Miserable story

**scar85** · 09-12-2011 02:39 AM

26 years of age, NW1, with thinning in the crown due to a fungal infection. No prior hairloss

I noticed my hairloss last november. one day i woke up, while shampooing noticed 300-500 hairs on my hair. I panicked, freaked out in disbelief, thought I was severely sick! I later thought nothing of it thinking it was probably just because I had been out partying too much and getting drunk or high. The very next day, again! hairs all over my hands in the shower, this is when I started gently pulling on my hairs and noticed no matter where i pulled, they came right out. My scalp was itchy, hairs were popping out of my scalp if you just stared at them. Decided to cut my hair to 3/4 of an inch and thats where my heart sank..i nearly passed out when I looked in the mirror. The crown, where did all those thick hairs go overnight? how did they dissapear? I mean i wasnt bald in the crown, it just looked silly with the crown not being as thick as the rest of my hair.

Went to the derm, disagnosed me with fungal infection and told me I didnt have MPB, but I can get on propecia if I wanted. I didnt believe him, knowing that baldness runs in the family. Prescribed me 2% ketaconozole extina to kill the fungus and 30 days later got on proscar.

The hair loss continued severely up untill this June where it came to a stop. However I still have days where i magically shed for no reason, dont know whats going on.

All I can say, is from here on, its just slow torture. I would not wish hairloss on my worst enemies..its emotionally devastating. I can just feel that I wont have this hair for much longer if the random shedding keeps up. Problem is regrowth, I just dont see it! Ill post results in the coming months.

**mattj** · 09-12-2011 06:56 AM

I'm not sure why a derm would prescribe a DHT inhibitor if your hairloss is due to a fungal infection and not male pattern baldness. Good luck with re-growth though.

**Dr. Glenn Charles** · 09-12-2011 12:49 PM

Traumatic events including infection can increase the rate at which a patients experiences the genetic hair loss. Your doctor probably figured that since you have a strong family history of male pattern baldness and had a current infection that he would do everything possible to prevent situation from progessing. How long has it been since the infection has been gone?

**scar85** · 09-12-2011 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by Dr. Glenn Charles

Traumatic events including infection can increase the rate at which a patients experiences the genetic hair loss. Your doctor probably figured that since you have a strong family history of male pattern baldness and had a current infection that he would do everything possible to prevent situation from progessing. How long has it been since the infection has been gone?

Dr. Glenn,

My infection was on and off for several months. I started treatment of the infection in December of last year, but the fungus kept coming back. What I had to do was take a comb, and scrape (not hard) all the fungus off, and use tea tree oil, i did this for about 2 months and the fungus is now gone. My scalp is now healthy. Is it too late for regrowth? I know i was continuing to lose hair because of the infection, perhaps why I havnt noticed any new regrowth. My hairloss now slowed down or came to a stop, im losing about 10-20 hairs daily, this number includes shampooing and combing. Most of the days now its about 10 or less. I have been on proscar for 7 months, and havnt noticed any new regrowth yet.

Also one last question doc and I want you to answer this truthfully..is it possible to lose thick hairs in the crown overnight? Just last november my crown was full of thick hairs, and a few days later it was gone because of the infection..and over 9 months later I have yet to see them filling in. How could they just suddenly all dissapear? Could the infection have permanently killed those follicles?

Heres my current hairline..slight recession at temples (which have not progressed since I was 19). I was always born with a natural high high hairline.

**Dr. Glenn Charles** · 09-12-2011 05:14 PM

If that is your current hairline then you are in a lot better position than many other 26 year old patients I have seen lately. However, I understand that thinning in the crown at your age is very upsetting. You may be able to have transplants into the crown, but the concern would be would you have enough donor hair if the frontal and mid scalp areas experienced balding later in life.

**VictimOfDHT** · 09-13-2011 12:51 AM

Im wondering if a fungal infection is also the cause of my rapid shed. I have a really bad dandruff problem that never goes away but it's been like that almost all my life. I do feel an unusual itch though and I dont know what's causing it. How do doctors check for fungal infections and what meds are used, besides Nizoral ?