Early 30's and fed up ..... my story(including pics)

[Schitz Popinov]

Hey there everyone. I've done a lot of reading/research over various hair loss forums and decided to make my first post here. I'm the younger side of my 30's and the thinning/receding is really starting to get to me and my self-esteem.

I'm a very active as far as my health and fitness. I actively work out (weight lifting and light cardio) 5 days a week. I consider my body to be in the best shape at least on the exterior that it's ever been. I eat extremely lean these days as most of my diet involves fish, turkey, vegetables, oatmeal, etc. etc. About 1 day a week I'll cheat and eat some fast food.

When I think back to when the hair loss started, it was about 5-6 years ago. I had gotten extremely ill with some kind of extreme bacterial infection, which took a month to get over. After my recovery I noticed many physical changes including fatigue, bloating, and irritability. It was also a very stressful time in my life working ridiculous hours at a restaurant. I do believe the stress heavily contributed to the hair loss as it has evolved.

I should also note that I probably haven't been taking as good of care of my hair as I could've. In fact it's very poor. I've always been sort of obsessed with having spikey hair even though I do not have it naturally. I went to great lengths to maintain that look over the last 5-6 years. My routine after a shower has long been to put a lot of hair spray in it and blow dry it straight and up. This obviously dries out not only my hair, but my scalp. I use a hair clay to style and often I will touch it up with a hair flat iron. At one point when the hair loss started, I became paranoid about washing the hair too much. Combine that with the fact that I was fatigued and doing my hair was taking too long, I'd often go 2-3 days without washing it. Considering that I work out a lot, I'm sure all the sweating and hair junk has been blocking the hell out of my pores.

At any rate, the hair line has most definitely receded and the hair has thinned out tremendously on top and towards the front. Such a stark contrast from back in the day when my hair was thick as hell. The sides and back haven't really suffered all that much. Some times I'll get cystic acne on the lower-back area of my scalp. I notice whenever I cheat on my meals and eat processed carbs that this happens. Now as far as my family is concerned, my father is the only one with the hair problems, but then again he has been a smoker for most of his life (poor for circulation) as well as having an alcohol problem. I'm scared to death to end up looking like him as far as the hair goes, but I can see the danger of ending up that way. His hair has almost receded entirely on the top and is very thin everywhere else. My uncle jokes that his forehead is running away.

Recently I decided to be more proactive with my hair/scalp .... hence my posting here. I'm now back to washing my hair every day to every other day using deep conditioners and afterwards some Biotine H24 Scalp Massage Emulsion. After I blow dry it real quick, I then spend some time brushing my hair and my scalp to work on circulation up there. I don't load my hair up with hairspray anymore either. I've looked up various treatments, some seem a bit more risky than others. In no particular order:

- finasteride
- Lipigain (or other products with Azelaic Acid)
- Proxiphen for the hairline
- Fincar
- Grape Fruit Juice
- Laser Hair Comb
- Spironolactone

Yada yada yada ..... I'm sure this site has talked about these things a millions times. It's just amazing how much body hair I can keep adding on, but how much head hair I'm losing. I can't stand body hair anymore, but that's another issue entirely. At any rate here are some photos to give you guys a better idea of what I'm dealing with ..... I appreciate any recommendations.

 

[antman]

the oral drug, Propecia (finasteride) and and shampoo, Nizoral (Ketoconazole) are your best bet for hair loss treatment. i wouldn't use minoxidil in your hair, it's too long and thick at the back. i think you'll respond well to those.

do not get lazer comb, even if they offer it for free, it's a waste of physical space.

 

[rwGourmetStyleWellness]

Grape Fruit Juice ?

 

[Schitz Popinov]

As Antman says get on Propecia (Finasteride), you could maintain what you have for years.
You are thinning/receding in the NW4 pattern. If you dont get on treatment you may have an island of hair at the front that has departed from the rest of your hair within a couple of years.
Rogaine may help you regrow some hair in this area.
Good Luck! I dont mean to sound so negative, but i always think its best to prepare for the worse.

Nah, you don't sound negative ..... you're just giving your opinion.

 

[Schitz Popinov]

Grape Fruit Juice ?

That's not the "only" treatment. I was reading that someone introduced it to their diet along with whatever prescriptions treatments they were getting. They claimed it helped.

 

[antman]

maybe they were referring to this:
Grapefruit juice is a potent inhibitor of the intestinal cytochrome P-450 3A4 system (specifically: CYP3A4 - mediated drug metabolism) which is responsible for the first-pass metabolism of many medications. This interaction can lead to increases in bioavailability and corresponding increases in serum drug levels. In many cases, the increased serum drug levels can produce some readily observable symptoms.

i don't know if it affects finasteride

 

[oldmpber]

Grape Fruit Juice ?

