| Author | Message | ||
     MarkZ New member Username: Spacejanitor Post Number: 1 Registered: 01-2007 |
Hello everyone. I've been a longtime lurker here, only just registered. I've been in the denial stage for quite some time. On days where I really felt my hairloss was getting worse I'd log on and start reading, then I'd wake up another day and think it was all in my head. But at this point it's really quite hard to ignore. I've lost a fair amount of hair, and the top is definitely thinning as well as receding. Since I have fine blonde hair it was easier to ignore for a long time and just looked like a more mature hairline, but at this point it's getting bad, and fast. I'm in my second year at university, and it's been said before, and many refute it, but I feel stress has contributed to the rapid acceleration of my hairloss. I would say I haven't had a calm day nor pleasant night of deep sleep in more than two years. I used to bodybuild but stopped approximately a year ago. No steroids, but I went from about 135 pounds to 175 in a period of less than 6 months probably (this was about 2 years ago). To be completely frank, I'm by nature a very happy and "gentle" person, but relationship problems with a girl during my late high school years, caused me both constant worry, which led to a rapid weight loss, then feelings of rage at my inadequacy and weakness, which led me down the path of bodybuilding and not being such a "wimp" anymore. Around the time I began gaining weight again, my hairline started receding slightly, though just to a mature level, and I still looked quite good. I was still driven by anger; I ate huge amounts of food, and I slept with women whom I had no feelings for, to prove subconsciously to myself and others I was "all man". I was quite successful, as I had become devoid of emotion and also confidant somehow because of my deep inner rage. This brought me no happiness. I couldn't focus on my work. In a way I had become more machine than human, a complete reversal of my actual self. I did things because I had to do them, for instance something as simple as hugging a loved one because "that's what I used to do", or because I remember it as being appropriate. I didn't allow myself to dwell on emotions, which I considered made me weak and foolish, the very reason I hadn't succeeded with the one woman that I felt had really mattered, and that I would have no chance for love again in my future unless I became this person who I was not (Ridiculous, I know). As my marks dropped to barely passing in my first year of school, I started looking at my life, and the reasons why I could no longer do any work like I had before. This put me into a long solitude of finding myself, stressing about my situation with my family, friends, school, finances, and the people I had failed in the last year or so, as well as the fact that I was unable to truly feel. Add that to the fact I had a big break by getting a job at Microsoft and was supposed to demonstrating my best self. This brings me to where I am today. 19, going on 20, none of my family nearby, my parents moving to France, and me losing my hair. I'm slowly becoming back to the person I used to be. Not lifting weights like a madman, eating nutritionally, and allowing myself to put the past behind me. I supposed this is all part of becoming a man, but I still feel like a naive boy, only one with a rapidly receding hairline... I've always been able to move my ears, probably since I got glasses. If I needed to move them closer to my face, I just flexed my occipitalis muscle, hah. I've been doing the exercises now for about a month, twice a day for 10-15 minutes each, plus randomly throughout the day. I also take brewer's yeast, eat nutritionally as recommended by Tom, and am also trying to calm myself down and focus on my emotions. I'm not going to take any Propecias, Dutasterides, or hair transplants no matter what happens; that sort of thing isn't my bag. I'll shave my head before then, which will look rather terrible on me, but I can learn to deal with it. I think I said a lot more there than was necessary in regards to hair loss, and it's not for anybody to feel sorry for me, but because I truly feel the factors I experienced and experience contributed greatly to where my hairline is today (namely stress and worry). I'm still trying to pick up all the pieces, but I truly hope that I can recover what I lost of my life and my hair in the last several years of my life, which I had hoped would be the golden years I would remember with fondness for the rest of my life. I will keep you updated with my hairline progress, and I wish the best to everyone fighting their own battles. Cheers, -SpaceJanitor | ||
| Kiel J P New member Username: Kiel_j_p Post Number: 41 Registered: 07-2006 |
Jesus... sooo much emotion and personal anguish. I sure hope you can recover what you lost of your life.... and hair. And I sure hope your golden years are remembered with "fondness"... and perhaps partiality... and I also hope you begin to write heroic/romance novels where the good guy is lost in a world of self denial from the way he once was and then the rest of the book and tries to find himself because he is sick of being devoid of emotion and also confidant somehow because of his deep inner rag and then he becomes a gentle person again. I'd read it. and also.... I love you. | ||
| Brian Hardaway New member Username: Left_behind Post Number: 66 Registered: 07-2006 |
MarkZ I can relate to you very well. I went through 2-3 years where I had literally nobody in my life. No friends, no anything really. I drank myself to death, lost all my friends, and my mental health was deteriorating rapidly. In a very strange way I consider myself lucky that I began losing my hair so early. Yes, that's right lucky. Not only am I now earning my hair back and once it's regrown will be able to keep it into old age since I know what to do at a young age.... If I hadn't began losing my hair and freaked out about it, I would probably be dead right now. My hairloss is the main reason I quit drinking like I was, doing the drugs I was doing, and eating so poorly. It also caused me to look at my life situation and stress level. By eating poorly I don't mean too much junk. I mean eating empty food. All diet, low fat stuff. No vitamins or good fats...just basically cardboard food. And during this time I was severely depressed, suicidal at some points...and my hairloss wasn't helping there, until the day I ran across this site. That was the day I began turning my life around. Low fat diets are actually very dangerous in many cases. Your body can not survive without a proper amount of fat. The issue is what kind of fats you eat. I eat a pretty high fat diet. But I eat a low saturated, and zero trans fats diet. The biggest misconception about health in the US these days, I believe, is the fact that people think eating as little fat as possible is good for you. It's not. My body was in its worst shape when I was following this low fat/no fat diet junk. Obviously you don't want to eat TOO much fat. 65-80 grams a day is what you need. Most of my fat comes from Extra Virgin Olive oil, fish oil and pumpkin seed oil. Eating the right fats, and including a yeast with the B-vitamins has REALLY helped my mental issues, especially since the B-vitamins are the most important vitamins for helping the body recover from stress. You sound lke you're at the point I was then. Keep going in the right direction. You won't regret it! Good luck. | ||
