YOUR OPINON COUNTS ON MY SHED PLEASE HELP! - SLIDE ADDED

[Myhair_Matt]

Hi Shedders and Hair loss pros!

I posted earlier in the month, in a panic, but have since relaxed alot more about my hair. Now i need some help in deciding what my next step should be in the fight against hair loss... I want your help/opinions as i can be very indecisive.

I've added a slide show for ease of use, just click the link.

http://www.slide.com/r/HoLC8YVb7j9u...previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original


Here's a run down of events so you have a good understanding as to what's happened and why i may be loosing/shedding my hair.

Over the last 6 months i got a new girlfriend (trouble), I was with her for about 3 months before dumping her as i all off a sudden started to stress and have anxiety attacks which i had never experienced before, yes the best looking girls are usually the biggest headcases. I also re-aggrvated a back injury but this time it was worse than ever which also put me in a state of panic as it was that bad i constantly thought about how i was positioned everywhere i went, and wondered if my back would ever improve. I also had a really bad run of flu's and high fevers, massive sweats & and a few headaches, not every week, but sure enough if someone had something i was sure to catch it and get it worse than everyone else. I lost quiet a bit of weight and my food habbits were pretty poor. Ohhh and to be totally honest, yes i was still going out and partying to the best of my ability along with doing what you do when you want to have some extra fun. In the end I really felt my health decline and I was at an all time low even to the point of where i went to get blood tests. After the blood test i was told i was fine although my liver function was slightly down, but it shouldn't really be effecting me. So immediately after (3months ago) i made a major effort to start eating super healthy, working out, get rid of that back injury and get back into the shape i was used to. Thats when disaster struck (1 month later), just when i was starting to get on top of things i noticed a rather heavy build up of dandruff (bare in mind i have always had a dandruff problem since i was in my teens, but it never effected me hairloss wise) so rather than washing it once a week i washed it a couple of times.... all of a sudden i noticed this hair coming out left, right and all over the freaking place, i noticed bright white scalp in places i had never seen before. I went nuts and went straight to Advanced Hair (i know, waste of money) who have been giving me the laser treatment and the minoxidil to apply twice a day as well as the saw plametto supliments. At first i would have estimated that i shed the usual 100 - 150 or so hairs daily..... ok with that, but still freaking out.... however over the last 2weeks, i have shed more like 300 hairs mainly from the the top but some from the sides, back & a bit from the eyebrows. Fortunatly my hair was massively thick in volume, sometimes i would even have twin hairs growing out of folicles, i remeber at the start of the year the hair dresser commented how thick and healthy my hair was.

I recently went to another doctor to check my hair, in his opinion i have Telogen effluvium given my recent events and that i should sit tight as there will be alot of shedding but as this is a sign of new hair pushing through. I got further blood tests done that came back great, i went to a dermatologist who said i have no signs of scalp problems and that i am just malting.

At this very moment, besides being confused as to what i should do, i am feeling great about my health, eating better than ever, taking my vitamins and all the good stuff, i have avoided everyone elses flu's now, i am less stressed, no anxiety attacks (although i think about my hair alot, which causes a little stress) i have quit the party scene, my back is much better...... but yes i am shedding like crazy, the scalp is starting to become more and more noticeable, to me at least.....

SOOOO if you were in my position, what would you do? and don't say shave it, i have already come to grips with that and think that's why i'm not so stressed about my hair.... should i really sit tight??

Thanks for your time and advice.

Matt!

 

[k3nn7i]

MAN! what a story you have there. Feel so sorry for u. anyway, maybe for start up you can tell us your family history of hairloss?

 

[Nick4441]

Advanced Hair are the biggest rip off ever.

You need to stop that immediately if you are still going and stop wasting money with them.

You can but your own Lasercomb and minoxidil for a tiny fraction of what they charge.

You need to check with trichologist if you can that you have male pattern baldness or telogen effluvium..I found the Doctor's to be not knowlegable on hair to make decision especially as they want you in and out of the office as quickly as possible. If you put your pics on here most of us will be able to tell you if its male pattern baldness...male pattern baldness shows loss first at temples and or crown, telogen effluvium you will lose hair all over your head. If you have male pattern baldness then you need to start big 3 or at least 2 of them. You are on minoxidil now..you realise that you have to keep that up forever. finasteride tabs are an easier start and you should use Nizoral shampoo...that will also help with any dandruff you mention.

