Week 8- some hope

I am now in week 8 and I see a little bit of hope. The lashes that were not affected seem stronger now and I have not experience any falling in the last weeks. Instead I see that 5  new black tiny  lashes coming out where there was no hair. Considering there are around 150 lashes, I have probably lost 75, so 5 out of 75 is not so good , but probably the beginning of the recovery...lets keep optimistic!
I have also spent sometime on the internet reading forums. I found out that Latisse may be approved soon for Androgenic Alopecia (could it help me as well there?) and it is widely used also for eyebrows. I am not gonna test it yet for that and I will keep my self focusing on the lashes with the clear target of having full lashes by Christmas. Then it would be almost 24 weeks and a good time to analyze results of Latisse for Alopecia Areata.

In the meantime,on the other eye, the lashes are definitively longer and maybe darker. Lets wait one week and get a new picture on week 9 and see if the black tiny ones are having new friends :)

Week 7

This is the picture from week 7. I have started noticing that the remaining lashes are getting longer. The lashes on the other eye are also getting longer. I think you can easily see that it is getting stable...I am not losing many since the picture from week 2...only a few lashes...so that's good. It is not possible to see in the picture that I have a few tiny blond ones and that a few of them are growing ( a bit) but none of them are getting black. I spent sometime yesterday reading on the Internet about Latisse again. 16 weeks, that's the target! I hope I will get new black ones by then!

Update on the 7 needles hammer: It is three weeks since I started using the hammer and I am resting now for 4 days. So I use is every other day for 3 weeks and then resting 4/5 days. I will post the picture after I am finished with the second period that I will start on Monday. So far it looks like a some black hairs are growing. I can see it specially in the middle, but it would be too much to ask to get a full re-growth on only 3 weeks, so lets wait at least until the second period is finished and then I will post the pictures and can evaluate the changes.

5th week

And here it comes the picture from the 5th week that I have just taken. Nothing, so far  I don't see any new lashes coming. It is too soon anyway. I know it takes at least 8-12 weeks to see some results. And even the studies say that 4-8 months. I am just hoping that at least I never need to use the faked lashes...but it could happen in a couple of months. This last week has been pretty stable. I am finishing  my vacation at the beach and I will be one week fully offline. I hope that when I am back I have some tiny ones coming. :)
Enjoy the blog and please comment. Positive experiences and good humour is always welcome!
Did Latisse work for you? Please let me know! :)

Fourth week

So here I post the picture from the 4th week. No big differences except for the fact that I got one single new black eyelash growing. This one which was small before is over 0.5cm now...is that the effect of Latisse? I am sure it is not. Lets be patience! The blond small ones are still there and I continue losing several every week. This week was not good at all. I lost the three long ones just in the very middle. I think I have now only 50% (probably less) of the eyelashes. But I can certainly see that the remaining ones are getting a bit longer and that is a good sign. I still use Latisse only once a day and after carefully massaging a bit the area (trying to get some blood in there)

I have to excuse myself because the lights on the pictures are pretty different but I am on vacation so its not possible to take the picture from the same spot.



2nd week                                           3rd week                                    4th week

All studies so far on the use of Latisse for Alopecia Areata

We have those four studies plus a last one from Universital Hospital Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, Spain on the use of Bimatoprost that says that  24.32% of subjects showed a complete regrowth, moderate growth was reported in 18.91%, slight growth in 27.02% whereas no response in remaining 29.72%.

So the numbers are good and there are reasons to be optimistic.  The two main studies say that almost half of the people will get a complete or moderate growth. There is a lot more to study and of course better studies to be done, but again, my personal opinion is that it worths trying. I am doing that, lets see :).

Before my dermatologist suggested me to use Latisse I read different comments on forums on the Internet, and I can say that the numbers match what I have read in the studies. There is a 50-50 recommendation on the use of Latisse by people with total or partial alopecia on the eyelashes. But please, consider that it requires time, I am going to give it at least 24 weeks, that is 6 months, if it has not worked in those six months, then I can say that it doesn't work for me. If I get my lashes back, I cannot assure that Latisse has worked but I would be quite satisfy :). Fingers crossed.

Third week of Latisse

After the third week, I have noticed two tiny black hair growing and new several small blond/white hairs. They are sometimes the first step before the growing of the good black ones, I hope so.
But so far Latisse has not stop other eyelashes from falling. I have lost several, three or four, but just in the border, meaning it is still expanding a bit. Like 2mm per week, which seems nothing but almost makes 1cm a month, which seems nothing but we have to consider that there are not so many cms in the eyelid.
Yesterday I started using a cotton stick to massage a bit the eyelid before applying Latisse, just to try to bring some blood circulation into the area.
I feel in good mood now as I am going on vacation for a month, but I will still update the blog. My mood is up and I am feeling quite well, except when I see one of the "border eyelashes" in my face in the early morning.

Second week                                                                Third Week

Latisse and Alopecia Areata

This is my first post regarding Alopecia Areata and the use of Latisse. I have created this blog in order to share my experiences with this illness and specially when it comes to the use of Latisse to regrow the eyelashes but I will write also about other things related to AA,  which in my case is affecting my scalp and  my beard for the last 10 years and my eyelashes for the last 2 months.

There are only a few studies regarding the effectiveness of Latisse with Alopecia Areata. I will comment them in coming posts. In general  there are mix reviews on the Internet about how effective Latisse is for AA. I am gonna try it myself and we all can see how it goes. Whether it works for me or not, it does not mean much, I am just one single case so it could just work also with placebo or maybe it doesn't work for me but it does work for others...we will see.

I have AA due in my opinion to stress/anxiety...so I think it is stress related in my case.This is a personal opinion. I got it just 6 months after I started working for the first time and I can still feel the anxiety.
I had been "fighting" with AA since then and for last 10 years,  and got several patches on my scalp and several that I still keep in my beard. The ones in the head come and go but not the ones in my beard. The alopecia areata barbae has one good thing and one bad. The good one is that is more difficult to see, and the bad one is that is more resistant to treatment and harder to treat also. It is in the skin of your face, so I really have to take care not to damage it.

Eight weeks ago I noticed that I lost some eyelashes and have been slowly losing more until today where  I have lost lets say around 35% of them.  Two weeks ago I went to the dermatologist and he recommended me to use Latisse. I have been using it since then. The picture you will see today is after two weeks of use...no results so far.
For the last month I have taken AA  more serious since the eyelashes is something that you really can see...its not like the scalp, or the beard. So I have started going to the psychologist for a month and am trying to get the anxiety out of my body. That will hopefully also help.
 
I will be happy to read your words and your experiences. Sorry about my english as it is not my mother language, and please contact me for whatever you may like to share.


Current Treatment:  Psychologist to treat anxiety
                              5% minoxidil once a day for my scalp (treat scalp spots)
                              Sun (when sunny trying to get at least 15minutes of sun/day)
                              Latisse (on both eyes, once a day)

This is the picture taken after two weeks of Latisse.