Alopecia

My beautiful lovelies. Welcome to the page I called Alopecia Androgenica. Here you will find all of my articles on androgenic alopecia and what has and has not work for me. I know living with alopecia is not easy. My goal is that hopefully, learning about what has helped and/or not helped me will allow you find more options. Just click on the headings to read the articles.

Homemade Remedies For Hair Loss – Androgenic Alopecia

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today I want to talk to you about a subject requested a lot by my YouTube viewers. It is the oil mixture that my mom made after I first got diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. It has really helped me. Check out Homemade Remedies for Hair Loss – Androgenic Alopecia.

My Continued Struggle with Alopecia

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today I want to talk to you about my continued struggle with Alopecia and my new found savior.

Alopecia or Telogen Effluvium?

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you are doing well and staying safe. Today, I want to talk to you about a different type of hair loss that you may not be aware of. It’s called telogen effluvium. Today, I want to talk to you about Telogen effluvium and how it differs from alopecia.

Why Is Androgenic Alopecia Happening to Me?

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. As you know, I have Androgenic Alopecia. I have shared my stories and progress throughout the years. I have also received a lot of questions and comments about your struggles and progress. Have you been asking yourself after being diagnosed with androgenic alopecia, “why me?”, then you are not alone. Today, I will talk to you about some of the causes of androgenic alopecia.

Living with Androgenic Alopecia – Remedy I Cannot Live Without

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. Today I want to talk to you about a subject requested a lot by my YouTube viewers. It is the oil mixture that my mom made after I first got diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. It has really helped me.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account.  Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernijAre you on BloglovinAlso please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

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Life With Alopecia

Hi there my beautiful lovelies! Hope you guys are doing well and staying safe! Today I want to update you about my continued every day with Androgenic Alopecia.

Androgenic Alopecia

What is Androgenic Alopecia? According to National Institute of Health, “Androgenetic alopecia is a common form of hair loss in both men and women. In men, this condition is also known as male-pattern baldness. Hair is lost in a well-defined pattern, beginning above both temples. Over time, the hairline recedes to form a characteristic “M” shape. Hair also thins at the crown (near the top of the head), often progressing to partial or complete baldness.”

In women, the hair becomes thinner all over the head, and the hairline does not recede. Androgenetic alopecia in women rarely leads to total baldness.

My Journey with Androgenic Alopecia or AGA:

I got diagnosed with Androgenic Alopecia five years ago. It came as a surprise to me. I loved my hair and then one day lumps of hair started falling out. I can’t describe it. It scared me and my family. I went to the dermatologist with a sense of panic.

She did a biopsy to confirm and told me that it’s more common in women than I thought. According to NIH, this form of hair loss affects an estimated 50 million men and 30 million women in the United States. Androgenetic alopecia can start as early as a person’s teens and risk increases with age; more than 50 percent of men over age 50 have some degree of hair loss. In women, hair loss is most likely after menopause.

I was particularly vulnerable because I have Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS. PCOS is a hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges.The cause of polycystic ovary syndrome isn’t well understood, but may involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

I had large bald spots. My journey with AGA involved steroid shot on the largest bald spots, prescription Spironolactone, a diuretic originally used to treat high blood pressure. It can also treat fluid retention (edema) and high levels of the hormone aldosterone. I was only told to use minoxidil, only treatment shown in randomized control trial to treat hair loss effectively. How if stop using minoxidil, your hair loss will return.

Hair Oil

I couldn’t commit to use minoxidil. What I did is do my own evidence based scientific literature search and then decided to try hair oil, made with organic coconut oil, almond oil, avocado oil, castor oil, peppermint oil, and onion juice. I used it half hour to hour before shampooing.

Meditation

One thing I knew that I had to control my stress. There was no point stressing about hair loss if that meant more hair loss. I started meditating on a regular basis while continuing other hair loss treatment. Stress reduction not only helped me fight AGA but other conditions as well.

Led Light Therapy

Finally, I  also used led light helmet. Device-based treatments cleared by FDA to treat hair loss include low-level laser therapy (LLLT)  dual wavelength red LED light therapy. According to Dr. Mark Nestor, “Hair growth in patients who have AGA has been successfully achieved through a range of in-office energy-based devices including fractional lasers and at-home low-level laser therapy (LLLT) devices. In the last two years alone, the number of approved items on the FDA’s 510(k) premarket notification list classified as laser, comb, cap, or hair product intended for growth of scalp hair has nearly doubled to a total of 50.”

