Hair, hair where have you gone?

I'm still here. Still trying to figure out what to do with my ever receding hairline and now massive shedding. I've been using minoxidil faithfully. I was enjoying really good results as far as thickening and it almost completely got rid of the shedding. But I just took a provera/clomid combination because we want to have another bundle of joy and my hair has been falling out like crazy. I'm hoping it will stop soon it's been three months since I took that stuff and I'm still losing hair by the 1000s daily. And the little pill combo didn't even work. :(

Looks like I left you at my last post with trying to see the dermatologist. Well, after finally getting into see the dermatologist I decided that was a total waste of time. She began to explain to me that hairloss can be attributed to a variety of different issues; genetics, hormones, nutrition, hair treatments . . .etc. DUH! I knew that I was there for her to tell me if my hairloss was due to a dermatological condition. She visually examined my scalp and said it looks healthy. Ummm . . . I could have done that. There were no tests ordered, nothing! That appointment was a waste of my time. After that I kind of gave up hope that any doctor could fix me.

There was good news with the hair restoration doctors as they all agreed that I would be a good candidate for hair transplants. I'm just not sure I want to do it right now. I'm 33 and we would still like to have a couple more kids. I don't want my crazy hormones during that time to make my hair do weird stuff. I'd rather just be ugly for now then when we're done with the gestation phase and my hormones have settled down I can redo all the undone that my pregnancies have caused.

I did find one interesting procedure with a doctor in San Francisco, Dr. Kabaker. He has a hairline lowering procedure that looks very painful and I'm not sure I like all the after pics but it might be something I'll look into in the future. You know when we're done having kids. Does anyone know anything about Dr. Kabaker or have any experience with a similar procedure? I would love the feedback. Thanks!

Waiting . . . .waiting . . . .waiting . . .

Can you tell I've been waiting . . .waiting . . . waiting . . .for a referral that is. Finally, it came through but they did it wrong!!! And the lady at my Dr.'s office sounded annoyed that she would have to do it over when she was the one that did it wrong in the first place. This is taking FOREVER!! I feel like I am running short on time because everyday my hairline moves a little farther back and everyday I'm still waiting for the referral. I feel like walking into the lady in my Dr.'s office, throwing back my bangs and yelling if this was happening to you would you be taking your time to get the referral done?

Okay, I feel better. I vented. Now I'm just waiting . . . .

New Find

I just found a great website. The amount of support and info you can find here is amazing. Check it out at www.womenshairlossproject.com.

How Big Is Your Forehead?

Taking the advice of Dr. Keene I took a picture of my hairline with a tape measure and I'll do it again in a few months to see if it's still receding or if it's stopped/slowed down.

So my forehead measures about 3 1/2". Bet you can't beat that! ;)

You can kind of see the skin color change in the picture where my hairline used to be at around 1 1/2" - 2". You can also see how dense my hair is behind the hairline. That mix is what has the doctors I've seen so far confused. Which is why I'll be seeing a dermatologist and possibly and endocrinologist.

A Few More Opinions

Since my last post I've been to three doctors, two hair transplant specialists and one family doctor to get a referral to a dermatologist.

The first doctor, Dr. Alexander, was very nice. Although he has never seen anything like my condition in a woman he definately thought he could help me. He charges $4 a graft and he thought he would have to do it twice to get the thickness that he thinks I would be happy with. It would be about $8000 but I was so happy there was hope that I was almost ready to sign up for surgery right then. He thought it was probably traction alopecia caused by wearing a tight headband. But he also mentioned seeing an endocrinologist to make sure it wasn't hormonal.

I then went to Dr. Keene, a female hair transplant specialist. I thought it would be nice to get a female opinion. As soon as I walked in the room with my bangs in my face and my hair thrown forward she said, "it doesn't look like you have a hair loss issue."

"Oh just wait until I pull my hair back." I warned her then pulled my bangs back.

"Yes, I see now." She was shocked and immediately let me know that I probably have frontal fibrosing alopecia. Luckily I had just read about this here and knew that it usually only affects post menopausal women and they also lose their eyebrows. She suggested I see a dermatologist first to rule that out. They will do a biopsy and send it to a dermapathologist to determine the diagnosis. She also suggested taking a picture with a tape measure and then doing it again later to compare the measurements and make sure that my hairline is not still receding. Very good idea!

Since no one has really seen something like my hairloss I set my next appointment with my general practitioner to get referrals to an endocrinologist and a dermatologist. I'm starting to realize this is going to be a very long journey but I hope it's one that turns out well.

