Time for an update!

My period finally came on 17th May. That was 3 and a half months after the last one. I am yet to have my period this month, which was due 7 days ago. Officially I finished my last dianette pill on Feb 11th – only 4 months ago. Seems longer to me.

I have to say that in April I stopped all vitamins and herbs that I was on for regulating my periods and I also quit Rogaine. The main reasons for this are that I began began the candida diet, which requires many other vitamins and herbs and I really couldnt be on so many. Plus, I also began using toppik to cover up my thinning area and I had previously discovered that rogaine liquid plus toppik equals alot of itchy scalp.

Ok so I’ve basically given up havent I.. I guess so. For what, 7 years maybe I’ve used rogaine in both liquid and foam forms (at different times) and have always sworn by it but I believe it stopped working when I stopped taking dianette. Or what is possibly more accurate (although I cant prove it) is that the rogaine isnt what helped me at all – it was the Dianette that produced all the regrowth all along. I will never know because I started both at the same time.

So current side effects from being synthetic hormone – free. Well I still have to wash my hair more often than on Dianette. I have more hair on upper lip (more than the last time I posted about it) to the extent that there is too much to pluck now. But i’m just bleaching it instead. I am very spotty. But how much this is connected to this I cant be sure because you can get acne on the candida diet, where the toxins come out through the skin. I am hoping its because of the latter because I dont want this to go on too long! I was shedding about double usual in the shower but over the last week or so that has calmed down.

I think thats about it. In 3 months or so if my periods are no more regular I will go to the doctor and ask to be referred to a specialist on hormones, which is someone I have wanted to see for a long time. All my tests have been fine but I have had facial hair since about the age of 13 despite regular periods until now. Even just that cant be right, surely?

End of month #5

Well thats the end of month 5. My period is due on Sunday and i’m hoping it comes that day, ie 4 days after my last pill, as has happened for years, but unlike last month.

I have to correct myself in my previous post. I said that I was constipated and that i thought it was due to some of the supplements i was taking – firstly i thought it was the saw palmetto and then the MSM. But now i realise that i wasnt eating enough carbs and since i increased it, i’ve been going very well thank you! Because of that I’ve re-introduced the MSM and I may start back on the SP but for now i dont have any and will think some more about taking it again.

I mentioned before that I thought that the hair on my temples has grown and i still think this is the case. I also think the hair in front of my ears have grown in length and grown fuller. However, as for the hair on the top of my head – well the jury is still out. I remember that when my hair was at its worst, i had no fringe (bangs) at the front and it worrys me that the lack of dianette could make that area worse again. I’m not sure if its worse right now or not to be honest. I have been wearing dark brown toppik more regularly in the last couple of weeks but i’m not certain why. Its looking a bit worse there for sure. Last week I started using Rogaine 5% liquid again which i havent used for years (in favour of the 5% foam) and its definitely taking the dye off where i apply it, and when there’s a colour difference between the lengths and the part, it always looks worse. I only dyed it 2 weeks ago and i’m actually sat here right now with dye on again. Thankfully its only semi permanent so it shouldnt be too much of a problem doing it again so soon.

Below are two photos of the front-on view of my thinnest areas. This was before i started the rogaine liquid, which i find is rather messy – getting on hair either side of my part and stripping the dye slowly over a few days, making it look worse than it is – which i cant afford. I dont use flash on my hair photos.

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Those areas ie part and back of the fringe, are where i apply the toppik. I use dark brown when its freshly dyed, and i just bought medium brown for when its faded a bit.

Here is the latest photo!

3rd October 2011

I dont like that one. The part is fairly tight but its thinning out a bit either side and especially at the back. Below are some older ones to compare to the above and to try to reassure myself!

3rd October 2008

Funnily enough that one was taken exactly 4 years ago. The first pic is better with regard to the part so I think I can feel reassured that is not back to that stage yet. It almost looks like there is more hair in this old picture but I styled it differently then. In fact, i didnt style it at all. It was rough dried quickly and washed purely for the photo.

2005

And these was the first pics I took to look at my hair loss.

So its no where near as bad as it has been but 6 years ago I was in total denial and didnt look into supplemental hair until I was too depressed to leave the house. I dont want to be at that stage again. This is probably why i’m over analysing everything and why this is probably the most annoying blog in the world!

Here are more recent pics to compare. You may need to click on it to enlarge.

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I dont see much of a change in any of those photos really but from face on, i see a thinner hair line beneath my fringe. I would take a photo but I applied some Toppik powder hair loss concealer a couple of hours ago so that wont show anything. But i’m sure this is what i was panicking about a while back. It may not be majorly worse but there is surely a slight decline and i’m sure its due to quitting Dianette. Hopefully it will pick up again though. Also, i’ve just ordered some Rogaine liquid again to use instead of the foam. Did i go into this before? I noticed that my regrowth slowed down after using the foam so i’m going back to the liquid where i got most of my regrowth from. Whether it will actually help the regrowth pick up speed again i’m not sure but its worth a shot right?

I always considered myself to be one of the lucky ones of those who have androgenetic alopecia because of all the regrowth i had and felt optimistic that I could possibly improve my hair back to about 70% of what it was. I also blotted out what the professionals say about how having AGA means you are stuck with it for life and there’s pretty much nothing you can do. That sums up my nature really. I always try to look positive and forget about the negative stuff. I’m not sure that personality trait shows through on this blog though but its true! ha ha. and goes back to what i was saying about being scared that i’m not in denial this time. However, recently i’ve been feeling that I was too optimistic and have faced up to it a bit.

