Finally Addressing My Hair Loss… (While I Do My Skincare)

Addressing my hair loss and talking about my dry skin and kind of the weird things that are happening with my body. While we do a k-beauty morning, routine, a lot of people have been commenting about hair loss or about my dry skin and i've even spoken about. Why that's weird and why i've been seeing doctors a little bit more recently outside of people that i work with actually going in as a patient to talk about certain things and boy has some stuff been uncovered so today i wanted to do a morning skincare routine. I wanted to put some of my favorite products on my face and just have an open, sit-down conversation about this, because it is my personal medical information. It is mine, hello, it is nobody's business unless i make it their business, and you know i find these things personally fascinating. They are things that you know have kind of obviously been carried with me throughout my entire life, especially as we talk more about genetic conditions or syndromes or things of that nature. But it's also something that is kind of cathartic to talk about. You know it's cathartic to not go through it alone, and sometimes talking about it is when we can uncover things that other people have experienced or brainstormed together collectively about hey. This is what's going on. This is what's new. Have you heard of anything like this? Before? Have you experienced anything? What do you think and again this is not medical advice. I am not telling you to take the same prescriptions that i am or ask your doctor about the same things i just wanted to speak openly and honestly about kind of what's been going on, because for the first time in my life, my oily acne-prone skin has Been a little bit more dry, it wasn't even until the pandemic that i realized. I have eczema and psoriasis. I had seen patches on my skin. That'S what i thought and then i got it clinically diagnosed and on top of that hair loss. It'S actually thanks to the beautiful butterflies that a lot of people started, commenting they're like wait. Why is your hairline, like so large, like it's getting bigger like what is happening over here and um? I i want to talk about that, because it's something that i haven't experienced before. I don't think that there's a shame or a stigma in living inside of our bodies and going through what they do to us. But i also believe that discussing some of these things can be helpful, if not even necessary. This mask is the real mugwort clay mask from isn't true, who we're actually partnering with on this video. They are one of my favorite k-beauty brands and they're actually having a sale on amazon from december 23rd through 26th. One of our beautiful butterflies shiny is actually a doctor who got me obsessed and hooked and falling in love with this. This was my first introduction to isn't tree and they are hands down one of my favorite k-beauty lines for their products, their formulas and just what they stand for, and i mean it's just so surreal even being able to work with some of the brands that i Love the most who support this content and all of the people, the amazing people that i get to work with to make these happen, which yes includes the cats who edit and the fact that a brand is willing to. Let me talk about you know the personal things um, creating a safe space to open up, but also make the regular content that we do even possible. It is flippin fantastic, so, yes, they're having an amazing sale. All of those details are below and i will be using, isn't treat today, but let's let this soak into the skin. While we talk about vitamin d levels - and you know the drill we got to put the skincare headband on, i do think it's important to discuss how we got here. Some of the other things that you might not know that i deal with such as one kidney and other reproductive issues as well as epilepsy. I'Ve gone through a lot of issues with anxiety and depression. Throughout my entire life, there are genetic predispositions and family history of these sorts of things, as well as hypothyroidism, basically a whole bunch of stuff in the family and by the way this mugwort mask mugwort is actually a plant. It'S antibacterial and anti-fungal. This one specifically, is amazing for sebum care. So if you do have you know an oily area such as i do in my t-zone, really really helpful, but again. This is why everything for me is kind of weird, because i'm having these little dry patches, where i'm having eczema and psoriasis flares on areas of my body, that up until the past two years had never been an issue. Even during times of like stress. In my life this does mildly exfoliate, which is why we're going to be applying a sunscreen. But look i actually brought a whole thing of water with me instead of, like forgetting the water and she has a towel, so she doesn't have to wipe on her legs or on the floor, which is what usually happens so now. This has been on for a little while i'm just going to kind of wash this off and go in with our cleanser. But essentially, when i was growing up, i was diagnosed with premature rheumatoid arthritis, because my knees would swell my joints would swell, and this was probably in the fourth or fifth grade. It was actually quite debilitating for me because here i was, you know, a young kid and i couldn't even walk or run, and i was in physical pain and they would remove 50 to 100 ccs of fluid from each knee. Basically, my knees were like the size of footballs and it was very, very painful, and i was just told you have this premature rheumatoid arthritis. You basically have the swelling, really unfortunate. You know you can be on certain medications, but you just kind of hope. It'S gon na go away, and thankfully, after you know being on crutches and taking some time away from that, it relatively did up until high school and i had another little flare. But overall it was not as debilitating for me long term as other people who have rheumatoid arthritis or things of that nature. But we didn't really realize that. Oh, could this be related to my connective tissue or to my skin, to acne to all of these different