yasmin

I Will Beat This – Jessica’s Hair Loss Story

by Y on September 11, 2009

I had written awhile back but wanted to send you my story again, and this time post some positive updates.

One thing that I noticed way back when my hairloss journey started, was that the negative posts and testimonials by far outweighed the positive ones. My fear was that most women were losing this hairloss battle. My hope was that once they solved their hairloss nightmare, they were too busy not worrying about their hair to post their updates. I want to submit my story because I am having positive results as I attempt to figure out what has happened to my hair and how to stop the cycle of loss.

It was 2004 when my life changed. It was 3 months after I had stopped taking birth control (alesse) and my hair was coming out in ropes. I’ll never forget taking a shower before going out one Friday evening, and my hands were covered with hair. At the time, I had no clue that it was related to the cessation of using birth control. I thought I was dying, from cancer, from something. I stayed home that night and didn’t go out, I’ll never forget sobbing the whole evening, scouring the internet trying to figure out what was going on. My vanity was bruised. I remember feeling too ugly and embarrassed to be social or even go to the gym. I took a 3 week leave of absence from my job to go be with my then-boyfriend (now wonderful husband!) in Europe where he was for work. I needed his support and he was truly there for me no matter how embarrassed I was. I had extensions put in after much research, just to make me feel like I had hair again. I did everything I could to mask what was going on with my hair, while I devoured information to figure out what happened to me. It was then that I realized it was the birth control pill.

I made the mistake of jumping back on birth control because doctors told me that I might be responsive to a hair-friendly pill like Yaz or Yasmin. I chose Yasmin and figured I would just stay on it the rest of my life if I had to. Back then, all I cared about was how I looked, not about my health. I kept the extensions in for about 2 years. One day I went into the salon to get them done and my stylist said – “You know you don’t need these anymore. They are just your security right now. Your hair is fine.” What?? My hair was fine?? I was so used to the weight of the extensions that I didn’t believe her. She washed my hair and cut it without the extensions, and we blowed it dry. She was right, I looked totally normal. I was ELATED. I don’t think I stopped touching my hair for days. It was all mine, and I looked absolutely normal. It had thin spots, sure, but I could wear it up or down and it had body and I looked like me again. It was not nearly as thick as it was before the loss, but it was enough. [click to continue…]

{ 243 comments }

Losing My Hair…Am I Vain? Rosalinda’s Hair Loss Story

by Y on October 29, 2007

Losing My Hair... Am I Vain? Rosalinda's Hair Loss StoryHi, my name is Rosalinda and I have been losing my hair since I was 17 years old. I am now 22 years of age. I started out with a huge thick mane and now I can pin everything up with two bobby pins. Sad! I dread taking showers or brushing my hair. I close my eyes when I take my hair out of my brush. I’ve heard from doctors that stress can cause hair loss and I stress about my hair loss all day long. I went to see a movie this weekend and I spent half the time looking at Eva Mendes’s full head of hair. I feel vain for thinking about it so much, it’s driving me nuts. I am on Yasmin and have been on it since I was 19. My hair loss started before I began the pill and I have been assured by many doctors that Yasmin wouldn’t make my hair fall out. I don’t want to leave the pill because my cramps are so severe I can’t function when I have them. I have had blood work and I am “fine” thyroid and anemia wise.

I don’t even remember all the tests the doctors ran. The three doctors I have seen have attributed my hair loss to stress and genetics. The dermatologist recommended dandruff shampoo and rogaine. Rogaine helps keep my hair from falling out, I do notice a difference when I try to get off of it. I am currently using extra strength for men (dermatologist said to do so) but it makes my scalp very itchy and full of dandruff. Does anyone else experience this? So I have a choice…head full of dandruff or a head with some hair, *sigh*. I am going to see a doctor again on Wed. to do blood work again, since the tests I took before were two years ago. I am also thinking of buying the laser comb. It is pricey $395-$500. Yikes! I laugh to myself because I just paid $700 to do laser hair removal surgery on my legs. Ack!

I’m trying to rearrange all of my hair situations my body has. Too funny. I noticed that no one on the blog site really had anything to say about the laser comb. Perhaps I can be the guinea pig for all of you. Take pictures and what not. What do you all think? Should I do it?

-Rosalinda

*******************************

Dear Rosalina –

Thank you so much for writing and sharing your story. I know the exact movie you made reference to, “We Own The Night” because I did the same thing as you. I couldn’t watch anything else other than Eva Mendes hair during the entire film. I’ve had that problem for quite sometime now, I actually wrote about that in this post titled “Hair Loss Can Quickly Become An Obession”

Are you Vain? I don’t think so. I think you react in a very normal way to a disturbingly uncontrollable situation. Reading your email was like reading my own thoughts on paper. Trust me when I say I know exactly what you are going through, you used the words “thick mane” to describe your hair. I would as well to describe my former tresses that have since been replaced by thin fluffs of wispy hair. I actually use to get my hair thinned out at the hair dresser! Can you believe that??? My heart weeps when I think about that.

Since your hair loss started 2 years prior to you getting on the pill surely it cannot be responsible for the onset of your hair loss. In my opinion a doctor cannot state definitively whether the pill will make your hair fall out or not. Do they have a crystal ball? Likely not, and since most educated physicians know the possibility of hair loss occurring from the treatment of any synthetic hormones, they shouldn’t state things as facts that they have no way of knowing in advance. It really bothers me when I hear things like that. [click to continue…]

{ 16 comments }

Hair Loss at The Age of 20 – Veronica’s Hair Loss Story

by Y on October 11, 2007

Hair Loss At The Age Of 20 - Veronica's Hair Loss StoryWow, I’m so happy I just found this site…I’m 20 years old, have had been genetic hair loss for four years now. About 2 years ago I had a biopsy done and my derm told me it was probably genetic, he put me on Rogaine, Spiro and Yasmin. I was on those meds for about a year… and they did absolutely nothing. Last year in the fall my hair loss was getting really bad and I was getting so desperate for something, so I spent over $1000 on getting Invisible Hair extensions. I was assured by so many people that they would be safe, and definitely the perfect solution. The extensions were great! I loved having so much hair and planned on having the extensions put back in. Well when I got them removed for the first time I was SO devastated, more than half of my already thin hair was gone.

