JohnJohns1988's Story - (21)

[JohnJohns1988]

So I'm 21 years old and I started noticing that my hairline seems to be receding in the mirror. When I first noticed this I asked family members and was often dismissed. My girlfriend says I'm acting "kooky". My brother just says I'm a nut job. My dad who is 60 years old and has a full head of hair doesn't even acknowledge it. My mom whom I shown says it is my natural hairline and that it has been like that since I was a kid. It is true I always had a broad forehead but I don't remember it looking like this. A kid when I was 8 years old said i had a receding hairline and that obviously wasn't the case so I kind of get a false sense of security from her. She showed me her hairline and she has the same but she is a woman and not balding. So like I kind of in a bubble where they are telling me it is not true and I'm being crazy. I can handle it, I have a steady girlfriend that I can spend the rest of my life with and my hairstyle has long bangs so I can cover it up. The thing is they won't take me to a hair loss doctor to get a professional opinion. If I really am(which I certainly think I am) I wouldn't mind having a long hairstyle while taking hair loss preventative drugs until it gets bad enough where I would have to consider getting plugs. But like, I don't even have that option..they won't help me out at all. Need some confirmation about this so I can try to convince them to help me. Thanks for reading I hope for a quick reply.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Hey, thanks for the response. There is no thinning or loss at the crown but mostly the hairline I see a change in. But yeah, if I do notice those things I will post some more pics up. So a mature hairline eh? Are you getting that from my pictures or my story? My story is true but even though I always had this kinda hairline, I still notice a bit of loss. Well thanks for your time. Peace out.

 

[ByggareBob]

The thing is they won't take me to a hair loss doctor to get a professional opinion.

they won't help me out at all. Need some confirmation about this so I can try to convince them to help me.

They?! you are 21 yrs old man, do you really need your mommy to take you to the doctor?

 

[JohnJohns1988]

The thing is they won't take me to a hair loss doctor to get a professional opinion.

they won't help me out at all. Need some confirmation about this so I can try to convince them to help me.

They?! you are 21 yrs old man, do you really need your mommy to take you to the doctor?

Well, I can get there myself. But I'm on their plan and everyone in my life is telling me that there is no reason to go. That is the main reason..

 

[JohnJohns1988]

I got a appointment to get checked for male pattern baldness from a dermatologist. Hopefully a miniaturization test or something similar. Done extensive research on the subject to the point of obsession.
None of the men on my mom's side of the family are balding. That is good news. They have mature hairlines(large foreheads) into late age(uncle's and grandfather), I never noticed these things before. My dad has what appears to be a juvenile hairline at 60 years old. I have a paternal grandfather that I don't know much about(died in 1969) that appeared to be balding. Like that would really really suck that I would get his genes out of all these good options since the chances are so damn low. That is my major fear, I read so much about the unpredictability of male pattern baldness and there is a chance I got his genes and it freaks me the hell out. Finally, my older brother(turns 26 soon) has a juvenile hairline too.
My "mature hairline" came in about a year ago and has stayed the same since. That is good news I suppose. I have been studying it for that long too, taking pictures every week. I really want to get this out of my mind, I'm hoping the derm can bring some peace to me. I can't stand it anymore. I look at the mirror every five minutes and see different things every time. Sometimes I make my hair as wet as can be and look at the scalp with the brightest possible light and seeing the scalp drives me insane. As soon as I wake up I check my pillow immediately and thoroughly with a bright light for hairs(I found three one day, nothing the past two days). I carefully wash my hair in the shower looking for any hairs falling out(average is 1 or 2). Sometimes a hair will randomly fall out when I'm doing something during the day, I can't stand that and it can ruin whatever I was doing. I keep a daily count, I never notice more than 10 hairs throughout a whole day but I have read we don't see majority of the hairs that come out.
Overall, the best case scenario is that I go to the derm and they say that there is no evidence of thinning(haven't noticed any myself) and that the hairline won't get worse. I'm hoping I will stop thinking about my hair after that. Everyone in my family is begging me not to go, I make them look at my hair all the time and they don't notice anything. They don't even notice the "mature hairline" so I think they are full of sh*t. My mind has totally changed since I started noticing my hairline. I look at everyone I see and examine their hairline(in public and on tv etc). Like I can see a favorite show of mine and be like "whoa, that guy is balding? I never noticed that before".
Alternatively, they can detect that I'm in fact balding and I will go on propecia and rogaine asap. I'm hoping that all those super stem cell cures(follica, histogen, etc) will be available for me when it gets really bad. I think I have been preparing myself mentally if that were the case. Either way I will get some sort of closure with this problem.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

