Have you shaved your head? What about wigs?

I am looking to gain insight from women who once had medium or long hair, but who have cut their hair extremely short or shaved it. I am also looking for women who can provide me with insight on wearing realistic wigs.

Me and my hair issues:

I am a 26 year old woman who has a mixed racial background.

My hair: Poofy, curly/wavy, but FINE, soft, and brittle (like baby hair). My hair is medium length (in the back) and just touches my shoulders. Because of the nature of my hair, I have been straightening it regularly (with a flat iron) for the past 10 years. I wear my hair in low or regular ponytails (the shape of my hair makes it impossible to style in any other ways) I have chemically straightened my hair twice in my life. I have a very bad habit of playing with my hair (especially in the front/"bangs"). Because of the "mullet-like" shape of my hair, I wear a lot of bobby pins.

Condition of my hair: As a result of continuous, mostly mechanical and physical, damage I have developed a mullet-type hair structure. The hair in the front and on the crown of my head is about 3" in some spots, and between 1-2" in others due to extremely severe break.The back is shoulder length (6" or so).

My hair breaks off and falls out constantly. I wear a satin cap to bed, but even though it has not prevented/stopped the breakage, it prevents me having small pieces of broken hair all over my pillow and in my bed.

Solution: I have talked to professional stylists in the past, who have suggested that the only way to get it back to a healthy state is to cut it really short (pixie or shorter), or to buzz it. They suggest I should keep it natural and not straighten it.

Problem: I have always had mid-length hair, and never cut it really short (I rarely, if ever, get hair cuts now because my hair breaks faster than it grows). I also absolutely loath the poofy and unshapely, wavy/curly nature of my hair--it is not easy to style in its natural state AND it makes me look extremely young ( I already look about 5 years younger than I am, and do not want to look any younger with curly hair). The idea of cutting my hair really short or shaving it devastates me, and I am very emotional just thinking about it. BUT, I am at my wits-end with my hair, and it will only get worse if I do not take this extreme step.

Wig option: If I do get my hair cut off, I would consider wearing a realistic wig with the same color and length as my original hair. However, due to the stigma associated with wearing a wig, I am very nervous about the idea of wearing a wig every day until my hair grows out. I do not know anything about professional wigs or wig-stylist. I am also worried that it will look fake, fall off in public, or that people will notice I am wearing a wig.

HELP!: As you can see, I am in serious need of help from someone who has actually experienced cutting or shaving their hair off and/or wearing wigs. None of the stylists I've talked to have really experienced this themselves, so I do not want to defer to their judgement about the pros/cons of these solutions to my hair problems.