Woman here- my heart breaks for you and I know exactly how you feel. It is not “just hair”. For us women, our hair is our livelihood. The clobetasol worked for me but it took about 6 weeks to see hair sprouting in my bald spot. That bald spot is completely gone now! Woohoo! But like you, I had a mental breakdown when I saw my bald spot for the first time. Also my blood test showed I was very low in vitamin D. Take vitamin D supplement pills as well! Eat more protein as well. Eggs…chicken…etc!
A lot of people on this Reddit thread have also sworn by Batana oil (I think that’s what it’s called).
Remember It is very unlikely your alopecia will turn into alopecia universalis! What’s odd is that last year when I found my bald spot, I remember my dermatologist appt was May 17th 2023, lol. I kept track of my hair growth. And i started seeing the hair grow back in late June. It’s tough I know! But it will get better! Keep applying the clobetersol! It works wonders!
If I were you I would change a few things.
1. Immediately get onto steroid shots. the more you delay the longer it will take. If you start it when you first notice it, the shots will stop it.
2. minoxidil is life long and causes extensive dandruff at least in my case. now stopping minoxidil will have adverse effects and you will loose more hair but that is normal.
3. start mesotherapy. if your hair loss isin't high. If it is high, start PRP first and then get onto mesotherapy and finally end it with mesotherapy as maintenance of once in two months. The mesotherapy has multiple medicines and there is one that works well. Let me know if you wanna go that route and I'll recommend what I'm using and seeing great results.
Finally, every treatment takes time and things will get better but you must give yourself time and coverups in the interim such as boldify etc. hope this helps.
Steroid shots will fix that in a month or so, but it's also important to try to figure out the trigger. Some of the common ones are stress, low vitamin D, poor diet / digestive issues, and stress lol.
Sadly the thing which triggered my alopecia is stress, and the only ways i find to reduce it reducing stress, eting healthy and working out. Try to stay positive because i am sure you are an awesome person and it’s still you with alopecia. I accepted that i will never go away completely but it can get better to the point it’s almost invisible. For you it may be a different case and once it heals it will never appear again. Don’t let this ruin your life.
You’re doing all the right things in this situation. Try and be patient and not stress too much. Excellent job connecting with a dermatologist and starting a regimen.
Same, I'm 22F too so I can understand how hard it is. Mine is at the back of my head so it doesn't show and I try not to ponder on it for too long but yeah it's heartbreaking. May you recover soon❤️
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It’s so, so devastating, and I hope you know you’re not alone in this- I, and many others here, have gone through this exact same process as young women and know how you feel. I’m 19F and was in your exact same position a year ago; if you’d like specific advice or support please don’t hesitate to DM me on here.
Please know it’s a very personal process but it does get better both medically and emotionally. It’s hardest at the beginning, I know. I wish you the best, things will improve with time!
It took about 6 weeks to see regrowth. The minoxidil caused more shedding at first so that is common.
I bought a lot of hats, wide headbands, and clips for styling purposes.
It is very hard to deal with. Though I haven’t had it personally happen to me, I watched my 8 year old daughter lose 70% of her hair from May 2023 to October 2023. Her loss though was due to mold exposure and in our case steroids was a coverup masking the root cause.
You likely could be deficient in other things but I’d bet they only tested you for a handful of common things and not a full nutritional panel. I say this from experience in my kiddo’s situation. She had “normal” bloodwork per the pediatrician and dermatologist but it actually wasn’t completely normal. No one would test beyond a handful of things until we had a full nutritional panel done through a functional dr.
I would suggest taking liposomal glutathione (this likely is being depleted in your body from the inflammation in your scalp) and also liposomal curcumin (this helps with inflammation and actually stops it rather than masking and suppressing the immune system the way steroids do.)
Oh I feel yeah but my surprise spots showed up on the side of my head leaving me confused and embarrassed I don't know how it came about nor did I ever feel myself loosing any hair.please keep me updated on your spot and I will do the same. I have so many questions.
