My fucked up situation(pics finally included)

[JayB]

Well for those of you who dont know me, ill give you a brief history.

I had my first shed around 2 summers ago exactly 3 months after a car accident. From what I have learned, this was due to telogen effluvium which is common after experiences like that.

I grew my hair long after that and did not notice much fall out. It was probably the same amount as always just now paid alot more attention to how much was on my hand. Looking back now, it was less than average fall out during showers.

Around that time i started to develop anxiety. Every once in a while, I would start to shake and couldnt control my heart rate when going to sleep. Oddly, I would find my hair would always feel dried out and dead after an episode.

Fast forward to last year around this time through May I developed an extreme case of anxiety disorder which caused panic attacks every single night. My hair began to fall out everywhere from every angle. I had chunks of dandruff as well and inflammation. Finally, I brought myself to go to a hair specialist.
I was diagnosed with Telogen Effluvium due to extreme psychological stress. The specialist assured me that most of my hair will grow back if I learn to relax and decrease the overwhelming amount of stress in my life. Well, its now been 8 months since I first saw this hair specialist and most of my hair has recovered I guess with the exception of the crown area. I went to see the specialist a few more times and she still assured me that my hair will grow back to normal but it can take up to a year.
When I went to see a second specialist for another opinion, he said the same- that I have a substantial amount of hair and it can take up to 2 years to get my cycle back to normal.

I dont believe either of them and feel that I have male pattern baldness. I know that it is hard to distinguish between the Telogen Effluvium and male pattern baldness, but in my defense the amount of psychological stress i was under was debilitating and took an extreme toll on me physically and mentally. It was like going through a torture session every night for 6 months. I finally got past it, although I still have anxiety every now and then and still feel stressed out (namely because of my hair). Just this morning I pulled on my hair in the back for fun and behold 3 hairs on my hand.

What do you guys recommend I do. Both doctors dont want to put me on propecia because they dont want to mess with my hormones. Both assure me it will grow back, but it feels like utter sh*t around that one area.

Here are my pics. As you can see I have a thick head of hair even after all of this. But that one diffuse area..its like "parts" going around the back of my head.

 

[Bone Daddy]

Well if your were having attacks "every single night" I'd say you were bound to lose alot of hair.

Your crown does look more sparse than it should, but then again alot of people without male pattern baldness have that patch. It depends on how the hairs are rooted around the crown from birth.

Has your hairline receded? Do you have other spots like that or thinning anywhere else?

You either have Telogen Effluvium from stress, or Telogen Effluvium AND male pattern baldness, and the timing is so spot on it's confusing the doctors. And alot of them don't know alot about hairloss to begin with.

I'd get a hormone and thyroid check just to be sure. Also some more pics of the head would help. If you do have more than Telogen Effluvium, this would be the best time to start treatment.

 

[JayB]

My hairline was never a straight hairline like tom cruise. As much as I always wished even as a child, it wasnt straight. It has stayed pretty much the same, but this anxiety f*****g curse did a number on my entire head of hair. I guess im about a N2 slightly less. I have a normal mans hairline, but yea i would have to say it changed slightly after the panic attacks. The hairs that were always blonde and never quite got dark did leave me.

Im a sitting duck. I went to top hair specialists in my area(NJ). not just shitty dermatologists who say , oh your balding pay me. But after 8 months its turning me into a lunatic not being able to start on propecia if i need to, but also not knowing if my hair will recover. If it does, i will look back on all the unnecessary stress this put on my life, the depression it brought, the strain on my relationship, on my life and be so relieved ..but i just feel like if it is male pattern baldness im going to so incredibly angry that I didnt start treatment sooner.

 

[Bone Daddy]

It seems that you are caught in a viscious circle, unable to escape. Yes you probably do have male pattern baldness and Telogen Effluvium from stress, but you have to realise that Finasteride won't do anything if you don't stop the panic attacks (Telogen Effluvium) first.