things, and a lot of these questions are what i'm currently, you know, trying to work to uncover and um there's a lot of unknowns. Also, when i was growing up, we did not know that i had one kidney psoriasis, slash eczema among dermatographia and other things. If you ever notice that my face gets really red, that's erythema, eryth means red and dermatographia is basically it's a hystemic response. It'S almost like a hive, and it causes me even when i just touch my skin a little bit to really really flush and flare. There'S also some subclinical rosacea as well. My dad has that it's just a whole host of fun things speaking of fun things, this bubble foam is phenomenal. This is a sensitive skin, balancing bubble foam, it's the derma clara and this is formulated to be slightly acidic, but it's an actual bubble. Cleanser that doesn't overly strip the skin and if you do have sensitive skin, but you want something that actually works. If you actually have a damaged skin barrier or even eczema, psoriasis, that's being treated by a dermer doctor and just want a nice k-beauty gentle cleanser. This actually has ceramides in it. The foaming doesn't come just from the formula. It actually comes from the little pump top so that it's not as stripping as you know, traditional foaming, cleansers or even shampoos or things of that nature, and i normally don't cleanse my skin. Every morning but um i will admit, i did not cleanse my skin very well last night, thankfully no sleeping and makeup, no, no, no, no, but just making sure that i'm cleaning today and removing any remnants of sunscreen. This has arginine alanine, tyrosine, basically a bunch of amino acids, and it is moisturizing which again weird dry skin things me likey. So a couple of years ago i had a family member who was diagnosed with psoriasis, with seborrheic dermatitis with atopic dermatitis. Basically, a combination of psoriasis and eczema and for those who know psoriasis, usually runs in families. There is a large genetic component to it and you know it often shows up in parents or siblings or extended cousins etc, and this family member has really bad seborrheic dermatitis, especially behind the ears and it's to the point that it splits it fissures and warning a Graphic image incoming, but it's actually gotten infected before as well and obviously ketoconazole nizoral, topical steroids, have really helped, but haven't really solved the problem. But again, this was a problem for that family member and not really for me now in late 2020, i started to get this weird patch on my kneecap and normally things like eczema happen in the axillary areas or kind of in skin folds, and not really on The knee, but i looked at it and i was like i am not a doctor - i do not diagnose, but this looks to me like psoriasis, or this looks like an eczema flare, and i currently have a couple of other ones right here and especially underneath certain Areas you know in some skin folds, so yes saw a dermatologist as a patient and yes, it is psoriasis and apparently just the way my other family member has it. So do i and we just didn't know of it now. This also brings up the conversation around you know, kind of systemic body stuff, as well as inflammation of joints, because remember when i was younger, we had this joint swelling, but one thing that many people don't realize about psoriasis is that it's not just a skin condition. It can impact your entire body and there's something called psoriatic arthritis, which can be extremely painful and that can really impact the spine joints etc. Now i have not done genetic testing, i'm kind of worried about data and security and data privacy, but at the same time i'm like. I would really like to know exactly what's going on, not only when it comes to psoriasis, but when it comes to other syndromes and genetic disorders of connective tissue, such as marfan syndrome or marfan's disease, which we're going to talk about in just a second. Because this again got very interesting, i'm also going to go in with a gentle exfoliant this morning. Isn'T tree has always had this clear skin eight percent, aha essence, but they actually just launched this. It'S the two percent bha clear liquid from chestnut, and i have to say this is probably the most gentle bha that i've ever used. I feel like i can use this before i go out during the day. It is a really light liquid. It just soaks in the skin so well and it doesn't irritate a lot of bhas can be overly drying or overly irritating and k. Beauty in general is a bit more gentle, but this is just so soothing and it doesn't irritate the skin uh. The way that a lot of other bha products do this one does have that salicylic acid, but it also has this chestnut extract, which is wonderful as well as sodium hyaluronate, which you know is related to hyaluronic acid. It'S the salt form, which can be really nice and hydrating to skin. Now. Asentry also has this: it's the hyaluronic acid plus. This is a really great toner, but this one is just the hyaluronic acid, whereas this one is hydrating, this one is relatively new. It came out in november if you have sensitive skin and you need a bha. This is one of the best one of the others that i just love. So much is this one, the green tea on days that you're not exfoliating? I would definitely recommend this and again it's all thanks to shiny that i became obsessed one of the best antioxidant toners i've ever used, but now what is this marfan syndrome? How does this relate to hair loss? What is going on with the skin, etc? Well, marfan syndrome is a genetic connective tissue disorder. Basically, your connective tissue can impact your joints. Your heart, yes, other areas of your skin and this syndrome is a defect in how the body creates a specific protein fbn1 and that can again affect a lot of things throughout the body and it's usually characterized by a tall lanky build an elongated face. Yes, i have been called a horse before i don't take offense to it, but you know some people think that i look like a horse. It'S also characterized by unusually long fingers and toes, which i do have even as a baby. My parents would look at my fingers and toes