Accutane, Telogen Effluvium or male pattern baldness at 19. Help? (Pics inside)

[Homer123]

Recently I noticed in some of my older photos, that my hair didn't look quite the same as it did a year ago. When I would spike my hair, I noticed that some was missing on the corners, and that my hair felt kind of thin all over. It wasn't until someone pointed out, "dude, your hairs receding alittle there!". It really scared me, and I wasn't sure how I could just randomly lose so much hair from my temples over 4-5 months. The only thing I was doing different was using a drug called "Accutane".

That's when I found the millions of links to "accutane can cause hairloss". It scared me, but my dermatologist said, "it'll grow back, don't worry".
So I didn't think much of it, until 8 months later when I got a buzzcut and noticed "Hmm, it's still thin, and I'm still receding". So again I freaked out and found out that there was a link between male pattern baldness and accutane, and how it can speed things up. I convinced myself this didn't happen, and I'm still not sure it's what I've got (the receding is probably male pattern baldness, not sure about the thinning.)

The only help I've gotten on the subject is that I should take "Biotin", because there is a theory that Accutane can damage your liver in a way that you can suffer from Biotin deficiency. so I've been doing that for about a month and not been getting great results. The only other things it could possibly be is Telogen effluvium (but that's related to thinning EVERYWHERE) or alopecia areata.

I just think it would have to be one of those two because how could I go from a perfect hairline with awesome full hair to what I have now? It wasn't progressive, it just kind of happened. I may have an aggressive case of male pattern baldness but I would like your guys opinion. Thank you all!

Here are some pics from the recent buzzcut, sorry if the lighting isn't great in some pics, but it should give u an idea.


http://img6.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=frontm.png

 

[Jack]

The temple recession looks like classic male pattern baldness , possibly aggrivated by the accutane. I have heard of some cases where the Telogen Effluvium induced by accutane can make you develop male pattern baldness faster , if you have the genes.
The reason is possibly that the Telogen Effluvium makes the hair skip the anagen phase , and effectivly age the hair much faster and make it sensitive to androgens.
Your overall densitiy will improve over time as the Telogen Effluvium subsides, but you should still be on Finasteride to prevent further male pattern baldness thinnning (pretty high chance of this , in your case there is even regrow possible as you had most of the loss in a short period of time).

 

[Homer123]

The temple recession looks like classic male pattern baldness , possibly aggrivated by the accutane. I have heard of some cases where the Telogen Effluvium induced by accutane can make you develop male pattern baldness faster , if you have the genes.
The reason is possibly that the Telogen Effluvium makes the hair skip the anagen phase , and effectivly age the hair much faster and make it sensitive to androgens.
Your overall densitiy will improve over time as the Telogen Effluvium subsides, but you should still be on Finasteride to prevent further male pattern baldness thinnning (pretty high chance of this , in your case there is even regrow possible as you had most of the loss in a short period of time).

I agree with what your saying, but there's no way I'm going to risk the sexual side effects for that. I know that it's probably not that likely but I still would rather wait it out a little longer, see if anything new comes out (doubtful). I did see that the A&G hair complex is coming out, I'll wait for that.

By the way, where would I be on the norwood scale? I'm guessing 2.5-3?

 

[Homer123]

Any more suggestions?

 

[Rommeke]

My derm said the hairloss normally stops 4 months after the cure. Unfortunately for me it's already 5 months. He said i can't do anything about it because the hair have to come back on a natural way. He said: if the hairloss still continues for about a month or 2, I have to come back. He also said the hair normally will grow back in about 6 to 12 months. Hope he is right about that.

I also saw some product for hair growth like minoxidil and propecia, but those product are not 'the natural way' and i don't know if this hairloss is caused by DHT...?

 

[iwantperfection]

looks like how wayne rooney went..male pattern baldness

 

[Doug Douglas]

The temple recession looks like classic male pattern baldness , possibly aggrivated by the accutane. I have heard of some cases where the Telogen Effluvium induced by accutane can make you develop male pattern baldness faster , if you have the genes.
The reason is possibly that the Telogen Effluvium makes the hair skip the anagen phase , and effectivly age the hair much faster and make it sensitive to androgens.
Your overall densitiy will improve over time as the Telogen Effluvium subsides, but you should still be on Finasteride to prevent further male pattern baldness thinnning (pretty high chance of this , in your case there is even regrow possible as you had most of the loss in a short period of time).

I agree with what your saying, but there's no way I'm going to risk the sexual side effects for that.

You'd be surprised what you'll risk once you realize the progression of your male pattern baldness is for real. I'd talk to a dermatologist and only take it if he recommends it, and then see if you even have any adverse side effects.

By the way, where would I be on the norwood scale? I'm guessing 2.5-3?

My guess would be 2 to 2.5. You're young and you just got off accutane, see how things go, talk to your dermatologist about finasteride.

 

[dman23]

yep probably the accutane.