GoatsHair's Story - (PHOTOS INCLUDED - 35 years old)

[GoatsHair]

Hi folks, :wave:

My nickname is GoatsHair because I have (until recently) always had very think, lush, 'goats hair'. A couple of months ago, in October 2007, the lady at GreatClips told me that my hair was thinning on top... so I took a photo and was shocked, so have been reading the board now for a few weeks trying to find a good, long-term solution that has minimal to no side effects, if it exists. I am 35 years old and do not currently take any medications.


:sobbing: History: 2000, 2004, and then Oct 2007

:sobbing: December 2007 - The Angle of Photo #2 makes it look really bad, even though it's rather hidden

I have some questions for you guys...

:sun: 1) Is it possible, even remotely possible that this is not Male Pattern Baldness? Could it be something else? As you can see from the top set of photos, my hair line has not receded very much... and I do not have any hair loss at the crown of my head... the problem area seems to be the left-middle-top part of my head, hidden to most people, including myself until recently. Could this be a result of bad diet and not taking my vitamins, or something else? How can I tell if it is truly a DHT problem?

:sun: 2) Has anyone seen this type of hair loss before? Any idea what is going on here?

:sun: 3) I have not experienced any shedding of hair, in fact, when I run my hand through my hair firmly trying to get hairs, nothing falls out... also, no hairs on my pillow really... and none in my shower drain. Is my hair really falling out? ...or is it miniaturizing maybe?

:sun: 4) What advice do you guys have? Is there a special type of hair doctor I can go see? Demotologist or another type?

Thanks guys. :lost:

 

[GoatsHair]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - Photos with Progress

<This post will contain future update photos>

 

[30_going_on_60]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

crap....I just posted a long reply and I dont think it made it on. Anyways....quick recap: Make an appointment with a trichologist. They are medical professionals that deal specifically with hairloss. The doctor will also take a bloodtest which will show any vitamins you're lacking...so, it would be good for your overall health as well. In addition, you have a pretty good head of hair, I'd love to have that much...I'm jealous :$ ...best of luck!

 

[ripple-effect]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Hmmm...you kind of have the same hair loss pattern as me except I shed alot. If you are suffering from genetic hair loss then your hair loss would be classified as diffuse thinning. I would suggest using Dr. Lee's spironolactone cream to stop the hair loss....but that's just my opinion...don't take my word for it.

 

[RaginDemon]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

not that bad at all, finasteride and minoxidil should fix the problem

 

[GoatsHair]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Thanks guys... anyone able to chime in on my other questions?

Much appreciated.

 

[OverMachoGrande]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Hi and welcome,

It does look like a diffuse pattern of hair loss. I personally would jump on Rogaine first and see if it thickens up (give it at least 9 month to evaluate) if in fact it does thicken jump on propecia and you should be fine. Just my opinion, hope this helps. I am sure you will have alot of other responses, good luck and again welcome!

 

[RaginDemon]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

I agree with PropeciaJunkie

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Goat, my hair LOOKed just like your photo in 2004 but I had full coverage even on the top. 2 years later on the big 3 and my hair has really become diffuse straight down the middle. My hairline is no longer thick like it was similar to your 2004 photo. I had that little widows peak like you have and now its virtually gone. My hairs all over are no where as thick as they were 2 years ago. I have no explanation for this but I do not wish it on anyone. When I noticed just slight changes with my hair ( very mild thinning), I got greedy and used the big 3 and it backfired in my case. If anyone has a logical explanation for this I would love to hear it. I know Timi is going to read this and say "finasteride no good" minoxidil "no good" makes hair like straw and worse.

 

[ripple-effect]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

[Message deleted]


-rp

 

[GoatsHair]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Goat, my hair LOOKed just like your photo in 2004 but I had full coverage even on the top. 2 years later on the big 3 and my hair has really become diffuse straight down the middle. My hairline is no longer thick like it was similar to your 2004 photo. I had that little widows peak like you have and now its virtually gone. My hairs all over are no where as thick as they were 2 years ago. I have no explanation for this but I do not wish it on anyone. When I noticed just slight changes with my hair ( very mild thinning), I got greedy and used the big 3 and it backfired in my case. If anyone has a logical explanation for this I would love to hear it. I know Timi is going to read this and say "finasteride no good" minoxidil "no good" makes hair like straw and worse.

