Jeff and I… about 16 years ago.
The photo that you see in this entry was taken about 16 years ago. It was at my mother’s 70th birthday party. I like this photo very much because it brings happy memories. When that photo was taken, Jeff (my now husband) and I had been dating for about 4 years and we were very much in love.
I have this photo in the refrigerator because it reminds me of all that good time in our lives. Nevertheless, in the last months that photo is a continuous reminder of something else: I used to have beautiful healthy hair. What in the world happened to it?!
Just one of the locks of hair falling over my shoulder in the photo equals to my whole hair now. It is sad to see what it once was. I guess this happens also with the whole aging process: body, skin and hair never get to be what they used to be in our youth. Up to a point the only solution is resignation, because it is true that it is impossible to stop time. We need to embrace our new selves and get the best out of it.
Nevertheless I still refuse to embrace the current state of my hair. I believe there is much I can do in order to improve it. So, I am doing everything I can in order to achieve something close to what I had one day.
My hair had been terribly damaged and abused even before the alopecia showed up; it had thinned considerably and it was mostly dry and lifeless.
Therefore, I have decided that if I recover my hair I will stop the compulsive drying, styling, dying or sun exposure. I will focus in good healthy food and vitamins. I will keep taking the Biotin (will talk about it later on a different entry), a multivitamin, I will keep using the minoxidil; I will invest in good shampoos, and I will try as much as I can to get my stress under control.
And I swear it is not vanity (or maybe it is)… it is just that I miss my hair!
The Hair Journal 
how is your hair doing? you said that you had a little bit of hair growing, didn’t you?
I also see my pics with hair and I feel the same 🙂
Keep trying new things, hopefully something will work 🙂
Have you tried diets?
It is getting better… but soooooo slowly!!!!!!!!!! Tengo que ser paciente ahora… y nunca JAMAS lo habia sido! TU como vas??? Vi lo de tu peluca.. me encanta!
I have this exact feeling, looking through photos from 5 years ago!
You say your growth is slowly getting better. Are you using any treatments?
Twiggy
Ooops, you said you use minoxidil. Is that the cream? Do you think it has had any effect?
I use the lotion. I wrote a couple of entries about it… you can find them in the archives. But I am buying the 5% solution in the generic version. It is no expensive at all… about 16 dollars for 3 month treatment. I am seeing some regrow, but it is very slow, especially in the spot that bothers me the most, that is in the top of my head. I understand this is a slow recovery (when recovery happens) and that it does not guarantee that there would be more hair loss… but I truly believe it has help me… and with no side effects I plan to keep on using it for some time… or maybe a lifetime.
That’s interesting.
I used the cream, but I think it was a weaker solution and didn’t have much effect, although I wasn’t very persistent with it!
I am now trying an experimental treatment called diphencyphrone – also a cream which causes an eczema type reaction.
I have written about it in my blog if you’re interested.
I still haven’t seen any results, but it’s early days.
I hope your growth continues, I know it’s especially frustrating when it’s on the top of the scalp!
Twiggy x
I am following every treatment possible. And one (or the combination of them all) is working… since I do have some regrow. Or maybe the regrow would have happened without treatment… who knows? But yes, i do the Minoxidil, I did laser therapy, I am still doing weekly cryotherapy, I am using the Chinese mallet (acupuncture), I am taking Bach flowers for anxiety, and zoloft also to control anxiety and panic related to the AA… and maybe cause of it. What are you doing? I have heard about some natural treatments that I want to research on and write about. Good luck Twiggy!
Well I have had steroid injections for my eyebrows. I wasn’t very keen on the idea at first, but because it was such a small area and I was becoming quite depressed about loosing hair from my face, I decided to try it and it was really successful.
The eyebrows grew back in 4-6 weeks. They did of course fall out again, and I had to have more injections. They have started to fall out again but not so severely and I am able to pencil in the missing hair pretty convincingly.
I have lost too much hair on my scalp to have steroid injections on my head, but I wouldn’t want them anyway. It is painful enough as a few little ones in my eyebrows!
As for the Diphencyprone, it is a cream and works as a contact allergen. It causes a cellular reaction to occur in the upper layers of the skin on the scalp which is supposed to stimulate hair growth.
The side-effects are like eczema – really red and itchy.
I had some trouble at first with the strength of the solution being too strong and am now using a weaker concentration.
I haven’t seen any results yet, but it’s still early days.
This is my post about my progress so far with it:
Good luck to you too!
I absolutely loved your blog! Your a very good writer… keep doing it!
I do believe that there is something about “irritants”… they probably increase blood circulation… and that works. I am originally from Mexico and many people there told me they have heard that rubbing hot peppers over the scalp is an effective natural cure for alopecia (haven’t tried it yet)… also I read that in India they use garlic or turmeric… Good luck! I will keep reading the updates.
Thanks! 🙂
I have been looking for an alopecia blog! Yours is great…I wish that you didn’t have to write it though! I’m building up the courage to write about mine in my blog but as it is a chronological memoir, I’m not up to that stage yet. It’s nice to connect with you though. Jen