Get a grip, woman!

First, I'm very sorry for not getting around to most of your blogs lately.  I had managed to read a few posts and left a couple comments one or two days recently but then went missing again.  *big sigh*

Things are fine with my family.  My grandson finished up Kindergarten last month and the kids are having a good summer.  My husband and son went on a last minute road trip to Georgia and enjoyed themselves.  I made the best of them being away and visited with some friends, did some reading, etc.

Overall though, I'm in bit of a funk.  Today has been a particularly rough day so why not blog about it, right?

The problem is... my hair is falling out.

I don't mean that normal occasional shedding that many women experience after coloring their hair or during a season change or while dealing with some stress.  I'm talking about half my hair.  Gone.  And, it's still coming out.  It's not just a bit of breakage, like you get maybe when using too much product or eating crappy for awhile.  It's full strands, coming out from the root, daily.  If I run my fingers through it my hands are full of hair.  Sometimes it's actually too knotty to even do that because as it falls it gets tangled with the other hair and causes clumps which I then have to gently pick thru to separate. 

So when it first started, I remembered having a similar issue many years ago and saw a dermatologist.  It turned out to be a slight overall thinning and I don't recall there being a specific cause at that time.  Whatever it was stopped, my hair grew back and things were fine.  This time though, it's not stopping.  If anything, it's getting worse as I can see my scalp now in a couple places.  Yes, I do have an appointment scheduled but the office is very busy it will have been a 2 month wait by the time I am seen.  In the meantime, I had some bloodwork done at my family doc's office.  Thyroid okay, menopause hormones about average, sugar fine, cholesterol a little high but lower than last time so alright.  The only thing out of range was that I'm anemic, which can cause hair issues, but I've been anemic on and off since I was a kid so this is nothing new for me or my body.  I just take extra iron when I get a bit low.

While reading online about hair loss it seems that it can be many things from diet to heredity.  I did change my diet many months ago.  I'm still not eating dairy, other than a little butter occasionally.  Initially, I gave up grains too but am now adding some back in now and then.  The weight loss has been slow and under 20 lbs.  So I don't feel that I've done anything drastic to cause the hair issue.  I'm eating better than I ever did.  And I take a few assorted supplements for things that might be lacking so I don't really know what the problem is.  My parents lost some of their hair when they got older, but not at my age and not so quickly.  Other things it can be are vitamin/mineral deficiencies, toxic metal issues, stress, hormonal imbalances, alopecia, etc. etc.  

As it started to get noticeable to me, I changed my hair style by just pulling it up in a pony tail or bun and having some strands hang down along the side and back.  That was cute enough and since it's been wicked hot here it's nice to not have all that hair on my neck for awhile.  I've been thinking all along that maybe it'll stop coming out and will grow again and I can go back to wearing it normally.  But since that is not happening I'm unsure what to do with it.  Thought about going to my friend's hair salon and getting a short cut but having not seen the dermatologist yet I'm just not sure what to do.  It won't matter if it's short if it's still coming out.  It'll probably just be more noticeable to do that.  And it needs to be colored.  The hair I have left is getting very gray at the roots.  Cruel joke, eh? 

Anyway, that's what I'm dealing with.  It's hard to have such a drastic change happen and not know why or whether it'll ever get better or if wig shopping will be happening soon.  Yes, I'm actually thinking that might be a possibility at some point.  I can't really color the gray right now, I don't want the chemicals to take more of it away.  So it's going to look both thin, scraggly and gray.  Oh joy!

 

On one hand, I feel bad for feeling bad about it... but it's bothering me a lot more now than when it first started.   On the other hand, I know I have to just deal with it.  My appointment is in about 2 weeks and maybe the doctor will know right away what it is and if there is something to be done. 

 

Hope everything is good with you all!  I will get around to your blogs and catch up very soon!