So as I have talked about, I started on a medication called Azathioprine and to say I didn’t react too well is a little bit of an understatement. As referenced in “The Night of a Thousand Itches” I reacted very badly to Azathioprine and was left itching all over my body. What I didn’t mention previously is the side effects I suffered from while I was taking it. There was one major long as the title of the blog indicates and that was Hair Loss.
Anyone that knows me can probably attest to the fact that I have incredibly thick hair, I always have done. My hoover hates me, my plug hole hates me, I have a lot of hair and as my Mum always said “at least when your hair starts thinning when you are older, you wont notice it as much”. What I hadnt anticipated was older being 26….
I wont lie, I was quite distressed when my hair started to fall out. I noticed it when I was in the shower and when I was brushing my hair, I was having to clear out the plug hole almost everyday and my hair brush was ridiculous. I’d run my hands over my ponytail and be left holding a clump of hair. It was all a bit upsetting really, and what I couldnt get an answer for was whether this would ever stop… noone seemed to be able to tell me. Now, being a man, Jordan was rather baffled by why I was quite so concerned about the whole thing, as far as he could tell, I had a lot of hair left (truth) and therefore there was no need to worry however as per usual, it was a little bit more complicated than this. I guess I just became slightly fixated on what was happening with my hair, whether it was looking thin and everything like that.
Now on a positive note, when I stopped the Azathioprine, my hair slowly stopped falling out, but it really showed me how important certain things are to me and how the side effects of medications could be further reaching then just tummy issues. You never think that you’re going to lose your hair over a tummy issue!
The last thing that really helped was going to see a brilliant hairdresser who was able to talk to me about the cycle of how hair grows (please don’t ask for too many details…) and look at my scalp to see at what point in the cycle my hair was. It was really reassuring to hear that my hair was in good condition, there were no patches of baldness and that I could relax a little bit! Michelle at The Hair Partnership in Eaton was brilliant and I would highly recommend going to them!
I also got a super lovely hair cut from it that made me feel like a new woman!