Hairloss, at the end of the day, is only a vain worry. Your mental health and happiness is not, however.

Get some help with the mental problems first, THEN worry about your hair.

 

[wastingpenguins]

Ha. My dermatologist still insists I have Telogen Effluvium and nothing more. I'm positive that's not it though.

 

[JayB]

Ha. My dermatologist still insists I have Telogen Effluvium and nothing more. I'm positive that's not it though.

I hear you on that...are you on anything? And if you are, howd you get him to give it to you.

The one thing about Telogen Effluvium is that ive read it can continue until the underlying psychological stress is removed...fuckin splendid...so now i just have to never get nervous and anxiety ridden for 365 days straight..may sound funny to others, but its near impossible for me.

 

[giggsy]

Stress

Jay B

I have copied an article that I bought from the archives of dermatology that links physiological stress to hair loss and scalp burning. It basically links the nervous system to hair loss and scalp pain/burning which is completely logical. Treatment is via anti depressants.

Please note that I have been successfully cured of my scalp pain/burning using anti depressants (specificallty aropax).

Hope this helps.

Scalp Dysesthesia
Diane Hoss, MD; Samantha Segal, MD
Arch Dermatol. 1998;134:327-330.
ABSTRACT

Background

Cutaneous dysesthesia syndrome is a disorder characterized by chronic cutaneous symptoms without objective findings. Patients complain of burning, stinging, or itching, which is often triggered or exacerbated by psychological or physical stress. These symptoms may be manifestations of an underlying psychiatric disorder or may represent a type of chronic pain syndrome.

Observations

Eleven women presented with chronic severe pain and/or pruritus of the scalp only without objective physical findings, a condition we term "scalp dysesthesia." Five women described pain, stinging, or burning only; 4 women complained of pain and pruritus; and 2 women reported pruritus only. The patients ranged in age from 36 to 70 years. The duration of symptoms ranged from 9 months to 7 years. Five women had physician-diagnosed psychiatric disorders, including dysthymic disorder, generalized anxiety, and somatization. Seven women reported that stress triggers or exacerbates their symptoms. Eight women experienced improvement or complete resolution of symptoms with treatment with low-dose doxepin hydrochloride or amitriptyline hydrochloride. One patient responded completely to treatment with sertraline and hydroxyzine hydrochloride but then experienced a relapse.

Conclusions

We describe 11 patients with a new syndrome that we term scalp dysesthesia. Of 11 patients, 9 benefited from treatment with low doses of antidepressants.


INTRODUCTION

THE CHRONIC pain syndromes include the burning mouth syndrome (synonyms: glossodynia, stomatodynia, oral dysesthesia, glossopyrosis, and stomatopyrosis), vulvodynia, scrotodynia, and atypical facial pain (synonym, orofacial dysesthesia). Patients with 1 of these syndromes report localized cutaneous or mucosal debilitating pain or burning, sometimes without abnormal physical findings. We describe 11 women with chronic distressing scalp symptoms, a condition we term "scalp dysesthesia."


REPORT OF CASES

The characteristics of the 11 women with scalp dysesthesia are presented in Table 1, Part A, and Table 1, Part B.

