Does this sound like AU? What do you think this could be?

So I researched a lot on the internet about AU and there is surprisingly little information. I figured I would come to a forum and ask people that actually suffer from the disease to get a better understanding of the hair loss I am experiencing, and if it is in fact, AU. So back in August of 2010, I noticed my hair was thinning on the top of my head. I went to a dermatologist and he said it's probably just MPB and that if I wanted I could try rogaine or propecia. I opted for just rogaine. Since then, my hair on my head has thinned substantially but I have noticed that its thinning ALL over my head and not just the top. I also noticed after a couple months that I was losing hair on my chest, armpits, and legs too. I have no bald spots anywhere on my head or anywhere else. I am just experiencing thinning all over. I can easily pull out hairs pretty much anywhere on my body. Even my eyebrows have shed a bit. While I still have a full head of hair and hair on other places of my body, the thinning is troubling me as it hasn't seemed to slow down. People can't notice it yet, but if it keeps up like this, it will be noticeable over time. So my question is, does this sound like AU? I was under the impression that AU usually has bald spots as a symptom, and that the hair normally falls out in clumps. As I've stated earlier, I have no bald spots anywhere, just overall diffuse thinning on pretty much all parts of my body. If this doesn't sound like AU, does anyone have any idea what I could be experiencing? I have been feeling terrible lately about this... thanks in advance to any info/advice from you guys!

Mike
24yo male

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Permalink Reply by Lee on March 9, 2011 at 12:50am
good question! Usually, it starts at the head and then goes to the body. Everyone is different though. It can be very unpredictable. I would try a different dermotologist.
Permalink Reply by Karen Smith on March 9, 2011 at 12:44pm
If you do the pull test and get several hairs every time you gently pull on your hair it is probably alopecia. It is so unpredictable. It may all stop and regrow or it may continue. Everyone has a different experience.
Permalink Reply by pat j madden on March 9, 2011 at 9:46pm
Hi mike
Im no doctor but i will give you my experience anyway because you asked specifically about AU.No one in my family or grandparents had alopecia.
At 22 Hair started falling off the front of my legs and shins- thought nothing of it
At 23 had one small patch on my chin -and thought nothing of it
At 24 still had a load of bodyhair but also noticed a small circle on the back of my neck beside my birthmark.
At 25 and through 26 it all slowly but surely fell out.Took all the medication and injections i was told to but nothing would stop it.
As stated in another reply it is very unpredictable so hopefully---You know!
Permalink Reply by Mike H on March 9, 2011 at 9:52pm
so you did notice bald patches on your head/body during the process?
Permalink Reply by pat j madden on March 9, 2011 at 10:36pm
Not for the first couple of years,It was only when i got the patch on my head that i realised something was really up
Permalink Reply by Mike H on March 9, 2011 at 10:43pm
did you notice the hair on your head thinning before the bald spot showed up or did you just notice a bald spot one day?

Sorry I'm asking so many questions I'm just trying to better understand everyone's case to compare it to mine...
Permalink Reply by pat j madden on March 9, 2011 at 10:57pm
Your not man i know how worrying it can be
No hair thinning apart from the front of my legs which i had put down to running or something.
The little patch on my chin didn't phase me because there were no other signs. I had a full head of hair for a few months after finding the spot --then it started thinning out.
A nearly sure way to tell would be on your fingernails, which get pitted
Permalink Reply by Mike H on March 9, 2011 at 11:15pm
I'm at a very frustrating stage right now with whatever type of hair loss it is that I am experiencing. I have yet to find any person that has had similar hair loss patterns as me after doing plenty of research on the internet. Most people with AU report bald spots somewhere on their body and they tend to say the hair falls out rather rapidly. I have had very slow diffuse thinning for seven months now. It is slow enough that no one actually notices except for me because I knew how much hair I had in certain areas before the hair loss began. Hair doesn't fall out in clumps but when I grab some hairs on a given area like my legs, chest, eyebrows, head etc., I can almost always pull out hairs individually with ease, but they never come out in clumps. It seems like smaller, finer hairs grow in place of the hairs that fall out too. If this loss isn't due to AU or someting, I'm worried of what else it could be.... my april 7th doctors appointment can't come soon enough.
Permalink Reply by pat j madden on March 9, 2011 at 11:26pm
Your mind might just be hyping up natural hairloss,spots of hairloss occur on most if not all alopecians so you might be lucky.
Good luck on the 7th
Permalink Reply by Mike H on March 9, 2011 at 11:36pm
Thanks man I really appreciate it. My sister had alopecia areata when she was in highschool. She lost 60% of her hair and her hair loss patterns were nothing like mine. Started out with one smooth bald patch followed by more. She also lost all her eyelashes on one eye and they didn't "thin out," they all fell out pretty rapidly. So that is my hope that it isn't AA or AU. She actually ended up using this stuff called "thymu skin" and it regrew all her hair/eyelashes. I looked it up online and a lot of people seem to think its a scam. I'm normally a skeptic too but she is proof I guess. My mom keeps telling me to try it but until I see patterns of hair loss like hers, I doubt it will do me any good. Anyway, thanks for the support man and I'll let you know how the appointment on the 7th goes.
Permalink Reply by Heather Bloom on March 11, 2011 at 10:04pm
Hi Mike, I have the same situation. It took a looooong time to figure it out and get the right diagnosis. Actually mine started with my eyebrows and eyelashes. One day they just didn't look as dense as they did before, I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me, so I dismissed it. Then not too long after that they just started falling out in quantity, as did the hair on the rest of my body...head included. No patches--no defined areas. I freaked, I went to every doctor possible. I was first diagnosed as FPB......WRONG! I couldn't understand what FPB and losing body hair had to do with one another. I went to one last doctor a little more than a year ago, he is a specialist in hair. Yup, I have diffuse alopecia areata. Maybe you have it too, but I recommend getting a full work up.
Permalink Reply by Amy on March 29, 2011 at 10:51pm
Its sounds like diffuse AA to me as well. They can biopsy to validate. Not that unfortunately that will mean you have any great treatment options but clearly its not MBP if you are losing body hair, that is really a hallmark of autoimmune hair loss.

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