One day I woke up, started doing my hair and realized a patch, the size of an inch, on the right side of my head was blond. I have jet black hair. Only colored it once, in high school. It was supposed to turn out blue, but it was a green and blue mess. Ugly it was, but I was young, and didn't care. What I did learn was that the process took a very long time. It required bleaching and waiting. I really had no clue. My mom always dyed her hair from a box, so honestly, I thought you could just put blue dye on my black hair and be on my way. My friend's cousin was doing it, first time I met her.
I have been getting gray hairs in my 30's, and I love them. It's all good, you know. Will I dye my hair, not any time soon, it just isn't a big deal. That is until my hair started thinning and turning blond. At first I was in denial. I thought OK, this is a process I'm going thorough. After I noticed a bald spot in the same area, I thought to myself, "This is bad." I asked my family and they all gave me the same response: "You can't even tell." That was not good enough, either you see what I see, or you don't. They did. They saw a patch where my hair was thinning.
My next step was to email my doctor, send her pictures and wait for a response. It came days later as a "Please schedule an appointment to see your doctor." Which lead to the discovery that my primary care doctor was no longer at Kaiser. This was in December. I decided to tackle this problem in 2022.
Well, 2022 rolls around. At that time I decided to no longer smoke marijuana as a new year resolution. I never thought there might be a link to Marijuana use and hair loss. Apparently there is. The longer someone uses marijuana, the more there is a buildup of THC (the main component in marijuana) on the hair shaft, resulting in a loss of hair health (forhims.com). As a chronic marijuana user, reading that information was a relief. The onset of hair loss came over a period of time. I had introduced new medications to my body and was worried that was the cause of my hair loss. Reading about THC and hair shafts, and links, I thought to myself this might be the reason.
One month after quitting smoking my hair is growing back. My hair is black and not blonde. It is thicker. Baby hairs are coming in. I cannot see a bald spot, instead I see hair growth. I feel like I'm getting reason after reason to not smoke again. I smell marijuana and I don't crave it. I hear other's speak about marijuana and I share my experience of loosing weight, being present for my kids and living my best life without it. Marijuana is fun. when April 20th (420) rolls around I might be tempted to smoke a blunt or a joint, or two or more, but over the years my use had gone from recreational to a perceived necessity. All I was doing was numbing myself. And messing up my hair.
Have a wonderful day,
Kathy