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From: Pennsylvania
Date: 22 May 2001
Time: 22:22:39
Remote Name: 24.48.230.110
This is my first time posting here, although I've been reading for a while. My hair loss started in Jan, 2000 and finally in late Feb, 2000 I went to the doctor. My ferritin was 7 at that time. She sent me for a colonoscopy and a stomache scope to rule out any internal bleeding and both tests,thankfully, were negative. I'd say I was loosing about 60 hairs in the shower and another 20 while drying my hair. But during the day they would just drop out before my eyes. Speaking of eyes, my eyelashes and eyebrows were shedding also. I stopped wearing mascara altogether. I started taking a multivitimin, plus a cocktail in the evening of 28mgs of iron, Mega B vitamins and beta caratene. I did this for March through July. The hair shedding did slow down, but not the eyelashes and eyebrows. No bald patches, but when I would rub my finger lightly across my eyebrow, I could get 3 or 4 hairs. I decided to stop counting hairs late in the summer and get on with my life. A dermatologist I saw in March 2000 suggested that it was stress from watching my dad die the previous May. It can take 6 months to start falling out and continue for another year. So I got on with my life and without my vitamins. Then earlier this month, I looked down in the shower and saw a ball of hair on the drain. I started paying attention to my hair loss again, and I think I'm probably loosing about 200 a day. The eyebrows are ok, and the eyelashes are only slightly affected. Never did I see a clump in the shower before, now it's a daily occcurance. The hair that falls out onto the carpet in my bedroom is worse, it clogs my sweeper! I've started with the vitamins again, except this time I'm taking more iron. The ironic thing is, hemachromatosis (iron overload) runs in my family(cousins, not brother or sisters) I went to the doctor last year for the iron check because I thought maybe my iron was too high because that can also cause hair to fall out. So while my cousins and aunt give blood to lower their iron stores, I take iron to increase mine in the hopes that it'll get over 70 and I can go on with my life. I saw an 18 year old boy whose mother I know in church last week. He is bald due to chemo for lymphoma. That kid has to go to highschool, prom, etc with NO hair, a questionable prognosis, plus deal with nausea, needles, peer pressure. It really put it into prospective for me. If I go through life and live to see my kids grow up,but I have to wear a wig, so be it. But in the mean time, I'm gonna take my iron and orange juice all summer long and see what develops. This site has been a godsend to me in the middle of the night when I can't sleep because I'm worried how much hair I'll find in the morning when I take my shower. Knowing others are going through the same thing helps so much. I wish none of us had to deal with this, but shit happens. In the mean time, I'll say a prayer for the boy and try to count my blessings.