So hairloss and the anxiety with it came approximately 1.5 years ago and got worse over time, now it is a pretty big concern of mine in the every day life especially becuase I can hyperfixate on a thought very easily.
The hairloss already started atleast 2.5 years ago but probably sooner, but back then i didn’t even consider it, because it wasn’t visible at all. First I tried with natural approaches like brewing and rinsing different leafs and saw palmetto/beta sitosterol. Then at the end of March (2025) I decided to try topical finasteride due to fear of side effects, I started with 0.5ml of 0.05% then increased to 1ml after a month, and after like a month on increased dose I had ball ache but not any other side effects (libido I’m not sure because I was kind of in a bad situation regarding my realitionship). In june I got really worried about gynecomastia, I started looking for glands and I felt something but not under the nipple rather on the side especially next to the nipple on my armpit side, but also in the upper chest area, so I was really confused but still really worried, so i stopped. I also only had “other nipple symptoms” (slight burning feeling maybe a bit of pain sometimes) after excessively touching and pinching around my nipple and always thinking about it so I think that was only because of nocebo (hopefully not just gaslighting myself). With the fear of gyno I also went to my GP, and to mammography where they did ultrasound scan and they all said there is nothing chronic, but because I was still sceptical I went to 2 different plastic surgeons, since consultation is free, they both also said they don’t think that they are mammary glands. Despite all this I am still afraid of gyno, but going to continue at least the lower dose, but would be nice to up it, but a peace of mind would also be nice. Then in July I started again on 0.5ml to be safe but still wanted to look at how it affected my hormones, because I also did lab work beforehand. I am still using 0.5ml to this day, unfortunately in the before lab work the lab didn’t measure DHT but a metabolite of it.
One thing that also concerns me is that I also see a pretty significant amount of thinning on the sides and maybe even on the neck area, I don’t know if it is retrogade alopecia or due to inflammation or autoimmune I am also not sure how should I know, the dermatologist only commented on the hairline and said it’s AGA the sides and back she said maybe it was like that since childhood she can’t decide by just looking at it (in my country they don’t really care that much about hairloss in the medical area, you can’t even get fin, I got it coumpounded while being on erasmus in Belgium). I got prescribed alpicort (not the one with estrogen) and travocort by GP and dermatologist. I am pretty sure i had some inflammation in the beginning also seen on earlier photos, but probably nizoral took care of that to some extent (sometimes it is still red on the sides and back). I also don’t think that my crown is thinning (hopefully it isn’t). A year ago I was also only washing my hair once a week or maybe even less sometimes (maybe was afraid of hairfall in the shower) and because of that also had some buildup on the scalp which might have caused inflammation.
When I was looking into the hormonal results, I came across with Insuline Resistance as a possibility, because a lot of times it influences hormones the way mines are on the edge of the range. The solution for it would be healthier lifestile, but I don’t smoke rarely drink, work out 3-4 times a week and am pretty lean.
-I am also using rosemary oil and caffeine leaving it in for 1 hour every time I wash my hair (twice a week)
-Microneedling once every 7-10 days (altough i stopped for like a month and started again with derminator2)
- LLLT , Hairmax 12 laser comb, every second day using it for half an hour moving it around the bad areas, focusing on my hairline (I was willing to give it a chance since this wasn’t that expensive)
-Scalp massages for the past month daily
-Ketocanazole (2%) Shampoo every hairwash (2x/week)
-Biotin, Vitamin E, B complex, D, C, Magnesium, Selenium, Zink (and also just bought copper), Omega 3, Iron
Already bought topical minoxidil, but would like to not use it if the current things would at least stop the loss or even a bit of regrowth.
What do you think I should do?
Also do you think I developed gyno to some extent? (even if I did it’s not bad, but wouldn’t want to wait for progress with it) (some pictures it seems worse then on others just like with my hair which always concerns me but maybe its just the posture or lightning)
Links to the photos: https://linkstophotos.carrd.co/
