20 years old, losing hair

[bazzle]

Hey everybody,
I'm a 20 year old male, and in the last month or so I've been noticing some thinning/losing of hair (on the crown and a little patch on the top of my head a couple inches behind the hairline (but no receding hairline)), and about 4 months ago, I lost about 25 pounds (from 185 to 160 or ~14% body weight over a period of about a month). This hair loss is very odd because there is absolutely zero history of baldness on my dad's side of the family, and my mom's side has only some baldness, but not until the late 30s or early 40s (no one in her family has started this young). I went to the doctor, and she gave me a pretty reassuring answer when I asked her why I was losing hair: she said that sudden drastic weight loss like mine often coincides with some hair loss but once the weight loss stops, the hair grows back. That was pretty good to hear, but now it's a few weeks later, I'm slowly gaining back the weight, but the hair loss still remains (though I think at a slower rate).

Has anyone out there experienced something similar? Is it possible that I'm still experiencing some belated hair loss from the weight thing, or should I worry about male pattern baldness despite the genetic unlikelihood of that scenario? Thanks for your help; I would greatly appreciate any feedback.

 

[Trent]

i have almost no history of hairloss in my family, but have male pattern baldness one great grandpa. the rest have full heads, at least so far, into their forties. sometimes some random genes just sneak in there. i would start on propecia, typically a balding "area" or spot typically is not due to diet change, and diet related hairloss are like huge crash diets where you eat almost nothing. i would get a second opinion, hopefully the Doctor was right and your hair will grow back

 

[Bert]

I would go to another Doctor get checked out to see if you do have male pattern baldness and then start to consider your options. Don't just jump straight into it if your not sure.

 

[bazzle]

the doctor i went to hardly did anything. she just looked at my head, asked me about my family's hair history and if i had any unusual stress lately. she did a blood test to see if i had an iron deficiency, the test came back normal, so she said it could either be male pattern baldness or the weight loss, but i'd have to wait a few months to know for sure (to see whether my hair gets worse or better). what is a doctor supposed to do when you ask about hair loss? isn't there somethign else they can do?

 

[Bert]

You could go to a dermotologist, or just straight ask to be put on Propecia/Proscar (finasteride) and see if it makes a difference after a year. I really don't know what else to say dude. For me I had the classic receeding hairline and thining hair and waited quite a while to do something so it was pretty simple for me. Good luck.