I was wondering if any ladies had a problem with this. I was wondering how much does estrogen help. Has any had Hair replacement. What are the results if you have.  My hair is a very big concern for me. I don't want to have to wear a wig for the rest of my life. I will if I have to. But I have lost quite a bit of hair in the front and it bothers me a lot. When I go full time i want to use curling irons goto the beauty shop, Have hair my cut and colored and look fem.

Quote from: Kimberly Kilpatrick on February 12, 2008, 02:18:23 PM
My hair is a very big concern for me. I don't want to have to wear a wig for the rest of my life. I will if I have to.

Hi Kimberly, I too am very self-conscious about my hair. I'm an older Tee and my hair is thinning front and back so I have resigned myself to wearing a wig the rest of my life.  Following the "if you get lemons, make lemonade" theory I bought the best natural european hair I could find. It was expensive, but worth it. It felt strange at first but over the past year or so it has literally become part of me and I now feel 'naked' if I don't have it on.

A natural hair wig also has the advantage over a synthetic wig of being able to do just about anything and everything with it that you can do with real hair. I had my first beauty parlor appointment yesterday. She trimmed it and showed me how to style the bangs and sides. While working with it she remarked, "you have beautiful hair."

I understand that there are options available, but I am coming out now, not in five years so I don't have time to wait on the hair loss drugs to do their thing. It is my understanding that estrogen will stop any future hair loss.

Dora
 

I want to buy a human hair wig but money is a issue right now. I know I will deal with this hair loss. I hate it as much as the rest of my body.

I had a bit of a problem with it... but I don't think it was male pattern baldness really. I thought the reason for my loss of hair was due to severe stress and depression and I'm pretty cure it was that.

Anyway since HRT both my stress and depression have pretty much gone and my hair is growing in really thick now especially where my really thin area was. I don't know if it's just the estrogen or lack of stress and dperession in my life but all I can say is that it's nice.

Your balding however from what you said actual male pattern hairloss and they say that it stops when you go on HRT and there might be some slight reversal in the areas that still have live follicles, who knows though I've heard of peoples hair fully growing back and thick... I guess it just depends on how long you've been blading and how servere.

I hope this helps ya out a bit, good luck.

estrogen will not help that much, but progesterone might.  Depending on your age.

Taking you are not in your twenties...hair really growing back is less likely. 

Estrogen lengthens hair growing cycles, so for hair that's alive, it means there will be more on your head growing at the same time (denser hair).

Doesn't effect DHT levels directly, though it diminishes T from the gonads
so it does impact DHT indirectly.

Real Progesterone inhibits DHT, but you need high constant levels which
are hard to sustain.

Better use dutasteride which has a very long half life.

I already had a receding hairline, but the chemotherapy I had a little over 2 years ago caused my hair to fall out in handfuls. I delayed beginning HRT until the chemo was completed. Fortunately, I still have pretty adequate albeit thinned coverage over most of my scalp, but it made my hairline recede even more in front. I have been taking HRT for almost 2 years now, but have not recovered any of the loss. At least further loss has been halted by the hormones. I'm definitely thinking of transplants.

I never go out of the house without a silk scarf tied around my hairline. I wear my hair hanging over it, parted on one side, with sideways-swooping bangs over one eye. That exposes a bare patch up on the other side, which is where the scarf comes in. I've made it my signature style, it gives my look a touch of sophisticated pizzazz, and thus I turn a liability into a positive. Wearing a scarf under my hair helps lend it a little extra volume all around. I have a big collection of scarves to color coordinate with all my outfits. If you ever need a gift idea for me, silk scarves are always very welcome, especially the elongated ones.

The last time I went to an ULTA salon to have my hair done, I felt uncomfortably exposed with my scarf off in public and my hair loss on display to all the shoppers (ULTA is a women's cosmetics and beauty products store that includes a salon, it's less expensive than other salons, but I got good work done there). But hey, sometimes you just have to grin and bear it. 

I refuse to wear a wig as long as I still have 90% of my original scalp coverage (everywhere but in front). I'm grateful I never got male pattern baldness (MPB) which would make it imperative to use a wig. I'm just looking forward to my chance at transplants. Until then, I'm rockin those scarves.

I got pricing the hair transplant and it's more expensive than all the SRS surgeries combined for how much I  need. I am real sad about it at the moment. 

unfortunately estrogen can't help when male pattern baldness is already in progress.  maybe medications like propecia or hair transplantation could help a little.

Has anyone undergone tranplants and how did the result come out?

Quote from: Lydia on February 16, 2008, 05:24:54 AM
Has anyone undergone tranplants and how did the result come out?

I have had two sessions...1500 grafts per session. $4500 per session. Still a little follicly challenged, but I get by.

How much improvement?

I used to have a major receeding hairline... to do my mowhawk Id just shave the sides of my head and make the back match... but moving out of my parrents house reduced the stress to the point where most of it grew back...  HRT is helping with the rest alittle bit, but Ill probably have to get hair transplants to fill in the little corners in the front... Its not that noticable but I cant just pull my hair back into a pony tail...

