I've read through this whole post and made an account just to reply. I can definitely sympathise with what you're going through and the way that you feel about what is going on. Even though people are saying, "Dude you've still got so much hair what are you worrying about" etc. I think at the end of the day, the way it impacts you, irrespective of the level of baldness/hair loss one has, it is still the same (it's kinda like saying why do people in first world countries have stress and anxiety when there are impoverished people with famine and war in many other parts of the world. To the human brain, its personal problems are no less significant than its neighbours'. Anyway I digress...)
I've had a similar sort of hairloss happen to me this year. I'm 30 next month, I have always had very thick dark curly hair that grows quickly (the type everyone wants to touch and that all the grandmas love to swoon over) but this year, starting in February/March I had sudden significant shedding that hasn't slowed down yet.
It coincided with taking on a new promotion at work this year which has been extremely and unrelentingly stressful, mixed in with some relationship dramas in my personal life. I initially went to the doctor about it, but he dismissed it as heightened anxiety caused by stress that was making me take more notice and thinking I was losing more hair. What a d***head. I know if I am losing more hair or not, and having handfuls of hair come out in the shower all of a sudden is not normal. Especially when you've never had any other sign of male pattern baldness before.
I'm still shedding like crazy; on the floor, in the bathroom, in my car, on my shirts, even in my f***ing cereal in the mornings. My hair is long, probably at least 10 inches, and has diffused thinning throughout. It's the most noticeable around my crown, like you, but I think this is because when I style my hair, this is the area that receives the most rubbing. If I run my fingers through the back of my hair and around the nape of my neck I can pull off 10 or so hairs at times just out of one curl.
Each of my curls on my head is significantly thinner and is lighter and whispier too. Considering how thick and healthy my hair was 12 months ago, the sudden change has me worried. I always lost a few strands of hair styling my hair (being curly the hair catches and doesn't fall easily) but I would only ever lose 10 or so hairs while washing and shampooing once a week. Now it would be closer to 100/day in the shower alone and this has gone on now for about 9 months). Like your hairloss, it just happened out of the blue.
In my case I'm hoping it's actually Telogen Effluvium caused by mental stress. I was also working out quite hard (gained approximately 5kg in roughly 6 months) to help deal with the mental stress but I'm sure I probably overloaded my nervous system with the physical stress of lifting weights. However AA runs on my dad's side and he was basically bald on top and through the front by his early 20s (along with my uncle and cousin). Up to now I thought I'd dodged a bullet with my hair (which is similar to my mum's side) but I'm really not sure.
I'm investigating my thyroid with a new doctor (I changed doctors after he told me it was anxiety making me notice my hair loss) as I had TSH levels of 0.6 which is bordering on hyperthyroidism. I also have other symptoms plus a family history of thyroid issues. After retesting a couple of months later the TSH levels had levelled back out to 1.4, but in both blood tests my thyroid antibodies were approximately 5 times higher than the prescribed upper limit. They were slightly lower in the second test, but still very high. I am due to have another blood test in a week as a three month follow up. If the antibodies remain high, then I'm not sure what the next step will be (thyroid-blocking medication of some sort I suppose).
I had also seen a naturopath during the year too as I was looking for answers (my hairloss/shedding was my number one concern, although frustratingly, everyone else seemed less concerned than me). Both my new doctor and the naturopath explained to me the impact that stress has on the thyroid as well as the adrenals and sex hormones (I had abnormal readings on a male sex hormone saliva test I did as well, which the attributed to my adrenal glands being in overdrive from stress).
It was getting me quite down and I was starting to fixate on my shedding and hairloss a bit. I'm quite sure it's not noticeable to most people, but I can really notice the difference in the thickness and density, and especially when my hair is wet and hanging down in my face when showering. The actual strands of curls are about as half as thick as they normally are.
I haven't started any medication yet as I'm still investigating thyroid with my doctor, and once this year is over, I am returning to my old position at work as I do not want, nor need, the chronic stress created by my current position in my life (it's had other health impacts such as giving me high blood pressure, which I'm now medicated for - I should add that the shedding occured before taking the medication as I know hypertension medication can cause shedding. I'm also off the meds for the moment and the shedding is continuing).
Anyway keep updating with your progress as it's good to hear from other guys going through a similar thing, but who don't have the typical male pattern baldness with the receeding hairline. I was looking at some photos of me from the last couple of years and my hairline is basically unchanged. There's some slight thinning now but that would be reflective of what's going on with the rest of my hair at the moment.
It can be pretty demoralising when you can't work out what's going on with your own body, especially when these things happen all of a sudden.
