18, Rapid Balding, Acne, Developing Socia Phobia, Really Need Advice.

Hey guys
Well my story is a pretty sad one in 2010 really (for me it seems like it anyway). At the age of 16 I was in school, having fun, had a good set of hair and was pretty attractive. I was often compared to Jesse McCartney, not the greatest compliment, but things weren’t too bad!

Anyway this year I turned 18, was in my second year of university and things were okay. However in February I started to develop extremely bad acne, to this day it is still bad and I have scarring. I became completely obsessed with my acne, people never looked at me the same way, and people I hadn’t seen in ages looked at me in strange ways, often suggesting that I should wash your face ect. I started to not go outside / hang out with people and pretty much had social phoeba. I tried everything from lazer ect, so far it hasn’t done anything. I don’t let people know what I’m going through; I don’t really have close friends to talk or trust with the things that I am dealing with and my family is an emotional mess. Added to this I’m gay (I’m not out yet, and yes I know people will judge me for it). But I can’t help it, I don’t want to be gay, and it depresses me 12 x more, knowing I’ll probably be lonely the rest of my days. People will always judge my looks; pretty much every gay is superficial of appearance, a lot more than girls anyway. Probably half of you will leave after reading that, but that is one of major problems.

To balding, my family pretty much has all gone bald, however for them it happened at around 23 -25. I knew my hair was thinning, however I thought it was minor and I could focus on treating my acne and worry about my hair when it became an issue. However in the past two months by head has thinned out considerably. It is completely noticeable. I have a bald patch at the back and it pretty much looks like my brothers hair who is 27. My hair is horrible, and because of my acne, shaving it all off isn't really at option. Added to this I am surrounded by people who look at me and pity me. I was at a work function for vodafone yesterday and I was the only one losing hair with around 250 attractive people aged 18 - 25, all I could pretty much see is eyes looking at me.

I don’t know what to do, I have acne, I’m balding and I’m literally afraid when people look at me. I can’t function at work properly anymore, I feel depressed being with my friends; who are pretty much perfect, hair, skin everything; I don't have one unattractive friend and it isn't helping. My academic record; which has usually been excellent, is falling because I can’t concentrate when I have all these things going on.

I really need advice, I don’t know how to feel or how to handle this. I thought time might heal things, but it hasn’t. I feel life is after me in every way and I can’t see any light and the end of the tunnel.

Welcome to the forum Jeremy. You are going through a lot at a young age, but you found the right place to learn about hair loss and to get good advice. Did you ever consider drastically changing your diet to help with the acne? Sometimes it’s the food we eat everyday that cause us the most problems.

You should also see a doctor who specializes in hair loss who can potentially put you on medical treatment. You can find a list of doctors at www.iahrs.org.

It sounds as though you need some kind of dht blocker or reducer. Obviously, propecia does this. Saw palmetto is supposed to as well, although to a lesser extent.
I would get some retin a from your dr or buy some online. Your acne may well get worse in the few weeks after starting retin a but should get better soon afterwards.
I would also purchase some jojoba oil to moisturise with. I know oil and acne sounds like a bad mix......but it isnt. Jojoba oil helps balance oil production in your skin.

You need to speak to a good dermatologist.



ALL the crap people have ever told me that is supposed to help my acne never ever worked. NOTHING. Only accutane helped my acne. You definitely have to get on propecia also otherwise things will just get worse.


Accutane kinda ruins the mind though... but you can change your dosage and still get good results. I am off it now and I didn't use it at all as much as I should have.

I was pretty much in your same boat. It sucks. My hair is a little better now and my skin is perfectly clear. Without those pills I would have looked much worse today.


Definitely though, speak to a good doctor. I say a good doctor because a lot of them aren't that educated about modern treatments. For me there wasn't any other way.

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Originally Posted by KeepTheHair

You need to speak to a good dermatologist.



ALL the crap people have ever told me that is supposed to help my acne never ever worked. NOTHING. Only accutane helped my acne. You definitely have to get on propecia also otherwise things will just get worse.