COMMENT

In 1981, Cotterill1 described 28 patients with "dermatologic non-disease." These patients reported significant facial, scalp, and genital burning and discomfort or itching often associated with a disturbed body image (body dysmorphic disorder). Koblenzer and Bostrom2 coined the term "chronic cutaneous dysesthesia syndrome" to refer to patients whose primary cutaneous complaint is dysesthesia. Dysesthesia can be defined as "a disagreeable sensation present with ordinary stimuli."3 Chronic cutaneous dysesthesia is a separate clinical entity from body dysmorphic disorder or a circumscribed delusion, such as delusions of parasitosis.2 Examples of chronic cutaneous dysesthesia include the burning mouth syndrome, vulvodynia, scrotodynia, and atypical facial pain.
When confronted with a patient complaining of localized pain, one must consider possible underlying localized organic disease, systemic organic disease, or psychological disease. In the case of burning mouth syndrome, the physician must rule out local disease (geographic tongue, candidiasis, or contact stomatitis), systemic disease (diabetes, xerostomia due to Sjögren syndrome or medication use, or vitamin deficiencies), or psychological disease.4 Similar consideration must be given to women with vulvodynia3 and patients with orofacial dysestheia.5
Cutaneous disease was present in only 1 of our patients. Patient 6 had biopsy-proven prurigo nodularis of the scalp. These lesions were caused by constant picking of a pruritic and burning scalp in a patient with known atopic dermatitis. Her prurigo nodularis lesions, which were present for 5 years, completely disappeared when her scalp symptoms resolved. None of our patients exhibited signs of psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis that might have caused their symptoms.
We also considered whether alopecia could have caused or contributed to the scalp dysesthesia in our patients. Of our 11 patients, 7 (2 premenopausal and 5 postmenopausal) had mild androgenetic alopecia (Androgenetic Alopecia). In 1960, Sulzberger et al6 reported that women with "diffuse alopecia" complained of associated scalp symptoms, including "spotty tenderness, tingling, crawling, itching, burning and uncomfortable awareness of the scalp." Mild Androgenetic Alopecia is common in women. Venning and Dawber7 noted mild Androgenetic Alopecia in 220 (87%) of 254 premenopausal women seen in a dermatology clinic for reasons other than hair loss. Thus, our patients do not have an increased incidence of Androgenetic Alopecia compared with the general population. It is unlikely that mild Androgenetic Alopecia is the sole cause of the scalp symptoms in these 7 women. Even if mild Androgenetic Alopecia is the cause, control of scalp symptoms can be achieved without changing the clinical finding of Androgenetic Alopecia.
Patient 1 had documented telogen effluvium on 2 separate occasions. No cause was determined for the telogen effluvium. The results of a complete blood cell count, thyroid function tests, and iron studies were all normal. Treatment of her scalp burning with doxepin hydrochloride resulted in cessation of burning and decreased daily hair loss on both occasions. A recent review of telogen effluvium does not mention scalp burning associated with increased daily hair loss.8
Temporal arteritis and tension headaches are underlying medical conditions with symptoms that may include scalp pain or tightness. Features that militate against a diagnosis of temporal arteritis in our patients are the diffuse distribution of the scalp pain and the presence of normal erythrocyte sedimentation rates in those patients tested. When queried, all patients stated that their pain did not resemble a headache. The 2 women who reported scalp pruritus without pain had negative or normal results of a laboratory workup for pruritus (complete blood cell count, liver function tests, and measurement of levels of blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, glucose, and thyroid stimulating hormone).