Good luck

 

[flimflam]

i'll wait til you set us the pics..

 

[astral week]

hey man i'm in a similar situation. had some rough times the last year or two, and didn't cope well. decided to starve myself and stress and drink and be depressed instead, wouldn't really recommend it. I've lost about 70% of my previously thick hair all around my head. Just 2 days ago i realized my eyebrows, eyelashes, facial hair, pubes, and some body hair had all thinned, most likely b/c of this last blast of sh*t i went through like 3-4 months ago. keep in mind there is a delayed reaction for this stuff. But also keep in mind that if you're losing your eyebrows, it is NOT male pattern baldness. you may have male pattern baldness in addition to it, and this will probably exacerbate it, but your current shedding is likely able to fully recover. Unforutnately it takes a lot of time, and you have to not stress about it, which is the hardest thing. minoxidil is also helpful. I just started it 2 weeks ago myself. let us know how things go, i'd be very interested to know

 

[Myhair_Matt]

MAN! what a story you have there. Feel so sorry for u. anyway, maybe for start up you can tell us your family history of hairloss?

My Family history of male pattern baldness -

Mums side - Uncles all have a similar hair line but none of them went bald early in life. 1 Uncle is almost bald, he is 50. Grandad had a good covering of hair all the way till he ended up 6ft under.

Dads side - Dad has the similar hairline as me, no balding at an early age, he is fairly thin on top now and receded at the sides, he is 60. Grandad had hair until he was about 60-70 then eventually was loosing his hair when he ended his innings at 90

However looking at my hair against my dads, i have difffernt style of hair and mine is thick and fluffy in volume where his is thick and straight.

I can easily admit that my temples were always a little bare, i never had that perfectly rounded shape, more like a wedge, and expected to loose that, but as you can see by the pictures, it has rapidly increased within a few months.

 

[Myhair_Matt]

Advanced Hair are the biggest rip off ever.

You need to stop that immediately if you are still going and stop wasting money with them.

You can but your own Lasercomb and minoxidil for a tiny fraction of what they charge.

You need to check with trichologist if you can that you have male pattern baldness or telogen effluvium..I found the Doctor's to be not knowlegable on hair to make decision especially as they want you in and out of the office as quickly as possible. If you put your pics on here most of us will be able to tell you if its male pattern baldness...male pattern baldness shows loss first at temples and or crown, telogen effluvium you will lose hair all over your head. If you have male pattern baldness then you need to start big 3 or at least 2 of them. You are on minoxidil now..you realise that you have to keep that up forever. finasteride tabs are an easier start and you should use Nizoral shampoo...that will also help with any dandruff you mention.

Good luck

Yeah i have come to terms that ADVANCED HAIR is a major rip off, my bank acount balance now proves that, however i figure i may as well keep going for the laser treatment, if that really does anything???? I was shedding prior to going there and so stupidly went there expecting they could Maintain and regrow some hair.......

Now that i am fit and healthy, i am seriously considering the Meds/finasteride?pro, but i guess the reason i have thrown the question out there is because i'm not sure to go ahead with it or if there really is a good/bad sign that i have Telogen Effluvium and then this is a thing i just have to ride out without resorting to meds.

Thanks for your advice, really appreciate it.

 

[Myhair_Matt]

Hey astral week,

I'll keep this one up to date, win or loose.

When i noticed that my eyebrow hairs were not growing as quick as what they usually did in the centre and shedding throughout that's when i sort the docs advice. I think i was suffering male pattern baldness at a very slow rate as at 8months ago hairloss was never a thought that crossed my mind, other than noticing my temple hairs were getting a little finer, it's age and nothing different to anyone else.

When i first noticed the shedding I checked my hair condition all over. 1.5 months ago i couldn't see any scalp at the top of my head when it was dry, now i can see this part in my hair and depending on the direction it sits all i can see is white scalp shining through which would mean it's never seen the sun before, hence it's a recent occurance, not just a slow gradual loss.

