Hi everyone! I am 29 and have been using finasteride for the past 9 years. My question is this: At age 20, I noticed slight recession. Dad is bald, mothers side full heads of hair all around. I began propecia and have not lost a bit since. Back in October, I went through a bad divorce. Didn't eat, slept about an hour a night for an entire month, was severely depressed and generally lived like crap. Well, about a month ago I started thinning quickly and using the "pull" test, I was able to pull out roughly 6-8 hairs (each with white bulbs) in certain places. It has become noticeably thin very quick! I have recovered and am living healthy again but am trying to determine if this is Telogen Effluvium or male pattern baldness.
Here is the catch: I stopped taking finasteride from October 15th through January 25th. Why? Because I read all of the ED stories out there and basically tricked myself into thinking it may be a good idea to quit. As of now I am back on finasteride, am using rogaine foam 2x a day and am using nizoral 3x per week. I know that this could obviously be the mbp catching up after stopping the finasteride but here is another thing....in 2007, I quit for an entire year and a half while deployed to Iraq. My hair never thinned a bit but to make sure, I resumed upon return. Lastly, when I noticed the original thinning at age 20, my first girlfriend had broken up with me which caused the same problems as my divorce has had. No sleep, horrible diet, etc.
I am thinking that maybe I thinned initially because of that and it was in fact Telogen Effluvium at age 20? Either way today I am diffusely thinning and my hairline is getting wrecked to the point where it is pretty noticeable. What do you guys think? My take on male pattern baldness in general is that your hair doesn't shed faster. It simply miniaturizes after each hair cycle until it is gone for good. This shedding is ridiculous and again, each hair is normal looking (thickness wise), each has a white bulb, etc. Thanks in advance everyone!!
Here is the catch: I stopped taking finasteride from October 15th through January 25th. Why? Because I read all of the ED stories out there and basically tricked myself into thinking it may be a good idea to quit. As of now I am back on finasteride, am using rogaine foam 2x a day and am using nizoral 3x per week. I know that this could obviously be the mbp catching up after stopping the finasteride but here is another thing....in 2007, I quit for an entire year and a half while deployed to Iraq. My hair never thinned a bit but to make sure, I resumed upon return. Lastly, when I noticed the original thinning at age 20, my first girlfriend had broken up with me which caused the same problems as my divorce has had. No sleep, horrible diet, etc.
I am thinking that maybe I thinned initially because of that and it was in fact Telogen Effluvium at age 20? Either way today I am diffusely thinning and my hairline is getting wrecked to the point where it is pretty noticeable. What do you guys think? My take on male pattern baldness in general is that your hair doesn't shed faster. It simply miniaturizes after each hair cycle until it is gone for good. This shedding is ridiculous and again, each hair is normal looking (thickness wise), each has a white bulb, etc. Thanks in advance everyone!!
