Androgenic alopecia: My nightmare, my solution

What if I told you about my journey and my experience with androgenetic alopecia?

The more women with androgenetic alopecia I meet through Comme un diadème, the more I realize how similar our journeys can be. Even though every woman’s experience is different—especially on a psychological level, since everyone reacts differently to this challenge.

Dreamy hair for a great start in life 😀

Until I was a teenager, I had very thick hair. Hairdressers often complimented me on it. Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to appreciate it back then! 😀 I remember having so much hair that I couldn’t wrap the hair tie around it more than once to tie it back. I have a memory from middle school of silently cursing those hair clips that were always too small to hold all my hair effectively.

In short, all that to say that I started out with a good head start hair , and yet…

The end of adolescence, the beginning of adulthood… and androgenetic alopecia

Around the age of 17, my hair started to thin. I didn’t notice it right away at the time. But it’s something I can see now, looking back, in my old photos. I think my hair loss must have started around the end of puberty.

When I was around 20, my mom started to worry. She told me she’d noticed that I was losing my hair, that my scalp was becoming thinner, and that my part was widening a bit. At the time, I didn’t take her seriously. I was in the middle of midterms at college, and none of that interested me. I figured I had more important things to deal with at that moment than temporary hair loss.

However, she kept bringing it up again and again. At one point, I caught her looking at my scalp with an expression that was part fear, part sympathy. I decided to see a dermatologist—mainly to make her happy and put her mind at ease, since I wasn’t worried at all.

At age 20, the diagnosis is made.

So I went to see this dermatologist. He examined my scalp and made a few comments: “It’s diffuse,” “It’s all over.” At the time, I didn’t realize that the term “diffuse” isn’t really a good sign when it comes to hair loss. He suggested I get a blood test, then take iron and vitamins, and come back to see him three months later. During that appointment, he also asked me if anyone in my family was losing their hair. I told him that my father had been bald since he was 20.

That simple question—and my answer—made me realize that I was definitely dealing with hair loss that might not just be temporary. I went home and looked it up on Google. That’s when I first came across the term “androgenetic alopecia.” I learned that this condition also affects women, whose scalps gradually thin out as they get older. Above all, I realized that this was definitely what I had. It was a gut feeling telling me that, inevitably, if there was such a nightmare to endure, it would be mine.

I’ve been diligently taking the vitamins (Cystine B6) and iron, despite the severe digestive issues they cause me on a daily basis. Three months later, I went back to see the dermatologist. He examined my scalp and told me there had been no improvement. He then prescribed 2% Minoxidil. I know, from everything I’ve read online, what this prescription means.

He won’t tell me outright that it’s androgenetic alopecia, but this prescription confirms it for me. Ironically, the dermatologist is bald himself. I tell myself that if this product really worked, maybe he wouldn’t have just three or four hairs on the top of his head… But I decide to give it a try anyway. If there’s a battle to be fought, I feel ready to try.

I'm fighting for my hair

I buy the product and start the only topical treatment available for women with androgenetic alopecia. I want to believe in it. I want to tell myself that it will help me keep as much of my hair as possible and that I’ll never have thinning hair. I want to believe that I might even see new growth and that my alopecia will no longer be noticeable. My androgenetic alopecia was barely noticeable back then anyway.

The problem with this treatment for me is that I find it makes my hair greasy. My hair doesn't really feel clean after applying it (especially since you're supposed to use the product after shampooing, not before). I feel like my hair loss is even more noticeable after using it.

When I was around 20, my alopecia wasn’t really noticeable. At first, I didn’t feel self-conscious about it. But having to apply the product every day constantly reminds me of my diagnosis. I find the treatment a hassle, but I keep doing it because I’m too afraid it will get worse if I stop.

Looking back now, 10 years later, I realize that this treatment made me fixate on my hair loss, when I could have simply enjoyed my hair back then, since I still had plenty of it.

The problem grows as I get older. Between the ages of 25 and 30, all I see in the mirror is hair loss. I don’t really look at myself anymore; I look at my scalp. Under the lights in elevators and fitting rooms, in the reflections of subway windows, in store mirrors…

I do see some new growth, but it’s not enough to make my hair look less thin. Not enough to give me the hair density of a normal girl. Not enough to stop me from obsessing over it and feeling self-conscious.

After a while, I decided to go to the Sabouraud Center to confirm the diagnosis. I figured that, after all, the doctor had been rather quick to make it. I didn’t have a trichogram (it’s actually not necessary to diagnose alopecia). The diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia was confirmed, and the dermatologist prescribed Androcure and 5% Minoxidil, which is the formulation normally prescribed only for men because it’s more concentrated and causes too many unwanted side effects in women.

I refuse to take Androcure because, after doing some research, I discovered that it is banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and that concerns me. Furthermore, I do not want to take a hormonal treatment that I consider too strong just to address a cosmetic issue, even though it is psychologically difficult for me to cope with.

On the other hand, I’ve agreed to start treatment with 5% minoxidil, but I don’t tolerate it well. The solution burns and itches for several hours a day, but I keep going. I’m experiencing some side effects, like migraines, and hair is starting to grow… on the tops of my feet! 🥳 But I keep going because I’m too scared of what might happen if I stopped. I feel dependent on this product that I hate. I don’t see any positive effects from the treatment, except on my feet and temples—but that wasn’t really the intended effect.

If I feel like having a baby, I’ll drop everything.

At the age of 29, my partner and I started thinking about having a baby. I decided to stop taking the medication, which was a huge relief for me because I could no longer stand the daily hassle. After my daughter was born, I decided not to resume the treatment because I had neither the desire nor the energy to do so. I breastfed my daughter for two years and therefore took a pill compatible with breastfeeding (Optimizette), but this had the side effect of worsening my hair loss.

My androgenetic alopecia reached a critical stage about a year after the birth of my first daughter. That’s when it became really noticeable—not just to me, but to others as well (even though I didn’t get many comments at the time, just stares).

It was also around that time, when I was 30, that I decided to take the plunge and try topper hair topper . And that was the first time I walked into a wig shop.

Check out the toppers and wigs from the Comme un diadème store:

For more information on toppers , wigs, and the various options available for androgenetic alopecia, feel free to check out my YouTube channel: