Do I Have Telogen Effluvium? Please Help!

[Charles Xavier]

Okay so way back in October I developed chronic irritation and pain in my bladder. My Doctor thought it was Irritable Bladder and bowel syndrome amplified by anxiety. So i spent October through to the end of January with this constant pain. It drove me crazy. I couldn't sleep properly and when it would go away it would only last a couple of days. And it only went way about 3 times. Then I started these Anti-Anxiety/Depression pills. I used them for about 2 weeks and then quit since it seemed like it was making my condition worse. Then my bladder pain just went away, but at the same time i was noticing a lot more hair in my hands when i was shampooing my hair. It wasn't until February 4th that I noticed my hairline looked much thinner. My right temple has totally thinned out while my left had only started a little. The front of my hairline looked thinned out too.That was about a week and a half ago. Right now I think it looks more or less the same. I did some research and learned the pills I was taking have a history of causing hairless. I also heard that high amounts of stress can do this. I'm going to the doctors next week but my mind keeps racing everyday, I keep thinking I'm going to end up like Kevin from the office. I keep thinking the doctors going to tell me I have male pattern baldness. This happened so suddenly, I can't have male pattern baldness can I? My Grandfather still has a decent head of hair for his age while my dads hair started thinning out a bit in his 50's.

BTW the first image below was before i got a haircut and was from a week ago. The other four are from today.

I just uploaded new images of what my hair line looks like right now in March. They are the images with the title "Hair"

 

[biddybomb]

Telogen Effluvium occurs universally over the head and isn't confined to the hairline. I am afraid to say you are suffering from a receding hairline which is far more than likely to be male pattern baldness than anything else. I bet the process has been going on for a few years now, however if it hasn't that is very agressive recession. What is your age?

 

[Charles Xavier]

Telogen Effluvium occurs universally over the head and isn't confined to the hairline. I am afraid to say you are suffering from a receding hairline which is far more than likely to be male pattern baldness than anything else. I bet the process has been going on for a few years now, however if it hasn't that is very agressive recession. What is your age?

I'm 21, Also my hairline has always had high arches. Ever since i was a young child. My hair was not thin like this a month ago.

 

[GoldenMane]

If it looks like typical pattern hair loss then it is. Thats typical male pattern hairline recession.

 

[PappinAce]

Telogen Effluvium occurs universally over the head and isn't confined to the hairline. I am afraid to say you are suffering from a receding hairline which is far more than likely to be male pattern baldness than anything else

not necessarily. Telogen Effluvium often affects the top of the head more than the sides, mimicking pattern baldness, which can lead to a lot of misdiagnosis in men and women. honestly, the structure of your hair looks symptomatic of Telogen Effluvium. look at the loss of density and the baby hairs on the temples. google some pics of telogen effluvium and compare. also consider that the temples and crown are naturally sparse areas already, so any hair loss that you have will be more noticeable there, leading you to jump to the conclusion that you're receding.

definitely get tested for thyroid, ferritin, vitamin d, etc. don't want to jump the gun on male pattern baldness treatments because it's not always the answer, but if you consider anything else on this forum you tend to get labeled as delusional or in denial.

 

[Charles Xavier]

not necessarily. Telogen Effluvium often affects the top of the head more than the sides, mimicking pattern baldness, which can lead to a lot of misdiagnosis in men and women. honestly, the structure of your hair looks symptomatic of Telogen Effluvium. look at the loss of density and the baby hairs on the temples. google some pics of telogen effluvium and compare. also consider that the temples and crown are naturally sparse areas already, so any hair loss that you have will be more noticeable there, leading you to jump to the conclusion that you're receding.

definitely get tested for thyroid, ferritin, vitamin d, etc. don't want to jump the gun on male pattern baldness treatments because it's not always the answer, but if you consider anything else on this forum you tend to get labeled as delusional or in denial.