I want to point out though that if my hair were to stay how it is right now, i would be perfectly happy. I’m just scared of it getting worse.

I bet i must come across as quite a confused person on here eh? One minute i’m saying everything is fine and stable and the next minute i’m convinced things are wrong. I think that sums up hair loss though.

Anyway my boyfriend has been away and he’s back tomorrow which i am very much looking forward to!

Insert witty title here

The spotting stopped the day i wrote the last entry on here and hasnt come back thankfully. I’m over half way through this current cycle as i started on the progesterone cream again. The first time i used it seemed to make me feel very happy but i dont get that anymore. I just feel fine. No different really, which i guess is good? Although it would be nice to feel that happy every month!

My skin is still very good. No greasier or spottier. Hair on the face? Not sure about that one. I’m sure i’ve said before, my face has always been hairy and it got better on Dianette, so much so that I could just pluck the hairs out because there were so few. Now i think there may be more but its ok at the moment.

As for the hair on my head – well I’ve been about two weeks off saw palmetto now i think and when i washed my hair yesterday i saw more than double the amount of hair in the shower drain compared to the last time i washed my hair but last time there was a lot less than usual. So compared to usual i guess it was about the same but maybe slightly more.

I actually had a compliment the other day about my hair! She knows the story and said that she had been noticing recently how my hair is looking good – shinier and a thicker pony tail. She’s right, i’d noticed this too. Here’s the reasons why. Firstly for about the last year or so i’ve been having my hair coloured by salons with permanent dye, mainly for highlights, and true to how permanent colour is – it made it looked flatter and dull. When I had it done last, about two months ago, i decided i wanted it darker, and i wanted it darker now! so instead of going back after only a month to have another colour done and spending more money, I decided to do it myself in a darker brown in semi permanent – cheaper and quicker – which is what i have always used since about the age of 14. And true to how semi permanent is – it makes my hair look much glossier. Also the last time I had it cut, it was cut to all one length instead of layers, which makes it look thicker. So i’m feeling pleased about the cut and the colour.

I’ve probably said this before but the downside of using semi permanent is that rogaine takes the colour off quickly at the areas that you apply it. At least i think this is whats happening. I’m sure it never faded along my part so quick with permanent. My natural colour is much lighter than the medium brown shade i use so its quite noticeable. To combat this I have instead been trying applying elsewhere. I lift up a section maybe at about a 35 degree angle to my centre part (which is within the area that i’m thin) and apply it there. Then leave the hair in that position all night in a pony tail. Or in the morning for about 20 minutes so to let it dry. I alternate doing this on each side of my head in the hoping that if i do it in two places rather than one (on the centre part) then it wouldnt fade so much in one area and the faded areas might be more hidden when done in less exposed areas. I think it should work but i’ll wait and see.

Oh finally I wrote to my old dermatologist last week. I havent seen him in years. I first saw him about 2006 for my hairloss and he didnt have a clue what was wrong so he referred me to Dr Fenton at St Thomas hospital and he diagnosed me. I was seeing him a favour as they are old friends so once he diagnosed me and prescribed me with Rogaine and Dianette, that was it, i havent seen anyone since. No follow ups with either of them and i think thats wrong but at the time i didnt mind because i was regrowing hair. I didnt want to have to go back to my GP for a referral again so i just wrote to him asking for his help seeing as he saw me before. I am hoping that as 5 years have passed maybe he’ll have learnt more about hairloss. I want his help for the areas that i’m still thin, especially as i’m coming off one of the meds that was prescribed. I didn’t go into how i’m weaning off it, just that i plan to come off in six months, which is the time that i should be fully weaned off. I enclosed some photos and am hoping i’ll hear back from him soon. I dont know what else he could suggest for the thin areas since i’m already on rogaine but its worth a try. I also asked what i can take instead of birth control. Again i dont know what he’ll say but i think i should be under a specialist for all this instead of trying and probably failing to work it out myself. Hopefully he’ll get me to see an endocrinologist to see where my hormones are at.

Why take it?

Ok so why am I on Dianette? I’ve been on Dianette for approximately 5 years and was put on it to help with my thinning hair (i was diagnosed with Androgenetic Alopecia and Telogen effluvium).

How much it has benefited my hair though, I am unsure. About nine months after starting Dianette, I began applying Rogaine 5% liquid and it was after that that I noticed a difference. So I’m hoping that its mostly the Rogaine that has made all the difference, that I can do without Dianette.

I would say that its probably helped with the side effects of Rogaine though. Right back from when I was about 12 I was bullied for having a hairy top lip and from a few years later I would bleach it almost every day. Rogaine is said to give you facial hair but on it I have experienced less facial hair, to the point that I can just pluck out the few that I get. I dont even have to bleach anymore which is great. I’m assuming that Dianette has done this, since it helps girls with unwanted body hair. Dianette is also given to people with bad acne and although I pretty much always had good skin, I definitely have had great skin since being on this. I can honestly say that I havent had one spot whilst on it and if i have then its been pretty insignificant and lasted less than 12 hours.
I am a member of the forum and on it there are lots of topics about the Rogaine side effects to your skin. I dont think I have any of these side effects. I have the normal skin of a 31 year old as far as I’m concerned and i’ve been told by beauticians that I dont have any bad lines or dark circles under my eyes. But! Could this be the Dianette that is ensuring I dont have them?

I guess I will find out.