and be like what the heck very very long and i do have scoliosis and sometimes that is associated now. There are other things like pigeon chest, which i don't personally have and, as you know, if you've watched this channel for a while, i had meningitis in the beginning of 2020, and i also struggled with seizures and atypical epilepsy end of 2019-2012. And we think that that may have you know some correlation to heart issues. I have a large inferior, vena cava. Basically, the big vein that takes blood from your body and pushes it back to the heart mind is big and so sometimes blood pools up. There doesn't get to the heart, then doesn't get to my brain triggers a seizure, because your brain needs blood and oxygen in order to function right, but here's the question a lot of people with marfan syndrome do have issues with their aorta with their mitral valve. Basically in their heart and how it works, and unfortunately, the most common death for people with this are issues with their aorta, either in aortic dissection, which is basically imagine the big ol uh hose that is attached to your heart. It almost kind of splits in two and blood is flowing two different places or a triple a which is terrifying. It'S an abdominal aortic aneurysm and it's basically pop goes the weasel um to one of the most important arteries in your entire body and um. If you can't pump blood to your entire body and your brain, you can't stay around that long, so it is a little bit concerning and i don't have all of the clinical criteria again. I saw some doctors about it, but i'm actually scheduled to go, see someone who specializes in genetics, which is really exciting, especially because i feel like i've waited my entire life for answers and i feel like we're. Finally, uncovering them - and you know there are other tests which i do pass, such as how long your fingers are or how hyper mobile your joints are now. This also brings up questions like what about eds ehlers-danlos syndrome or what about other connective tissue disorders. That may be related and again that's why i do not self-diagnose, nobody should be self-diagnosing. You should see a doctor, you should do specific tests or look at specific clinical criteria to try to get that evaluated. Now, while we were kind of going through the preliminary stages of looking at this, i of course also brought up. You know the weird kind of dry skin patches that i've never dealt with as well. As you know, some of this hair loss hair kind of falling out in the shower. You know we have this running joke of. I look down and there's a chinchilla at my feet. It'S not a joke and i've been through some very stressful periods of my life, but i've never lost as much hair as i did in the past two years. All from you know making some major changes in my job and career, making some major changes in school. Being diagnosed with atypical epilepsy, having meningitis um pandemic, all of the things it's a lot and um. I didn't talk about this, but my father was diagnosed with cancer. My grandmother has a very rapidly progressing dementia and alzheimer's and there's just a lot and the sasquatch upstairs. Doesn'T shut up, but you know, even when those things get to me, i have skin care as a form of self-care, which i love. This right here is the tw real bifida ampule. This is probably one of the most luxurious products i've ever used from isn't tree. It doesn't cost a luxury price, especially when it's on sale, which again, i think, they're having um from the 23rd to the 26th. But this just feels luxurious. It'S this beautiful little white bottle and the entire formula is this clear liquid that just smooths on the skin? So well - and this is vegan and cruelty free, but it has hydrolyzed collagen in it, so it's actually quite moisturizing and nourishing to the skin. It'S also got some different peptides in here and the main ingredient, which is why it's called the bifida ampule is because it does have bifida ferment lysate. This is, basically, you can think of it as a probiotic that is supposed to help kind of balance out the barrier of skin or potentially help with balancing a microbiome, especially if your skin is irritated or stripped which hi psoriasis, weird patches of dry and oily skin. That'S what's been going on for me, this also has a pumpkin extract as well as a bunch of peptides. We do have acetyl hexapeptide, eight, that's for like anti-wrinkle and kind of helps with fine lines. We have palmital tripeptide, one really good for kind of wound healing and then copper tripeptide, one which is used quite interestingly, all the time and again it's for wound healing for skin suppleness, for kind of barrier, support, etc. I absolutely love this. I don't know how they're not charging way more for this i feel like this is one of the most luxury isn't tree products. There is and just k, beauty in general. It says it's a high functioning ampule, which contains bifida fermented, lysate and triple peptides for skin. Tightening which i don't know you tell me another amazing serum - that i love from isn't tree. Is this one? It'S the hyaluronic acid water essence. This was one of my first. This was my first isn't tree product that i tried back in 2020. It has eight types of hyaluronic acid, and this is a non-drying, hyaluronic, acid, serum, it's milky and creamy and i don't need to go in with two different types of um, serum or extra hyaluronic acid. But i'm going to because i love this one. So basically, when kind of looking at these different things trying to get set up with specialists, of course you want to do. Blood tests want to make sure everything is looking good for those who don't know, i do choose to follow a plant-based lifestyle. I also love my sunscreen and, as mentioned thyroid issues run in my family, specifically hashimoto's disease, which is like a non-functioning thyroid and kind of goiters right and hypothyroidism, or a low functioning thyroid is throughout my family, like on both sides, and so i've always been extremely Worried do i have a low thyroid? Is there an issue etc, and some actual medical studies show that i think 75 percent of people who have low thyroid