Hi,
I've perused this forum for a while but I've felt like I'd like to make a greater contribution to it and learn more from the many helpful people on it.
My story regarding hair loss has probably a much larger psychological side to it than most as there is little hard evidence that I have experienced any hair loss.
There is baldness in my genes, from a young age I've known that I'm likely to encounter male pattern baldness at one stage, all my male relatives on either side of the family have some degree of male pattern baldness, my father is between an NW5 and NW6 (it's hard to tell because he buzzes it off).
I am now 20 and have been fixated on my hair loss for over a year now. It started when someone commented on a photo of me asking whether my hair was thinning. I was shocked by this comment as I have always had very thick hair, in fact, almost every hairdresser I've had has commented on it, so the thought of me thinning at this stage filled me with panic. When I had calmed down, there are clearly no signs of thinning at all in the photo, rather it was more of an accumulation of various 'tricks of the light':
Moreover, the angle of the photo meant that the area that looked thin was a random patch in the 'horseshoe region' where most hair is unaffected by MBP anyway.
As much as I had convinced myself through reason and logic that I could not have started balding yet, the thought managed to stick with me and became somewhat of an obsession. I am diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, so this is a fairly 'normal' thing to happen to me... A few months later I saw my GP. He confirmed that there were no signs of baldness and that any shedding that I was having was either seasonal or possibly telogen effluvium due to high stress (I've always lost a fair amount of hair on my pillow, I believe it [somewhat ironically] is due to with me having thicker than average hair as my mother has always been the same). This calmed me immensely until the obsession remerged a few months later leading me to see a different GP. She told me basically the same thing, and again, I felt myself massively relieved when I left, and my anxiety over my hair loss was once again put on hold. Another few months down the line, I saw a third GP, who told me not to worry but I was so anxious by now that I asked him (somewhat against his will) to prescribe propecia to me, which he did. When I started taking it, I felt great. No side effects, just a massive load off my mind. I felt like as I was combating it, I had nothing left to worry about.
After just 1 month of using it, I started to obsess about the potential side effects of it. Again, I didn't actually have any, but the thought that I would develop them was constantly on my mind. I began to obsess about developing gynecomastia, checking my nipples to see if what I could feel underneath was simply normal tissue or something sinister. When this became too much for me, I went back to my GP who told me that I should stop taking it and focus on dealing with the psychological problems I was having, that is, my OCD (and associated mild BDD).
I have since not taken anything for my hair loss (I believe I have receded a small amount, and feel I am shedding more hair than before). My OCD is under much greater control now and I feel I am more rational about the way I view myself. I understand that when people read through this, they may feel have been stupid, yet you must realise what it is like to feel constantly enslaved by a psychological disorder. When you have OCD, you realise that you are behaving in an irrational manner, but the nature of the disorder is that you do so to combat your many fears, some of which are grounded in reason.
I do not want to take propecia as I worry about the side effects (despite how rare they may or may not be). I am considering whether I should start minoxidil foam? I have heard various things about its efficacy on the hairline, however, I haven't found out if that is referring to regrowing hair or just maintaining it? Cost is not an object for me, it's not that I am incredibly wealthy, rather that I know that most people would rather pay the modest amount and keep their hair rather than deal with the loss of it.
In summary, I am only now starting to lose my hair, there is a little recession at the front (my hairline is similar to Taylor Lautner's) but nothing visible anywhere else. I want to know if it is worth starting minoxidil now, as a prophylactic measure if nothing else, or if by doing so I'd build up a tolerance to it that would leave in ineffective later on when my hair loss becomes more aggressive? I would also like someone to clarify what the usual effects are of minoxidil on the hairline as this is an area of qutie some mystery to myself.
Thank you to anyone who read through this, I've quite enjoyed the opportunity to get everything off my chest as I have not shared my 'internal battle' with anyone other than the aforementioned GPs.
Alex
I've perused this forum for a while but I've felt like I'd like to make a greater contribution to it and learn more from the many helpful people on it.
