Guitar66's Story - ( 24 / Diffuse thinning on top)

guitar66

Member
Reaction score
2
new guy here- 24 with diffuse thinning on top. hair line has only receded a bit, still in the range of what I would call a mature hair line. Started to notice thinning about a year ago. As early as May of this year, i couldn't convince my doctor that my hair was thinning, and here we are in november and he's ready to prescribe me Propecia, Proscar, anything I want really- meaning it seems to be progressing rather fast.

No hair loss in my family. My mother has the thickest mop of hair I've ever seen. My uncle has full hair, my great uncle has been through cancer, 30 years as an alcoholic, and still has a full head of hair. Dads side is pretty good from what i know too.

I'm going in two weeks to a thyroid specialist, to see if that is a possible cause. I've had some bad family problems these past few years, so I'm thinking at this point it might be stress or thyroid related, seeing as how i eat really well and theres virtually no male pattern baldness in my family. I also have some symptoms that sound thyroid related. Who knows, could still be my last bit of denial. We'll find out soon.

I've done some google research on thyroid hair loss, and nothing specific really comes up, other than "thyroid problems can cause hair loss, sometimes it regrows, sometimes it doesn't". Most of it is geared towards females as well. Nothing really in terms of patterns, pictures, treatments etc.

I also have seborheic dermatitus/dandruff. I've cleared the seb derm on my face but I have not gotten it out of my scalp. I feel that this may be a factor.

I have a prescription of proscar filled right now, but I would really like to avoid taking it. I would much rather find an herbal/diet/supplement method and utilize some type of topical for thickening. For these reasons I plan on sticking around in the "experimental" section, and posting my results in the proper forums.

I've been lurking for a bit now, and for the most part everyone on this forum seems to have their act together, especially compared to doctors that just want to rip out their prescription pad and get you out of their office. Sure theres plenty of disagreements but the interest and the proper dialouge is still here.

Here is my plan right now:
1:Continue researching possible causes/remedies for my hair loss (leaning towards RU and various herbal/natural/ supplements and apple cider vinegar for the seborriec dermatitus. Again, trying to avoid propecia
2:I have an appt. with a thyroid specialist on 11/25. I plan on having blood tests for hormones, adrenal glands, iron.. basically everything. This way I can possibly determine if my thyroid is affecting it. Also, I'll have base results for anything i try, even if that does happen to be propecia.
3: depending on the results, assemble a regiment from my research.
4: if all else fails, i'm shaving my head and joining the coast guard

A few questions in the meantime:
1:Does anyone here have any experience with thyroid hair loss? Patterns, remedies, results etc..?
2: I've also read that dandruff and seborreic dermatitus can affect it.. does anyone here have direct experience with this?
3:Lastly, what are the "balding" tests I keep hearing of? Are they worth it and who do i go to?
 
Reaction score
0
Re: guitar66's story

Regardless of what anyone else tells you, seborrheic (sp?) dermatitis can cause hairloss. I'm saying this because I experienced hairloss from it from almost 6 months when I was completing an undergraduate degree....My dermatologist at the time gave me a cortisone injection and some cream to rub on it and also, prescribed 2% minoxidil. After six months it grew back in. But if your hairline has receded pretty symmetrically and there are not just random patches of loss, then I seriously doubt you're losing from seborrheic dermatitis, though I am not a doctor....when I lost hair during that undergrad year, the loss was very sudden and occurred after I noticed flakiness in an area right above my right sideburn. When I say the loss was sudden, I mean it was SUDDEN and I think I had a bald patch in the aforementioned area within the period of about 1 - 2 months after noticing the itching/flakiness.

Good luck man, get a dx asap so you can figure out a gameplan!
 
Reaction score
0
Re: guitar66's story

Also....that thyroid problem-induced hair loss thing, from what I've read isn't very prevalent in men (other stuff that I've read, I believe stated that it may be, but just underreported :dunno: )....When I first noticed loss, I thought it had to be due to something else other than male pattern baldness since my father said he didn't notice loss until his 50's (though I suspect he might have lost some earlier and just not noticed it as these types of things aren't important to him). I went to my PCP and got a full workup done and guess what? Everything was fine. Predicated on what you described, it sounds to me like it may be male pattern baldness, maybe male pattern baldness coupled with the skin issues. But everyone goes through this process it seems of ruling every other cause out....the thing is, when I first noticed my little "problem", I began taking all of this other crap, topical steroids, etc, prescribed by a dermatologist, of course; but while on this stuff, I was still losing hair. Regret is a painful thing, and I oftentimes wonder, "Man what if I had gotten on propecia when I first noticed it and not waited for awhile using that other stuff?"

