Female, 19, with severe diffuse thinning and no proper diagnosis, what do I do?

Okay so here's my story:

I can't really remember when exactly I started losing hair. I do recall noticing large amounts of hair falling out when I was 17, so I cut my hair into a short bob thinking it was due to damage/breakage (though I never use heat or chemicals). Now that it's gotten long again I realized with a shock just how thin it has become, I can in no way pull my hair back into a ponytail without chunks of my scalp showing through, and my ponytail is much, much narrower than it used to be. My part isn't much wider as far as I can tell, rather it looks like I have several other smaller parts due to the thinning. Oh also, I don't really notice severe shedding, maybe around 100 a day. 

Other points: 

I have no family history of balding; my grandfather passed away at 70+ with a full thick head of hair, and nobody else on both sides of my family has any form of thinning, male or female. 

I did a blood test for deficiencies a couple of months ago and found out that I was severely lacking in vitamin D, but the doctor said something else must cause hair loss this bad. 

Speaking of which, the doctor said I have TE and I should just wait it out, which I'm afraid of doing and then regretting later on. 

A few months before I first noticed the heavy shedding I went through severe, severe stress, but then I got better. Throughout the whole of last year I was once again under immense stress, I also moved to a far away tropical country with a total change in diet/climate/lifestyle. However since the beginning of this year I've been doing okay but I don't see any improvements (if it's stress related).

I don't know if this is related or not, but recently my periods have become somehow irregular and lighter, but with worse cramps. I'm not on the pill. 

My hair texture changed drastically over this period. I have a large number of black, coarse, wiry hairs in my crown area, and a smaller number distributed over the rest of my head. I also have these extremely fine almost white, stretchy long hairs. My normal hair is soft, slightly wavy and brown.

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The thing is, my insurance doesn't cover outpatient visits and I can't afford paying another 200$ just for a 'wait it out' again.

I know a lot of the people in the community here are well informed on this, does anyone have an idea on what could be causing this? I'm really desperate and feel so hopeless and worried about this, any input would be highly appreciated. Thanks for your time x 

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Only God knows the true cause. It could be stress or like most of us it could be your immune system attacking your hair (autoimmune disease). What's important is to get help and support and for that you are in the right place! If you are interested in being treated with Xeljanz, call Xelsource at 855-493-5526 (Pfizer Drug Company's support services and financial aid) for Alopecia sufferers. Where do you live? Are you by a medical university? Those doctors are younger, more cutting edge and more progressive. Try to schedule an.appointment with a dermatologist there. Do you have health insurance? Even if you don't you can still get help.

I think you need a proper diagnosis, so if you haven't seen a dermatologist, you probably should go; I don't see how you will be able to get any treatment or prescriptions unless you do. Can the doctor you saw give you a referral? My insurance won't cover the cost of a specialist w/o a referral from my PCP but maybe yours is different (?).

The 2 main causes seem to be stress or the auto-immune system attacking the hair; I'm not sure genetics have much to do w/it. From what I have been able to learn here, every case seems to be different. Some people lose all their hair, others only lose some; sometimes it comes back, sometimes it doesn't. I have lost my hair 3 times and it has come back twice (this bout has been the worst and the longest). I don't know if there is any "typical" case of alopecia and one does need patience in dealing with it.

Hi, I got this I believe because I used a prescription medication shampoo, my doctor prescribed for me because of a bug bite,I hada handful of hair in my hands after using it ,my hair regrow then feel out after cornerstone injection shots,I'm allergic to a lot of medicine now ,if I drink coffee my hair tends to fall out more, I tryed allergie nalsal spray and my hair fell out more ,I stopped using it and my hair stopped falling out.for me it's an allergy to some thing,I've Had a lot of blood done everything is prefect every single time....if you have sensitive skin I would not use anything harsh on your scalp or hair

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