In addition to losing hair and all the psychological side effects, there are other physical effects to this disorder. I am among the 10-50% of Alopecia Areata sufferers that has also developed nail pitting.
What is nail pitting?
Nail pitting is small, pin sized, dents on the nail. The image below is not me, but a good example of nail pitting.
In some cases, it can be quite extensive. Luckily for me, my nail pitting is very slight. The benefit of being a female with this condition is that, should I choose, I can always have fake nails put on. I hope it never comes to that, but after losing my hair, I've learned to expect the unexpected.
Another, more worrisome (to me at least), issue with Alopecia is that is an auto immune disorder and it seems that once you have one, you can be more susceptible to others.
I currently have 2 auto immune disorders. Alopecia, obviously, and hypothyroidism.
When I initially went to my doctor after finding my first bald spot, blood work was done. At that time I did not have any thyroid issues. After having my daughter in 2008, I decided to see a new dermatologist just in case I decide to resume my corticosteroid injections. At that time I had new blood work done and my thyroid levels were crazy. Despite not having this issue at my initial diagnosis, I was flooded with hope that this was the reason why I had almost no hair and surely once my thyroid levels were under control I would regrow all that I had lost.
I could not have been more wrong. I was put on medication, my levels eventually normalized, but I continue to lose hair. At one point I was even able to stop taking the medication as it was deemed to have been a post-partum issue.
Fast forward to 2014, at a routine physical complete with more blood work, I was again diagnosed with an under active thyroid. It took almost 9 months to find the right dosage and I've been on medication ever since.
What this means for me? Fear.
I fear that I will be diagnosed with another, potentially less benign, auto immune disorder.
• alopecia areata
• autoimmune hemolytic anemia
• autoimmune hepatitis
• dermatomyositis
• glomerulonephritis
• Graves’ disease
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura
• myasthenia gravis
• some forms of myocarditis
• multiple sclerosis
• pemphigus/pemphigoid
• pernicious anemia
• polyarteritis nodosa
• polymyositis
• primary biliary cirrhosis
• psoriasis
• rheumatoid arthritis
• scleroderma/systemic sclerosis
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• systemic lupus erythematosus
• some forms of thyroiditis
• some forms of uveitis
• vitiligo
• granulomatosis with polyangiitis (Wegener’s)
This is just a small sample of what could affect me during my life. I swear, I am not a glass half empty kind of person, I don't expect that I will get another auto immune disorder, but it would be naïve of me to think it impossible.
The point is, from the mundane to the debilitating, Alopecia is not just about hair.
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