I'll get right into it. I've always had thick hair. My father's side has limited MPB with some member having a little hair loss to some with almost no hair loss. My mother's side of the family has a history of balding.
One quick tidbit: All those who have lost some hair in my father's side has had hairline recession accompanied with a bald spot. Everyone on my mother's side had lost hair through recession from the hair line. Their hair loss pattern did not have a bald spot at the crown.
Now to my story:
Initially I was 99% sure I had telogen effluvium because there was a very specific trigger. In July 2016, I made a big change in my diet and exercise. After a bad breakup which involved a lot of stress, I made a drastic change in my life. I went from someone who never exercised to religiously working out at the gym. And it's not like I gradually eased myself into lifting, but rather I went in at day 1 and went hardcore. I started to workout so much that I would occasionally get dizzy. On top of that, I went from eating like 3000-3500 calories a day to being borderline anorexic. I made sure that the max I would possibly eat was 1500 calories. To be honest many days it was probably about 1000 calories.
Starting September 2015, I started to notice massive amounts of hair falling. This happened out of nowhere. And by massive hair loss I mean I would lose like 500-700 hairs a day. I didn't think much of it and did not really think my lifestyle change caused this to happen. So I kept up with my anorexic workouts. It was only in January that I started to worry because at this point my hair was pretty darn thin and I actually started to see my scalp. Like many I tried to diagnose myself with the internet which convinced me that I had telogen effluvium. As a result of this knowledge I decided to slow down my workouts and start eating properly. By February I had completely stopped exercising and I started eating really healthy. However, seeing my hair fall everyday bothered me a lot so I decided to shave my head completely. My hair loss up to this point was fairly diffuse, but it was more severe in the crown area and on the sides right above my ears. I don't think I noticed any significant recession of the hairline. PICTURES ATTACHED.
Over this time period I went from being chubby at 177 lbs to 160 lbs with a decent amount of muscle in my body. So quite a drastic weight loss considering how much muscle was added.
After shaved my head I did not see any hair loss (duh, cause I did not have hair). But I did notice a lot of inflammation on top of my head. Maybe I cut myself while I was shaving and many small infections developed. There were visible red bumps on my head with pus and it itched a lot.
As my hair grew longer and longer, I noticed extremely tiny pieces of hair falling (about 0.5 millimeters long). I did not think much about it. In fact I thought it confirmed my hypothesis that I had telogen effluvium. Because the small hairs falling about would have been non-growing hair in the telogen state and would have fallen out because my regrowth pushed it out. That's all fine and dandy, but now to the part that I am worried about.
Right now (end of April) I have started noticing something else in addition to those tiny hairs. I see thin hairs falling now. These hairs are longer than the hairs I previously mentioned. They are about 3 cms. But they are also shorter than the length of my normal hair which is about 2 inches at this point. This new development is starting to worry me. I wondered if I had MPB. The hair that are falling do seem to be miniaturizing hair. Additionally, I did a hair pull test at my temples earlier today and noticed some thin short thin hair fall out. The hair that I am shedding now isn't necessarily isolated to my temples. It's coming from all over the top of my head.
My diet has been extremely healthy over this time period. And I haven't noticed any "normal hair" shedding.
So here is what I am curious about:
It has only been 3 months since I eliminated what I think was my trigger so I know that I should not expect much. But what could be the reason behind this miniaturized hair? My mom (who is a doctor) thinks it is because a) my inflammation or b) because my extreme diet and exercise deprived my follicles so much that they have gotten weak and are in recovery mode. On the other hand I am starting to worry about MPB. Because I do have some signs. a) My crown has been affected the most by my hair loss (PICS ATTACHED) b) I do think my temples have slightly receded. Not sure about this one. c) The small miniaturized hair.
I did go to another doctor to ask about my hair loss and he said it was nothing to worry about. I also went to a dermatologist (this was before I even shaved my head) and he took like a 3 second look and said I had MPB. He didn't ask about my history or anything. It was literally a 5 minute appointment.
Another thing I am curious about is regarding the effect of genetics. Those on my father's side who lost hair lost it at a pretty late age - starting at 50 yrs. And their hair loss pattern consisted of a bald spot on the crown. Those on my mother's side lost their hair at a younger age - starting at 30 years. And none of them had any hair loss on the crown. They had their hairline recede to a point where they were completely bald.
Now, if I do have AGA would it mean I would follow the hair loss pattern of my father's family because I have hair loss at the crown and little to none at the hairline. Or would my hair loss follow my mother's family because I am losing hair as a young person. Is there anyway to predict this?
Please check the pictures I have them well labeled and time stamped. Do tell me what you think and what you experiences are. I am desperate for answers. I don't have any before shedding pictures unfortunately but I can assure you I had more hair than I knew what to do with.
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 (Male 20) Hair loss - Telogen effluvium/MPB? Many pictures. Long post but please helpPrintable View
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