I got a professional opinion and I'm even more worried than ever before. Like she specializes in skin and didn't really know what she was talking about. I asked her about mature hairlines and showed her mine. She looked for a few seconds and said it looks receding and that I could use rogaine to regrow my hairline(LikeI'm pretty sure all of the tests I read show that rogaine cant regrow hairlines). She presented it as a temporary solution and she said I wasn't thinning at all"if you are worried you can get rogaine and use it on the hairline". I thought rogaine was a for life drug? I started asking her all sorts of questions and told her my story and she couldn't give me anything concrete at all. I told her about how this could be my families hairline since my uncles and grandfather on my mothers side and also the women have it and they still have hair at old ages(60's+!). I told her that the only balding relative I have is my paternal grandfather. Also I explained that I have been looking at it for a year plus and haven't noticed any changes. So the solution is this...obsess even more. She told me to take pictures to notice any changes(been doing that for a long *** time) and in 6 months if there is a difference then I should do something. So basically I have a receded hairline and no thinning but I have to look to see if it gets worse.
The worst part is this....When I come home and tell my family the news they got really pissed off at me. Screaming at me"You are not going bald!" "this is insanity that's just your natural hairline!" they were genuinely pissed off at me. It felt horrible. I'm confused and worried about losing hair and they are like going off at me. I don'tknow what to do..guess obsess some more. The obssession is really tearing me apart mentally. Maybe I really am going bald? sigh

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Am I seeing things? I compared old pictures to a new one and I could swear I notice a little difference. When I show other people the same pictures they tell me dont see anything and that it is the same. My girlfriend says I need help for BDD. I need help..I don'tknow what to do. Like does the hair need to get thin for male pattern baldness? Maybe i have the other pattern when it just recedes the hairline with no thinning. Is male pattern baldness a silent and long process when you get a bit of receding at the hairline and it stays like that for a whole year or so then will completely get worse later? God I don't know. Can someone help me with what are the early signs and way to tell if you are going bald?

 

[treeshrew]

is this guy for real? sorry but you just posted the first chapter of "moby dick" there. no one's gunna read all that sh*t.

if you want an honest opinion why not find a GOOD camera and take better pictures, from all angles, in the light, instead of the 2 crappy ones you've posted at the top?

from the pics you've posted i see NO hairloss whatsoever. and even on the off, off, off chance your hair line was beginning to creep back your nowhere near wanting to start serious meds like finasteride or minoxidil.

 

[CharlieBrownCocoaMan]

Don't worry about a thing bro. You're not balding...


...lucky bastard.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

is this guy for real? sorry but you just posted the first chapter of "moby dick" there. no one's gunna read all that sh*t.

if you want an honest opinion why not find a GOOD camera and take better pictures, from all angles, in the light, instead of the 2 crappy ones you've posted at the top?

from the pics you've posted i see NO hairloss whatsoever. and even on the off, off, off chance your hair line was beginning to creep back your nowhere near wanting to start serious meds like finasteride or minoxidil.

Like, its something I think about a lot so I have a lot to write about. I will take better pictures..the first picture sucks but the second picture shows how receded it is. I'm just gonna wait and see if it gets really noticeable then try to get on finasteride and minoxidil at that point. I think the reason the thinning isnt noticeable is because my hair is sorta long(I wear bangs to cover up my forehead so that length). I sorta think the hair on the sides of my hairline is thinning but its hard to tell. Its still up in the air so who knows what will happen..IMO i'm going bald..everyone else says no..derm says receded hairline.. who knows.
EDIT: I just compared two hairs after washing and one appears to be much thicker than the other. The derm didn't properly do a minaturazation test so I feel that is why she wouldn't prescribe me propecia. That is solid evidence that I'm going bald, feels like the corners of my hairline are less dense than everywhere else. My father examined my hair in bright lights and said he didn't notice anything. I don't think I can handle the 6 months to see if it gets worse diagnosis I got from the derm. I must get a appointment with a top notch hair specialist that can do a proper minuratization and gene test. I feel like every minute im not on finasteride I could be losing more and more hair that I won't be able to regrow later..It sucks.

 

[wannakeepitall]

Your family is right for being upset with you. You are not balding at all. Now go out enjoy life and come back here in 10 years.

 

[bluefin]

Friend, dermatologists / TRichologists know nothing about hair loss - she was trying to make a buck off your insecurities. Your hair (from what we can see of it) looks fine. Try a good non-invasive regime if you are concerned - REvita / alpecin shampoo should do the trick. You sound really paranoid and stressed but you're okay in truth.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Friend, dermatologists / TRichologists know nothing about hair loss - she was trying to make a buck off your insecurities. Your hair (from what we can see of it) looks fine. Try a good non-invasive regime if you are concerned - REvita / alpecin shampoo should do the trick. You sound really paranoid and stressed but you're okay in truth.

Like, I'm ok with the current state of my hair. The main concern was if it will lead to something worse later on. And yes the derm I went to was no expert. I questioned her about hairloss stuff and she didn't know what she was talking about. Like overall my paranoia is getting better now.

Your family is right for being upset with you. You are not balding at all. Now go out enjoy life and come back here in 10 years.

Yeah, I will try to stop worrying and see where it goes. I can trust my family and if they think I have a problem then that is the time to take action.