I'm back from my follow up at endo's  office. 2 labs came back out of range. One high, one low. Vit D low @ 16, got a prescription for that and testosterone slightly elevated at 79, got a prescription for metformin and told him depending what I find out about it, I may or may not fill it. Ok i'm going info hunting! Hope everyone is well.

I think my hair is starting to gow back, but Im not holding out much hope it will fill in all the gaps. My husband is the one who noticed. He said it looks a lot fuller and I think maybe their is a little more resistance when i brush, it doesnt feel like im brushing my scalp quite as much. No, I havent tried anything new but I do believe that since i have stopped OBSESSING about my hair it might be helping. I am completely depressed though and that is a whole other issue. Ladies, please try to relax and let go of the hair anxiety for a few hours a day, really try and see what happens, at the very least you will feel less stress and that has a ton of health benefits right there.

Frazzled me scheduled an appt with a new dermatologist and the endocrinologist a half an hour apart, good grief! I had to make a choice yesterday so I cancelled the dermatologist visit, and boy am I glad I did. The endo confirmed what i see everyday, he also disagreed with me that it was on just the right side, but said i have diffuse thinning all over. Cool, got that answered. Then he thoughtfully went through possible explanations, I sat patiently and was an engaged listener while I knew everything, thanks to you all, about what he was saying. He ordered labs for me and told me he hoped it was my hormones or thyroid so that we could treat it. I told him that mainly the reason I was there was because I checked the side of the rogaine box and it said do not use if you dont know why you are losing your hair. And thats true. While I hope its something treatable like my hormones, im pretty sure its male pattern baldness. A couple of things that did surprise me that he said was about vit d and my blood sugar. the labs i have are 6 months old, he said my vit d should have been treated with a prescription because <7 the first time tested is as low as it reads. it means they dont know how low beyond 7. the second was 19 and that was after a year of inconsistent otc vit d supplementation.... Ladies please check your D levels, not for hair loss but overall health.  He said optimal is somewhere between 35 and 83. My blood sugar has been prediabetic on both fasting tests i took. He has ordered the following lab work: Vit D, Male hormones?, DHEA, and 2 glucose tests... And you know what I am pleased as punch that i spent about an hour talking to this well educated man who is asking good questions and doing the work.  He was just in a major car crash 1 year ago and barely survived. He has been back at work for two months and is almost fully recovered. I presume the incident has made him take a look at things a bit differently, esp from a patients viewpoint. Thanks for letting me get this out!

My A1C came back great, no diabetes  and my iron was "fine" but I would like to see the results to analyze myself and see where Im at with my iron.

I meet with the endocrinologist on the 30th. I am nervous, I do have a plan though to maximize my visit with the man. I am going to ask him if he can tell me what's NOT causing the hair loss. Does that make sense to anyone but me? Let's test some things and rule out hormones, pcos, or any other malady so that I can say i have male pattern baldness and move on.

I got tired of messing around with getting in with a gp and decided to call the minor med clinic i always go to, nice bunch of folks.  The receptionist patiently listened to my desperate plea for a referral to an endocrinologist and to check my iron. They got me in on Sept 30th with the best endo in town and They took my blood and gave me an ac test for my blood sugar? I guess back in March my fasting blood sugar was high and they wanted to check it then. My dads family, almost every one of them had diabetes. Also, my vit d level doesnt even show up its so low... hmm, I am hoping the endo will check my hormones once he sees my hairline in front, if you look at my new profile pic you can see right through it.  I probably wont be around later for the chat but im going to try my best!

Ok, last week I got to see my therapist which was great, but I told him I really need to get on something for my anxiety. They have a psychaitrist at the practice but he is booked up for months so I took an appt for this Thursday with their nurse practitioner. My question to everyone is should I ask her while Im there if she could A) give me a referral to an endocrinologist or B) order tests to check my hormones, iron level, blood sugar... anything Im missing? Any input is greatly appreciated!

