Do you think i have TE

[Dame]

Hi.

 

I'm a 22 year old male and i noticed that my hair line started to reced at age 19, but only slightly during 4 years it hasn't really advanced much, it really unnoticeable to everyone the way my hair is.

 

But like a month and a half ago i noticed that my hair doesn't have the volume it use to have. I thought it was just because of the change of shampoo. But during the coming weeks i noticed it has less and less volume. I went to have it cut like 2 weeks after that and the first thing my barber asked me is where did my hair go. He was shocked it was so thin because he cut it like 3 months before.

I'm shedding like crazy in the shower, i've never in my life have shedded like this.

 

Now my hair has gone so thin you can see my scalp in day light. Considering i got my hair cut 3 months before shorter then i have it now and use hair gel to style it i know there is no way it was this thin not even close.

 

During the summer i worked a very physical job 12-13 hours a day for 3 months with no day off. At the 20th of July i got really sick and worked for 10 days with a fever and really bad back pain. I lost like 11-12 pounds druing that time and slept every day for 5 to 5. I was in so much pain it broke my psychologically almost on 3 ocassions but somehow i managed to keep working. It sucked...a lot.

 

No a month and a half after this my hair started shedding. I have photos i took in the end of august and the start of sept and my hair looks ok, but now it's horrible.

 

It thined all the way in the pattern of Norwood 7 the hair line hasn't receded at all but has thin the same as the rest of the scalp. I get hairs when i pull the back and sides but it doesn't look that bad at those parts.

 

All the hairs have the white bulb at the end, I've read thats another sign of TE.

 

So can anyone that has gone through TE tell me if this is TE or fast tracked MPB?

 

I went to a hair specialist and he told me he thinks it TE but he'll run a test next week, he told me not to wash my hair for 4 days before the test. Does anyone know what kind of test this is, i didn't ask?

 

So any advice will be helpful, i'm freaking out. I've been staying home not going to school and it's my last semestar. Kind of been stressing about this. I would cut my hair really short if i could, but i have a stupid looking head shape so i can't pull off that look. I really need my hair.

 

Also i've read that most male that have TE don't fully recover.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks upfront.

Edited October 27, 2010 by Dame

[mahhong]

Hi Dame,

 

Sorry to hear about your hair problem, but you've come to a good place to get advice and help!

 

This doesn't really sound like MPB, but it couldn't be entirely ruled out I suppose. Nevertheless for your hair to thin so much in 3 months is incredibly unlikely if this was mere genetic baldness and the fact you're diffusely 'thinning' rather than just receding/crown thinning would also add weight to the idea this was something other than MPB.

 

TE is a possibility. Stress and illness related hairloss can occur and is relatively common and if your job and illness broke you down that much it could very well manifest itself as TE.

 

I'm afraid I'm not in a position to give any specific advice but you've done the right thing in going to your doctor and getting some tests done. Although people on the internet can give you good, even great, advice, a proper diagnosis is important. If you don't get much joy with your doctor ask to be referred to a dermatologist who can give you a more thorough diagnosis and more information on how to proceed once you know what's up.

 

The other advice, hard as it will obviously be, is to try and relax a bit and keep your stress levels down. Although I don't know much about TE I know that it doesn't have to be permanent and, indeed, your age and general health (I presume?) would go in your favour for being able to regrow your hairs. The main thing is to diagnose and get the best advice on how to treat your condition. There are a lot of options out there so try not to freak out about worst case scenarios as you have a lot of positive ways forward too, and you've made a good start by getting the test.

 

In the short term (perhaps on the advice of your doctor) you could try a product like Toppik or Nanogen, which basically camouflages thinning hair. It can be used virtually undetected if you have a decent amount of hair (even if it's thinning) and might help you get through the next few weeks as you get diagnosed and sort out how to proceed. I'd recommend discussing that with your doctor just to make sure it'd be alright, but many people use these concealers and they're very safe. It's not an ideal solution but if this is a temporary problem they may help to cover up the thinning for a while.

 

It definitely sounds like you need a bit of rest and just to get over your difficult summer. This could just be acute TE and there is every possibility you might see your hair growing back soon. Whatever the outcome, your doctor is the only person that can really take things forward in the first stage, especially because what is causing the problem is unknown.

