What am i to do??? chop off my head??? im only 19!

[TheRunninLife]

First off, i would like to say hello to everyone. Now i am going to, unfortunately, explain my long hairloss nightmare, so please have patience.

at times i can be OCD and paranoid. Well im just frustrated right now because what i thought i had dodged has probably came and hit me.

Background:
Well im a male and my ethnicity is white and asian. i was born with a big and high forehead and when i was younger i had a far back hairline. i didnt care back then because i was a child but i did style my hair. but now that im 19 and just starting to live the life, this tragedy had hit me. well my mums (asian) side of the family has thick and beautiful hair. not one of her 9 brothers and sisters are bald or showed any balding and her father passed with wonderful black hair. to my dismay, my father's(white) side had not been as fortunate to keep their hair. my pap is still alive and bald. my uncle had slight balding but he still had hair on the top of his head. my aunts dont have any signs of balding. but my father, the 1st child born, has complete balding on top and hair on his sides and back of his head, just like my pap. oh and my dad told me that his pap had a bald head too :/
growing up, i was always complimented on my hair and how wonderful and thick it was. everytime i received a trim, the stylist would always say how wonderful it was for me to have my mum's hair. that made me happy and joyous.

The point:
in the fall and winter seasons of 2011, i experienced an itch on my scalp that wouldnt stop and that would sometimes itch even when i took a shower. well it stopped and it didnt bother me after a while. Now, i believe that it was the sign of the beginning of a horrible nightmare. for a couple a months i noticed my hair falling out quite a bit. i thought it was the regular shedding but this was happening everyday in the shower and every time i ran my hands through my hair. one night, i looked at the bottom of the tub and saw that there were clumps of my own hair. and then that made me investigate elsewhere. i found masses of hair around the floor and then on my dresser where i styled my hair. so i examined my head in the mirror and saw that my corners had receded further back, i was able to tell because i have a beauty mark on the corner of my forehead and i use to have hair on that area. then i looked at the vertex or the crown and saw that it wasnt as thick as it use to be and i can see more of my scalp. the whole top of my head looked thin and brittle. this made me take notes.
1. my hair is thinning.
2. my hair had become lighter in color, from a dark brown to a light brown.
3. my hair is falling out
4. i can visibly see more of my scalp (i never was able to before)(the scalp is extremely visible when my hair is wet)
5. my corners are receding more
5. my temples dont seem to be as speckled with hair when i cut it short

when the hair falls out, i can see that its thin, is brown at the top end then become transparent until it reaches the bulb. i read somewhere that this means those hairs are likely never to grow again and is a sign of MPB. is this true??? i visited my GP and she said that i was being vain and nothing was wrong with me but referred me to the derm. i made an appointment that isnt until the middle of may and this is something that i need advice on at the moment.
i was someone who grew up being able to style my hair and that was apart of me. people around me always loved my hair and thought it was one of my best feature. im not a bad looking person and im not the cutest but without my hair i would feel like that i would be a monster and nothing better. sometimes this situation keeps me thinking at night and then, even though im 19, it made me cry a few times. appearance isnt everything but this is something that truly depresses me. My parents say nothing is wrong and my dad said if it is happening then there is nothing i can do, i get that part. but in todays society i see so many of my friends and peers and how they have all there hair and i think to myself, how is this something that is considered a common occurrence but it seems to only be happening to me???

another point- im starting to grow more bodily hair and at a faster rate. i use to shave once every week and now it has to be every other day. i found chest hair that i never had before and my arms are growing random thick hairs(here and there). is this a sign too?

should i take propecia at my age?
am i correct that, from what i have described, i am going through MPB??
im about to join the military and was wondering if propecia is something i should take while in the military or would it effect me in a negative way?

i am athletic and eat healthy so i dont think what im eating is doing it and i run to relieve stress so that cant be it. but i am stressing because i see that i might be losing my hair and thinning.

any positive and constructive feedback is appreciated.
picture will be posted in the future but i dont have a camera at the moment and the smartphone i have doesnt come with one. so using your best knowledge and experience without the pics at the moment, please help guide me.

massive thanks

[ravegrover]

Get on propecia & stay on it for at least an year to see results. All the best!

