Litfulo progress and growth update
Hi, it’s been a while! I feel like I’m waking up from a nightmare — but only just.
My hair loss began last May (almost exactly a year ago!), and it rapidly progressed that spring and summer. I lost half of my hair, and corticosteroid shots were doing nothing for me. Around August, I started taking Litfulo regularly (it has been hell getting a prescription; for the first few months I was relying on samples my derm gave me).
Luckily, it looks like my body has been responding well to the medicine. My scalp started sprouting after a few weeks, and now almost everything has grown back. The largest spot on the side of my head is showing the slowest progress, but even that area is mostly covered.
I went from never leaving the house for weeks on end, crying every day, losing all sense of time. I fell back into a deeeep depression I haven’t dealt with since college. I’m still in it, some days. I don’t feel fully like myself, as my hair is still very thin (probably half the density it used to be). I also completely stopped working out and doing the things I enjoy when all of this started, so I’m relearning to be comfortable in my body after gaining weight and losing energy. My hair sticks out every which way because of the different rates of growth, and barely any of my clothes fit anymore. But over the past couple months, I’ve gotten back into lifting and playing volleyball, and I feel myself getting stronger. And happier ◡̈
I’m still emotionally and mentally scarred from this whole experience, and I can’t help but feel like it’s all gonna fall apart again. I’ve always had clinical anxiety, and this has really raised it to another level. Almost had a panic attack the first time I went outside without a hat or headband or hair fibers. But ultimately, trying to feel hopeful and positive that it will all work out in the end. I was so nervous about starting Litfulo, but I’m glad I did…at least for now. Wild how much can change overnight, and even more in a year.