8.5 Years Of Battling Hair Loss (with Recent Pictures)

[Avania]

Hey everyone - I'm a long-time lurker who's finally decided to create an account. Long story short, I'm 24, and I've been battling hair loss since I was 16. I was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia (only at 18, though, because I'd always had thick hair and never paid much attention to it till things got bad).

TIMELINE

2009 - mid-2011: Right temple started thinning out, and I started noticing diffuse hair loss some time after. Did numerous blood tests and EVERYTHING came back normal (hormone levels, iron, ferritin, etc., etc.); was tested for PCOS and that came out negative. My follicles are probably just extremely DHT-sensitive? Anyhow, I was diagnosed with Androgenetic Alopecia and prescribed 5% minoxidil (2x daily).
End-2011: My hair worsened steadily for half a year, so I stopped using minoxidil - and switched to a left part (since my left temple was unaffected then).
Mid-2013: Noticed an acceleration of hair loss. Got back on minoxidil (1x daily) and was prescribed Diane-35. I'm not sure if it was the minoxidil, Diane, or both, but my hair thickened up a fair bit and I was really pleased. Unless I parted my hair on the right (my right temple is probably unsalvageable, ha), you couldn't tell I had hair loss.
May 2017: Noticed that in recent months, I'd lost quite a bit of ground after maintaining my hair on minoxidil and Diane for 3+ years. Added 2% Nizoral (once every three days) to my regimen; upped my usage of minoxidil to 2x daily from 1x.
June 2017: Added 5mg of finasteride (daily) to my regimen. Not planning to ever have children, plus I'm vain as heck and would do ANYTHING to keep my hair... I've also struggled with depression since 14 (I've been on antidepressants for a number of years now), and successfully managing my hair loss would help a lot with that.


MY HAIR NOW

I don't have photos of my hair at its peak, but I've stuck pretty religiously to these treatments since mid-2013, and I firmly believe that I would've lost a LOT more hair without Diane and minoxidil. I'm really hoping finasteride can thicken my hair up - I have a lot of miniaturisation (especially at the temples and hairline), and I think it'd make a cosmetic different if those thin, short hairs were to thicken up. If there's no improvement after a year, I'll consider either spironolactone or dutasteride.




My right temple, which has been thinning since I was 16. Weirdly enough, I have a lot of miniaturised hairs there still (probably thanks to the minoxidil).




Left temple. My temples are honestly the hardest-hit in this Androgenetic Alopecia battle.




My streaky centre part in harsh sunlight.




My left part, where I normally part my hair. I'm holding my hair back to show the part more clearly - normally, no one can tell I have hair loss. I'm hoping it doesn't thin out any further.




Left part in harsh sunlight. It's streakier than it used to be, especially at the front.


TL;DR: I just want to encourage all of you ladies to never give up! Realising I was losing my hair at 16 and having people comment on my hair loss was painful, but I'm trying to stay as optimistic as possible. And hey, I'm not totally bald yet.

 

[Mellie]

Your hair looks great! i wouldn't have guessed in a million years that you had hair loss. It looks thick and healthy. Was just wondering why you picked Finasteride over spironolactone which is the treatment of choice for women.

I've been battling hair loss for 2 years, after a Telogen Effluvium from stopping the birth control pill. Im back on the pill and using Rogaine but I'm experiencing increased shedding again so thinking about my next step.

 

[JeanLucBB]

Such a goddess. Your hair is stunning.

 

[Avania]

Your hair looks great! i wouldn't have guessed in a million years that you had hair loss. It looks thick and healthy. Was just wondering why you picked Finasteride over spironolactone which is the treatment of choice for women.

I've been battling hair loss for 2 years, after a Telogen Effluvium from stopping the birth control pill. Im back on the pill and using Rogaine but I'm experiencing increased shedding again so thinking about my next step.

Thank you! It's definitely got a lot worse in the past couple of months, though, so I'm doing all I can to keep it looking 'okay'.

I actually tried spironolactone years ago, back when I wasn't on any other medication. I didn't quite like that it was a diuretic, plus it REALLY messed with my menstrual cycle. Diane would probably help with that now, but I already get quite painful periods, so I'm hoping to stave off the incorporation of spironolactone into my regimen till I really need it.

I wish you all the best in growing back your hair! As long as it's not Androgenetic Alopecia and you don't see any miniaturisation then I think you'll be fine. I've heard of women using spironolactone after Telogen Effluvium to speed up regrowth, though, or adding supplements like biotin to stimulate quicker hair growth and improve the quality of your existing hair.