Accutane kinda ruins the mind though... but you can change your dosage and still get good results. I am off it now and I didn't use it at all as much as I should have.

I was pretty much in your same boat. It sucks. My hair is a little better now and my skin is perfectly clear. Without those pills I would have looked much worse today.


Definitely though, speak to a good doctor. I say a good doctor because a lot of them aren't that educated about modern treatments. For me there wasn't any other way.

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Thanks guys.

Yeah I went to see a dermatologist and he said all my acne is non inflamed (cause I have been using BP, AHA, and yes even joba oil to that person all suggested that :P). Pretty much I have tried anything, but marks just never ever fade. He said I have rosacea which is another old person's disease (sucks) which doesn’t respond to well to Accutane. My diet is pretty bad, and I have tried changing it, but I just lose a lot of weight. I have an extremely fast metabolism and as I'm living at home, eating different stuff isn't that practical. The derm actually suggested Intense Pulsed Light - which I tried once (but hasn't had desired results) and it is bloody expensive.

I have been on propecia for a week now, I'm just worried cause I think I have left it too late (my balding is already clearly visible). The doc said there is a very good chance I won't lose anymore hair, but a very small chance I will gain it. I have lost a lot of hair, which somehow I never realised, till my mum bluntly told me that I had to do something about it. Then the camera came out, and I completely freaked. HT seems the only way, and my brother is a doctor and seems to think it is a good idea. However I have read rather anti comments about HT here, and I'm guessing it’s more of a last resort than anything.

Hi Jeremy,

I feel the pain of your hairloss. I began to bald at 17 and it was a complete nightmare. It is incomprehensible to anyone who has never gone through it. You may want to speak to a dermatologist about the drugs that are available. I'm almost 34 and it still bothers me because it has altered my appearance so much.

If all else fails, at your age a hairpiece is an option. You can buy them online and have them cut in at a hair studio. I know that might sound drastic, but it helped me when I was in my early 20's.

There is nothing wrong with being ashamed or broken-hearted about losing your hair so young;it's very abnormal. I went from looking like I was in a boy-band, to looking very old very quickly. It sucks and has had a major impact on my life. I hope you will look into your options with a doctor. Finasteride was not around when I began thinning, and the hairpieces were horrible back then.

I wish you well, man.

Accutane is a powerful drug (and hairloss is a possible side effect) but it has to be the most effective treatment available. I have heard of people having good results with low doses of Accutane for acne and Rosacea. (I've had bot, albeit mild).

I find that my skin is massively improved by cutting out sugar. Every time I've cut out sugar completely my skin becomes pretty much perfect. Even, blemish-free, smooth, strong and no longer sensitive. Then I start eating sugar again and things soon deteriorate, only to improve once I cut out the sugar again. I've repeated this so many times that I am certain there's a link in my case.

For the hair, stay on Propecia. If you don't notice side effects after a few months, add ketoconazole shampoo (2% is best, but 1% works also), which you should use no more often than every 2-3 days. After another few months, if that goes smoothly, start using minoxidil. I would suggest starting on a low % solution and increasing it every few months - again, as long as you don't notice side effects.
There is also an option of taking higher doses of Propecia, if the current dose doesn't give you sufficient results, but only after you've taken the 1 mg dose for several months and haven't had any problems.
Avodart/dutasteride is a last-ditch remedy that is not FDA-approved for safe hair loss treatment, but some people have had good results on it when Propecia wouldn't do the trick. I will say, though, that doctors are mostly reluctant to prescribe this for balding, and your age might make it even harder. If you ever wanted to take this step, you should do lots of research first.

I'm not as well-versed in severe acne - I had moderate acne as a teen but benzoyl peroxide was pretty effective in treating it.
I will say this much - I often had periods where reddish/purplish splotches on my face would come after breakouts, and would last for as long as 6-8 weeks (or longer) it seemed. So certain acne-related blemishes may seem permanent, when really they just take a loong time to heal (and you may not notice when they do, because they are being constantly replaced by new ones during break-outs).
One little tip on benzoyl peroxide: I found that raising the % solution did not help. 2.5% worked just as well as 5 or 10%, and irritated my skin noticeably less. What DID help was applying the treatment in larger quantities - I started slathering a lot of the stuff on my face with each application (after washing, of course), followed by an oil-free moisturizer. My skin got a bit dryer, but otherwise improved quite a bit.

