Telogen Effluvium or male pattern baldness..?

[BrandonR]

This may seem like a strange case, but please don't judge me by this post.
I am 18 years old and I used to have very thick, healthy hair with no signs of hair loss at all. Well last September (2013) I started taking concerta and adderall for school because it helped me concentrate 10-fold. I took about 40 mg a day for a few weeks but I had a couple big projects where I took 100-150 mg (I know, I was an idiot back then, but I am much smarter about my health now). I could never sleep while I was on it and I would feel horrible the next day. I took them for about 2 months before stopping cold turkey. The reason I stopped cold is because I noticed whenever I combed my hair soo many hairs would come out. I would comb my hair every day and I had NEVER experienced ANY amount of shedding like this (at the worst point I was losing about 200 hairs a day). The shedding was definitely diffuse (I was shedding from the front, back, and both sides), but no bald patches formed. I knew these amphetamine pills were definetly the culprit. When i got a blood test done (after the adderall 'binge') they said my liver enzymes were elevated (indicating damage?). I quickly developed dandruff (seb derm) and my scalp was always greasy and itchy. I read online that the health of your liver and intestines directly affect your skin condition (including the scalp). Anyways, I refused to use shampoo for a while because I always lost more hair when I showered with it. The hair loss was severe for the first few months (from October 2013 until about January 2014) and gradually slowed down to now (November 2014). In total I have probably lost about 1/2 to 3/5 of my former hair in the span of roughly 13 months. The hair loss is diffuse all over my scalp, but I did notice I have a bit of an 'M' shape forming in the front, but its pretty mild.
So the past couple months I have been using T/sal shampoo (salicylic acid is the main ingredient) to treat my dandruff 1-2x weekly with pretty good success! But unfortunately it has not done much for actual regrowth of hair (at least not yet). It basically caused the dandruff to peel off and that's it. I also use nizoral shampoo on occasion, although it dries my hair out a lot.
I take 160 mg of saw palmetto extract, 1000 mg MSM, fish oil capsules and whey protein daily, on top of a relatively healthy diet. I do NOT take multivitamins regularly, because I am kinda opposed to taking synthetically-made vitamins (getting vits/minerals from fresh foods is a much healthier alternative IMO)..
I think my hair loss is telogen effluvium, but I'm not entirely sure. In the beginning I'd lose about 200 hairs with a white bulb attached to the root. Since the hair loss has slowed down, I've only been losing about 20-30 hairs daily, with no white bulbs attached to the roots.
If anyone can give me suggestions or help me diagnose if I have reversible or irreversible hair loss, it would mean the world to me! I will add pictures very soon for reference. Thank you guys so much!

 

[Bad]

We cant see much from that picture. Maybe it was just a shed. Just keep an eye on it.

 

[soccerplr19]

i have almost the same symptoms minus the adderall. I had the same liver elevated function and Seb D and greasy scalp. did the docs prescribe you anything for the elevated liver enzymes?

 

[RobertF]

I had a similar shed when I was stressing about my graduation project (also in October 2013 by the way). But instead of taking Adderall, I was drinking 4-5 cans of Red Bull a day, and when I was out of Red Bull, I drank green tea by the liter. Prior to that, I already had a pretty mild, "NW1,5" receded hairline, but this shed did a lot of damage to the overall thickness and quality of my hair.

BrandonR[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif], [/FONT]did you by any chance notice that the quality (the "body") of individual hairs have declined along with the overall density? Like, your hair somehow feels "weightless", and a wind can throw it around easier than before? Because that's what happened to me.

Anyway, this shed has subsided after about a month, but I still haven't regained the density. Who knows, perhaps it's too early for that?

Also, I think you should test your thyroid. A couple months after the shed I did a blood test that indicated I might be hypothyroid. I started taking levothyroxine and soon it helped a lot with the overall lack of energy I began to experience right after the October stress/shed. The hair hasn't followed suit yet, but again, perhaps it's too early for that. I am obviously not a doctor, but I think it could be possible that a messed up liver can somehow disturb the endocrine balance and negatively affect the thyroid. Problems with the thyroid are known to cause Telogen Effluvium.