or hypothyroidism complain of dry skin, and especially seeing as this kind of changed i was like ooh are my thyroid levels intact? Like am i, okay? Is something changing, etc, especially in hashimoto's disease, where your body basically attacks your own organs, it attacks your own thyroid and stops it from working. Is that related? And then many years ago i was not eating gluten, because there was this concern that if someone has celiac disease the way certain proteins work inside of the body we didn't want to trigger any hypothyroidism stuff. That'S no longer an issue for me. I still have ibs irritable bowel syndrome still have some issues with diarrhea, but this is also related to my one. Kidney and my duplicated reproductive system, which is also very, very fascinating and kind of goes into. Some discoveries that i've made and tried to take to gynecologists. But i think i need some new gynecologists, because again we love doctors, we love care, but not all doctors operate the same and i just think i've had really bad luck with gynecologists, thus far. So basically, my skin is changing my body's changing we're trying to look. If there are specific genetic connective tissue disorders etc, but my hair is also changing and i said you know i want a blood test. I want to look at thyroid stuff, t4, tsh, etc. I also want to look at all of my nutrient levels to see. What'S going on and lo and behold guess what happens? Come back vitamin d deficient now it's not severe, but my vitamin d was pretty low and again about 50 percent of the population is, and vitamin d is arguably one of the most important hormones or vitamins in the body. Basically, almost every single cell in our bodies has a vitamin d receptor and vitamin d acts as a hormone. It'S one of the fat soluble vitamins and it impacts your thyroid. It impacts your heart health. It impacts your bones: it impacts basically everything and seeing as mine was low, it was like okay could this be contributing to hair loss, because there are some potential connections and correlations between hair loss and vitamin d, as well as things like anxiety and depression and psychological Conditions now i come from a family who has struggled with depression, anxiety, potential schizophrenia. Like a lot of stuff and people have been institutionalized. I had to go, get help as well and um. For me, that was one of the best things, but my depression and anxiety and like adhdness, like that's, always been there that i don't think, is anything new, but looking at current vitamin d levels and kind of trying to assess how has this changed over time? Could those vitamin d levels be causing, you know a little bit of hair loss and then for those who are familiar with vitamin d and how it's used in the body? Your kidneys are essential to making sure that vitamin d is put into an active form. That is used in the body and can bind to those receptors on all of the cells in your body now, seeing as i only have one kidney, the question becomes: am i just low because of lifestyle factors? Is there something genetic such as these other things that we've discussed, that could be impacting how my body creates stores or absorbs vitamin d also having ibs vitamin d is often absorbed in the gut as well, because you can get it through sunlight and through food, but In the gut in the intestines is mine being absorbed or not, and then hi hello, one solitary kidney. Could there be an issue with the 125 dihydroxy vitamin d and processed in the rest of my body and as we apply this moisturizer? Let'S talk about how vitamin d works in the body because it is really fascinating. Our body basically uses uvb rays from the sun to create vitamin d and mushrooms as well. You can get it from your diet. It normally comes from things like liver or fish, but being plant-based. I don't consume those so getting them from plant sources like mushrooms that also use vitamin d from uvb rays or getting them from uvb or dietary supplements is important. This right here is the hyaluronic acid aqua gel cream. This is a moisturizer. You know the insentry sunscreen is so good that i really don't need a moisturizer underneath it, but for the sake of playing with things today and having a relaxing morning, i am going to do so because skincare is self-care. But when it comes to how vitamin d works in the body, there are so many different steps, and basically, if something goes wrong in any step along the way someone could be deficient or someone could have problems. Think of this, like aladdin just run with me here, aladdin is actually a movie i've seen, but i don't know if i remember it at all. I think i saw it like once think of jasmine as the uvb rays, the sunlight right. We have the sunlight outside of our body and then we have our internal body, our skin. You know that barrier and everything protects it. Think of aladdin and his magical world, as the inside of the body. So jasmine is out here, she's, bright and sunny. She can kind of burn. She can be a little sassy she's that uvb well. What happens when uvb hits the skin? There is a cholesterol inside of our skin. That says: oh, i like this and think of that as aladdin right aladdin. This cholesterol is like a me likey. The problem is these: two people come from different worlds, so they kind of have to come together and when they do, they actually create a baby. I don't actually know if aladdin and jasmine ever had a child did they. I don't know but play with me here: they have a baby and that baby is in the skin, so in aladdin's magical world and that baby is vitamin d3 colo calciferol. Now this is not the active form that can go. Do amazing things in the body think about it? A baby can't rule a kingdom a baby, you know can't be a king. So what happens and this baby vitamin d3 goes on an adventure. It jumps on a magic carpet which is a protein, and this baby d3 takes a magic carpet ride to the liver. Now the liver is where this d3 is stored, but something interesting happens here. It actually meets a genie. This genie is an enzyme, and what do genies do they grant wishes? And what does this enzyme do? Well, it grants this vitamin d3's wish