Its been since January now since I’ve had them out and I feel like I’ve hit the bottom. I’m in college and can’t concentrate on anything. I’m always way too focused on everyone else’s hair and I feel like I’ll never feel normal again…I haven’t been able to wear my hair down since I got the extensions taken out. My poor hair is
still falling out like crazy… it’s so thin I can’t even wear it in a ponytail, I feel like I will be bald soon.

I’m so scared, nobody seems to understand. My best friend and my family just tells me to cope with it like its no big deal. I feel like I have no where to turn. That’s why I was so glad I found this forum…I really sometimes feel like I’m the only one experiencing this and it’s comforting to hear everyone’s story. I’m not sure what to do with myself, I hate going out, even going to school because I just feel so ashamed…I don’t even know where to start looking for a wig around here (I’m from Portland, OR). And I feel like seeing another doctor would also be pointless. Anyways, Thanks a lot for listening to my story.

~Veronica

*******************************************************

Dear Veronica,

Thank you for writing and sharing your story, I’m so sorry you are having to go through this. It probably is of mild comfort, but know you definitely are not alone and there are A LOT of women who start to lose their hair at young age. Who knew? I definitely didn’t until I started going through it. Here comes my usual disclaimer I provide on every question I respond to. I am not a doctor and cannot provide medical advice or treatment, this is just my opinion. Ok…

After reading your story I have so many questions. Did your dermatologist put you on Rogaine, Spiro and Yasmin all at the same time? You said you are 20 and have been experiencing hair loss for 4 years, so you started losing your hair at 16 and saw your doctor at 18. Did he provide any explanation as to what might have trigged your hair loss at such a young age? You stated that after a year the medications did nothing, but you didn’t say whether or not you stayed on them or took yourself off. I’m curious because if you took yourself off after a year and the following year noticed a rapid decline in your hair, then perhaps the drugs were doing more than you thought. Sometimes all the drugs can do is slow the hair loss process down and help you maintain the hair you have,. Not all women experience a phenomenal regrowth after treatment. Even after I started treatment, I never regained the hair I had and was pretty convinced the treatments weren’t working so I eventually took myself off of aldactone around 2003… I think. The dates get fuzzy. Anyways, my hair loss increased dramatically. That could have just been from getting off the drug and it may have re-stablized eventually, but that scared me enough to get back on. Not only did I get back on aldactone, but when I got back on, I had my dose increased from 100mg to 200mg a day.

If you would have asked me then about my hair, I would have complained about the hair I once had and that it was so thin and continuing to fall out. But looking back it was doing fairly well after the 200mg increase. [click to continue…]

{ 49 comments }

Hair Loss At 20 Years Old, Sarah’s Story

by Y on October 4, 2007

At the age of 20 years old, I decided to go on birth control, so my doctor prescribed me to “Symphasic”. About 3 or 4 months later, I realized that my hair was thinning, I left it for about 6 months.. and then I went to my doctor, and she switched me to a different birth control – Yasmin. I thought it would be the answer, and I would be cured… but I was FOR SURE wrong. The hair loss got worse. Every month I lost a little more. It wasn’t until this past June that I decided to give up birth control all together and hope for the best. My hair loss began to stop a little, until around the middle of September, and that is when it started shedding more, and it continues to October, which is now. I keep hearing that it takes up to 6 months or more for birth control to get out of your system, and I HOPE that I will then grow my hair back, but what these women on the this site have to say is no hope.Does this sound exactly what you women have gone through? I am starting to get scared. I have had blood tests- and apparently there is nothing wrong with me. Should I be hoping that going off birth control was the best thing, and I will grow my hair back? I am so stressed about it, and like other women say… it takes up about 98% of my thoughts every day! I am crazy self conscious and i cant stand it any longer. if you could please write any comments or suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated!Thanks so much
Sarah

*******

Hi Sarah,

I read your story and I instantly was taken back to 8 years ago since your hair loss began around the same age mine did. I have to point out that I’m not a doctor, but here is my opinion on your situation. Honestly Sarah, I think you have a really really good chance of recovering from this completely, I’ll tell you why. The duration of time you were on the pill wasn’t very long, and also Yasmin is suppose to be a low androgen index birth control pill so I don’t think the damage it would cause would be as severe as say the pill I took, which was Loestrin FE, the highest (or at least was the highest) androgen index pill. I’m not sure about the Synphasic birth control pill because I’ve never heard of it, I tried to Google it and didn’t find much on it, however, on the upside I didn’t find anything good or bad on Synphasic, which I think is a good sign. When you type in the pill name I took “Loestrin” and “androgen index” or “high androgen” you’ll find TONS of stuff that point to women having hair loss problems, a lot of sites explaining it is a high androgen pill etc etc. I don’t even know why they prescribe it to women and I certainly don’t know why they had prescribed it me at 20 years old. I didn’t find anything like that about Synphasic, that’s not to say that the pill wasn’t bad for you, obviously it was, you had hair loss from it, but at least there isn’t an overwhelming about of negative stuff on it. I think that’s a good sign. [click to continue…]

{ 192 comments }