Sick Of This Rat's Nest On Top Of My Head

[PappinAce]

My hair diffused into this rat's nest THREE years ago. The loss became noticeable in 2014. It's 2017 now and my hair looks exactly the same.

I first thought male pattern baldness because it was mostly on top. Ruled it out because:

1) male pattern baldness is progressive. I've been on zero treatments for two years and there has been no change.
2) I did try finasteride and minoxidil and they did literally nothing. No gain, no loss.
3) Zero family history of hair loss.

If you felt the texture of my "hair" you would see that it's totally characteristic of Telogen Effluvium. I also shed like a dog, but like I said there has been no noticeable change. male pattern baldness doesn't just diffuse you, and then stop. It's a path to baldness.

So wtf is going on? My derm tested my ferritin and determined that it's pretty low (24) and hair needs to be at least 40 to maintain healthy growth. I raised it to the 70s last November, no regrowth so far. Still the same rat's nest. Am I stuck with this diffused piece of sh*t for the rest of my life? What in the world can cause hair loss if it's not male pattern baldness or a vitamin deficiency?

Attached two photos three years apart.

 

[buckthorn]

Dude, it's not too bad at all... seems like you have good density in the midscalp and front?? How old are you? It just looks like common male pattern baldness. I wouldn't read much into it.

 

[kj6723]

Dude, it's not too bad at all... seems like you have good density in the midscalp and front?? How old are you? It just looks like common male pattern baldness. I wouldn't read much into it.

the "rats nest" expert dropping in to give OP advice

 

[PappinAce]

Dude, it's not too bad at all... seems like you have good density in the midscalp and front?? How old are you? It just looks like common male pattern baldness. I wouldn't read much into it.

thanks man, i appreciate it! i'm 28 years old.

diffuse thinning is so sneaky! you often cant detect it until it's wiped out a shitload of your density. it looks okay from those photos. but when i see my brittle, see-through hairs everywhere, i feel like a weakened version of myself.

 

[buckthorn]

it looks okay from those photos.

I know exactly what you mean dude. people gave me a ton of sh*t when I posted photos, then I saw myself in the car rearview mirror in direct sunlight... I looked BALD. f*****g sucks man.

 

[PappinAce]

man this is exactly what my crown looks like - i feel your pain. It f*****g sucks because it greatly limits how long you can grow your hair, even if your hairline is somewhat intact.

I have not yet found out what causes such a strange limited hairloss, but i did get diagnosed with Thyroid cancer recently and the thyroid is known to be able to cause hairloss. I'm not suggesting that is what you have but if you are looking to cover all angles then ultimately you'll have to check the thyroid as well...

exactly! we don't have bald crowns, but that's where diffuse thinning tends to be most noticeable. some crown density is necessary to grow out hair because without it, your head will look lopsided, hairline or no.

thyroid cancer huh? sounds tough man, what has that been like for you?

i'll make sure to get that tested too. is it a pretty routine blood test?

I know exactly what you mean dude. people gave me a ton of sh*t when I posted photos, then I saw myself in the car rearview mirror in direct sunlight... I looked BALD. f*****g sucks man.

true that..it's all a matter of perspective, and those with hair loss have a tendency to dwell on what the worst possible perspective looks like :|

 

[Pacey123]

Oh the one disliking all my posts has typical male pattern baldness and doesn't want to accept it. You can keep telling people here that they and you have telogen effluvium, but you will go bald eventually.

 

[PappinAce]

well we will see (and you started the petty disliking btw).

"doesn't want to accept it" lol. male pattern baldness was what i originally thought, and i treated it as such. if you had bothered to read the post. then new information turned up and i had to think of other possibilities. that's what thinking people do; we don't always accept the obvious solution if something doesn't add up.

the is a support forum, and if you're here to support, then you are welcome to stay in my thread my friend.

 

[PappinAce]

It's been ok - it was rough at first knowing i have cancer, but we all die sometime so you get over it. I'm having it removed in a few weeks so i should be 100% after that, though i hear the recovery can be a b**ch.

People often assume the hairline is the worst spot to lose hair in but i think the crown is worse. The crown is where real density is supposed to happen, without it you end up looking like someone gave you a shitty haircut and there's no way to correct for that. At least with front hairloss you can still get a clean/neat haircut, where with crown hairloss it is just a f*****g void in a random part of your head like some drunk bro slipped and mistakenly shaved a chunk off after a night of partying. It sucks.

glad you got it removed! did they catch it early enough that it didn't spread? you gonna have to do preventative chemo after?

what's your hair loss been like other than that? did you have AA before or just Telogen Effluvium from the thyroid?

 

[PappinAce]

oh sorry i misread. i hope it goes well for you. a friend of mine beat a cancerous brain tumor recently after a long road of fighting. we humans are resilient. i wish you the best.

yeah once you get Telogen Effluvium it's not as straightforward to get regrowth as they say. we will see how things go for us in the near future. my prayers to the hair gods!