 

In the meantime you're able to post pictures of your hair up if you want people to take a look (there are some doctors on this forum that might be able to take a look; they won't be able to officially diagnose you but they might be able to offer a more objective eye than most of us). It's also worth finding out about any history of baldness in your family. This doesn't sound like MPB but knowing if and how your family lost their hair might help in any diagnosis.

 

Apart from that try to eat well, sleep well and keep yourself as physically well as you can. Maybe get a good multivitamin and keep your diet clean and wholesome for the next few weeks, and exercise a little bit if you don't already. It's by no means a definite way to get your hair back but it can only help whilst the diagnosis continues!

 

Hope everything works out well for you and I'm sure you'll have plenty of options once you figure out what's up. Let us know how you get on!

[Dame]

Thank you so much for your thoughtful and kind reply. I really appreciate it.

 

Any way i uploaded some pics, these were the best i could find from different months of the year.

 

Any other opinions would be welcomed.

 

March 1 - 2010

 

 

June 1 - 2010

 

 

August 22 - 2010

 

 

Sept 6 - 2010

 

 

Today, please note i washed my hair with Alpecin C1 shampoo which my local doctor told me to use, it adds a lot of volume. I washed it before i went to bed and this photo was taken this morning it a lot worse when greasy.

And the hair is thin like that all over the top i just push a part so the scalp is visible. It's also thiner on one sides then it is on the back of the head for some reason as far as i can notice with just touching.

 

And like i said i was very paranoid about my hair before this happened because it receded slightly over the years so i would always fix it, so i knew the volume of my hair how dense it was. And at the end of June i had my hair cut shorter than now, and use gel to style it so there is no way i wouldn't notice thinning like this.

 

Any help like before would be much appreciated. Thanks upfront.

 

PS: I had blood work done and everything is great. My local doctor told me to use Rogaine and Alpecin C1 shampoo as well as vitamins. I've been using them for a week now. I'm gonna go for the test at the hair specialist on Tuesday so I will report back any feedback by then from you guys I will be greatful for. If It's TE and if it will grow back I will just buy a hat and wait it out.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Dame

[Spanker]

That sucks man....sorry to here that.....does your family have MPB? My brother went bald that quick so if could be fast track MPB...

[Dame]

My father is 52 and has a full head of black hair. His brothe, my uncle went bald but in his 30s

(but he has faced a lot of stress, family health issues) and their father went bald in early 60s. My brother is receding he's 26 but has only slight recesion, no thining full head of thick hair. My mothers father went bald but in his late 30s.

 

So i expected to lose my hair in my 30s.

 

But this is so sudden and happening so fast.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Dame

[Tom60]

well that makes more sense of why. As for any sort of treatment, have you tried anything yet?

 

Are you considering ht at all? Or do you think that you will be comfortable moving forward.

 

we all feel your pain, brother.

[Dame]

I've been using Rogaine for a week. Like I said this happened in like a month and a half. I haven't had time to go on anything else. I went to my local dermotlogist and she said it's MPB but she didn't believe me that i thinned so much in such a short period of time. She told me this must have been going on for a quite some time. But it hasn't. I told her i read up on the internet about TE and other stuff she wouldn't hear any of it. I don't think she really knows anything about hair loss honestly. Plus it pissed me off she didn't believe me about the thinning. Why would I lie, i'm there for her to help me.

 

Like i said i knew the volume of my hair. I would wash it before going to bed, i would go to sleep and in the morning i would have the volume i liked. Usually the second day after washing it i would get the volume that was best for my style of hair. Third day it would start to get greasy. Plus i remember very clearly one day getting up in July and putting my fingers through my hair thinking nice volume today. I wore a hat to work every day, so every day after work i would fix my hair because it was in a hat for 12 hours. So i would have noticed something.

 

I was washing it like I sad because i had only a slight recesion, i would like some volume so i can style it to cover it to where it couldn't be visable at all.

 

The hair specialist i went to said he thinks its most likely TE due to the 10 days of fever this summer and stress. He did a pull test and hair came out of the sides and back too.

But he said we have to make sure and he will run a test next week.

 

I appreciate the support.

 

Funny thing is my brother and I both have had slight recesion at the same age and both have a bit more on the left side. But it really not a lot and it's not progressing fast. I always though i would look at my brother and see what my future hair would look like.

 

HT is not an option, i live in a small european country and I'm a student. I have just enough money to pay for my tuition let a lone a HT.

