If it isn't one thing, it's another. I went to my hairdresser the other day and she found a bald spot on my scalp, it's alopecia. I have had it before when under extreme stress. It's about the size of a quarter, I have plenty of hair to cover it.

I had a panic attack which I haven't had in awhile, I was so angry because I know the cause of it. I really have to calm down and decompress and rid myself of stress if that is at all possible.

So, I called my dermotologist and got an appt for Wed. I will get the steriod injections in the scalp, then go back in 4wks, she will measure it, and then more injections and check for growth. It always has worked for me in the past.

I am not sure if I already posted this. It's from stress, alopecia areata (sp) is when you lose all your hair, it's not that.

Anyway, went to Trivia the other night, we won a gift certificate for an appetizer, LOL Tonight we might go dancing, if we can find a spot we like. My new friend and I had so much fun at trivia we laughed all night.

Well, need to clean today, not in the mood, and do laundry, woopie!!!
Getting the tail end of a storm, more wind than rain they say.

My ship has sailed as far as my husband, I have in a way forgiven him, it seems the only way to unload all the hatred, anger and hurt, carrying that around with me only made me feel worse. He doesn't know it, but it's what I need to do. Plus I have to find a way to divorce him cheaply.

Have a good weekend. Hugs, Nikko

Hi Nikko.

A little bird asked me to come in here. She told me about your alopecia. My son-in-law has that though at this time he has a full head of hair again. Stress, in my opinion, brought on several problems for him. Not the least of which is dilated cardiomyopathy. And he's only 30.

Anyway, about the alopecia. He also had all of the injections, and I'm sure they are helpful. But I wanted to tell you about a really good product that you can only buy in beauty/hair salons. It's called 'Nioxin'. It was originally formulated for people going into chemotherapy treatment.

Now its sold to the general public (has been for some time) and consists of several different types of products. He went to someone I know who lives and breathes Nioxin. He invested in several of the products. His hair came back brilliantly. He still uses it on a daily basis.

I love it's products just for general use. It's really good for thinning hair. A girlfriend of mine always had thin hair. About 10 years ago I turned her on to Nioxin and she hasn't used anything since.

I'm not claiming it's a miracle cure, but it sure can't hurt. Might help keep the bald spots at bay. They don't claim to regrow hair. It's just a great scalp therapy. My favorite product is the 'rinse' which is called Scalp Therapy. I love the minty smell. Nioxin web site

I can say for myself that when I started using it, I saw almost immediately a drastic reduction in the amount of hair in the sink or tub or shower, whatever, after shampooing.

Anyway, the little bird asked if I'd stop by and tell you about my son-in-law's experience. That alopecia is very naughty and can be very humiliating. It did humiliate my son-in-law, I felt so bad when it first happened. He had large spots all over his head and they even started in his sideburns and beard.

And this is a kid with a very thick head of gorgeous hair. I think the combination of the injections and the scalp treatment helped him.

Take care. Hugs.

well it is official...
after the stress of the holidays, my inlaws, catching up from work,
many new clients from an article that was written about my business, creating charts, taxes and jeff.....
I see my pdoc on tuesday....
will continue to take extra meds to bring myself down and destress.
ok
got that off my chest.
hugs to you all
((((HUGS))))
bizi

Well while not in a manic time right now I am in a depressive one. My husband told me last night he is worried about my weight. He is right that I am not doing to much when it comes to exercise or any activities. But how many times can you explain to someone how depressed you are? He keeps asking me if my new therapist is working out. Geez, I have only been seeing here for about 3 months so far. Does he want a miracle? I only in the last few months been dx'd with BP2 and I am dealing with that.
I just feel so overwhelmed all the time now. Dealing with my life stuff like cleaning and doing errands and now all my health issue stuff (you can take a look at my sig for my other health issues). I don't know how to feel. I feel like raging out but I know it won't do much.
So I am just dealing I guess.
Has this happened to anyone else?

Dear Wendy,
You must find some me time for yourself.
I once figured out that I was hiding in the bathroom because I wanted some privacy! some me time by myself.
I think that is one reason why they suggest taking warm baths...not only does this mimick our time "in the womb", nuturing and supportive...being taking care of completely...this is also a way to escape the stresses of your environment....and to get some privacy.
I wish you some alone time this weekend.
I am sorry that you are feeling depressed.
Therapy does take a long time....hang in there.
(((HUGS))))
bizi

Dear Bizi,
I hope that you will be ok.
That's exciting about the article.
Mari

Dear Fiberowendy,
Sometimes husbands ask questions like this because they feel powerless and want to help but have no idea what to do.
My husband paid a neighbor to wash and wax my car the other day while I was sleeping. He felt like a hero! And I let him ride that because it was a good deed and the car needed it and I was certainly never going to get around to getting it washed.

Is their something the hubby can do for you? Send him to buy something for you that he can't mess up? Ask him to rub your feet? ...Just a suggestion. And get a cleaning service. This is huge.

Regarding weight: my ex husband started walking with me. My current husband goes to yoga with me and is encouraging without being pushy about my going to the gym occcassionally.
Can he walk with you? Can you dance for 10 minutes in the living room?