Pretty much agreed with what every one said, 1.Every one goes through the nite-mare of loosing hair, same here with me 16-17 i started loosing hair just after finishing high school (UK), but all i can say is Dr feriduni is one of the best in europe really helped me out at the age of 25, thats was nearly 8-9 years of misery but i am coloured so shaving my head was a good style too, but get HT, its only down to your pockets ($) and your courage. 2. With the skin stuff, yeah get a specialist to test your blood to see whats up dieting or changing you battern in life might help..eat well, excrise properly etc. 3. with the gay stuff i really dont know why you mentioned it in this website, i am ultra neo-conservative, so i really have no sympathy with you for that part, but since you mentioned it, mybe try halting those activities just a little to see if its what causing the problem, specially with the skin parts..no disrespect.

Hi

I have mild rosacea and flare ups are usually due to stress. Unfortunatly it is not a condition which can be cured but it is managable. I am two month post a HT and the stress associated with the whole hair thing resulted in a severe flare up. Meds I take which are really effective is Rozex Gel (the application is realy easy) and Vibra Tabs (a pill you take daily whilst the redness persists).

All the best mate. Cheers

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Originally Posted by pdouble

i am ultra neo-conservative, so i really have no sympathy with you for that part, but since you mentioned it, mybe try halting those activities just a little to see if its what causing the problem, specially with the skin parts..no disrespect.

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you clearly are not ultra neo-conservative but also a jerk do you think having sex with other men causes problems in the skin? also, being gay is not easy, especially because of jerks like you, so obviously that pressure and rejection for jerks like you add up to the nightmare of losing hair and having acne problem. maybe, because we have jerks like you, the fact of being gay (not a criminal, nor a drug traffiker, nor a killer, nor a priest that abuses children, nor a mobster), puts a lot of pressure and he's getting all those things because of stress. Maybe he published here his gay preferences because here we are to help one another, everybody's free to publish whatever they want. FYI you can get hiv not only from gay men but women as well (same logic goes with stress, rashes, hair loss, acne or whatever).

No wonder many kids commit suicide instead of coming out of the closet and confront ultra neo-conservative people that have no sympathy.

As for Jeremy, hair loss sucks, i have it, i had hair transplants and looks great. im also on propecia though doesnt do shit. but many things are coming our way to help us cope with this... also, im 27, i have a lot of friends family and recently came out and they accepted me. im sure they will accept you... if not, send them to eat shit, especially the ultra neo-conservatives...

cheers.

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Originally Posted by pdouble

3. with the gay stuff i really dont know why you mentioned it in this website, i am ultra neo-conservative, so i really have no sympathy with you for that part, but since you mentioned it, mybe try halting those activities just a little to see if its what causing the problem, specially with the skin parts..no disrespect.

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What made you think that was an appropriate thing to post on this forum? Whatever emotional or psychological issues you may have with same-sex affection in the animal kingdom, and in homosapiens in particular, they are your issues. Don't make them somebody else's, especially not a kid who is pouring his heart out to perhaps the only people he's found who truly understand the life impact of cosmetic health problems (like hair loss and acne).
Besides, it is irresponsible to suggest that these medical/scientific issues are caused, or aggravated, by one's sexual identity. That's no better than telling a blind man, "well try cutting down on the masturbation, that might help."

p-double, you mentioned that you are a black man and an ultra-conservative;hence, you make homophobic remarks. Historically, blacks have been the most abused,enslaved and objectified people on the planet going back to the colonial Portugese, Spanish, Arabs, French, English and Americans. Conservatism, technically, is about conserving the status quo which means oppression of women, enslavement of blacks and rule by the white man. Explain to me, if you will, how you reconcile discrimination against homosexuals all the while being a black man?

Perhaps he mentioned being gay because that is among the things, besides hairloss, with which he is dealing right now. He's going through enough shit with his hairloss and skin dilemmas and he doesn't need to be scorned because of his biological disposition of homosexuality.

