I always had thick, long, curly brown hair. Georgous. People would comment all the time on my hair, and it truly was my crowning glory and my best feature. I started BCP's when I was 18, and stayed on them for over 4 years. During those years I developed 'menstrual migraines' that were difficult to control, but not the end of the world. My junior year of college (3 years into the Pill) my mom commented that my hair was looking 'straggly.' I blew it off, since I had not noticed any profuse shedding. 6 months later she commented during a visit home from school that my hair must be falling out because it looked thin. That's when I started to really notice that it was looking a bit thinner, but I still wasn't concerned and passed it off as school stress (my hair still looked great at this point, so I didn't care). My mom kept telling me about her concern about my hair, so after year 4 of the pill I asked my Doctor about it and she said to go off the BCP since that must be what was causing it.
So I went off the pill, expecting my hair to return to 'normal.' Instead, 3 months later, my hair started falling out in handfuls. I went to my general Doctor who recommended me to derm #1. Derm #1 said it was Telogen Effluvium due to some tramatic even that had happened 3-6 months ago (though I insisted there were no such events!) and said that it was extremely rare for the BCP to cause such heavy shedding. He said it would finish shedding within a month or two and then grow back 3-5 months later, no worries. At that point I was pretty sad and scared about the shedding, but my hair was still okay looking and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Fast forward 1 year. My hair did, in fact, stop shedding heavily after about 3 months of shedding hell. However, 1 year later and still no regrowth and it seemed that the normal hair loss hairs never grew back. So my hair had gotten thinner and thinner, and by the 1 year mark looked like hell. I stopped wearing it down because it was so thin on top, but still held out hope that it was just taking me longer than normal to grow my hair back.
Finally, half way through grad school, I decided to go to OHSU for a second opinion. Derm #2 did a scalp biopsy and general blood tests. He said that according to the biopsy I had Androgenetic Alopecia and to use rogaine. He also told me that I could try going to an endo to see if there were any hormonal issues contributing to my hairloss.
I was devestated, but went ahead and scheduled appointments for the best endo in town. I also found Dr. Roberts, a renowned hair specialist, online and made an appointment with her. The endo, who was highly recommended, looked at the general blood panel and basically told me that it was not my thyroid, so it must be Androgenetic Alopecia. Nicest man in the world, but he basically dismissed me after a brief meeting in his office (not even a clinical visit). So I waited for 5 months to see Dr. Roberts, and when I finally got in with her she was wonderful. She was extremely sympathetic, her office was cozy and her staff wonderful. Her diagnosis, however, was less positive. She looked at my hair under a microscope of some sort with different combs and white paper and promptly told me that I had Androgenetic Alopecia. She told me to try Rogain 5% and come back in 3 months.
I tried the Rogaine, but it made me shed so heavily that I got freaked out and stopped, which ultimately made the thinning even worse. In addition, it made my scalp so irritated that it looked like I had psoriosis. I tried the 2% with the same results. At this point, I had lost over 60% of my hair. I went in for my 3 month appointment and she gave me a prescription for spironolactone and recommended that I try Propecia if the spironolactone didn't work. She said that although there had not been any official trials of Propecia in women that didn't mean it would not work. I tried the spironolactone, but the side effects were awful. I could barely stay awake at work, and had to take naps when I got home each day. It also upset my stomach.
So now I'm 24 (1 1/2 into the post-BCP hairloss ordeal) and trying to decide whether or not I should try the Propecia. If any of you women have any person experience in using this drug, I would love to hear about it. I have been putting it off because I'm a little bit freaked out of using it since I havn't had kids yet (not that I'm planning any in the next year or two, but still...it's a lil scary when faced with the potential side effects of an untested drug!).
In the mean time, I have purchased a cute pony tail clip that makes my hair look pretty good when it's back, although you can still see some of my scalp when you look down on my head. It also makes it very easy to do my hair in the morning, since all I have to do is put it in a pony tail loop and clip the hairpiece over it!
I'm hoping for the day when I can afford to do Sequence hair blending because it looks and sounds like an amazing way to deal with thin hair. However, until they come to the west coast (or I win the lottery!) the cost is simply not in the cards. I also stress because I teach high school and therefore have a fairly unforgiving audience when it comes to my place of work. Luckily, my boyfriend is super understanding and supportive and wonderful and so are my close friends. But it still royally sucks.