I would just get your tests done and rule out everything as quickly as possible so that you don't lose any more ground.
 

guitar66

Member
Reaction score
2
I see...My SB case isn't quite the same, although I still feel like it might contribute to hair loss in some way. I've read on here that dandruff, inflamation, dry scalp etc can make your hair more succeptible to a build up of DHT in your follicles. So even though I'm not getting the specific patches, it still might make the existing condition a little worse. It's basically just one element I'd like to address when figuring out what regiment to go by.

You said your doctor prescribed 2% minoxidil? Is that different than over the counter rogaine at the store?
 

blink

Established Member
Reaction score
1
i wouldnt be too quick to use RU because of the cost and lack of success from anyone on hair loss forums. i only know of "two" people that have responded well. one person is 'el_duterino', who is a established poster and is alright in my book. the other person is a crazy forum nut, irishpride86, who admits that he cant attribute his regrowth to RU yet because it's not physically possible to see results in just 3 weeks. it's more likely that he had a reaction to propecia and since quitting it, his hair got better (his words, not mine). so think twice before dropping a grand or so for RU when you can spend it on minoxidil/spironolactone/propecia.

and im 99.99% sure you dont have a thyroid problem and youre in denial. ive been there and so has everyone else. it's male pattern baldness. you can get a genetic test done but you already know it's true, dont be in denial about male pattern baldness.

im going to give you great advice: dont do herbal or experimental treatment. they are a huge waste of time and money. emphasis on time and money. either get on a core treatment plan of propecia/rogaine (read about possible side effects and make a choice) or accept your hair loss and be done with it.
 

guitar66

Member
Reaction score
2
yeah, thats probably the case. I definitely appreciate the honesty. I'll post some pics soon, although i've already seen a few diffuse thinner's pictures on here that are simlar to mine.

I havn't been in denial about it as much as it sounds. For a while, I saw it happening, but I couldn't convince anyone that it was thinning, even my doctor. It wasn't noticeable when dry. It still isn't noticeble when dry, only when wet. But it is progressing, and my Doctor finally agrees that I should do something.

Here are where my doubts arise: As far a genetic hair loss, one would usually see hair loss on either side of the family. I understand this is not always the case, but there is virtually no hair loss in my family. Especially on my mom's side, and I have always had her hair type.

Also, the same thing that causes male pattern baldness (DHT) is the same stuff that increases facial/body hair right? Well, at 24, I have the face of a 16 year old. I can't grow a beard at all, a few random hairs here and there, and weird spotty mustache at best. Zero chest hair, hardly any arm and leg hair. This leads me to believe that my testosterone levels might be out of whack?

I'm ready to admit to male pattern baldness, however I just want to rule out anything that may be contributing. I also want to take the tests, becuase If i do start propecia, I'll have hormone tests to compare before and after.
 

guitar66

Member
Reaction score
2
The Doctor called me with my results- I have hashimoto's thyroid disease, probably aggrivated by stress. It's an autoimmune disease, so is it possible that it is contributing to my hair loss? Is there any way of addressing this issue?
 

guitar66

Member
Reaction score
2
I've googled it and checked out many links. There is definitely a a connection between hashimotos and hair loss. Unfortuneatly, thats all I can find. Really not much detail at all... :dunno:
 

guitar66

Member
Reaction score
2
day one, sort of...

I got a bottle of nizoral last night. I plan on adding spironolactone cream and minoxidil over the next few weeks. I want to stagger everything in to see how my body reacts to each.

so far, the nizoral works nicely for my hair. I have dry hair and sensitive skin, however this stuff was mellow and my hair looked good after the shower.

is there anywhere else but here to order spironolactone cream? they seem to be out of it.

also, for a diffuse thinner, what do you think my chances are of slowing the loss, (and possibly thickening back up) for a diffuse thinner using this regimen?
 
Reaction score
0
Hey man, how is your hair doing now? I think it sucks that you have Hashimoto's disease, but then again, that is probably exacerbating your hairloss and getting that under control might alleviate it and make you hair better.....sh*t, more importantly how are you doing with Treating the thyroid problem?

Dunno where to order spironolactone cream, I think Dr. Lee sells a spironolactone topical at mino xidil . com......

PEACE dude....
 

guitar66

Member
Reaction score
2
nothing to update yet- ordering spironolactone from Dr. Lee some time next week. Been using nizoral, I liked it at first but now I feel like I'm shedding faster. I'll see what happens in a few weeks.

no update on the thyroid thing yet, my Doctor wanted to wait a month and run more tests. I go in jan 6 and I'll know shortly after what I need to do about it.
 
Top