Am I the only person with alopecia areata?

[Medium Baby Jesus]

After a series of really stressful events earlier this year I developed circular, totally hairless spots on my scalp. They range in size from about a dime to over two inches in diameter. From what I read, they usually grow back but it is really annoying. Anyone else here have or know someone who has this condition?

[Paradise]

1. my brother had it years ago but it grew back.

could be nutritional deficiency and/or stress related.

[elperromagico]

2. John D. Rockefeller Sr. had alopecia, oddly enough,

but he had an extreme case where all of his hair fell out. Not sure if that's who you want to compare yourself to, of course...

[Medium Baby Jesus]

3. Thanks for that

but thats alopecia toltalis or universalis.

[miss_kitty]

4. My brother had that and the most annoying thing was

his wife kept telling him he was missing hair in spots on the back of his head. He told her he was not. He came home after going to his barber and said, "Hey honey! I'm losing hair in patches on the back of my head. Why didn't you tell me?"

He went to a dermatologist and she prescribed selenium, a topical treatment. It KILLS dandruff as a side effect. It grew back in, but it was pure white. My mom had it, too.

[Medium Baby Jesus]

5. Mine grows in white too

how long did it take to grow back?

[miss_kitty]

7. 6 months? it came back faster once he started treating it

and it was about 3 quarter-sized patches

[KoKo]

6. Have you had it diagnosed? It could be "ringworm." (n/t)

[Medium Baby Jesus]

8. Ewwww Worms!

I've been to two derms and had blood work done. They are about as sure as they can be. I treat it with topical steroids, monoxidil and Crowne Royal :beer:

[exJW]

9. I had that at one point

I'd get spots the size of a quarter or so on my face. I didn't particularly notice more stress, but that is not to say there wasn't alot of stress in my life at the time.

The sick thing is that, you get these patches, and you get even more stressed because you are freaking out that people are going to start calling you patches and throw you a bone.

My ex would get them on her scalp. Never got so bad that it really showed up to the casual observer, but it was frightening for her.

Again, you could say she was under stress, but then again, she would tell you that it wasn't any particular or overt stress that she could identify. I sometimes think we were just allergic to each other.