HELP!! 20 years old

[mad_hatter]

Hello all,

My story started around September 2011. I've alway been known to have nice thick stylish hair. I grew my hair out like a hippie for a year I would say from summer 2010 up until mid-December 2011 when I decided to cut it. It was very nice, long, thick and wavy hair. But, I started noticing it flatten out a little at the top and my hair started to shed onto my fingers when I would shampoo. I would say this started happening around August 2011.

I have almost no family history of balding except for my Dad's mother (receded hairline) and my mom's younger brother (50 years old, Norwood III A). I was desperate enough to go through my parents tin of photos to verify. I found pics of my grandparents siblings and the males all had nice thick slicked-back hair (probably the style back then) and also a picture of my great grandparents who have very nice thick hair.

First signs that really stood out to me:
Playing basketball in September 2011. On the way home, my buddy asked me if I was balding because he noticed my vertex looked like it was turning into a baldspot and he kinda saw the top of my scalp while he was guarding me from behind.

A few weeks later I was at a restaurant in the washroom it was dim but the light was shining onto my scalp which I saw through the mirror washing my hands.

NOTE: during the early stages of growing out my hair, I have thick, wavy hair and it looked awkward on the sides so I decided to wear a hat to flatten it out. I would and still do wear a hat everyday. Now I wear a hat to cover up the back of my head. =(

So to start off any of your opinions;
-My hair is usually dry but not too course
-my scalp would occasionally be red, started noticing early 2010 but it was on and off. It started turning red around September 2011 so I decided to use Head & Shoulders
-Scalp is still red but it did help a little bit with my dry hair
-NO flakes but very slight itch and I'm guessing because of the dryness, I do get the occasional pimple on the scalp
-I do get a considerable amount of hair in my hands when I shampoo
-There are thinner/smaller hairs that fall out as well
-hair and scalp get a little oily in the morning
-the thinning is actually diffuse, thankfully my hair is thick enough to cover my scalp on top but just not the vertex
-my hair line isn't budging

I am seeing my doctor this week to get an assessment/diagnosis
and I feel like a blood test is necessary because I haven't been feeling healthy for the past 3 months.

Normal


Morning before shower


Parted (showing how diffuse it is)


Redness of my scalp


Parted in the middle, it also looks like this if I part from both sides


Should I start with Nizoral for now until I start anything else?
What can I expect with nizoral?

 

[antman]

if you suspect your thinning is caused by

Hormonal changes in the body (thyroid disorders)
Pregnancy or shortly thereafter
Certain medications (anticoagulants – blood thinning drugs)
Scalp determatitus or other inflamation of the scalp
Severe infections such as pneumonia
Traumatic Stress (physical or emotional)
Iron deficiency

then you need to address that problem/s

if you don't suspect one of those, then treat it like Male Pattern Baldness. In that case addressing hair loss early will save you a lot of grief.:

i would highly advise u start propecia asap; i think 2% had side effects and i saw somewhere that of the people with side effects that continued; 56% of them had their side effects disappear. So if you do get sides that are bearable for a few months just try continuing.

normally i would say to use minoxidil and nizoral but with the redness of your scalp that might not be a good idea. I use Nioxin shampoo as it is more gentle but it is less effective [for me nioxin almost completely stopped my hair from falling out in clumps]. It just depends on what your scalp can handle.

a lot of people use biotin supplements to improve the health of their hair and is worth a try.

goodluck and hopefully u respond well to whatever hair loss treatments u take. try having a look at what other people take for ideas.

 

[fodandahalf]

This actually looks like female pattern baldness (google the ludwig scale) which I didn't actually think actually happened in men, just that some male pattern baldness patterns happened to resemble it. Either way, things like stress, hormonal changes etc, will not cause hair loss like that. See if your doctor will prescribe finasteride.

 

[Lloyd Braun]

I see crown thinning. This seems to be a simple case of Androgenetic Alopecia thinning. Can we see your hairline?

 

[mad_hatter]

Hey again,

Thanks so much for the replies, I really appreciate them. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to use finasteride/minoxidil but I've accepted the fact that I will have to soon.