I went to my Doctor and he told me that he thinks it's from stress caused by the issue i had with my bladder for all those months. I asked him if i should get a blood test to see if i have anything wrong regarding thyroid or any deficiency. And he said this "Well you could have thyroid problem or a deficiency of some kind, but you don't.." I did get a blood test back in November maybe thats why he doesn't think i need another one. I also explained how I'm worried that it could be male pattern baldness and he said almost the same thing " It could be male pattern baldness or it could be Telogen Effluvium. But worrying about it is just going to make it worse" He said it would grow back within 3-6 months and that I'd probably lose more hair between then. And I actually have been losing a lot of hair in the shower every morning. A lot of small hairs too. I check every hair and i can always see a little white bulb at the end which I've read it a good sign. I've also been taking supplements for the last 3 and a half weeks. And I don't really seem to be noticing any difference. I've noticed my left temple on my scalp has been feeling very dry. My head has been feeling dry in general since this whole thing started.

 

[PappinAce]

yeah that's tough man. but it doesn't appear to be in the pattern of male pattern baldness which is a good sign. Telogen Effluvium is reversible. stay patient, keep your stress levels low, and make sure your diet is balanced. check back in six months to a year and compare.

 

[shookwun]

nice norwood three in formation.

male pattern baldness.


very typical pattern.

either cope or take your finasteride. choice is yours.

 

[Charles Xavier]

nice norwood three in formation.

male pattern baldness.


very typical pattern.

either cope or take your finasteride. choice is yours.

Well I've had this hairline since childhood. The thing that's new is the thinning patches and tuns of hair falling out in the shower and when i brush my hair with my hands.

 

[Charles Xavier]

yeah that's tough man. but it doesn't appear to be in the pattern of male pattern baldness which is a good sign. Telogen Effluvium is reversible. stay patient, keep your stress levels low, and make sure your diet is balanced. check back in six months to a year and compare.

Thanks. Although I'm really starting to worry now. Everyone else on here seem to really think its male pattern baldness. Its almost like they want it to be male pattern baldness so I can suffer with everyone else.

 

[PappinAce]

don't worry too much. the user base here is so deeply entrenched in their own suffering that they operate in almost a machine-like fashion, i.e. all hair loss = male pattern baldness, everything else = delusion, no exceptions. but life is not that black and white. the truth is Telogen Effluvium does exist, for both males and females.

from what i see, you have no actual bald patches per se. you have diffuse thinning, no crown loss, and you still have baby hairs on the temples. all characteristic of Telogen Effluvium.

it's important to judge things on a case by case basis and consider the possibility of experiences that are different from your own. my condolences to all male pattern baldness sufferers. and you're right, most of the time it is male pattern baldness. but sometimes it is not. appearances can be deceiving, and i wouldn't want you to start taking finasteride and wasting time and money on minoxidil because of a misdiagnosis.

 

[Thingee]

Hey bud! Yours looks EXACTLY the same as mine. You can see my thread I started a couple days ago and you can see ours look the same. I really really don't believe it's male pattern baldness. There's no way as I'm only 17 and it got this way within a few months. I think it has something to do with nutrition, stress, and anxiety. Do you take any prescription drugs? Do you eat healthy? And what about depression?

 

[Charles Xavier]

Hey bud! Yours looks EXACTLY the same as mine. You can see my thread I started a couple days ago and you can see ours look the same. I really really don't believe it's male pattern baldness. There's no way as I'm only 17 and it got this way within a few months. I think it has something to do with nutrition, stress, and anxiety. Do you take any prescription drugs? Do you eat healthy? And what about depression?

Yep mine started abruptly too. I did take anxiety/anti-depressant medication for 2 weeks. Which was around the time that i started to notice it. I also took anxiety medication back in September to October but quit(Thought it was causing bladder pain). You should see your doctor right away. Mine told me it was from stress, so Telogen Effluvium. Which was brought on by 4 months of chronic pain, Also I've been eating terribly for the last 4 months. I stopped eating stuff like bread, yogurt, juices, Milk, mostly everything I thought could cause my bladder pain, which went away after 4 months. All of this contributed to it. Judging by your post it might be because of the lack of eating and drinking. And also the medication you took. I also don't have any balding on the top of my head. which is the only difference between our hair loss. To be honest though, I'm still not completely convinced it will go away, so I'm right there with ya worrying about it. I'm going to be 21 in a couple of weeks and it seems like a cruel joke to start losing my hair so abruptly at this age. Especially when nobody in my family is bald and didn't begin losing hair until they where old.