My story regarding hair loss has probably a much larger psychological side to it than most as there is little hard evidence that I have experienced any hair loss.
There is baldness in my genes, from a young age I've known that I'm likely to encounter male pattern baldness at one stage, all my male relatives on either side of the family have some degree of male pattern baldness, my father is between an NW5 and NW6 (it's hard to tell because he buzzes it off).
I am now 20 and have been fixated on my hair loss for over a year now. It started when someone commented on a photo of me asking whether my hair was thinning. I was shocked by this comment as I have always had very thick hair, in fact, almost every hairdresser I've had has commented on it, so the thought of me thinning at this stage filled me with panic. When I had calmed down, there are clearly no signs of thinning at all in the photo, rather it was more of an accumulation of various 'tricks of the light':
- I have very dark hair and quite fair skin[/*:m:2uxylnkj]
- My hair was short (about 1-2 in) and gelled[/*:m:2uxylnkj]
- The photo was taken in the dark with a flash at close range[/*:m:2uxylnkj]
Moreover, the angle of the photo meant that the area that looked thin was a random patch in the 'horseshoe region' where most hair is unaffected by MBP anyway.
As much as I had convinced myself through reason and logic that I could not have started balding yet, the thought managed to stick with me and became somewhat of an obsession. I am diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, so this is a fairly 'normal' thing to happen to me... A few months later I saw my GP. He confirmed that there were no signs of baldness and that any shedding that I was having was either seasonal or possibly telogen effluvium due to high stress (I've always lost a fair amount of hair on my pillow, I believe it [somewhat ironically] is due to with me having thicker than average hair as my mother has always been the same). This calmed me immensely until the obsession remerged a few months later leading me to see a different GP. She told me basically the same thing, and again, I felt myself massively relieved when I left, and my anxiety over my hair loss was once again put on hold. Another few months down the line, I saw a third GP, who told me not to worry but I was so anxious by now that I asked him (somewhat against his will) to prescribe propecia to me, which he did. When I started taking it, I felt great. No side effects, just a massive load off my mind. I felt like as I was combating it, I had nothing left to worry about.
After just 1 month of using it, I started to obsess about the potential side effects of it. Again, I didn't actually have any, but the thought that I would develop them was constantly on my mind. I began to obsess about developing gynecomastia, checking my nipples to see if what I could feel underneath was simply normal tissue or something sinister. When this became too much for me, I went back to my GP who told me that I should stop taking it and focus on dealing with the psychological problems I was having, that is, my OCD (and associated mild BDD).
I have since not taken anything for my hair loss (I believe I have receded a small amount, and feel I am shedding more hair than before). My OCD is under much greater control now and I feel I am more rational about the way I view myself. I understand that when people read through this, they may feel have been stupid, yet you must realise what it is like to feel constantly enslaved by a psychological disorder. When you have OCD, you realise that you are behaving in an irrational manner, but the nature of the disorder is that you do so to combat your many fears, some of which are grounded in reason.
I do not want to take propecia as I worry about the side effects (despite how rare they may or may not be). I am considering whether I should start minoxidil foam? I have heard various things about its efficacy on the hairline, however, I haven't found out if that is referring to regrowing hair or just maintaining it? Cost is not an object for me, it's not that I am incredibly wealthy, rather that I know that most people would rather pay the modest amount and keep their hair rather than deal with the loss of it.
In summary, I am only now starting to lose my hair, there is a little recession at the front (my hairline is similar to Taylor Lautner's) but nothing visible anywhere else. I want to know if it is worth starting minoxidil now, as a prophylactic measure if nothing else, or if by doing so I'd build up a tolerance to it that would leave in ineffective later on when my hair loss becomes more aggressive? I would also like someone to clarify what the usual effects are of minoxidil on the hairline as this is an area of qutie some mystery to myself.
Thank you to anyone who read through this, I've quite enjoyed the opportunity to get everything off my chest as I have not shared my 'internal battle' with anyone other than the aforementioned GPs.
Alex