My story of my ongoing hair loss that started (visually) a year ago.

[catch21]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and hoping to get possible insight on my issue. I'll try to be detailed. A year ago, I had an attack of what I am still trying to treat a year later of some kind of reflux. For a year now I have been trying to find a way to get the reflux under control and to become healthier. Unfortunately, when it rains it pours. About 3 or 4 months after beginning a medication called Pantoprazole (protonix) to keep acid levels down in order to stop the destruction to my esophagus, I noticed my hairline receded slightly and my top (crown?) area began to look thinner, as if the hair follicles were still present but just thinner. Since then, my hairline has receded a good deal leaving me with a somewhat uneven but not too bad looking one (i'd say i'm missing about and inch length wise and about a half inch height wise on both sides of my front hair line. Frustratingly i'd see a couple hair stragglers still left in certain areas where hair once was, but just a year prior I had no issue with this. I noticed the thinning on the top began at the back, but has since progressed to nearly the front of my hair, with only the very tip/front of my hair still having the original thickness it used to have.

Unfortunately talking to doctors, they claim there is no way the medication i'm using could have caused anything (which may be true, I just find it odd timing especially with how rapid the progression has been), and I have not really been aided by any doctors in this issue despite going to a GI doctor, my normal doctor, and a dermatologist that just recommends using Biotin (which i'm told will not help me if I don't have a biotin deficiency)

Since then, I began using Regenepure DR every other day along with the NT formula, but really I haven't seen my hair loss stop, just the dandruff I was having seems to have reduced. I then began using Minoxidil from the same company (so rogaine but not from them) and for the first day it seemed fine, but after the second day I noticed a trend. Whenever I applied the 5 percent minoxidil, I felt nauseous and somewhat dizzy for an hour or so as well as mild heart/chest tightness. After using that for 5 days I have decided to stop because the symptoms i've felt seem really scary.

I guess my questions for the community are quite vast and likely not to be answered. Can my disease or the drug i'm using be causing this, and if so, would it ever return or just keep getting worse? Is it possible that all this just triggered the inevitable or that something else could be wrong? The dermatologist I saw was totally useless, he just looked at my head and said yep that's male pattern baldness and didn't seem to think it was odd that probably 30 percent of the density of my hair has disappeared in under a year, which might be normal?

I'm 30 years old now, had a full head of hair just until this began, my father in his 50s has almost all his hair still though my grandpas on both sides did lose theirs but they were quite a bit older. If anyone has advice on what I could be doing better, what could be wrong, and potential treatments I should think about I'd love to hear. Right now, if my hair stopped depleting I could be fine with where it is, but the fear is if I lost this much in a year, what will happen within another year, etc. Just seems right now i'm getting jerked around, either try and control my acid reflux and not get cancer but lose hair (if thats the trigger) or try to treat it with minoxidil and get ill feeling in the process, it makes me fear if everything is going wrong, that going on a drug for it could be real bad :/

Thanks for hearing me out guys!

 

[buckthorn]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and hoping to get possible insight on my issue. I'll try to be detailed. A year ago, I had an attack of what I am still trying to treat a year later of some kind of reflux. For a year now I have been trying to find a way to get the reflux under control and to become healthier. Unfortunately, when it rains it pours. About 3 or 4 months after beginning a medication called Pantoprazole (protonix) to keep acid levels down in order to stop the destruction to my esophagus, I noticed my hairline receded slightly and my top (crown?) area began to look thinner, as if the hair follicles were still present but just thinner. Since then, my hairline has receded a good deal leaving me with a somewhat uneven but not too bad looking one (i'd say i'm missing about and inch length wise and about a half inch height wise on both sides of my front hair line. Frustratingly i'd see a couple hair stragglers still left in certain areas where hair once was, but just a year prior I had no issue with this. I noticed the thinning on the top began at the back, but has since progressed to nearly the front of my hair, with only the very tip/front of my hair still having the original thickness it used to have.

