My children are losing their hair. Please help!

[smiles4u]

oh BG my heart goes out to you in a huge way as i lived through it with my Mum, geez she would so understand how your feeling as she went through the same struggles as you, she too was young when it started ... and she developed agoraphobia years later, interesting enough her hair started to grow back many, many years later, fine but curly whereas her hair before was straight & thick before alopecia and she didn't mind the curls as it was easier to hide any patchy areas but sadly for her she never got over the agoraphobia. The alopecia for her was actually stress related, well that's what the Doc told her back in the early 1970's so who knows. Good thing is Mum became quite crafty with different techniques with scarves, i think it made her feel more secure too, as for wigs she tried them and couldn't stand wearing them, too hot & itchy, Mum could only afford the synthetic. When my sister lost her hair through chemo last year well Mum had a bigger scarf selection then any shop for my sis to chose from ... somehow they managed to find the humour in it ... but for my Mum & sis wearing a scarf it was because they seriously didn't have a strand of hair at all.

Bet my Mum would just love to give you a big hug Lee and a pep talk to follow to try not take notice of others and their narrow minds as it's what Mum taught us ... guess with what she went through has helped make me whom i am today If you ever wanna talk to my Mum BG i'm sure she would love to help BUT i'd warn you the phone call would be a 3hour minimum (no kidding, LOL wonder where i get the gift of the yak from)

" Gemini Girl " sorry for crashing your thread ... hope you don't mind xox

[nickle730]

Given the fact that both your children are affected, could the cause be environmental? Do they play outside a lot, rolling around or digging in the dirt? Perhaps the soil in your yard is contaminated with a pesticide or other chemical. Are any of your immediate neighbours affected? You can have your soil tested for a couple of hundred dollars if you think there is any possibility that this might be causing your kids hair loss.

Just throwing out the suggestion - maybe the problem is coming from outside your kids, not from inside! Good luck, gemini_girl, I really hope you find some answers.

[gemini_girl]

Smiles
" Gemini Girl " sorry for crashing your thread ... hope you don't mind xox
Lol Smiles, nevermind about that, we're all here for one another.

Nickle
could the cause be environmental?
The two do play outside in the dirt together with their toy cars. However, they did play in the dirt a lot before they started to loose their hair. It is a good point, and one well worth noting. I am getting together every bit of information I can. Thanks for your reply.

Once again, thank you all for your replies, your wonderful.

[gemini_girl]

Hi,
Just wanted to thank everyone for their help and support, I have just been to see a trichologist. The outcome is that my daughter it seems is pulling her hair out, but it could be weak hair also and is to be followed up with blood tests of Zinc, Iron and Vitamin D to test the levels.
My son it seems it is alopecia areata where his white blood cells are attacking his hair and I have been given tyrosine (a powder to mix with water twice a day).
So we'll see how we go now!

[smiles4u]

Hi,
Just wanted to thank everyone for their help and support, I have just been to see a trichologist. The outcome is that my daughter it seems is pulling her hair out, but it could be weak hair also and is to be followed up with blood tests of Zinc, Iron and Vitamin D to test the levels.
My son it seems it is alopecia areata where his white blood cells are attacking his hair and I have been given tyrosine (a powder to mix with water twice a day).
So we'll see how we go now!

... good to hear you have an idea what is happening now so at least now they can be treated. Wish i had better words of advice other then i remember my Mum saying she was a firm believer in making sure zinc was taken for herself when diagnosed with alopecia. I found out a several years ago i had alopecia areata in the eyebrows, where i would wake up in the morning to find patches of hairs missing but as time went by it got much better.