I hear ya on the depresion side of things, i really went down hill for a few months, in fact i probably didn't even realise it, it just snuck up on me. I feel so much better now, although hair loss is another mind set of it's own, i am concerned about going out in the rain (yes it's winter in Sydney) looking at other peoples hair lines. Ahhhhhhh it makes me think alot, i'm not loosing any sleep about it and i would say i am mildly stressed, but only for the fact that i know things don't sort them self out over night and this could be thing i have to put up with for months or more and see things get worse before they get better.

Anyway feel free to ask me any Questions you like. Hair sucks and if we could all be bald the world would be a happier place lol.

Take care and fight the fight!

 

[Myhair_Matt]

i'll wait til you set us the pics..

Hi, I have created a slide show with SLIDE, check it out and any advice would be appreciated.

http://www.slide.com/r/n8P_HlL94D_e...previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

Yes i know i have alot of hair still... but at the rate it's shedding i will have nothing left in a month or 2. Also this is the first time i haven't had a haircut every 5-6 weeks.... obviously some hair is still growing at a good rate but it's very thin compared to previous.

 

[bustabucket]

What? You look fine. I can barely even tell that you have male pattern baldness...

 

[RaginDemon]

i think your hair is fine...

 

[astral week]

Ok, you guys who say it's fine may be right that it looks ok NOW, but that isn't the problem. you all should emphathize and understand (this being a hairloss forum) that it doesn't matter how it currently looks, what matters is how much you had BEFORE. My hair before was also very thick (jammed up the clippers at the barbers haha), so even though i've lost a ton, it still looks ok to the average person when it's dry. But i've been monitoring it obsessively for like 18 months now, and have a very good idea of how much is lost. like myhair_matt said, it's all about the RATE OF SHEDDING. people who aren't losing their hair don't understand this, my parents (who are normally very rational people), are being completely skeptical simply because it's MY hair. Which is ironic b/c my mom was just telling me how she once lost lots of her hair and eyebrows and eyelashes when she was really stressed out a long time ago. Of course it doesn't occur to them that the same can happen to me . . .
Myhair_matt, remember that derms also have a pretty crappy rep in this area. I just went to a different one today, and he gave me an entire 3 minutes of his time, and said there was nothing wrong with me, even though i've lost hair all over my body. He said "you have thick hair. nothing is wrong with you." To which i said, "I understand it looks normal now, i'm worried b/c i've lost a lot already, and now my eyebrows etc are going." To which he said, "I doubt that." Somehow he knew me better than i know myself . . .
My point is, other people can't always relate, and you have to take their opinions with a grain of salt. Basically all you can do now is be as sure as you can that it's Telogen Effluvium or CTE, and have comfort in the fact that much/most/possibly all will regrow. IF it's Telogen Effluvium and not just male pattern baldness, that is, which you also seem to have.
good luck mate

 

[Myhair_Matt]

Ok, you guys who say it's fine may be right that it looks ok NOW, but that isn't the problem. you all should emphathize and understand (this being a hairloss forum) that it doesn't matter how it currently looks, what matters is how much you had BEFORE. My hair before was also very thick (jammed up the clippers at the barbers haha), so even though i've lost a ton, it still looks ok to the average person when it's dry. But i've been monitoring it obsessively for like 18 months now, and have a very good idea of how much is lost. like myhair_matt said, it's all about the RATE OF SHEDDING. people who aren't losing their hair don't understand this, my parents (who are normally very rational people), are being completely skeptical simply because it's MY hair. Which is ironic b/c my mom was just telling me how she once lost lots of her hair and eyebrows and eyelashes when she was really stressed out a long time ago. Of course it doesn't occur to them that the same can happen to me . . .
Myhair_matt, remember that derms also have a pretty crappy rep in this area. I just went to a different one today, and he gave me an entire 3 minutes of his time, and said there was nothing wrong with me, even though i've lost hair all over my body. He said "you have thick hair. nothing is wrong with you." To which i said, "I understand it looks normal now, i'm worried b/c i've lost a lot already, and now my eyebrows etc are going." To which he said, "I doubt that." Somehow he knew me better than i know myself . . .
My point is, other people can't always relate, and you have to take their opinions with a grain of salt. Basically all you can do now is be as sure as you can that it's Telogen Effluvium or CTE, and have comfort in the fact that much/most/possibly all will regrow. IF it's Telogen Effluvium and not just male pattern baldness, that is, which you also seem to have.
good luck mate

My god, i couldn't have said it better my self, it would appear that we are going through the exact same thing.