[Artista]

Listen to wisdom here. I know you are going through what you feel is the worst situation in life. Keep this in mind, being that you are O N L Y 19 years old, you DO HAVE better days ahead of you in relation to your hair. There is no doubt of that. Just hang in there, suffer the slings and arrows of today with that idea in mind. It is the use of optimism WITH solid facts to rely upon that will get you through it all. Later on you will be looking back on a distant memory of what you had to deal with now ,which will be MINISCULE in relation to the rest of your life. Your going to be aOK.

[clandestine]

Originally Posted by Artista

Listen to wisdom here. I know you are going through what you feel is the worst situation in life. Keep this in mind, being that you are O N L Y 19 years old, you DO HAVE better days ahead of you in relation to your hair. There is no doubt of that. Just hang in there, suffer the slings and arrows of today with that idea in mind. It is the use of optimism WITH solid facts to rely upon that will get you through it all. Later on you will be looking back on a distant memory of what you had to deal with now ,which will be MINISCULE in relation to the rest of your life. Your going to be aOK.

What are you on about exactly?

[Artista]

be critical and condescending as it has been mentioned before.
Ill not comment at this site again.

[clandestine]

Originally Posted by Artista

be critical and condescending as it has been mentioned before.
Ill not comment at this site again.

Words can often be misconstrued when posting online.

I meant no harm, mate. I'm merely asking what you're specifically looking forward to, as you never specified in your op.

[Horseshoe]

Originally Posted by TheRunninLife

First off, i would like to say hello to everyone. Now i am going to, unfortunately, explain my long hairloss nightmare, so please have patience.

at times i can be OCD and paranoid. Well im just frustrated right now because what i thought i had dodged has probably came and hit me.

Background:
Well im a male and my ethnicity is white and asian. i was born with a big and high forehead and when i was younger i had a far back hairline. i didnt care back then because i was a child but i did style my hair. but now that im 19 and just starting to live the life, this tragedy had hit me. well my mums (asian) side of the family has thick and beautiful hair. not one of her 9 brothers and sisters are bald or showed any balding and her father passed with wonderful black hair. to my dismay, my father's(white) side had not been as fortunate to keep their hair. my pap is still alive and bald. my uncle had slight balding but he still had hair on the top of his head. my aunts dont have any signs of balding. but my father, the 1st child born, has complete balding on top and hair on his sides and back of his head, just like my pap. oh and my dad told me that his pap had a bald head too :/
growing up, i was always complimented on my hair and how wonderful and thick it was. everytime i received a trim, the stylist would always say how wonderful it was for me to have my mum's hair. that made me happy and joyous.

The point:
in the fall and winter seasons of 2011, i experienced an itch on my scalp that wouldnt stop and that would sometimes itch even when i took a shower. well it stopped and it didnt bother me after a while. Now, i believe that it was the sign of the beginning of a horrible nightmare. for a couple a months i noticed my hair falling out quite a bit. i thought it was the regular shedding but this was happening everyday in the shower and every time i ran my hands through my hair. one night, i looked at the bottom of the tub and saw that there were clumps of my own hair. and then that made me investigate elsewhere. i found masses of hair around the floor and then on my dresser where i styled my hair. so i examined my head in the mirror and saw that my corners had receded further back, i was able to tell because i have a beauty mark on the corner of my forehead and i use to have hair on that area. then i looked at the vertex or the crown and saw that it wasnt as thick as it use to be and i can see more of my scalp. the whole top of my head looked thin and brittle. this made me take notes.
1. my hair is thinning.
2. my hair had become lighter in color, from a dark brown to a light brown.
3. my hair is falling out
4. i can visibly see more of my scalp (i never was able to before)(the scalp is extremely visible when my hair is wet)
5. my corners are receding more
5. my temples dont seem to be as speckled with hair when i cut it short

when the hair falls out, i can see that its thin, is brown at the top end then become transparent until it reaches the bulb. i read somewhere that this means those hairs are likely never to grow again and is a sign of MPB. is this true??? i visited my GP and she said that i was being vain and nothing was wrong with me but referred me to the derm. i made an appointment that isnt until the middle of may and this is something that i need advice on at the moment.
i was someone who grew up being able to style my hair and that was apart of me. people around me always loved my hair and thought it was one of my best feature. im not a bad looking person and im not the cutest but without my hair i would feel like that i would be a monster and nothing better. sometimes this situation keeps me thinking at night and then, even though im 19, it made me cry a few times. appearance isnt everything but this is something that truly depresses me. My parents say nothing is wrong and my dad said if it is happening then there is nothing i can do, i get that part. but in todays society i see so many of my friends and peers and how they have all there hair and i think to myself, how is this something that is considered a common occurrence but it seems to only be happening to me???

