[Reblog] About.Com: Hair Loss & Fibromyalgia

“Before I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, I was sure I had lupus. The symptoms are extremely similar, and one of them that really had me convinced was hair loss. Every time I washed my hair, the tub was covered in it. Still, when I have flares, I leave more hair behind than my husband, who’s thinning a bit. (Good think he’s a saint so he won’t mind that I mentioned it!)

Eventually, I found out that hair loss actually is a fibromyalgia symptom – it’s just not one that typically makes the brief symptom lists you come across when you’re frantically scouring the Internet to figure out what’s wrong.”

I was glad to have found this article, because I experienced a very strange occurence this past week:  my hair began to shed like crazy.  A part of me was terrified.  Another part of me was amused.  Still, there was another part of me that said, “Oh, whatever.”  Still, the excessive hair shedding remained on my mind.

Anyone who has known me for a long time, knows that I have taken care of my hair since age 18.  I kept my hair natural, wearing loc’s for 14 years. Even since cutting and undoing my loc’s, I have continued to keep my hair in its natural state and have begun using natural products to take care of it.  In other words, I am very particular about my hair.

Of course, when I noticed my hair shedding, my mind went to the fact that hair loss (alopecia) is common for Black women. Still, that did not seem to be the correct answer.  Then I began to think about my levels of stress over the recent time period and I recognised that I had been highly stress (and still am).  Then I thought about my fibromyalgia, and came across the linked article.

I had no idea that hair loss was among the symptoms that one could experience, thus I am grateful for having found this article.

Until Next Time,

Diedré