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julieautumn's blog

Ladies I need your help on this BC Issue one more time...
9:51 AM on Jul. 20, 2008

Okay,  I cancelled the apt with Dr Elise Olsen @ Duke; that was going to cost me an arm and a leg (I felt Like I was only going to be getting a Meet/greet with more costly appts to come)

The reason I am writing to you all today, II want to try and make a decision one way or another, should I go back on BC (I am 90% sure that is what caused this to happen to me) My biggest question though If I go back on BC will my shedding get worse?  ... I am willing to go back on it and be on it forever I don't care, I can only think about now and 5 years from now (I know this sounds silly) 

But i need to hear from some women who thought BC was the cause, maybe you waited over a year, shedding all the time, scalp coming through (but shedding is all over, I think I have more in the back than in the front now though) ...and then you went back on BC and the shedding slowed or stopped?  And I want to hear from the women who went back on it and it got worse, I Know I am asking a lot, since I joined I have been trying to keep a list in my mind of what all of your situations are... I am amazed how many of us have similarities but there are also so many differetn variables, of course we all know this because we can't seem to get any definitive answers about ANYTHING!.   I so greatly appreciate your help.

By the way, I did not "cancel" my appt,  I postponed it to the next avail date (SEPT29!!!!, sheesh) and I am on the waiting list for any openings that come up. But one of the biggest reasons (after the point that I dont' think it'sgoing to help only hurt my pocket book) is that a lot of you ladies have  had very extensive blood work done with speciific things you were looking at, I wonder also if I can get some help creating a list I am going to take to a regular doctor and tell them what I want done (I have been to countless doc and let them just take blood and siad "it's okay" ) this time I want to have a comprehensive visit... a list of things I need them to check and then I am going to keep that list and recheck it again in so many months.  (I think this will help me feel better when I do go see Dr Olsen becuase I will give her more to review.)

Okay, I really am asking a lot, hopefully I can return the favors!  Thank you so much for your support,

Julie


Comments (4)
alchimera - 7:12 PM on Jul. 20, 2008  [ message ]
Hey Julie,

I was on Loestrin, the same kind of pill that caused the nightmare for Y~. I took it for about 8 months...during it, I started noticing some more shedding...then in early May, WHAM -- I had a burning scalp and intense shedding. That was enough to make me quit the pill straightaway...I don't know whether my hair just got FED UP with all the hormones, or if a stressful event from February triggered the effects, but I am glad I went off it. It has been about two months since quitting, and I can tell that my body is starting to get back to normal. There was more hair loss in the two months after stopping, but it seems to have stabilized somewhat...

Personally, I would not go back onto the pill, despite what a few doctors suggested I do. Sometimes, your body is just too sensitive to the synthetic hormones, and by going on and off, it responds in unpredictable ways. It will take a few more months to see if my hair grows back, but in the meantime, the burning has left, and the extreme itching has also begun to fade....

Good luck!!
lisa1969 - 11:26 AM on Jul. 20, 2008  [ message ]
Hey, Julie. I just started Mircette (prescribed by Dr. Redmond, the hair doc) and my hair loss was pretty bad for a couple of weeks. It appears to have gone back to what it was before (I hope). I figured it already was falling out so badly that I was wiling to give this a try for the estrogen. He likes Mircette cause you get estrogen 26 days. However, his fav is Yasmin. I noticed after the shedding got bad that "mild hair loss" was a side effect of this pill. I think everybody's body is different. Some women do great, others not so much. Maybe you try it and see how it goes? I think it's important to pick a "hair friendly" pill. As for blood tests, I think I've had them all. I sent a pretty detailed list to ~Y. But if you'd like me to send it to you, I can also do that. Let me know and keep us posted!!!
Misty - 11:26 AM on Jul. 20, 2008  [ message ]
Hey again... I have heard that going on BC can cause it to start thinning, but also going off of bc can sometimes cause it. (one more of those NON-definitive answers) I was on bcp, went off.... went back on... and all hell broke lose. My periods were all over the place and that had NEVER happened.... Ive been on bc since I was 18 and actually prefer myself and how I feel on BC, but this time, something went wrong. I have been off since March and my periods are "normal" again... meaning I am not bleeding all the freakin' time. How long have you been off the pill... and did the hair loss start AFTER you stopped or BEFORE you stopped?

As for the blood work... I know they checked all kinds of hormones on me... as well as thyroid. I know at one time ~Y was trying to get a list of blood works together... ask her... also Lisa1969 has kept a good record of everything she has had done. Here is my concern with blood work.... I have heard that just because it falls under the "normal" levels, it doesn't mean YOU havent had a change and it isn't YOUR normal... but how the heck can you prove that one? I can't answer that one for myself either!

Keep us posted. You're doing everything right... get your story together, and maybe even get the bloodwork done prior... one less thing to have to pay for with the Derm.

Misty
LDK - 10:21 AM on Jul. 20, 2008  [ message ]
Yasmin triggered my androgenetic alopecia. After I got off yasmin, my hair loss continued along with a burning scalp - this lasted about two years. I became pregnant, my hair did great and I could actually see new hairs growing in. After I stopped breast feeding, my hair loss started up again. Everything I had read about womens hair loss concluded that while the pill can trigger hair loss, it can also stop or stabilize hair loss in women with androgenetic alopecia. I was scared to death, but I decided to give the pill another try. I went on Yaz, which uses the same kind and amount of progesterone, but less estrogen. My hair got much, much better. A year later, my endo put my on synthroid which cause massive shedding all over again. Now, I am still shedding, looking into getting a wig because my scalp is so visible on top. I would try to go back on another type of pill, you can get off of it if you don't think things are improving. I kind of figured things couldn't get worse, so why not - and it did help stablize my hair.
My hair is still coming out like crazy because of the synthroid I took. I am thinking about getting off the pill now because it is not helping me anymore and I hate the other side effects that come with the pill, namely it has lowered my libido considerably and I also feel that I am retaining water. I could go on... please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck to you!