My story - How I lost my hair to alopecia ...
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How I lost my hair to alopecia ...
First let me start by wishing you a very happy new year! Not only have we entered in to a new year but also a brand new decade. How cool is that!?
Although I don't really celebrate new year as the new year rolls on at midnight, I am really passionate about setting goals and intentions for the new year. To me, it feels like a clean slate and an opportunity to get excited and create new things in my life.
For my very first blog of 2020 I wanted to share with you the story of how I lost my hair all those years ago.
I was always a quiet child. Always worrying about things and over thinking things even as far back as I can remember at the age of six.
My quietness around those I didn't know well was put down to shyness and often times I would simply stop talking. As a child you can kind of get away with things like that though as an adult you simply come across as "odd". Just FYI, I was later (much later, as an adult!) diagnosed with autism - a blog for another time maybe ...
Anyway, so now I've set the scene for you a little better I'll continue.
I was in my second year of secondary school when My hair started to fall out. I don't know weather it was pure coincidence or if it had anything to do with it but I lost my hair a few months after my parents separated.
Looking back though I do think this was pure coincidence as I had previously noticed that the outer quarter of my eyelashes on my right eye had disappeared months before my hair fell out.
My mum dropped me off across from school one day and after we said our goodbyes I didn't see her again for 6 months. It turns out her and my dad had been having troubles in their marriage so she left and moved hundreds of miles away to a small village in Scotland, taking my 6 year old twin brothers with her. I had no clue that would be the last time I'd see her for months.
When she did finally return (my Dad officially was granted custody of myself and my brothers) my hair had already started to fall out. I had become even quieter and more withdrawn to the outsider but my isolating myself from others, I later learned, was actually the thing that allowed me to keep going. You see, autistic women thrive in their alone time. It is the only was I can recharge my social battery so I can get up and work through another day. It's not a depression thing, it's an overwhelm thing.
Unfortunately, my mum went on to have 3 strokes (2 mini's and one big one) and had to learn how to walk, talk, swallow etc all over again. She is well recovered now thank goodness but for a few years things were very tough for our family. By the time she was fully recovered our family was back together. My Dad always loved my Mum so much and he honestly would have forgiven her for anything. They went on to divorce 10 years later BUT ended up back together again for the last 10 years of my Dads life.
Dad passed away in July 2019 with mum by his side at home just like he said he wanted to.
My experience of losing my hair was very quick. Within 8 weeks I'd lost all of my hair and went on to lose my eyebrows, eyelashes and all of my body hair too. It took me 10 years to come to terms with it but if I can come to terms with hair loss with no professional support in place then anyone can, Hopefully it won't take you 10 years like it did with me!