A psychiatric cause or overlay has been reported in patients with chronic pain syndromes or cutaneous dysesthesias.1-2,9-12 In fact, chronic pain has been referred to as a "depressive equivalent."9 Many of the chronic pain syndromes were initially thought to represent a psychiatric disorder only. However, one must be cautious when reviewing data describing a personality profile or a psychiatric disorder associated with any chronic condition, particularly a painful one.3, 13 Is a psychiatric disturbance (ie, depression) the cause of chronic pain or does experiencing chronic pain result in symptoms of depression? A subset of chronic pain sufferers probably do have an underlying psychiatric illness causing their symptoms. However, in the experience of Bowers,13 "most of the cutaneous/mucosal pain syndromes are not caused by psychological pathology." Continued research into the chronic pain syndromes now suggests that they may represent a neurologic dysfunction that in some cases is associated with a secondary psychiatric component.
It is interesting that 5 of our patients had 1 or more physician-diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Dysthymic disorder, a mood disturbance characterized by a chronically depressed mood, was present in 2 patients. Prior somatization was present in 3 patients. Generalized anxiety was present in 4 patients. Of these 5 patients, 4 had psychiatric problems that were present prior to the onset of scalp dysesthesia. Of the 11 patients we describe herein, the symptoms in 7 patients intensified with psychological stress.
A common denominator of many chronic pain syndromes is improvement or complete resolution with treatment with low-dose antidepressants.13 Three possible mechanisms have been proposed14-15: first, antidepressant use may relieve depression associated with or caused by chronic pain and thus improve symptoms; second, the tricyclic antidepressants may have analgesic properties; and/or third, depression and pain may share a similar underlying biochemical mechanism.
Several placebo-controlled studies have documented the efficacy of low-dose antidepressants for treating chronic pain. Postherpetic neuralgia responds to treatment with amitriptyline hydrochloride as demonstrated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study.16 There was no significant antidepressive effect with the low doses used (median dose, 75 mg). A 1992 placebo-controlled study17 compared the efficacy of desipramine hydrochloride, amitriptyline, and fluoxetine hydrochloride for treating chronic pain in diabetic neuropathy. Desipramine and amitriptyline were equally effective and superior to placebo in both depressed and nondepressed patients with diabetic neuropathy. Fluoxetine had no greater analgesic effect than placebo in nondepressed patients. Patients who were depressed benefited from fluoxetine therapy. In a retrospective review, McKay18 reported that dysesthetic (essential) vulvodynia responds to treatment with low-dose amitriptyline. Gabapentin, a newly released anticonvulsant medication, has been effective in treating chronic pain syndromes (erythromelalgia19 and reflex sympathetic dystrophy20) in uncontrolled studies. In the future, this drug may prove to be a useful adjunctive therapy for managing a variety of chronic pain syndromes, including scalp dysesthesia.
Of the 11 patients, 9 experienced improvement or complete resolution of their scalp symptoms with low-dose antidepressant treatment. Patient 9 (with pruritus only) was not responsive to numerous therapies including several antidepressants. Patient 5 was unavailable for follow-up. Patient 7 responded to therapy for 1 year but then had a relapse. Patients 1, 6, and 8 reported that symptoms recur if use of the medication is stopped. The positive response to therapy supports our belief that scalp dysesthesia represents a chronic pain syndrome or a subset of the cutaneous dysesthesia syndrome.
It might be argued that patients with only scalp pruritus may have a different condition than those complaining of scalp pain. We included those patients with only pruritus for several reasons: first, several patients with pain or burning reported coexisting pruritus or initial transient pruritus; second, there appeared to be a spectrum of complaints ranging from pain only, to pain and pruritus, to pruritus only; and third, the degree of interference with daily life seemed similar in all patients regardless of their specific symptom. The sensations of both pain and itch are carried on the same unmyelinated (slow), afferent, group C nerve fibers. However, patients with only pruritus were less responsive or unresponsive to therapy with low-dose antidepressants.