Unfortunately talking to doctors, they claim there is no way the medication i'm using could have caused anything (which may be true, I just find it odd timing especially with how rapid the progression has been), and I have not really been aided by any doctors in this issue despite going to a GI doctor, my normal doctor, and a dermatologist that just recommends using Biotin (which i'm told will not help me if I don't have a biotin deficiency)

Since then, I began using Regenepure DR every other day along with the NT formula, but really I haven't seen my hair loss stop, just the dandruff I was having seems to have reduced. I then began using Minoxidil from the same company (so rogaine but not from them) and for the first day it seemed fine, but after the second day I noticed a trend. Whenever I applied the 5 percent minoxidil, I felt nauseous and somewhat dizzy for an hour or so as well as mild heart/chest tightness. After using that for 5 days I have decided to stop because the symptoms i've felt seem really scary.

I guess my questions for the community are quite vast and likely not to be answered. Can my disease or the drug i'm using be causing this, and if so, would it ever return or just keep getting worse? Is it possible that all this just triggered the inevitable or that something else could be wrong? The dermatologist I saw was totally useless, he just looked at my head and said yep that's male pattern baldness and didn't seem to think it was odd that probably 30 percent of the density of my hair has disappeared in under a year, which might be normal?

I'm 30 years old now, had a full head of hair just until this began, my father in his 50s has almost all his hair still though my grandpas on both sides did lose theirs but they were quite a bit older. If anyone has advice on what I could be doing better, what could be wrong, and potential treatments I should think about I'd love to hear. Right now, if my hair stopped depleting I could be fine with where it is, but the fear is if I lost this much in a year, what will happen within another year, etc. Just seems right now i'm getting jerked around, either try and control my acid reflux and not get cancer but lose hair (if thats the trigger) or try to treat it with minoxidil and get ill feeling in the process, it makes me fear if everything is going wrong, that going on a drug for it could be real bad :/

Thanks for hearing me out guys!

Spend some time thoroughly researching telogen effluvium

 

[catch21]

Spend some time thoroughly researching telogen effluvium

I've never heard that term until now, so from what I can see it can become a problem with chronic illness and malnutrition, but I wasn't able to find out if it can be reversed if that was the case. It's something that can be definitively diagnosed through a biopsy as well? I am reading about it on this very site, and I don't see a mention of it explaining outright hair falling out in the hairline as well, but I am really new to all this.

 

[buckthorn]

The doctor can remove a very tiny portion of the scalp, containing hair follicles. By analyzing how many of those follicles are in telogen (resting), he can determine if you have Telogen Effluvium. In general, only 10-15% of your hair follicles are "resting" and the other 85-90% are growing (anagen, 2-4 years). Sometimes, when you have a physical insult to the body, like surgery, illness, medication, drastic diet change, etc... your body sends signals to your follicles to "shut down", shed the hair and divert blood and nutrients to address the insult. this can cause a BIG shedding of hair, 20-50%. It generally results in DIFFUSED thinning. For example, Most women that give birth go through this. But, women regrow their hair... men with male pattern baldness MAY regrow their hair, but in the male pattern baldness zones, it might struggle to return to it's original, terminal state. Telogen Effluvium manifests itself about 2-4 months after the trigger. For example, I had surgery a couple years ago and like clockwork, 3 months after I started shedding a lot of hair. It is usually "self correcting", meaning that if the trigger is removed, your hair will cycle back into it's normal anagen / telogen ratio. IF the trigger is NOT removed, it can become chronic, repeating itself a couple times a year or so.

-You need to figure out what is causing your drastic hair loss.
-It could simply be male pattern baldness kicking in rapidly with period bouts of shedding
- it could be Telogen Effluvium described above
- it could be both

-Generally with Telogen Effluvium, a large amount of the hairs you shed have a white bulb on the end of them. These are telogen hairs.

FIND a WELL RESPECTED, REPUTABLE dermatologist that specializes in hair. If you have to drive farther, do it. DON'T start messing around with internet scam snake oils. Tell your derm straight up that you need to figure this out, you want him to take his time and PROPERLY diagnose this. research finasteride (propecia) and minoxidil. Your mind is a weapon and the better armed you are before you walk in there, the more you will get out of it. FINALLY - POST PICS so we can further assist you.

 

[catch21]

Here are some pics. Keep in mind I know it's not too bad but, it was a lot more prior hence the concern.

