Telogen Effluvium or male pattern baldness?

[jambri]

Hi,

Been reading these forums quite a bit the last couple of days. There is some very interesting stuff here. I found the information on Avodart (dutasteride) particularly interesting. I've also been scared by a few posts made by people who started off as NW1 (don't understand why anyone would start treatment at NW1), and ended up losing hair very quickly after trying Propecia. Strange stuff.

I would really be interested in hearing other board members' thoughts on my experience to date:

I'm 28 years old, and this past year has been the most stressful of my entire life, for various reasons (both work related and personal). The stress really began about 12 months ago and manifested itself in various ways (constant headaches, eyesight deterioration, racing heartrate, etc). Three months ago I noticed my resting heartrate was 96 beats per minute, which is shockingly bad and just shows how much stress I was under. Since going to the gym very regularly I've now reduced that to a much safer resting rate of 58 beats per minute. Very fit now!

I first noticed hair loss to my left temple about six months ago (looks like a NW2) whereas my other temple looks like a perfect NW1. Where the hair has apparently disappeared from my left temple there was never any thinning that I was aware of, the hairs simply fell out and have not returned. I did not in fact notice any hairs coming out either, which is strange - almost as if they just vanished!

So, I'm wondering if this sounds like the kind of thing that may have been induced by stress (Telogen Effluvium) rather than male pattern baldness, and in the latter case what regimen you would recommend that I begin. For family history, my father is 62 and is probably an NW3 (certainly no worse). My 85 year old granddad is between NW3 and NW4.

Your feedback is much appreciated!

 

[Melbs]

I think if you can post a pic or two of your hair we could make an educated decision... it could be stress related, but at 28... lets be honest, it quite possibly the start of male pattern baldness. Proscar is NOT as scary as people on this forum make it out to be.

So can you chuck up some Pics?

 

[jfrank]

I've been using propecia for 14 weeks now... honestly, my hair went to hell... hiarline shed like a b**ch my temples receded about an inch.. the top thinned everywhere. but i also had incredible stress/ and panick attacks... my pulse was about 110


however, the good news is that my hair appears to be getting better.. not sure if i am decieving myself, but the top looks a little better..

and i've had no sides

my suggestion.. get on finasteride.. i do beleive it can save our hair for a bit..

 

[jambri]

I've noticed that several people on this forum are talking about starting treatments whilst still NW1. This makes zero sense to me... why start treatments on perfectly normal, healthy and male pattern baldness-free hair? Crazy!

And then, I hear that people who start treatments go from NW1 to NW2 or NW3 in a short space of time, i.e. a years or less! This leads me to believe that beginning medication so early, (when there is not really a significant problem), can lead to accelerated male pattern baldness. This is what is putting me off the idea of beginning treatment.

I am also a little scared by the strength of some of these drugs and how they work, i.e. by reducing the presence of specific groups of hormones. I imagine that beginning such strong medication would have the same sort of effect as someone who washes their hair too much and then finds they have to wash it every day or it becomes noticeably greasy... in other words, I believe that beginning any treatment probably (from reading numerous posts here) causes your body to adapt, having the longer term effect of leading to faster balding and higher doses (or the need to change treatments).

My own hair has receded a tiny little bit from one temple. Noone would notice except me, however I am aware of it. Is there such a thing as simply "normal" hair recession rather than male pattern baldness? Since I am 28 years old I think I may just be "normal" rather than beginning some sort of balding process. Or is this not the way it works? If this is male pattern baldness, is it really worth beginning treatment at such an early stage? I do not want to become dependent on balding treatments unless absolutely necessary.

Additionally, I hear that it's almost impossible to tell how quickly things will progress, and that 99.9% of men will experience some hair recession in their 20s in any case. I may be 50 or 60 before balding becomes truly noticeable, but I think if I started treatments now, I'd probably be speeding the overall process up, even if I did see short term benefit.

 

[jfrank]

well, i started propecia at NW1.. and it wasnt because norwood, but becasue i had thinning hair, and was getting fed up with it looking like sh*t wet... well, i have a hairline of mw3..... two inch frontal going all the way back... thats TERRIBLE... its been 14 weeks, and i still dont see any impovement...

 

[jambri]

oh I see, because of thinning hair... gotcha!

My own hair is not thinning at all, actually it's generally very thick. It's just this problem with the one temple. I really believe it could be stress-induced (even if it is male pattern baldness).

Looking for more opinions on the theory that balding treatments speed up the process and cause body dependency long-term.

 

[jfrank]

well dude, i can keep you informed of my progress.. i'm hoping to get regrowth...

btw, last summer i had a full head of hair... i used to think i didnt have male pattern baldness, but thinning caused by stress... (i was extremeky stressed during the school year) however, once my thinning/shedding got worse, i jumped on propecia... now itt looks like i officially have male pattern baldness... that was 14 weeks ago.....

you need a reason to start using propecia.. hold off.... i totally regret it now, but my opinion might change....

 

[jambri]

I definitely think that stress can induce male pattern baldness to an extent. I know some identical twins (genetically identical), one has definite signs of balding (NW3), and the other has none at all (NW1). I believe this primarily comes down to stress. The NW3 twin has a much tougher, more stressful job with great responsibility.

 

[jfrank]

my mom (physician) also agrees that stress causes diffuse thnning.. She even has a first hand account.. Her hair sheds in great number when she gets stressed....

 

[arya]

It’s sometimes really difficult to differentiate between Telogen Effluvium and male pattern baldness. I stared to take propecia one and half month ago and recently I stopped talking it, as one day I felt sudden joint pain and dizziness in my head. I was afraid, my be I shouldn’t have stopped taking it. Anyway, before I start taking it again, I would like to make sure if I have male pattern baldness or Telogen Effluvium. Finally, I was able to secure an appointment with a specialist in coming September. I am having second thought about male pattern baldness because I was under lots of stress for 4/5 years and my life isn’t fixed yet, and also, I am losing hair from other parts of my body too. So, I am not sure what the hell is wrong with me.

May be I am getting bold and just on denial, but the feelings of, me having Telogen Effluvium, helps me to reduce the stress of my already fucked up life. Well, what’s the hack, when God wants f*** me; there is nothing I can do about it.