Hair loss. Help!

TJ, most women find some body hair thins or even disappears after menopause, forced or natural. A few unlucky ones find it gets worse though! I was dark-haired when I was young, and fought a constant battle with very visible hair on my arms and legs. Within a year or two of a comparatively early natural menopause, at 45, my limbs were beautifully smooth and hairless. Well, there have to be some advantages!

A friend, however, found that the hairs on her legs got even thicker and darker after menopause, in spite of her head hair having turned completely white in her 50s.

However, practically all of us find our moustaches become more luxuriant with age!

I also used to struggle with a thick, black, single eyebrow - you know, like that Mexican painter I'm probably not allowed to mention here (this site doesn't like names of famous people). I now have virtually no eyebrows at all, and have to brush them on with grey eye-shadow before leaving the house. In my case that's definitely the result of a mildly underactive thyroid that went untreated for years. Ditto my hair loss, which stopped when I was finally put on thyroxine, though there was no regrowth of the lost hair.

When it comes to post-menopausal women with SS, I think things like hair loss, brittle nails, skin dryness etc. are often down to six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Hi Lily, I think it could be a combination of things. I also have to draw on my brows because they are so thin. No mustache Just thinning hair and very slow regrowth but hey, I do look at that as a plus ...except for  the eyebrows! Glad my thyroid is normal...good to have something that is

Off topic, I am curious about something I read linking Mono which I believe is the Epsein Barr virus with SJS. I had it as a teenager and was out of school for over a month. Did you have it also?

Yes, it's well known that the Epstein-Barr virus can predispose to all kinds of autoimmune conditions. The problem with that one is that it's such a common "fellow traveller" that most of us have been infected with it at one time or another, mostly without being aware of it.

But maybe people who develop diagnosable infectious mononucleosis (or glandular fever as it's sometimes known in the UK) are more prone to autoimmune conditions? I don't know the answer to that one.

Certainly I've never had it - to the best of my knowledge, that is. That's another problem. Even in some people who do develop mono, the symptoms can be so mild as to be put down to a cold. I've never been tested for EBV antibodies, and that probably wouldn't be very fruitful at my age anyway, as it's my understanding the antibodies only stay around in the blood for a few years.

It would still be interesting to know what proportion of SS sufferers have been diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis at some time.

I had it when 17. This is the first time I've heard of this possible link.

Hi Lia, I was replying to TJ, who'd mentioned a forced menopause, which brings on the symptoms of ageing in women. I realise your case is quite different.

It sounds as if you're under medical supervision for all your problems. Have you discussed possible solutions for your hair loss with your doctor?

Actually since it wasn't painful I never brought it up. Except for thinning hair on scalp, and brows it was so nice having to hardly ever shave, especially with HS! I am making a list to talk about with GP today and will bring it up and get back to you all. I am leaning towards diabetes or my hysterectomy possibly but it one side effect I ca live with

Oops! I was talking to Lia on that one! You can see who's replying to who (or should that be whom?!) by looking at where the arrow is pointing at the top of a post. But we all misread it sometimes, including me!

Glad you too are enjoying your silky arms and legs! I'm sure your hysterectomy has had something to do with this, though it should be mitigated if you're on HRT. I elected not to take it myself. My then GP was so incensed she bumped me off her list - this was around 1990, when it was thought that all post-menopause women should be on it - but I stood my ground and have never regretted the decision. At 72, I still haven't developed osteoporosis either, in spite of all the women in my mother's family getting it, which puts me at high risk.

Good for you and sorry for the misread. I had mine 26 years ago and refused anything also. I am now almost 49. Have a good day! I am off to bed if I can fall asleep

Hysterectomy at only 23! So sorry to hear that TJ. Life has dealt you a bad hand, just like Lia.

But I have to say you look fantastic for 49! If that's your photo, of course. I confess to using a blonde friend's photo on CVs (with her permission) when the passion for photos on job applications started around 35 years ago. My head and face have always been too large for my body, making me look hugely overweight in head shots, even in the days when I only weighed 48kg/106lb. Because my CV and self-expression skills were good, I usually got called for interview, where I'd smile sweetly and explain I'd changed my hair colour. (My friend looked nothing remotely like me, btw.) It often worked!

Dear Lily, thank you so much for the sweet compliment That is me and yes it was very hard having a full hysterectomy that young. It started with a bit here and a bit there gone with adhession surgeries in between. Over 15 surgeries. I really wished I could have had children but thankfully have the best nieces and nephews and grand nieces and grand nephews in the world Life hands us all bad things and getting through them just makes us stronger. I was actually hit and almost died my first day of kindergarten by a drunk driver. I have a lot of physical problems, but then I look at my sister who at 41 had a kidney transplant and children in wheel chairs or people in the hospital and know my life isn;t that bad though I have my days where pitty parties are thrown. At this point I am just mad and want treatment becuase like yourself I am guessing are so so so tired of the pain and am filled with frustration.