The regimen I've just thought up of right now would be Nizoral, Biotin supplements and this deep conditioning shampoo and conditioner by Aveeno. I will get on finasteride as soon as I can get it prescribed from the Doctor.

I live in Canada so I can easily get the nizoral 2% shampoo at the store and I plan to use it 2-3 times a week 5 minutes each application.

As for my hairline, I will get a pic of it soon.

I'm confident in this regimen. I saw a post awhile back of someone my age and his crown was thin like mine and he took a lot longer to act. After 3 months of finasteride his hair density was amazing considering it was shaved and you couldn't even see his scalp. He didn't even consider minoxidil. Now I understand that I'm a different body and probably won't react the same way but I gotta do what I gotta do. I wish I could find it again because he said he also split the pill.

Also, when ever I was prescribed medications, I wouldn't have any noticeable side effects and the the medicine/drugs would work right away. Not that I would always get sick/rashes, but when I had to take meds, they would work just how my doctor said.

The things I'm wondering now is; once I'm on finasteride, what's the longest you could go on without it before your hair starts falling again? and how long would finasteride be effective for? because I doubt this stuff will last forever and I think 20 is too early to be balding =(

 

[Nex]

Hey, I also started thinning around that time. Here are some ideas for you if you do not want to take finasteride/minoxidil. So you already mentioned Nizoral thats a good start, you could also look into tree tea oil, and Neutrogen T gel both have anti-androgenic properties (quite weak though). You should also look into anti-inflammatory supplements (which will help with your redness and your overall health). Right now I am using Omega 3, Curcumin, and Reversatrol. Also you will need more than this to help slow down/stop your hairloss. Do some research on topical spironolactone. I am using it right now and I feel like it is doing an okay job. It again is a weak anti-androgen. Possibley add some copper-peptides too if you want some regrowth, I also heard it helps to reduce scalp irritation (your redness).

Do you get scalp itch? My scalp was pretty red too before I started treatment, my scalp is a more healthy colour now and my male pattern baldness itch is gone.

Best of luck bro, and remember keep your head up. I know balding at a young age can suck but try not to stress about it too much.

 

[mad_hatter]

Lloyd Braun:

I don't know if these will help.





Couldn't do anything about the rotation, it uploaded that way for some reason. I know my temples look receded but they've been like that since I hit puberty because those were baby hairs before.

@Antman:
Is Nioxin something I can just grab at a store?

@stableforehead:
Yeah, it looks like it but it's actually pretty diffuse all over the top. I can actually just cover the middle because my hair is thick enough.

@Nex:
Itch/irritation is rare. The only kind of itch is just a tiny tingle and I just give a little quick rub with my fingertip. I've never had a big itch and scratch but as for the redness, I put olive oil once and also aveeno lotion (separate times) and it helped sooth my scalp and redness went away until the wash after. But for spironolactone, is there a certain kind of place I have to purchase it from?

 

[Nex]

You can purchase topical sprio from the shop on this website. $99 for 3 month supply, but it lasts more like 4.5 months for me. Do not expect any miracles though, spironolactone will not regrow your hair it will simply help to slow your hairloss, or if you are a good responder it could temporarily halt your hairloss. My belief is you must use spironolactone with other products to have real results.

Right now I am using topical spironolactone, Revivogen, Nizoral, Tgel, and anti-inflammatory supplements. I believe I am getting results but I need a few more months for it to be conclusive.

 

[fodandahalf]

Your hairline looks great so your overall appearance probably isn't being affected right now. finasteride SHOULD sort out the thinning; if you want some help in covering it up until then, I'd suggest using dermmatch. If you can cover it up fine though, then don't bother because it can become a pain to apply/ wash off etc.

 

[amalgamated]

you want to fking kill yourself for how trivial your hair loss will seem after propecia makes you impotent permanently. you get one endocrine system dont f it up with a female hormone young man. women care about how you act not your looks. read david deangelo. dont destroy your life.

