Hi there, I am new to the forum world and I really want to share my hair loss issues with you. I'm 25 and I have been losing my hair since I was about 18. It started very gradual on my parting and over time it was becoming quite sparse. When I was about 20, I visited the belgravia centre who gave me a course of Minioxidil to try, it worked at first and I was very pleased however the application twice a day was marignally annoying, but hey it was working so what the hell. I continued to use it for a few up to 18 months and then noticed my hair was getting worse and it appeared that the Minixodil had stopped working. I then went back to Belgravia and tried a course of the 12% cream but again - no joy!!
I went to my doctors to have all the usual blood tests done but everything came back as normal. So as time went by I just put up with the thinning, i used to wear my hair scraped up all the time and in styles that your would never notice I had thinning hair!
When I was about 23 I was sick of wearing my hair up but the thinning was too noticeable on the top of my head not to, until I came across Nanogen. I read a story in a sunday magazine in which Dr Hilary (the Dr off GMTV) suggested Nanaogen Nanofibres. So i gave it a try. 2 years on and it has helped so much with my confidence. You can order it in the colour to match your hair colour and you simply sprinkle it onto the thinning areas, gently pat it down then spray it with hairspray....no-one would ever know I have a problem.
So as a 'camouflage' solution, it works wonders but it does not stop me from losing my hair. As the shedding is none stop and appears to be 'diffuse thinning' all over, I recently decided to speak with a Trichologist in London - I explained to him my full story and he advised he could help me. He was amazed to see how bad my hair was which really upset me! He advised it could either be Chronic Telogen Effluvium or Androgentic Alopecia. He wanted me to visit his salon every week to have treatment (laser hair comb etc),,,for this he wanted £35 a time but this also meant I had to pay for travel in and out of london which is another £20 on top. Now i'm not sure about any of you guys out there but how could I afford to do that with actually no evidence that it will be worth it anyway...so I gave that a miss and went back to my doctor.
I had been on the contraceptive pill since I was about 17 and as many of these suggest this can be a cause of hair loss so he advised me to come off it (which i have done) and then he will conduct more tests on me such as hormone imbalance etc...if this still shows there is nothing wrong, he suggested he would refer me to a dermatologist! So this is the stage I am currently at! I have been off the pill for 2 and a half months, my hair continues to shed and I am now at the point where if i lose anymore i'm going to have none left!! The trauma I have been through I'm sure any women with my problem reading this can relate to....
- I dread having a shower
- Combing my hair
- Counting the hairs that fall out each day
- Crawl around the carpet in my bedroom on my hands and knees collecting my hairs with tears rolling down my face
- Cry myself to sleep
Luckily i have a fantastic partner who has really helped me and slowly I'm beginning to realise that my hair is what it is...if the dermatlogist can find the underlying cause then bouns but for the time being I just cope with it. I find regular exercise helps me and makes me feel good about myself! As i continue to 'camouflage' my issue people wouldn't even know there was anything wrong with me! So if anyone out there hasnt tried Nanaogen Nanofibres then please do!
Thanks for taking the time to read my story and I will update you on any progress over the months that go by