Hyperthyroidism? Stress? or MBP?

[Bigstairs]

Hello, Hopefully i am posting this in the right area on this forum. I just have a few questions concerning my current situation.

About three weeks ago i really started to notice my hair falling out in big amounts when showering, since then i have noticed bald spots and my hair on the top of my head feels to be twice as thin as how it felt 2 months ago. Everytime i run my hands through my hair more hair falls out. I have very curly hair.
My main question is that is this male pattern baldness? stress? or Hyperthyroidism? or could all three be excellerating what would have happened naturally?

about 3 months ago my girlfriend broke up with me because of substance abuse. In an effort to try and fix things with her i had quit cold turkey after 15 years of substance abuse. She didnt come back. At the same time my mother was hospitalized with an illness and a dear friend of mine passed away. all of this makes me feel or hope that i am experiencing stress related hairloss as it is supposed to start a month or so after a big shock, also from the withdrawel period i lost about 6 kilos over a 3 week period and didnt do much other than lay in bed feeling sorry for myself. could this be what triggered my hairloss?

In march this year i had a bloodtest to check things like thyroids ect. they were fine at the time, I had an ultrasound on my thyroids about 5 years ago and found out there is a goiter. The goiter was pretty small at the time so i was basically told to have it checked every other year. I had another ultrasound last week and it had only grown a little bit. I had been feeling pain in my neck around the area the thyroids are (im not sure if this is anyway related) So the doctor gave me another bloodtest to check iron, zinc, vitamin and thyroids again and had said that the thyroid results were abit out and wanted me to get another bloodtest so i did this morning. should be about two days until i get my results. could this be causing my hairloss?

I have been reading alot on the subject of hairloss and the pattern of male pattern balding. i have also been looking at my hair quite alot. The front definitely does seem to be receding, with line type bald patches, it looks like i have several parts in my hair. some spots on the side of my head, above my ears seem to be lost. you can see the scalp. my hair is very dry and my forehead and temples are very oily. the hairs that are falling out have the dry white bulb attached and seem the be the longer of the hairs on my head. could male pattern baldness be causing my hairloss?

I dont want to leave it for 6 months to see if it is from stress but i am also going on a pre planned world trip next week and I am still trying to find a dermatologist that will book an appointment before then. Is it worth taking the risk to start propecia and rogaine now? i know of the side effects. I dont want to lose anymore hair and i hope someone on this forum can possibly help a little bit. Thanks to anyone that takes the time to read this topic

 

[zzzzz]

99% of the time hair loss in males is male pattern baldness. Does it resemble Male pattern baldness? Is thinning more severe at the crown or temples or both? Hair on sides and back not shedding as much as top? Confirm it is male pattern baldness. If it is, which it probably is, you should start finasteride 1mg or 1.25mg daily. That is all you need. No need for rogaine, if you wish to maintain propecia/finasteride alone is good. The sooner you start it the better. I think a lot of peoples hair above their ears happens to be thinner btw for some reason

 

[Ptrt]

I'd wait on the blood results to confirm. Hyperthyroidism is certainly a cause. You'd more than likely be having other symptoms to accompany, though.

When did you quit whatever "substance" you were using?

 

[Armando Jose]

Probably you suffer of alopecia areata.
Please don't use drugs even minoxidil a/o finas.
Be patient

 

[mr the hairy monkey]

good day dear Bigstairs mate !

looks like you have diffuse thinning caused by telogen effluvium.

which can be due to intense stress (your 3 examples are stressful enough , especially the friend that is deceased ,R.I.P. if I may add)

the stressful events occur about 3 months before the thinning and the hairloss (which is exactly your case).

seeing that your hairline isn't receding it would be very unlikely to be a mbp.

your weight loss could be due to thyroid disorders.

telogen effluvium goes away by itself , if you follow the below advises , your thinned hair should recover after 6 months.


my advises : deal with your thyroid , eat well , ease up.


I am myself going through this since 2 years (makes it chronic then) , like you I have no receding hairline and my right side (around the ears) is more thin than the left one.

I have gone through minoxidil for 6 months , with no shedding at all , nor noticeable results. and then I quit.

@zzzz : no need for him to rush into any medication.

know as well that telogen effluvium could trigger a mbp if you are predisposed to it.



DIRECT ANSWER : It could be both stress and thyroid , yes stress and thyroid could trigger and accelerate your mbp.

however , I remain skeptical about it being mbp in view of your hairline being regular.

for the treatments : I don't know if it's a good idea , some doctors prescribe minoxidil to kick start the regrowth of your thin hair and thereby makes it less than 6 months for the regrowth.

but if you take it and then have results , and then quit , you wouldn't know if it will remain , or will fall out .

if it remains then it confirms that you had Telogen Effluvium , if not then it's mbp.


Telogen Effluvium looks like this (picture picked up on google): http://uprapide.com/image/85828-14042012651


good luck

 

[dehoha]

From what I researched, thyroid issue is not as prevalent in men as in women. I tried iodine supplement thinking that I was hypothyroid (below the standard level), but the supplement thinned my hair tremendously for some reason. I have read several posts with same statement, so iodine is not for everybody.
If you have lost 6 kilos (13 pounds) in 3 weeks, you clearly exercised through the roof or starved to death, causing malnutrition. Malnutrition is a common cause of body shock, so I wouldn't be surprised if that is causing a sudden hair loss. I personally lost about 110 pounds within 10 months period and my hair was falling out everywhere within/after I was done with diet.

 

[zzzzz]

but the supplement thinned my hair tremendously for some reason.

Correlation does not equal causation....

 

[Bigstairs]

Well i just received my second blood test results and my thyroid seems to be fine, i guess its just time to admit that it is male pattern baldness. i am going to go back to the doctor tomorrow to get a script for finasteride, looking closely at my hairline the past few days, and its alot thinner there than anywhere else. Sad day i guess, looks like i should start buying some trendy hats and caps or something. and hope that some amazing scientist will come up with some kind of cure one day

 

[Bigstairs]

I just have a few more questions, i received a script for finasteride today from the doctor, How long will this medication take to start working and keep hairs from shedding? and if i start using finasteride now will it keep what i have currently once the medication starts to work or will i still be losing hair until the medication starts to work? should i use rogaine at the same time to try and regrow hairs that have only just fallen out?
last two questions are should i be using nizoral 1% or 2%? and should i keep my hair short while this is entering my system?
In a way i guess i am lucky as i have curly hair and it covers more of my scalp area than someone with straight hair, so growing my hair abit longer might make things less noticable.
thankyou

 

[zzzzz]

I just have a few more questions, i received a script for finasteride today from the doctor, How long will this medication take to start working and keep hairs from shedding? and if i start using finasteride now will it keep what i have currently once the medication starts to work or will i still be losing hair until the medication starts to work? should i use rogaine at the same time to try and regrow hairs that have only just fallen out?
last two questions are should i be using nizoral 1% or 2%? and should i keep my hair short while this is entering my system?
In a way i guess i am lucky as i have curly hair and it covers more of my scalp area than someone with straight hair, so growing my hair abit longer might make things less noticable.
thankyou

you will still shed for a 6 weeks- a few months after starting, it is a long term treatment. If you see regrowth the bulk of it will likely occur at the 6-12 month mark.

After 2 years, 50% of people will have seen regrowth, 40% will have maintained what they have, and 10% will have lost some but lost it slower than they would have otherwise.
At 5 years, half of people are still above baseline. If you want as much regrowth as possible, you should use rogaine, but if you are satisfied with maintaining I would not bother with it. Nizoral 2% is best, use that twice weekly