Like i said i would cut it down really short if i could. But I can't pull off that look at all, because my head is not flatering to that look.

 

This is all so very stressful. I went out two days ago to go to the hair specialist I saw two friends along the way both how asked me whats going on with my hair.

I hope it's TE and it will grow back in a 6 months or so. If not i don't see another solution but cutting it really short and then learning to live with it. Because at this rate I'm gonna lose all of it in the coming months.

 

Oh and this summer at the summer house i lived in i slept on white sheets and a white pillow with no blanket. So if I was shedding like now, I would have noticed then. Now when i wake up there are like 10-20 hairs on my pillow.

 

Thanks for all your advice.

Edited October 28, 2010 by Dame

[mahhong]

You pictures do suggest you've had quite severe hairloss in a short space of time. This can be MPB but it can also be something like TE and, given the family history, I would say TE seems at least equally as likely at this stage (though I am not a doctor, so I can't offer any proper opinions, just my own uniformed one).

 

Getting on the Rogaine was a good idea and let's hope that clears it up. Vitamins/healthy eating and generally keeping yourself well will also help if it's TE. You might also want to look into over-the-counter stuff like Biotin, which is useful in keeping hair healthy and hair growth (though you'll have to do some research on the forums and the internet about if and how to use biotin just to be on the safe side).

 

It could potentially be stress accelerated MPB as well, so that couldn't be ruled out. I haven't seen such severe thinning in a long time but believe me MPB has been accelerated in the last 4 months by stress (though I am older than you - 26 - and my thinning has not been so severe, but it is fairly similar to yours).

 

I don't know how feasible it is given your financial circumstances and current lifestyle but it might be worth visiting a second hair specialist if that's possible (perhaps one of the doctors recommended on this site)? The dermatologist should not be so quick to suggest you are lying or incorrect about the short time span this has occurred in. As you rightly say, whether she is right or wrong, she should be sympathetic to the problem and at least trust what you are saying. A hair specialist would be a better option again, but I appreciate that's a more difficult consultation to set up.

 

An HT, as you say, is not an option at the moment, for both financial and medical reasons. Without knowing what's going on or waiting to see if the hair grows back an HT wouldn't even be thinkable, and at this stage is also not worth considering from your perspective.

 

My gut instinct, but it is purely an instinct, is that this isn't an entirely normal case of hairloss. Unfortunately I think the only things you can do are eat well, take good supplements, use the rogaine and maybe look into any further supplements (such as biotin) that may aid hair growth. Other than that only time will tell how this situation resolves itself. It's not a good answer but I don't think there is much else that can be done in the short term because it needs to be established whether this is MPB/TE or temporary/permanent. Only once you have that info can further options be considered.

 

Concealers, as I think I mentioned in my previous post, are also worth considering short term. Although your hair is thin you still have good coverage and concealers might get you through the next few weeks until you can start to get a clearer picture of what is going on. The rogaine usually takes at least a few months before it can start making any real impact unfortunately, so it's a waiting game.

 

I hope you get a good resolution to this problem, but these forums will be a source of information and inspiration whatever happens, so I hope you'll keep everybody updated and if you have any other questions obviously just ask away - if I can answer them I'll try but, if not, someone more knowledgeable than me will be able to offer some help.

[Dame]

Thank you manhong and everyone else for your support and understanding. This is hitting me really hard, I'm only 22 and this is happening so sudden, rough times. So thanks again.

[Tom60]

what will be your next step, Dame?

[Dame]

I'm gonna stop using the Rogaine for the next 4 days, because the hair specialist told me not to brush or wash my hair for 4 days before the test. It's on Tuesday. I will go see how that goes.

 

Then I called a different hair clinic, but they told me they do scalp scans once a month and i just missed it i called 9 days ago, so the next one is on the 20 of Nov. I gonna go there to, check out what they're gonna say.

 

For now it's a waiting game. Today i washed my hair not so many hairs came out, i guess that's good. It might have slowed down, yet again it might be in my head that it slowed down.

 

Like i said my head shape is stupid. I guess you don't know much about yourself until you experience everything. I never wore my hair short so i didn't ever think about how my head is shaped. Now i see i can't pull off a buzz cut at all. And every one keeps telling me buzz it off.

 

This really sucks, school started it's my last semester of master studies and I'm staying at home. Every time I went out, everyone that sees me keeps asking me about my hair. It so frustrating to keep explaining the same thing over and over again and very embarasing.

