The Long Hair Community

smara · November 20th, 2006, 05:56 AM

I'm still in shock (and self-disgust) so please forgive me if I sound mad. I am. At myself.

I've been having some severe hair thinning issues (bald lines on crown) in the past year. I discovered LHC in May and turned to an all-natural hair care, which was simply great - I started to love my hair and also really care for it. But even after 6 months of finding LHC (and some wonderful friends) and going the natural hair care way, I was still losing hair and despairing.

Well, I found an answer for my hair loss y'day. You can read abt it here.

I'm kicking myself. Why didn't I do this before? Why did I have to lose about 50% of my hair (mostly from the crown) and THEN suddenly get the good sense to consult a trichologist (mostly thanks to epiphanee, skark7 and Artista)... why did I suffer all this time unnecessarily? Why did I decide to self-doctor myself, instead of getting a test done as soon as I returned to India in April.. why why why

Well. Lots of whys and one sorry woman. All said and done, self-kicking hurts. Really. I know quite a few people here are having chronic hair loss issues... and wondering and hurting and feeling scared like me... to all of them, my request is - please, please PLEASE get your hair scanned and tested ASAP. Like NOW. Er, if it's night in your part of the world, may be tomorrow. A. S. A. P.

I cannot stress it more. I repeat - self-kicking is NOT nice.

R

P.S.: Thanks for reading this.

bellydancer · November 20th, 2006, 06:17 AM

kelly-j · November 20th, 2006, 06:31 AM

I´m losing lots of hair and thought it was stress-related. I have also been depressed for a while, and read that you can lose hair then.
If my hair won´t stop falling off, I will certainly think of getting it scanned.
Thank you for sharing

epiphanee · November 20th, 2006, 06:40 AM

smara, I am so happy that you have had a proper diagnosis and found out what the problem was.

If you don't mind, could you post or PM me which type of microbes are responsible and what treatment you have been prescribed. It's always interesting for me to see how Trichologists in different countries treat the same problem.

Loving regards and best wishes!

talullah · November 20th, 2006, 06:52 AM

I'm so glad that you've found an answer! I'm pretty sure that once you get the fungal infection under control, you can start to grow hair in the balding patches again! Don't be so hard on yourself. Who would have thought of fungus? Not me, that's for sure. I think this should give you lots of hope for growing your hair back and beautiful hair in the future.

Keep us posted. And good luck!

It feels so good to have an answer, doesn't it?

Sally · November 20th, 2006, 06:55 AM

How great that you've got a plan! Do let us know what is recommended for the infection. Once in a while, I do a shampooing with Nizoral, which is supposed to be good for clearing fungal infections, just in case. I believe they're actually quite common. I started doing this after having a bad bout of extreme itchiness that the doc said was prob fungal.

and

vrle · November 20th, 2006, 06:58 AM

I'm hoping for the best! At least you know what you're fighting against now! Take care!

cindy58 · November 20th, 2006, 07:03 AM

I'm very glad to hear that you've found a reason for your hair loss that should be fixable! Good Luck with your treatment!

granitbaby · November 20th, 2006, 07:20 AM

I have followed your battle aganist hairloss and I´m soo glad you found an answer! I hope the treatment is easy and kind to your hair.

Best wishes and good luck!

zule · November 20th, 2006, 07:25 AM

Oh, smara--what a wonderful thing to know now what is causing it! And it was great to have it suggested to you by other LHC'ers. These infestations of fungus are relatively common, as far as unnatural hair loss goes. We've had quite a few members with them.

To the best of my knowledge, everyone's hair started growing back once the treatment began to work. I'm so happy for you. Now I know what I'll do if it happens to me.

A question--is Nizoral available without a prescription?

wolfpack · November 20th, 2006, 07:32 AM

I am glad that you found help to treat your problem and hope you have a speedy recovery.

Curlsgirl · November 20th, 2006, 08:28 AM

Hugs and so glad you found the answer! Instead of beating yourself up, be glad that it is NOT irreversible and that you now have an answer and are on your way to getting better!!! I know it's easy to be mad at yourself but remember you cannot go back and rewrite history! Concentrate on the GOOD that came out of it!!!

There now! A banana dance just for you!!!

Hairizona · November 20th, 2006, 11:18 AM

Smara-
So glad you found the problem...sounds like a very reversible issue. Soon you can go forward growing out those areas.I would also be very interested in knowing the type/names of the organisms/fungus and causes responsible for this. Please do let all of us know and also we all want to follow your progress.

Jadie · November 20th, 2006, 02:35 PM

hooray Smara,
Glad to hear you got some help for you hair problems. Good luck

EgyptianQueen · November 20th, 2006, 04:10 PM

Smara, I am so glad for you that you've finally found the answer to your hairloss. I think that is the biggest step towards recovery! Who would have thought about fungal infection? Well, i am also been having shedding, so if you don't mind, I have a few questions for you: Did you have lots of flakes? Did your scalp itchy? Can washing with shikakai prevent fugus on the scalp? Thanks! Best wishes and take care!