New factor in my ongoing struggle...

[Pibb]

As you may or may not remember, I've been struggling for a couple months now to even diagnose what sort of hair loss I have. I've been to a doctor and a derm to no avail.

Recently, I've started to shed eyebrow hair and eyelashes. Not heavily, but it has been enough for me to notice. I've read that this is not characteristic of male pattern baldness/Androgenetic Alopecia, and related to telogen effluvium and perhaps sebhorreic dermatitis loss(?). Either way, it has been a new development in my struggle to diagnose my hair loss and make a move from there.

Any thoughts? I am not on any medication, and I'm pretty certain it's not just in my head. Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[Harry]

So I take it the doctors at least did a complete blood count?

Have you recently become a vegan or made any major dietary changes?

Sometimes people see 10 or 15 doctors before they finally figure out what's going on.

You could take photos of your eyebrows and eyelashes just to document exactly what's going on.

 

[Pibb]

Nope, actually, the doctors didn't really do any sort of concrete tests. My diet has been okay - no major changes to report, though for the latter half of 2002, my eating habits were awful - I would go some days by eating only a bowl of ramen. I suppose that's college for ya

But it's frustrating - I just wish a doctor could tell me that they're pretty sure it's either male pattern baldness or Telogen Effluvium and get me on the right road for that. I suppose Telogen Effluvium typically ends after six months, and that'll be about September through October some time, so we'll see.

I just hope this isn't lost time for male pattern baldness that I could just be taking Propecia for.

 

[Bango]

Pibb -

Eyebrows thinning too? I've heard that can be a symptom of thyroid problems; either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism. In my understanding both can cause hairloss. Ask your Doctor to check for either of those problems. I'm not sure what the tests are called exactly, hopefully he/she would know. Anybody else heard this?

 

[Pibb]

I've also heard this - that hypo/hyperthyroidism causes body hair loss, including eyebrows and eyelashes. I'm kind of shying away from that as a possibility, because I have no family history of it, I don't suffer from any other noticeable symptoms (anyone know if insomnia/difficulty sleeping a symptom?), and I feel as clean as a whistle. Unfortunately, neither my Doctor or my derm brought it up as a possibility, which either means that they're ignorant, or they didn't think it was likely.

 

[LactoseFactory]

Alopecia Universalis is where you lose all your hair, body, facial, head, etc. How's your other hair doing?

 

[Pibb]

Hmm, as far as I can tell, my other hairs are doing well. I'm fairly average in terms of hairness, and my leg/arm hair are staying put. I may have been shedding pubic hair as well, but it's tough to confirm that. But I'm still losing eyebrows and eyelashes.

In an odd way, it's almost a blessing to know that you have male pattern baldness. At least you can act upon it. Me, I wish I knew which direction I could go at all.

 

[richlocks]

What's your hairloss pattern? Diffuse? any recession? how's the crown? If you post some pictures of your scalp maybe people here can help out.. It seems most guys on these boards know more about male pattern baldness/Androgenetic Alopecia than most doctors out there.

 

[Pibb]

My hairloss pattern is a diffuse loss. I haven't noticed any hairline recession, and if there is any, it's been very minimal. Basically, my hair falls out from all over the top of the scalp, and a little on the sides and back. I'd post a pic, but I have no way to do it, and I don't think there's enough evidence of hairloss to get a good diagnosis.

My derm gave me something to rub onto my scalp to treat the dandruff I've had (I've had it for a couple years, way before I noticed any hair loss), thinking that maybe my hair loss was due to seb derm, but it doesn't appear that's the case.

I think that by sometime in October, it will have been six months since I first noticed the hairloss, so I could know by then whether it was telogen effluvium. If I keep shedding, my plan is to hop on Propecia, even though I won't exactly know if it is male pattern baldness/Androgenetic Alopecia that I have.

So yeah. Blargh.