That's not the "only" treatment. I was reading that someone introduced it to their diet along with whatever prescriptions treatments they were getting. They claimed it helped.

If you are doing finasteride be sure and STAY OFF the Grape Fruit Juice. I can't prove it , but I have suspected that I got bad finasteride sides because of it. I had been on finasteride for 3 years without any problems till I started drinking that stuff. Now I was drinking a lot of it and it may have been a pure coincidence, but I have read others state there may be a connection.

 

[rwGourmetStyleWellness]

Grape Fruit Juice ?

That's not the "only" treatment. I was reading that someone introduced it to their diet along with whatever prescriptions treatments they were getting. They claimed it helped.

If you are doing finasteride be sure and STAY OFF the Grape Fruit Juice. I can't prove it , but I have suspected that I got bad finasteride sides because of it. I had been on finasteride for 3 years without any problems till I started drinking that stuff. Now I was drinking a lot of it and it may have been a pure coincidence, but I have read others state there may be a connection.

This is very true.

I know of other medications it says NOT to use Grape fruit juice with it because it enhances the medication.

 

[rwGourmetStyleWellness]

maybe they were referring to this:
Grapefruit juice is a potent inhibitor of the intestinal cytochrome P-450 3A4 system (specifically: CYP3A4 - mediated drug metabolism) which is responsible for the first-pass metabolism of many medications. This interaction can lead to increases in bioavailability and corresponding increases in serum drug levels. In many cases, the increased serum drug levels can produce some readily observable symptoms.

i don't know if it affects finasteride

This is very true.

I know of other medications it says NOT to use Grape fruit juice with it because it enhances the medication.

 

[Schitz Popinov]

OK so disregard the grapefruit juice.

Is there nothing (besides transplants/plugs) I'm going to be able to do about the hairline?

 

[antman]

there's a good chance Propecia (finasteride) will thicken up your hair line which will make a big difference.

if u wanna go further than that, then look into front hair piece systems, they look really good. i'm thinking of researching and ordering one after my exams.

 

[Schitz Popinov]

I've been treating my hair and scalp a lot better over the last month. However, I went the entire weekend without washing it and jeez it's crazy how much more shedding I go thru when I do that. When I think back over the last 5-6 years how many times I'd go without washing it for that kind of duration, I can only imagine how much DHT and other crap built up on my scalp. I'm also curious as to how much impact my weight lifting regimen has had on all this.

Aside from all that, I've been reading up on Nioxin today and may give the 3 step treatment a try. I have to do something though. I'm mortified these days of looking at my hair in any bright lights. I've just lost so much hair up at the front and seeing my scalp is making me depressed.

 

[ChrisW1980uk]

I can empathise, as if I leave my hair for a few days. Then when I wash it, a large amount ends up in the plug hole blocker. But then again, when I was it everyday there seems much less. I guess it's a case of hairs being caught between other hairs, and they don't come out in numerous goes as they would washing it daily. So it seems like a lot, but then it's a few days worth. Not sure I've explained this properly sorry!

 

[Schitz Popinov]

I can empathise, as if I leave my hair for a few days. Then when I wash it, a large amount ends up in the plug hole blocker. But then again, when I was it everyday there seems much less. I guess it's a case of hairs being caught between other hairs, and they don't come out in numerous goes as they would washing it daily. So it seems like a lot, but then it's a few days worth. Not sure I've explained this properly sorry!

Nah, I know what you're saying. I use a hair clay for styling, so I can imagine that it's possible. I remember when I first started noticing my hair loss I was going thru such a stressful time. I got to the point where I developed some kind of phobia of washing too much because I was afraid of seeing more fall out.

 

[ChrisW1980uk]

I found that both clay and wax were bad for clumping my hair together and made it seem thinner and more see through. I use hairspray now, and condition once a week. My hair has always been kind of greasy though, so hairspray and blow drying doesn't seem to have dried mine out, and I can cover my thinning areas with a long asymmetrical fringe. What I found was good for when I had my hair spikey, was either a fixing spray, or spritzing spray. Kind of like a fine gel that was sprayed in.

 

[Schitz Popinov]

So I was reading some of the major success stories on this site. A couple of which were very impressive, Zeroheat's was one. Peaboddy was the other. He's a professional fitness model and does a lot of working out. He mentioned something interesting when it came to some of the unexpected side effects of his routine (Rogaine, Finasteride, and Nizorol). His comment was that he was surprised that he suddenly became leaner and stronger, perhaps because of some extra testosterone now floating around his system that wasn't converted to DHT.

It got me to thinking. I've maintained a strict workout regimen for about 11 years now (even moreso in the last 3). When my problems started, I noticed a legitimate change in my body composition, strength, and hair thinning. I noticed I was keeping on more weight, my strength levels became erratic/low, and obviously the hair was diffusing and receding.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? I'm curious if there's some kind of testosterone conversion problem I may or may not be having.