CONCLUSIONS

We describe 11 women with scalp dysesthesia, a condition that we believe is a type of chronic cutaneous dysesthesia. These women experienced debilitating scalp pain and/or pruritus. We are not certain if our patients have pain secondary to underlying psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety, dysthymic disorder, and somatization, or if these psychiatric problems are unrelated or caused by the scalp dysesthesia. More studies are needed to determine the cause of scalp dysesthesia and define any role psychiatric diseases may play in causing or enhancing the pain experienced by these patients. Further studies should also formally evaluate the efficacy of treating scalp dysesthesia with low-dose antidepressants.

AUTHOR INFORMATION
Accepted for publication August 3, 1997.
We acknowledge Jean Vogel, MD, for performing psychiatric evaluations of 2 of our patients and Peter Lynch, MD, for providing helpful suggestions regarding therapy with low-dose antidepressants.
Reprints: Diane Hoss, MD, University of Connecticut Health Center, Dowling South, Suite 300, MC 6230, 263 Farmington Ave, Farmington, CT 06030.
From the Department of Dermatology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington.

REFERENCES

1. Cotterill JA. Dermatological non-disease: a common and potentially fatal disturbance of cutaneous body image. Br J Dermatol. 1981;104:611-619. ISI | MEDLINE
2. Koblenzer CS, Bostrom P. Chronic cutaneous dysesthesia syndrome: a psychotic phenomenon or a depressive symptom? J Am Acad Dermatol. 1994;30:370-374. ISI | MEDLINE
3. McKay M. Vulvodynia, scrotodynia, and other chronic dysesthesias of the anogenital region (including pruritus ani). In: Bernhard JD, ed. Itch: Mechanisms and Management of Pruritus. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Co; 1994:161-183.
4. Huang W, Rothe MJ, Grant-Kels JM. The burning mouth syndrome. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1996;34:91-98. ISI | MEDLINE
5. Aghabeigi B. The pathophysiology of pain. Br Dent J. 1992;173:91-97. ISI | MEDLINE
6. Sulzberger MB, Witten VH, Kopf AW. Diffuse alopecia in women. Arch Dermatol. 1960;81:108-112.
7. Venning VA, Dawber RPR. Patterned androgenic alopecia in women. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1988;18:1073-1077. ISI | MEDLINE
8. Headington JT. Telogen effluvium: new concepts and review. Arch Dermatol. 1993;129:356-363. ABSTRACT
9. Koblenzer CS. Psychocutaneous disease. In: Moschella SL, Hurley HJ, eds. Dermatology. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders Co; 1992:2025-2041.
10. Lynch PJ. Vulvodynia: a syndrome of unexplained vulvar pain, psychologic disability and sexual dysfunction. J Reprod Med. 1986;31:773-780. ISI
11. Feinmann C, Harris M, Cawley R. Psychogenic facial pain: presentation and treatment. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1984;288:436-438. ISI | MEDLINE
12. Hampf G, Vikkula J, Ylipaavalniemi P, Aalberg V. Psychiatric disorders in orofacial dysaesthesia. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 1987;16:402-407. ISI | MEDLINE
13. Bowers KE. Cutaneous and mucosal pain syndromes. Med Surg Dermatol. 1995;2:129-132.
14. Lee R, Spencer PSJ. Antidepressants and pain: a review of the pharmacological data supporting the use of certain tricyclics in chronic pain. J Int Med Res. 1977;5(suppl 1):146-156.
15. Feinmann C. Pain relief by antidepressants: possible modes of action. Pain. 1985;23:1-8. ISI | MEDLINE
16. Watson CP, Evans RJ, Reed K, Merskey H, Goldsmith L, Warsh J. Amitriptyline versus placebo in postherpetic neuralgia. Neurology. 1982;32:671-673. ABSTRACT
17. Max MB, Lynch SA, Muir J, Shoaf SE, Smoller B, Dubner R. Effects of desipramine, amitriptyline and fluoxetine on pain in diabetic neuropathy. N Engl J Med. 1992;326:1250-1256. ABSTRACT
18. McKay M. Dysesthetic (‘essential') vulvodynia: treatment with amitriptyline. J Reprod Med. 1993;38:9-13. ISI | MEDLINE
19. McGraw T, Kosek P. Erythromelalgia pain managed with gabapentin. Anesthesiology. 1997;86:988-990. ISI | MEDLINE
20. Mellick GA, Mellick LB. Reflex sympathetic dystrophy treated with gabapentin. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 1997;78:98-105. ISI | MEDLINE

 

[elguapo]

If your father or uncles on your mothers side have the same balding pattern, I would go on propecia.

It could just be a coincidence that you started losing a lot of hair during the stressful time.

 

[JayB]

my dad has an enlarged prostate and has never lost a hair in his 60 years. THATS what pisses me off.

