seasonal hair loss or something else?

[Leesa]

I'm a 28 year old female who has had on and off hairloss problems for over 10 years. My doctor told me when I was 18 that I had androgentic alopecia but I'm not sure that's accurate since the anti androgen property of Diane35 seems to help me, I might be sensitive to androgens maybe. By the time I was 24 I had experimented with lots of ways to restore my hair until I started using Diane-35 and Rogaine 5% which definately greatly improved the appearance and retention of my hair. I think it restored about 30% of my loss. I then moved to the northern/midwest with very dry cold winters and humid summers. I've been here for almost 3 years and am starting to notice a pattern. I still use my normal bcp and rogaine currently. From July to the beginning of November I have little to no hair loss. It starts shedding in November and increases in shedding until about March or April, I'll lose up to 200 hairs in the shower hair catcher. April this year it lightened up to about 50+ hairs the the shower and then started increasing again by the end of the month. The end of April and May I'm back up to about 100-200 hairs (yes, I really do count them). I'm hoping it will start growing back again in the summer, I have lots of short hairs popping up but it's hard to tell if it's new hair, breaking hair or thinning out hairs.  

I have already fine hair already so it falling out is really quite devastating for me especially after I've found a way to make it a little better and I am female which makes it socially hard on me. I've had all my labs done.. my glucose and thyroid are fine. I am prone to having high cholesterol and I'm not overweight. My hormones come up ok on labs too. My scalp looks ok, white with no red marks or open sores. I have mild spring allergies and bad fall allergies but I'm not sure if that's a factor.

I did start having worse dandruff since I moved here and occasionally it gets gross, like really thick and soft on my scalp and I have to kinda scrape it off and it comes up like sticky clumps under my nails. Once it's all exfoliated it doesn't happen again like that for another month or sometimes longer. I'm not sure if it's the rogaine or the weather that makes the "gunk". The hair loss doesn't seem to change when I scrape it.

Anyway, I'm considering maiking an appt with the derm but I'm not sure if it's a waste of both of our time if this cannot be recognized. Is it possible that the seasons can have such a severe effect on my hair? Does this sound familiar to anyone?

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I'm not familiar with seasonal hair loss.  Even if such a condition were to exist, there wouldn't be much you could do about it (other than moving to where the seasons don't change, and I certainly don't recommend that.)

I think you should see a dermatolgist about the dandruff.  Dandruff doesn't cause hair loss, but if you have to scrape it off, you could temporarily lose more hair, even if it then grows back.  There are simple and effective treatments your doctor can recommend.

Other than 5% Rogaine, there's nothing I know of which has proved effective in female-pattern thinning.  The dermatologist can tell you whether there is any other diagnosis even possible.

Please keep in mind that female-pattern thinning is gradual, takes decades, and does not result in bald patches of the kind men get.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[SASSY-30]

Can anyone help me! I have total alopecia and have no idea why. The thing I find strange is that for two years I had a couple of patches, they didn't bother me as I had long hair at the time and kept them covered plus the doc's assured me that they would grow back (within months!). On the third year in a space of four months the whole scalp hair fell out. Three months later my eyebrows and eyelashes followed. Two years later my body hair fell out. So my query is, is it normal for alopecia to take that long to fall out? I have routine blood tests done and all come back normal each time. Any comment would be greatly appreciated!

[aqri]

Dear Leesa! i am 23 male with oily scalp... i understand what u are going thru regarding the sticky fungus like thing growing on your scalp.. i have been suffering this for 7 years now and i still haven't been able to find a cure for it.. my hair has become pale and thin and every time i wash or comb my hair i risk the factor of loosing a lot of hair.. the stuborn dandruff reduces when i wash my hair and constantly need to rewash it again after every 6 hours..  The oily, yellowish/whitish substance gets accumulated under my finger nail when i scape my scalp.. its very difficult for me to get rid of it completely even after i scrub my scalp vigourously at the bath tub.. im sure its some kind of disease.. i showed to a dermatologist and he prescribed the usual shampoo and topical steroid for the second time and all he said was it will work.. i swear these doctors are lazy bumbs and all they do is just give this medication and take their huge consultation fee from us.. this is all they can do rather that do some research on it, coz their prescriptions have never worked on anyone regarding this.. i myself have used various anti dandruff-shampoos,mild shampoos, lotions, dettol, listerine, vinegar, hot oil treatment, soap etc etc.. for a period of 15 days or more in a row, but none of these helped..

IF ANYONE HAS A SOLUTION TO THIS PLEASEEEE LET ME KNOW.. I'LL GIVE U A LOT OF BLESSINGS

[aqri]

Dear Leesa! i am 23 male with oily scalp... i understand what u are going thru regarding the sticky fungus like thing growing on your scalp.. i have been suffering this for 7 years now and i still haven't been able to find a cure for it.. my hair has become pale and thin and every time i wash or comb my hair i risk the factor of loosing a lot of hair.. the stuborn dandruff reduces when i wash my hair and constantly need to rewash it again after every 6 hours..  The oily, yellowish/whitish substance gets accumulated under my finger nail when i scape my scalp.. its very difficult for me to get rid of it completely even after i scrub my scalp vigourously at the bath tub.. im sure its some kind of disease.. i showed to a dermatologist and he prescribed the usual shampoo and topical steroid for the second time and all he said was it will work.. i swear these doctors are lazy bumbs and all they do is just give this medication and take their huge consultation fee from us.. this is all they can do rather that do some research on it, coz their prescriptions have never worked on anyone regarding this.. i myself have used various anti dandruff-shampoos,mild shampoos, lotions, dettol, listerine, vinegar, hot oil treatment, soap etc etc.. for a period of 15 days or more in a row, but none of these helped..

IF ANYONE HAS A SOLUTION TO THIS PLEASEEEE LET ME KNOW.. I'LL GIVE U A LOT OF BLESSINGS

[Will P.]

  i'm 18 and i've had a bad hairloss problem since i was 15. The affected area is mildly red and it seems to be the only place i am thinning.  I've been repeatedly to a dermatologist and he perscribed diflucan and nizoral shampoo...both of which see to do nothing. The read area  only appears on the top of my head, the sides and back don't seem to be affected at all. Please if you know what this is help me. Its very embarrasing, especially being in high school.

thanks for your time.