 

They haven't gone through this so they don't know how i feel. I appreciate your support. Because right know i have zero confidence to be honest.

 

PS: Oh and i saw photos of my mothers father he had a V shaped hair line in his 30s. Also my uncle receded didn't thin to baldness. No one thinned all of their scalp, but they all receded. So thats different from my situation. I might be grabbing for straws but at this point I have nothing else to do.

Edited October 29, 2010 by Dame

[Dame]

I've been looking through old photo and still see no sign of thinning. I'm amazed how this has happened.

 

The back of the head seams fine ( but when i run my hand hairs come out), the sides are a bit thin especially the left one.

 

I'm going for the hair specialist test today. Hope i get good news. The shedding looks to have calmed down.

 

I'm mean look at this photo from the end of march. Hair is a bit greasy and dark, but it's in sunlight with wind blowing.

 

No thinning at all, just the small recesion I was talking about.

 

[Dame]

So i got back from the hair specialist. He did a Trichogram which found that hair from the top and the back are falling out the same. He told me to get ketoconazole 5 mg shampoo and some vitamins and alpecin lotion. He said don't worry I think we will stabilize it and will most likely see some regrowth. He said use that stuff for a month and then go for another visit in a month. I'm very disappointed. He didn't say anything of note he said your hair gets very grease and the fever most likely had something to do with it. Well i already knew that I told him that.

 

I found this very disappointing. He just took my money.

 

I'm going in 17 days for a miniaturization scan see what they say. I'm spending money for that too.

 

I'm kind of bummed out that US doctors I contacted and asked for an opinion, didn't write me back, I even gave them a link to this topic.

 

I live in a small east european country there are not much really good hair specialist here, so i need expert help. But no one seams to want to help me out.

 

It's so depressing to see my scalp wet, there is like no hair. My mirror is next to my bath tub. So every time i get out of the shower i would look in the mirror. I know what my hair looked like wet. I did not look like this. Not even close.

 

Good news hair is not shedding like before. It seams to have calmed down.

[mahhong]

Hey Dame,

 

Sorry to hear about your problems getting good advice. Although I cannot say anything with authority, my guess would be hearing that your hair is falling out from back (which is usually a safe zone in MPB) is actually a potentially positive thing. What I mean by that is that it would be very unlikely that your hair loss is down to MPB if you're also experiencing confirmed loss from the back. Of course by "back" I'm assuming you're meaning pretty much right the way down the back of the head?

 

With TE you have every chance of growing your hair back, even if it takes some time. With MPB your hairloss is permanent, and only drugs can slow it down or stop it temporarily. So, to stay positive, the potential good news is that it's much more likely you have TE and there is a chance that you'll see very good regrowth again - some people do!

 

It's also good news the shedding is calming down. Are you still on the rogaine? I think that should help your hair grow back if anything will. Let's hope that your TE is temporary and reverses over the coming weeks.

 

In the meantime hope you stay well and glad to hear the hair seems to be making some improvement!

[Dame]

Thanks for the support manhong. He wrote down that Trichogram findings say telogenization of all regions. He just took hair of the very top of my head and the back of the skull.

 

I don't know the back visually doesn't seam bad at all, but it does seam less thick then before. The sides are thin, but the left one more so than the right one. Again visually they don't seam so bad, but this could be due to the fact how i wear my hair, it falls down at the sides. Photos I look at it looks like a had a lot more thickness to the back then now.

I don't know.

 

I stopped using the rogaine for a week, because he told me not to wash it brush it for 4 days. He told me to get off it for now. But i don't think i will. I will go for the scan on the 20th. What happens happens. This is way out of my control. Just pisses me off i can't do anything about it. I'm trying everything. I haven't heard of MPB someones hair falling out this quick but whatever.

Edited November 4, 2010 by Dame

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

Sorry, it took so long for me to get back to you. I did not realize I had messages in my inbox. I would really take a good look at your overall diet and nutrition. Significant hair loss occuring in a short period of time often can be slowed down and sometimes corrected by improving a patients general health. Have you considered a serious detoxification which would include intestinal, Candida, liver, heavy metal and parasite cleansing? Cannot guarentee that this would have a strong effect on your hairloss but it might and will definitly make you healthier.

[Dame]

Thank you for your response doctor.

