In 2020 I shaved my head and when I saw the thinning patches all over it was vindicating in a way—shocking and sad, but also proof that I wasn't just imagining my hair loss. After 10 years since I first started noticing hair shedding and an on and off battle with chronic TE, I can finally say that I feel like myself again. My curls are curling easier and it no longer stings my scalp to put my hair in a ponytail.

Biggest takeaways (these are simply my opinion and not medical advice)
- manage your stress as best you possibly can. It matters.
- sleep matters.
- trust the science and don't waste your money on expensive topicals and shampoos that are not clinically proven to regrow hair. Yes, even rosemary oil.
- get a silk or satin pillowcase.
- bamboo brush (if that works with your hair).
- regular hair trims.
- shampoo and conditioner aren't that important as long as you like the way your hair feels while using it, it doesn't leave it greasy, and you clarify once a week or however often you need if you use a lot of products
- your vitamins and minerals matter just as much as your macros—body needs fuel.
- highly unlikely a you need a catch-all multivitamin. Get the blood panels, supplement where you fall short, try to get it through food.
- move your body. Exercise and get that blood flowing however you prefer.
- minoxidil works. Don't overthink it. Oral is great if you can take it.

Oral minoxidil (2.5mg) did wonders for me but as you can see from the photos I did a lot of the basics CONSISTENTLY for years to get to where I was when I started minox 4 months ago. Sometimes it's the boring things that truly will help you the most in the long run. If I had to do it over the only thing I would do is not waste money on products, but I'm glad I waited to start minox until I got my overall health in a good place.

Im 21 now. AGA runs heavily in the family. I had a doc say this was hormonal and scalp inflammation related hair loss.

The first pictures were from when I was around 18/19. I remember my hair coming out in clumps and the strands I did have turned from terminal to thin, whispy hair i could barely see. The hair became incredibly light in color and was very weak. Especially around the temples and my part was also thinning noticeably. I remember balling my eyes out for months thinking this was my life. That i had no other option but to wear wigs from now on to hide the severe miniaturization in my temples and the overall flail, thin density i had. I hadnt worn my hair down in a year at that point, id only worn it in a claw clip for an entire year because I was too embarrassed of how thin my hair had become. There were huge gaps when I let it down and it looked thin and weak.

Anyways. I tried minoxidil, didnt worn for me. Did some more research and wanted to treat it holistically. I got 4 different DHT blocking supplements and one multivitamin.

1. Pumpkin seed oil 2000mg (2 capsules)
2. Saw Palmetto 540mg
3. Green tea extract 400mg
4. Stinging nettle root 500mg (And a multivitamin). Have one from natural elements but as long as its high quality it doesnt matter the brand. Occasionally on my period id take a iron to make up for the blood loss. Keeping those iron levels steady is important too (im a vegetarian too so extra important to remain mindful of sufficient intake).

These supplements over the course of a year stabilised my hair loss and over the course of several years, reversed the miniaturization and regrew the volume and overall density of my hair. Thats what worked for me. Id wash my hair with ketoconazole shampoo (2%) once to twice a week. Don't overdo it otherwise you'll dry out your scalp. This tended to both the scalp inflammation and also had a bit of a topical dht blocking effect.

And finally, I uses the kerastase genesis serum on my temples and part for also years now to nurture my scalp with more nutrients. I believe this also helped create a healthy environment for my hair to grow.

Anyways. This wasnt conventional. I tried a few other treatments (minoxidil, PRP). They didnt help me much. This worked for me and over years it did really grow my hair back to a place I never would have believed years back.

I now wear my hair open and for the first time in about 4 years ive been able to wear my hair in a bun without it tugging and hurting my scalp. The density and thickness and overall volume has significantly increased to a point noone would have known where things started off. Im no doctor and this isnt medical advice, but this is what worked for me and maybe this post brings a bit of hope to someone out there that follicle miniaturization is reversible with the right targeted treatment, consistency and time..

This is nearly 4 years into treatment. Hair recovery is slow 🐌 but its so worth it.