 I started thinking last night about what's left you know, before hair loss was your issue, was it losing weight or acne or your teeth or what? For me, it's my teeth. Sometimes I  think to myself that I would have wrinkles by now if I smiled as much as most people do normally. I don't smile much because my teeth have big spaces between them. Soo, I am going to finance myself a brand new smile, yep... I'm going to give people something to look at and compliment me on and take all the power that the hair loss has away. I am within 20 pounds of my goal weight and I am not going to stop until Ive reached it. Winter is coming and I am going to buy some adorable hats and then next spring I will make a decision on either shaving my head or getting a hair piece.  And you know what, It is going to be OK everybody, it really is.

tonight while we were talking, he looked up at my balding spot and I was like you are looking at my bald area arent you? He has been in denial and he said he could really notice it tonight. Then he says I really shouldnt part my hair where it is. I saw my therapist today so I guess I was feeling pretty empowered because i told him I cant worry about it , I feel like there is nothing I can do about it so why continue to drive myself crazy over it? But ten minutes later I was in the mirror obsessing, it's pitiful.

Today is going much much better. I had to come to some very uncomfortable realizations yesterday, first and foremost that I am not in control of how this plays out with my hair loss. For a control FREAK like myself this is tough. I have to let this go. Repeat with me... Let it go.  I just have to keep looking for the positives . It was a good exercise for me. Thank you to all those who reached out to me yesterday and continue to support me when I need it.

because I couldnt stop obsessing. I kept going to the bathroom to see how bad my thinning areas are showing. I cant wear it down, and I am getting to the point I cant wear it up and I am devestated. I dont know how to manage the way I am feeling and I HAVE to get this under control because I love my job and want to keep it.  I see a therapist on the 26th. I couldnt make it without this site, thanks for listening.

I have noticed that my scalp hurts, not itching but a heavy hurting feeling and it coincides with my menstrual cycle. I cant help but wonder if maybe I am losing my hair due to a hormonal imbalance? If only I could get a doctor to listen to me and test my hormone levels or even prescribe me birth control pills to see if it would help. I get the impression she thinks im too old (38) to be on bcp. What do you guys think? At the very least they could check my iron levels. (sigh)

I am soo frustrated with this. All I want is to go to a doctor who will placate me by running some tests, how hard or unreasonable is that? I dont want to diss on where I live but i feel like maybe if i lived in a more sophisticated area I would be able to get a doc worth a $%^#.  I am contemplating buying rogaine even though I have no idea what is causing my hair loss, whaddya guys think? good idea or bad idea?

Regarding the doctors ive been to... the primary is a total @#$%^, im not going back. Again looking for a new doc, I saw a gyno for my well women visit and she said it couldnt be my hormones, take a multi vitamin. As for blood work, ive gotten it all done except for hormones and iron. i was slightly anemic back when i was pregnant 6 years ago...  it is soo dificult to find a doc in this town, ive been through three already in two years. I am thinking about going to the psychaitrist and talking about getting some anti anxiety meds. i doubt they will give me any but who knows... i dont know what i would do without you guys, i have come to rely on you for far too much, how can i ever thank you? 

okay after getting nowhere yesterday with my first and last derm appt I decided to call an endo today to see if i could get in. I cant because they wont see me without a referral, I have no referral. I called a naturopath in Lawrence and made an appt for sept 26th, but it is 180 bucks before lab work. Any advice anybody? I sent away for the canary club hormone kit and I am thinking about trying it but im pretty sure I will just have to repeat the testing for naturopath. Why does this have to be soo hard to just get assessed? In the meantime my hair loss is becoming more noticeable, I have this huge area right above my hairline in my bangs and it makes me cry. Sob. It makes me sob. Ladies I need your strength and support right now, mine is crumbling.

I went to my long awaited derm appt today. I had to drive to a different city because i cant get in with one here in topeka. What a waste of money and time.  He didnt seem to care and told me he didnt know why i was losing my hair, gave me a sample of tgel shampoo and a prescription for some ointment. I was really hoping for some answers, hell, at least an educated guess. Not sure what to do at this point.

I am so tired of taking the vitamins, using nizoral, doing the comb over. Its so ironic, I used to think if i could just lose the weight... now im fit and losing the hair, thats not the way I envisioned it! My first derm appt is August 9th about  5 months since i first noticed the loss. Im betting on AGA since my dad was bald...  im rambling, hope all is well and if you are reading this tonight, hope you find what you are looking for on the site tonight.