You should start taking supplements like biotin and fish oil pills. (They should help) And see your doctor for sure. once you find out whats wrong you'll be able to relax a bit. And if its male pattern baldness then you'll probably be prescribed medication that will help keep your hair and maybe get it back. Man, my Doctor didn't prescribe me sh*t. He was so confident that it would correct it self that he told me
"It would be a waste of time to take something to grow your hair back if in the same amount of time your hair will just grow back by itself." And considering how similar our hair loss is your doctor might be the same way.

 

[Pacey123]

Lol ok well then, stay in denial, but don't come back here and cry and say but but but some said it could be Telogen Effluvium. No one here want's you to suffer but you chose your fate, in a couple of years it will be shave it and embrace it, just because you accused the people here tharlt actually gave you the right information, of lying.

 

[Nikki Lauda]

why does everyone under NW3 want to believe their baldness is telogen effluvium? this is my present hairline and I got on the big 3.

 

[Charles Xavier]

If you have the male pattern baldness gene a telogen effluvium will certainly speed it up. Unfortunately I'm gonna have to agree with the majority here and say you are losing hair in a typical Norwood pattern. I've gone through many Telogen Effluvium's and it effects the entire scalp. If you are suffering from Telogen Effluvium and it's possible after anti anxiety medication you should have a positive pull test throughout your scalp. Give it time and it will pass, but don't rule out the hairline on Telogen Effluvium.

When I would brushing my hand through my hair I would find 5 - 8 hairs fall out of my head every time i touched the damn thing. When i would grab the short hairs at the back of my head, towards the neck area I'd pull out usually around 3-6 hairs.(Which has gone down to 0-1 hairs now) I was also losing over 50 hairs in the shower. Its gone down to 20 now which i think is good. My hair doesn't really seem to be getting worse. My uncle has a similar hairline to me but it is much more narrow. And hes had it his whole life. We've both never really had a juvenile hairline. Maybe my hair is naturally just going to recede into that and that will be the end of it until I'm older?

 

[PappinAce]

Lol ok well then, stay in denial, but don't come back here and cry and say but but but some said it could be Telogen Effluvium. No one here want's you to suffer but you chose your fate, in a couple of years it will be shave it and embrace it, just because you accused the people here tharlt actually gave you the right information, of lying.

so males cannot get telogen effluvium?

 

[vinn]

I believe I've been suffering from telogen effluvium the past few months and it has effected the top much more than the sides. My hairline is still NW0 though. It's not fair to say that telogen effluvium effects the entire scalp equally.

 

[g.i joey]

I went to my Doctor and he told me that he thinks it's from stress caused by the issue i had with my bladder for all those months. I asked him if i should get a blood test to see if i have anything wrong regarding thyroid or any deficiency. And he said this "Well you could have thyroid problem or a deficiency of some kind, but you don't.." I did get a blood test back in November maybe thats why he doesn't think i need another one. I also explained how I'm worried that it could be male pattern baldness and he said almost the same thing " It could be male pattern baldness or it could be Telogen Effluvium. But worrying about it is just going to make it worse" He said it would grow back within 3-6 months and that I'd probably lose more hair between then. And I actually have been losing a lot of hair in the shower every morning. A lot of small hairs too. I check every hair and i can always see a little white bulb at the end which I've read it a good sign. I've also been taking supplements for the last 3 and a half weeks. And I don't really seem to be noticing any difference. I've noticed my left temple on my scalp has been feeling very dry. My head has been feeling dry in general since this whole thing started.

if you wait 3-6 months on your docs advice i promise you'll wanna backhand him the next time you see him.

this is male pattern baldness. The thinning is what should worry you, as people who generally recede slowly usually have very little thinning going on, and aggressive hairloss does both, thin and recede.

 

[theman4444]

Hey Charles, I would like to tell you my story. I was a 16 years old guys with a thick hair, till I suddenly knew that I had stones in my bladder that made me suffer, every night I wake up to this pain from my gb and had a thin hair because of this. Till I removed my gb and now it's been 4 months, I can say that the hair is coming back again, regrowing through the months. Although I didn't know what was the trigger for it but all the odds go to the gb pain.