. It is a short bob with a headband. Not a full wig, just an attachment. But you see less of my natural hair. It looks better than my natural hair though. I just can't see myself wearing a headband everyday.

Not so bad

The EEG wasn't so bad. I didn't pull my own hair through the volumizer, so it bunched and got into a big tangle and when I took the wig off the technician complained that I didn't brush my hair. She had to tug at the knot, which I'm sure made more hair fall out, but it I was not too self conscious. I told her what alopecia was and that I was being treated for it. I didn't tell her the treatment wasn't working or go into detail about the alternatives I was trying. She was nice about it. Luckily it was over in an hour. I put the wig back on and left.

An EEG today

Today I have an electroencephlogram. This is a test that neurologists order to look at your brainwaves. Why am I including it in a blog about alopecia? Because they glue the electrodes to your head. The glue does not stick well to your scalp. It sticks to the hair. This should be interesting as mine is falling out. It is a test that I dread and it takes place during a most inconvenient time during my life as I only have 50-60% of the normal amount of hair. A couple bald patches here and there. While I dread washing my hair because of how much falls out, this is going to take the cake. To get the glue out, I usually tugged on my hair and picked at my scalp. Lucky for me, I have a wig to wear. Only the technician needs to know I have bald patches.

splitting nails

My fingernails are splitting and it is driving me crazy. My sister told me that when she went through the hairloss phase of her alopecia universalis, her nails looked like someone took a hammer to them. Mine are vastly different. They have become brittle and have vertical ridging. Supposedly the biotin that I've been taking is helping, but somehow I doubt it. It is very painful because the nail hardener isn't helping anymore.

Swimming with a wig

After reviewing my schedule, I realized that I did not really need to swim to teach. I have 2 swimming pee wees, 1 competitive pee wee, a level 3 and a level 5 class. While it is ideal for me to demonstrate, it is not imperative. I have a few more proficient swimmers in my upper level classes that I have demonstrate the skills. The other students watch and I tell them what the demonstrator is doing correctly. In reality this is better because I can't tell if they are paying attention when I demonstrate, but I can if I have someone who is doing it correctly demonstrate for the rest of the class. It give the swimmers doing it correctly a sense of accomplishment and pride.
I do have to be in the water for swimming pee wees. Each time the water splashed on my wig, I wondered how bad it looked. It isn't a big deal. No one looks great with wet hair. My volumizer was pulled into a loose ponytail. While it looked messy and I could tell the color differences between my normal hair and the volumizer, I doubt anyone else could.
The irony? I saw a woman who was taking water areobics with alopecia. She was almost entirely bald, but she was older and must have come to terms with the hair loss. Maybe she had chemo. It didn't look like the clearly defined bald patches I have. However, I try not to look at the bald patches at all.

Tiny hairs

I'm still losing hair from my scalp. More than I want to admit. But the quarter sized bald patch that I have on my wrist that I noticed the day after my cortizone injections to my scalp (3 weeks ago) has tiny hairs on it. I have been drinking 2 ounces of aloe vera juice 2 times per day and rubbing aloe vera gel onto my skin. I don't know if it will all grow back or not.

Emailed for Info

My sister went through the loss of her hair about five years ago. She really wanted to participate in a study to help further the research being done on alopecia. Yesterday, I sent an email to ask for more information. The email address was alopeciaregistry@mdanderson.org. I don't know if they'll contact me and ask for my DNA to study. It does seem linked to autoimmune diseases. Both my sister and I have one. She has diabetes and I have hypothyroidism. Before I started using coconut oil, I suffered intensely from allergies too. My immune system is definately overactive.

Not the Wig!

One woman that I work with walked behind me and playfully swatted at my hair right before her smoke break. I was a little unnerved. The Paula Young volumizer that I bought matches my hair color pretty well. In fact, I've received more compliments on my hair since I've started losing it and wearing a volumizer than before. The volumizer fools people because you pull your own hair through open wefts. Your hair color naturally blends with the wig because in a head of hair there are many shades. My volumizer is slightly darker than my natural color, so it just looks like I have fewer highlights than before. I am looking forward to getting my next Paula Young hairpiece. It will be a headband with a classic bob and attached bangs. It is a hairstyle that I wore for years, so it suits my personality a little more than the volumizer.

How I Deal With Loss

You may be wondering why I don't have photos of my bald spots. Keeping reminders around and obsessing over what I don't like isn't how I do things. Alopecia isn't my only medical condition. I've had juvenile myoclonic epilepsy and hypothyroidism for 20 years. I tend to find a hobby and put my creative energies into that. Even though I had epilepsy, during my teenage years I swam competitively. I continued swimming despite having two seizures in the pool. My coach just had to pull me out.
While blogging about my experiences may seem like it is focusing on the issue, it is also part of another hobby. I am trying out internet marketing. That is why you see the sidebar with ads for hair removal or aloe vera. You can read about my experiment with online moneymaking at internetmarketingexperiences.blogspot.com. I am not good with technology, but I like to write. And blogging fuels my creative juices and gives me something to do in my spare time.

Aloe Vera

My biggest hope right now is that aloe vera is truly a miracle plant that will reverse the autoimmune disease. Click Here! to download an ebook about the miracles of aloe vera. I have been using it for about two weeks now. While it hasn't done much in terms of stopping the hair loss, I am going to be patient. It took a long time for my hair to grow. Even if it arrested the inflammation, I doubt it could stimulate growth within a week.
I hold high regard for natural cures. Last year, I read about the miracle of coconut oil in the grocery store. I bought some in hopes of clearing up a case of angular chelitis. It did not immediately go away. In fact, I ended up seeing a doctor for medication. However, in the past I had frequent out breaks of cracks in the corners of my mouth and eczema on my hands. I ingested coconut oil daily and you know I haven't had an outbreak since.

Short video

Me with my hair volumizer from Paula Young wigs. My nephews are sitting on my lap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7zCay_OfE

More and More Comes Out

I have been losing my hair for about the last month. I thought I would blog about my experiences with alopecia. I knew that this was likely to happen one day because my sister all her hair five years ago. It was pretty traumatic for her at age 20. I'm 33. I don't have a problem wearing a wig. In fact, my hair has never looked better than it has since I've started losing it.
My first instinct was to go online and research what might help. I found a website for a shampoo that was supposed to improve my immune system. Sounds great until you realize that it is an overactive immune system causing the loss. I quickly ordered the shampoo from Thymuskin. Maybe it is working, maybe not. My hair is falling out and I've been using it for a month.
I had a dermatologist give me cortizone shots in the few areas that didn't have hair. However, more bald patches have since appeared all over my body so I'm not holding out hope for the cortizone. After reading that aloe vera has healing properties, I bought a bottle and some aloe vera juice to drink. I've been doing that for a week, but it hasn't made any difference. It still comes out.
I'll try to post pictures, but I'm not very tech savvy. I don't own a digital camera but I do have a camera phone. I will need to buy the cord to download the photos. Stay tuned.