If it were a slow loss throughout the years then no problem it's just something you live with day to day and none the wiser. But yeah the shed is clogging up sinks and is everywhere. I hate to say it but i love my hair haha... and so did everyone else that's why it's becoming such a shock to see it shedding out in the matter of a couple of months.

I will most likely hold tight for a bit longer, however if the top loses alot more, i think it's time i have a shave, i never was a cover up type of guy, unfortunatly i have never shaved my hair off either, which is the scary part.

 

[Myhair_Matt]

i think your hair is fine...

Thanks for that, however you may have said it looks awesome only a couple of months ago... i'll keep updating the slide as it progresses or automatically fixes it self...... crossing fingers and everyother part of my body.

 

[k3nn7i]

your hair is definitely receding. though the vertex is still okay. You should catch it early. I regretted ignoring it 2 yrs ago. if you think you're losing hair, get an early treatment. You'll have a higher chances of gaining them back...for your case, I think you can get propecia for maintaining it

 

[Myhair_Matt]

your hair is definitely receding. though the vertex is still okay. You should catch it early. I regretted ignoring it 2 yrs ago. if you think you're losing hair, get an early treatment. You'll have a higher chances of gaining them back...for your case, I think you can get propecia for maintaining it

I'm trying to get on top of it now, but like i say i'm not sure weather to go on propecia or sit the shed out if it's a good chance i have Telogen Effluvium. I am just amazed how much hair i have lost in the matter of a couple of months and it all seemed to happen after i got over some down times in my life, physically and mentally.

But either way i have 2 people for propecia so far....

 

[RaginDemon]

your hair is definitely receding. though the vertex is still okay. You should catch it early. I regretted ignoring it 2 yrs ago. if you think you're losing hair, get an early treatment. You'll have a higher chances of gaining them back...for your case, I think you can get propecia for maintaining it

I'm trying to get on top of it now, but like i say i'm not sure weather to go on propecia or sit the shed out if it's a good chance i have Telogen Effluvium. I am just amazed how much hair i have lost in the matter of a couple of months and it all seemed to happen after i got over some down times in my life, physically and mentally.

But either way i have 2 people for propecia so far....

If you believe its Telogen Effluvium, you should wait it you... but its a risk to take though.

 

[Guest]

hey man, look.
i pretty much have the same problem as you, so i'm right on board with ya. i've been shedding nonstop for the past 4 weeks and my hair is noticably thinner. my hair still looks ok, and i cut it short. my Doctor says it'll grow back within the next few months. right now, i'd say your hair looks great. however, if you are a little paranoid, get some Vive for men daily thickening shampoo. thats what i use now to cover the thinning and it works great. and for god's sake. DON'T quit the party scene. stay all over it. thats what keeps me going. i'm also considering starting on rogaine this week because i heard that with Telogen Effluvium, it can make regrowth a bit quicker with the hair you have already shed.

 

[astral week]

If it's Telogen Effluvium, then you should use rogain b/c there won't be any harm in quitting once you've regrown your hair. But if your hairline's receding, you might as well get on finasteride, b/c the chances it's Telogen Effluvium causing the receding are pretty slim. I recommend getting on finasteride and forgetting about it.

 

[Guest]

If it's Telogen Effluvium, then you should use rogain b/c there won't be any harm in quitting once you've regrown your hair. But if your hairline's receding, you might as well get on finasteride, b/c the chances it's Telogen Effluvium causing the receding are pretty slim. I recommend getting on finasteride and forgetting about it.

here's my only thing, do you think using the rogain would actually make the Telogen Effluvium worse? being that you go through sheds with rogaine and such.