I think that in the back of my mind I still have some little iota of hope that it will grow back on its own, which I know is totally unrealistic. *sigh* I go through stages of 'it's just hair' followed by stages of 'I look hideous.' Thanks to everyone here, it's truly great to hear what everyone has to say, and thanks for listening.
--Sessa
So I went off the pill, expecting my hair to return to 'normal.' Instead, 3 months later, my hair started falling out in handfuls. I went to my general Doctor who recommended me to derm #1. Derm #1 said it was Telogen Effluvium due to some tramatic even that had happened 3-6 months ago (though I insisted there were no such events!) and said that it was extremely rare for the BCP to cause such heavy shedding. He said it would finish shedding within a month or two and then grow back 3-5 months later, no worries. At that point I was pretty sad and scared about the shedding, but my hair was still okay looking and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Fast forward 1 year. My hair did, in fact, stop shedding heavily after about 3 months of shedding hell. However, 1 year later and still no regrowth and it seemed that the normal hair loss hairs never grew back. So my hair had gotten thinner and thinner, and by the 1 year mark looked like hell. I stopped wearing it down because it was so thin on top, but still held out hope that it was just taking me longer than normal to grow my hair back.
Finally, half way through grad school, I decided to go to OHSU for a second opinion. Derm #2 did a scalp biopsy and general blood tests. He said that according to the biopsy I had Androgenetic Alopecia and to use rogaine. He also told me that I could try going to an endo to see if there were any hormonal issues contributing to my hairloss.
I was devestated, but went ahead and scheduled appointments for the best endo in town. I also found Dr. Roberts, a renowned hair specialist, online and made an appointment with her. The endo, who was highly recommended, looked at the general blood panel and basically told me that it was not my thyroid, so it must be Androgenetic Alopecia. Nicest man in the world, but he basically dismissed me after a brief meeting in his office (not even a clinical visit). So I waited for 5 months to see Dr. Roberts, and when I finally got in with her she was wonderful. She was extremely sympathetic, her office was cozy and her staff wonderful. Her diagnosis, however, was less positive. She looked at my hair under a microscope of some sort with different combs and white paper and promptly told me that I had Androgenetic Alopecia. She told me to try Rogain 5% and come back in 3 months.
I tried the Rogaine, but it made me shed so heavily that I got freaked out and stopped, which ultimately made the thinning even worse. In addition, it made my scalp so irritated that it looked like I had psoriosis. I tried the 2% with the same results. At this point, I had lost over 60% of my hair. I went in for my 3 month appointment and she gave me a prescription for spironolactone and recommended that I try Propecia if the spironolactone didn't work. She said that although there had not been any official trials of Propecia in women that didn't mean it would not work. I tried the spironolactone, but the side effects were awful. I could barely stay awake at work, and had to take naps when I got home each day. It also upset my stomach.
So now I'm 24 (1 1/2 into the post-BCP hairloss ordeal) and trying to decide whether or not I should try the Propecia. If any of you women have any person experience in using this drug, I would love to hear about it. I have been putting it off because I'm a little bit freaked out of using it since I havn't had kids yet (not that I'm planning any in the next year or two, but still...it's a lil scary when faced with the potential side effects of an untested drug!).
In the mean time, I have purchased a cute pony tail clip that makes my hair look pretty good when it's back, although you can still see some of my scalp when you look down on my head. It also makes it very easy to do my hair in the morning, since all I have to do is put it in a pony tail loop and clip the hairpiece over it!
I'm hoping for the day when I can afford to do Sequence hair blending because it looks and sounds like an amazing way to deal with thin hair. However, until they come to the west coast (or I win the lottery!) the cost is simply not in the cards. I also stress because I teach high school and therefore have a fairly unforgiving audience when it comes to my place of work. Luckily, my boyfriend is super understanding and supportive and wonderful and so are my close friends. But it still royally sucks.
I think that in the back of my mind I still have some little iota of hope that it will grow back on its own, which I know is totally unrealistic. *sigh* I go through stages of 'it's just hair' followed by stages of 'I look hideous.' Thanks to everyone here, it's truly great to hear what everyone has to say, and thanks for listening.
--Sessa
