Please Help!!! Hair Loss Is Emotionally Draining

[anowack01]

I have been experiencing thinner hair for the past year. I went to a few different dermatologists and none of them have been too helpful. The first one said I'm fine, the second one plucked a hair out of my head and said I had "male pattern baldness", and now the third one has told me all my blood work is completely normal. The third dermatologist I am seeing now has been the most helpful, in that he didn't just shoo me away or say I need to use rogaine. But, now that my blood work is normal they want to do a scalp biopsy. To be honest, I am really not comfortable with this. Don't get me wrong, I totally want to find out if it's a major issue but I've also read a lot of bad things about scalp biopsies. I also do not understand how taking hair from the back of my head (where it grows the most) would measure the hair loss near my temples.

My hair loss problem isn't THAT bad compared to others I have seen. But I know my hair better than anyone else so it bothers me that I can feel the major difference. The issue is mainly the diameter of my ponytail has shrunk down and there is some noticeable thinning near my temples. Overall, I really don't lose over 100 a day. It's just that I have noticed that it's not as healthy as it once was. I have cut my hair to my chin recently since I can't even have a good looking ponytail anyway.

So here's a little history, over the past year I have experienced a lot of changes. My last semester of school, graduating, trying to find a career, switching jobs along the way, moving in with my boyfriend, and a few injuries. When the hair loss started, I had just hurt my back after fainting and hitting my lower back against our bathtub. This caused me to take a hiatus in my exercise routine. I had been exercising very regularly for a year before that. My diet also started to decline because I was sad that I could not do anything without being in pain. It got better by winter but then I had a cold that turned into a whooping cough for months. While I was working out one day, I coughed so hard that I ended up getting costochondritis (inflammation of rib cartilage). This hurt so badly that again I could not do any exercise besides very limited stretching for months. Since then I fell off the exercise train due to other things. I had just graduated college in December, I had a hard time finding a job. I found a job, I didn't like that job. I got a new job now but the first two weeks were very stressful. Basically, I went through all the fun changes of going out into the "real world".

I'm starting to think most of this is caused by stress and a lot of changes in my life. It was very overwhelming leaving college and having no idea what I was going to do. At least for me, I have a very serious issue with anxiety and stress and I'm well aware of it! And I'm sure my poor diet and lack of exercise haven't helped either. I have read a lot about how exercise promotes hair growth and just moving around in general because it stimulates cell growth. And really, when has diet and exercise been bad for anything?

So what I am wondering is, is a biopsy completely necessary? Or does this sound like a chronic case of telogen effluvium? I have read a lot about Telogen Effluvium and chronic Telogen Effluvium and it sounds very similar but I was hoping to find someone who had a similar experience.

My gut says to put off the biopsy and get back into the swing of exercise and a good diet and then see if there is a difference in several months. I have already started, but I know it will take a while. And maybe seeing a therapist and using other techniques to decrease stress. Can someone give me their opinion please??? This has been troubling me for too long. I am starting to feel very hopeless!!!

Thank you!!

P.S. I am only 27 years old, no kids.

 

[anowack01]

Just posted a little note about my stroy- Hair loss stopped due to Unknown treatment- read it, might be interesting for you.
Excercise is good for hair but you need to know which part of your body to excercise to get your hair growing.
My specialist taught me this and it is quite an unusual part to think of in terms of hair growth but is producing results.
What I do now works miracles but is very unsual and out of the box approach.

And please do not go for biopsy unless they are considering you having a tumor, which is not your case.
Stress is very probably one of the reasons for your problems.

No need to feel hopeless - there is always a solution, but it often comes in a different form than you are used to or expect. Needs open mind and eyes to see it.

