Hello… 22 years old & losing ALL my hair FAST =( (pictures)

[youngintrouble90]

Hi guys,

First post on this forum so please be gentle! I’ve recently turned 22 and am suffering from aggressive hair loss – something that is now completely consuming my life. I feel physically unable to discuss this with friends & family so hoping to ‘let loose’ here in the hope that someone may have been through the same or may have some advice (at the least the chance to offload some of this will be a small relief!)

I suppose it’s best to start with some pictures to give you all an idea about how things are looking right now:



And these are three pics from the last 30 days so you can see what I look like 'out and about'



I come from a family line where the men have suffered from advanced hair loss from a young age, my mum has previously commented by dad rapidly lost his at around 25. I’ve noticed my hair starting to thin from around 16, and took the radical step of starting on Propecia from 17. Over the past 7-8 months I have been on Dutasteride (Avodart)

I have noticed over the past few years significant hair loss – my hairline is now completely destroyed and the temples are back a fair bit. I’ve gone from having thick, curly hair in my youth (hairdressers used to comment & it used to get it knots it was so thick) to what you see today. More concerning than the hairline / temples is that I have suffered and continue to suffer from pretty heavy diffuse thinning all the way back to the “safe†areas.

For the last four years I have not styled my hair and kept it brushed forward which has led me to be able to mask the severity of my hair loss. Unfortunately over the past three/four months or so, I have experienced significant & rapid hair loss in the central front region of my head which has completely altered the hairline, meaning I can no longer create a ‘non-suspicious’ fringe and my problems are becoming ever more visible.

Psychologically I am finding it increasingly difficult to cope with these physical changes – I fret and worry constantly about my future, the relationships I have with friends and how they’ll be impacted, my social life, what I will now miss out on compared to a ‘normal’ young man in his 20’s, how losing my hair will affect my success at work, whether I’ll spend the rest of my life alone & in isolation, whether people will accept me, whether I can deal with the shame of being in public amongst my peer group of a similar age whilst looking and feeling hideous.

The stress has become unbearable & there are so many ways in which this is currently impacting my life / behaviour, such as:
- Not feeling able to commit / move into a relationship with someone I’ve been dating for quite some time for the fear that I’ll not be able to keep them as a partner as my hair loss rapidly progresses.
- A fear that I’ll lose a significant number of my friends – not in any sort of malicious way but through their gradual reluctance to want to go out with someone who looks so different to them & ‘cramps their style’. Not only this but I am increasingly finding it difficult to go out in a social / public setting and I have always been a very social person.
- Developing an increasingly bitter view on the world – finding myself feeing intense jealousy of others, resentment of my father for these genes, depression in its most extreme form, anxiety and paranoia etc.
- An incredibly strong and constant feeling of self-loathing, feeling physically repulsed at my appearance.
- Not being able to ever truly relax / feel comfortable in a social situation. If it’s sunny, can people see through my hair? Needing to take an umbrella on every trip out in a bag in case it rains. Worrying about how much I might sweat in bed when having sex and how that would impact on my hairline. Freaking out in wind – everyone in front of me will see my hairline. Can’t go to water parks, can’t enjoy rollercoasters, can’t go to the beach, can’t share a shower, can’t let a friend ‘style my hair’, worry about when I’m out clubbing whether sweat makes my hair loss obvious etc etc.
- Financial – all of these treatments are very expensive for a 22 year old and I feel like I’m pouring my money away. It is so difficult to sustain my regime and I have no help.
Increasingly I am losing all of my motivation for anything in life & constantly think ‘ what’s the point?’. I fear massively that I will soon be alone and unable to integrate in society as I feel so ugly / different. The worry of everyone talking about me ‘have you seen what happened to him?’ is an ever growing concern on my conscience.

