Sam's Hair Loss Story

by Sam
(USA)

Ahh, so where to begin.. I am a 23 year old male, who is experiencing temple thinning and recession. This first started to become noticeable to me about 2 1/2 years ago. Up until that point I had ridiculously thick, long hair. It was unmanageable at times and would often end up being thinned out with shears when at the barber's.

This has changed drastically over the course of the two years since my hairline began to recede. Nowadays I like to keep my hair very short, to hide my recession and thinning.

Growing up, I had always shed a tremendous amount of hair, so much in fact that it would clog the bathtub frequently. I can distinctly remember being 12 years old and having and endless stream of hair shed at any time I touched my head. It later became a lifelong habit to do this constantly and consistently, that is, to compulsively touch my hair just to see how much would fall out.

And it was always hundreds of hairs that fell, yet despite this, my hair remained thick and full up until my 20th birthday. This was when the most stressful period of my life began to unfold. It began with a girl and heartbreak. Soon after, the stress this caused me led to my college performance decreasing, going two straight semesters with below 2.0 G.P.A's. This in turn caused me more stress, as I was then kicked out of school for a year until I could clear my academic probation.

Having impeded my career goals and still suffering from my love life, I began to work full time to make ends meet until I was clear to go back to school. My job, however, brought more problems than relief. I worked full-time overnight shifts in restock at a produce store. This was my first job, and I was not prepared for the stressful nature of this line of work.

I went weeks without sleeping right, consistently ate fast food from late night drive-thrus. I was always angry and stressed with my work and its cold environment within fridges, and the awful late night hours. I hated it and how it affected my personality, even outside of work. I would not go out to see friends, as I was typically trying to catch up with sleep or it was much too late to see them.

Instead, an addiction to the internet began to emerge, one that I had begun to develop at a much younger age. Countless hours I'd spend in front of a computer screen, doing nothing of particular value or importance. Just sitting there, wasting my hours until I'd have to work again. I'd get irritable at the slightest annoyance and would often curse at my brothers and parents. I'd have outbursts and tantrums from out the blue. All this unhappiness eventually lead to a deep depression, where I would begin crying for no reason. I'd just cry. Then, the hair loss started.

A year into my job, my hair was starting to thin and my appearance started to change. I was often told by my work mates that I looked awful and if I was sick or ill. I had developed a constant unending cough from working for long periods inside a cold refrigerator. My eyes were always red from lack of sleep and my face was very pale from lack of sun exposure. It's safe to say I looked like shit. Yet I never imagined my hairline would begin to actually recede. Especially as dramatically as it did. Within a few months, my temple's thinned to a level where my scalp was visible.

This was not a slow thinning that progressively made it's way into my temples, no. It happened suddenly all at once. The whole segment of my temples thinned out over a period of three months. This of course led me into a state of shock. Once that proved once and for all that I needed to find a new line of work, one that would not stress me out so much.

So I did. I began working retail in the day and started to make new friends and work was really much better for me and my mindset. Yet the hair loss persisted. My temples got thinner and thinner and eventually only thin vellus hair remained. It has been two years since then and my hair loss has progressed, though slowly, yet still progressed.

It's hard for me to accept this, and looking back at my upbringing, I have had a rather difficult childhood compared to most. I was the oldest of 6 children, born out of wedlock to an abusive and drug addicted father. We were poor and as poor people often do, turned to crime to compensate. I won't go into details, but because of my parents' poor choices, I had a tough time growing up.

I've slept In back alleys and garages, in junkyards and shacks. I've lived in group homes and foster care. All this time without seeing my family or siblings. It was stressful being the oldest and becoming responsible for every one of your brothers, being constantly threatened by my crazed father.

Everything is okay now, but thinking back about it, I realize that I haven't had a very fair life. That I've had to struggle and respond to the adversity, not just for me, but for the sake of my siblings. It all makes this new challenge that much more unfair.

I've gone through enough I think. I don't understand why I have to be the one to have to experience this. In all of my family, both immediate and extended, there is not a single person that I know of who has experienced any degree of hair loss. Not my father, brothers, uncles, or cousins. None. The only person who has come close is my grandfather, yet his hair fell in his 80s! And even when dying at 93 he still never fully lost any more hair than in his temples.

As seemingly cruel as this life has been, I am somewhat grateful for this. In many ways, it has changed the way I live my life. I have worked greatly to improve myself in these last two years. I now cycle and hike frequently whereas before, I lived a sedentary lifestyle. My diet has improved tremendously as well as my depression. I rarely ever have emotional breakdowns now. I have done much more, but yet, I feel that I'm still not as dedicated as I need to be.

