Just turned 21... Think it's happening

[LilB]

No one believes me, I've taken photos and honestly I don't see how it's not obvious it has started. Everyone says my hairline is good, that my crown is fine and that I pretty much haven't started balding. You guys can be the judge.

It all started a year ago (april/may 2011), I noticed after a haircut that my hairline had risen slightly. My hair wasn't falling out, or particularly thin. Then my longtime girlfriend and I split up, and that was brutal. It wasn't very amicable, and it was very taxing on me. She just started college at a huge state school, and she was joined into a sorority which I would argue has a national reputation for being one of the "hottest" but more notably, also the sluttiest greek organization. I transferred schools last semester, and moved to one of the larger US-cities. I just couldn't shake her from my thoughts and move on that whole semester. Gradually, my hair lost noticeable density, and I began - and still am - shedding a lot. The shedding is mostly long hairs, not the small ones (possibly miniaturized ? ) I've heard people should worry about, although I've seen those come out on some rare occasions. Nonetheless, if i lightly shake my hair usually 1-4 hairs drop in front of me. I've heard losing up to 100/150 hairs a day is normal, but i feel like i'm dropping around 10-30 hairs an hour, which over the course of a day is way more than 150. Then this semester, after my whole ex issue resolved more or less, I've been stressing like no other over the fact that I may not be able to stay in the city I've moved to next year, which has been eating at me like no other because this is where I always dreamed and aspired to go to school. That's just a chronological timeline, there's not to mention that my finances are in disarray and my Father's gradually getting more ill and is not likely to live too much longer. It's like there's constantly something eating at me, this terrible gnawing impending doom...


While it seems like everyone brings up "yeah, it could be stress," I actually believe I may be suffering from both telogen effluvium as well as mpb. I think this because, my hair is shedding from all over, sides and back as well as the top and crown.


Genetically, not that it'll probably make a difference in your opinions, my dad and his dad both went bald, but in different patterns. My Mother's side is ridiculously hair-healthy. My grandfather is 90 and still has relatively thick hair for his age. All of her brothers are fine, with the exception of one which only has mild recession and he's at least 55>.

So i'm thinking about starting Minoxidil, I just don't know if I can risk taking finasteride with the side effects and hormonal shifts. The optimistic part of me thinks that hopefully the Minoxidil will slow down my hair loss until my later 20's and hopefully by then there will be other/better treatments or discoveries. Is this a safe measure? I know finasteride is the most effective, but I've read on here that some people were able to manage their MPB with Rogaine alone until their late 20's to early 30's, which is when I feel like it'll be less stigmatizing anyway to be totally frank.

Also, I know that you lose the hair you maintain after stopping both treatments, but does that mean that the hair loss resumes at the pace before you began treatment or does that mean that you lose all the hair you spared in a short time?

the pictures of my hair were mostly after a shower, I can gladly show more dry photos.

the first one should be my hair unwashed before I hopped in the shower to give you an idea.

the next ones are obviously post-shower