Alopecia Areata

Hey ladies, I’m looking for some help/advice/tips/anything really.

I started losing my hair jr year of high school (2012-2013), didn’t think anything of it since i was taking all AP classes. My senior year of high school I became so sick of hay I had to finish my senior year as an independent studies student (still got to walk across the stage, and finish my AP classes thanks to my wonderful teachers that worked with me). My hair loss was still enough for me to notice, but there was still really no cause for concern since I was place on a ton of different medications for an unknown cause and some of the side effects were hair loss. But after I got better, and weaned myself off of all the medications I was on, I noticed the hair loss getting worse. So I booked an appointment with a dermatologist, she did a punch biopsy of my scalp and the results came back positive for alopecia areata. We’ve tried topical and oral steroids to try to promote hair growth, I’ve tried a few natural remedies (such as various natural oils, prenatal vitamins, hair treatments, etc). It’s now starting to get to the point where my scalp is becoming visible even if I leave my hair down. If I want to put my hair up, I have to be very careful with how I style it. I’m starting to become really self conscious about it since I used to have beautiful, thick dark hair. And now it’s turned into this super thin and fragile crap. My boyfriend is the absolute sweetest saying that I look fine, but sometimes a girl just wants good hair to look and feel good about herself. Like I should be able to grow more than one hair out of my stupid hair follicles. I’ve looked into various types of extensions, but because my hair is becoming so thin and fragile you’d either be able to see the extensions (I-tip or tape ins, which are typically recommended for thin hair) or clip in (which are too heavy for my thin hair). I’ve recently started looking into toppers and wigs, but decent quality ones are so expensive. I just want to feel beautiful again...

Sorry for ranting and thank you if you made it to the end, I guess I just needed to get it off my chest.