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Dear Benjamin and all,
I've had Alopecia Areata since I was about 7 and I'm now 44 - the cause is not known and there is no known cure. I'm absolutely desperate, I have only had a full head of hair twice in the last 30 years, and it's really distressing.
For those who don't know what it is, it's a condition where your hair falls out in patches leaving you with bald area on your scalp anywhere between the size of a 50p piece and the size of, say, a mobile phone. Some people. like brave Duncan Goodhew the swimmer, lose it all.
In most cases it starts to re-grow after 6 months to a year, but around that time more patches will go bald, so the hair is all patchy and of different lengths, texture and colour.
My q is: can you make any emotional links to the disease, as apparently medicine does not hold any answers yet?
Thankyou for any light you can shed.
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A personal problem Alopecia Areata
#2 Guest_DC_*
Posted 21 April 2005 - 11:16 AM
Hi! I wanted to reply so you knew someone out there was interested. Sounds like you have to live with a very difficult problem. I'm sorry. I wonder if it is an auto-immune problem? It is something I know next to nothing about. Have you tried researching online? There must be sources of info out there. I will look around and see if I can find anything. Best wishes...
#3 Guest_Guest_terri_*
Posted 21 April 2005 - 08:18 PM
I'm sorry that you have had to live with this problem for so long. It must be a difficult and upsetting condition to deal with.
I do not know much about alopecia, although I have heard of it, but I suspect in some circumstances it might well have an emotional element. The reason for thinking this is that a man I know lost all his hair almost literally overnight. It coincided with a period of time when he was having serious financial problems and lost both his business and house quite suddenly. His hair never did regrow even though he gradually bounced back from his difficulties. At first he was embarrassed and used to wear hats all time time but then he stopped doing so and for years now he has been completely bald and looks good like that, I cannot imagine him looking any different now. So yes, I would suspect that sometimes an emotional element may well be relevant to hair loss.
I do not know much about alopecia, although I have heard of it, but I suspect in some circumstances it might well have an emotional element. The reason for thinking this is that a man I know lost all his hair almost literally overnight. It coincided with a period of time when he was having serious financial problems and lost both his business and house quite suddenly. His hair never did regrow even though he gradually bounced back from his difficulties. At first he was embarrassed and used to wear hats all time time but then he stopped doing so and for years now he has been completely bald and looks good like that, I cannot imagine him looking any different now. So yes, I would suspect that sometimes an emotional element may well be relevant to hair loss.
#4
skyblue22 
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Posted 22 April 2005 - 02:05 PM
Hi,
Thanks to both of you for your kind replies.
Terri, I was hoping that Benjamin cd help me find an emotional reason behind this disorder, but he says it's not in his field of expertise.
You can imagine I've spent a long time trying to find a cause/cure for this, and have tried quite few, mainly expensive remedies, but have not found anything that works. Yet!
I look forward to any replies, thanks for yr interest,
Skyblue22
#5 Guest_Guest_*
Posted 22 April 2005 - 06:58 PM
I guess Benjamin probably needs to be a bit careful about speculating on causes for medical conditions, both for our protection and his own, which I can understand. In a worst case scenario, supposing someone on the forum was focused on a possible emotional cause for an illness when really it turned out to be organic in origin? They might neglect to get important medical investigations or treatment on account of concentrating on a possible emotional cause. That would be a negative scenario for everyone concerned. So I wouldn't feel let down if Benjamin says your condition is out of his area of expertise; his honesty in saying that shows he cares.
I hope it isn't out of order for me to suggest this, but it sounds to me as if the real reason for you mentioning your alopecia on this particular forum is perhaps not so much to seek a cause/cure (something which you have been fruitlessly ploughing your time, money and emotion into for many years) - but for help and guidance in learning to accept the condition and how to minimise the negative emotional effects it is having on your life? Obviously it is primarily a physical problem, - but your search for possible emotional components makes it sound to me as if it's the negative mental/emotional impact it has on you which your main concern at the moment? Is it that what you're really asking from Benjamin is not so much speculation on a cause for your illness but rather some help in learning how to accept it and be more at peace with yourself? Learning how to feel less desperate about it? Then maybe you would be able to ease-up on investing so much into searching frantically for that elusive cure?