 

[Avania]

Such a goddess. Your hair is stunning.

Thank you! Not too sure about the goddess part, though. Still getting there. ;-)

 

[buckthorn]

perhaps you don't have Androgenetic Alopecia, just a thinner hair line? I hope finasteride doesn't f*** you up. Just be cautious. Your hair looks awesome.

 

[Medina]

Do you eat bananas?

 

[Trichosan]

perhaps you don't have Androgenetic Alopecia, just a thinner hair line? I hope finasteride doesn't f*** you up. Just be cautious. Your hair looks awesome.

That's what I was thinking too, because it isn't apparent to me at all you have alopecia judging by the photos. How did the doctor diagnose it was AA, is there a DHT sensitivity test?

 

[Avania]

perhaps you don't have Androgenetic Alopecia, just a thinner hair line? I hope finasteride doesn't f*** you up. Just be cautious. Your hair looks awesome.

Oh no, I definitely have Androgenetic Alopecia. Before this began I had extremely thick hair on all parts of my head (hairline, temples, vertex, etc.), so that's why I was sure my diagnosis was correct - these parts were all miniaturising and thinning out. :-(

And thank you! I definitely will be cautious with finasteride.

 

[Avania]

Do you eat bananas?

Occasionally! Why the question?

 

[Avania]

That's what I was thinking too, because it isn't apparent to me at all you have alopecia judging by the photos. How did the doctor diagnose it was AA, is there a DHT sensitivity test?

When I was 18, the derm studied my scalp (no biopsy or anything) and noted that there was a lot of miniaturisation, especially at the temples. I ran blood test after blood test and my levels were all perfectly fine (nothing was on the higher/lower end of normal), so I'm just assuming I got unlucky. I've had no real shedding all these years, apart from a few months when I was 18 in which I noticed that lots more hair was coming out - my hair just gets thinner gradually.

I don't think they've developed a test that can ascertain how sensitive one's follicles are to DHT, though I hope they do someday. I just put two and two together and figured that as someone who's always been hairy (not enough to be hirsute, but I do have a fair amount of small hairs on my chest / tummy / upper back / arms / legs), my hair is probably just very sensitive to androgens in general.

And I suppose the reason why my hair loss doesn't look super obvious is because I had very thick hair to begin with. Now it's just of average thickness.

 

[buckthorn]

Occasionally! Why the question?

don't indulge him, I have a feeling his intentions with this question are not pure.

 

[Thinkouttabox]

Hi everyone! I'm actually new to this forum and 18 yrs old only!
I guess...mine is AA (androgentic one) and i dont want to live stressfully the rest of my life...i have too great plans for it!
I was thinking....why dont we change the trend?
These docs and researchers have been researching for that onecure for ages...and if still in 2017 they cannit do it!
I believe they wont till we all die waiting to grow hair over our head!
How about thinking sth new? How about cuttiing off all the stresses until they find out the full reciepe to regrow our hair?

I LITERALLY DONT WANNA GO BALD! AND DO A TRANSPLANT TO LOSE HAIR AGAIN!
I WANT A BRIGHTER CHOICE A HAPPIER CHOICE WHICH MAKE US-THE SUFFERERS THE MOST BLESSED ONES!

I was thinking -WHAT ABOUT ARTIFICIAL HAIR GRAFTS OVER OUR SCALP THAT WILL BE PERMANENT?

We can force these compqnies to start competing for this thing...till they get the complete solution....lets live happily girls!

WE DID NO CRIMES TO SUFFER THIS!
WE ARE BEAUTIFUL..AND WE DESERVE TO LIVE WITH A HEAD FULL OF HAIR, BEQUTY AND DREAMS!❤

 

[Thinkouttabox]

And hey...your hair looks quite nice now...i bet i have the thinnest hair over hair...but i am not gonna let my fate control me...
We are living in the 21st century girls...
Lets be more of ourselves...
Lets find a solution

 

[yourworld001]

What isn't this in the womens section of the site

 

[Avania]

Hey all, just thought I'd give a quick update on my hair. Like I mentioned, I started finasteride at the beginning of June, so I've been on it over 3.5 months. I didn't even notice or consider the fact that I was shedding, until the people I live with (who know nothing about my hair loss regimen) commented that my hair was 'all over the place' and I seemed to be 'shedding a lot; was I eating enough?!' (lol). My boyfriend also commented offhand that a lot of hair would come out in his hand whenever he touched it.

