6 month update (pics)

[pcu83]

It's actually been about 6 months since I've originally posted.

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/discussions ... highlight=

I bit the bullet and got on Rogaine 5% and Nizoral 1% about a month after I noticed thinning in my hair -- I had to go to a dermatologist in early October who said he saw "minor thinning" in my hair, but nothing to worry about -- probably just stress he said - Telogen Effluvium is usually the cause in people my age (I was 22 then -- 23 now).

Only problem was that I've never had a shed. Never noticed an abnormal amount of hairs in the shower or on my pillow. My hair just seemed to get thinner -- but it almost seemed like it was miniaturizing before my eyes. My parents think I'm insane (I saw my Dad last week and he thought there was no hair loss or thinning whatsoever) -- I've always had my Dad's thick hair, but my maternal grandfather and uncle both went bald fairly early (receding hairline in early twenties -- my mom said that my uncle's hairline was very receded by the time he was 22).

Anyway, I had blood work done -- nothing unusual except I tested positive on a screening for lupus, but nothing conclusive -- saw an internist who said the more stringent screen came back negative for lupus -- so I jumped on Propecia in early November. Going on 4 months now, and my hair just seems thinner. It seems thinner all over (maybe 50% thinner than I remember), including sides-- I still spike my hair, only now it seems a lot more "see-through" in a brightly lit mirror. No recession really -- maybe a little at the temples (I've noticed some small hairs there -- maybe new vellus hairs from Rogaine?) -- although in the main area directly behind my hairline it is still quite thin and seems to be spreading (or at least that was my perception). My hairline feels thinner than it was , but it hasn't really moved back.

Anyway, I was just wondering what people thought about my pics. Does anyone have thinning like this? All over the head? The entire thing is very depressing; I understand that people have it worse -- but it's very difficult in the beginning losing hair. It's like your hair has a terminal illness and you're waiting for it to die. If it gets worse, I'll probably just shave it and accept it, but until I get to that point, it just sucks.

Also -- does anyone do this? I hate the way Rogaine makes my hair look/feel when it dries during the day (plus it flakes, which sucks), so I put it in immediately when I get home from work (8pm-ish), and then set my alarm for 3am -- wake up and reapply -- going back to bed after 15 minutes with a shower cap on so the Rogaine doesn't stain my pillowcases...shower at 7am. I figure that it's 2x a day, and both get 4 hours of absorption time...anyone see anything wrong with this besides the fact that it's a pain?

Pics here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pcu83_1/my_photos

 

[BuckyOHair]

This is actually what I feel like with my hair. I'm just thinning on the crown right now. Don't have any pics to speak of. But I'm starting on Propecia tomorrow.

I've been a smoker for about 5 years or so now. I've quit, so I'm hoping that plus a little propecia will work wonders.

Quick question, what's Telogen Effluvium?

 

[pcu83]

Telogen Effluvium = telogen effluvium -- basically your hair just falls out...i suppose it's a plus that i've never had one of these infamous sheds on either propecia or rogaine...

 

[BuckyOHair]

It's definitely a plus, hey, the more that stay in our heads, you know?

Hopefully I don't shed either. Keep the faith and thanks for the info. Let us know if you see any change.

 

[JayB]

Telogen Effluvium = telogen effluvium -- basically your hair just falls out...i suppose it's a plus that i've never had one of these infamous sheds on either propecia or rogaine...

I have the exact same pattern of thinning that you do. EXACT. I was told by a few derms that I have Telogen Effluvium as well due to anxiety disorder. That was 2 years ago. My hair has gone through so many phases i cant keep track anymore. One thing i know for certain is that once you start to lose hair, whether its due to adrogenetic alopecia, Telogen Effluvium, or any other hair disorder, it will never be the same.

Its been my experience that an altered hair cycle is an altered hair cycle. That being said, 6 months ago after just doing nothing about my diagnosis and my hair i went on xandrox. I did not want to go on propecia yet because if it is a horrible bout with telogen effluvium and chronic stress being the culprit, propecia wont do a damn thing for me. Minoxidil was like a miracle for me for the first 5 months. my hair had been snapped back to reality, it had thickened up. im assuming it wasnt my actual individual hairs being thickened up, but rather hairs that were lost due to Telogen Effluvium getting pushed back into a semi-normal anagen cycle. At the late 5th month-early 6th month i have started shedding more again and my hair now feels different again. its extremely depressing. i am back to wanting to just lay in bed and sleep this sh*t away. not too mention, my panic symptoms are just below the surface because my anxiety has come back hard.

In regards to you, im not sure how you could not notice hairs being shed. Telogen Effluvium requires tons of hairs to go into the telogen phase prematurely and be shed thus giving a thinning look. I know that my hair never just "thinned" gradually..it abruptly started one morning with about a hundred hairs on my pillow a few months after a car accident and has never been the same since. Just warning you, if it is Telogen Effluvium, be prepared for a long battle..you will probably never go bald as was the case with me, but you will shed again and be prone to this unless the stressor/culprit disappears completely out of your life forever. And even then, it could take years to get fully better so they say. I just dont get it anymore.