Shamefully, my Great-Grandmother was German and a Nazi-sympathizer during the 1930's. Would you like me to tell you her opinions of blacks and Jews? I wonder how that would make you feel? There is no room on this forum for bigotry or people who hold 16th Century values. You're entitled to free speech, sir;however, something tells me you wouldn't want to hear the free speech of the Nazi's.

This is a networking site where ALL are allowed to voice there opinions. On the issue of Conservatism it basically states, the government doesn’t guarantee anybody’s happiness. But what it does guarantee is that each of us has the right to pursue whatever happiness may mean to us, as individuals, in whatever way we see fit, as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of anybody else. Conservatism has nothing to do with skin color. Supreme court justice Thomas Thomas is clearly conservative.
Weedwacker get over your guilt trip.What your great grandmother did 70 years ago is history. Nobody cares. I recommend you see a therapist.
And by the way the majority of blacks are against equating gay rights to civil rights. If you want proof, look at the election of Hussein Obama. He was overwhelmingly elected president by African Americans in California but they also overwhelmingly voted against proposition 8 which dealt with gay marriage. Now get back to the real issue of hair loss.

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Originally Posted by question

This is a networking site where ALL are allowed to voice there opinions. On the issue of Conservatism it basically states, the government doesn’t guarantee anybody’s happiness. But what it does guarantee is that each of us has the right to pursue whatever happiness may mean to us, as individuals, in whatever way we see fit, as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of anybody else. Conservatism has nothing to do with skin color. Supreme court justice Thomas Thomas is clearly conservative.
Weedwacker get over your guilt trip.What your great grandmother did 70 years ago is history. Nobody cares. I recommend you see a therapist.
And by the way the majority of blacks are against equating gay rights to civil rights. If you want proof, look at the election of Hussein Obama. He was overwhelmingly elected president by African Americans in California but they also overwhelmingly voted against proposition 8 which dealt with gay marriage. Now get back to the real issue of hair loss.

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That's because most black people are extremely homophobic (for a whole slew or reasons), not because the causes aren't similar. But I agree that conservatism has nothing to do with hating blacks or gays, etc. I'm gay myself but I vote conservative, simply because I believe in small gov, low taxes, etc. Although i suppose I'm more of a libertarian...

Thank you Zero. There is a large group of conservative gays called Log Cabin Republicans who echo what you say.

Actually "question", you appear to be a label assassin;but I shall not get into that. Why would I need to receive therapy for the fact that my Great-Grandmother was a Nazi-sympathizer? I couldn't care less because it doesn't affect me.Tell me, why would I care? I am an independant and fiscal conservative;I'm neither a fan of the left-wing, Marxist ideology nor the right- wing, Francisco Franco fascist faction.

P-double, being a black man and being anti-homosexual is a philosophical paradox to me because, he is scorning a homosexual for something over which he has no control. I am not a homosexual, but I would have surmised that he would have been a little more sympathetic to being judged on something which is a biological trait.The phenomenon is interesting because I don't think that he would think it fair if the white-supremacy factions of the world attacked him for his skin color by impying that it is a disease, or that he is inferior because he is black.

Actually, Clarence Thomas is a conservative in the politically correct sense;however, the founding fathers of the United States were(with the exception of Thomas Paine and a few others)racists who did not want blacks to have any rights in the U.S. A true conservative is a strict-constructionist who believes in the original intent of the U.S. Constitution. Clarence Thomas is not a true constructionist conservative because he believes that blacks ought to be able to vote;that was not the intent of America's founders. It is very non-conservative to amend our original Constitution 27 ****ing times.

P-double was the antagonist here with his deragatory remarks to a young gay man who is going through MPB and does not need to be scorned for his homosexuality;moreover, the American black community ought not be denying homosexuals the right to marry when 70% of black children are born out of wedlock. If you are a true conservative, you don't **** before marriage;if you do, you are neither a Christian nor a conservative,especially in the Catholic sense. Divorce was illegal in Ireland until @1995(if I'm not mistaken);that's TRUE conservatism. The words "liberal" and "conservative" have been hijacked by the politically correct and are usually misused. Neo-conservative is a politically correct, coined term which has little meaning.