For anyone asking which brands and from where I purchased them, I made a separate post detailing where I source my supplements/hair care from.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FemaleHairLoss/comments/1x7byul/follow_up_regime_brands/

Hope that helps.

Also Sofia Sevilla on Tiktok was a huge help to me. Shes a certified trichologist specialising in AGA and has herself reversed her hair loss. Shes the one who got me on the DHT blockers:)

Hi everyone,

First of all, I’d like to mention that my English is very poor, so I’m using a translator 😀 Please excuse any mistakes in the text.

I was diagnosed with AGA and TE in March, and since then, I’ve been taking 2.5 mg oral minoxidil daily and applying an estradiol hair solution every evening.

After two months, I experienced a dread shed that lasted about a month. After that, I was losing maybe 50 hairs a day at most, sometimes only around 20. After about four months, the first new baby hairs started to appear. Some of them are still falling out.

Since March, I’ve definitely lost around 50% of my hair density, and my part is getting wider. My hair is also becoming thinner at the sides, or perhaps it isn’t growing back there — I honestly don’t know.

Now, for about four weeks, I’ve been experiencing increased hair shedding again, similar to the initial dread shed.

I use Vichy Dercos Aminexil shampoo, ketoconazole shampoo 1–2 times a week, and a dermaroller. I also alternate between mesotherapy and PRP once a month.

Despite all of this, my hair is still becoming thinner and less dense, even though I have new baby hairs growing.

Yesterday, I saw my dermatologist and explained that my hair density was decreasing. Without even examining my hair, he told me that we should now start a three-month course of corticosteroid pulse therapy (oral tablets and a topical treatment applied to the scalp, with breaks on weekends). He also told me to stop taking oral minoxidil and stop using the hair solution during this time.

I’ve heard that stopping minoxidil can trigger hair loss again.

Has anyone had similar experiences, or could you give me any advice? I’m honestly feeling really overwhelmed by the whole situation...

Thank you so much!

Short version: people with alopecia areata, female pattern hair loss and telogen effluvium have lower vitamin D on average than controls, across three recent meta-analyses. Men with pattern hair loss: not significant. But the human data are associations, and the two treatment studies I could find had no placebo group. Whether vitamin D brings hair back is still untested. In mice, the receptor turns out to matter more than the vitamin.

I'm a pharmacist. Vitamin D comes up in most shedding threads, so here's what the studies actually measured.

The receptor twist (mouse studies only)

• Sakai 2001 (VDR knockout mice): mice without the vitamin D receptor lose their coat because follicles can't start a new growth phase after the first one. The interesting part: they raised knockouts and normal littermates for five generations with no UV light and vitamin D-free feed. Vitamin D became undetectable. The knockouts still lost hair. The littermates that had the receptor but no vitamin D didn't.
• Skorija 2005 (transgenic mice): putting back a receptor that cannot bind vitamin D at all restored hair cycling.

So in mice, the receptor's hair job is largely ligand-independent. That doesn't prove vitamin D levels are irrelevant in humans. It does mean "vitamin D activates follicles" is a stretch, and I'd be wary of anyone using that line.

The human association data

• Yongpisarn 2024 (meta-analysis, Front Nutr): roughly half of patients in most hair-loss groups were deficient. Deficiency odds vs controls: alopecia areata OR 2.84 (95% CI 1.89-4.26), female pattern hair loss OR 5.24 (1.50-18.33). Male androgenetic alopecia: not significant. Studies of people already taking vitamin D were excluded.
• Chen 2024 (meta-analysis, 23 studies, 3,374 patients vs 7,296 controls): lower 25(OH)D in non-scarring hair loss, deficiency OR 3.11. Heterogeneity for the level comparison was I² = 95%.
• Ahmed 2026 (meta-analysis, telogen effluvium): vitamin D lower than controls, SMD -0.87, high heterogeneity.
• Yorulmaz 2022 (retrospective, 3,028 TE records, Turkey): 72.2% of the patients who got a vitamin D test were deficient. Not everyone was tested, so read that as "common in the tested group", not a prevalence for everyone who sheds.

That 5.24 gets quoted a lot. Look at the interval before you repeat it: 1.50 to 18.33 is a very wide range.

