I have long brown hair. I am a healthy 44 year old woman with latent Chronic Fatigue Immune Deficiency Syndrome. I overcame most of the headaches and problems with diet and exercise but I remained hypersensitive to many foods and all medications. Six years ago I had a bout of alopecia areata. I tried all natural remedy options but it keep getting worse. I was weary of trying medicine because of many adverse reactions to even an aspirin! When I did try a topical hydrocortisone, it worked after a few days. For six years I have been fine, except for striations on my fingernails, a symptom of immune deficiency, common in alopecia areata patients. Now, 4 months after I moved to the Caribbean, it started again. I am taking hydrocortisone 1% (10mg per gram). It gives me a splitting headache but it seems to be curtailing the hairloss. How long might it take before I can be sure it has worked? I know that each day I apply it, I become more sensitive to it until it affects my digestive system and becomes poisonous.