Success,
Irina60

Thank you very much!! I will read what you posted now

 

[hairblues]

I have been experiencing thinner hair for the past year. I went to a few different dermatologists and none of them have been too helpful. The first one said I'm fine, the second one plucked a hair out of my head and said I had "male pattern baldness", and now the third one has told me all my blood work is completely normal. The third dermatologist I am seeing now has been the most helpful, in that he didn't just shoo me away or say I need to use rogaine. But, now that my blood work is normal they want to do a scalp biopsy. To be honest, I am really not comfortable with this. Don't get me wrong, I totally want to find out if it's a major issue but I've also read a lot of bad things about scalp biopsies. I also do not understand how taking hair from the back of my head (where it grows the most) would measure the hair loss near my temples.

My hair loss problem isn't THAT bad compared to others I have seen. But I know my hair better than anyone else so it bothers me that I can feel the major difference. The issue is mainly the diameter of my ponytail has shrunk down and there is some noticeable thinning near my temples. Overall, I really don't lose over 100 a day. It's just that I have noticed that it's not as healthy as it once was. I have cut my hair to my chin recently since I can't even have a good looking ponytail anyway.

So here's a little history, over the past year I have experienced a lot of changes. My last semester of school, graduating, trying to find a career, switching jobs along the way, moving in with my boyfriend, and a few injuries. When the hair loss started, I had just hurt my back after fainting and hitting my lower back against our bathtub. This caused me to take a hiatus in my exercise routine. I had been exercising very regularly for a year before that. My diet also started to decline because I was sad that I could not do anything without being in pain. It got better by winter but then I had a cold that turned into a whooping cough for months. While I was working out one day, I coughed so hard that I ended up getting costochondritis (inflammation of rib cartilage). This hurt so badly that again I could not do any exercise besides very limited stretching for months. Since then I fell off the exercise train due to other things. I had just graduated college in December, I had a hard time finding a job. I found a job, I didn't like that job. I got a new job now but the first two weeks were very stressful. Basically, I went through all the fun changes of going out into the "real world".

I'm starting to think most of this is caused by stress and a lot of changes in my life. It was very overwhelming leaving college and having no idea what I was going to do. At least for me, I have a very serious issue with anxiety and stress and I'm well aware of it! And I'm sure my poor diet and lack of exercise haven't helped either. I have read a lot about how exercise promotes hair growth and just moving around in general because it stimulates cell growth. And really, when has diet and exercise been bad for anything?

So what I am wondering is, is a biopsy completely necessary? Or does this sound like a chronic case of telogen effluvium? I have read a lot about Telogen Effluvium and chronic Telogen Effluvium and it sounds very similar but I was hoping to find someone who had a similar experience.

My gut says to put off the biopsy and get back into the swing of exercise and a good diet and then see if there is a difference in several months. I have already started, but I know it will take a while. And maybe seeing a therapist and using other techniques to decrease stress. Can someone give me their opinion please??? This has been troubling me for too long. I am starting to feel very hopeless!!!

Thank you!!

P.S. I am only 27 years old, no kids.

First off be wary of ANYONE on this forum trying to sell you anything or direct you to webinars

I want to be respectful but i am a poster here for a while gotten to know the community and what this other person is advising you in my opinion is rubbish

First off you had blood work done.

Great

Did they check your Ferritin level and if so what is it? Normal level is not good for hair loss needs to be at an optimal range. 40-70 even a little higher.

Ferritin is iron stores which 90% of time is NOT checked by Dr and can be a huge escalator in hair loss for women under 50. Most Dr do not know this.
So very important check the number and get back to me.

Second did you see an endocrinologist for your blood work? Or a regular Dr?
Not all blood work is the same tests.

You need your hormones checked to make sure you are not production to much testosterone or too little estrogen.

Also do you have family history on either side grandparents of hair loss? Aunts uncles mother father? Anyone of those experience hair loss at some point in their life.

Biopsies is nothing..its really nothing i dont know why you are objecting to it.

They usually take two samples one from a baseline area and one from the area you are having hair loss..Some even do 3 sections.

Let them do the biopsy.
Its not always conclusive but it works in accordance with the physical exam and blood work to let Dr give you an accurate prognosis.

Please dont go to some infomercial or webinar.