Please DO let us know how things go with your DD & DS

[gemini_girl]

Daughters blood tests have come back, just waiting for the trichologist to look at them. GP says there fine, but there are some notes mentioned on there of concern to me.
Have been annoyed with the school. Sent a note to notify that my daughter would like to wear a hat as she has lost all the hair from one side. Teacher rufused.... Grrrr... had to speak to the principle to get permission. Only in the case of a medical condition she says.... ummmmmmm sorry didn't you see her hair? What comes under medical condition? 'Is she pulling it out' she asks? Well if she is, does that then make it a medical condition? Or do I need a note from the doctor stating the obvious? She ended up granting permission but after all that, my daughter ended up not wearing her hat because she had to wear her broad brimmed hat instead of the beanie she bought with her and she started getting questioned as to why she was wearing one inside. Can't win!
My son on the other hand was told right from the word go that he had permission to wear his, even though they go to the same school.
Ok, sorry, was just so annoyed and needed to vent. Powder is so far not helping. Sons hair is growing at the back at this stage (about the fourth time it has grown back) but he has a huge bald spot at the top... and trying to get my daughter to take hair skin and nails tablets is like extracting teeth. I bought a tablet crusher but still no avail. Took her 20 minutes this morning to drink it. Think I might end up bald from pulling my own hair out in frustration. To top it off, the both of them can't say anything nice to each other in the last couple of weeks. Even getting detentions at school with their fighting. Taking them to see paediatrician today... we'll see what he says!

[~clover~]

Oh
While I can't speak for your son. I know exactly what you are going through with your daughter.

I have a friend with a 6.5 year old daughter who does the same. She sucked her thumb from birth & from a very early age the fascination with the feel of hair came into it all.
She would find a hair on the floor while crawling & wrap it around her thumb & suck. Apparently the 2 of them can go hand in hand. Not sure if your DD sucks her thumb or not?
She started pulling her own hair out at about 3.5 to 4, during a stressful time in her life, & hasn't been able to stop.

While they are trying to use the nail polish that stops nail biting for the thumb sucking, they are actually trying to use vanity for the hair pulling. She has next to no hair on top, but its shoulder length at the back. So every day they will plait her hair & put bows & things in it, with a head band to make it pretty. That way she doesn't want to mess it up by pulling it.
They stopped talking about it. If they see her twisting her hair they just distract her. Talking about it brings attention to it & makes her think to do it again.

Just before she started school they shaved her head. They hoped that if she couldn't get hold of her hair to twist/pull it, hopefully she'd be out of the habit before it grew back. Sadly didn't work. Maybe if they'd kept it that short they might've got lucky, but they felt horrible enough doing it, they didn't want her going to school with no hair at all for so long. They are trying to decide now though if they should shave it again. Just so its all one length, since the very bottom/back is quite long, but the rest is so short.

I don't know if any of this will be any use to you, but maybe you could try some of these things?
Its a hard battle to fight. Their's has been going on for over 2 years now. I'm not sure if their lack of progress is coz she's not too worried what the other kids think yet, since they haven't made a big deal out of it, or not, but I'm hoping they have some long term progress soon.

I hope this has helped in some way. Even if its just to know you aren't alone.
Goodluck.

[LisaFire]

I had alopecia as a 10 year old and I was put in hospital so they could sort it out. I was given meds and that helped (mine was to the point of blistering on the bald patch that had the docs talking about skin grafting).

I know it is scarry for kids to go through and hope you get answers soon.

[gemini_girl]

Just wanted to say, my daughter was not impressed when I sent her to the hairdresser yesterday to have her hair cut, to try to even it all out... but she was over the moon to receive a wig today. It looks beautiful and I have to say, its a very good investment. To see her smile the way she did. That smile has been hiding for a while. I haven't seen her hair look like that since she was about 4 years old... even though the hair loss only started just over a year ago, she wanted her hair cut before that so she hasn't had long hair for so long.

I took her to visit her nan and pop, she wanted to show it off to everyone.. nan barely recognised her lol but like me, was so happy and excited for her.

Now I just got to get the hang of putting it on for her...

[richard bond]

I would highly recommend that any parent who has a child with a hair loss condition should be seeing a pediatric dermatologist not a trichologist. Trichology can be a useful tool however it is not a medical degree and a hair loss condition can be caused by many different things. A dermatologist should be referring these conditions through to a pediatric dermatologist as well.

[Ryatha]

so glad that the wig has brought out her smile again. I know from my theatre days wigs are best put on by putting the front part against the forhead and then pull on down to the back. mmmm its a bit hard to explain but I bet there are youtube videos that would give demos. I bet with practice you'll get it on really quickly soon