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Hair loss, alopecia areata, and getting back on the wagon

Discussion in 'Support Subforum' started by Shanshu Vampyr, Oct 15, 2014.

  1. Shanshu Vampyr

    Shanshu Vampyr Well known member

    Hi all!

    It's been a long time. Wanted to check back in with the community, because I have some questions.

    I just read back that post from 1/2013. My life has changed radically since then, from bad to horrifyingly worse. Now stabilized, but still at a low point.

    Anyone else have any success in dealing with radical hair loss with the TMS approach? Since about 2/2013 I've watched the hair on my head literally almost all disappear overnight, and I've had TMS-induced alopecia areata before, so it wasn't a great surprise that it coicided with my life taking a nose dive. For over a year, as bad as it's been, it's been stable, with horrible skin eczema concurrently.

    Over the past several weeks, however, I've noticed that all the hair on my body--I'm not exaggerating--is giving up the ghost. I'm talking hair everywhere. On top of the giant bald patches that have coalesced, I now am dealing with sudden and rapid thinning of whatever hair I have left--head, body, facial, everything. It's getting to the point where I almost no longer need to shave.

    I am a chronic anxious wreck even independent of this, and this has me obsessively worried. What's scariest is that my entire body image is changing radically over the course of a few weeks, and I don't know what to do.

    I've had multiple treatments via the conventional route for the hair loss--injections and creams and pills. Nothing. Multiple dermatologists have essentially given up.

    Assuming this is TMS, what do I do to get "back on the wagon"?

    Besides this, the only other manifestation I get is a nagging, intermittent "lump" sensation in the throat. It's annoying as hell but doesn't scare me half as much as this hair thing does (since 2/2013).

    I have essentially no pain whatsoever, either. It's all skin.

    Help appreciated!
     
  2. Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)

    Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) Beloved Grand Eagle

    It looks to me like you are doing fine and letting up on yourself.
    I think it would help if you found some time to enjoy yourself.
    You're working hard and long hours and need to find some balance.
    Not easy, I'm sure, but maybe try.
     
  3. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    Heya, @Shanshu Vampyr, how are things going? Have you made any progress getting "back on the wagon?" Remember, TMS healing always starts with listing to your emotions first, figuring out what the body is trying to tell you, and calming the tension. I think I hear a lot of tension in your post, which is great news because that is something that you can really change (with some hard work).

    I think that your post might get more attention if it were in the support forum. I think that this thread might be long enough that it might discourage people from reading your posts because, well, we're all TMS goodists and we feel like we have to do everything perfectly, right? (I must read the entire thread straight from the beginning or I can't read it at all... Must.... be.... perfect!) Also, I bet you'd get more results in the support subforum since this one is pretty SEP-focused. Do you mind if I break these three posts off and move them to the support subforum in a new thread?

    But please do give us an update!
     
  4. Shanshu Vampyr

    Shanshu Vampyr Well known member

    Thanks Walt and Thanks Forest.

    And yes, that sounds like a good idea.

    Been meaning to go through the SEP myself (as a "patient").

    How ironic is this? Going to school to become...hopefully, eventually a TMS therapist...and I don't even have my own "stuff" handled. :(
     
  5. Forest

    Forest Beloved Grand Eagle

    The SEP is great stuff! My favorite chapter in Nicole Sachs' TMS book is the one where she explains that healing is a process, not a destination. What is vital and good is the constant practice of accepting and embracing our truth, as hard as it may be. Some of us, like me and possibly you, (and many psychotherapists, in my experience) just have to put a bit more work into the upkeep. :)

    I've gone ahead and moved the posts out of this one and into a new thread.
     
  6. Shanshu Vampyr

    Shanshu Vampyr Well known member

    Yay! Thanks Forest.
     
    Forest likes this.
  7. Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021)

    Walt Oleksy (RIP 2021) Beloved Grand Eagle

    Shanshu, I don't think you have to wait to have your own TMS "stuff" healed
    before you go to school to become a TMS therapist. If you believe in it 100 percent and
    have found even some relief from your symptoms, go for it!
     

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