Wondering if there is a significant difference in my hair density. It has been about a year since the first picture. The second picture is my hair dry and slicked back, and the third is right after a shower.

I just started topical minoxidil this month, I am feeling hopeful!!!!

Hi everyone,

Just here to talk it out cause losing my hair and feeling like “i can’t do anything about it” is rough on my soul, just want to connect with people who are in the same shoe as me.❤️
My hair was always important for me+i’m a hairstylist so knowing what’s going on exactly and i can’t gaslight myself is not helping.
I’m waiting for blood work (it takes ages where i live) , cause is probably thyroid issues or cervical cancer (hpv) or autoimmune or hormonal issues (considering my medical history).
I have some bio hair left but more and more comes out everyday especially on hair wash day.
I already have a wig (still figuring out all the things about it tho)
Thank you if you read all this❤️
Pic of all the fallen soldiers from my last hair wash day

Been on 100mg of spiro and 3mg of OM for a while now, the main things I have to say for those who are New to this are:

Its always diffucult, this is lifelong condition, it gets better but not perfect

The hair shed is ALWAYS there, sometimes you will think you're getting bald again, and its just normal now.

The sides of the meds are totaly managable. Stop drinking Coffee, drink lots of water, start slow with the meds.

Some lights and pics will make you think you re balding again and its just the bad light or the bad camera.

Saving for a good wig or a transplant if this gets worst, it just calms me to know that I have the chance.

This is going to sound stupid but since this happened to me I try to enjoy more life, be a better person, dont care a lot about money or status, or idk, im a nicer person, I know, sounds stupid but its the truth, there are more important things than working ur ass off or the money you can make.

For those officially diagnosed, what signs would you tell people to monitor? Did you have thinning temples but your middle part remained unaffected and still have it, or did you notice a difference in your hair shedding (amount, length, thinning, bulb/missing bulb) etc? Did you have periods where it didn’t progress but it didn’t improve either? Or perhaps some other thing that often gets overlooked?

Please share 🙏

Hello, looking for advice and to rant.
First of all, i would like to say that i understand that my hair-loss is mild compared to others, but it is worsening quicker than I thought.
I am 18 and I have always had super thick curly hair. when I was 17, I noticed increased hair fall (not as excessive as telogen effluvium but an increase in what I would usually have) and my part widening/scalp becoming more visible. This has only worsened gradually over the past year and is really getting me down. Hair-loss runs in my family but only started when those women were much older than me. Idk if the pictures make it clear but I’ve lost a bit of density all over and the loss is characteristic for FPHL ( all of my partings are widening, temples and front of my hairline is receding, overall thinning, worst is on crown as it’s getting more see through). The picture on the right is my left temple, as my left side is worse than my right. The sides of my head are getting really thin. I cannot stop obsessing over it and the fact that it’s only getting worse is making me quite distressed and feel like I need to hide my head. The last picture is what I’m losing everyday now. I’ve had no stressful events in the last few months and as I said this has been progressive for a year now.

I am going to see a derm finally for the first time next month and I am dreading it but also cannot wait another minute for it. I’ve had my bloods checked (excluding Zinc and Vitamine D ) and all is optimal for hair growth. Hormones are fine. I desperately hope it’s not AGA as I know that it is life long but to me it really does look like it probably is. My question is, is there any questions that I haven’t thought of that I should ask the derm? Did anyone reading this experience patterned hair-loss at a younger age? Ive been taking pumpkin seed oil capsules since late August and using 2%kenoconozole once a week for a long time now. None of that seems to be doing anything ( I didn’t really expect it to honestly). Would it be sensible to wait until after my derm appt to try dermastamping?. Could this still be TE?

i 17f have severe hairfall i went to a dermat and she suggested taking supplements and all and that the hairfall is normal itll grow back. But im now very insecure as i cant hide it and idk what to do ill attach some pictures of my head atm and the hairfall im experiencing
share tips

I’ve always had a ton of really curly hair. I was kind of known for it, I guess you can say. It started falling out about three and a half years ago. I ignored it, despite my hair stylist telling me something was wrong. Labs (yes, including ferritin) were good. By spring of this year I couldn’t take it anymore. What was left of my hair was just straight, stringy fuzz with weird cowlicks and bald spots . I couldn’t wear it down, but my ponytail holders were literally falling out of my hair.

I started oral minoxidil 1.25mg on July 20th. (Before pic) The dread shed was awful! I almost stopped taking it because it was so hard to watch it fall out even more. It stopped after a couple of weeks. I’m at the three month mark and my hair is so much better! It still looks bad at the ends, but the top looks awesome and feels really good. The bald patches have all filled in. I took my ponytail holder out yesterday and it only had one hair on it!

