"Gorgeous hair is the best revenge"-Ivana Trump
"A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life" - Coco Chanel
"Good hair days make me feel like I can rule the world." - unknown (or every female in the world)
If you're having a bad hair day, chances are you're going to have a bad day. Same if you're having a good hair day, things just suddenly all into place. It's just how the universe works.
My love/hate relationship with my hair started many years ago. (hate is a strong word, more like not love so much) When I was about 8, I got the unmentionable lice. And instead of combing out the nits like everyone else, my Mom sent me to my Aunt (NOT a hairdresser) to chop all my hair off into a very boyish style. I use the word style very loosely. It was horrendous. A dark time in my life.
The next hair moment that stands out is my confirmation. Finally, my hair was almost mermaid length and I was going to rock it for this special event. Unfortunately, this was the time before GHD's and before I knew about how to work with thick, curly hair. So there I was, face full of braces, head full of frizzy combed out thick hair. COMBED CURLY HAIR! People! I ask with tears in my eyes, why was no one there to help me.
When I was 19 I went to my hairdresser who I'd been with for about a year and she immediately told me that I needed to go to the doctor and tell them to check my thyroid. I had noticed my hair falling out but put it down to the fact that I had only recently begun to dye my hair. True's Bob, I had an underactive thyroid. Got put onto Eltroxin and off you go. I made it through my twenties without noticing many other symptoms. That being said, those years were pretty wild and if I wasn't partying, I was recovering so if there were the symptoms, I was not exactly aware of them.
Then came my thirties and my hair just got thinner and thinner, and for the most part, washing my hair became a pretty traumatic event for me. Each time I'd wash my hair, I'd wait for that feeling of the big clump of hair to go down my back and slide down my leg. It's horrible. It's like a little piece of me died every time. By this stage, there were more symptoms other than thinning hair. Fatigue had set in bad and the first thought as I opened my eyes was when can I sleep again. Keeping my weight down was an uphill battle and I tried many many different diets and exercise regimes. I actually want to vomit when I hear of people with Hypothyroidism that "took up running and lost 249kg". Good for you Sharon. Good for you!
When I was 33, I had a complete all fall down. Everything went to shit. I didn't know what I wanted to do, where I wanted to be, or if I even wanted to carry on. Thank god for my sister-in-law who invited me to join her in Spain for a while and she took in this big fat mess of a human. These four months would prove to do what years of therapy could not have done. I worked at a bar in a little port South of Spain, took a Spanish course, and on my off days roamed around like a tourist desperately trying to be a local. It was exactly what I needed and only many years later would realise that this time away actually saved me, in more ways than one.
I moved back to Joburg to finish my studies but soon found I wasn't coping health-wise anymore again. My older sister found a post on Facebook that explained everything I was feeling and after very little persuasion, I headed off to my GP and asked her to please check my antibodies. And there it was. I have chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis and Hashimoto's autoimmune disease. Except, she said there's nothing we can do about it, we just keep on with the meds and do blood tests every 6 months.
A friend of a friend referred me to an Endocrinologist who gave me some solid advice but at R1700 for 10 mins a time plus R2000-R4000 in blood work every six months, it became a little too much financially (especially when your medical aid is an a&$hole and doesn't cover these sorts of things) and each time we did a test, he'd find something new. First no gluten, then no read meat, then no coffee, then you have mutated genes, then exercise but the next time, don't exercise too much. So I took it upon myself to read up as much as I could and try to figure it all out. Every single article ends the same. Everyone is unique and the process for each person is different. What works for some, may not work for others. (Should read: won't work for you)
Which leaves me here. Still confused. Still not well. Still fumbling through this. I'm seeing a Functional Doctor this week and from the sounds of things, this holistic way of treating Hashis is the most likely to succeed. That, and a lot of work on my side. So to the Karen's out there who gave up gluten and have never felt better, or the Susan's who managed to take up meditation and eliminated stress from their lives, I am so happy for you. If only it were as simple for all of us.
What were we talking about? Oh yes, hair. So what's happening with my hair now? It's still a shit show, I can't grow it any longer than a short bob before it becomes ratty and embarrassing and I still wish for the day I wake up and my long flowing mermaid hair cascades down my back. Until then, thank you hairpieces and short bobs. But come to think about it, it was my hair that was the first to warn me about all this. It tried to tell me. So I can't really be mad at it. Thank you hair.
What's hair got to do with it you ask?
EVERYTHING.
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