hello--my story at 31...

[missingmyhair]

Hi everyone. I have recently come across this forum and wanted to introduce myself and share my story and concerns here to see what others think and how they may have handled their own situation.

First, I just turned 31. Around 6 months ago I noticed my hair thinning. Prior to that I have always had very thick hair all over, although I have always had high widows peaks (type II on the Norwood) it has never been anything I worried about. Then it seems like out of nowhere I started shedding all over and a lot of the hair coming back in was coming in thinner. It is now about 6 months later and starting to become more noticeable. When my hair is dry I can still hide it fairly well, but my sister has commented that my hair is “flatter” ( I have not yet told my family about what is happening).

A little family background: There is baldness on my father’s side of the family. Not everyone is affected by it, but my father and his brother are – my dad more severely than my uncle. There is none on my mom’s side of the family. Therefore, I guess I am genetically predisposed to MPB. I thought I was fine after I hit 30 and showed no signs of thinning or hair loss….

My initial thoughts (and my way of trying to fool myself into thinking it was a temporary condition): A couple of months prior to the onset of the profuse shedding I was finishing up some very challenging exams and coursework to complete my degree, while at the same time dealing with some very stressful situations in our condo building and with my work. My sleeping and eating habits were incredibly poor. I thought maybe that stress and my health triggered a telogen effluvium that I would recover from. In some ways I am still hanging on to this notion. Another reason I had this belief is that the onset was very sudden and there were no sign of this before that.

My other concern and what I believe may be a possible culprit is that for a while I started taking workout supplements - Creatine and Whey Protien. I have been off of it since I noticed the hair thinning 6 months ago. I am curious about something. Hypothetically, if these supplements somehow did trigger that genetic predisposition, then does that mean there’s no turning back? Once triggered there is no un-triggering even though I have stopped taking these supplements? Just curious.

Some other things that I have noticed that perhaps may be a normal progression of MPB but I will mention just in case. Occasionally I either feel itchy or have a tingling sensation on the top of my scalp. I have only really been paying attention recently so I can’t say if this has always been the case. I have noticed the shedding is more severe in certain parts of my scalp over others. While generally the concentration of the hair loss is the top of my scalp the worst part seems to be on the right side of my head where the top and side of my scalp meet. Most of the hairs that fall out regardless of thickness have a bulb at the end and some with a white bulb at the end. Also on some, it seems that there is skin or something that falls off with it – it is a little bit higher than the bulb. There have been times that I have noticed a lot of hair coming off from the side and back of my scalp and thinner hairs growing in those spots as well. Again, it could just be a part of the normal progression…

I have had my thyroid and iron levels checked – no probs. I have not taken anything yet. I did buy rogaine a few months ago and it is setting in a drawer untouched. I have thought about the hair laser thing, but haven’t yet wasted the money on it and probably won’t.

Well, the past month or so I have followed the herbal supplement craze. I got the B, saw palmetto, green tea extract, ginseng and ginkgo biloba. And I see reading around this forum that there aren’t many supporters of it. I have also been following stem cell research, and Regenica, and Aderans, and recently came across the MatriStem Micromatrix finds on the baldtruth. But who knows when and if any of these things will come to fruition. I am at a point where I am now considering HT. Should I try meds first? If so which ones do you recommend? I am physically fit and definitely in better shape now than I was in my teens. Most that see me assume I am 3-5 years younger than I am. I am not ready to let it all go yet. I know I need to act quickly. I feel I’ve already wasted a lot of time.

I can’t believe how devastating this experience has been to me emotionally. I cannot imagine what it would have been to experience this at a younger age than I did. To all of you out there who did and to those who are, I empathize with you and hope that a real cure becomes available sooner than later.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I appreciate any feedback, and personal sharing, and any ideas or suggestions you can provide.

Take care,

-missingmyhair

[mkamph]

i'm sorry to hear you're feeling so down about this. there are things that work at stopping hair loss and reversing it. here's a list of what works:

minoxidil
propecia
nizoral shampoo
dutasteride

dutasteride is strong stuff but it's really effective. i use minoxidil, nizoral shampoo, & dutasteride and it stopped and reversed my hairloss. i've been on this regimen for almost 10 years and it's worked really well. combining products seems to work better than just using one product.

talk to a doctor that's recommended on this site and talk to other people in the forum for tips. it's a good network.

i hope you feel better about your condition and would like to get the message to you that there is something you can do about it.

take care,

mkamph

[rotsen182]

i'm sorry to hear you're feeling so down about this. there are things that work at stopping hair loss and reversing it. here's a list of what works:

minoxidil
propecia
nizoral shampoo
dutasteride

dutasteride is strong stuff but it's really effective. i use minoxidil, nizoral shampoo, & dutasteride and it stopped and reversed my hairloss. i've been on this regimen for almost 10 years and it's worked really well. combining products seems to work better than just using one product.

talk to a doctor that's recommended on this site and talk to other people in the forum for tips. it's a good network.

i hope you feel better about your condition and would like to get the message to you that there is something you can do about it.

take care,

mkamph

you have been on dudasteride for 10 years now?

[mkamph]

just about. i started when i was 24 or 25 and i'm 33.

[speedman]

I am in the exact situation as you because I had a full set of head with a minor widow's peak until 5 months ago and I am 30. The top front of my head had started to thin noticing although people will not notice until look at it intently. I know that I am balding for sure because my grandfather (from mom's side) started balding around 40 and grandmother and aunt (from mom's side) had really thinning hair, so i am getting their genes since my dad's side all have hair. From my research, you can get hit with the bald gene as long as anyone from either mom or dad side has the gene.

I went to my doctor and got him to prescribe me propecia. I have been on it for 2 1/2 and my hair seems to NOT have gotten any worse and looked a little bit better. Please note that i did have testicular pain the first week and it went away, but i continue to have watery semen since starting.

I also use 1% nizoral once a week and it got rid of my dandruff instantly and i used to have a bad dandruff problem right before using it. This is a good sign since if it works for the dandruff stuff, then it must be somewhat effective in preventing hair loss as claimed by everyone.

I did buy rogaine and tried it once but found out two things, one it is just for the vertex (back of head), and i am not balding there. two, it really burned my sensitive scalp.

[missingmyhair]

mkamph, thank you for the kind words, and speedman thank you for sharing your story with me. i made an appt with a dermatologist with the intent of getting a prescription for propecia. i want to start doing anything i can to preserve what i have and hopefully reverse some of the fallout so far.

i read about someone getting a 5mg prescription then using a pill cutter to make four doses out of it. what do you guys think? what is a common dosage? i just want to walk in informed and get what i need to at least convince myself that i am doing what i can to fight the hair loss.

i am wondering, does DHT cause hair loss on other parts of the body? and are some parts of the scalp more susceptible than others? i ask because i used to have many long thick hairs on the backs of my hands - which has always seemed out of place since i barely have any hair on my arms - and i am now noticing that those have gotten shorter and thinner also. the second question because i notice that one side of my scalp is a much bigger hurry than the other. this includes the hair on the side of my head and by my temple also.

i will bring all this up to the dermatologist when i see him, but i was wondering if anyone here could give some insight.

last question for this post, i am curious about what others think as far as the time frame for these new, promising procedures to fight hair loss? like the matristem thing, prp therapy, HSC, etc. i keep telling myself "in 5-8 years they will have something that will bring it all back, i just have to fight the good fight and hang in there until then" and i am wondering if i am just trying to fool myself even further.

thanks again to all who read my story and those that responded.

still missingmyhair