I've been following this site for the last one and a half years and regrettably have not taken any of the advice provided here to heart.

Yes, I do believe nutrition is a large and significant factor that contributed not only to hair loss but overall degenerative diseases as well. I just cant seem to go more than a few weeks before I eat something entirely wrong for me and fall of the wagon entirely. It's been this way since I fist started, yet I've been persistent and it is for that reason that I believe my hair loss has significantly decreased.

This new year I have been eating very clean since the first of Jan. It's dramatically reduced my shedding. My temple hair has never completely fallen out either, It's all there, and my hairline is still intact somewhat, it's just that the hair is so thin and blonde that it's hard to see without light, yet I know it's all there.

I've run into a snag however, for some unknown reason, my liver, or what I believe to be my liver, has begun to make its presence known. This started with a slight discomfort whenever I'd eat too much food, but has over the years turned into full blown pain whenever I eat too much sugary food, have milk, overeat, or eat certain kinds of foods. This pain is overwhelming at times and the small discomfort I felt only periodically before is now a constant discomfort that it's always there. I don't know what I should do about this. It is stressing me out and making eating something I avoid instead of enjoy.

Should I try and do a liver cleanse? It seems whenever I have vegetable juice, the pain does not appear. Maybe doing this for an extended period (Fast) will end it? Should I see a doctor?

I had gone before and got blood work done yet the only thing wrong with me was low Vit D levels. If I go again, should I ask for specific tests to check out something involving my liver? Also, do you think that this constant stress in my life has accelerated my hair loss?

I eagerly await your reply, Sheree, and am grateful for the time you take out of your day to read and reply to this long-winded post.

My Story

by Abdi
(Ca Usa)

Hi, my name is Abdi. I'm 18 and I've noticed I;ve got receding and falling out hair. I graduated high school last summer and started college. I was worried about my hair, but my mom kept telling me it's natural genetics, but I couldn't believe that.

My dad is naturally bald, but he's still got some hair in the back of his head. I'm not really feeling good about this kind of stuff. Ive heard what you eat could grow out your lost hair. Is that true? Please help me out.

Pedro's Hair Loss Story

by Pedro

Hola everyone!

I'm new to this site and I apologize if I've posted incorrectly and for the length of this post. I'm hoping to share my story and ask for advice from this great community on my struggle with hair loss to see if there is any hope for me. My name is Pedro and I'm 35 years old (young ?).

I've been losing my hair for the past 5 years, with my hair loss really attracting my attention for the last 12 months. I'm suffering from male pattern baldness, and my hair is becoming thinner all over. It seems each time my hair is cut (every 1-2 months) it is getting thinner and it's the most frightening thing I've ever experienced.

It's hard to stop and consider that becoming bald can scare a man so much. I've been scared to look into the mirror for over a month now and today is the first day I've been able to do it. I've been scared to look at my cell phones screen when it's dark, same for my laptop since I was scared of seeing my reflection.

I've attached my pictures for you all to look at. My head might look a little red, but that is just due to the lighting (perhaps washing my hair a little too), my camera is terrible so I hope the pictures are clear enough. You can clearly see how far progressed I am with my male pattern baldness and thinning.

For my entire life I've pretty much lived on fast food. I considered myself in the past healthy for eating an apple or perhaps an orange 5 times a week and thought that was all I needed.

My diet consisted of pretty much McDonalds, Pizza, Chinese Takeout, drinking about 3 liters of sugary soda per week. When I was not eating fast food, I'd warm up frozen hot pockets, burritos, tacos, pretty much anything frozen, along with plenty of other sugary treats but you all get the idea I am sure.

I for the most part lived on sugar and processed food.

These past few months though I've gotten to be very serious about trying to solve my hair loss issue. I went to the doctor, took blood tests, doctor said everything was fine and that I'd have to accept that it's MPB and said my only option was to get a prescription for finasteride. I decided against it since I found out all the side effects, and if I stopped taking it, I'd lose all the hair I should have lost anyway, and did not want to spend my life on medication. I figured I might be best to come to terms with balding.

I've started to do my own research and actually came across this site about a month ago. I spent time reading everything on this site about how sugar and processed foods are the problem, and it got me thinking that perhaps I found my problem.

I began to poll friends, some who are even worse than me, and all of them seemed to eat the same kinds of foods (high sugar, high carb, processed). I've gone back to see photos of men in college that at the time I never realized it, but were in their 20's (early) and were also in the process of losing their hair.

After all my reading, I believe that changing my diet now is the key to reversing hair loss. It's shocking that men are starting to go bald so soon, and I took a keen interest, hearing that men in Japan (Pre WWII) and a lot of other countries that are not heavy on fast foods do not suffer from hair loss at all.

