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I have posted before and I will try again to seek if anyone can help me. I apologise again for the long post...
I am Male 49 years old and I've had a couple of transplants to fix the very front uneven hairline which both seemed to have failed. On top of the failed transplant 4-6 months ago I noticed severe shedding. Apart from the uneven front I always had seriously thick hair but the past 6 months this has thinned a lot, I notice it when I run my hands through my hair now.
I have been taking propecia for 18 months as well as minoxidil foam and my diet is good.
My hair transplant Doctor is very confused and referred me to go see a Derma (this was 4 weeks ago.) The Derma looked at my head and said she saw nothing wrong from a visible inspection. She did a biopsy on the side of my scalp as to avoid my thinning area and I said would it not be better to take from the balding area? She said if there is something wrong with my scalp a few cm's from the problem areas will still show and she would have to take 1 or 2 follicles and did not want to take from the visible area as it will show. Anyway, the biopsy came back completely normal and she has ruled out anything wrong with my scalp. She did say to me to try to take 2mg of Propecia instead of 1mg, so I started taking 2mg which is turning out to be expensive!
I had a ton of tests and I had a positive ANA test for autoimmune disease. (1:320, Homogeneous) She immediately felt that was the cause and I was referred to a rheumatologist. My derma said Lupus could cause hair loss but was confused as the scalp biopsy did not show evidence of that in any way.
I saw a Rheumatologist and he said he felt I did not have Lupus as he could see no evidence of this at all and apart from the hair loss I was showing zero symptoms. He said to rule it out he would order the Lupus panel blood test which is quite definitive in a diagnosis. I did a lot of research on autoimmune diseases and asked him could I possibly have MS as that can also cause hair loss and should I see a Neurologist to rule that out? He said yes a lot of MS patients do show up as positive in ANA tests but he said to me "Get MS out of your head, you are showing no symptoms of that at all and on its own it would not cause balding." It's mainly the side effects of the MS medication that cause it.
I also saw an Endocrinologist and she ordered a lot of hormonal blood tests to see if anything hormonal was going on. One thing they ALL had in common was they were all confused that despite me taking minoxidil and Propecia I am still suffering significant shedding and I am also taking Biotin supplements and shampoo, Saw Palmetto, zinc, iron etc.
To sum up my tests, I had...
ANTI-HTG RIA
ANTI-TPO RIA
TESTOSTERONE
FREE TESTOSTERONE
PROLACTIN
ESR
CBC
C4 BETA
C3 BETA
URINAYSIS
FT3 RIA
FT4 RIA
TSH IRMA
TRAB RIA
SCALP BIOPSY
LUPUS PANEL
VITAMIN PANEL
After a few nervous days every single test came back normal. My Endocrinologist said I am on the lower end of normal for Testosterone but that helps as high levels of Testosterone can contribute to DHT in hair loss. She liaised with all the other doctors and they all came to the conclusion that there is nothing clinically or medically wise that is causing this severe amount of shedding and people are scratching heads. They said it is just male balding but with all the Propecia, Minoxidil, Biotin etc this should at leaset stop the loss but it seems to be having no effect whatsoever :-(
My rheumatologist said he is ruling out anything from his point of view. He said he sees very healthy people that for whatever reason test positive on the ANA tests. He said mine is not high and I may have been like this for years or all of my life, the fact is we have never tested for it. He said completely normal healthy people in society will test positive on a ANA test but do not have anything at all wrong with them. He said 'theoretically speaking' it can suggest I am more susceptible to developing something like Lupus compared to the average person but this is only a statistic.
I saw another Rheumatologist for a second opinion and he concurred with the first Doctor and said I do not have any autoimmune disease.
I have been out today and just lay on the bed for the night and everytime I wake up there are hairs everywhere on the pillow. I have attached a pic of just laying on the bed for 3 hours!
I am desperate to find an answer as I still have a hair and want to keep what I have from going. I have gone from having a thick head of hair to having thin hair in months and my Derma says I probably have 4-12 months left before I am bald if the hair continues to shed at this rate. I am taking everything I can to stop this.
I am so down, can anyone PLEASE help me with any other ideas?