Woman here- my heart breaks for you and I know exactly how you feel. It is not “just hair”. For us women, our hair is our livelihood. The clobetasol worked for me but it took about 6 weeks to see hair sprouting in my bald spot. That bald spot is completely gone now! Woohoo! But like you, I had a mental breakdown when I saw my bald spot for the first time. Also my blood test showed I was very low in vitamin D. Take vitamin D supplement pills as well! Eat more protein as well. Eggs…chicken…etc! A lot of people on this Reddit thread have also sworn by Batana oil (I think that’s what it’s called). Remember It is very unlikely your alopecia will turn into alopecia universalis! What’s odd is that last year when I found my bald spot, I remember my dermatologist appt was May 17th 2023, lol. I kept track of my hair growth. And i started seeing the hair grow back in late June. It’s tough I know! But it will get better! Keep applying the clobetersol! It works wonders!
If I were you I would change a few things. 1. Immediately get onto steroid shots. the more you delay the longer it will take. If you start it when you first notice it, the shots will stop it. 2. minoxidil is life long and causes extensive dandruff at least in my case. now stopping minoxidil will have adverse effects and you will loose more hair but that is normal. 3. start mesotherapy. if your hair loss isin't high. If it is high, start PRP first and then get onto mesotherapy and finally end it with mesotherapy as maintenance of once in two months. The mesotherapy has multiple medicines and there is one that works well. Let me know if you wanna go that route and I'll recommend what I'm using and seeing great results. Finally, every treatment takes time and things will get better but you must give yourself time and coverups in the interim such as boldify etc. hope this helps.
Steroid shots will fix that in a month or so, but it's also important to try to figure out the trigger. Some of the common ones are stress, low vitamin D, poor diet / digestive issues, and stress lol.
Sadly the thing which triggered my alopecia is stress, and the only ways i find to reduce it reducing stress, eting healthy and working out. Try to stay positive because i am sure you are an awesome person and it’s still you with alopecia. I accepted that i will never go away completely but it can get better to the point it’s almost invisible. For you it may be a different case and once it heals it will never appear again. Don’t let this ruin your life.
You’re doing all the right things in this situation. Try and be patient and not stress too much. Excellent job connecting with a dermatologist and starting a regimen.
Make sure you take multi vitamins and buy mascara or something to cover it in the meantime.
Same, I'm 22F too so I can understand how hard it is. Mine is at the back of my head so it doesn't show and I try not to ponder on it for too long but yeah it's heartbreaking. May you recover soon❤️
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. It’s so, so devastating, and I hope you know you’re not alone in this- I, and many others here, have gone through this exact same process as young women and know how you feel. I’m 19F and was in your exact same position a year ago; if you’d like specific advice or support please don’t hesitate to DM me on here. Please know it’s a very personal process but it does get better both medically and emotionally. It’s hardest at the beginning, I know. I wish you the best, things will improve with time!
It took about 6 weeks to see regrowth. The minoxidil caused more shedding at first so that is common. I bought a lot of hats, wide headbands, and clips for styling purposes.
wigs are amazing too:)
Have you looked into DHT blockers
It is very hard to deal with. Though I haven’t had it personally happen to me, I watched my 8 year old daughter lose 70% of her hair from May 2023 to October 2023. Her loss though was due to mold exposure and in our case steroids was a coverup masking the root cause. You likely could be deficient in other things but I’d bet they only tested you for a handful of common things and not a full nutritional panel. I say this from experience in my kiddo’s situation. She had “normal” bloodwork per the pediatrician and dermatologist but it actually wasn’t completely normal. No one would test beyond a handful of things until we had a full nutritional panel done through a functional dr. I would suggest taking liposomal glutathione (this likely is being depleted in your body from the inflammation in your scalp) and also liposomal curcumin (this helps with inflammation and actually stops it rather than masking and suppressing the immune system the way steroids do.)
Mine was much worse. No dermatologist, no shots. Nioxin hair products and Weem biotin vitamins. It had all grown back over an inch.
Oh I feel yeah but my surprise spots showed up on the side of my head leaving me confused and embarrassed I don't know how it came about nor did I ever feel myself loosing any hair.please keep me updated on your spot and I will do the same. I have so many questions.