Her Alopecia Womens Hair Loss Forums

I have noticed my hair thinning on the top for the last year and my doctors have finally come to a conclusion. The derm says is female pattern hair loss, which I dont really see how it is so different from Any form of alopecia. Basically, I shed a normal amount of hair every day but its no longer growing back where old hair has shed, so all of my hair is in resting stage i guess? I have just started the 5% rogaine and im really nervous after some of the things I have read on here and bout aging young etc on rogaine. Has anybody here been diagnosed with this, are there any other more natural ways to deal with the issue? Im freakkking out here people, 19 year olds arent supposed to lose their hair.

Love to all, stay strong ladies.

I agree that 19 year olds are not suppose to lose their hair. It sucks at any age, but being that young, it really sucks. My daughters hair started to thin when she was just 16. She is now 18 and her hair is in really bad shape. I haven't pushed the Rogaine idea on her, I want her to make all her own decisions. I tried rogaine years ago with no luck. However, I waited until about five years after I noticed my loss to start on it. I may have waited to late. I would suggest seeing a doctor and having some bloodwork done just to rule out other causes. Good luck to you. By the way, are you taking any meds?

If you have female pattern baldness, that does not mean your hairs are resting, that means that the follicle has shrunk and will no longer produce hair some day. The rogaine is supposed to help stop and MAYBE reverse the process a little bit.

Alopecia JUST means HL. There are so many different kinds and they are definitely different.

What tests did the derm use to diagnose you??

The dermatologist and my doctor have ruled out everything else and they have decided that this is my diagnoses. The derm put me on 5% rogaine and a birth control called diane 35- which is supposed to help stimulate hair growth. He did plenty of blood tests and then an anctual scalp biopsy to determine if it was alopecia, fem pattern baldness or a third cause and the biopsy came back positive for baldness. I dont know if i should push to do more tests, like what if they are wrong? either way, i have only been doing rogaine for a week so it could help no matter what it is i guess. Thanks for the responses!!! Love love love.

Worldtraveller,

Just a word of comfort on the Rogaine front, since you are about to start using it. I've been on Rogaine 5% foam for 3 years now, and while unfort it hasn't done much to help my hair grow back, it definitely has not had any terrible side effects either. It didn't age my skin or cause me to grow hair on my face or anything like that! It's one of the few (the only?) FDA approved methods for women, so I just want to put out a more positive note about it. Plus, there are a number of women on these boards who have had good success on it and posted pictures.

Nocturne

Oh.....I'm soooooo sorry~

I might be alone on this but I don't agree with your doctors or the biopsy. I STILL have a hard time believing in AGA as it is, but especially when it comes to young women.

Something is OFF in your body; that is what I think. I think our "modern" western medicine just can't figure all this out...our bodies are so complicated and different.

Do you have your blood test results? Can you share them here with us?

The only thing that might help, is the Diane.....although I know it doesn't work for everyone.

What I wouldn't do is the rogaine. I myself use it, but it was after 6+ years of consistent hairloss that I threw in the towel and started rogaine.

Read through the Positive Outlook section. Take days to do it, if you need to. Do some of your own research on the internet...

I'd go with Ell Cranell, Alpecin, Folligen.....or all of them, (and Emu Oil although I feel sorry for those guys)....before the rogaine.

These are just my OPINIONS. Others might disagree with me....but 19 is so very young.

Look into your diet, gluten intolerance.....seriously. Vitamin D deficiency.

Thyroid and iodine deficiency....

Even low ferritin can mimic AGA.

Someone tell me, how do these biopsies "prove" AGA? To me, AGA only encompasses the hundreds of reasons we might be losing our hair....and to me, it's still not normal and shouldn't be something we need to live with. I think it means we need to dig deeper, but unfortunately, this is hard to do with no medical degrees and funding ourselves....

Oh, traditional chinese medicine, accupuncture.....

So many routes to look into. Is your health okay? Periods okay?

Sorry for my ramble. I hope you find the answers you need.

i have had my ferritin checked and it seems to be normal, they say its around 40 which is average? my periods are normal as well, though i have been on the pill for 6 years with practically no breaks. i also travelled for a year, and was travelling in south america when the hair loss began. i was on a malaria prevention pill called malarone when i noticed my hair beginning to thin quite quickly. it has since practically plateaued and not gotten much thinner or thicker. I dont shed any abnormal amount of hair and never have. it is mainly the top of my hair from my bangs to my crown and my part is about an inch wide. the remainder of my hair appears to be normal and healthy. I will look into these allergies, the gluten intolerance as well as the vitamin d intolerance. though they have checked my thyroid, parasites etc. I dont have a copy of my blood tests but my ferritin is being checked again to see it remains normal so i will post that number for you!! i already started rogaine a week ago, out of desperation, it has taken me a year to figure this out and i just thought i would try whatever my doctor suggested..though my rogaine is not a foam.. is it better to use the 5% foam and if so where do i get that?? mine is just a liquid.. and by the way thanks so much for your interest and taking the time to respond to me i soo so apprectiate it!! ill keep up the research!! lots of love.

My ferritin was 42 for 2 years and all of my doctors told me it was perfectly fine. Last summer, however, I went to a female hairloss specialist and he told me my ferritin was too low to keep hair on my head (it has to be over 70). He also pointed out that my iron and red blood cell counts were on the the low end of the scale and that also is not good. So he put me on a very strong iron supplement ...my ferritin jumped to 109 in a few months.

Are you taking 2% or 5% rogaine liquid? Yes, many women on several boards have attested to the fact that the rogaine 5% foam works better. If you use 2%, maybe add folligen to your regimen?

Have you looked into this anti-maleria drug you took?

yeah i have been taking iron for about two months now but probably isnt quite long enough to actually make an improvement. i will continue taking it! its the 5% liquid that i am taking.. but i dont know how to get access to the foam rogaine.. is there a special place to get it?? and the malarone that i was taking does have a side affect of short term hair loss, but that was a year ago so i think its more of a factor of a bigger problem but not the sole cause...

thanks for your help.!

Here you go:

http://www.rogainedirect.com/index.asp? ... QodU2GvGw&.

But I paid about $35 for a 3-month supply at CVS and I think it's about $40 at Walmart.