Meanwhile, I have been begging hubby to stop buying sweets and bringing them home because I ended up eating more of them than I would otherwise. He is having a problem with this because he has his own sweet toothh demons to fight right now. We might have to commit to doing this together. But then, I don't want to give him any opportunity to be bosy about what I eat or don't eat. Right now he has to stay out of my business.

Give the bipolar dx more time. It took me four years to be stable enough to not be nuts. Most people don't need that much time. My pdoc and I (mostly I) took that much time figuring out that lithium was bad for my mixed moods.

A therapist can't help fix bipolar. All that they can do is help you deal with it better. That is my understanding for most cases anyway. Your husband might not understand the nature of therapy.

Maybe ask him to go to therapy. This was one of the smartest things I have ever done. In the years I have known him, hubby has gone to therapy short term with 3 different therapists (and gained different insight on his issues from each).

Fairly recently, my therapist asked me to bring my husband to a session for a specific issue. She thought that hubby did not fully understand the extent of my bipolar problems and the ways the he occassionally made them worse. Or more importantly, he didn't understand how little things from him can help (or hurt) my bipolar stuff. I didn't bring him in yet.
But I might in the future.
Can your husband go to a therapy session or pdoc session with you? He seems geniunely interested in your well being.

I was dx'd with CFIDS in 1992. I slept a lot. And I mean a lot. Stayed home alot. Started an easy yoga tape a few years later. Avoided all stressful siutations except some related to work. And off and on I take vitamins and supplements that I think help.
I hope you have a good dr. I had/have none.

Mostly, I have this stuborn (and perhaps unfounded) belief that I will recover. I know it. I hold on to that. I believe that I will so I keep up the fight needed to get through each day as I wait for the day that this will improve.

......Long answer.
I sort of get what you are going through. I hope you have more good days than bad and I hope that you reach wellness.

mari

Nikko, you sound so happy. I am so excited to hear what you are doing now. You so deserve to laugh and play!

bizi, I wondered were you had run off to. Love you and care about you. I am sorry that the manic monster caught you by your cute little toes. Massive hugs.

Mari, I still haven't found a solution to the tired and must sleep syndrome. Pdoc put me on Provigil. eweewwwwe. Got all kinds of jittery and anxious and then when it wore off I was even more tired than before. And then when I dropped it I went into a full blown (quiet and controlled) monsterous rage. Really bad choice for me. sigh. I think exercise and diet is a better choice.

FibroWendy. Oh yeah. Hear ya big time. Hubby is trying to help so take him with a grain of salt. They're so cute when they try to nurture. Trying to believe that I had bipolar disorder was a tough one to put my brain around. It just didn't seem to be possible. But it is. And the meds help.

So call it a cumquat for all I need to know as long as I have a way to combat it.

For some reason the fibro dx was harder for me to accept than the BP dx. I just refused to believe it for years until my little doc put her hand on my shoulder and said this is fibro. Do what you have to do to learn to live with it and find ways to put it in it's place, but you need to accept it.

Oh boy. That was a tough day.

My little Con has gallbladder surgery Monday. I am hoping and trying to believe that this is going to fix his pain. Please!! Poor little guy.

Work sux. Not cool. Won't get into it, but it set me into a self-depreciating depression from Hades. It's starting to fade, but I still feel worthless and stupid. Bletch.

I am working on not taking things too personal. Not there yet, but working on it.

Hubby is a hero. He has been so gentle and sweet since the wreck. He flipped out about the pain meds, but he saw how hard it was with out them so he let up a bit. It's getting better, but it's still with me. I think it has set off a fibro flare, because as much as I hurt before, this has been unbearable. It has been a testiment to me that no matter how bad one may think a situation is, it can always get worse.

Believe or not, that little pessimistic statement is what I need to stay positive. It all could have been so much worse. I am lucky or touched by angels to even still be alive.

If I tell people about the accident they respond "That was you on the news? You made it out of that? How are you doing? You look so good."

I guess it was pretty bad. I am so fortunate.

Hi everyone.

I am not as sick as I was but still sick. I have been sick with a chest cold, sinus infection, and diarrhea. The chest and sinus infection has been going on since New Years Eve. I was getting ready to go out to the grocery store earlier and got so sleepy before I had a chance to walk out the door that I never made it. I was all ready to go, dressed and make-up on. The phone rang right before I was ready to go out the door and in the 5 minutes I was on the phone I got really sleep and took a nap.

Have a great weekend everyone.

befuddled2

Back in the late 80's during a big time stressful period for me, I had alopecia bad. I had a spot on the top of my head about two inches across and one on the side of my head that was even a little larger. I went to a deramtologist and I got the steroid shots and used Rogaine, which at that time hadn't been approved to be used on women.

I have really fine hair and trust me, I used a ton of hairspray each day to keep my hair styled over it...thank God for big hair in the 80's! I don't remember how long it took to grow back, but it was so scary. Finally the side started growing back very thick. The one of the top took longer and I remember my hair stylist going ahead one day and cutting the rest of my hair on top of my head as short as the new growth.

Good luck and I hope it clears up real soon!