Catchafish's Story - (Possible Telogen Effluvium 17 / PICS!)

[catchafish]

Up until April this year i had a full healthy head of hair. I've always had a fairly high hair line, but my hair has always been quite strong and thick. I keep a relatively even diet, and don't smoke/ do drugs.

Anyway I've been dealing with a lot of Stress at home, and at school going through some truly hard times this year, and suddenly my hair started falling and thinning out. i kept thinking it was going to stop but it has continued to get weaker and weaker, and more frizzy. It's gotten to the point now that it is thin and wire like, still a lot of body but visibly thinner, and almost impossible to comb. When combed up the sides are transparent, and a lot of scalp is clearly visible.

i had a blood test, which came back all clear however the doctor said i was very low in Vitamin D and suggested vitamins, which i have been taking.
I'm really uncertain about the future of my hair, whether I'm going bald really early or if the whole thing is a temporary Telogen effluvium, but it has caused me a lot of unhappiness. it has continued to get thinner at an alarming rate and hair continues to fall out. Is it male pattern baldness?

I'm pretty new to this whole thing so any opinions, advice, would be greatly appreciated, anyway,
thanks guys[attachment=6:1bykkmpz]DSC_0141.jpg[/attachment:1bykkmpz]
[attachment=5:1bykkmpz]DSC_0143.jpg[/attachment:1bykkmpz]
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[attachment=0:1bykkmpz]DSC_0110.jpg[/attachment:1bykkmpz]

 

[catchafish]

Re: Catchafish's hairloss story (17) PICS

some additional information:

My Paternal Grandfather still has all my hair, maternal went bald in his 40's, dad still has his hair. I'm also pretty sure my hair line is not receding, its quite even and stable. but i am losing hair over the entire head, from the very back and bottom to the crown ect.

Please can anyone help me?

 

[toocoolforhair]

Re: Catchafish's hairloss story (17) PICS

I started losing my hair at 17, but all my brothers are bald/balding too. If there's no family history then it might be stress/nutrition related. Of course, you may the first in a long line of new family balding history. Anyway, your hair does not look that bad. Keep it dry and no one can even tell.

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

Re: Catchafish's hairloss story (17) PICS

your hair situation looks perfectly fine currently

and your hair loss genes seem pretty good
what Norwood are your male relatives?

ide say you still have your juvenile hairline

i think your too young for hair loss

give it some time champ

 

[cuebald]

Re: Catchafish's hairloss story (17) PICS

Agreed, I see no male pattern baldness.

While male pattern baldness can cause hair to change texture (most balders who experience this likening their hair turning like "pubic hair" in texture and form) - this only really happens in advanced male pattern baldness, where a lot of hair has shed anyway.

I'd say your "change" in hair is probably T.E. related. You're still a NW1 and don't even have a mature hairline yet.

When Chemo patients start growing their hair back after treatment, for the first year or two it can grow in very curly before it reverts to the original, straight form.

Come back in a decade, maybe? (even then, you'll probably be at most NW2)

 

[catchafish]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

hey guys, thanks for the kind words, and helpful advice.
But i'm still not sure about my hair... this is a view of the side

[attachment=0:3eowptca]DSC_0121.jpg[/attachment:3eowptca]

Have my temples receded?

 

[Ori83]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

I had the exact same hair in your age! i wouldnt go as far as saying your losing it BUT!!! keep an eye on your hair, see if you have more then a few hairs left on yout hand when your run it in your head, watch carefuly for thinning, if you will catch in time with meds then you might be saved! good thing you are alerted, and btw, dont ask family or friends about your hair because most likely then dont know sh*t about hair-loss (i would say that 80% of all doctors are clueless too) so its all in your hands.

best of luck.

 

[catchafish]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

The big problem is that my hair is just uncontrollable. In the light the most of the scalp is visible, and i really can't comb it cause it is so thin. On the right temple the hair just won't grow. It all happened so suddenly. And i don't know what to do

My family won't even talk to me about it. they obviously don't understand how affecting this is. sometimes i feel really sure that the whole thing is temporary, but other days i think i'm shedding so much hair and its getting so thin.

I'm really scared that i'm losing it

 

[catchafish]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

i feel so embarrassed. my hair is a mess, but i'm scared to cut it because of how thin it is. I haven't been able to sleep, or leave the house

[attachment=0:d4w3kg8y]HAIR.jpg[/attachment:d4w3kg8y]

so depressing

 

[infamous]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

No signs of hairloss.

I would kill to have your hairs.

 

[Sebastien]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

Stop worrying man, my girlfriends hairline is the same as yours; her temples might be even thinner than yours.

 

[Ori83]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

I say just keep an eye on it, it looks like my hair in your age, and thats not a good thing since i lost it all, i also had the same patterns on the hairline, it is scary to see it, its like go throw it again, im not saying your losing it, but if you shed like crazy then you better keep a CLOSE look on it, you DONT want to lose your hair!! waut tull your around 18 - 19 and if it still sheds - then its time to start taking those meds.

 

[Halp]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

You have hairloss paranoia. Basically when ever you see scalp you freak out that your hair is thinning. Hair does not completely cover your scalp. Its not strands of hair so close together that theres no skin showing. Hair is spread out so when you run your fingers through it and move it around scalp WILL show. Its just the way hair is. You dont notice it as much on other people because you are not shining a bright light down right on top of it. I guarantee if you ran around with a torch and start shining it on peoples heads (you would loook like a freak yeah) but you would find you can see alot of scalp. Sadly, once you think you losing your hair you will never feel like you have enough of it.

Keep an eye on it, dont worry now your hair is perfectly fine for now. It may change in the future and if it does you can act as you will have caught it early. But as of now, your hair is perfectly fine and you shouldnt even be thinking about it.

 

[catchafish]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

You have hairloss paranoia. Basically when ever you see scalp you freak out that your hair is thinning. Hair does not completely cover your scalp. Its not strands of hair so close together that theres no skin showing. Hair is spread out so when you run your fingers through it and move it around scalp WILL show. Its just the way hair is. You dont notice it as much on other people because you are not shining a bright light down right on top of it. I guarantee if you ran around with a torch and start shining it on peoples heads (you would loook like a freak yeah) but you would find you can see alot of scalp. Sadly, once you think you losing your hair you will never feel like you have enough of it.

I understand what your saying completely, so thank you for the support, but there is something truly wrong. Its beyond paranoia. i'm not afraid to see the scalp of my hair, that is not the issue, the issue is in that when i look in the mirror, and light shines on, the entire scalp turns invisible at the roots all the way to the back. Much like the famous photo
http://www.baldness-cure.org/wp-content ... ser_lg.jpg
with the flash you only see sections of the thinness, but the whole thing is really thin.
i know this may appear as some paranoid post. but on a daily basis i am shedding hair, and although it is not receding, i and several friends have made comments about it. First every couple of weeks someone would ask me if i got another haircut, then my best friend came up to me and said 'i can see you entire scalp, are you going bald?'- to that effect.

The doctor has even said it is unusually thin and wondered if it was Telogen Effluvium. I hate to have bad health or anything weighing me back, i am the type of person who never gets sick and never complains when sick. All i want is to find out if i have a temporary medical condition, and if anyone on these boards who has dealt with Telogen could give me more information as to whether this is what i am experiencing.

Can anyone help me?

 

[mike_b]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

My gf's part looks like yours, in some spots she has those little gaps where it looks like hair is missing...but its not. She's really self-conscious about it but her hair has always looked that way and it looks fine. Your hair looks normal to me.

Seldom are we scrutinized the way we scrutinize ourselves.

Having said that, you still should consider going to a dermatologist - general practitioners usually don't know sh*t about hair loss and you shouldn't leave the fate of your hair to them, family members or an internet forum. Go to a specialist and have it checked out.

 

[kanyetothe]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

I understand what your saying completely, so thank you for the support, but there is something truly wrong. Its beyond paranoia. i'm not afraid to see the scalp of my hair, that is not the issue, the issue is in that when i look in the mirror, and light shines on, the entire scalp turns invisible at the roots all the way to the back. Much like the famous photo
http://www.baldness-cure.org/wp-content ... ser_lg.jpg
with the flash you only see sections of the thinness, but the whole thing is really thin.
i know this may appear as some paranoid post. but on a daily basis i am shedding hair, and although it is not receding, i and several friends have made comments about it. First every couple of weeks someone would ask me if i got another haircut, then my best friend came up to me and said 'i can see you entire scalp, are you going bald?'- to that effect.

The doctor has even said it is unusually thin and wondered if it was Telogen Effluvium. I hate to have bad health or anything weighing me back, i am the type of person who never gets sick and never complains when sick. All i want is to find out if i have a temporary medical condition, and if anyone on these boards who has dealt with Telogen could give me more information as to whether this is what i am experiencing.

Right now, i suspect that i telogen effluvium after losing 40 lbs in around 60 days and taking a drug called phentermine. At 22 years old, i'm freaked out about it. My friends think i'm crazy, especially when i told them that i shaved my hair to see if i was going bald. My mom notices my hair has thinned pretty badly but doesn't think i'm losing it.

I started noticing my hair thinning a 1.5 months after i started taking the medication, when i started noticing that my scalp was visible whenever i just got out of the shower. I didn't think anything of it then, but then i saw myself in a mirror when i was trying on some shoes and i thought i was starting to develop a cowlick in the front of my head b/c u could see my scalp there. This made me especially nervous, so i went to the hair cutter and got a 2 all the way around my head. I could see that there was no receding hairline and there was still hair on my vortex, but man... when i started growing back in, it was so flimsy thin. Nearly 3 months have passed and it doesn't seem to be getting better. My first plan when i get back on my paretnts health benefits is to check out a dermatoligist and see what's going on. When i take pictures, you can see my scalp clearly through my head. Also, what you described about being under a light, it's like the hair is invisible and you can see right through it to my scalp. I lost so much thickness, it worries the crap out of me.

So basically, i'm just telling you that i can empathize, but i won't really have any good news for you until a couple more months pass and i can see if there is any changes.

 

[catchafish]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

Good to see someone else posting with a similar story. Keep me posted Man
i will add more photos soon

 

[ivangennaro]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

Seems normal to me.

 

[catchafish]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

The difficult thing is showing the hair as it appears in real lighting not in a flash shot.
[attachment=2:17jy7i7p]HAIR PHOTO.jpg[/attachment:17jy7i7p]

its like a thin sort of forest over the whole scalp, and as i move i can see straight through the whole thing

[attachment=1:17jy7i7p]HAIR PHOTO 2.jpg[/attachment:17jy7i7p]

[attachment=0:17jy7i7p]HAIR PHOTO 3.jpg[/attachment:17jy7i7p][attachment=0]

is this actually normal, because only a couple of months ago my hair was nothing like this...
Oh and i have those tinny white invisible hairs all over the top front

 

[ivangennaro]

Re: Catchafish's Story - (17 / PICS!)

My girlfriend and elder sister have those tiny white hairs on their hairline too. I guess that's not a big deal. BTW, we can see the scalp 'cause your hair's wet. Ofcourse you're best observer of your own hair but from photos (which could be pretty deceiving sometimes, yeah) everything seems OK to me. But I'll say again, you know your hair best.