So hard to determine

What is sometimes hard to determine is whether the hairs that I see in areas once bald are new growth or hairs that didn't fall out when the rest of them did. It could be that the follicles were in the resting phase when the inflammation hit the area and weren't affected. Hopefully I'm getting my inflammation under control with the True Aloe capsules of aloe vera. The marketing is great on True Aloe. They claim that it is 119% more potent than other capsules. Does that translate to stopping the inflammation in me? Hopefully. Lots of hair fell out this morning, but I don't know how much inflammation that I have in my body to fight, so I am not expecting overnight results. I'm hoping to put a stop to the fall out, but it is difficult. Now that the injection sites have hair growing, I know my hair can grow back. I just need to halt the inflammation.

Found more growth, but brushed a lot out

So, I examined the back of my head in the mirror and found some more new growth. Not as much as I'd hoped, but it is encouraging. It was discouraging to brush out as much as I did this morning and see more patches. However, I think when the inflammation settles down, then I will start seeing more hair come back. The Chinese herbs said to expect hair regrowth after six bottles. I have been through four and a half on double the recommended daily dose because the bottle said for faster regrowth double it. I also set my sights realistically when I read that it was three months before the girl who got regrowth from aloe vera stopped losing her hair and it started growing back. I think I'm around two and a half months right now, so there is hope. Plus the injections worked. I can feel the hair there now. It seems to be starting to regrow around the base of my neck where I lost it first.

Up all night again and hair fell out again

I took the steroids yesterday morning. Same thing happened. I craved olives and ate an entire can. I thought my eating was going to be out of control and it was a little more than usual. Luckily, my family doesn't keep much junk food around. I was up half the night because the steroids give me insomnia. While I was disappointed in the amount of hair that I brushed out this morning, when I talked to my sister she told me the hairs can stay in your head for four days after they stop growing. I did not know that. Last night I felt my scalp and it felt cooler than it has in awhile. I don't know if it is the combination of the prednisone and the True Aloe capsules or my imagination. I switched to True Aloe capsules because I read that there was some valuable nutrients in the whole leaf. Now I have actually acquired a taste for the bitter juice and drink it straight. I'll finish up the bottle of juice and use the capsules for the next month.

Steroids again

Since the cortisone injections did work, I'm going to finish up the pills that were prescribed to me. I took two this morning. This time, I noticed the food cravings right away. I may gain weight. That is one of the side effects. I know there is inflammation though because my scalp feels warm to the touch and sometimes looks a little red. As long as I can get the inflammation down, I know that the hair will grow back.

Losing and growing at the same time

The injections worked! When I pulled at the areas of my scalp that are discolored, I realized that I was pulling hair this morning. They aren't discolorations from the steroids. It is my actual hair. Unfortunately, they can't give me injections over my entire scalp. Now, I have more bald areas than growing areas. I'm still losing hair everyday from my scalp though, so it is weird that there are three places where it is growing. On the body hair front, I'm noticing that my leg hair is coming back and my arm hair is filling in where there was a bald spot. It will still be a long time before things return to normal. That is if they return to normal.

Lots was brushed out this morning

I avoid looking at the clumps of hair as much as I can. I think that helps in some way. I also keep looking at the patch of skin on my arm that was bald a month ago and convince myself that if that grew back, eventually my scalp hair will too. Unfortunately, not soon enough for my California trip, but it might start growing back by then. Who knows. I've read from the alopecia website about people who took the injections and they worked. They swear up and down by them and don't realize that they won't work for other people.

Still falling out

I brushed a ton of hair out today. I asked my mother if she wanted to see my scalp. She appreciates not seein the falling out phase. I guess it is a little psychologcally hard on her too. She is okay with my sister's bald head, but the falling ot phase was difficult. I'm still taking he aloe vera and the herbs.

No real changes

My hair is still falling out at a rapid rate. Still taking the aloe vera and chinese herb, He Shou Wu. It seems a patch on my arm fell out and grew back in, but it is difficult to say for sure. My leg hair seems to be growing back. I'm not losing pubic hair anymore. So, although my scalp hair is still being lost, it appears the loss of body hair has slowed or halted for now.
I'm wearing he ugly wig today. Nothing exciting is happening.

Wearing my cute wig today

I have a cute wig that I save for special occasions. Why? Because wigs wear out. I have another that I wear daily. They discontinued the wig that looks best on me at Paula Young, so I save it for special occasions. I'm wearing it today though. I need a morale boost. It is closer to my natural color.
Still taking the aloe vera and Chinese herbs. Holding out hope for the next few months.

One spot filling in another appearing

While I can't credit the Chinese herbs with any real amount of hair regrowth just yet, I do notice that while one bald spot is appearing on my right arm. The one that I noticed on my left arm appears to be filling in. I am still losing hundreds of scalp hairs per day. I wash my hair with aloe vera shampoo and conditioner and try to remember to put the gel on my bald patches. However it gets discouraging because I don't know whether it is working or not. The Hairvive bottles say that you need to use the Chinese herb, He Shou Wu, for three months before expecting hair regrowth. It has really only been about a month and a half, so to expect scalp hair regrowth may be a little premature.

No slowing down on the fallout

If anything, it seems like more is coming out each time I brush because there is an increase in the diameter of the bald spots. I guess I'm down to about 10% of my scalp hair. I still imagine that my body hair is coming back, but it is difficult to tell. I never really had dark leg hair, so the bald patches are difficult to see. Today the legs seem bare. I haven't been losing pubic hair as much as I once was. I just noticed that when I used to take baths, it would come out. I'm back to showers and not noticing it anymore. If the hair loss keeps up at this rate, I should be bald in two weeks time. I just don't want to lose my eyebrows and lashes. I'm not ready for that yet.

