My Body, My Hair, My Mystery....

I was chatting with a friend last week and she inquired as to how I was doing and that she was worried about me....

I don't think a lot of you know but last February my hair started to fall out in bald patches.

Yeah, sounds fun right?

And most of you DO know that I'm a nurse, with a brain that doesn't stop until I find some kind of logical and reasonable answer to medical mysteries :)

So I started telling that friend all the testing and theories that I have pondered and discussed with varying doctors and nurse practitioners... she said, "You should write a blog about that! I'm a woman and I didn't know a lot of that!" :)

SO here we go....

When I first found out about my hair, I saw a few doctors and was generally dismissed. Some of them referred to me being crazy, others said, "it's just stress", others said you sometimes just can't explain random hair loss.

(Side Note: I work with some of these doctors and was a little taken a back at how I was dismissed. So, they trust me with their other patients care but when I have questions and want to look at my own health I'm dismissed? Makes me feel like a very very small person, just so you know....) (Also made me doubt some of the people and places I have previously believed in)

In the end of the first round of doctors, I decided that sorry bitches, I don't buy any of the crap you just tried to feed me.

I had my Thyroid tested (which I actually had to go thru my chiropractor to get the tests ordered).... and my thyroid is a thing of beauty :)

Then one evening, my husband said, "It HAS to have something to do with your IUD." BAM. Hubby, you are oh so smart sometimes :) I had an IUD for approximately 6 years. SO I began to research this....

This is where my post may become confusing because a lot of us females are TRULY unaware of just WHAT hormones do to our bodies and how certain methods of birth control can affect us. I will try to explain this as best I can but I hope this reaches some females somewhere and makes us all a little more aware of how important it is to pay attention to our bodies....

We females need 2 main hormones for us to BE FEMALE. They are Estrogen and Progesterone. Hormones are such a mystery though, even to me, as a nurse! The levels of them change continuously through out our monthly cycles and many doctors and medical professionals are unaware of how a fluctuation in our hormones can affect our entire bodies.... not to mention, we have all become MODERN and we have taken it upon ourselves to mess with our hormone levels with birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancies....

Enter in the Mirena IUD (which I had). It contains a FAKE hormone called Progestin. This Progestin mimics and replaces a woman's natural ability to produce Progesterone. Progesterone is VERY important for many many reasons with in our bodies. I had the Mirena for approximately 6 years....

Once I had the IUD removed.... my hair started falling out a few months later....

YET EVERY DOCTOR I SAW REFUSED TO AGREE THAT MY HAIR LOSS COULD BE RELATED TO MY IUD.

So instead of a doctor, I went through an advanced practice nurse practitioner who actually sat down with me and has committed herself to helping me try to find out why I have this sudden and random alopecia. I had my hormones tested and low and behold, my levels are low. I have also had varying other symptoms such as night sweats, hot flashes, "foggy thinking", etc. Turns out, low levels of progesterone or estrogen can cause these too.... Bottom line, she offered for me to start a natural progesterone cream to supplement my lack of progesterone. I asked her if it was ok to wait for 3 months or so to see if my body can figure out how to make more on its own.... Not that I don't appreciate her advise, but I pondered that if I supplemented my natural production with Progestin for 6 years, wouldn't I be doing the same by putting progesterone cream on my body? So for now, I am suffering through watching my hair fall out, all in the hopes that the torment I put my body through will subside and it will heal itself....

There are many things about this that bother me though....

Think about it. Most females are on some type of hormone from teenage years through menopause! So how can we really know the exact effects of what we are doing to ourselves if we mask it the entire time.... I will admit, I am lucky. My husband "took care of business" so we won't have anymore kids... So at the age of 31 I am free to be completely off birth control, completely off fake hormones, and I have no fears or worries of pregnancy right now.

BUT for those females that have to protect themselves from pregnancy, what are we doing to our bodies? What effect do these long term birth controls have on our bodies? Have you researched all the side effects? What do you chose to suffer through all for the sake of convenience? How will we ever know the answers to these questions if we use fake hormones from such a young age until we virtually reach menopause?

My hair loss isn't the only thing that happened.... I started to get large boils on my face about the same time I had the IUD put in. I saw doctors and dermatologists and was told it was adult onset cystic acne, here's a life time supply of antibiotics to control it.... but guess what? I took that IUD out, and I haven't had a boil since.... Makes you wonder huh?

Bottom line ladies.... think about it. Take charge of your healthcare. If you have problems and you think it may be hormone related, look into it. Don't let anyone knock the wind out of your sails until you feel like you have a grasp on your situation or an answer...

And last but not least, pay attention to your body :)