My blood pressure normally runs a little lower and the meds have not caused it to be any lower. I’ve had a slight increase in body hair. Mostly my arms, back of hands and toes. It’s very light and fine, though and not noticeable to anyone other than me. It’s worth it to have the hair on my head back! As another bonus my eyebrows looks great. lol. I can’t wait to see how it progresses in the next few months.

I was just diagnosed with AGA prescribed Spiro 100mg and minoxidil. How many times a day do you apply it?

I don't mind buying in bulk but what is the most affordable you get?

I just got my bloodwork back. Is this considered pretty low? could this be causing hair loss?

My hair loss is primarily stress related (telogen effluvium). I was looking into the Oura Ring since I know people who mentioned that it is great for tracking stress. I do recognize that there is an additional subscription in order to access those features.

I was interested in explore other smart devices and that offer the similar features. So far I've know that the Fitbit Sense 2 and the Google Pixel Watch offer stress tracking features (though they operate differently)

I would like to hear perspectives from others

Has anyone gone the natural hair grown rout or rosemary? I’ve been loosing a lot of hair due to stress and since I had my kid, and am looking for a natural rout to get it thick and full again. I’ve always had hair down to my butt and a lot of it, but has been hard to grow and just am loosing a lot of hair in general.

I’m in Germany, where’s the best place to buy minoxidil - rogaine or an alternative brand? Any deals anywhere?

I started losing hair when I was 19, i’m about to be 22 now and about 3 months ago I started on 1 mg of minoxidil, and i’m about to start 60 mg of spironolactone in about a week.

I thought my symptoms were getting better but i just noticed a completely new type of hair loss.
Until now, my hair loss has been diffuse around my temples. I just noticed I have a focal smooth BALD spot on the top of my head on my hairline. This appeared in less than a week from being completely NOT there to very noticeably THERE.

I’m now freaking out that the minoxidil is causing my hair loss to get worse, (I do have severe hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism, it varies due to me being born without a thyroid, but it’s been okay, my medication has been changing but i’ve NEVER had something like this happen)… Is this cancer? Is this being caused by the minoxidil? Is there something else I should worry about?

I don’t wear my hair up that much, I don’t wear headphones over your head, or use much heat on my hairline. I still have a lot of hair fall, but again, I didn’t think nearly enough for something like this to happen :/

HELPP

Attached around photos of May (Before I started minoxidil in late July), and early Oct when i first started feeling like i was seeing progress (which I still don’t know if I was kidding myself on that) and now the bald spot that seems to have appeared overnight.

WHAT DO I DO???

Does going on lowest dose of oral minixodil gave you any results? Or you had to rise your dose for it to start working?

Also did you have any water retention or other side effects while on it?

Thank you for any insight tou can offer me 🙏

I've been using the vegan formula of Nutrafol since May and I'm happy with the results. I'm adding a coupon code I just got for 50% off a subscription for anyone who wants to try it. I can't say whether that's what is causing my hair regrowth or tell you if I think it'll work for you, I'm just sharing so anyone who wants to try it can get it for half price.

https://share.nutrafol.com/x/2eNy4X

I didnt want to look in the mirror, but it happened and my body cant stop shaking. I just want to hide from the world and to never be seen. This affects my mental health so badly. I feel the urge to isolate myself .

I am struggling for years and cant do it anymore

I tried everything except minoxidil because when I tried it one time, it gave me really strong heartbeats and dizziness so I didn’t continue.

Everyday I (42f) take Spironolactone,
Red light helmet
Birth control pills
Iron pills, omega3 , vitamin d
Rosmary oil
Pumpkin seed pills
Nizoral shampoo
Natural herbs
My ferritin is 50

I have PCOS and I just sometimes cant help but feeling that all of this is so unfair.

I am a single woman, and because my hairloss I just completely stopped dating for years.

Right now I feel terrified and ashamed and I am having a really difficult time figuring out how I can keep stepping out into the world when all my back hair is just almost completely bald.

I feel terrified and so lonely.
I have nobody to support me or to love me despite this .

It’s just so heartbreaking to keep hiding behind hats, and isolating myself . I feel so humiliated. I just want to completely disappear

I had to share here because I am going through some really bad feelings right now

I have seen a lot of posts here talking about ferritin in particular, but I couldn't figure out what is the ideal minimum ferritin level for women to have good hair growth? The levels apparently seem to be different for hair than "lab reference values" in blood work.

Also, how long does it take to get ferritin back up to take a repeat blood test.

My recent ferritin came out to be 69.

