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 Dr. Khadavi is a practicing board-certified dermatologist working in Los Angeles. He is the creator of the unique Revivogen line of products, based on natural ingredients that have been proven to inhibit DHT.
robert engel
2004-02-12
My hair loss (TE?)
Dear Dr. Khadavi,I am a 21 year old male. Back in late August-early September I came down with a case of montezumas revenge which is rare to pick up in the states. it went on for a month, high fever everyday, constant throwing up, bathroom troubles as well as a trip to the er for cat scans in which iv's didn't take the pain away. shortly after that; like probably a month; not 2-3; i saw that my hair was coming out in huge wads. all over my hands, sink, shower, room, anywhere that i looked their was hair. i went to a dermatoligst and he diagnosed mpb without me giving him to much info, it was like a 1 second exam, put me on propecia. for a month i took it and then saw another dermatologist who immediatly told me to get off it insisting i had TE. It started to get quite a bit better but a few weeks after this it has begun again, not quite like before but constant shedding. it's not huge clumps unless i gel my hair and then shower; then i still get tons but i can pull at it easily and it comes out but now more so like 1-5 or so but i could do it all day so im still losing at least 200 hairs or so a day and it seems more like shedding and not thinning. it's been almost 4 months now since this started; and it came real fast and now i can see thinning in the frontal area and along the sides of the hair line. the rest of it is thinning to but that is where i see the most scalp. it sounds like almost a dose of te followed by a transition to androgenetic alopecia. my fam has little hair loss, a great grandpa on my moms side and a cousain on my ma's side; is it possible with te to have alot of shedding follwed by alot less but still a good deal of shedding?? another thing is it possible to have te if their is thinning in the front as a male? dermatologists cannot seem to understand the difference; so they go the majority, 95% androgenetic alopecia. im not convinced, after this huge illness i know i had te; but what i need to know is do you think it is more? only scalp can be seen in the frontal area but it is thin else where; i know aa is typical of thinning in the front but can it still be te and only just te? should i see a third dermatolgist?? the second guy is specialized in just hair loss disorders, it took me a while to see him and he insisted it was te and that my hair would get back to normal soon; it's still shedding more then it should. your advice would be so helpful, thank you.
Dear Robert,
From the history, it appears that you are still experiencing Telogen Effluvium. TE could last for upto 6 months and may take upto one year for your hair loss and shedding to improve. It may also be possible that you are experiencing male pattern hair loss on top of the TE. The best way to iagnose this is to have a dermatologist at a University based hospital exam you and possibly perform a biopsy of the scalp to fully evaluate the stage of the hair follicles and determine if it is MPB or TE.
Alex A. Khadavi, MD
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