Male pattern baldness or "general thinning" ??

seska · 04-05-2003, 09:05 PM

Hi

I posted a while back - was dx with PCOS in 2001 at age 25 - when i was dx with PCOS i never really looked into things much. I also have SLE (Lupus) which i know can cause hair loss too!

Ok - my question - - I have what I'd guess u'd say was "male pattern baldness" just beginning - i.e. my hair is receeding! above temples especially - its thinning there but also the hairline is higher all the time.....

do you know if any pattern of hair loss is anymore common than another with PCOS (as this type of "receeding" pattern is really not seen in lupus so much so i dont think its that causing this hairloss pattern in me really)

thanks for your help

Seska

KlassicalKat · 04-06-2003, 03:10 PM

From what I have read on this forum, there are other cysters who share your pattern of hairloss (temples and in the front). Mine is in the back, however. What is interesting (in a sad way!) is that my thinning hair, in about a 4 inch diameter at the back top part of my skull, matches where my brother has lost his hair to male pattern baldness exactly!

So, part of it may be a genetic thing, but I think that mine is aggravated by the PCOS symptoms.

I have heard that hair loss can be a symptom of Lupus. My doctor suspected I had Lupus about 2 years ago, when a blood test showed elevated ANA levels. However, subsequent blood tests showed no sign of it and he decided I didn't have it, after all. I should go back and be re-tested, though. Guess I have been avoiding it out of fear!

Anyway, your question is a good one and I am looking forward to reading other cysters responses to it, too.

Kathryn

squidge63 · 04-06-2003, 03:32 PM

my hair is thinning on top but also follows the male pattern receding hair as well, i too have my bald patch at the back.. i keep my hair short as it is so thin if i try and grow it... it also looks like i have more hair when its short. I have died it blonde for the last three years and my bald patch doesnt look as bad as when my hair is darker, well i say darker its about 90% grey actually ....
and it comes out in handfuls.. if i run my fingers thru my hair more of it ends up in my hand...

guineapig · 04-07-2003, 11:56 AM

I have both. I started out noticing a "receding hairline," like a mans. I have no back bald spot thank God. But I'd rather have that than the receding hairline. I cut my bangs short to make them look better but I still get lonng hairs that fall out from all over. So maybe my hair was thinner in the front to begin with? I always had a "squarish" hairline, not the usual feminine rounded one anyway. I have absolutely NO family history of baldness, not even 55-year-old dad so go figure. The women in my family had waist-length model-type hair when my age.

saffrhon · 04-07-2003, 12:47 PM

My hairloss is just on the right hand side of my scalp, and its just a lot thinner than the left side, not in a bald patch. A hairdresser first noticed it, and asked if i sleep on that side of my body, and said it was like the bald spot that babies get on the back of their head sometimes. I thought this very odd, but later when i learned about my pcos it made sense. I lose alot in my fingers and my hairbrush, and my hair grows much longer on the left than the right by a 2+ cms. I have to get it cut to even it up quite often. Wierd?
I do have male pattern balding in my family (brother, uncle) which is just the receeding hairline type described, so far i don't have that.