Am I balding or am I crazy?

[keebler239]

I'm a 30 year old guy who feels like he is balding. I've noticed it in the past 3 years. My family thinks I'm nuts, and tells me I'm not balding. The worst they say is I have a "mature hairline" and that any perceived thinning I see is a result of lighting...

I disagree. I see a far receded hairline, diffuse thinning on my scalp and a Norwood 6 pattern in the works...I'm getting worried now as I feel like it's getting much worse.

Am I delusional with some form of body dysmorphic disorder or am I actually balding? If I am, do you think I would respond positively to medication like Propecia? I'm a bit hesitant because I've heard you can have severe sexual issues that are non-reversible.

Some pics. The ones with more hair are from early December and the buzz cut ones are from tonight...


Thanks in advance!

[sergfuller]

I'm a 30 year old guy who feels like he is balding. I've noticed it in the past 3 years. My family thinks I'm nuts, and tells me I'm not balding. The worst they say is I have a "mature hairline" and that any perceived thinning I see is a result of lighting...

I disagree. I see a far receded hairline, diffuse thinning on my scalp and a Norwood 6 pattern in the works...I'm getting worried now as I feel like it's getting much worse.

Am I delusional with some form of body dysmorphic disorder or am I actually balding? If I am, do you think I would respond positively to medication like Propecia? I'm a bit hesitant because I've heard you can have severe sexual issues that are non-reversible.

Some pics. The ones with more hair are from early December and the buzz cut ones are from tonight...


Thanks in advance!

Well I'm not an expert, but being 100% honest with you then yes that really does look like balding. You can clearly see on the last picture how much thinner it is than the sides and how much the temple has gone back. If they cannot see that then they're not being fair at all to you, I mean it looks so obvious that there is major thinning here.

[sergfuller]

I don't mean to sound rude or hurt your feelings, just if I were in your position then I would have a much stronger idea on if I'm going bald or not. You may have lost some hair already and you may never lose hair again, it's unpredictable, maybe you should go to a Derm for an expert analysis.

[Vic]

You are a diffuse thinner with a majority of your hair still intact. You want to maintain what you have so using Rogaine would probably be a good idea at this point.
Have you been under stress lately? Eating terribly?

[keebler239]

Thank you both for your response.

I don't mean to sound rude or hurt your feelings, just if I were in your position then I would have a much stronger idea on if I'm going bald or not. You may have lost some hair already and you may never lose hair again, it's unpredictable, maybe you should go to a Derm for an expert analysis.

You're right - I will see a dermatologist as soon as possible. I have a good idea what's happening. I guess the fact that my family is dismissive and tells me that there is really nothing happening was making me question it - So I wanted to see what other people thought that didn't know me. Even my friend was saying there was no issue.

You are a diffuse thinner with a majority of your hair still intact. You want to maintain what you have so using Rogaine would probably be a good idea at this point.
Have you been under stress lately? Eating terribly?

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Yes and yes. Now that you say it, not too long before I started losing hair I had begun working at a new job that pays well, but where I've been highly stressed throughout. Previous to this, I was a very athletic person, working out 5 days a week and eating healthy - Kind of a fitness nut. Now, I get nervous twitches and always feel on edge. I stopped working out, began eating poorly and my sleeping habits are very bad. When I say sleep is bad I mean that for the past 3 years I've been getting on average 3-5 hours a night, sometimes crashing on the weekend to make up the deficit. Other times I cannot fall asleep and pull an all nighter. I also gained 90 lbs and feel depressed. Can this cause hair loss?

[Vic]

I thought you might be. You don't have the usually MPB pattern. Your kind of hair loss is usually associated with stress, diet or major life experiences.
Lucky for you, this type of hair loss is reversible most of the time and the sooner you correct the cause the better chance of regrowth/stopping further loss.
Start exercising again, it'll help control your stress and help you sleep better. Eat right and you should be fine. Good luck.

[HairHealth88]

The images shows the condition is getting worst. You should consult a good hair doctor and take medical advice over it. Rogaine (minoxidil) is used to help you regrow hair on your scalp. The exact way that minoxidil works is not known. It is possible that it dilates blood vessels in the scalp, which may improve hair follicle function and stimulate hair growth.

Rogaine will not cause permanent regrowth of scalp hair. You must continue using the product to keep the regrowth of your hair.

[keebler239]

Thanks guys. I am coming to accept that I will likely go bald. It's been particularly rough for me over the past few months because the diffuse thinning has happened so quickly.

I think there's the possibility that stress/diet/exercise may have been a factor, but I've been reading that this typically speeds up the inevitable if you're predisposed to MPB. My family has a terrible history of MPB on both sides with many of the men being a full Norwood 6/7 by the time they were 21. Now that I'm realizing this, I'm surprised my hair lasted as long as it did...

For treatment, the methods available (Propecia/Rogaine) seem too high risk (Permanent sexual dysfunction) or too invasive (Drippy solution that's applied twice a day) for little reward. They will probably maintain (but not improve) my hair and I feel like it's so far gone that it already looks terrible.

I think the best option for me is to improve my sleeping pattern and diet/stress levels as they are extremely bad, however, I doubt it will effect the balding process. I do know for sure that I don't want to be fat AND bald. If these lifestyle changes help my hair then I'll be thrilled, but otherwise, I think I'm too late and am screwed in that department. I'm not happy with this, but I feel it's really all that I can do considering how far I've progressed.

Thank you all for your input, and if you read all this, thank you for that as well. If you have anything else to add, I'm all ears