‘I have struggled with hair loss for most of my adult life’

so begins the 50-year-old Ricki Lake in a posting on Instagram.

An affliction, as she has been struggling with for well over 30 years, she writes, and assures further that she either is sick or is suffering from any form of midlife crisis.

the Disorder, which partly are the side effects of yoyo-weight, stress and hormone therapy, have weighed Ricki Lake so much over the years, that she at one point considered taking his own life.

‘Almost no one in my life knew to the degree of the deep pain and trauma that I experienced,’ writes ‘The Ricki Lake Show’-host, and continues:

‘Not even my therapist through the years knew of my secret’

Show this posting on Instagram

Liberated and Free, Me. First things First, I am not sick. (THANK GOD.) I am not having a mid-life crisis. nor am I having a mental breakdown, though I have been suffering. Suffering mostly in silence off and on for almost 30 years. AND I am finally ready to share my secret. Deep breath Ricki…. Here goes….. I have been struggling with hair loss for most of my adult life. It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely, all the things. There have been a few times where I have even field suicidal over it. Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing. Not even my therapist/s over the years knew my truth. I know that by sharing my truth, I will be strike a chord with so so many women and men. I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in. Ever since I played Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray back in 1988 and they triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same. (Yes, that was all my own hair in the film.) From Hairspray two Hairless. 🙁 In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control, radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair. I’ve got used to wearing extensions, really just over the last decade. All different kinds, tried them all, the ones that are glued on, the tape-ins, the clip ins, and then into a total hair system that I hated, and finally to a unique solution that really did work pretty well for me for the last 4 or 5 years. I tried wigs on a few occasions but never could get used to them. It all field is fake, and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable. I’ve been to many doctors, gotten steroid shots in my head, taking all the supplements and then some. My hair would recover and then shed again. It was maddening. To read more: please go to my Facebook page.

A spread shared by Ricki Lake (@rickilake) the

‘I have been with many doctors, had steroid injections in the head and taken various supplements. My hair came out and then smoke again. It was to be crazy by ‘.

Furthermore, she hopes that she is about to break the silence can reach out to other women and men who suffer from the same disorder.

Previously, she has worn a wig and extensions, but since she just enters a new era, she will only make use of this ‘for fun’, she writes.

Her ‘karsede’ hairstyle in the future will be a part of her look, and she will no longer hide from the public with his hair loss.