Androgenetic alopecia and telogen effluvium?

[arizona]

Hi all! I'm new here.
First, thank you for sharing your stories. It's nice to know there is a support system.
I'm so confused by what's happened and wonder if anyone has had a similar experience.
I'm 38. A year ago I started taking birth control (Loestrin). It caused vision problems, so I switched to Orthotriclen Lo. Within weeks I started noticing my hair falling out. I didn't make any connection to the pill because I wasn't aware it could cause that until talking to my dermatologist. She said she sees it all the time and it's temporary. I ended up switching to Femcon. During this time, I still had hair loss. I stopped Femcon once and started it up again for about 4 months this past spring. Continued hair loss. In addition, it took almost the 4 months for my period to become normal. I was having long periods and more than once a month. I finally had enough and stopped it at the end of May. My hair loss increased as it was falling out onto my shirt throughout the day. I went to my primary care physician who ran all sorts of blood tests to rule out thyroid, iron deficiency, etc. All were fine. My dermatologist still said it's the pill and it will take time. She recommended I use men's Rogaine twice a day. I was persistent and requested hormone testing and a scalp biopsy to be sure. The hormone levels came back normal but the biopsy said androgenetic alopecia. I was quite surprised. Even though I requested the test, I expected the result to be telogen effluvium as my hair loss coincided with taking birth control. I hadn't had any problems until then. And, the hair loss certainly increased once I stopped the pill. I have read that starting and stopping the pill can cause hair loss. Wondering if it is possible to have an underlying diagnosis of androgenetic alopecia but experience telogen effluvium because of birth control or any other cause (meds, etc)? I read that you can have AA but your hair loss can be due to something else. In such cases, is that hair loss temporary since it is telogen effluvium?
Thanks for any feedback!!!