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Never thought that I would've had to deal with such issues in my early twenties but 2020 seemed to surprise me at the last minute. Not a native speaker for pardon me for any possible spelling mistakes. So long story short, I've always had a strong widows peak since I was born and never had an issue with it UNTIL last October I think If I remember correctly. So at first I started to notice slight recession on my left temple and one day I was going out and my hair just wouldn't sit on my head the way it always has been. I realized that I was in fact experiencing diffuse thinning and I was experiencing it at a rapid speed.
So like many of us unfortunate ones here I formed a nice new hobby of being obsessed about the possible hair loss by taking pictures daily in front of the mirror and consulting all my friends wtf is going on. My mother, being a hair dresser herself, claimed that my observations were purely in my head and I was just panicking for no reason. I started to Google everything about male pattern baldness and binge watch YouTube content about the topic and all the possible treatments available, and I was even on a verge of starting the big three all together but one day just decided to fix the problem by shaving it all off instead in December.
So what now. I decided to let my hair grow and see how it will turn out and the results are more or less excruciating. It has been almost two months now and my hair is growing back in small patches leaving bald spots all over the scalp, including the very back of my head. I wouldn't mind having a receding hairline instead of diffuse thinning cause it is starting to look like there is no way to rock even a buzzcut with this kinda patchy hair loss.
I went to see a dermatologist in late November and after no more than 15 seconds of examining my hair, the doctor said that it looked like a clear example of Telogen effluvium but couldn't say for sure at this point yet. (So the whole appointment was a big waste of time and money despite my relatively good insurance). And I couldn't just find peace with the matter after the "diagnosis".
My background is that from late 2019 to early 2020 I was working on a extremely high stressful job as an intern that really got a hold of my body. I was taking beta blockers every day for severe anxiety and physical stress symptoms and the doses were just getting higher and higher (40mg tabs, maybe 10-15 a day at max). (Stupid I know) Also my diet was really bad as I usually ate once a day after I got off at 10 AM and I slept approx few hours a night. After my contract ended I came back to finish my studies and had no issues with my hair yet. Then the Covid 19 pandemic started and I went on a fairly isolated quarantine for 6 months where I formed a full blown drug habit that continued till the very end of the year. (weed mostly but the doses were increasingly big and I was smoking practically every day for almost 10 months). Also I was working on my thesis at the same time and I ended up in a very stressful emotional turmoil in my relationship, so there was a lot of things going on. What do you think, could any of these factors be the underlying cause for my hair loss?
So here we are. 2021. I've kinda made peace with the whole thing if it is male pattern baldness. My dad went bald in his forties, everyone else in my family have a full set of hair, even my 80+ grandparents. I've decided that I'm not going to go with finasteride or minoxidil, If the thinning increases from here on I'm going to shave it off again and cope with the harsh reality- However if it indeed could be Telogen Effluvium I think I'll just give it few more months and hope for the best. Luckily it's super cold here in Finland and it's beanie season anyway so I'm safe for now. I quit smoking on new years eve and I'm also not drinking atm and I've been off beta blockers for approx 2 months now. At least that's progress. No desire whats so ever to experience the isolated addict life ever again. My hair looks fairly decent on darker light and when it's dry but as soon as it's bright and shiny it's quite obvious something is going on. Not to mention when it's wet. Jesus Christ. Well judge yourself. Seems like the eyebrows are thinning as well.
Went to get a lab test as well, all the levels including iron, ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid etc. inside the reference values and no problems whatsoever.
Thanks in advance. I appreciate all the responses and further insight on my case. And I hope all the best for all of you guys out there! The struggle is real and we're all in this together!
Peace and love.
So like many of us unfortunate ones here I formed a nice new hobby of being obsessed about the possible hair loss by taking pictures daily in front of the mirror and consulting all my friends wtf is going on. My mother, being a hair dresser herself, claimed that my observations were purely in my head and I was just panicking for no reason. I started to Google everything about male pattern baldness and binge watch YouTube content about the topic and all the possible treatments available, and I was even on a verge of starting the big three all together but one day just decided to fix the problem by shaving it all off instead in December.
So what now. I decided to let my hair grow and see how it will turn out and the results are more or less excruciating. It has been almost two months now and my hair is growing back in small patches leaving bald spots all over the scalp, including the very back of my head. I wouldn't mind having a receding hairline instead of diffuse thinning cause it is starting to look like there is no way to rock even a buzzcut with this kinda patchy hair loss.
I went to see a dermatologist in late November and after no more than 15 seconds of examining my hair, the doctor said that it looked like a clear example of Telogen effluvium but couldn't say for sure at this point yet. (So the whole appointment was a big waste of time and money despite my relatively good insurance). And I couldn't just find peace with the matter after the "diagnosis".
My background is that from late 2019 to early 2020 I was working on a extremely high stressful job as an intern that really got a hold of my body. I was taking beta blockers every day for severe anxiety and physical stress symptoms and the doses were just getting higher and higher (40mg tabs, maybe 10-15 a day at max). (Stupid I know) Also my diet was really bad as I usually ate once a day after I got off at 10 AM and I slept approx few hours a night. After my contract ended I came back to finish my studies and had no issues with my hair yet. Then the Covid 19 pandemic started and I went on a fairly isolated quarantine for 6 months where I formed a full blown drug habit that continued till the very end of the year. (weed mostly but the doses were increasingly big and I was smoking practically every day for almost 10 months). Also I was working on my thesis at the same time and I ended up in a very stressful emotional turmoil in my relationship, so there was a lot of things going on. What do you think, could any of these factors be the underlying cause for my hair loss?
So here we are. 2021. I've kinda made peace with the whole thing if it is male pattern baldness. My dad went bald in his forties, everyone else in my family have a full set of hair, even my 80+ grandparents. I've decided that I'm not going to go with finasteride or minoxidil, If the thinning increases from here on I'm going to shave it off again and cope with the harsh reality- However if it indeed could be Telogen Effluvium I think I'll just give it few more months and hope for the best. Luckily it's super cold here in Finland and it's beanie season anyway so I'm safe for now. I quit smoking on new years eve and I'm also not drinking atm and I've been off beta blockers for approx 2 months now. At least that's progress. No desire whats so ever to experience the isolated addict life ever again. My hair looks fairly decent on darker light and when it's dry but as soon as it's bright and shiny it's quite obvious something is going on. Not to mention when it's wet. Jesus Christ. Well judge yourself. Seems like the eyebrows are thinning as well.
Went to get a lab test as well, all the levels including iron, ferritin, vitamin D, thyroid etc. inside the reference values and no problems whatsoever.
Thanks in advance. I appreciate all the responses and further insight on my case. And I hope all the best for all of you guys out there! The struggle is real and we're all in this together!
Peace and love.
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