 

[JayB]

giggsy-

I have all the above ailments. I have burning scalp which seems to only come when i think about it, used to have the feeling of ants crawling on my head, and i have tension headaches...all of which flare up when my anxiety does.
DUDE ! i got problems, lol.

 

[JayB]

I just keep looking at this picture of an asian man diagnosed with telogen effluvium whose condition repaired itself with time. But i havent made my mind up as to how i feel about Telogen Effluvium in men. In women its 1 thing, unfortunately i have a whole other set of hormones i need to worry about.

 

[andy]

i would listen to the doctor and give it a year, if thing doesn't look better , then begin on propecia

 

[wastingpenguins]

I hear you on that...are you on anything? And if you are, howd you get him to give it to you.

I use Propecia, 5% minoxidil and Nizoral.

You could get Finasteride from countless places online. Personally, I got mine from my general physician, who agrees that I probably have premature male pattern baldness. It's my derm who doesn't think I do.

 

[pleasegodno]

hi, giggsy. i have experienced/am experiencing the burning and tenderness you describe. i have been able to alleviate it somewhat with anti-inflammatory supplements and diet regimens but not sufficiently, in my opinion. i've known for a while now that chronic stress/anxiety/depression is contributing to my excessive hairloss (shedding, even when i wasn't on any treatment) because my days of least loss and of least itching/pain were my least stressful/anxious/depressed days, although i have no idea if these emotional states are the only causes of my hairloss. while i don't have any obvious recession, my hairline is diffuse and, with the trichodynia, my crown has rapidly become diffuse as well. the times when the burning were most intense (on my crown/back of head), i would wake up w/ about 20 hairs on my pillow. although my dad and my grandpa's didn't have male pattern baldness, several of my uncles have obvious hairloss. i also have noticeable follicle miniaturization (at the hairline at least, maybe a bit at the crown), but i'm losing a lot of apparently healthy terminal hairs at both spots as well. i've been trying to concoct effective anti-inflammatory topicals, but i'd much rather treat the cause than the effect; so, i've been thinking about pursuing this route (in addition to using my antiandrogen topical). what kind of loss do you have? any miniaturization? i haven't researched antidepressants sufficiently, as of yet, but isn't hairloss often listed as a side effect? are you concerned about that? has your trichodynia completely subsided w/ this treatment? how long have you been on it? has your hairloss decreased noticeably? thank you for your help and i wish you continued success.

 

[giggsy]

Anti depressants

Pleasegodno

I experienced many of the same problems as you have. Father, grandfathers and uncle all have no male pattern baldness whatsoever.

I had a nice thick head of hair and then one day (at age 24) out of the blue it started to itch, first in the front and then spread. I was losing hair rapidly and my scalp was sore to the touch (almost like a bruised feelin) and each time I brushed it, it felt like I was pulling my hair out. I washed with everything under the sun to alleviate the problem, but nothing worked. I had suffered from major depression and serious anxiety since I was 15 (i.e for 10 years) but never linked it to hair loss.

At Age 26 I started doing research and went on to keratin.com and found a section on "burning scalp syndrome". It had reference to a series of articles one of which I actually paid USD$12 to access from the "Archives of Dermatology" (the one I copied above). Anyway I took this to my Doctor who immediately prescribed an anti depressant (aropax), partly because nothing else had worked.

Within weeks the pain was subsiding and my anxiety levels had dropped significantly. I felt more positive about the future, and with the relaxing of my nerves, came the cessation of my scalp pain. Basically it took about a month or two and my scalp started feeling normal again (after 2 years of pain). My hair loss also slowed down dramatically and I got on propecia and minoxidil which seem to be doing a good job of maintaining.

To answer your q's.

1) My hair loss was diffuse

2)slight miniaturisation

3) Hair loss is not a major side effect of anti depressants. It is listed as a a possible side effect. It never bothered me bc I was losing hair anyway, but it has not been a problem for me in over a year.

4) Been on anti depressants for 18 months. One every night.