I have never felt this level of unhappiness before and it’s physically exhausting to have this stress, anxiety and strength of emotion every day. The helplessness of my situation, the sheer speed at which I am losing my hair and the feeling of unfairness at how young I am & what I am going to be missing out on in life is pushing me into a pretty dark place. I am struggling to cope & often fantasise about death & the end of life – I can’t imagine ever finding happiness again, every day is a step closer to a horrible fate and a gloomy future.

I know nobody in my age range or under 35 who is experiencing hair loss like me and feel totally isolated with this.

My regime is:
Avodart daily
Rogaine most nights but not when people stay over, also can’t wear it in the day as it makes my hair ‘see through’ to my scalp
Revita RS Laboratories 2 x per day
Supplements

I am seriously considering hair transplant surgery to try to restore some of my hairline.

Has anyone experienced such aggressive hair loss at this young age, should I change my regime, should I pursue the surgery option? Keen to get some advice as I’m totally stuck right now, nothing seems to be working any more L

 

[lobsterlobster]

Your hair loss is undetectable in your public pictures. You still have a lot of time before people will actually be able to tell. And by that time, there will most likely be better treatments on the market (like Histogen), so start saving up. The feelings you are going through are what we're all going through. It sucks, I know. But here are a few things to put into perspective.

1) I'm in my early twenties, too, and at our age, we're probably the first generation of human beings to not have to live a bald life. These new treatments are exciting.

2) Come on, your hair loss isn't even that bad. I know guys who have it way worse than you, at a younger age, too. Hair loss is a widespread issue, it's just that at our age, people are quietly and secretly suffering.

3) At least we are not women with thinning hair. I have a friend who started losing her hair at the age of 18. My heart goes out for her. Men who are thinning is socially tolerated.

 

[Slime707]

Hi. I rarely respond to posts on here, but reading yours reminded me of some of the things that were running through my head when I first noticed my hair loss. Without going into details about my personal story, I can guarantee you that their is hope! Like the crustacean says, your hair loss really isn't that bad at the moment - even the pictures where your hair is wet it seems you have good coverage. I noticed my hair loss when I was 19/20 and was on Propecia at University and then (in about 2003) Avodart. I am now 31 years old and, whilst my hair has thinned slightly, for the most part I still have more hair than my friends. And believe me, when I was your age I thought I would be bald by the time I was 25 - now here I am at 31 and no-one can tell I am balding.

I occasionally use Nizoral (which I do believe is beneficial) and also use either hydrocortisone or betamethasone (maybe once or twice a week in a very small quantities) when my scalp feels 'itchy' or inflamed. I've never used Minoxidil. I think consistency is the key to treatment, so find a decent regimen (some things won't work for everyone) and stick to it. One thing to consider is that, by taking Avodart, whilst you are essentially completely blocking the 5ar Type II enzyme from converting Testosterone into DHT (and, to a lesser extent Type I 5ar), you will experience side effects. Everyone who takes Avodart or Propecia experiences side effects whether they realise it or not. And the reduction in DHT may cause depression which may make you believe that things are worse than they actually are. I vividly remember thinking that my hair loss was so bad that it was 'the end of the World' while I was at University, but obviously 10 years ago it was (a little) better than it is now, so now the notion I had back them seems ridiculous. So, I would say that the best course of action is to stick to your treatments and, most importantly, get on with your life. There is no point wasting your time worrying about things like this as it will be to the detriment of you achieving goals and enjoying your life to the fullest. Good luck!

 

[Exodus2011]

i had very obvious diffuse thinning A LOT worse than yours right now when i was a senior in high school

add to that i was also the shy nerd, yea it was utter hell

keep on propecia, USE ROGAINE CORRECTLY (use 5% TWO TIMES A DAY), buzz your hair to a 1/8 inch guard or 1/4 inch guard so that you can use foam with no hassle. not to mention i guarantee it will mask your barely noticeable thinning even more than your fringe style

you are a diffuse thinner like me so buzzing/shaving helps A LOT to make it less noticeable

about the emotional issues, yes you are listing my entire emotional journey since my hair loss started, just think about that my hair loss is A LOT worse than yours and it started when i was 17.

its extremely difficult dealing with this, but YOU WILL SURVIVE. trust me on that, you are at the age when, chances are, in a few years you will notice a few of your other friends starting to diffuse and recede as well

i deal with everything you said as well, but at least im at the point where i can function in day to day life

i use to sit in my room all day being depressed, have freakouts where i would cry and scream in agony about hair loss, and just have zero motivation. my mom even threatened to put me in a mental hospital for depression haha. at least im much better than what i was then, sure i get very depressed about it sometimes, but at least i can function

and a final note, there's always someone with a worse hair loss situation lol

 

[IrishFella]

Yeah, it's not bad at all, you remind me of myself, what would friends think, family, thankfully, mine, like yours, isn't noticeable to the "untrained eye", never stop treatments unless absolutely necessary.

If I were you, seeing as your hair is thick, let it grow a bit and style it with Dax Wax, it will be a God send, trust me.

Good luck.

 

[youngintrouble90]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Lobsterlobster - fully get some of the points that you've made, though the sheer pace of my hair loss in very recent months has been incredibly fast and I'm not sure whether it's going to slow down. 3/4 months ago my hair was very different - the temples were still as destroyed at the sides as they are right now but the front of my hairline was far more intact / straight and I had much less thinning across the front of my hair - it wasn't so 'see-through'. The problem I currently have is that I can no longer hide the hair loss in the middle of my fringe, whereas a few months ago I easily could. Where this area is thinning so fast, it's totally changing the way I look - and recently when I've been out and about with friends I've noticed the odd 'what the hell?' glance up to my fringe from them. I don't think my hair is going to last long enough for any supposed 'up and coming' treatments to work for me. I also know a young woman with alopecia, and she copes quite well with her hair loss but that's because she wears a wig every time she goes out in public which allows her to lead a relatively normal life... I'm not sure I agree about the social tolerance for young men who are thinning, I think perhaps in their 30's / 40's yes but at our age, early 20's there is no / little acceptance in general society.

Slime707, I'm glad that you seem to have responded so well to meds which is an encouraging story. I suppose a lot of my 'dread' stems from the fact I've been on meds for a decent amount of time already and these very recently seem to have lost their ability to keep my hair consistent, I'd thought that the combo would give me until around 25/26 before hair loss progressed / things became obvious but it seems I'm not going to be so lucky. I think perhaps I'll give Nizoral a try as a few people seem to recommend this. The thoughts you can relate to seem so rational right now and it's increasingly difficult to think of anything BUT this chain of thoughts.. did you ever feel that level of anxiety? One of my biggest fears is how people who know me well will react to the changes that are happening so quickly and how every relationship I have in my life will be affected.

Exodus2011, interesting to hear your thoughts on a buzz... though I fear this will really make things obvious to everyone right now because I have diffuse thinning and a really crap uneven hairline? Couple that with the fact I have an absolutely huge forehead and I don't think the style is going to quite work :/ It's good to hear from someone who has experienced / still experiences the range and depth of emotions that this sort of physical change can bring about. My mum is similarly pushing me to go down the anti-depressant route & convinced me to move home for a while when I lost my last flat (landlord sold). Sometimes the depression / anxiety / emotion is so intense that I do feel on the brink of insanity / a breakdown... at other times things seem more bearable. A lot of my worry is about losing out on the social side of life - I've always enjoyed having a good number of friends and a healthy social life but fear I'll lose this through a combination of my own fear of leaving the house / social situations and a reluctance from people I know to be out with someone who has a glaring physical abnormality for their age. Ah, it's tough!

Captain Combover, is there anything missing from my reg that you would recommend introducing at this stage? Maybe some of the thickening products you've recommended will be useful for me now that things have started to get much more obvious. I disagree that my hairloss would be unnoticeable slicked back, the hairline is so wonky and each individual hair looks very prominent when my hair is back, with the central region of my hairline looking thin (i.e. you can see scalp for an inch or so under the hair there.

Does anyone know whether any treatments are available through the NHS? Don't want to totally look like an idiot at the GP if rogaine / avodart can't be acquired through them, though it would save me a fortune if I could get them on prescription. Has anyone tried this?

Thanks everyone...

- - - Updated - - -

p.s. some more pics so you can see what I mean about the central area of my fringe

 

[lobsterlobster]

Well, I'm 20, and I'm at a similar place as you. Your hair may be a little better than mine. But, I have good news for you. Try this product out:http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=76625&catid=183510&aid=338666&aparam=76625

It's great for diffuse thinners like us. Just put some in your hair and blow dry it. For me, it practically makes my hair loss undetectable. Without it, people would definitely be able to tell I'm thinning, especially in the sunlight. This product may buy you a lot of time.

 

[abcdefg]

If that is bad hair loss then I am way past the point of when I should have tried propecia. My hair is worse then that with actual small bald spots on temples so trust me when I say this there are a LOT of people worse off then you are.

 

[Eureka]

Yep, went through that. You get over it for the most part. Trust me your hair looks a lot better than mine and we're the same age. My hair hasn't looked like yours since I was.. 18? Give or take.

 

[youngintrouble90]

Hey everyone,

Things are getting much worse and very rapidly - I can't believe how much ground I've lost in the past week. Feeling 'the itch' that I had when I was 17-18 and I am seriously thinning, there is just no thickness / density to my hair - it feels like the whole lot is falling out and very fast. I haven't had a shed like this in years and this one has completely destroyed my hairline. It's now impossible to style up or style down - there's a huge gap in the middle of my hairline which is obvious either way.

Feeling absolutely ****ed today. Anxiety at an all time high, it even feels quite difficult to be outside...

I'm not sure if there's anything else I can do, just hope and prey it stops falling out so fast?!

 

[The_Mentalist]

Your loss might be due to dutasteride. Sometimes people have reported periodic sheds. Did you get any shed when you first started Propecia.? How about any shed before this one when you first started dutasteride?

Propecia/dutasteride. works absolutely and remarkably in overwhelming majority. Unless you have real bad luck with your hair/genes, you should be able to maitain/regrow hair for a very long time, if not forever

 

[meetjoeblack]

At this point, I would shave it off, and be done with it. I swore to never be like homer simson clinging to 3hairs or like George costanza hair around the ears. You'll look like a bad *** and women like that look. Be confident regardless.

 

[nuuuu_Dx]

Mate its not even noticeable, my 1st (honest) reaction after reading you cr@pping yourself in the OP was 'wtf is this guy on about'.

The fact that you have noticed it so early should make you feel good, now you can use these products to just maintain good hair, and not like some have to worry about getting re growth aswell. Maybe the quick hairloss you are experiencing is the affects of Rogain, thats what it does, causes hairs to shed and they grow back thicker.

As for a hair transplant, let me tell you this. Any reputable hair transplant specialist would REFUSE to treat you on the grounds that it isnt necessary.

My advice to you is to find a regieme that is effective at maintaining hair, stick to that regieme and dont bother coming back onto this forum anymore because you wont need to. Also find a good thickening shampoo and use it, products you use on your hair have a big affect on how your hair looks. It may in fact be your shampoo/hairspray or wax or whatever causing your hair to appear thin.

 

[thissucksbadly]

Aww dude, you literally summed up everything I am feeling and going through. Funnily enough we are the same age and I'm guessing you're from the UK as well (South East)?

I started finasteride 4 months ago and I feel like that has contributed to the shedding and thinning. My thread should be up soon (once moderated) so take a look and know that you're not the only one going through this.

 

[youngintrouble90]

Hey everyone,

It has been useful to hear your different takes on everything.

Unfortunately things have continued to get a lot worse. I look completely different to what I did three months ago and the pace of my recent hair loss has been so rapid that I am struggling to focus on anything else - the stress of it is just immense!

