I am in shock and wildly depressed.

[Willie_Pep]

I sort of noticed that you could see more of the back of my head when my hair was wet back in January, but it was so subtle I really couldn't tell either way and forgot about it. Today I was just sort of scratching the back of my head and it felt actually physically sparser than normal. I couldn't shake it, my hair actually seemed to feel differently in my hand. So I took a few pictures... http://imgur.com/a/9duaN

Apologies for the messy bathroom sink.

I don't even know what to think of this? I can't remember ever being able to see more than a nickel sized spot of my scalp my entire life. Today, now matter how I push my cowlick around, the hair around my crown looks thin and sparse like that. It is DRAMATICALLY more noticeable than a month or two ago where I had some nagging feelings about it. I made an appointment with a dermatologist for thursday. I just had to thought dump this on here because it put me in an intensely negative head space. How could it become so visible so quickly? I hate that I'm immediately so fatalistic about it but it truly came as a shock. Is this progression normal? In the span of a month or two?

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Don't have any before pictures for comparison really, unfortunately. I am completely floored by this.

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Also I am prescribed Welbutrin for depression and a side effect of alopecia is listed on the wikipedia article for it, but I have no idea how common that is.

 

[yadayada029]

I can sympathize with the shock, been there. It's important to have a dermatologist familiar with the development and treatment of male pattern baldness evaluate your hair, of course also disclosing any medications you're on.

Is there a family history of male pattern baldness? How aggressive was it (did they bald at a young age)? How old are you?

 

[Willie_Pep]

I'm 28. There is some, my uncle on my father's side is bald, but that took all of his 30s and some of his 40s to take hold. I don't know my mother's side of the family hardly at all, I know her father had a full head of hair. My father's hair thinned as he got older but he never got to any late stage Norwood levels or anything. It just seems like so much in such a short amount of time.

 

[yadayada029]

it does happen and balding is unpredictable. Neither my maternal grandfather, nor my father exhibited baldness, yet I'm suffering from DPA. How's your hairline?

 

[Willie_Pep]

Up front it's barely changed. I haven't really noticed much, if it has receded at all it is very subtle. Does the amount of loss in the back seem unusual to you?

 

[yadayada029]

it does seem like what you'd get with hair loss, in the same way a part line increases in width with the progression of male pattern baldness. There is nothing to compare against though.

 

[beener]

I'm going through the same thing. But what is making me even more depressed is that I tried finasteride last year and had horrible sexual side effects. So the past 10 months I've been ignoring it and in denial then tonight I checked the back of my head in the mirror and now I'm just gutted.

extreme depression , anger and rage. My gf came home from work and could tell I was upset but I haven't told her why yet.

I'm scared to show any vulnerability.

Please help

 

[myhairbegone]

I was in the same boat about 8 months ago. Seeing that first picture of your crown balding sucks indeed. There is hope for you yet though, go see a derm and jump on finasteride