Anyhow, that corroborated the weekly photos I've been taking, which definitely showed a deterioration from baseline in months 2 and 3. I was honestly pretty depressed because more scalp was starting to show in the pictures / the mirror. (Am in a rush now so I can't upload the photos...!)

However, in the last week or so my part has closed up some, with regrowth sprouting up and less scalp showing. I'm crossing my fingers that this improvement will continue - and I guess this is as good a time as any to really encourage everyone (and myself) to just be really consistent and not give up to soon.

 

[Avania]

Hi everyone - just checking back in. I've been in a bit of a funk for the past couple of months because my hair has steadily become so much worse over the past half a year, and I'm curious to hear from all of you if this could possibly be due to the drugs, or is simply my hair loss progressing naturally.

To recap, I've been on Diane-35 and minoxidil 5% for 5+ years now. 5mg of finasteride/day in June 2017 because although my hair had decent density I felt like my part and temples were thinning more and I wanted to do something to stop it. In August 2018 (a month later) I began taking dutasteride 0.5mg once every three days instead (so 1 day dutasteride, 2 days finasteride, and so on). Like I've written above, I seemed to be making some headway for about half a year. I stopped taking pictures once I saw a little progress.

Fast-forward to 2018: for the past year, my thinning has become really, really bad. I'm not a shedder, I never shed; my hair has just rapidly thinned out and my density has decreased drastically all over my head. I've dealt with hair loss for 10 years now and my hair has NEVER deteriorated so quickly. I'm a diffuse thinner but my hair loss is worst at the temples, and in the past few months my temples and hairline have gone way, way back. I'm terrified.

My centre part, taken today (click to enlarge). Possibly slightly worse than baseline - I can't really tell.



You'll need to enlarge this, but if you look at the mole on my forehead that's where my hairline was 1.5 years ago. It used to be a solid line with mostly terminal hairs; it's now been replaced by fluffy, miniaturised hairs, hence the thinned-out patches.



And my left temple, which won't stop receding (my right is even worse, but I don't have a clear photo of it).



To reiterate:

1. Is my hair loss just taking its natural course, or could finasteride/dutasteride have aggravated it? I've read lots of stuff about reverse hyperandrogenicity but always dismissed it as fearmongering. Now I'm not so sure.

2. Should I get off dutasteride and pray some of my hair will grow back? Or do you think I'd be worse off WITHOUT it?

I'm so depressed over this I'm thinking of just ending my life. I've never had hair thin out and miniaturise so fast; you can't tell from the photos, but my hair is thinner ALL OVER, including the back/sides/nape/etc. One year ago I had relatively great (albeit gradually thinning) hair and now I'm looking into toppers and wigs. I've seen three derms, who want me to get off finasteride/dutasteride because they're worried about side effects (BUT didn't mention anything about it WORSENING hair loss), and one has recommended spironolactone. I'm getting a full blood panel soon but likely everything will check out fine, as it always does.

TL;DR: Been on finasteride/dutasteride (now just dutasteride for the past month, 0.5mg/day) for 1.5 years and my hair has rapidly worsened in the past half year (no shedding, just more and more miniaturised hairs replacing healthy terminal hairs). Is this natural progression of my hair loss or reflex hyperandrogenicity from the drugs, and should I continue taking dutasteride?

 

[tomJ]

Hi in sorry to see your anxiety is off the charts with the hair situation. I'm also sorry that I cannot offer any advice as I think it's different for guys vs girls. Maybe ask an experienced derm what they think?..can I ask if either of your parents or grandparents are bald?..in another note, although your hair is now different, I think it still looks great.

 

[Avania]

Hi in sorry to see your anxiety is off the charts with the hair situation. I'm also sorry that I cannot offer any advice as I think it's different for guys vs girls. Maybe ask an experienced derm what they think?..can I ask if either of your parents or grandparents are bald?..in another note, although your hair is now different, I think it still looks great.

Hi, thanks for the response! I've been to three derms ever since I noticed the hair loss accelerating, and they all told me there's little I can do about it, save for adding in LLLT treatment and/or adding spironolactone. No mention of whether finasteride/dutasteride could've accelerated the loss (ESPECIALLY at the hairline/temples).

No, my parents and grandparents aren't bald. My dad has mild thinning that only began in his 50s or so, and my paternal grandmother thinned out a little when she hit, say, her late 60s? My mum's side all have great hair, as far as I know. I got unlucky; somehow the gene decided to express itself in me.

 

[tomJ]

Well just to satisfy my curiosity, take note of any inflammation you may have in your body or scalp after eating certain foods. Some swear their diet encouraged thinning.