As an update, I decided '**** it' and have started in a proper relationship with the person I've been dating for about half a year. We'll see how that goes, at the moment it's a huge positive to focus on though I'm very worried that when things get worse (and based on what's happening to me atm I think that's gonna be soon!) that they won't want to carry on being with me.. I'm only 22 after all (and they are 20) so these sort of things are important.

I'm very, very, very concerned about my hairline now. It's basically gone. It is so destroyed. The whole thing is thinning out massively towards where my temples are receded to and I really don't know how long I will have left.

This is me on the left in NY in July - and then 2 pics from today showing what has happened to my hair. You can see in the sunlight that the central part of my hairline and behind it has just.. well.. gone! It is very very thin there.



I have had to stop Rogaine – was only on it for a few months and the sides were unbearable. Pretty much broke out in acne, huge dark circles under my eyes – I looked like a druggie! Over one week off it now and the ‘itch’ has gone, completely. I don’t think this product did me any favours, I started it as a backup plan when the thinning started.

I’m picking up Procepia tomorrow, going to see if taking this + Avodart (dutasteride) at the same time can help me. I don’t think there is much else I can do. I added Revita’s conditioner to the regime recently as it sounds as though the active ingredients work for 12 hours + a pop.

Now seriously considering a hair piece whilst things are bad but still not awful. I am fortune to be in a sales job where I can earn a fair bit of money very quickly if I apply myself and work smart. I have read about some systems like the Virtual Reality one which sounds quite good onto the surface. I know everyone is saying it’s not a right time for a transplant but my confidence is so low these days… I pretty much avoiding most social situations unless I have to be fair (birthdays, work/client dinners etc)

I suppose nobody would do a transplant for me whilst things are so unstable with my hair loss but what do you guys think about systems? Are they good enough these days to be practically unnoticeable? I think my life would totally change if I was able to just stop stressing / constantly thinking about this and had the appearance of having reasonable hair even if I didn’t!!

The concealers you guys have mentioned look like good products but I am very worried that they won’t do anything for me – my hairline is ****ed and the area in the front middle is so wonky, thin and now out of place that I can’t make ‘a fringe’ look normal. Styling my hair up exposes the fact there is this big thin gap in the middle, styling it down means that there are big strange gaps in my fringe. I can’t win & can’t hide it anymore.

Ah, what a crap, horrible few months it has been L

- - - Updated - - -

Sorry pics didn't work last time

 

[WastedYears]

Welcome to hell, buddy.

Hold on to your seatbelt, cause this is going to be one bumpy ride.

 

[upyours]

I don't even see any hairloss?I don't even notice receders,for ****s sake they have to pull up their hair just to see it.Diffusers look like dying dogs with manges or sum****.

 

[mrcurns]

My advice would be browse other threads on this forum and others to get perspective on how bad your situation really is at the moment. It sounds like you're working yourself into a panic, which is leading to stress which probably isn't helping your hair issues.

I'm in the same boat, started thinning at 20/21, my hair's in a worse state than yours is now (I'm 23) but it's still a lot better than other people on this site and others. I've found a hairstyle which works me and conceals my receding areas and i know it's going to get worse but I know worrying all day every day will do me no good. And I'm a big worryer. Plus I spent nearly £2000 on a poxy LLLT treatment which didn't work.

Basically, keep fighting it with whatever methods you're using but for the time being, where it's not noticeable to anybody else...live life. You've got a couple of years before you'll really stress...live those years socially like they're your last. Have fun, enjoy yourself and don't worry about tomorrow.

 

[lexm]

i'm 22 and honestly i would kill for your hairline

 

[anonymous]

I'm also 22 and have a very similar problem.

You have two options.
1) Let it go; accept it and move on.
2) Finasteride + Rogaine (and maybe Nizoral if you're not strapped for cash).

Lots of resources here for you to read. Be warned there are horror stories, but know that they don't seem to happen to the majority of people (myself included).
Read the success stories for hope!