Hi does anyone have a clue what's goin on ?

[catgreeneyes]

Hey all,im a 31 year old female .my hair started falling out 5 months ago (diffuse pattern) and at the same time acne appeared all over my back neck upper arms chest and face .my scalp also has acne .lve been to a dermatologist who tested my hormones. Everything came back normal (androgens,testosterone )apart from my prolactin which was at 42 and my progesterone is low also . My thyroid was normal but they didnt do a full panel only tsh and t3 .I also have low iron .I have an appointment with an endocrinologist in a month thank god . I know it cant be poly cystic ovaries as l know you have to have irregular periods and high androgens and l don't .l havent been on the pill for years so it cant be that either .l just don't have a clue what could cause your hair to just start falling out and severe scarring acne to appear out the blue . I'm so scared I have some horrible illness ! This has taken over my life . I don't go out anymore ,my boyfriend doesn't look at me the same ,I'm so depressed !

[Tracy C]

Your descriptions sure sounds like your androgen levels should be high or out of whack in some way. I don't have a clue what's going on. Why do you have to wait a full month to see an endocrinologist? Is there any way to see that doctor sooner?

[catgreeneyes]

Hi Tracy

Thanks for your reply ! If my androgens were out of wack would that cause my hair to fall out so suddenly ? The dermatologist had a look at my hairs under the micro scope and he said they were shedding hairs ( white bulb on end ) so probably not AGA.Can androgens cause your hair to go into TE ? I hope so as I'm just living on the hope my hair will grow back when l short out my hormones ! I live in Scotland and he is a n NHS professor of endocrinology .He doesn't do private and his waiting list is two months so another one to wait .

[Tracy C]

I don't know the answer. I do know that once the cause of a woman's hair loss is determined and treated, her hair usually grows back.

There is quite a bit of information about women's hair loss at the American Hair loss Association. Here is the link:

http://www.americanhairloss.org/women_hair_loss/

[catgreeneyes]

Thankyou Tracy .I have just sent them an email .Maybe they will have some answers.

[Tracy C]

I have a short story that might offer some hope on your situation.

I had stabilized my hereditary hair loss (AGA) that I inherited from my mother for quite a while and my hair was slowly growing back. Then several months before I lost my job rumors started going around that the company was going to shut down and we would all be out of a job. During those months, I started shedding a lot. The shedding continued until our last day of work on January 3rd 2012. The shedding stopped almost right away after that. Even though I had just lost my job (we all did), the stress of worrying about it was over - and the shedding stopped. TE is usually caused by stress. The more we worry about losing our hair, the more hair we can lose. It's a vicious self-feeding downward spiral. The only thing we can do about it is to try not to worry about it, which is almost impossible - but that is exactly what we need to do.

I have learned a lot about women's androgenetic alopecia (FPB), but the most important thing I have learned about women's hair loss in general is that you need to find a way to get it out of the front of your mind so you can recover and move on.

[catgreeneyes]

Hi Tracy


I am very anxious about my hair and l am also suffering from anxiety from Tramadol withdrawal .The thing is l have been through withdrawal anxiety before and have been through a lot of tragedy in my life and my hair has never fallen before which makes me think defo something is underlying .Also acne has never appeared before in past stressful situations .How did u manage to get your aga under control and get regrowth ? What medication did u use ?

[Tracy C]

Originally Posted by catgreeneyes

How did u manage to get your aga under control and get regrowth ? What medication did u use ?

Hello,

My regimen is using my laser comb every other day, Nizoral A-D shampoo once or twice a week, Men's Rogaine (Minoxidil) twice a day and Spiro twice a day. I also switched to sulfate free shampoo and conditioner. It may sound like a lot but it really isn't and it does not add too much time to my routine at all. Using my laser comb every other day is kind of a pain but I like what it does for my hair, so I keep doing it.

I first started off with just the laser comb used as directed for those first six months. My hair improved noticeably but I don't believe any regrowth happened during that time. For the next six months after that I used women's Rogaine and Nizoral A-D in addition to using my laser comb. From there, it was obvious that hair was growing back. After six months of that I got a script for Spiro, switched to using Men's Rogaine and started using my laser comb every other day instead of three times a week as directed. I grew a lot more hair back during that second year and I have been on that regimen ever since.

Though I did grow a lot of hair back during those two years, it wasn't enough so I had transplant surgery to fill in areas that just wouldn't grow hair any more. I have complete coverage now but it isn't as thick as I wish it could be. However, I can use Dermmatch concealer to blend in the thinner areas to even everything out and make it look like I never suffered with hair loss.

[catgreeneyes]

That is fantastic u managed regrowth Tracy I'm so happy for u .I have a feeling my prolactin might have something to do with the hair loss (could be elevated for a number of reasons ) and the low ferritin iron .I have only been on iron supplement for 3 weeks so will probably take a few months to see any change .I know that low progesterone can cause acne also so l might benefit from going onto Yasmin .

[catgreeneyes]

That is fantastic u managed regrowth Tracy I'm so happy for u .I have a feeling my prolactin might have something to do with the hair loss (could be elevated for a number of reasons ) and the low ferritin iron .I have only been on iron supplement for 3 weeks so will probably take a few months to see any change . I think I would probably benefit from Yasmin bcp for the acne .