I've never been one to diet, I'm overweight and trying to lose the weight, and for the last 3 weeks I've basically been on the official diet posted on this site since I really was not sure how to get started with eating healthy. I know that sounds terrible. I knew at the start I needed a cheat day since my cravings were so bad to start with, so I've basically been on the diet for 6 days, then take the 7th off.

Starting next week though I am going to try to have only one cheat meal, since this was the first week I really did not have any strong cravings for any unhealthy food. I've made some changes to the diet plan posted on this site, since it seems from my research that men need to have anti-estrogen foods such as broccoli, spinach, and green tea. I've been trying to have green tea twice a day, along with some broccoli and spinach. I've also been taking herbal supplements (Saw Palmetto and Polygonum Multiflorum).

I have to admit though the real reason for me posting and sharing my picture is because I am scared and I am wondering if I should accept being bald. I've been on the diet for 3 weeks, and they have been long weeks I can tell you that. The only thing I've really noticed is that before, I used to shed a lot of hairs (never counted them), but the shedding has easily been cut in half, and my bald spots feel oily, along with my forehead which I take as a good thing.

I've also begun to lose weight, about 5 pounds which is great. Today is the first time I've looked into the mirror in about a month, I'd shave blindly since I did not want to look into the mirror. I know from reading everything on this site that it looks like the healthy food has to first heal the body, then the head and you have to wait about a year for real change to take place.

I've taken a look at other stories and it seems I might be one of the more serious cases on this site. Each time my hair gets cut it gets thinner and recedes. I know I have not been on the diet very long and my cheat day might have cut into that 3 week number, but it's scary to see my hair continue to thin. I'd love to hear anyone who has anything to say on my story. I'm looking for support or any kind of advice. I'm hoping to hear that if I continue with the diet that I'll be able to recover my lost hair, but each time it thins with each haircut, I get more and more worried and wonder if perhaps dieting will help other people, but I am beyond such help.

I never realized that losing hair was so serious before, and could really harm one's self-esteem. I remember chuckling to myself hearing girls in college worry if they were getting lines on their foreheads, and thought how could something so small and silly worry them? Well, here I am losing a few hairs and now I am worrying when others have heart, liver and cancer that could lead to their death and it really puts things into perspective for me. I've learned a lot through losing my hair.

I apologize for the length of this story/posting, I'm very open to constructive criticism, I have tough skin (mentally speaking). I'm willing to do anything to get my hair to grow back and I hope that I still have a chance to grow a head full of hair again. I don't know if I should just shave my head and come to accept myself without any hair.

I've put in 3 weeks, perhaps more like 2 weeks due to my cheat day and recovery time since I ate a lot on those 3 cheat days, but each time I look at my hair I worry. Is it worth continuing on the diet? Anyone have any comments? I'd love to hear them.

My Hair Loss Story

by Anna
(Europe)

Hi, when I was a teenager, my hair was very thick and beautiful. Then around the age of 18-20 I started noticing hair loss and hirsutism around my body, face and neck. Dark course hairs would grow in random places. I figured it was in my genes and there was nothing I could do, so I just went on with my life.

Fast forward to 2012, I decided to follow Kimberly Snyder's vegan lifestyle. Things didn't end up going so well. My lust for meat went crazy and I tried to substitute not eating meat with sugary treats and processed food. For the next 2-4 years I went on a binge of vegetarian junk food, McDonald's, chocolate, chips, crips, pizza. It was awful.

A year ago during that Kimberly Snyder processed food situation, I noticed i was literally growing bald! I was smacked in the face. I didn't realize it was this bad. On top of my bad diet, I wasn't exercising, ever, and I was going through a very stressful time at work. So i had immense stress, insomnia and bad diet for the past 2-4 years.

I started looking into supplements a year ago. I started taking Maxi Hair, saw palmetto, fo-ti, magnesium, vitamin d, shen min topical hair loss product, etc, etc. Nothing I did really worked regrowing my hair back. It maybe made the texture of my hair healthier, but no new hairs.

So I found your website and decided to give it a go. I'm going to post updates once a month with pictures.

I went to the doctor a year ago, and she said that i have female pattern hair loss, androgenetic alopecia. But I also believe on top of that I have diffuse hair loss. Because I've also lost about 40-70% of my hair all around my head. But the worst part is on top of my head. I can see my scalp.

My hair line in the front hasn't really receded, but my temples are a bit emptier.

I just turned 28. I have hirsutism, baldness, acne and I've gained 6-7 kg of weight, which I'll be trying to lose.