When I was a small child I remember feeling huge frustration and disappointment one day when I saw a rainbow and failed to find the end of it, and the pot of honey which one of my books promised would be there. I ran and ran down the field beneath the rainbow, convinced I was nearly there and determined to find it, - but every time I got nearer the rainbow would move. I kept running to where I thought the end was, but each time I got near it would move. It was soooo frustrating because I felt so close and knew that if only I could get there I would find this pot of honey. I kept racing round the field until I was exhausted and fed up. It was only when Mum explained how the end of the rainbow was an optical illusion and I would never be able reach it that I felt able to stop chasing it. Then I just stood back, relaxed, and was able to enjoy the rainbow from a whole new perspective.
I hope that doesn't sound flippant, but the reason for telling you my rainbow story is because that's how your search for a cause/cure for your alopecia sounds to me; that perhaps you are chasing frustratedly after rainbows when deep down what you really want is the peace and relaxation of being able to accept and love yourself as you are?
I hope it isn't out of order for me to suggest this, but it sounds to me as if the real reason for you mentioning your alopecia on this particular forum is perhaps not so much to seek a cause/cure (something which you have been fruitlessly ploughing your time, money and emotion into for many years) - but for help and guidance in learning to accept the condition and how to minimise the negative emotional effects it is having on your life? Obviously it is primarily a physical problem, - but your search for possible emotional components makes it sound to me as if it's the negative mental/emotional impact it has on you which your main concern at the moment? Is it that what you're really asking from Benjamin is not so much speculation on a cause for your illness but rather some help in learning how to accept it and be more at peace with yourself? Learning how to feel less desperate about it? Then maybe you would be able to ease-up on investing so much into searching frantically for that elusive cure?
When I was a small child I remember feeling huge frustration and disappointment one day when I saw a rainbow and failed to find the end of it, and the pot of honey which one of my books promised would be there. I ran and ran down the field beneath the rainbow, convinced I was nearly there and determined to find it, - but every time I got nearer the rainbow would move. I kept running to where I thought the end was, but each time I got near it would move. It was soooo frustrating because I felt so close and knew that if only I could get there I would find this pot of honey. I kept racing round the field until I was exhausted and fed up. It was only when Mum explained how the end of the rainbow was an optical illusion and I would never be able reach it that I felt able to stop chasing it. Then I just stood back, relaxed, and was able to enjoy the rainbow from a whole new perspective.
I hope that doesn't sound flippant, but the reason for telling you my rainbow story is because that's how your search for a cause/cure for your alopecia sounds to me; that perhaps you are chasing frustratedly after rainbows when deep down what you really want is the peace and relaxation of being able to accept and love yourself as you are?
#6 Guest_Guest_terri_*
Posted 22 April 2005 - 06:59 PM
That message above was me, by the way, Terri. I haven't got the hang of this posting business yet 
#7
skyblue22
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Posted 23 April 2005 - 07:42 AM
Thanks DC and Terri,
I do like your story T, and it's not so much that i've spent my life chasing the rainbow, as that, from time to time, say every 5 years, the alopecia gets really bad, and i do another round of enquiries in case s.o. knows s'thing i dont.
imagine if u had really awful scabby acne all over yr face, altho u dont see it most of the time, u see it in other pples faces...and wish u cd have what everyone else seems to take 4 granted.
Sometimes i see a woman with really messy hair, and i enviously think, "I wish just a good haircut would solve MY bad hair day/week/year. "
Thanx 4 yr replies,
Skyblue
I do like your story T, and it's not so much that i've spent my life chasing the rainbow, as that, from time to time, say every 5 years, the alopecia gets really bad, and i do another round of enquiries in case s.o. knows s'thing i dont.
imagine if u had really awful scabby acne all over yr face, altho u dont see it most of the time, u see it in other pples faces...and wish u cd have what everyone else seems to take 4 granted.