 

[Green and White]

As what most of the replies said, your overall hair appearance isn't that obvious unless you part it, the thinning is "pretty okay". But you would want to try out finasteride like what stableforhead suggested. Also, be careful with using Nizoral, don't overuse it.

 

[antman]

sorry for the late reply.

i just buy nioxin from hair salons normally. i'm thinking about buying it online

 

[IrishFella]

Finasteride would be the best, as everyone has said. Your hairline is solid but it looks like you are a diffuser, you don't want it to sneak up on ya.

 

[mad_hatter]

OK, I'm back. Sorry for the absence but I just got a new laptop.

Anyways, finasteride seems like the best choice BUT I haven't decided to take it yet because I'm suspecting some sort of a hormonal imbalance/thyroid issue.

Why? because for awhile I've been feeling symptoms under those categories a little before others and I started noticing the hair thinning. I just want to make sure I have optimal health before I start any kind of regimen. I've always been feeling tired like I haven't had sleep which is weird because even when I try napping I feel even worse, I can't get rid of the dark circles around my eyes which have been there since August 2011. Also if I'm holding something like coffee (I don't drink it normally) and bring it closer to sip I noticed my hands start shaking like a grandma. My heart beats weird sometimes, like its too strong or weak sometimes like I'm not getting enough oxygen or something, I feel it most when I'm still or trying to nap I feel like I'm short of breath and sometimes it beats faster than it should.

To be more specific, the things I've been having are:

- cloudy/foggy mind (earliest sign something was wrong, but I thought it was just sleep)
- occasional rapid heart beat
- chronic fatigue no matter how much I try to sleep
- gastrointestinal issues (trouble digesting/bloating)
- change in skin (the skin on my face looks a little wrinkly and it goes upward to my scalp), back acne that cleansers have no effect on, the rest of my skin became dryer than normal even if I drink more water
- elevated levels of stress/anxiety/depression/mood swings
- trouble sleeping (sometimes related to heart issues)
- I feel like I'm losing my voice
- sometimes my erections are a bit softer sometimes and more lately I've been feeling a slight ache in my testicular area also like its slightly tugging my abdomen area

the last 4 bullets are more recent and I think they're affecting me now because of the prolonged reaction to the earlier ones. I brought all of this up with my doctor this morning and he took blood/saliva samples from me. The doctors in my area had bad service last time, they thought it was just the gastrointestinal issue so they gave me medicine to clear up stomach acid build up. They dismissed the issue of looking at my hair. My coverage is good which is why the Doctor said no at first glance and book another appointment (cheap bastards only dealt with one issue at a time) but I'm just too busy to go in whenever I want and that was the only day I was available.

Now this time he was serious because I looked like I haven't slept for months (literally. eyebags + dark circles + pale skin) and finally looked at my scalp and totally saw the inflammation/thinning and I told him hereditary isn't an issue. It was the overall condition of my body and he said the acne on my upper back looked hormonal and said it was also a possibility the inflammation could be hormonal because of the condition from the rest of my skin. So he decided to go with the blood+saliva samples and told me to see a dermatologist. I mentioned that list of symptoms when I asked about finasteride/propecia and he said it would've made things alot worse and permanent.

 

[mad_hatter]

I know nobody has answered in awhile but I have a question.

I have a random pimple or two on my scalp in different places from time to time. My very uneducated guess would be that its a mix of the sebum oil and bacteria (I do wear hats to cover up my hair thinning). Is this the same oil produced on the face? (my face got a little oilier when I noticed my hair thinning as well)

 

[douglasmich]

HOLY sh*t DUDE! im 16 have about the same hairloss as you and it was sudden!!

I also had the red scalp for years before i noticed the hair loss

i always get the abdominal tug feeling aswell!!! an i have the ocasional pimple on my scalp!!!!

 

[s.a.f]

you want to fking kill yourself for how trivial your hair loss will seem after propecia makes you impotent permanently. you get one endocrine system dont f it up with a female hormone young man. women care about how you act not your looks. read david deangelo. dont destroy your life.

And which female hormone is that?