Philanthropist
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Genetic History:
I was 18 years old at the time, my maternal grandfather died with a norwood 1, at around age 60. All my maternal uncles (I have three) still have their hair (though I don't think its norwood 1, perhaps 2/2.5, and they're all 35+ now).
My paternal grandfather @ the time of his marriage had a norwood 0, he was 24/25.. But in his 30/40s started thinning, and later went bald (not completely, probably norwood 4 by the time he was 50), her step brother was a norwood 4 from what I saw of him (in his 40s)
I have 7 paternal uncles.. And every single one of them has a full head of hair, most at norwood 1-2.
My father himself is quite a weird case.. @ age 26 he was a norwood 1.5 with thick hair, at 30 he was a norwood 2, his hairloss basically stopped right here.. from 30 - 50 he has extremely slowly gone from a norwood 2 to a norwood 3
Me:
Exactly one year ago, I had hair that was.. Very thick and healthy, something I never realized or noted apart from the occasional freak-out my the hair stylist.. Which I attributed to them trying to get a tip.
Exactly one year ago, it was the time for final exams at university (first year), I was stressed, then very complicated and emotionally distorting issues started arising with my close family (I lived at home), twice I was kicked out.. I spent a whole night sleeping in a study room on campus, I was a mess. Add a sudden break-up to that within the same month, and the extreme stress of maintaining marks, trying to study etc etc. while all this was going on.
First picture I attach was taken right when these things were happening.
3 Months later, I get a haircut and I begin to notice that my hair seems a little lighter.. Still very thick at this time though.
In the following weeks, I began to notice 1-2 hairs on my fingers every time I washed my hair or even ran my hands through it while they were wet.. (I'd never noticed this before), then, in the shower I began to notice 5-10 hairs every day (I used to notice 1-2). Then, I started to notice that my hairline had slanted backwards by a centi. I started with a norwood 0, so I thought maybe its going to norwood 1...
Then my hair starts to get thinner, but not just on top, but everywhere, sides included.. (All within the same month).. And I attribute this to telogen effluvium since it'd been 4 months since the most stressful month in my life.. I was still a little stressed and depressed, had anxiety attacks.. Etc.
From that point on my hair has continued to thin, I now lose 15-20 hairs in the shower, for some reason my hair has thinned and my hairline has receeded but only on one side (to a NW1.5) the other side is still a NW1.
I have noticed that my hair hasn't just thinned on the top but also on the sides and when I recently got a haircut I could even see a line of very thin hair on the back of my head. However, the thinning is still most visible on my left temple & my vertex, the thinning I feel is going from my left temple to the center of my forehead, and isn't yet at the right side (however all my hair has thinned, including that on the right side, I just don't see any miniaturization on that side yet.
I should also include that I also notice 10-15 hairs shedding from my chest (which isn't.. very hairy), I notice eyebrows fall out.. 7-8 every day, and also a few eyelashes.
I recently tried putting a product in my hair that makes it appear thick and holds it together very strongly (so that any hair that sheds doesn't fall btu stays in my scalp so I can count how many I lose in the shower then the substance comes off) I counted 50-60 when I tried this. Its been 8ish months since this started though.. And I've been losing patience/optimism that its just Telogen Effluvium episode.
Pics:
My hairline over the last 6 months has surprisingly stayed almost the same.. maybe half a centi more receeded, so its almost the same as the last pic, however.. My hair everywhere else has thinned quite a bit..
Now What?
I need opinions of people who have gone through this to guide me.. I know of the big 3, and if you guys do think this is an early phase of male pattern baldness, being someone who's studying med sci, I'd want to get on finasteride at the end of this month (as soon as exams are over). I'm only 19, what do you think finasteride could do for me? If you look closely at my hairline, any hair that has receeded is still there.. just miniaturized.. And any hair that looks thin, is still there.. Just quite thin..
I'm iffy on rogaine since its a lifetime commitment and it doesn't do anything to eradicate the root cause of hairloss.. If I do start on propecia, I'd want to taper onto it, going from 0.25 for a few days to 0.5 to 0.75 to 1.0 and then after a few months 1/5th of a proscar.
As for my doctors' opinions.. I've seen 3.. One looked at my hairline, inspected it for a minute, pulled onto it lightly (only 2 hairs came out), and said I'm being paranoid I have a perfect hairline I'm not losing my hair. Another one said wait... (8 months ago), and one said wait and then when it thins more, get on rogaine/finasteride.
When I do the pull test myself.. With firm pressure, I lose 4-5 hairs, this is consistent on the vertex + the sides.. I even lost 8 hairs once on the side.
Am I thinning very fast? Is this aggressive male pattern baldness? If so should I consider dutasteride? Do you think I could maintain my hairline and thicken up my hair that has thinned a little, could I reverse some of this?