Doctor - this is EXACTLY what I am worried about... if I try to agressively treat it with medications, am I going to cause more problems than I started with... whether it be with the side-effects from the medicines or actual damage to my hair from the meds, especially if I need to stop a med. It's scary stuff.

Would the Hair Laser be a good option for me? Anyone had any good/bad experience with the x5 Laser? http://www.x5hairlaser.com/ or the Laser Comb? http://www.lasercomb.net/default.aspx

 

[RaginDemon]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Doctor, you sure you have male pattern baldness?

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Demon, I had just mild thinning. I would not consider it aggressive male pattern baldness. I went to a hair transplant Doctor and they confirmed I had mild thinning but they said I would probably not go bald but would recede more and said to stay on the treatments to keep what I had. My hair is in a state that no one would question I was losing hair but I have photos to prove it and now with this massive shed it really looks terrible but still no one has noticed anything yet.

 

[RaginDemon]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Demon, I had just mild thinning. I would not consider it aggressive male pattern baldness. I went to a hair transplant Doctor and they confirmed I had mild thinning but they said I would probably not go bald but would recede more and said to say on the treatments to keep what I had. My hair is in a state that no one would question I was losing hair but I have photos to prove it and now with this massive shed it really looks terrible but still no one has noticed anything yet.

I guess I am in a similar situation...my hair was super thick five years ago and now its super thin...I don't have any bald area but its diffusive thinning all over the top.

 

[Guest]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Demon, I had just mild thinning. I would not consider it aggressive male pattern baldness. I went to a hair transplant Doctor and they confirmed I had mild thinning but they said I would probably not go bald but would recede more and said to say on the treatments to keep what I had. My hair is in a state that no one would question I was losing hair but I have photos to prove it and now with this massive shed it really looks terrible but still no one has noticed anything yet.

so lets see the photos

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Look at my avatar Jayman, don't you see my diffuse thinning in the front. :innocent: If that's not enough turn in to Fox every Tuesday and you can see my hair at all angles.

 

[Guest]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

lol are you actually talking about house's hair when you describe hair troubles or are you describing your own?>

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Jayman, My hair is definitely better than Hugh Laurie's hair.

 

[metalheaddude]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

GoatsHair...When I first saw your pics I thought instantly this is a cookie cutter perfect situation for Rogaine Foam. But as someone already mentioned sometimes we can get greedy and after much thought I really think anyone suffering from hairloss should jump on the Finasteride (Propecia) band wagon first. Finasteride greatly diminishes the amount of DHT in our system and hair follicles, which is one of the major underlying causes of hairloss in the first place. At the very least you can expect to maintain what you currently have without losing anymore hair (which would be disaterous) with the possibility of growing some back. I have heard of alot of horror stories of people with this "hair greed" syndrome and jumping on the BIG 3, propecia, rogaine and nizoral when they still have a pretty good head of hair with only mild hairloss (a lot like yourself) and the results can be devastating! Many peoples hair seems to be shocked by the sudden increase of drugs or chemicals in the scalp and often great sheds can occur and an overall general thinning seems to result (at least from the many people ive discussed this with) from which many do not recover. So yeah not trying to scare you. But I always say Finasteride first for 1 year for people with little to mild hairloss. Using the BIG 3 is really for those people with more advanced hairloss which pretty much have nothing to lose anyway. Leave the Rogaine foam up your sleeve for later. Good Luck Goatman, I look forward to seeing your progress

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: GoatsHair's Story - PHOTOS INCLUDED - Need help please.

Metaldude, the fact that some never recover after losing lots of great hair on the big 3 is a big mystery I would love solved. Why would the hair not be recovered. It takes many cycles to become vellus hairs so how can one to three good sheds knock the thick hairs out or make them thinner. My theory is you stimulate a non stop chemical telogen effluvium or chronic telogen effluvium. The fear of stopping the medical treatment to see if everything gets better is a high gamble because if you were wrong then you could lose more than when you stopped. I went to once a day minoxidil for the past 5 or 6 months and things are now worse so now I have no choice but to go back to twice a day and see if things improve again. I agree with you Metaldude, if he definitely has a concrete diagnosis by a hair transplant expert like Rassman, I would just take Propecia and wait a year before he does any additive treatment. If I had a time machine, I would do the same. I hope Jayman is right. He said most likely in a year or two, I might get some thickness back again. I hope so. By the way if that is you in your avatar, your hair looks totally normal.