Sometimes i see a woman with really messy hair, and i enviously think, "I wish just a good haircut would solve MY bad hair day/week/year. "
Thanx 4 yr replies,
Skyblue
#8 Guest_DC_*
Posted 25 April 2005 - 01:29 AM
Hi again Skyblue22,
This is an interesting website: http://www.alopeciaareata.com/ , in case you haven't visited it yet. It looks like the problem is an autoimmune disorder. The immune system can be affected by stress which may explain why the symptoms could be more acute during trying times. I hope there is something at the site that can help you. Good luck.
This is an interesting website: http://www.alopeciaareata.com/ , in case you haven't visited it yet. It looks like the problem is an autoimmune disorder. The immune system can be affected by stress which may explain why the symptoms could be more acute during trying times. I hope there is something at the site that can help you. Good luck.
#9
skyblue22
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Posted 26 April 2005 - 08:15 AM
Thankyou v much DC. It's great to get some support! 
I have looked at that website in the past, and I have concluded that they don't know any more than I do! To say that AA must be an "auto-immune" disorder is really saying that they don't know WHAT it is.
Like cancer and HIV/AIDS, we can attempt a cure, but don't know how or why it works, nor why some people get it and others don't,.
Scientists say that AA can be "hereditary" ie may run in families, but is not "genetic" ie science hasn't found a gene to explain it.
Do let me know if you have any other thoughts,
All the best
Sky
I have looked at that website in the past, and I have concluded that they don't know any more than I do! To say that AA must be an "auto-immune" disorder is really saying that they don't know WHAT it is.
Like cancer and HIV/AIDS, we can attempt a cure, but don't know how or why it works, nor why some people get it and others don't,.
Scientists say that AA can be "hereditary" ie may run in families, but is not "genetic" ie science hasn't found a gene to explain it.
Do let me know if you have any other thoughts,
All the best
Sky
#10
Stella Smith
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Posted 26 April 2005 - 09:26 PM
Hello 
I think you should consider the Bach Flower Remedies. They work on the emotions. Write down seven/eight aspects of emotion which are troubling you and there will be a flower remedy for your condition. I suggest you go to the website for Bach Flower Remedies and read up on it. Good luck! Stella
I think you should consider the Bach Flower Remedies. They work on the emotions. Write down seven/eight aspects of emotion which are troubling you and there will be a flower remedy for your condition. I suggest you go to the website for Bach Flower Remedies and read up on it. Good luck! Stella
#12
Mariel Uy
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Posted 06 August 2010 - 06:41 AM
skyblue22, on 16 April 2005 - 08:18 PM, said:
[B][SIZE=7][COLOR=blue]
Dear Benjamin and all,
I've had Alopecia Areata since I was about 7 and I'm now 44 - the cause is not known and there is no known cure. I'm absolutely desperate, I have only had a full head of hair twice in the last 30 years, and it's really distressing.
For those who don't know what it is, it's a condition where your hair falls out in patches leaving you with bald area on your scalp anywhere between the size of a 50p piece and the size of, say, a mobile phone. Some people. like brave Duncan Goodhew the swimmer, lose it all.
In most cases it starts to re-grow after 6 months to a year, but around that time more patches will go bald, so the hair is all patchy and of different lengths, texture and colour.
My q is: can you make any emotional links to the disease, as apparently medicine does not hold any answers yet?
Thankyou for any light you can shed.
Dear Benjamin and all,
I've had Alopecia Areata since I was about 7 and I'm now 44 - the cause is not known and there is no known cure. I'm absolutely desperate, I have only had a full head of hair twice in the last 30 years, and it's really distressing.
For those who don't know what it is, it's a condition where your hair falls out in patches leaving you with bald area on your scalp anywhere between the size of a 50p piece and the size of, say, a mobile phone. Some people. like brave Duncan Goodhew the swimmer, lose it all.
In most cases it starts to re-grow after 6 months to a year, but around that time more patches will go bald, so the hair is all patchy and of different lengths, texture and colour.
My q is: can you make any emotional links to the disease, as apparently medicine does not hold any answers yet?
Thankyou for any light you can shed.
Hello topic starter,, have you tried using leimo hair loss products? its proven and its effective for hair loss treatments...
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