The treatment studies

• Sattar 2021 (uncontrolled, n=40 women with TE, Pakistan): 200,000 IU every two weeks for six doses; 82.5% reported as improved. No placebo, and a very high intermittent dose.
• El-Tatawy 2024 (before-and-after, n=40 women with TE and low vitamin D, Egypt): 5,000 IU/day for three months. Mean 25(OH)D went from about 13 to 38 ng/mL and the shedding score fell from 5.50 to 1.75 on a 1-6 scale. There were 20 healthy controls, but they were only used for the baseline vitamin D comparison. Nobody with shedding went untreated or got a placebo.

The El-Tatawy study is the one I'd actually look at first, because the dose is ordinary and the shedding is scored. But TE often settles on its own once the trigger is gone, and without an untreated arm you can't tell how much of that drop is vitamin D and how much is time.

What the evidence does NOT show

• That low vitamin D causes hair loss. Time indoors, body weight, skin pigmentation, latitude and season all move vitamin D, and most studies couldn't adjust for them. Causation could also run backwards: people with visible hair loss may change their sun exposure or habits.
• That vitamin D supplements restore hair. No placebo-controlled trial yet.
• That more vitamin D helps when your level is already normal. I found nothing showing that.
• That the mouse receptor findings tell you what a supplement does in a human scalp.
• Anything about scalp-applied or injected vitamin D for an oral supplement. Different route, different conditions.

On testing

Not everyone with hair loss needs a vitamin D test, but it's a reasonable thing to raise with your doctor, especially if you have risk factors for deficiency. If you're low, the correction dose is a conversation with them; I wouldn't copy the 200,000 IU regimen.

One lab detail people miss: biotin, which is in a lot of hair supplements, interferes with some immunoassays. In a small JAMA study (n=6, 10 mg/day biotin for a week), the Roche cobas 25-hydroxyvitamin D assay read falsely high by a mean 9.25 ng/mL; the Abbott Architect assay wasn't affected. Falsely high is the bad direction, because it can hide a deficiency. How much interference you get depends on the assay, the dose and the timing of the draw, so tell the lab and your doctor about biotin before any blood test. FDA has warned about this too.

References

1. Sakai Y et al. J Clin Invest 2001. PMID 11306599 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11306599/
2. Skorija K et al. Mol Endocrinol 2005. PMID 15591533 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15591533/
3. Yongpisarn T et al. Front Nutr 2024. PMID 39416654 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39416654/
4. Chen Y et al. J Cosmet Dermatol 2024. PMID 38010941 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38010941/
5. Ahmed A et al. Skin Appendage Disord 2026. PMID 42077991 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42077991/
6. Yorulmaz A et al. J Cosmet Dermatol 2022. PMID 34449961 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34449961/
7. Sattar F et al. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol 2021. PMID 33642467 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33642467/
8. El-Tatawy RA et al. Int J Trichology 2024. PMID 39170090 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39170090/

First photo is from 2 years ago and the right one is from yesterday…I am truly devastated. Can someone give me advice on what they would do?

Thank you

For around 5 years, I’ve noticed that the hair across my scalp seems to grow a few inches and then fall out, only to grow back and repeat the same cycle. It’s been gradually getting worse over time, but it’s become significantly more noticeable in the past year.

It seems to happen all over my scalp, but I notice it most around my hairline, above my ears, near the nape of my neck, and at the crown of my head.

I don’t think it’s breakage, as the ends of the shorter hairs are pointed, which makes me think they’re new growth rather than snapped hairs. The hair does grow back after falling out, but it never seems to get much longer before the cycle repeats.

I have fine, wavy hair, and I’m wondering whether this could be related to a nutritional deficiency, a hormonal issue, stress, a scalp condition, or something else entirely.

Has anyone else experienced anything similar? If so, did you ever find out what was causing it, and was there anything that helped?

I’ve been using minoxidil for nearly a year now and I went through the initial shedding stage which was obviously a really tough period and then my hair started getting noticeably thicker. I was getting compliments and people noticed. However coming up to my 1 year, I’m starting to notice heaps of shedding again. In the shower, on the floor, down my back and my arms. I’m using it fairly consistently every evening but I’m starting to get that panic again. I feel like my diet has been fairly decent and stress levels are more or less the same. Anyone else experience this?