of getting an extra hydrogen. So it's actually transformed you know just the way if a dream or a wish of ours comes true, it can have impactful things on our life. You know when you make a wish and something changes. Well, this vitamin d3 gets changed by this enzyme, the genie while it is being stored in the liver, 25 hydroxylase to be exact, but think of this as growing up right. Just because you're, a baby doesn't mean that you're ready to run a kingdom to be king. You need to learn things. You need to have a mentor like the genie, these enzymes right and once this form of vitamin d kind of grows up, hangs out in the liver for a while. Then it's time to get sent to the kidney or the kidneys. If you're not me - and you have more than one now - you can think of being in the kidneys as kind of like the king training right, you need to have a crown to be a king, and what is that crown that crown is yet again another hydrogen And that usually happens in the kidneys. It can also happen like in the lungs and lymph nodes in other areas as well, but once that form of vitamin d gets its crown, it's actually ready to start making change in the world right. It needs to kind of grow up change, a little bit be responsible, and then it's got it's crown it's a king. It can go, and that is the form of vitamin d that our body can readily use. It can actually do things in our body. It can help with our bones and our health etc. In this form, it's called 125 dihydroxyvitamin d or calcitriol, but this is what our body actually uses and it's again really really important for literally all of our cells, especially in our bodies to regulate things like calcium and phosphate. And if those go out of whack things get bad now, thankfully, my blood levels and my cbc came back really good. My calcium and my phosphate are looking lovely and also look at those liver, markers, okay, low liver inflammation. Again, it's nobody's business. What my blood work results are, but you know a lot of people like to pick on me for being plant-based or vegan and they're like you, can't possibly be healthy. You'Re gon na wither away, vegan deterioration and i'm like look at my cbc in fasting lipid panel. Tell me what's wrong here: show me, your cholesterol, also, my resting heart rate, while talking is what 68 68, while talking and fidgeting okay and again, it's nobody's business, and i'm not here to prove this to anyone, and you should never be comparing your results. Your blood work to mine, you know every single body is different, but i am choosing to share this publicly because i want to - and i think it's interesting and yes, that opens me up for criticism, and that opens me up for discussion and i'm totally. Okay with that, but basically with this entire vitamin d process from getting from these uvb rays, all the way to calcitriol what happens if there's a problem along the way, what happens if that genie or that enzyme doesn't show up what happens if there's a problem in The kidney or, if you only have one kidney and again that crown that kind of final step to making vitamin d ready to go throughout the body and rule the world in a sense isn't working properly. We are going to be looking into my one kidney to see if there is something going on now again, vitamin d does come from uvb rays again from the sun and people who stay indoors or 50 of the population. Don'T always get enough sun. It also depends on where you live. You know if you live like in the arctic or in a nordic country, you're much farther from the equator, depending on your skin color. This can also impact how you absorb vitamin d, people who have black or ebony skin. Generally, don't absorb vitamin d as well as those who have you know, white or more pale. Skin and vitamin d comes from food and for those who don't eat, salmon or liver. You know that could have an impact as well and yes, i do have some of the lifestyle factors that could contribute to low vitamin d. Now, personally, i'm on 50 000 ius of ergocalciferol. That'S a lot! That'S a lot and again you should never be taking vitamin d supplements or supplements without speaking to your doctor, especially if they're oil soluble, because vitamin d toxicity is extreme. 50. 000 iu's is a lot most. People need about 900 to 1200 a day and, if you're, supplementing, maybe a thousand to two thousand but again don't take that from me. Take it from your doctor but to get my levels back up to a normal amount. It'S been about two months and i'm on fifty thousand international units of ergocalciferol or vitamin d2, because again vegan vegetarian vitamin d3 is the animal form which i'm choosing not to take. Now, of course, once we get those levels a little bit more back up to normal, i'm going to be transitioning to a lower dose, but the question is: will those levels even get up to normal? Are my intestines absorbing this vitamin d properly? Is it actually a nutrition or uvb exposure thing, or is it something else inside of my body or is my kidney kind of not you know doing its job, we don't know and that's what we're trying to figure out and vitamin d can lead to so many Things throughout the body again, you literally have a vitamin d receptor on almost every single cell in your body, it's essential for bone health for heart health, which again my heart, is pretty healthy, but we should look at my aorta and some mitral valves in case. You know i have this weird genetic connective tissue thing, but some studies have shown that the vitamin d can impact hair loss and, let's actually take this off before we apply our sunscreen. If you'll notice, i had kind of this widening part. Now there are many things that can cause hair loss, and that includes stress high pandemic. All of these things with my dad's cancer, my grandma work stuff that i've that i've spoken about i've worked night shifts before that can be really stressful. Making changes in my professional life outside of youtube is very stressful issues with family members and friends, and not getting back to people or having issues of anxiety or depression that are always there. All of that is stressful and that can definitely lead to telogen effluvium. Now