I need some advice if that's possible- I've recently had major surgery

[scroobiuspip]

I've been experiencing hair shedding quite rapidly recently and i'm trying to find out if i have MPB or Telogen Efflevium.

I notice a bit of a change in my hairline around 2 to 3 months after i had gallbladder surgery.

In January i had a severe pain in my stomach and had to be rushed to the hospital. I had a severe infection which i was then told my pancreas was very inflamed and i needed to stay in hospital for 9 days. I then was told it was caused by gall stones. So, I then was diagnosed with Gallstone Pancreatitis.

So about 17 days later i had my gallbladder removed and was in hospital for around 2 days. And then 5 days later i experienced more severe pain on my stomach this time on the right side. I had a scan and they found i had a hematoma blood clot.

And then around 4 days later i had breathing problems so i had to be checked to see if i had blood clots in my lungs. Fortunately i didn't and i think the issue was related to my gallbladder surgery causing a bruised diaghphram. Although the doctor did not confirm this i had to do my own research. It wen't away, though.

So around about 6 days after that i started having severe headaches and was rushed to hospital with bloodshot eyes and i then had to be checked for a brain bleed. It was ruled out that i had a major brain bleed but i had to be checked for a small brain bleed. So, I had to be lumberpunched to find out. I then was lumberpunched and injected around 30 t0 40 times which isn't supposed to happen. They're only meant to inject upto 3 times to find out.

In the end the doctor failed and could not get the fluid from my spine. I then had to wait for someone else to do it and he failed. Afterwards i had to wait for an expert but i then told the doctor i wanted to leave the hospital because i was sick of waiting and he said he was 95 percent sure i didn't have a small brain bleed as the symptoms didn't match.


After all that i noticed i lost a lot of weight as you'd expect and the weight sort of has been fluctuating up and down. I went from around 210 pounds to around 185 pounds.


I noticed about 2 days after i was lumberpunched i started shedding hairs quite rapidly. My hair was in the long stages so maybe i noticed it more. I noticed usually around upto 150 to 200 hairs a day which is normal but if i just simply touch my hair i could even pull out around 45 hairs and at one point it came out in clumps in the bathroom but then it stopped after two days.


It usually comes out with a white bulb but i heard that's what happens in the telogen stages or people with AGA...etc...


I notice generally thinning around the hairline and i have a thinning patch on the side of my head.


I also have had a ton of stress on top of all that and some worries from November.


I've had my thyroid checked and it's all normal. I now have to rule out MPB, Telogen Efflevium, or something else. Or perhaps it's diffuse hairloss.


My dad has a thick full head of hair and he's 70 years old. His brother is going bald in his later 40s early 50s. My stepbrother on my dad side went bald quite young. And on my mothers side my uncle went bald quite young, too.


I'm 26 years old and i've only noticed the hairloss since this year after all of the hospital visits.

Anyway, I'd like some advice if you're willing to.


Thanx.


EDIT - I noticed my hair seems more oilier than usual and i noticed a bit of dandruff so i tried T-Gel which is supposedly like Nizoral. It helped with the itching scalp but i then stopped using any shampoo with chemicals and started using Dr. Bronners.

[DrJosephitis]

scroob,

What you are describing fits right in with what is commonly called effluvium. Many different types of stress can cause this, and people throughout their lives can undergo occasions when they will lose hair for one reason or another. You have two very good potential reasons for this loss: dramatic weight loss and recent major surgery. You also indicated that most of the loss occurred around 2 -3 months after surgery. This is the time that we typically see loss after such stressors.

Now, you also wondered if you might have MPB. This is still a possibility with your known history of MPB in the family. There appears to even be those with loss at a younger age, and you may have still have underlying MPB. From your history though, it appears that you weren't troubled by any thinning prior to the surgery. This tells me, that most likely, if you do have MPB, it is very early, and a majority of the hair that you lost from effluvium will return. (It takes approx. 3-4 months for you to start to see it grow back after you stop losing hair and all of the stressors are gone.)

You will still need to keep a watchful eye out for MPB because of your family history and possibly get on preventative medications down the road.

[jamesst11]

From having experienced TE twice with aggressive MPB and losing half my hair in one year, I can say DrJosephitis is dead on... If you have MPB, TE can act as a catalyst for it's progression. A greater majority of your hair (15-50%) is sent into the telogen phase, a resting phase before it sheds 3-4 months later. Your surgery probably triggered this. Hair that was destined to fall out years from now, may fall out suddenly, because the anagen (growth) cycle was interrupted. Like he said, if you are young and in the very early stages, there is a good chance it will return. For me, it has not, because I am older and in the later stages of MPB. In my case, I am hoping finasteride will help. In your case, if you do notice aggressive thinning in the MPB prone regions (temples and crown)... it may be a good idea to consult with your doc and consider finasteride and minoxidil.