I have AGA due to perimenopause and was prescribed spiro over two months ago from my insurance’s telehealth provider. That provider wasn’t available, so the request for a refill went to someone else who will not refill it. They want a new blood panel, which I understand, but it’s a major hassle since I’m almost out. My PCP won’t prescribe anything that’s considered “specialty” (or run specialty labs for that matter, so in the process of finding someone new). I pay a fortune for insurance that no telehealth provider covers like Hers or Midi, etc. I can’t afford to see a dermatologist.

Any recommendations for an online provider I can easily get an rx for spiro 100 mg? I’ve been managing it so well, and my skin has also never looked better!

Ive (26 F) been holding back myself from entertaining suitors because Ive been having low self esteem recently because of AGA.
Im still on 5% topical minox for 51 days (7 wks 2 days) so my hair is looking so bad rn cause of dread shed.

I feel like i dont want to get married anymore.

Hi, i’m suffering from years of hair loss. Minoxidil helps but i stopped wearing it for a year cus i became a full time cat sitter so now im bald again rip.

I am also very insecure to go to hair salons, cus hair stylists loves to point it out and give unsolicited advices so i just want to cut my own hair.

Does anyone know what type of haircut i should follow especially for thin curly hair? 💕

- The pumpkin seed oil 2000mg is from ITAMATIC.

- The Green Tea extract 400mg is from now

- The Saw Palmetto 540mg is from Swanson

- The Stinging Nettle Root 500mg is also from Swanson

All these i purchased off an online store called iherb.

- My multi is from natural elements.

I purchased this off amazon.

- My iron (with vit c) is from pure encapsulations. My other iron is from Pro Fuel.

I purchased the first in a German pharmacy so im unsure if this is available in the States/ other countries. The latter is from amazon.

As im based in Germany i got some off amazon.de so im unsure of the availability in other countries.

Shampoo/ haircare:

-my 2% ketoconazole shampoo is from Dermapharm AG

I purchased this in a German pharmacy or on amazon.de

-my hair serum is from the gensis kerastase line

I purchased this at Douglas. Its similar to a Sephora or Ulta Beauty here in Germany.

For shampoo I love the Elvital from L'Oréal Paris. Ive read many mixed reviews. Many hate it, some love it. My scalp loves it so thats my go-to, but depending on your hair type this may not be the right shampoo. I got greasy scalp/ dry ends so this works for me but always experiment to see what works for you.

Hope this helps!

I have wore clip in extensions for a few months maybe 2-3 times a week. Just noticed this absolutely massive bald spot and I want it GONE. It’s quarter sized and right in front of my ear so super visible when I wear my hair up, hence how I found it. I don’t want to do topical minoxidil because I have 2 cats.

41F, taken almost every medication under the sun. On 1 mg finasteride, 2.5 mg oral minoxidil, 50mg spiro, 5% topical minoxidil. Nothings improved. I’m about to bump up to 2.5 mg finasteride. But what does it mean when I see more short hairs like this falling out? does this mean the miniaturization is getting worse?

This has been going on on and off for almost two years now. I don’t think I have ever experienced so much shedding in my life.

I am 36F, had very long, healthy hair, almost never lost a single hair for years during shower, shampoo and air drying… now my shedding is really bad for my “standards”.. and I’m really worried something is going on in my body that has led to this.

As you can see in the picture I think is quite a bit to loose every time I wash my hair…

Today I bought castor and rosemary oil..
I know I perhaps should see a dermatologist though..
I live in the UK.. do you think I might ask the GP to get a blood test because of this condition?

I am really feeling quite down as I am scared I am loosing my hair and will develop baldness or alopecia 😔

PCOS, was on minoxidil for years and saw good results. Endo suggested I start Spirolactone for other PCOS related symptoms (acne mainly) but said it could possibly help my hair.

I was slightly concerned about taking two BP medications every day so stopped taking the minoxidil. Big mistake turns out.