telogen effluvium is basically this hair fall it's basically when your hair falls out and it's normally six months after a traumatic or stressful event, and i feel, like we've all been going through traumatic and stressful events, especially for the last you know year and a half To two, but now telogen effluvium normally happens kind of everywhere and if you'll notice, a lot of this hair loss, for me at least, has been you know just kind of starting in this part, as well as in these two areas. Now, what that's actually more indicative of is something like androgenetic alopecia. Now what is alopecia or this hair loss or androgenetic alopecia? I know that's a big word: it's basically male sex hormone, hair loss or male pattern, baldness or male pattern, hair loss right and, as you can see, as this part kind of widens a lot of people, don't catch it or don't realize it or kind of as The hairline recedes here or even here in the back a lot of people, don't notice it. Now. Thankfully, we have the beautiful butterfly community, who was kind enough. Some people were rude, but again i put myself out here on the internet like i expected at this point. I'M okay with it um, but some people pointed it out in a kind way and we're like hey. What'S going on with your hair, like do you have hair loss and i was like do i have hair loss? And then i look at myself and i say: okay, i actually have to speak to people that i know about this, so i've asked dermatologists and trichologists that i work with. I have not seen a dermatologist as a patient since my psoriasis diagnosis, but i actually have an appointment for about a week from now to actually take a look at things and to see could this be related to vitamin d again, hair loss can be caused by So many different things is this: just stress: is there something going on with my thyroid outside of what blood tests are showing with tsh and with free t4 and all these other things? But it is, you know, stressful and then you're sitting here like pulling your hair out and you're like what's going on and then you know you start to kind of blame yourself, or at least i do and so then i'm sitting here and thinking. Well, what did i switch up? You know i used uh scene, hair care, which is created by i think, a harvard dermatologist, which i love. I don't think that was an issue and that was actually really helpful for my scalp. Then i was also using function of beauty. I use that for like a year and a half - and i was okay with that. I know some people reported hair loss, but i've been really happy with it recently. I did switch to what was it: love, beauty and planet and um something started happening, but again i'm not blaming the shampoo or conditioner at this point because there are so many other things internally, maybe genetically, maybe stress and lifestyle related that could impact this. But at the end of the day it is happening. I am aware of it, and i want to do something about it and understand it a bit more, and that also brings us to what i found out about myself. You know about having a duplicated reproductive system and one kidney and again is the one kidney related to this is the one kidney not creating enough vitamin d in the form of calcitriol, which therefore is causing issues in hair loss. I don't know, but we are gon na find out. So let's put up our hair and let's put on some sunscreen as we talk about my one, kidney because, yes for those who don't know, i was born with one kidney - and we didn't know this until about halfway through my life and not only was i born With one kidney i was also born with a duplicated reproductive system. I basically have two uteruses or uteri, and then i also have a regular amount of fallopian tubes and two vaginas or what's called a hemi vagina, which means it's kind of split. So everything from the outside looks normal, but from the inside it's genetically messed up and speaking of sunscreens, these are two of my favorites. This is amazing, if you do like that james welsh dewy, skin glow. This is the hyaluronic acid watery sun gel it's an spf 50 with eight types of hyaluronic acid does prevent against uva and uvb rays and as we're on the topic of sunscreens. A lot of people are worried about sunscreens because they're like oh my gosh, does it stop vitamin d production? No vitamin d production has actually shown to be better when you use a broad spectrum, sunscreen fyi, so just getting that out of there and again links references and medical studies are in the description below. But if you don't want that james welsh glow, they also have this one. You know, maybe i can do half and half today. This is the hyaluronic acid airy sun stick. This is very light and pillowy can kind of feel a little bit tacky. But i say this is great for sport, if you're someone who wants something that doesn't flash back at all this just kind of goes on in a stick. It is completely sheer. This works for literally every skin tone and color like even if you were purple, even if you were green. This would work because it is completely sheer, whereas this one takes a touch of rubbing in, but it does go in sheer after a while. They also have this one. This is the natural sun cream. I like this one too, but i don't find this one to be as sheer as this one or as these. So these are what i'm going to be using today. But yes, i was born very, very weird now a part of my life that i don't always speak about on youtube and that i'm choosing not to are things when it comes to school and career, etc, and for some of those purposes. I was learning about embryonic and fetal development and basically, all of the changes that go through a little baby, fetus as it grows up and all the things that can go wrong. You know which doctors should know about or which a gynecologist should know about, or a geneticist should know about, and as i was learning you know about these different things and kind of brushing up on genetics and some of these things just for education purposes and not Even you know, from a self-centered point of view, i came across a very interesting syndrome: the herlin werner, wunderlich syndrome or hww syndrome. Try