"Question", pick up a history book and mind your own business.

This thread has become... interesting.

Though we may discuss other topics besides hair loss, this is NOT an appropriate place for bigoted remarks towards other users. It's one thing to defend political conservatism on this forum; in that case, the speaker isn't denigrating anyone but himself. Just don't expect us to tolerate derogatory remarks about gay people any more than we would tolerate them about ethnic minorities, women, handicapped people, etc.

Translation: not all forms of rubbish are equally tolerated, nor should they be. Especially not on a thread in which an 18-year-old is asking for our help.

Uh, people.


Hair loss is big enough of a problem. Don't start other bullshit.

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Originally Posted by KeepTheHair

Uh, people.


Hair loss is big enough of a problem. Don't start other bullshit.

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idk why but ur little picture cracks me up :)

hi,very happy come here,i like reading,and playing on line,i think it is very interesting.

If it is denigrating to defend conservatism, then it must be denigrating to defend liberalism.

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Originally Posted by question

If it is denigrating to defend conservatism, then it must be denigrating to defend liberalism.

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:p Cheap shot on my part, sorry.

I agree that we ought to keep the discussion to the topic of baldness. I am a proponent of free speech;hence, anyone has the 'right' to voice his opinions. Seeing as I am an Independent libertarian, anti-homosexual remarks are within the realm of free speech and free thought;however, one must realize that one's free speech is open to criticism. P-double's remarks are allowed;however, I think he should have made them on a pseudo-conservative website or a classroom. We are here to discuss baldness and other 'male' issues.We ought not denigrate others.

One thing I will not put up with is political correctness;it is a euphemistic way of lying and denying the truth. People can say whatever they want as long as they can handle the politically incorrect retorts, which in most cases, they cannot. Black people tend to be very anti-homosexual,and in some cases, anti-semitic. Interestingly, they bitch and moan when someone says anything derogatory about ANY black person. You can't have it both ways.

I just buzzed my hair down to 1/16 inch and I look pretty damn good. ****, I think I'll go shave my balls...

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Originally Posted by Weedwacker

I agree that we ought to keep the discussion to the topic of baldness. I am a proponent of free speech;hence, anyone has the 'right' to voice his opinions. Seeing as I am an Independent libertarian, anti-homosexual remarks are within the realm of free speech and free thought;however, one must realize that one's free speech is open to criticism. P-double's remarks are allowed;however, I think he should have made them on a pseudo-conservative website or a classroom. We are here to discuss baldness and other 'male' issues.We ought not denigrate others.

One thing I will not put up with is political correctness;it is a euphemistic way of lying and denying the truth. People can say whatever they want as long as they can handle the politically incorrect retorts, which in most cases, they cannot. Black people tend to be very anti-homosexual,and in some cases, anti-semitic. Interestingly, they bitch and moan when someone says anything derogatory about ANY black person. You can't have it both ways.

I just buzzed my hair down to 1/16 inch and I look pretty damn good. ****, I think I'll go shave my balls...

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hahahaha nice.

From balding to sexuality to politics to Weedwacker's balls, I think it's safe to say we've covered all the most important topics of the day in this thread.

Wow.....sorry I don't know why I mentioned being gay. It’s just an added dilemma and difficultly in my life right now, especially considering across my family it is completely acceptable. No one around me can understand what I'm going through; as I type I have strands of hair which just fell out on my keyboard....it sucks. I have only an extremely conservative base of friends, because that’s who I was brought up around. They don't understand anything I am going through and I'm pretty sure I'll be rejected if they do. My whole life I have been taught I'm going to hell. I have no self-confidence with all these other things going on (balding, acne, university ect) to meet new people or try something new. It’s just really hard.

So yeah I agree this is a forum for balding, but no one in my life knows what I'm going through, I don't have anyone that close that I can trust. It’s nice just to be able to get everything out somewhere. However maybe I just need physiological help, I don't know.