5) Hair loss has definately decreased to normal.

 

[pleasegodno]

great. congrats on your success and thank you for answering. that's how it all started with me too, some itching in front with concurrent excessive shedding and eventually the burning/bruised/having-your-hair-combed the-wrong-way sensation on the crown--which brings up a question i forgot to ask: was your pain localized? mine is predominantly in and around the crown.

i've also dealt with anxiety/depression/stress/rage for a long while. in my teens it was mostly because of acne, but it wasn't until i started getting these anxiety-driven stomach aches that my hairloss began. had you ever experienced that type of ache?

just thought i'd pass this info on for anybody curious about trichodynia's likely etiology. trichodynia is thought to be mediated by the overactivty of 'substance p' (due to chronic stress/anxiety/depression/ocd) which is known to cause muscle contraction (like that of the stomach), the sensation of pain, and mast cell degranulation, which i hypothesize initiates an inflammatory reaction that causes rapid hairloss. substance p activity is downregulated by antidepressants, hence their usage for this condition.

just wanted to confirm one thing. you say your hairloss decreased after beginning the antidepressant but before beginning propecia? thanks again for all your help.

edit: oh, one more thing. it's a terribly vicious cycle, isn't it? you're stressing, you start losing a lot of hair, so you're stressing 10x more and losing even more, and so on.

 

[Mickey]

I just keep looking at this picture of an asian man diagnosed with telogen effluvium whose condition repaired itself with time. But i havent made my mind up as to how i feel about Telogen Effluvium in men. In women its 1 thing, unfortunately i have a whole other set of hormones i need to worry about.

thats roughly how my thinning has got within 3 months but not so bad as that but thats the pattern of thinning i have.I had 5 months of rapid shedding Burning itching etc.Now in the past 2 weeks the shedding has really slowed down and in the 2 weeks its slowed down i have had just one lot of burning.Also i see regrowth coming through at the front and some more further back.Before all the hair loss i was under a lot of stress with one thing and another and i just let it all build up.Now i have learnt to keep stress to as little as possible.GOOD LUCK with whatever you decide to do

 

[eek]

Just a small bump, since i find this to be relatively close to my case.
Been depressed for about 5 years, with some moments better than others, I've given up hope on feeling any better anyway, not the interesting point.
However, now that I think back, my acne and hair loss seemingly started about at that time, although I didnt notice the hairloss until last year. It's been stable, which could perfectly be male pattern baldness, although it's not following the pattern of anyone in my family, so it could very well be chronical Telogen Effluvium. Since I've noticed the hairloss, which I had to convince 4 derms I was having (my temple hair kind of looks like Rage's, at the temples atleast, before his treatment - in the Tell Your Story section). Short of answers, the derms prescribed me finasteride and minoxidil, obviously not too sure what to do, or what to tell me, as all tests were pretty much normal. ANYWAY, I get this tingling too, and since I've noticed my hairloss, it seems to have gotten alot worse. I have fairly long hair, but on the front, atleast 30% of the hair are very weird. Not really thinner, but not longer than 2-5cms, where other hairs are 15cms.
If it is chronical Telogen Effluvium, (which i some of you guys seem having), theres sadly nothing much to be done. If you can't revert you're mental state, you're fucked, heh.

 

[too bald too furious]

where are the pics?

 

[Greg1]

JayB, man alive, sorry to hear about what's hitting you!

When I was 13, I was the victim of an intense horrible crime and assault which left me scared out of my wits and fearing for my life. A therapist that I saw within the last ten years mentioned that he was amazed that I coped so well. Eeeesh! Now after reading about what you menioned, I should have started losing my hair due to the physical and mental trauma that I survived through. My hair was thick and stayed thick and full until I was 19 or 20 at which time I started to notice slight thinning. Man alive! It could have been sooooooo much worse! Thanks as I'm just realizing how fortunate I am especially after a major crime/trauma like that. :!: :roll: