POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Positive Women => Topic started by: 2Live on April 15, 2007, 04:18:39 pm
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Hello everyone out there - I'm incredibly happy to know there is a section for us here. I have to say since finding out im + for 4 mo. has incredibly been draining on all aspects (spiritual/mental & physical). I never thought this would happen (but who does). I let my guard down w/ someone I truly trusted in a committed relationship with for 3 yrs. & he has transmitted this to me & he does not know yet. I havent had the courage to tell him. But I know he has this & am afraid he will not understand upon me telling him. I think he's a carrier who still does not know he has it b/c he does not have any symptoms. That's so scary. I found out b/c one day going to the dr.'s for a routine physical, they told me my WBC was lowon my blood test & I did not think anything of it. 1 mo. later I find out Im +. My life has now changed in a blink of an eye, literally. I went through the bouts of side effects from the meds. (truvada/norvir/reyataz). lost alot of weight due to vomitting & diarrhea. Now I'm better but in the last 2 mo. my hair is thinning & falling out at incredible rates. It's very obvious & it's starting to affect me b/c Ihave to go to work in a corporate setting _ I really cant where a hat (smiling) @ work. Is this temporary or will I end up becoming utterly bald??? Glad u guys are here. God Bless all out there in the fight & the struggle to persevere w/ this "+" journey. :-[
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I haven't noticed any hair loss on my part and have been on meds for a year and a half. I do know that stress can cause hair loss,you should also ask your doctor about this.. Cristy
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2live,
I agree with Cristy, that stress is factor in hair loss. You may want to talk to the doctors about the loss of hair. It could also be that you lost so much weight due to the diarrheah and vomiting, and the vitamin loss from all that.
I hope things start to turn around for you soon.
Take care.
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In 2001 I was in the hospital for awhile, and a lot of my hair fell out. The doctor thought is was from the stress and trauma of being ill, and hospitalized.
My hair did grow back, a little thicker and with some curl in it, so I was actually happy since I had always had stick, straight, thin, hair. I was not happy when it was falling out, but after, when it grew back in.
Talk to the doctor about it.
And also, talk to your hair dresser about it. No need to go into specific detail about why if you don't want to. Just say stress...The hair dresser may be able to suggest a different cut or style that can camouflage the loss, or a product that can help the hair appear thicker.
Christine
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When I was first diagnosed, I was very sick and unhealthy. My hair fell out in clumps. I think mine was part stress and part malnutrition from just being ill. I luckily didn't have side effects with meds, and eventually my hair grew back, and much better than before. I used to have fine hair, but now it is thick, shiny, and healthy. I would definitely go to the doctor. The hair stylists do help (though I was at the point it wasn't possible to hide it all). Mine didn't ask questions, though later on when she saw me in my healthier state, she asked if my cancer was in remission--I never once said I had cancer, but she must have equated a 20 year old losing hair with being on chemo.
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Hi !
please be sure that you have your thyroid checked when you get labs next... I had bald spots, and found that my blond turned grey... I am on that same cocktail, ... dont know if that helps, but hang in there
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I, upon diagnosis was also having hair loss for almost a month ot two before hand.. Unfortunatly when I was diagnosed my numbers were horrible. My doctor said this was a side effect from such a poor immune system. If your numbers are not bad then I would tend to guess it is the stress. My hair has not grown back to much yet but I have been trying to keep it somewhat short to look fuller.
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Hi there
I agree with the rest of the ladies I think it is probably stress causing your problems.
In the first couple of months of my diagnosis and after a bad seroconversion I suffered some hair loss...this was definitely put down to stress.
Like Fran I keep my hair on the shorter side (especially on the top) layers help to give the hair a bit of body and gives a fuller look, gel helps too.
Take care
Hugs
Jan :-*
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hi, i got infected about 14 years ago, the infection has immediate implication such as hair liss, by i treated it immediate, cut my hair and used aa special shampo and such, after ny body started to recover my hair started to grow all over again,
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how r u today, i have 3 things to address -
1 - i had hair loss, and found out not from the doctors but others that the meds can be part of the problem
the other is probably your stress
2 - if you believe he gave it to you why are you afraid to tell him. I too got it from someone I was with
for 4 years. but I couldnt prove it but certain things he did left no doubt - from the start i told him that
how our pasts COULD one may catch up to us. so when i found out i did not blame him, even though
when i took him back for his results he came out saying he was neg. but never showed me the paper.
we stayed together for 2 more years, him acting like he was doing me a favor. I dont need favors
He would never wear a condom no matter what., after we broke up and he was with somenew we still
had sex with a condom. even though he lived with someone else.
3 - you are going thru all of this but you talk as if your man doesnt see how sick you are, does he ask what
is wrong with you, how do you explain yourself.
one more thing, just because you were diagnosed after being with him, doesnt mean he gave it to you
and if you cared so much about him and truly believe he did it, and you are 100% hes the only possibility
why would you not tell him.
now they can tell when u got it, so have him get tested and show you the results,
If he is innocent, you may end up quilty of knowing infecting him
if he did do something, as mine did, so evil, willing to kill me- remember this from my heart to yours,
you will not be able to grasp the reality of why or how he would do this to you, if you dont know what
being in denial feels like, you will and it is unbelievably overwhelming, it took me 3 years trying to let
make sense of such evil. it can drive you crazy slowing, one day i had to decide to either keep trying
to get around the denial always floating above me, and just have that nervous breakdown, or find]
the strength to just let it go. i he would never admit it and without proof I couldnt accuse him. and
even though common sense said it was him. the truth is that a part of me new it possible that i was
infected before i met him. I was always honest he was not. I started getting sick the first year together
than a year later. I truly believe we both had it, but his was a different strain from mine. I also found out
he had herpes two years before we met, he never said a word to me.
if you need to talk it our, you can email me DC22NY@YAHOO.COM - IT IS NOT EASY DOING THIS ALONE :)
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Another thing that might be causing this is your recent loss of weight. Women who are bulemic or anorexic (I'm not saying this is your problem) and lose a lot of weight all have hair loss. And I agree to get your thyroid checked.
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Hi,
I loss my hair each time I change therapy. Don't forget that the active principle of our med is the same as the chemotherapy ;)
Sorry for my english....I'm italian :)
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???Hello there.
Ive been hiv pos since 1987, i started taking meds in 2002, but just recently
(well within the last yr) i notice i have lost alot of hair, and my hair was curly
and thick ..all that has changed..My hair was my pride..and iam a hairdresser as well..
I still dont know why iam losing hair..Ive been on combivir and Kaletra for 3 yrs now and dont know why iam losing my hair..it sucks..I just hope it grows back.
My stress level isnt too bad, so i dont kow if its the meds or what..
In the same boat as u when it comes to hair loss and dont know why myself.
Just because iam a hairdresser, doesnt mean we have the answers to this
condition..Has anyone else besides the women who posted this tread losing
hair as well? opinions please..thank u.. ???
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I almost went bald after being poz about 10 years. I was infected in '88 and by 1997....just before going on meds I was almost bald. It was not the stress.... My thyroid looked fine... It was that my pituitary glad was not telling the hypothalamus to produce the hormone to tell the thyroid to produce the thyroid hormone!! Sounds crazy but unchecked HIV messes with your brain that way. I started the synthroid and my thyroid levels started to go back to normal but I didn't get any hair. I had NO hair...not anywhere. Just a little bit on my head....I started the regular thyroid hormone made from pulverized animal thyroid gland and then my hair grew in.... like crazy it grew. I now have waist length beautiful hair and take my thyroid pills as religiously as my hiv meds. Hope that this helps you.