another point- im starting to grow more bodily hair and at a faster rate. i use to shave once every week and now it has to be every other day. i found chest hair that i never had before and my arms are growing random thick hairs(here and there). is this a sign too?

should i take propecia at my age?
am i correct that, from what i have described, i am going through MPB??
im about to join the military and was wondering if propecia is something i should take while in the military or would it effect me in a negative way?

i am athletic and eat healthy so i dont think what im eating is doing it and i run to relieve stress so that cant be it. but i am stressing because i see that i might be losing my hair and thinning.

any positive and constructive feedback is appreciated.
picture will be posted in the future but i dont have a camera at the moment and the smartphone i have doesnt come with one. so using your best knowledge and experience without the pics at the moment, please help guide me.

massive thanks

Time is on your side. You are only 19 and a cure or at least an effective treatment is probably within the next 5 years. For us older gents it's not so great being that we have been waiting 20 plus years and still waiting, but you are young and there are current although limited treatments that might help slow down the shedding and even regrow some hair. And look at it this way, you said you are joining the military, so when you arrive for basic trainning you will all get crew cuts and all be in the same place. It's to kind of make you feel like you all have something in common.

Try minoxidil and if that's NG then try propecia. But honestly when your in the military you will keep your hair cropped short and you will be so engrossed in your duties that hair won't be the top of your priority list. Learning the basics, keeping fit and most importantly staying safe for your family will be your priority.

Best of luck.

[TheRunninLife]

wow is all i can say. i went to the derm and he didnt know anything about hairloss whatsoever. i gave him all the info i can about my situation, even thought he only wanted to treat my acne and didnt bother with my other concern for hairloss, and he said he didnt know what to say and kept looking at the ground searching for answers.
1. i asked him can he check my blood to see if there is any deficiency in iron or something?
response: yes sure. was he able too no!

2. my hair had thinned and has become lighter in color, is this a sign of MPB?
response: hmm it might be, but im unsure

3.well when my hair comes out it goes from dark to thin and transparent at the bulb or follicle, is this normal or another sign of MPB?
response: couldnt answer so he jumped to another subject.

4.can you look at my scalp and hair?
response: he looks and says i cant say... i can give you b12. ME: SORRY ALREADY TAKING IT!

5.should i take propecia?
response: sure. starts writing a presciption. i told him wait and asked if he was going to tell me the side effects (i already knew though) and he said there is nothing really, only a small chance that you might have decrease in your libido.

6.shouldnt i be diagnosed before taking the presciption?
response: you are right. there is a test that i skimmed through, i forgot what it is called but when you come back for a follow up ill have the info.

i thought this visit would relieve the stress i had about the situation but it just made it worse. if he said no its just a maturing hairline i would have been fine with that. but if he said yes then i would have been less stressed and i would be taking the necessary steps to keeping my hair.

can someone please, if anyone on here is derm, answer my questions above. i know it is hard to tell if you dont have visuals but just by experience or knowledge, are these signs? am i right to be skeptical?

many thanks again

[clandestine]

Originally Posted by TheRunninLife

wow is all i can say. i went to the derm and he didnt know anything about hairloss whatsoever. i gave him all the info i can about my situation, even thought he only wanted to treat my acne and didnt bother with my other concern for hairloss, and he said he didnt know what to say and kept looking at the ground searching for answers.
many thanks again

Your derm is ignorant. The only proven medications to stop hereditary hair loss are propecia, minoxidil and nizoral A-D. If you are unwilling or unable to take FDA approved medication to stop or slow the further progression of your hair loss, you will continue to go bald.

You're correct in that propecia has the potential for some very serious sexual side effects. Apparently the percentage of males who experience these is very low.

My personal opinion remains that this apparent (low) percentage and the number of people I see posting about having had side effects (high) seem to be contradict eachother.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Wait till you see the dermatologist and see what they tell you to do.

They're most likely gonna prescribe Propecia/Finasteride and tell you to get on Rogaine. You should get on both quickly, they do work, but take your time using them. Your hair won't look better overnight.