Since I was desperate and decided to buy irestore. Irestore is a FDA cleared red light therapy, 25 minutes every other day.

Red light therapy (RLT) is a treatment that helps your skin and muscle tissue heal by subjecting you to low levels of red light. It works by exposing your skin to a device with a red light resulting in your mitochondria penetrating your skin to create more energy.

The part of your cells that generate power (mitochondria) soak up the red light, which can lead to healthier cells and the restoration of skin and muscle tissue. The light creates heat below the skin’s surface, increasing the cells’ activity and leading to faster growth.

Now I have grown back more than half of the hair lost. I hope that my hair loss journey helps you get some clarity and more choices in hand.

Please subscribe to this blog or follow me if you have a WordPress account.  Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernijAre you on BloglovinAlso please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

——————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

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Thank you2

Follow my Instagram page on @forevernij

Follow my Facebook Page on @forevernij

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Follow my Twitter account @allaboutme3181

My Continued Long Battle With Androgenic Alopecia and Where I Am Today After 3 Years

Hi, there my loveliness! I hope you are doing well and staying safe. Today I want to talk about my continued long battle with an androgenic journey with alopecia and where I am today. If you have been following my blog, you already know that in 2017, I was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. It’s a pattern of hair loss that affects both men and women.

In women, the hair becomes thin all over the place, and the hairline does not recede. This condition in women rarely leads to total baldness. Never did I thought that I will have androgenic alopecia. I have received overwhelming response and support. Hence, I wanted to update you about my journey three years later.

hair10a

Beginning of my long battle with alopecia

Growing up in a society where women’s hair is part of my beauty, sudden loss of hair was a sudden psychological shock to me. I was depressed. I did not want to talk to anyone. I was hiding my head.  I remember taking the above picture reviewing a picture. Even then, I had a head full of hair.

hair1
hair3
hair4a

However, suddenly in September last year, I started to lose my hair like crazy. I have my typical hair loss each day but this was drastic. I started photographing it. Within a month I lost two-thirds of my hair. I didn’t know what to do I went to my dermatologist who did a biopsy and diagnosed me with androgenic alopecia. She told me that there is no cure for this disease when using combination treatment, I will get some but not all of my hair back. Typical treatments for this condition include.

rogaine

Rogaine or Minoxidil was approved by the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of androgenic alopecia. The study is currently being marketed over the counter as 2% and 5% solution, with 5% being solution being more effective.

In addition, oral treatment such as Finasteride, or Spironolactone is so prescribed alongside rogaine. Finasteride is prescribed only in men because it can produce ambiguous genitalia in a developing male fetus. Since Spironolactone is an antiandrogen, it can cause the feminization of male fetuses. Hence it should not be taken during pregnancy.

irestore

I was in emotional pain. I was put on Rogaine, antiandrogen, an antifungal shampoo, ketoconazole 2%, which has shown to effectively treat in regrowth hair.  My dear friends, at this point I was desperate to do anything. I was doing research on any treatment. My dermatologist saw how depressed I became. She told me that can lead to more hair loss.

She also mentioned to me that I should also look into buying a laser helmet, which has shown to regrow hair by 43%. Based on my doctor’s recommendations, I bought irestore. This FDA-cleared, low-level laser therapy is a clinically proven way to stimulate hair follicles to grow thicker and fuller hair. It uses clinical-strength laser technology to treat balding, thinning hair, and receding hairline. I use it for 25 minutes every other day.

hair9
hair8
hair7
hair5
hair6

During my long battle, I was along taking hair vitamin with 5000mg every day. I had been following these treatment regimens for a while. I have seen some improvements for sure after 3 to four months. I never thought I will have to deal with this before the mid-30s and definitely did not expect such a long battle with alopecia.

Where I am Today After 3 Years:

Long Battle With Alopecia

My lovely readers! I have gone a rough patch, and have come a long way. During the long battle with alopecia the past three years, I have switched from Rogaine to my mom’s natural recipe of onion juice, organic coconut, avocado, castor, and almond oils (used weekly). I still take Spironolactone and Vitamin with Biotin and B12 every day. I no longer use my mom’s recipe and use irestore once a week, though I plan to make it more regularly now.