Sorry for the long thread.
I am Male 49 years old and I've had a couple of transplants to fix the very front uneven hairline which both seemed to have failed. On top of the failed transplant 4-6 months ago I noticed severe shedding. Apart from the uneven front I always had seriously thick hair but the past 6 months this has thinned a lot, I notice it when I run my hands through my hair now.
I have been taking propecia for 18 months as well as minoxidil foam and my diet is good.
My hair transplant Doctor is very confused and referred me to go see a Derma (this was 4 weeks ago.) The Derma looked at my head and said she saw nothing wrong from a visible inspection. She did a biopsy on the side of my scalp as to avoid my thinning area and I said would it not be better to take from the balding area? She said if there is something wrong with my scalp a few cm's from the problem areas will still show and she would have to take 1 or 2 follicles and did not want to take from the visible area as it will show. Anyway, the biopsy came back completely normal and she has ruled out anything wrong with my scalp. She did say to me to try to take 2mg of Propecia instead of 1mg, so I started taking 2mg which is turning out to be expensive!
I had a ton of tests and I had a positive ANA test for autoimmune disease. (1:320, Homogeneous) She immediately felt that was the cause and I was referred to a rheumatologist. My derma said Lupus could cause hair loss but was confused as the scalp biopsy did not show evidence of that in any way.
I saw a Rheumatologist and he said he felt I did not have Lupus as he could see no evidence of this at all and apart from the hair loss I was showing zero symptoms. He said to rule it out he would order the Lupus panel blood test which is quite definitive in a diagnosis. I did a lot of research on autoimmune diseases and asked him could I possibly have MS as that can also cause hair loss and should I see a Neurologist to rule that out? He said yes a lot of MS patients do show up as positive in ANA tests but he said to me "Get MS out of your head, you are showing no symptoms of that at all and on its own it would not cause balding." It's mainly the side effects of the MS medication that cause it.
I also saw an Endocrinologist and she ordered a lot of hormonal blood tests to see if anything hormonal was going on. One thing they ALL had in common was they were all confused that despite me taking minoxidil and Propecia I am still suffering significant shedding and I am also taking Biotin supplements and shampoo, Saw Palmetto, zinc, iron etc.
To sum up my tests, I had...
ANTI-HTG RIA
ANTI-TPO RIA
TESTOSTERONE
FREE TESTOSTERONE
PROLACTIN
ESR
CBC
C4 BETA
C3 BETA
URINAYSIS
FT3 RIA
FT4 RIA
TSH IRMA
TRAB RIA
SCALP BIOPSY
LUPUS PANEL
VITAMIN PANEL
After a few nervous days every single test came back normal. My Endocrinologist said I am on the lower end of normal for Testosterone but that helps as high levels of Testosterone can contribute to DHT in hair loss. She liaised with all the other doctors and they all came to the conclusion that there is nothing clinically or medically wise that is causing this severe amount of shedding and people are scratching heads. They said it is just male balding but with all the Propecia, Minoxidil, Biotin etc this should at leaset stop the loss but it seems to be having no effect whatsoever :-(
My rheumatologist said he is ruling out anything from his point of view. He said he sees very healthy people that for whatever reason test positive on the ANA tests. He said mine is not high and I may have been like this for years or all of my life, the fact is we have never tested for it. He said completely normal healthy people in society will test positive on a ANA test but do not have anything at all wrong with them. He said 'theoretically speaking' it can suggest I am more susceptible to developing something like Lupus compared to the average person but this is only a statistic.
I saw another Rheumatologist for a second opinion and he concurred with the first Doctor and said I do not have any autoimmune disease.
I have been out today and just lay on the bed for the night and everytime I wake up there are hairs everywhere on the pillow. I have attached a pic of just laying on the bed for 3 hours!
I am desperate to find an answer as I still have a hair and want to keep what I have from going. I have gone from having a thick head of hair to having thin hair in months and my Derma says I probably have 4-12 months left before I am bald if the hair continues to shed at this rate. I am taking everything I can to stop this.
I am so down, can anyone PLEASE help me with any other ideas?
Sorry for the long thread.