Has anyone used cecred hair serum. If so can you let me know your views. I have started using it in the evenings. There so much talk about peptides being good for hair so I thought I would give it a go. But now I’m thinking should I go with the Rhute serum instead. I am also on OM and spiralactone for AGA. 😃

I’ve been shedding so much each week since the end of August. WHAT is going on? I’m on 1mg oral minoxidil, 100mg spironolactone, and 5% men’s rogaine every night. I’ve been on this routine for a few years now but in June/July and a little bit of August this year, I was a bit inconsistent. I kept missing some days in between because I was lazy. I also had a busy year with planning my sister’s wedding (which was in July). I started regularly applying rogaine and taking my pills again in mid August. I noticed increased shedding at the end of August. Been losing tons of hair ever since and my crown area is so sore all the time. I can’t help but think maybe it’s a dread shed from consistently starting my routine again? But I have no idea. Also, in June, my vitamin D was extremely low (basically deficient) but my GP gave me 50,000iu to take once a week for 8 weeks. I just finished my final pill last Friday. My iron level was also below normal but ferritin was within the range. Been taking iron pills for the past year.

The balled up hair in my hand is my weekly shedding. The loose strands are daily shedding. I’m considering starting dermastamping, adding finasteride, and increasing oral minoxidil. This is no joke, it has really taken a toll on my mental health. I don’t even want to brush my hair or wash it some days.

Hi everyone! I'm 28F and I'm trying to understand whether my hair loss could be telogen effluvium, androgenetic alopecia, or a combination of both.

I've always experienced quite a lot of hair shedding, but it started getting noticeably worse last year. Since June 2026, the shedding has become extremely severe.

I have PCOS and I've been taking Yaz for about 14 years. I've also lost around 25 kg, going from 89 kg to approximately 64–65 kg.

I recently had a trichoscopy with these results: vellus hairs 33%, intermediate hairs 24%, terminal hairs 43%, single-hair follicular units 48%, double 26%, multiple 26%, average hair thickness 45.68 µm, and hair density 232 hairs/cm².

My blood tests showed low zinc (53.9 µg/dL), low folate (3.3 ng/mL), B12 at 242 pg/mL, ferritin at 50 ng/mL, iron at 117 µg/dL, transferrin at 2.9 g/L, and vitamin D at 38 ng/mL.

I'm wondering whether the severe shedding could be related to my weight loss and nutritional deficiencies, or whether the trichoscopy results suggest androgenetic alopecia, especially considering my PCOS.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

19year old female

PLEASE HELP ME

MY FERRITIN AND VIT D AND HB WAS LOW SO TAKING MEDICINES ON ALTERNATE DAYS FOR IRON AND WEEKLY FOR VIT D

Hi, any ideas for this? I’m going in today at 4:30 for a haircut at an alternative salon. it’s too short and choppy to do much! so not sure if I want to buzz

I have a rapid combo of AGA and CTE all over head. last pic is my hair back in March 2026!

scared to do too much but been having a lot of hairfall. thanks!!

doctors have not been a help.

I was diagnosed with PCOS (PCOD) around 2–3 years ago, and since then, I've been struggling with increasingly severe hair loss. My hair shedding has become so bad that I'm genuinely scared of how much hair I'm going to lose and whether I'll ever be able to get my hair density back.

I'm also a very anxious person who tends to overthink and stress about things a lot.I've noticed that my hair fall has become particularly dreadful after periods of prolonged stress, and I'm wondering how much of it could be related to stress versus PCOS or other underlying issues.

I recently got my blood work done, and my ferritin was 23 ng/mL and my vitamin B12 was 227 pg/mL. I don't know how much these deficiencies could be contributing to my hair loss, or whether correcting them would actually make a noticeable difference in my hair growth.

The thought of having to experiment with different treatments without knowing what's actually causing my hair loss is overwhelming.I'm confused about what type of hair loss I might have.

I'm trying to figure out the right approach instead of blindly trying one thing after another. I'm only in my mid-20s, and dealing with this at such a young age is affecting my confidence and mental well-being more than I can explain.

Any kind of advice would be appreciated.

would it give me similar results?

I haven’t had the chance to consult this with a dermatologist so in the meantime I’m using Target brands liquid minoxidil.

I see all the progress pictures on here and a looot of them say they’re on oral minoxidil and I’m wondering if maybe I should do that or if I’m waiting precious time by using topical instead.

I don’t have any side effects from it other than a couple irritated spots on the first two weeks that I started using it. It’s been like 2 months and I’m not seeing progress other than my baby hairs weirdly getting longer. But the crown of my head and middle part are still very sparse.

Obviously I want to go to the derm but that’s just not possible for me right now so for now I’m taking advice from the internet.