saying that five times fast, it is basically an ipsilateral renal, agenesis and obstructed hemi vagina. Now, what the frick is that that's a big mouthful, let's break it down right, ipsilateral, renal, agenesis, ipsilateral, one-sided renal, kidney agenesis not being created so basically missing a kidney on one side and an obstructed; hemi vagina, an obstructed or kind of closed off, henny or half Of vajayjay and i sat there and my jaw freaking dropped. This is a very, very rare syndrome. Only a couple handful have been reported and it's not even in all textbooks or in all literature, but it is basically this hww syndrome where young women are born with an obstructed, hemi, vagina or hemi, uterus or uterus didelphys, which is what i have as well as Ipsilateral renal agenesis, or only having one kidney and being born that way, not losing it due to a surgery or an accident or anything else, and i sat there and i was like oh my god, i'm looking at these scans basically radiology and i am just like Shocked and like wait, this perfectly describes me and what this is is a malaria, family, congenital abnormality, again very rare, but basically again big fancy words. What that means is that, while a little baby, what that means is that cassandra needs to charge her microphone and camera batteries because they both died and she sat here and spoke for an hour and none of it was recorded. So i apologize for that, but basically what this means as a malaria abnormality is that while a baby is being created, so while i was in my mom's womb, things did not progress as normal things did not form the way they should have, and it basically ended Up with no kidney being there on one side and um, you know with a duplicated hemi vagina and duplicated uterus or uterine didelphus, and, as i was reading this, it was so shocking and almost refreshing to me to see this on paper. My entire life. I'Ve struggled with dysmenorrhea, basically extremely painful periods. I get two a month and they've lasted 21 to 28 days, and when i was a kid i would sit there and i would complain to my mom or to doctors or to whoever and they'd be like oh yeah. I know honey being a woman sucks. Oh it's painful. I know i felt like no one really understood the pain and um. It was so devalidating right. It'S like, i know it hurts, but like i'm, i can't focus. I can't concentrate i'm on tram at all. For my periods, it's basically related to morphine and i'm not telling anyone else to do that but, like i need severe painkillers because of said pain, and i it's ridiculous and they're not regular, and all these things actually more recently, i thought you know. Potentially, i have endometriosis basically tissue in that area grows in places it shouldn't. It can grow attached to other tissues and be really painful. I'Ve also looked at pcos. You know. Are these things related because of hair growth, all this stuff, questioning that i was supposed to go in for imaging 2019-2020, for you know kind of looking at endometriosis, which is really hard, even with imaging to find without laparoscopic surgery, but pandemic happened. It'S like! I don't want to go in for elective things if i don't have to, and also who has time, it was really really rough, but just seeing all of this written down, realizing that i'm not the only one realizing that i'm not crazy, okay! Well, that's actually a very subjective, um statement, but realizing that my pain is not fake, like this is real, and this dysmenorrhea is something that's experienced by so many other people. It was just so refreshing to see and um. You know for some people, you know. Imagine every single month we we people who were born with a uterus. We lose that lining right, imagine having a closed off cavity that that cannot be lost. It can't escape the body. Right can actually grow up, create like this big old blockage in there and it has to be removed surgically. Thankfully, i think mine is not like that, because i do have two a month, but for some people they literally have to go into surgery, infertility issues, endometriosis, a lot of problems - and this is very rare, so just kind of seeing it was like wow. I can't believe i just came across this, especially because i've seen ob gyns before i've spoken to care practitioners, that i know that i'm friends with that i've worked with and been like hey. What do you think of my one, kidney and so far no one's ever mentioned this syndrome to me, and even in many medical textbooks in curriculum, this usually isn't taught. And again i get that it's rare. I get that it's unusual, but even when it comes to ob gyns, you know i don't think i've had the best obstetric care. Um doctors are humans, right and uh. Humans are human, and doctors are amazing and every doctor is going to do their best. But you know some naturally are better fits than others and as a patient, it's my right. It'S your right to seek a care provider that works for us. Well, um. I feel like. I need a new ob gyn, just because i haven't really gotten the care that i've needed even before finding this hww syndrome. But as i see this, i'm like wow, i really want to go in for another round of imaging. I want to speak to someone who knows about this speak to someone who's worked in fetal development or in genetics, or you know in gynecology who can understand this and what it means. For me, it's almost relieving in a way to know that it's not just in my head, not being hypochondriacs here you know, but is this stuff related, is me being born with one kidney and potentially having connective tissue disorder stuff? Could that relate to how my body either absorbs or processes or creates this vitamin d this calcitriol and could that be related to other genetic things in my body like psoriasis or thyroid, and therefore could that all be impacting my hair loss or my dry skin? Or these things that are very evident to me that i care about and again we are not self-diagnosing here. This is why, even outside of talking to people that i know or that i consider myself friends with i'm speaking to specialists and doctors as a patient, not saying that you should compare your blood work to mine or that