- - - Updated - - -

I found that both clay and wax were bad for clumping my hair together and made it seem thinner and more see through. I use hairspray now, and condition once a week. My hair has always been kind of greasy though, so hairspray and blow drying doesn't seem to have dried mine out, and I can cover my thinning areas with a long asymmetrical fringe. What I found was good for when I had my hair spikey, was either a fixing spray, or spritzing spray. Kind of like a fine gel that was sprayed in.

See recently I starting cutting out the abuse of hair spray. In order to style my hair straight I would let my hair dry after a shower. Then I would coat it in hair spray and then blow dry it straight-foward and then up. As my hair has progressively thinned out, it was making my scalp more irritated and I'm sure blocking hair pores (not to mention drying the crap out of my hair follicles). I've since eliminated most of that. Now I just blow dry my hair normally with casually spraying in a little bit of hair spray for some hold. I originally chose the clay over waxes, etc. because of it's superior hold, easier to wash out, and not so wet looking. I still like it, but ya when you're thinning most thick hair products antagonize the problem.

 

[Schitz Popinov]

In a couple of weeks I am going to have a comprehensive hormone panel run. I have a family member who works as a phlebotomist and he can get me a big discount. In the mean time, I was looking thru panels I had run when I went to various general practitioners between 2006-2008. I eventually stopped going to them because all they wanted to do was subscribe me anti-depressants.

Some notables:

-T4 always at very bottom of the range. Tests came up 4.4 to 5.8 (range is 4.5 to 12)
-TSH was always between 2.5 and 3.4
-Total Testosterone was always between 300-320 (range is 250 to 1100)
-The one panel with Free Testosterone was at 11.9 (range is 9.3 to 26.5)

-

 

[Schitz Popinov]

I've been doing a TON of research over the last month into my hair loss problem. It's basically just reminded me that my hormonal system is off regardless and has been for a very long time. I looked over some labs from even further back (2001) and there it was again .... high LDL, T4 at low end of the range, high bilirubin (they didn't run Testosterone because I was only 20-21 at the time). It is my belief that I've been doing things to antagonize this pre-existing condition.

Here are my thoughts at the present moment:

Pre-existing endocrine problem (possibly thryoid) exasperated by years of stress which could be responsible for my high LDL. I've made my cholesterol problem worse from excessive in-take of protein shakes high in saturated fats. Example, the last 2 years I've been drinking two shakes of Muscle Milk a day. That's 60% of what is supposed to be my daily in-take of sat fats. Keep in mind I also eat 3-4 other times per day. Someone like myself with high LDL issues should actually be focused on consuming even less than the average person.

Moreover, if my cholesterol is high then there's a strong chance my DHT is as well since cholesterol is a precursor building block to natural steroids in the body. I'm more than likely naturally predisposed to natural androgenic alopecia so that would mean more DHT in the receptors, which are already bogged down from high cholesterol to begin with.

1) The cholesterol slows down the blood influx.
2) It invades the hair follicle and prevents the sebum
from being properly evacuated.
3) The root gradually loses its vital space and degenerates.

In going back to the thyroid .... what could be the cause? Autoimmune? Judging by some of my symptoms like my troublesome lower ab fat, mood swings, issue with hard nipples, I'm wondering if I am suffering from estrogen dominance.

As for my liver (excess bile) .... not sure yet where it fits into all of this, but again the pathways are important to my hormones. Could also be that high stress triggers my Gilbert's Syndrome.

Round and round we go with this. In the mean time, I've cut out that Muscle Milk out of my diet completely starting today. I am having a comprehensive panel done on Friday so results will be available shortly from those.

 

[Schitz Popinov]

Would like to report that since I've stopped consuming my two Muscle Milk protein shakes a day, the hair shedding has reduced. Prior to this anytime I would run my hand thru my hair, hairs with the bulb would come out so easily. Right now that's not the case. I'm fairly certain my pre-existing high LDL cholesterol issue has been a big cuplrit in my hair diffusing/receding any time I've antagonized it with consuming too much saturated fats (most recently the protein shakes).

I think I might've posted this before, but this was something I was reading on the web .....

There is an explanation to this: in the same way that LDL risks blocking coronary arteries, it can obstruct the micro blood vessels that feed the hair follicle. It can also contribute to solidify the sebum inside the follicle, in a rather similar way to limestone in a pipe. Consequence: reduced irrigation and therefore asphyxiation of the roots, refinement and bad anchoring of the hair in the follicle, and premature loss.


On the left, a healthy root:
the sebum is properly evacuated towards outside the scalp.


On the right, a root and cholesterol:
1) The cholesterol slows down the blood influx.
2) It invades the hair follicle and prevents the sebum
from being properly evacuated.
3) The root gradually loses its vital space and degenerates.