I had a post that I wanted to put up today, but it will wait until tomorrow.
Today I spent the morning feeling sorry for myself. I’m losing my hair. I’m not bald, not by a long shot. But my hair is falling out. It appears to be a side effect of the drugs for my RA.
I used to wrap a ponytail holder around my hair twice with no extra space. Now I’m wrapping it three times. I spent the morning on the phone with the Doctor and then at midday my pity party was interrupted by the sounds of sirens.
Police sirens were everywhere for the better part of an hour. With most of the LAPD going to Woodland Hills where an LAUSD police officer was shot in the chest and an armed man was on the loose. It’s 5.30 pm and 9,000 kids are just leaving schools that were locked down all day.
I’m an incredibly selfish woman, because I’m still sitting here staring at my thinning hair and ordering Rogaine.
If it makes you feel any better, I just ordered Rogaine too… and I’m not near as cute and charming as you are. ;)
Thinning hair is the strongest influence on male matrimony… “get married before u go bald” should be something they paint on locker room walls.
Good luck with tomorrow’s post and steer clear of sirens please.
Kash $
#besomebody.
I don’t know about medication induced hair loss but for me, the Rogaine foam didn’t help. And you can get it at Walmart and Rite Aid, the Rogaine foam. It is horrible crap. You spray it on your scalp and kind of massage it in and then leave it to dry, and when it gets dry it gets crusty and cripsy and you are suppose to do this twice a day. You can’t just put it in then wash it out or it’s pointless. So for most of the day you are walking around with crispy hair or if you brush it out then you have crusty poofy hair. I gave it up after less than 2 months of using it. But in those 2 months it made zero difference. Hope it works better for you than it did for me.
There’s no ordering our miseries. There is always something to be bitter about and something to be grateful for, always someone better off and someone worse off. It’s ok to indulge yourself in pity sometimes, as long as you keep your overall perspective, which it sounds like you have a pretty good grip on. (I was gonna fix that sentence, but whatever).
May I make a suggestion? Try the Nioxin brand of shampoo/conditioner/scalp treatment. My hair stylist recommended it when I was losing hair due to stress after a death in the family. It really worked. I know I sound like I’m a spammer–I’m not, I’m just a blogger (and a lurker!) I have no association with the company.
And also? You are not selfish. Hair is *so* tied up in femininity and body image, and hair loss is such a kick in the gut for women. Thank you for sharing what you are going through with all of us.
It isn’t selfish. It’s a part of who you are. You’re allowed to be sad. Mourn it for as long as you need to.. then do what you have to to move on.
Did you make sure that the Rogaine won’t interact with your RA meds? I do remember seeing something about a hair loss treatment specifically for women but I cannot remember the name of it.
I lose hair daily. I have very long, thick, wavy hair. But I lose more than the average amount every day. My doctor has never said it was an issue and I have no bald spots anywhere.
Jess,
I lost half my curly locks while I was taking RA medication. I used to think I wasn’t a vain person. Then I lost what was my best feature, given that my skin was grey and my face was a balloon thanks to all the Prednisone I was taking. I want to say I learned a lot about myself, but if it happened again I don’t think I would have an improved perspective on it… it was devastating.
I asked my (male) doctor why he didn’t bother to tell me that this might be a side effect. He said there was absolutely NO correlation (silly woman), and that “my hair still looked fine.” I almost leapt off the examining table and choked him. Thought about clearing the contents of my shower drain and mailing it to him, but decided against it.
I love what Suebob said, “There is no ordering our miseries.” So much to be thankful for, so much to be pissed about. That’s the story.
My hair grew back, with a totally different curl, and then grew back again, normal. Took 2 years. Big hugs.
Minoxidil is the only hair regrowth formulation approved by the FDA. The jury is out on Nioxan. Minoxidil works better in women than men. Walmart sells the 2% solution for women in the shampoo section. Get the liquid with the dropper. I put it on my hairline in the front (with my head tilted way back) and let it run across my scalp. Costco sells the 5% solution for less money. The box will say for men only, but that just means they didn’t test it on women. 5% works better, but may make your scalp burn. It will take 4 to 8 months to see results. You’ll need to commit to using it twice a day, every day for 8 months. If your scalp gets in an uproar, try a sulfate free shampoo, or the Head and Shoulders Sensitive Scalp shampoo. Start sooner rather than later, it’s easier to keep what you’ve got than to get it back. I feel your pain on this, mine’s due to bad genetics.
I’m sorry Jessica. I’m sure you are still cute. And luckily, you had a lot of hair to start out with.