My dear lovelies! I have gained half of my hair back and don’t have any bald spots. My hair is no longer my cause of depression. I have learned to accept the improvement I have gracefully. At least I am 50% better than I was before. I am okay with that. I will take my current hair over large bald spots and very little hair anytime. I feel beautiful again.

It’s amazing how appears can do things to our mind. I guess I am part of the norm. One thing I have learned that it a great thing to feel beautiful what we feel about ourselves can have a strong effect on our mental status. I longer feel ashamed of my hair. To be honest, I think I have grown a lot as a person. Though I would not go back to my balding self, I will not treat me the same way as I did when I first was diagnosed with alopecia. Thanks to mindful based meditation I have learned to accept and appreciate myself. I have learned to be more compassionate towards myself.

My beautiful lovelies! Have any of experienced what I have or know someone? I would love to hear your story and what treatment has worked for you or your friend.

Hope you enjoy this post and as much as I love writing it. Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @forevernij. Are you on Bloglovin? Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel. Let’s support each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

———————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

Instagram: @allaboutme3181

Follow my blog on Bloglovin

My Battle with Androgenic Alopecia

Hi there my loveliness! It is so good to come back after sung a long break from blogging. Today, I wanted to share my reason for the break. I was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia. It’s a pattern of hair loss that affects both men and women. In women, the hair becomes thin all over the place, and the hairline does not recede. This condition in women rarely leads to total baldness. Never did I thought that I will have androgenic alopecia.

hair10a

Growing up in a society where women’s hair is part of my beauty, sudden loss of hair was a sudden psychological shock to me. I was depressed. I did not want to talk to anyone. I was hiding my head.  I remember taking the above picture reviewing a picture. Even then, I had a head full of hair.

However, suddenly in September last year, I started to lose my hair like crazy. I have my typical hair lose each day but this was drastic. I started photographing it. Within a month I lost two-thirds of my hair. I didn’t know what to do I went to my dermatologist who did a biopsy and diagnosed me with androgenic alopecia. She told me that there is no cure for this disease when using combination treatment, I will get some but not all of my hair back. Typical treatment for this condition include.

rogaine

Rogaine or Minoxidil was approved by US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of androgenic alopecia. The study is currently being marketed over the counter as 2% and 5% solution, with 5% being solution being more effective. Addition, oral treatment such as Finasteride, or Spironolactone are so prescribed along. Finasteride is prescribed only in men because it can produce ambiguous genitalia in a developing male fetus. Since Spironolactone is antiandrogen, it can cause feminization of male fetuses. Hence it should not be taken during pregnancy.

irestore

I was in emotional pain. I was put on Rogaine, antiandrogen, an antifungal shampoo, ketoconazole 2%, which has shown to effectively treat in regrowth hair.  My dear friends, at this point I was desperate to do anything. I was doing research on any treatment. My dermatologist saw how depressed I became. She told me that can lead to more hair loss. She told me I should also look into buying a laser helmet, which has shown to regrow hair by 43%. Based my doctor’s recommendations, I bought irestore. This FDA-cleared, low-level laser therapy is clinically proven way to stimulate hair follicles to grow thicker and fuller hair. It uses clinical-strength laser technology to treat balding, thinning hair and receding hairline. I use it for 25 minutes for every other day.

I am taking hair vitamin with 5000mg every day. I have been following these treatments regimens for the past four months. I have seen some improvements for sure. However, I still have a long way to go. I still have bald spots that make my heart skins but I am starting to deal with it. I never thought I will have to deal with this before the mid 30s.

My lovely readers! I have gone a rough patch I am still trying to recover from. I try to tell myself at least I am healthy, but it’s really hard to deal the loss of so much of your hair. Have any of experienced what I have through known someone. I would love to hear your story and what treatment has worked for you or your friend.

Hope you enjoy this post and as much as I love writing it. Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram @allaboutme3181. Are you on Bloglovin? Let’s add each other. Please follow me and comment below with your information so that I can follow you back.

———————————–   Happy Reading ———————————-

Instagram: @allaboutme3181

Follow my blog on Bloglovin