The problems the doctors are having are that I'm only 33 and female. The hairloss was gradual and we don't know if it would continue since I'm now using minoxidil and Nioxin. I don't dare stop either one of these since I haven't noticed my hairline receding since I started them. The other issue that's confusing is I don't have any mininturized hairs. There is a definite line where my hair is receding and then it starts to grow in thick again. I'm feeling like I'm the only person in this world that is having this type of hairloss but I know there must be others. So speak up! Let me know you're out there and if you've found something that has worked for you pass it on please!!!!

Bosely

Here we go again. How many times am I going to have to enter a hair restoration center and expose my baldness before I find a solution?

Again, I tried to be as normal and friendly as possible considering the circumstances. I wasn't feeling to good about Bosely since I had a confirmation phone call from them that went something like this.

A female voice on the other end, "I'm calling to confirm an appointment for a . . .oh that's you . . .How old did you say you are? . . . 33? . . .And you are looking for hair replacement surgery? . . .And how is your hair loss?" I could practically hear the sarcasm in her voice. That's where I about lost it. Are you the Dr? Why do you care how my hair loss is?

"It's just my hairline." I threw out.

"Oh, okay, well we'll see you Friday."

Whatever.

The sales rep this time was very nice. A young looking guy whose hairline looked like it's been transplanted. You tend to notice every one's hairline when yours is receding. Just like at the first hair place I went to we talked and then he said the same dreaded phrase, "Lets take a look." As I pulled back my hair off my face a small gasp escaped his mouth. "Oh, wow. That almost looks like a scar or something. I mean look at that it's just like baby skin. Was there any stress to the area ever?" Maybe. I explained that I used to wear my hair back very tight but stopped that once another woman at the gym commented on my HUGE FOREHEAD.

"Well, other than that you've got great hair all over. I think you are a candidate for hair replacement but let me get the Dr."

A candidate? Since when was this a job interview? Can you fix it or can't you? He left me with a cost sheet. It's based on how many grafts they do. He thought it would be around 1600. On the sheet that was $10,000!!!!!!! I guess someone has to pay for all those commercials.

To make a long story short, turns out I am NOT a candidate for hair transplants at least not at Bosely. Dr. said I have too thick of hair and I would not be happy with the result. Does that even make any sense? Apparently the transplanted area would not be as thick as the area right behind it and it wouldn't blend well. Although I think I would be happy with anything right now. The only option the doctor would offer was to just continue wearing my hair the way I do now with bangs and all in my face.

After the Dr. left the room the nice sales rep told me he would get a second opinion and gave me the name of another Dr. here that does hair transplants. So after all that I made another appointment at another clinic for September 3.

Tired of Doing Nothing

I was tired of not really doing anything about my hairloss. I was just kind of waiting for it to come back. But that's not happening. So I finally made the call to a hair restoration place. They use the cool, as in cold, lasers and topical treatments to treat hair loss. I won't lie. It was emabarrassing to even go. But I hate my receding hairline so much that I made myself do it. Even making the appointment was awkward.

"Evolution Hair Centers. How can I help you?"

"I would like to schedule a consultation."

"Is this for you or somebody else?"

YES! Of course it's for me. Umm . . .no it's for a friend?!? Does a female voice on the other end of the phone really throw people off that much. I mean all the "experts" claim that 50% of all women will experience hairloss at sometime in their life. Obviously, either the experts are wrong or us women are too emabarrassed to do anything to treat our hairloss. Isn't even talking about it taboo? That's one reason why I started this blog because through the anominity of the internet I can get my story out there and hopefully come up with a solution that will work.

As I walk into the hair office I'm praying that there is no one there that I know. There was ultimate surprise on the woman's face when I walk in and tell her I have an appointment. Trying to act as normal as possible I take a seat in the waiting room and proceed to bury my head in a book.

Another patient walks in and I don't even look up. Please don't let me know him. I glance over after he sits down and good it's no one I've ever seen before. Finally the sales rep calls me for my consultation. I say "sales rep" because that is what they are I found out later. He asks me all the questions then says, "Let's take a look."

Great, I have to pull back my bangs and expose my BALD forehead to him. I might as well be there for a breast augmentation consult because it was that emabarrassing. Not that I would know but I imagine it would be about the same level of degradation. He looks with his little scalp analysis tool.

"Sorry, nothing we can do for you. That's genetic and your follices are dead. Laser will not make hair grow out of nothing."

While I appreciated his honesty I was devastated. Genetic? You mean it could get worse?

"There are other options though. Have you heard of Bosely?"

Bosely, . . . of course I've heard of Bosely. Every other advertisement on TV is an advertisement for Bosely. He gave me their number and sent me on my way.

Feeling completely depressed about my consultation and learning that it was genetic I called Bosely and made an appointment for Friday.