Please help.
I was 18 years old at the time, my maternal grandfather died with a norwood 1, at around age 60. All my maternal uncles (I have three) still have their hair (though I don't think its norwood 1, perhaps 2/2.5, and they're all 35+ now).
My paternal grandfather @ the time of his marriage had a norwood 0, he was 24/25.. But in his 30/40s started thinning, and later went bald (not completely, probably norwood 4 by the time he was 50), her step brother was a norwood 4 from what I saw of him (in his 40s)
I have 7 paternal uncles.. And every single one of them has a full head of hair, most at norwood 1-2.
My father himself is quite a weird case.. @ age 26 he was a norwood 1.5 with thick hair, at 30 he was a norwood 2, his hairloss basically stopped right here.. from 30 - 50 he has extremely slowly gone from a norwood 2 to a norwood 3
Me:
Exactly one year ago, I had hair that was.. Very thick and healthy, something I never realized or noted apart from the occasional freak-out my the hair stylist.. Which I attributed to them trying to get a tip.
Exactly one year ago, it was the time for final exams at university (first year), I was stressed, then very complicated and emotionally distorting issues started arising with my close family (I lived at home), twice I was kicked out.. I spent a whole night sleeping in a study room on campus, I was a mess. Add a sudden break-up to that within the same month, and the extreme stress of maintaining marks, trying to study etc etc. while all this was going on.
First picture I attach was taken right when these things were happening.
3 Months later, I get a haircut and I begin to notice that my hair seems a little lighter.. Still very thick at this time though.
In the following weeks, I began to notice 1-2 hairs on my fingers every time I washed my hair or even ran my hands through it while they were wet.. (I'd never noticed this before), then, in the shower I began to notice 5-10 hairs every day (I used to notice 1-2). Then, I started to notice that my hairline had slanted backwards by a centi. I started with a norwood 0, so I thought maybe its going to norwood 1...
Then my hair starts to get thinner, but not just on top, but everywhere, sides included.. (All within the same month).. And I attribute this to telogen effluvium since it'd been 4 months since the most stressful month in my life.. I was still a little stressed and depressed, had anxiety attacks.. Etc.
From that point on my hair has continued to thin, I now lose 15-20 hairs in the shower, for some reason my hair has thinned and my hairline has receeded but only on one side (to a NW1.5) the other side is still a NW1.
I have noticed that my hair hasn't just thinned on the top but also on the sides and when I recently got a haircut I could even see a line of very thin hair on the back of my head. However, the thinning is still most visible on my left temple & my vertex, the thinning I feel is going from my left temple to the center of my forehead, and isn't yet at the right side (however all my hair has thinned, including that on the right side, I just don't see any miniaturization on that side yet.
I should also include that I also notice 10-15 hairs shedding from my chest (which isn't.. very hairy), I notice eyebrows fall out.. 7-8 every day, and also a few eyelashes.
I recently tried putting a product in my hair that makes it appear thick and holds it together very strongly (so that any hair that sheds doesn't fall btu stays in my scalp so I can count how many I lose in the shower then the substance comes off) I counted 50-60 when I tried this. Its been 8ish months since this started though.. And I've been losing patience/optimism that its just Telogen Effluvium episode.
Pics:
My hairline over the last 6 months has surprisingly stayed almost the same.. maybe half a centi more receeded, so its almost the same as the last pic, however.. My hair everywhere else has thinned quite a bit..
Now What?
I need opinions of people who have gone through this to guide me.. I know of the big 3, and if you guys do think this is an early phase of male pattern baldness, being someone who's studying med sci, I'd want to get on finasteride at the end of this month (as soon as exams are over). I'm only 19, what do you think finasteride could do for me? If you look closely at my hairline, any hair that has receeded is still there.. just miniaturized.. And any hair that looks thin, is still there.. Just quite thin..
I'm iffy on rogaine since its a lifetime commitment and it doesn't do anything to eradicate the root cause of hairloss.. If I do start on propecia, I'd want to taper onto it, going from 0.25 for a few days to 0.5 to 0.75 to 1.0 and then after a few months 1/5th of a proscar.
As for my doctors' opinions.. I've seen 3.. One looked at my hairline, inspected it for a minute, pulled onto it lightly (only 2 hairs came out), and said I'm being paranoid I have a perfect hairline I'm not losing my hair. Another one said wait... (8 months ago), and one said wait and then when it thins more, get on rogaine/finasteride.
When I do the pull test myself.. With firm pressure, I lose 4-5 hairs, this is consistent on the vertex + the sides.. I even lost 8 hairs once on the side.
Am I thinning very fast? Is this aggressive male pattern baldness? If so should I consider dutasteride? Do you think I could maintain my hairline and thicken up my hair that has thinned a little, could I reverse some of this?
Please help.