Follow my journey, I'll be updating monthly with pictures.

I Need My Hairline Back: Help Ya'll

by Cliff
(DMV)

Sheree love your website. I pretty much lost my natural Hairline due to a barber cutting in to it. Sucks really does and it has not grown back since. So I guess the question is the hair follicle dead will I respond to this diet. So far ive tried everything but a diet. Please I need advice anything would help.

20 and Struggling With Hair Loss

by Jules
(New York)

Hello all, my name is Jules and I am a 20 year old college senior with major hair loss. I have always had very thin hair due to crappy genetics, but the actual balding started about 6 months ago, around the time my boyfriend left for the military.

It has been a downhill struggle since then. I have gotten all the blood tests and they all say that I am healthy and fine. However, I find it extremely shocking that all of my hair could just disappear in a matter of months.

I never saw a lot of hair falling out, but my part was getting thinner and thinner and now the bald spots are unable to be hid. I am absolutely miserable about it.

I haven't worn my hair down in public in almost 3 months. I have been going to a hair loss control clinic and they provided me with homemade shampoo, conditioner and I go there 3 times a week for laser therapy. I started in February.

I went there yesterday for my checkup and the pictures were absolutely devastating. It was a lot worse in just a matter of 3 months. They told me to be patient as this will not be a quick fix, but I couldn't help but sob in the middle of her office.

I am only 20 years old and am so upset that I can't wear my hair down in public or run around outside without worrying about the wind blowing and exposing my hair :(

Everyone keeps telling me to stop stressing, but I am a senior in college who has stressed her entire life. I also have body image issues so this has been a struggle as I have always worried about my size and now my hair.

I'm debating inquiring about wigs or a hair treatment but I have always been a natural type of person and it breaks my heart that I can't just be myself without feeling ugly or shamed.

I really want to try this diet and will have to look into it in depth. I am struggling because I live on campus and am an RA so I do not have a kitchen at this moment in time and the dining hall is atrocious.

School is almost out, however, so I will be moving home. I will start trying some of the recipes. I am starting to lose hope but I just wanted to thank you for posting and having this available for people like me who feel like this will be struggle for the rest of their life.

xoxooxo

Jules

It has been a while!

by Dan
(Washington)

Hi,
So it has been a really long time since I have been back to this website. I think it might have been some time Summer 2015. This website was the first website that got me going in the right direction to improve my health, so I feel it is time I updated you guys on my journey.

I've had numerous health issues over the years and I am only in my mid 20's right now. I was in college and didn't eat healthy at all, never got sleep and never controlled my stress. It led to ailments physically and mentally.

I had heart conditions, gained some weight and had some serious eczema in the scalp which has contributed to some good old fashioned hair loss. I was searching for ways to help me that didn't involve drugs and prescriptions, so I looked around on the internet and found this website. I absorbed as much information as I could and new that it was time to make a change.

From early summer of 2015 to now, I have followed this diet pretty well at times, and not well at other times, but that largely depended on my job for me since I work out at sea with minimal access to produce. I started off eating a raw paleo diet and found immediate success. I noticed my skin started feeling better, I mentally felt better and my blood pressure was regaining control. I even noticed some small regrowth with my hair.

I have adapted my diet around over the years to see what works best for my body and I think this is so important for each person on their journey. Some foods and diets work great for some and not for others.

It hasn't been easy of course. Like everyone else, I too have my ups and downs. There are some days that are just really bad and some days that are great. I have personally found some great success on a mostly raw vegan diet as of late and that is where I am at currently with my diet. I believe it is important to cleanse your lymphatic system to take out the trash before filling your body with all the good stuff. I have been vegan since fall 2016, and I have been more raw vegan the past 3 months. I have never felt better personally and I am curious to see what happens next.

I still have some issues of course. My eczema is still fierce, but it has actually cleared up a little bit the past month. My kidneys still struggle filtering at times, but when they do filter, it is incredible. I have seen numerous small hairs pop out on my hairline and they are actually visible from a distance too, but hair isn't a high concern for me at this point.

I wouldn't have gone on this journey without the aid of Sheree and her wealth of information, which is why I felt like I came back to update :). For those looking for better health, do not wait to make this change. The sooner you do this, the more your body will thank you tomorrow. Stay positive and stay healthy :).

The health and diet information at The Healthy Diet Paradise has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and is for basic information purposes only. If you have any medical issues or concerns, please contact your health care provider.

© Copyright 2011 - 2024

• Privacy Policy
• Disclaimer
• Disclosure
• Terms of Service

Sheree Gilkey is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com