 

[science_d]

Hey everyone, I'm new here and hoping to get possible insight on my issue. I'll try to be detailed. A year ago, I had an attack of what I am still trying to treat a year later of some kind of reflux. For a year now I have been trying to find a way to get the reflux under control and to become healthier. Unfortunately, when it rains it pours. About 3 or 4 months after beginning a medication called Pantoprazole (protonix) to keep acid levels down in order to stop the destruction to my esophagus, I noticed my hairline receded slightly and my top (crown?) area began to look thinner, as if the hair follicles were still present but just thinner. Since then, my hairline has receded a good deal leaving me with a somewhat uneven but not too bad looking one (i'd say i'm missing about and inch length wise and about a half inch height wise on both sides of my front hair line. Frustratingly i'd see a couple hair stragglers still left in certain areas where hair once was, but just a year prior I had no issue with this. I noticed the thinning on the top began at the back, but has since progressed to nearly the front of my hair, with only the very tip/front of my hair still having the original thickness it used to have.

Unfortunately talking to doctors, they claim there is no way the medication i'm using could have caused anything (which may be true, I just find it odd timing especially with how rapid the progression has been), and I have not really been aided by any doctors in this issue despite going to a GI doctor, my normal doctor, and a dermatologist that just recommends using Biotin (which i'm told will not help me if I don't have a biotin deficiency)

It is very possible you are simply beginning to experience the normal process of male pattern baldness and that it is just a coincidence that it started around the time of your medication. The signs are all there: recession at the temples, thinning at the crown, and thinning on the top. This is exactly what 95% of men who have hair loss experience.

I am not sure if you are experiencing telogen effluvium, since that is usually NOT characterized by recession at the temples (http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/effluviums), which you seem to be observing. Once again, your case seems to involve the more common male pattern baldness, at least based on what you have described.

Since you likely have male pattern baldness, if you use any of the standard treatments for it, that should be effective in stopping you from losing any more hair. You were right to stop using minoxidil, since it was giving you negative side effects, however. There are many other effective tools, such as low-level laser therapy (a non-drug solution with zero known side effects), 2% ketoconazole shampoo, and prescription finasteride (though you should be aware of possible side effects). If you are able to use one or more of these treatments, they should help with your hair loss. I discuss this and other options on my research-based blog (https://attackplan.wordpress.com/category/start-here/).

 

[catch21]

Does male pattern baldness tend to happen so rapidly though? Obviously we all start somewhere if it happens, so I just don't know.

 

[Austin:316]

Maybe the protonix somehow increased your body's levels of DHT which caused male pattern baldness to kick in. I'd research to see if that is possible and search the internet to find out if anyone else who takes that medication has had that reaction. If not then it's probably just male pattern baldness taking hold. If that's the case take finasteride to try to halt it.

 

[kmm179]

That's a male pattern baldness pattern. It probably started atleast 2-3 years ago and it is only visible now. Diffuse thinning can take longer to notice bc it covers such a big scalp area as apposed to a receding hair line or balding at the crown. Hop on finasteride or minoxidil. Only treatments for it. I wouldn't even have someone to a biopsy just go to a derm.

Good thing is you caught it Early and are at a good point to treat it.

You could also grow your hair a little longer won't be as noticeable.

 

[catch21]

Is finasteride generally safe? The derm I went to refused to let me try it because he said it can have bad side effects, mask some cancer screenings and make you unable to get life insurance. He wasn't very helpful.

 

[Corey72]

Good luck! A friend recently told me about a procedure the dermatologist did with a needle into the scalp

 

[catch21]

It's scary since I'm on a work trip for 2 months and can't do much else and still see my hairline receding more

 

[shookwun]

Looks like Male pattern baldness to me.

Have a NW2 but are developing a NW5V/6 diffuse pattern.

I have no doubt in my mind as mentioned that it's been happening for quite some time, but only became apparent now.


Finasteride can help restore your diffuse, and give you a good head of hair. As for the temples, they will remain recessed.

 

[catch21]

Well as I said before, it's happening quite rapidly to a point I notice a pretty big change on a monthly basis, and with my negative reaction to minoxidil 5 percent I really am not sure a safe way to proceed without just accepting going bald, which I'd be scared of being only 30 :/

- - - Updated - - -

Also here is a new picture which is just a 2 weeks newer than the last, I now see more scalp in some areas