Aka My Immune System is Attacking My Hair
Folks, I promise I'll do a more positive post soon! I have one lined up, but I'm trying to work my way through everything that's causing me to feel the way I'm feeling.
When I had my GP appointment when I got signed off I was also diagnosed with alopecia areata. This is where hair falls out in patches on the scalp (it can also affect your beard if you're of the beardy persuasion). There are two other types - alopecia totalis, which affects the whole scalp, and alopecia universalis which affects the entire body. According to my in-depth research (*cough* Wikipedia *cough*) alopecia is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks hair follices in that particular area (in this case, the back of my head on the left hand side). Specifically, T-cell lymphocytes cluster around the affected hair follicles causing inflammation and hair loss. Personally I think anything with 'T-cell' in it sounds like something out of Resident Evil.
Originally, it started out as a patch about the size of my fingertip. I showed a colleague who said not to touch it, and so I didn't. I then went and got my hair cut whereupon my hairdresser showed me that it had, indeed, got much bigger. It now measures 5.5 x 4cm (2 x 1.5") and definitely feels like it's taking up most of the space between my ear and the centre of my head. I think that it might still be growing - when I wash my hair it definitely seems like a lot more hair than normal is coming out in the combing process.
I flip between two emotions with this - the first being in a state of desperation that my hair is falling out, and the second being rather apathetic. The first one is mainly worry about how my hair is continuing to fall out, if it will grow back, how much bigger is it going to get, will I need to consider a wig or a headscarf, and if it's windy out how many people are going to notice that I've got a rather pale hexagon etched into the back of my head?
The second runs thus: it's just hair - either it'll grow back (in about three months as I was told by a pharmacist) or it won't and I can keep it hidden under the hair I've got around it. It's also helpful that I've had it happen round the back of my head as opposed to front and centre or on the side. It's also possible that the amount of hair that is currently coming out is normal for me and I'm just paying closer attention to it now as I'm more paranoid.
I think also because this is a physical disorder and not a mental one, it's much easier for me to process and understand how it will be resolved, and I have timescales to work with on it. My GP has also prescribed me some steroid cream to rub in to the area (which makes me highly flammable, joy) and I've been referred on to a dermatologist, which is another waiting game but one that I don't mind quite as much. I've also had my blood taken so that we can rule out any possible thyroid issues though the phlebotomist also said the blood samples she took were being tested for kidney function and iron levels as well - I'm unsure if this is done as standard or if they are other factors my GP wants to be taken in to consideration. Overall though I'm leaning more towards the fact that this a reaction to stress rather than anything else. Problem is that it makes me stress a bit more because my hair is falling out and stress is a trigger for Meniere's and, well, you can see how everything is linked.
Still, roll on the end of this week when I'll have those blood test results and I'll hopefully have some closure. Unless it is a thyroid thing, which will open up a whole other can of worms.
Folks, I promise I'll do a more positive post soon! I have one lined up, but I'm trying to work my way through everything that's causing me to feel the way I'm feeling.
When I had my GP appointment when I got signed off I was also diagnosed with alopecia areata. This is where hair falls out in patches on the scalp (it can also affect your beard if you're of the beardy persuasion). There are two other types - alopecia totalis, which affects the whole scalp, and alopecia universalis which affects the entire body. According to my in-depth research (*cough* Wikipedia *cough*) alopecia is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks hair follices in that particular area (in this case, the back of my head on the left hand side). Specifically, T-cell lymphocytes cluster around the affected hair follicles causing inflammation and hair loss. Personally I think anything with 'T-cell' in it sounds like something out of Resident Evil.
Originally, it started out as a patch about the size of my fingertip. I showed a colleague who said not to touch it, and so I didn't. I then went and got my hair cut whereupon my hairdresser showed me that it had, indeed, got much bigger. It now measures 5.5 x 4cm (2 x 1.5") and definitely feels like it's taking up most of the space between my ear and the centre of my head. I think that it might still be growing - when I wash my hair it definitely seems like a lot more hair than normal is coming out in the combing process.
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| Not the most attractive thing to happen to me. |
The second runs thus: it's just hair - either it'll grow back (in about three months as I was told by a pharmacist) or it won't and I can keep it hidden under the hair I've got around it. It's also helpful that I've had it happen round the back of my head as opposed to front and centre or on the side. It's also possible that the amount of hair that is currently coming out is normal for me and I'm just paying closer attention to it now as I'm more paranoid.
I think also because this is a physical disorder and not a mental one, it's much easier for me to process and understand how it will be resolved, and I have timescales to work with on it. My GP has also prescribed me some steroid cream to rub in to the area (which makes me highly flammable, joy) and I've been referred on to a dermatologist, which is another waiting game but one that I don't mind quite as much. I've also had my blood taken so that we can rule out any possible thyroid issues though the phlebotomist also said the blood samples she took were being tested for kidney function and iron levels as well - I'm unsure if this is done as standard or if they are other factors my GP wants to be taken in to consideration. Overall though I'm leaning more towards the fact that this a reaction to stress rather than anything else. Problem is that it makes me stress a bit more because my hair is falling out and stress is a trigger for Meniere's and, well, you can see how everything is linked.
Still, roll on the end of this week when I'll have those blood test results and I'll hopefully have some closure. Unless it is a thyroid thing, which will open up a whole other can of worms.
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