I restarted minoxidil 2ish weeks ago, and the (what I’m desperately hoping is) shedding is so severe. I’ve never been able to see this much of my scalp before :(

It seems like I have forever to go and it just sucks. I’m seeing a dermatologist for the first time ever in November

Thank god for Boldify hair powder, I can actually leave the house while this is going on.

Mostly wanting to rant. But advice, words of encouragement welcome.

For those with hair loss due to any kind of thyroid disease, did your hair ever grow back as thick as it once was? How long did it take before you noticed a difference?

I have Graves’ disease but my levels have been stable for 4 months now off meds. Still having quite a bit of hair loss and not noticing much regrows. Labs are all normal and I even got a scalp biopsy that came back normal.

I’m doing the following, please recommend any other treatment options I may have missed
- low level laser therapy restore
- 5% minoxidil twice daily
- nizoral shampoo once a week
Edit to add: battled Trichotillomania from a young age and the balding is mostly in the area I used to pull
Hair from. It’s been ongoing for close to 20 years and I have it under control now ( no more urge to pull) . Focused on regrowing and saving my hair as much as possible

Hi everyone!

I’ve been struggling with hair loss for several years now, and I honestly don’t know what to do anymore. I went to a dermatologist in the Netherlands a few years ago, but I didn’t feel like my concerns were taken seriously. They told me that I still had thicker hair than the average person, but I’m still experiencing hair loss and it’s really starting to worry me.

I’ve had my vitamin levels and hormones checked, and everything came back normal. I also don’t have PCOS or any known hormonal issues.

Is minoxidil really the only option for treating hair loss, or are there other alternatives worth exploring? I’d love to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar or found a treatment that worked for them. Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! ❤️

Hello, I have been reading posts on here for a while and appreciate and can relate to every single person on here on a journey that feels so unfair.

Pre 18 years old - For context I had the longest most beautiful curly hair up until about 14 then I had extreme hair fall (coincided with my periods starting I think) and over about 2 years lost 80% of my hair density. Looking back I was only young and so confused and didn’t have the support I should have at the time. Then once I lost majority it pretty much settled and I didn’t lose anymore.

18 - 22 years old - (Keeping this as condense as possible) I was using foam minox for about 4 years on and off and hair did slightly improve not of course to normal standards.

22 - 24 years old - As I got older I began to do my own research and switched to growplex and their natural DHT blocker. Also took pumpkin seed oil, omega 3, vitamin D etc. Never had like extreme re growth like you see in some people like baby hairs but it stabilised I never shedded. Just for context I also live a very healthy life style at this point - exercise daily and whole foods. I also never really had a real diagnosis always assumed it was androgenic as I had the widening part but also TE as I lost density all over. During the years I have had bloods done - never had hormone or thyroid issues (according to their ranges which I am now starting to question).

25 - now - I see a derm about 4 months ago and she diagnosed me with AGA and TE. Had my bloods tested and ferritin was at 40 so she said dose up on that and I did and my ferratin rose to 70. She also suggested spiro for the AGA element. Was so worried about this as I do believe in the natural path to everything but was pretty much getting to my wits ends with it it has taken over my life since the day it started.

About 2 months into the spiro I noticed shedding which has since then has not stopped. Before this I never shedded a hair since the extreme hair fall. For about a week it scared me then now I’m still shedding but lighter. What scares me is I don’t have the hair to lose. I have noticed new baby hairs on the top of my hair sprouting since ferritin rise and starting Spiro but cannot be sure which one it is. I have also noticed my hair has gotten so much darker. Also never have stopped minox foam and I do all the basics like bonding masks, peptide serum, aminexill etc.

Now - I don’t know what to do. Is shedding good is it bad. I get lost down holes of research people saying Spiro destroyed their hair and some people having great results and I end up so upset and confused and have to remind myself about all the other happy things in my life. I stopped dating years ago as I can’t deal with ever having embarrassment around it. My derm said the shedding is a good sign then some people say they went through so many derms to get to the right person.

Feels like an awful curse and so unfair - I am sorry to everyone else who is also going through this.