 

[pcu83]

even though the derm said it was Telogen Effluvium, I don't think it is -- my guess would be some non-patterned diffuse thinning -- male pattern baldness.

Trust me, for the past 7 months, I've been checking my pillow, my hand after shampooing and conditioning, my towel after drying off...i don't think 2-3 hairs per day in the shower is really a shed. if i weren't looking, i would never notice.

I hope it would be Telogen Effluvium and not male pattern baldness, but I just don't think that's the case.

 

[JayB]

even though the derm said it was Telogen Effluvium, I don't think it is -- my guess would be some non-patterned diffuse thinning -- male pattern baldness.

Trust me, for the past 7 months, I've been checking my pillow, my hand after shampooing and conditioning, my towel after drying off...i don't think 2-3 hairs per day in the shower is really a shed. if i weren't looking, i would never notice.

I hope it would be Telogen Effluvium and not male pattern baldness, but I just don't think that's the case.

wow 2-3 hairs...i cant remember the last time..maybe 2-3 hairs per each time i look at my hand for a total of 10 times. in my case. it might just be thinning out for you...usually with Telogen Effluvium you shed more than a normal amount. maybe you already did shed a whole lot way back when but just didnt notice until it was over and your hair thinned out and now your hair shedding is back to normal. i dont know but it could be that

 

[BuckyOHair]

I know what you mean PCU83 about not noticing alot of hairs all at once. Mine has been the EXACT same way. If I gel my hair, or I run my fingers through it once it's been gelled, I'll notice 2 or 3 hairs, but not like ALOT. Same with the pillow and the towel.

Really just getting into the whole male pattern baldness thing here, and I've decided that this sucks.

 

[jumpedthegun]

hey man, for what it's worth, here's my advice.

First of all, our hair is very similar--in color, thickness, density, and even hairstyle. Only difference is i'm 28.

Like you, i never shed many hairs. Maybe 2-3 in the shower and that's it. However, my hair seemed thinner. Not thin as in miniaturized, because every hair that fell out i inspected and it was stong and healthy, but thin as in it fell out and never grew back.

Started on finasteride and nizoral about 9 months ago. At three months i hit a shed that lasted a month. Went from losing 3 hairs in the shower to about 20. After the shed subsided, my hair looked a lot thinner, but it grew back. however, i noticed that i continued to lose more hairs from the front of my head than anywhere else. if i wet my hands and ran them through the back of my head or sides or top, i'd get nothing. but if i ran my fingers through the front of my hair, 2-3 hairs each time. really frustrating. however, since starting american crew copper peptides, i don't lose ANY AT ALL.

i don't know what to say about our type of hairloss. I think maybe it is natural for hair to thin out some once you exit childhood, but that it stabilizes. I often wonder if i should have waited it out to see if i am really "losing hair" but i guess it is better to be safe than sorry. The thing that pushed into taking finasteride is that i also had slight temple recession. It wasnt much, maybe Norwood 1.1, but it convinced me that i had normal male pattern baldness loss so i should get on treatments. However, i don't know if the thinning and recession are related. On a positive note, since taking finasteride my temples have grown in.

i guess this wasn't really advice. but maybe hearing the same thing from someone else is encouraging. one thing though, i definitely recommend gettin on ac copper peptides.

 

[pcu83]

thanks -- I will try the copper peptides

 

[pcu83]

anyone else have any suggestions or have seen this?

 

[pcu83]

bump

 

[chuckfrasher]

thanks -- I will try the copper peptides

Go ahead and use some copper peptides but whatever you do, don't quit taking a 5AR inhibitor if you want to keep your hair. You have a ton of it left. The best way to keep it is to get rid of DHT. I hope you realize that as the foundation of you treatment. Why? Because it is waaayyy easier to keep what you have than to try and regrow it.

 

[pcu83]

oh i won't be getting off the FDA approved stuff unless I decide to bump up to dutasteride...although that won't be for another 2 years -- i'm going to give the propecia a chance to work...

it just seems like it's gotten thinner in the front; even though there's no recession. thinner all over (sides included), but definitely in the front.

 

[Guest]

you have a full head of hair.

 

[pcu83]

for the moment it's relatively full....but it's definitely thin behind the hairline. maybe it doesn't show up in pictures well, but when i look in the mirror, it's pretty frightening.

it's also thin on the sides and in the vertex.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pcu83_1/d ... 83ere2.jpg

i just got it cut, so it's shorter.

trust me, it's a lot thinner than it was 6 months ago (when i started rogaine)...and definitely a lot thinner than it was a year ago...but no recession or anything.

it just seems to be getting thinner all over very quickly.
*edit*
i've been on rogaine 5% for about 6 months and propecia for almost 4. i suppose i've seen some vellus hairs on my temples (the guy who cut my hair shaved them all off on friday though) -- i can't honestly say whether they were vellus hairs from the rogaine or just thin hair that is now more recessed. I realize my hair is still in good shape, but feeling that it is just going to get worse is pretty shitty.