| bumblebee New member Username: Bumblebee Post Number: 77 Registered: 07-2006 |
markz, thanks for that. it's something i can very closely relate to, a position i myself was in. it's almost sickening to look back and realise what a selfish, heartless person i was... if the S.E.s do work for me, though, and i manage to keep my hair, i'd probably agree with brian, that all the anguish would be worth it to get your life back on track and, hopefully, not really have to deal with hair loss later in life. | ||
| Tom Hagerty Moderator Username: Admin Post Number: 3057 Registered: 01-2003 |
Everybody: MarkZ wrote, "I was quite successful, as I had become devoid of emotion and also confidant somehow because of my deep inner rage." When I was in my late teens, I admired a person who had an innate high intelligence but was almost completely devoid of emotion. This lack of emotional involvement with people I think enabled him to do almost anything. He had supreme confidence with women, in getting a great job (with no experience!), and in making a million dollars almost overnight in a Malibu real estate transaction. He was like a hero to me. As I got older, though, his hero status began to diminish. Brian said, "The biggest misconception about health in the US these days, I believe, is the fact that people think eating as little fat as possible is good for you." I think so too. The omega-3 fatty acids are not only good for general health and hair, they're also good for mood stablization. Many studies have shown that people extremely low in omega-3 are high on the depression scale. I hope some people read my new article on - The Anti-inflammatory Diet. And Kiel JP wrote about MarkZ, "and I also hope you begin to write heroic/romance novels where the good guy is lost in a world of self denial from the way he once was..." MarkZ does write well and he has the psychological insight necessary to become a solid writer. He also has suffered. All writers should suffer.  | ||
| Kiel J P New member Username: Kiel_j_p Post Number: 42 Registered: 07-2006 |
lol... yeah they should suffer... especially J.K. Rowling | ||
| bumblebee New member Username: Bumblebee Post Number: 79 Registered: 07-2006 |
heh | ||
| Brick_top New member Username: Brick_top Post Number: 39 Registered: 12-2006 |
Everyone suffers; anyone can write. | ||
| MarkZ New member Username: Spacejanitor Post Number: 2 Registered: 01-2007 |
Brick_top: Good point. I also despise those who seek pity from others. My main point in all this, however, is my premise that I can control my hairloss. Whether by making the necessary adjustments to my diet, behaviour, and most importantly mindset, I believe that to a large extent I have power to stop a receding hairline. I can do myself what Propecia does for others. Regrowth is a different story, and for that I may need a little help from Tom and the Scalp Exercises. Whether it will do anything is yet to be seen, but I gain nothing from inaction. When I think about hair loss, and most anything regarding biology, I try not to think about it totally empirically. Rather than looking at it from a cause and effect point of view (ie, DHT binds to follicle sites. Follicle sites stop making hair. So stop DHT.), I think about it more from an area of "Why?". It leads me along a string of mostly anecdotal logic, more from experience than scientific measures. For what reason? Firstly, because I largely believe these things can be traced back to and "corrected" by observation and experience, second, because my biological background is moderate at best, and third, because I believe our current knowledge of biology still has much to learn. There is a reason for everything that happens to your body, whether that be a birth deformity that is caused by genetics and is entirely out of one's control, or the formation of cancer cells, or hair loss, etc. Now, of course it's most definitely a valid argument to say that hair loss is entirely genetic and that's the reason, but that's not an argument I necessarily agree with. Since I believe there is a reason we have hair, I also think there is a reason some of us lose it. My "task" then is to find out why we lose it, and why I'm beginning to lose it. I believe the reason for hair is mainly one. For attraction of the opposite sex, that is, possibly as a pheromone carrier. After all, this is the reason most men (Tom, age 19, included) are concerned about it. Our physical appearance, to a large extent, is a way of communicating to the opposite sex whether we are suitable partners. And attraction is not a choice, it is programmed into each of us to maximize our genetic survival. WHY then, do we lose our hair? I've often asked myself this, and wondered the reason we lose this benefit. It leads me down several paths of logic that would take quite some time to document, and would be full of weak arguments. I really don't claim to have any answers. But I will be using myself as a guinea pig as I change my lifestyle and hope to gain at least anecdotal ground on some of my theories. What do all of you think about this? Is MPB something out of our control, that has no reflection on who we are? Why does DHT begin to bind to receptor cells in our hair follicles, whether at 19 or at 39? Is it completely determined by genes? Can it be controlled and by only diet? -Mark | ||
| Anagen New member Username: Anagen Post Number: 8 Registered: 08-2006 |
Mark, you wrote: "What do all of you think about this? Is MPB something out of our control, that has no reflection on who we are? Why does DHT begin to bind to receptor cells in our hair follicles, whether at 19 or at 39?" Why do some of us get bodyhair on our chest while others don't? The fact that no bodyhair, or excess bodyhair has not similar social "weight" to a balding head, does not mean that MPB is necessarily affliction. From my point of view, yes you can do several things to improve your fur's health but there is no total control over this. | ||
| bumblebee New member Username: Bumblebee Post Number: 81 Registered: 07-2006 |
i see what you're saying, MarkZ. i've thought along similar lines...like it's a signal of a reduction in fitness. would make sense, but therefore, what triggers it? |
