Hey I've posted before believing I had male pattern baldness, I've been on Finasteride for 5 months and 22 days now. I've had the thinning spread, and it's been staying a fine stubble hair in the area. The reason why I'm asking is because I've been on an anti-depressant/anti-anxiety since July 2013. I noticed thinning December 2013. I didn't get treatment till the end of June because I didn't think much of it just thought maybe I was over styling my hair or something dumb. I've done the pull test and I generally get 4 hairs from where I lightly pull, some days nothing.
I've read that anti-depressants can cause Telogen Effluvium, but would it persist this long if I stayed on it? I've asked my doctor and he won't say if it's Telogen Effluvium. He just says its most likely male pattern baldness, but then he added this "I don't care if the anti-depressant is causing your hair loss. The benefits outweigh the negatives." As the anti-depressant/anti-anxiety I'm on helps with my depression, anxiety as well as my sleep. I have a bad case of Body Dysmorphic Disorder so it's possible that all the stress I've been having about my image, and the balding could be the cause. But I noticed thinning of the hair around 6 months after being on this drug, and Telogen Effluvium can be caused 2-4 months after being on a prescription that may cause it. For all I know it did start 2 months earlier but I didn't notice till December.
I've tried googling around for ways to find out if its Telogen Effluvium and they just say the pull test. All my hairs that come out have the white bulb on them, if I notice a hair falls out I check kinda OCD towards my hair loss. The shedding isn't that bad lately, but the area's thinned out and it seems to just keep spreading. So it's possible that maybe the hairs are just in the resting phase and stuck there. I really don't know, I've tried to ask if he would do a scalp test, or refer me to a dermatologist and he just refuses. I live in Canada so I'm unsure if its possibly different then the US, but you can't see a dermatologist without a referral. If there is no real option to see if its Telogen Effluvium on my own I might just possibly go cold turkey off this prescription without letting my doctor know and see if it gets better. The pharmacist has just warned me against it as after 5 days I'll suffer from withdrawal symptoms of nausea, random crying, headaches, depression, anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations, sweating, temperature imbalance, tremors, vomiting, panic attacks, flu-like symptoms and a bunch of other stuff. So that's why I'm trying to see if there's a test I can do on my own since I would personally like to avoid going through that for around 15 days to see 3-4 months down the road if my hair gets better.
I've read that anti-depressants can cause Telogen Effluvium, but would it persist this long if I stayed on it? I've asked my doctor and he won't say if it's Telogen Effluvium. He just says its most likely male pattern baldness, but then he added this "I don't care if the anti-depressant is causing your hair loss. The benefits outweigh the negatives." As the anti-depressant/anti-anxiety I'm on helps with my depression, anxiety as well as my sleep. I have a bad case of Body Dysmorphic Disorder so it's possible that all the stress I've been having about my image, and the balding could be the cause. But I noticed thinning of the hair around 6 months after being on this drug, and Telogen Effluvium can be caused 2-4 months after being on a prescription that may cause it. For all I know it did start 2 months earlier but I didn't notice till December.
I've tried googling around for ways to find out if its Telogen Effluvium and they just say the pull test. All my hairs that come out have the white bulb on them, if I notice a hair falls out I check kinda OCD towards my hair loss. The shedding isn't that bad lately, but the area's thinned out and it seems to just keep spreading. So it's possible that maybe the hairs are just in the resting phase and stuck there. I really don't know, I've tried to ask if he would do a scalp test, or refer me to a dermatologist and he just refuses. I live in Canada so I'm unsure if its possibly different then the US, but you can't see a dermatologist without a referral. If there is no real option to see if its Telogen Effluvium on my own I might just possibly go cold turkey off this prescription without letting my doctor know and see if it gets better. The pharmacist has just warned me against it as after 5 days I'll suffer from withdrawal symptoms of nausea, random crying, headaches, depression, anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations, sweating, temperature imbalance, tremors, vomiting, panic attacks, flu-like symptoms and a bunch of other stuff. So that's why I'm trying to see if there's a test I can do on my own since I would personally like to avoid going through that for around 15 days to see 3-4 months down the road if my hair gets better.