Last Day of Swimming Classes

All went well. I wore a full wig. But it is my comfortable, ugly one. Not the cute one that I wear in public and to church. I don't want that to get chlorine in it. I didn't teach all the skills well because, well, I was wearing a wig. However, I'm not returning for fall. I am taking some time off to adjust to the hair loss. Plus, that frees up my Saturdays! I saw the lady with alopecia in the water aerobics class again. She has lost more hair than myself. She just had bangs and some strands left.
Every now and then I think my body hair is returning, but today I'm not so sure. It is easy to imagine something that you desire to happen.
I decided to try an aloe vera capsule when I finish with the liquid form this month. The claim is that it is stronger and more powerful. But, it probably isn't. I just feel like the results from the liquid aren't visible yet, so might as well try the capsule.

Autoimmune diseases

I have Hasimoto's thyroiditis along with the alopecia. Last year, my thyroid medication was increased. After months of taking coconut oil to help with my eczema, I went in to see my endocrinologist. My skin was dry and red. I was convinced I needed to increase my throid medication. Turns out, it was too high. I tested hyperthyroid. They lowered the dosage and after a few weeks everything went back to normal. I have been taking aloe vera for almost two months and now I'm noticing that my skin is dry again. It would be great to find out that the aloe vera is assisting my body in producing thyroid again. A book I read said that it aloe vera is supposed to help with autoimmune diseases. Alopecia is an autoimmune disease. I'm not due to see the endocrinologist for a couple months yet, so I have to wait on that. I'm still losing hair, but I don't expect that to stop right away.

Still losing it

I proabably have about 10% of my scalp hair left. I was really lucky that the hair on the crown of my head chose to leave last. I started losing it from the base of my neck up. I could probably go out with a creative comb-over and tons of hairspray to keep it in place and no one would notice. However, it is less worrisome with a wig.
I did notice that I had leg hair the other day and had to shave it. I thought I had lost all my leg hair, so I'm not sure if I was just imagining that I lost all of it or if the Chinese herbs are helping me grow back the leg hair. I just want to stop losing the scalp hair. Actually, I'd prefer to lose the leg hair and keep the scalp hair.

Nothing new...still losing hair

I'm still losing hair. Nothing exciting. I brushed out a lot this morning, put on my wig and forgot about it. I'm considering trying whole leaf aloe capsules because the advertisement claims that it is SO much better than just the inner gel which is in the juice that I drink. I'm pretty skeptical. I'm holding out hope for the Chinese herbs, but even that seems unlikely. I'm glad that I purchased a 3 month supply at once, so that even if I lose hope, I still will take it for the recommended amount of time. It isn't causing me to lose sleep or giving me acne. Why shouldn't I at least try. What do I have to lose? My hair? It is already going!

Wigs

I have two full wigs now. My mother ordered me a whisperlite wig from Paula Young. I was not excited about the style, but she really wanted me to have a whisperlite wig. You can spend a lot of money on your wig and have it fitted to your own head and cut perfectly or you can just pick one out of a catalog and live with it. I am the type of person who prefers to do the latter. My sister enjoys the former. Different strokes for different folks. While I love the look of the Paula Young comfort wig, it is slightly less comfortable. It is also discontinued, so I wear the whisperlite one when I'm not going anywhere special. I'm saving the cute, short bob for special occasions. The whisperlite will be worn to the pool as now there is a bald patch that would be visible with the volumizer.

Only eight hours

I realized why it seems like I brush out less hair in the morning. Because there is less. It has only been eight hours since I brushed out a ton. When I go to bed at night, there has been twice as much time. Two times the amount of hair follicles have been attacked. It makes sense to me now. I don't know why it didn't occur to me before.
My nails are mangled. I showed my sister today and she said they were worse than hers. She hasn't grown her hair back in five years and is alopecia universalis. I don't mind the wigs so much, but I want to keep my eyelashes and eyebrows. Perhaps that is just selfish of me.

Less Hair Fall this Morning

It seemed like less hair fall this morning. It actually almost seemed like a normal amount. Then I remembered last night how much I brushed out. Yesterday I read another alopecia blog. Someone started growing all their hair back after reading an ebook about reversing women's alopecia. It was $49. I didn't feel inclined to spend that at the time. I also suspected that she posted an incorrect picture. In October 2008, she claims to have started growing her hair back. She had shoulder length hair in July 2009. Hair only grows about 1/2 inch a month. It would only have been chin length at most.

Splitting nails

I'm so upset. My nails are weak and splitting. I know it is related to the alopecia. I hate it. It is the painful part of this disease. The hair fallout is just annoying, but when your nails split, the protection that was once there is now gone. Right now only the index finger of my right hand doesn't have any cracks on it. I'm grateful because I use that one the most. The other ones I put hardener on so that there is some protection.

Hot and Red

I've gotten in the habit of looking at my scalp and have noticed that sometimes it feels hot and sometimes there are areas that look red. From my anatomy and physiology classes in college, that indicates to me that there is inflammation. But it isn't going away as nicely as I'd hoped. I got so many compliments on my wig last night at dinner. I just told them straight out it was a wig. Everyone was amazed. But, this gives me the freedom to switch up to a longer wig the next time I go out. The conversation was quickly dropped. I was a little taken aback that no one seemed to care that I was losing my hair. I was relieved too. Church brought more compliments on my "sassy new do." I just wish people wouldn't notice. Maybe I should have bought a better wig.