Hello Lactnetters, I am working with a third time nursing mother mother who definitely is experiencing something beyond the range of normal postpartum alopecia. This mom experienced an episode of alopecia at 16, in which she lost a patch of hair about the size of a quarter. She was treated with cortisone injections. The hair regrew but a significant portion of it was white. At 23 she lost another patch of hair about twice the size in the same place. This time she did not seek treatment and the hair came back within a few months. At age 27, 4-6 months after her first child was born she lost hair from the same spot only bigger. She went to see a dermatologist who suggested cortisone injections. She opted not to take the cortisone injections because she was told it would require her to wean her baby. The hair grew back 4 months later. At age 29 she had her second child. When he was about 6 months old her dermatologist told her to wean, but she nursed him until he was 10 months old. She lost most all of her hair and had to wear a wig. The hair that did come back came back white, and not all of it came back. She is 31 now and nursing her 2 month old. In addition to the diffuse postpartum alopecia the area of her scalp where her hair never regrew after baby number 2 is enlarging considerably and she is afraid she is going to have to wear a wig again. It seems to me that her dermatologist is treating her as if all she has is normal postpartum alopecia. And even that he seems not to understand very well, because he has advised weaning as a treatment. I am having trouble understanding this advice because while estrogen might help hairs regrow it will not stop hairs put into the telogen phase by pregnancy from falling out... at least that's my understanding...or I am I missing something? And weaning doesn't address the alopecia that is not diffuse but localized, or am I mistaken? Because her hairloss was so global last time, and could be this time, I was wondering if she is still a candidate for steriod injections? If the mom has estrogen levels considerably lower than the average nursing mother could she take low dose estrogen replacement to help the hair regrow? Shouldn't she be offered the same sorts of tests a woman who wasn't breastfeeding would be offered? No one has tested her thyroid, or mentioned zinc deficiency or an autoimmune disorder which may go into remission when she's pregnant, only to come back not because she's breastfeeding but because she's not pregnant anymore.... This mom is so brave. Losing all her hair last time was so traumatic for her, and because she was told the hairloss was caused by breastfeeding she had decided not to breastfeed this time. But she couldn't bear not nursing her daughter once she was born. Any ideas for treatments that would help this mom continue to breastfeed and keep more of her hair? Jen O'Quinn IBCLC *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html