Propica and drugs similar to it could help, but only if the hair hasnt been out for too long...  basicly if theres been no growth there in 3 years... its gone for good <baring surgery>

I was lucky enough to be able to start HRT shortly after I started losing my hair.  I had a bald spot in the back and the stuff on top was starting to thin out too.  A year of HRT (estrofem, spiro, finasteride) later and my hair has thickened up alot, and the spot in the back is totally gone.  sssshhheeewwww, dodged that bullet.

Audrey

Quote from: Audrey on February 18, 2008, 12:12:12 AM
I was lucky enough to be able to start HRT shortly after I started losing my hair.  I had a bald spot in the back and the stuff on top was starting to thin out too.  A year of HRT (estrofem, spiro, finasteride) later and my hair has thickened up alot, and the spot in the back is totally gone.  sssshhheeewwww, dodged that bullet.

Audrey

Hi again,

Not been around here for a while. Well I am thinking about the same. My hair dresser said I have thinning at the crown of my head, not bad but beginnings of things to come, lol. I spoke to someone at my self help group (GID) who said anti-androgens will help and it may well grow back but will not get worse once I am on that.

I see my doc next week in the hope of staring HRT.

Hugs

Nigella

It looks like it will be wigs for me.

Thirty plus years ago, my wife-to-be found it amusing that I liked having my hair braided.  She would do thin little braids with the hair at my hair line.

Said hair line has retreated to the point that the same braids would be at the back of my head.

Any suggestions on good wigs and hair styles?

Quote from: Rowan_Danielle on February 27, 2008, 02:27:27 PM
It looks like it will be wigs for me. Any suggestions on good wigs and hair styles?

I too have resigned to the fact that it is going to be wigs for me. (I wish it had a better name -- there is something about the name "wig" that really rubs me the wrong way!)   

With wigs there are two ways to go, synthetic and natural. I bought two synthetic wigs online, both under 100 bucks. One wig looked terrible on me but the other was nice looking. A couple of things I didn't like about it was it was HOT -- I couldn't wait to take it off. I didn't like the feel of the wig and most of all I didn't like the fact that I couldn't do anything with it -- the style it came in was the style it would always be. So I started looking at natural hair wigs. You can get natural hair on the internet, but I decided go to a lady who specializes in wigs. She brought out several natural wigs and all were nice, but when I picked up the European hair, I instantly knew it was me. I now feel naked without it on. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I have been wearing it for a few months now and it still looks great. (I am extremely careful and gentle with it. I treat it as if it were, well, my own hair). Of course I would rather be able to go with my own hair, but that is not in the cards for me.

Dora

Quote from: Dora on February 27, 2008, 11:26:47 PM

Quote from: Rowan_Danielle on February 27, 2008, 02:27:27 PM
It looks like it will be wigs for me. Any suggestions on good wigs and hair styles?

I too have resigned to the fact that it is going to be wigs for me. (I wish it had a better name -- there is something about the name "wig" that really rubs me the wrong way!)   

With wigs there are two ways to go, synthetic and natural. I bought two synthetic wigs online, both under 100 bucks. One wig looked terrible on me but the other was nice looking. A couple of things I didn't like about it was it was HOT -- I couldn't wait to take it off. I didn't like the feel of the wig and most of all I didn't like the fact that I couldn't do anything with it -- the style it came in was the style it would always be. So I started looking at natural hair wigs. You can get natural hair on the internet, but I decided go to a lady who specializes in wigs. She brought out several natural wigs and all were nice, but when I picked up the European hair, I instantly knew it was me. I now feel naked without it on. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I have been wearing it for a few months now and it still looks great. (I am extremely careful and gentle with it. I treat it as if it were, well, my own hair). Of course I would rather be able to go with my own hair, but that is not in the cards for me.

Dora

An alternative word for wig...

Maybe we'll have to invent one and popularize it.  Have a word go viral through use.

And if this word happens to promote a fad in wearing 'wigs', then more people may consider cross dressing.

I have picked up a few 'wigs' from costuming stores during the Halloween season, just to start a collection of alternative artificial hair styles.  (Aahs ...)  If I had been thinking, I would have been wearing them during winter, as an alternative to a hat.  (Of course, having an arm in a sling 24/7 can put a kink in plans.)

Quote from: Dora on February 27, 2008, 11:26:47 PM
I too have resigned to the fact that it is going to be wigs for me. (I wish it had a better name -- there is something about the name "wig" that really rubs me the wrong way!)   

In many European languages wig is called similar to PERRUQUE (French), for example:
Danish: paryk
Esperanto: peruko
Francuski: perruque
Greek: περούκα
Italian: parrucca
Polish: peruka
Spanish: peluca
Swedish: peruk
Ukrainian: перука

Choose the one you like (if you like any ).

Quote from: Dora on February 27, 2008, 11:26:47 PM
With wigs there are two ways to go, synthetic and natural.

There is more to wigs than that. There are top lace wigs, full lace wigs, silk top wigs, wigs which can be glued on (some people wear them continuously for up to 40-60 days! They even take shower in them!) and so on.

I had a small bald patch at the crown & slight receding at the front, I was 32. After 6 months HRT I noticed the bald patch was filling in, after 18 months it was gone. There was some minor regrowth at the front but the receding wasn't enough to be a real problem.