For ref pictures labelled 1 are before Spiro (4 months ago, doing natural approach and minox)

Pictures labelled 2 are now (added Spiro 100mg and kept everything else the same)

Thanks so much for any insight, I read everything and the community is great x

mild AGA. this will be long! i also have a lot of hair anxiety so please don’t psych me out in the comments!

i’ve been on OM 1.25 mg since the end of june so almost at 4 months and im still basically shedding. I added 100 mg spiro 2 months ago and yaz OCP 1 month ago. it seemed like my shedding started at the one month mark and has slowly continued in steady waves leading to a noticeable density loss. this freaked me the fuck our recently, i had a major crash out about it.

ive had chronically low ferritin for as long as ive gotten it checked. its never been above a 19. have low ferritin (14) checked in june and low vitamin d (28) that i’ve been consistently working on for the past 4 months. i’d like to recheck again but ive been having a hard time getting a provider to run them unless its my annual.

i recently talked to my prescriber about the oral minoxidil and she’s lwk a pretty useless person. she already offered me fin which i turned out because i wanted to try spiro first and she wanted to me start on 0.625 mg min i declined and said i’ll do the 1.25. i told her that im still shedding and all she said was come back in 2 months if youre still shedding.

my question now is should i just ask to move up my dose or should i stay at the dose i have and see what happens. i’m also soon taking a 3 month break from work to study full time for my mcat so i will be getting a full 8-9 hrs, working out for an hour, eating proper nutrition and protein. i initially thought that maybe if i just give myself 3 months and prioritize everything include meds, the hair will start to recover. now, im rethinking and im like i should go up to 2.5

i fear the reason my hair wont grow back is the ferritin, im scared even i go up to the 2.5 im just gonna shed more and look even balder than i already feel. that’s something im actively working on but it takes a long time. i considered iron infusions but scared of it because people online talked about potential iron stains and also losing more hair after. i do have heavy periods (thought they were normal until a friend told me no!) but the yaz should help a little with that, also i have irregular cycles and have mild adrenal pcos (with a slightly elevated DHEAS) so that was the main logic behind the yaz and spiro.

spiro has helped skin immensely, i have perfect skin even if i fall asleep in makeup. but jesus my hair looks so bad, atleast to me.

what do yall think i should do? i dont wanna start so many things at once, im holding off on that fin as a last resort but i know for some women it works wonders. i dont think i will do dut if offered until after im done having kids; i dont think im ready to make a sacrifice like that.

overall, ive had a lot of hair anxiety and im definitely thinking of going back to my prescriber and also asking for a scalp biopsy just to really know thats going on but i mean its pretty obvious. im not gonna lie its frustrating seeing people’s 3 month progress and hear about how minoxidil has been life changing while its done negative for me :( but ive heard from a good amount of people that hair takes a long time and i just gotta hang in there.

let me know your thoughts and what i should do!

Hi all, I have been recently getting those targeted ads for this new scalp serum that supposedly helps stop shedding etc. Its called fleur and its a copper peptide. Just want to hear anyone’s experiences so far with it if you have been using it as I am curious in trying if it works better/has less sude effects than minoxidil :)

Aga treatment

Iv been diagnosed with Aga at the age of 19 and want to preserve what hair I have for as long as possible but I’m just unsure what to do I’m meant to be having surgery in a few months but not got a date confirmed so unsure If I should start minoxidil as my hair will shed from that then when I have surgery possibly shed again from telegon effluvium and il have lost my results from the minoxidil and have even thinner hair I’m currently using a red laser therapy device but don’t think this is enough on its own just not sure what I should do and just worried if I leave it any longer it’s just going to get worse and il not be able to see any results or get my hair back to similar density what should i do

Hola chicas! Long-ish post sorry but curious what yall think or would personally do in my messy sitch. 31, unknown cause/diagnosis

Hair history:

