Hey everyone, so I've lately started to notice that I seem to be thinning in a rather strange manner on both sides of my head. One side is thinning in a pretty straight line, while the other looks more patchy. I'm not sure whether this pattern of thinning could be described as diffuse or whether it's something else. Given that it's occurring at the sides, I'm wondering whether this could perhaps be stress related hair loss rather than classic male pattern baldness. Pictures are attached here:
I'll give a little backstory to address all the possible issues I can think of that may be causing this. Apologies in advance because I'm not sure whether this will all be relevant to the question, but just in case.
My hair loss was primarily at the temples up until now, and I never had any issues with the crown or sides. Been on finasteride + min for 3-4 years now but became really inconsistent with my application of minoxidil over the last few months. Remained somewhat consistent with the finasteride (popping a pill was easy enough compared to using min twice a day, which suddenly seemed daunting). This decreased usage of min coincided with what has probably been the worst period I've ever faced mentally.
To try and summarise, I'm currently in my final year of uni and have fallen behind drastically, the resulting stress and anxiety/depression have caused me to be barely functional for a while now. I've been stuck in an increasingly violent loop of failing at basic life tasks before being consumed by the resulting feelings of guilt and shame to the point where the problem spirals. I was diagnosed with ADHD in December and also have diagnosed OCD, I'm still struggling to put my state of mind into words exactly but the point is, sh*t has been bad and I think each of these various issues (in addition to the underlying dread and anxiety of potentially failing uni) have compounded the other to the point where my self care has suffered massively over the last few months as a result.
The harmful effects of this bad period are present in many different areas of life but obviously the hair is impacted, particularly when you suddenly become wildly inconsistent with taking the drugs that had been keeping things stable up there. I also lost a lot of weight over this period, which isn't good in my case - I was always extremely skinny with a worryingly low BMI but began working hard last year to fix it and eventually reached a healthy weight last summer, however I'm back where I started now as I barely ate at all on many days due to depression since. The reason I mention weight loss is because I wonder whether this may also be a factor in this new thinning pattern. I know the general worsening of my hair loss is down to not using minoxidil consistently, but the fact I'm seeing this strange pattern of loss at the sides makes me wonder whether this (again - not sure if this is diffuse?) is somewhat lifestyle induced too.
Is it possible that prolonged deprivation of nutrients and calories could cause hair to thin at the sides in this way? My water intake has been rather low at times too, I was really vigilant about drinking enough before but this has stalled. I have been in a prolonged state of stress due to the various problems described, could this also be having an effect? Or does it look like something else? I'm a bit perplexed by this, I haven't encountered much like it really except for diffuse thinning, which I'm not sure whether it is.
Anyway, I know I need to try and get my sh*t together and want to start now. Sorry for the lengthy post, I hope the exposition wasn't too much but my question is basically - what is going on with this side thinning?
I'll give a little backstory to address all the possible issues I can think of that may be causing this. Apologies in advance because I'm not sure whether this will all be relevant to the question, but just in case.
My hair loss was primarily at the temples up until now, and I never had any issues with the crown or sides. Been on finasteride + min for 3-4 years now but became really inconsistent with my application of minoxidil over the last few months. Remained somewhat consistent with the finasteride (popping a pill was easy enough compared to using min twice a day, which suddenly seemed daunting). This decreased usage of min coincided with what has probably been the worst period I've ever faced mentally.
To try and summarise, I'm currently in my final year of uni and have fallen behind drastically, the resulting stress and anxiety/depression have caused me to be barely functional for a while now. I've been stuck in an increasingly violent loop of failing at basic life tasks before being consumed by the resulting feelings of guilt and shame to the point where the problem spirals. I was diagnosed with ADHD in December and also have diagnosed OCD, I'm still struggling to put my state of mind into words exactly but the point is, sh*t has been bad and I think each of these various issues (in addition to the underlying dread and anxiety of potentially failing uni) have compounded the other to the point where my self care has suffered massively over the last few months as a result.
The harmful effects of this bad period are present in many different areas of life but obviously the hair is impacted, particularly when you suddenly become wildly inconsistent with taking the drugs that had been keeping things stable up there. I also lost a lot of weight over this period, which isn't good in my case - I was always extremely skinny with a worryingly low BMI but began working hard last year to fix it and eventually reached a healthy weight last summer, however I'm back where I started now as I barely ate at all on many days due to depression since. The reason I mention weight loss is because I wonder whether this may also be a factor in this new thinning pattern. I know the general worsening of my hair loss is down to not using minoxidil consistently, but the fact I'm seeing this strange pattern of loss at the sides makes me wonder whether this (again - not sure if this is diffuse?) is somewhat lifestyle induced too.
Is it possible that prolonged deprivation of nutrients and calories could cause hair to thin at the sides in this way? My water intake has been rather low at times too, I was really vigilant about drinking enough before but this has stalled. I have been in a prolonged state of stress due to the various problems described, could this also be having an effect? Or does it look like something else? I'm a bit perplexed by this, I haven't encountered much like it really except for diffuse thinning, which I'm not sure whether it is.
Anyway, I know I need to try and get my sh*t together and want to start now. Sorry for the lengthy post, I hope the exposition wasn't too much but my question is basically - what is going on with this side thinning?