you should get on the same prescriptions that I do please don't do that, i'm just saying, as your acne big sister who's been going through stuff. I want to talk to you as my skincare sibling and share, what's been going on, it's almost like a path of further self-discovery and again not being a hypochondriac. Not having anxiety about medical conditions or things like that, it's just that i'm trying to uncover these things and i finally feel, like i - have a team of care providers who's really in my court to help do that. It'S refreshing, you know, is this stuff all related, and even when i was a child, i remember you know i would sit in um cooking class and i would sit here and my scalp would bleed and people would tease me and at the time i thought it Was acne because i had acne all over my face, but looking back you know they kind of looked like psoriasis, or was it atopic dermatitis? Is it what my other family member is dealing with, and it would just bleed - and i would itch at it because it was itchy and what i'm currently going through with just kind of little dry, patches or dry patches on my skin? Is this the same and related to what i had as a child, or is this something different um? I don't actually know, but with all of this, it's just it's interesting and it's kind of cool to finally feel like i'm getting some answers, and you know hopefully in sharing this with others. Listen. I know that it opens me up for criticism by speaking online. I recognize that people can form judgments or opinions or speculate about me and by speaking about this openly. I am basically making that a thing, but i do feel that it's important because a it matters to me and b you my little skincare siblings and i is your acne big sister, i'm going through it, and i want to talk about that in case. It'S just eye opening or if it's interesting to anyone else and like all of these things, a lot of them. Don'T have a clear-cut answer. You know, and even if we do, you know blood work. You know we have to look at clinical symptoms to make a definitive diagnosis or even a field diagnosis, and some things maybe won't, have answers or aren't definitive, but i am trying to get my hair loss a little under control trying to catch it. While it's early, you know, i have not yet used something topical like minoxidil, that's something i'm considering or like you know, a vegan cruelty, free minoxidil or like a rogaine um, basically something that can help to stop the hair from falling out further. Dr dre uses this uh little helmet. This eye restore helmet. I'Ve been considering that as well. I'M not looking at a transplant at this point, but i mean whatever you know when i was younger um, my hair used to be so long. I literally didn't trim it. So my ends were super dead. I have photos of my hair being down to my waist with a super dead ends, and there were multiple reasons that i didn't trim my hair, that were personal reasons as well as hair elsewhere. On my body more recently, i've been trimming it and i'm trying to get it to grow out further and again. There are many reasons why hair might not grow out. I'M not blaming it. On my shampoo, sometimes it's genetic, some people have different rates of hair growth and therefore hair fall and how long it takes for their hair to fall out and hair cycles are six to seven years right. But i do want to find out if these things are related and really what this means for me, what this means for me to be healthy and happy, hopefully long term and not die of a triple a you know if i do have a marfan's disease. If there's a way to be aware of this and to keep an eye on it and know that it's there, instead of just like blindly go through life, not understanding, you know why my fingers are extra long. Why? I have scoliosis, you know and why i, you know, have two periods a month because that's nice and frustrating as mentioned. We are not self-diagnosing, we are not being hypochondriacs. If you want me to keep, you updated, potentially i'm kind of an open book at this time. I feel comfortable doing that and um. If that's something you're interested in, maybe we can do more skincare little k-beauty routines and talk about these updates in the future. But another huge thanks to isn't tree for actually allowing me to create a video like this and for helping us create content regularly. They have amazing products and, as you can see, this site is like nice and dewy kind of that james welsh glow, whereas this one, i wouldn't call it mattified. But it's definitely you know it doesn't have that same glow, that this does so this for the oily skin this for the dry skin. If you have both, you know, you can do this in your different oily versus dry patches. All of their products are amazing and relatively inexpensive, they're even more affordable when they're on sale, which again, i believe, is from the 23rd to the 26th. But i will leave all of the links for these and my favorite isn't tree products below, as well as some links to just some medical studies that i've read or some of the textbooks that i've been studying from or some of the other things that i've kind Of looked up and tried to understand, or even some of the references that doctors and specialists have given me or if they give me interesting things in the future, because, again i understand this is nobody's business, but my own, i'm choosing to open up about it. I want to have these conversations. I do find them somewhat interesting and almost relieving just to know that i'm finally, on my way to getting some answers, you know, and hopefully those answers will allow me to deal with hair loss and you know dry skin, but also just help me be. You know the healthiest and happiest version of myself, so do always remember to stay hydrated both orally and topically, especially if you only have one kidney make sure to reapply your sunscreen and produce that vitamin d and also remember to be youtiful both inside and out. Thanks for understanding that my camera battery died, thank you for putting sunscreen on and doing this little k-beauty routine with me, and i can't wait to see you in this next video love. You guys bye, you