• Lost a LOT in 2018 after not eating cuz of depression
• Lots grew back but i don't think back to full density as before (i had LOTS of hair as a kid/teen)
• Lost a lot but not as much as 2018 in 2025. I didnt rlly pay attention to it btwn 2018-2025 so not sure about any updates from those years but i think it was generally ok? But late 2025 is when i finally started taking it seriously (learning, tracking via phone and trichoscope photos, etc)
• Had low ferritin for at least 2 years (always in the 20s/30s since 2023 at least) but docs always said it was fine. Also had crazy heavy periods for at least 2 years
  • Got this under control. Iron infusion in Dec and started birth control (Yaz)
  • All other bloodwork looks good. Ferritin maintained above 100, thyroid normal, B12/D/folate/zinc/copper/selenium all good
• Hair improved significantly after infusion, but has kinda gotten slightly worse then stagnated since (see pic for progress over 2026)

This is where things get complicated. I have more things going on than hair loss/thinning problems that I'm now FINALLY tryna take care of.

• Long term sleep issues. Trouble falling and staying asleep since at least 2019. I think cuz of racing thoughts/not being able to relax. Used to use weed/alcohol to help fall asleep but clean as of 2026 (not fully sober but not using it to sleep). Still takes a while to sleep and wake up 2-3 times a night, recently got some sleep drugs prescribed. I get like max 6hrs every night and cannot sleep more
  • Occasionally get daytime fatigue where I fall asleep and cannot fight it, like it takes over me
  • Including this because I expected some increased shedding from this from the recovery. After the infusion my shower shed decreased a lot but it's picked up again now
  • Including this because I expected some increased shedding from this from the recovery. After the infusion my shower shed decreased a lot but it's picked up again now
  • Including this because I expected some increased shedding from this from the recovery. After the infusion my shower shed decreased a lot but it's picked up again now
  • Including this because I expected some increased shedding from this from the recovery. After the infusion my shower shed decreased a lot but it's picked up again now
• Overactive/sensitive bladder since at least 2020 that I think is getting worse
• FSH/LH/estradiol are now suddenly super low since the summer, but my doc said this is because of the birth control? But another doc said it's not, so not sure what to think about this...
• Just below/low end of normal blood pressure. 80s-low 90s/50s-60s
• Other random things (e.g adenomyosis, osteoporosis, mild scoliosis, not sure if it's even worth mentioning everything)
• Potential chronic long-term stress. This past year has especially been by far the hardest of my life
• Had an egg freezing cycle done in Feb AND had a surgery done in Apr (bilateral dermoid cysts on my ovaries. Surgery went well, I still have both ovaries, but haven't done a follow up fertility test to see exactly what kind of damage was done)
  • Including this because I expected some increased shedding from this from the recovery. After the infusion my shower shed decreased a lot but it's picked up again now

So basically I've been seeing lots of docs recently. I'm not sure if I have AGA or not or if things are more connected here and affecting hair as a consequence. It was recently proposed that I could have long term imbalance of autonomic nervous system due to chronic stress. It was also said I could have GI issues (one doc noticed lots of built-up gas from undigested food). Another doc noticed that I have very low DHEA-S and cortisol which could be the result of chronic stress. Theres probably more details I could include but tried to keep this as short as possible

Reasons why I think it might be AGA:

• My grandfather has male pattern baldness
• I think my great aunt and my mom might have AGA... this is unconfirmed. Can't tell if it's AGA or just age-related thinning but I have a hunch that it's AGA based on pattern?

Reasons why I'm hopeful it's not:

• I don't think it's progressively gotten WORSE over the years. More fluctuating/stagnating
• I got a trichoscope and tracked the hairs growing out of a mole on my head. Since March it went from 1 thin translucent hair to now 1 thick opaque hair/1 medium thick opaque hair/1 thin opaque hair

I've been hesitant about minox because obviously no one wants to be on it unless they have to. I cannot see a good dermatologist here and cannot get a biopsy. If you were me, would you just start minox or wait to work out all the other issues and see if hair follows after? If minox, I would prefer oral cuz it's less work but Id want to start with 0.625 because of my low blood pressure, but do you guys think it would be a bad idea to even try oral with my bp?

ETA: my thyroid work (PTH T3 T4) also look good. And even tho I saw improvement on the hairs on the mole I haven’t seen improvement in the areas around. I check only this area cuz it’s the only one where I can be sure I’m capturing the exact same spot and can track accurately