 

I took some pictures from the sides of my head. Because people tell me it doesn't look to be thin at the sides. Even the dermotologist i went to said it's MPB sides look good, just by looking at me. I keep telling everyone it's because how i wear my hair. the hairs fall down at the sides it gives off that ilussion. Where at the top it's longer and falls forward so you can see it better that it's thinning.

 

It's very frustrating people not believing what i'm saying. Even doctors.

 

So i took some pictures that prove what i already know hair is thin at the sides. I look in the mirror I know. If this was MPB, wouldn't the hair reced at the temple up the skull as the recesion that started? It doesn't make sense.

 

Any how, here is a picture of the left side of my head. if you pull some hair a bit to the side you can see that it's thin. This is no flash in day light.

 

Tell me what you think.

 

 

But the back of the head doesn't seam so bad.

 

Does anyone know if a minituratization scan will tell me that this is TE?

 

Also

Have you considered a serious detoxification which would include intestinal, Candida, liver, heavy metal and parasite cleansing? Cannot guarentee that this would have a strong effect on your hairloss but it might and will definitly make you healthier.

 

I have had an upset stomach for quite some time now. Maybe there is more to it.

Edited November 6, 2010 by Dame

[Dame]

Small update.

 

Hair is still shedding. It's getting worse and worse. Not shedding wise. It looked like it calmed down a bit, now looks like it picked up shedding again. But the way the hair looks, it's horrible.

 

Interesting thing. I dropped the Alpecin C1 shampoo for Ketoconazole. Hair gets very greasy very fast. It takes like 24 hours before it starts to grease up. It gets greasy a lot really fast. It's not because of the Ketoconzaole, it use to get grease before with the Alpecin too.

 

Before any of this happened my hair would usually get greasy after 3 days. So i would wash it twice a week or so. Now I wash it every 2 days or every day. Because it gets so greasy.

[Dame]

UPDATE: MY HAIR CAME BACK. YAYYYYYYYYYYY

 

I noticed that small hairs were growing at the end of Nov 2010. I even went to another hair specialist who did a miniturization scan and told me I had TE and MPB and told me I should come for treatments with lasers and vitamins for a lot of money. To which I said NO.

 

He told me we have to awake the folicules that lost the hair so they can come back. It turns out they were already growing! He just didn't want to tell me.

 

Around Jan I was already sure that my hair had started to come back but didn't cut it short because a short cut doesn't look good on me. I waited for it to even out with what didn't fall out. Two weeks ago I cut it and it looks very much the same. I might have lost a bit of density maybe that will come back in time too, but for the most part it looks Ok. No one is going to be able to tell.

 

The most amazing thing is washing my hair in the shower. I was losing soooo much hair, then i wasn't losing anything. I would wash my hair and nothing would fall out, NOTHING, not one. I remember since when I was a kid the drain would clog up a bit, now NOTHING. It was amazing.

 

I just wanted to post to update if anyone searches somewhere about TE and finds this thread that things somethime do work out. There are cases where there is a fast recovery like mine in a span of 6 months. I had lost about 65% of my hair and from Nov to April it grew back 6 cm long. That which I had lost. SO THERE IS HOPE.

 

I still have slow MPB in early stages (about 1.5 cm receded on both sides) and I most likely will go bald in my early-mid 30s. But I'm using Rogaine and Nizol and hoping something better will come along in years. I've used Rogaine for 5 months now, 2 times a day, never missed an application but all I have is peach fuzz so far. I will keep using it even if it cause me flaking.

 

This was a really bad experience as I lost about 60-65 % of my hair in a month It was falling out like crazy. Much like people in movies when they are going through cancer. It sucked big time.

 

Lesson to be learned from this if you are sick like I was with a high fever and huge back pain DO NOT do a physical job. I went through hell for 2 week in very big pain, working 11 hours a day, every day so I can have my hair start falling out after a month and a half. I found out that I can't really do everything and even if you think you need to prove that you are man enough and go through the pain everyone should be aware that there might be a price to pay for your own stupid pride.

 

Thanks for the support Hope everyone has luck in dealing with their own problem and hope they find a cure for this condition as it sucks to live with.

 

Much love and peace out.

[Tonycc]

Glad to hear your hair came back! Sounds like you went through a hell of a time figuring out what went wrong, but I'm happy everything worked out for you.