Hello everyone, this is my first post on this site.

I kind of have a long story, and was going to write it all out, but have decided to just simplify it a bit. Basically, I first thought I had male pattern baldness because I had a receding hairline, eventually noticed I was thinning on the sides and back of my head, and that, together with these white hairs growing in my temples, on the sides and back of my heads, on my body, and in my facial hair, has led me to believe I have AA. Well, I know I have AA, my dermatologist confirmed it, at least in my beard. She doesn't seem to know what diffuse AA is, since she wasn't sure about my scalp because there are no characteristic patches. But I will tell her that this exists, show her these pics of my buzzed hair, and ask her to do a trichoscopy.

The point of diffuse AA, also known as alopecia areata incognita (for a reason), is that it does NOT have the patches that are characteristic of AA.

Anyway, let's talk about the white hairs. I know that in AA, hairs tend to grow back white and then darken. I have these white hairs in my temples, beneath my forelock, on my arms, and in my beard. Arms and legs are pretty much fine, although I did have an eczema flare up recently (another autoimmune disease). However, I feel my hairs tingling all over my body sometimes. My armpit hair has patchy loss, which reminds me of the way my scalp is.

Basically, my question is this: Could diffuse AA cause a receding hairline?

I looked at a picture of myself from five or six years ago and noticed I had the same weird thinning on the side of my head that I have now, which tells me I have had AA for at least that long without noticing. Maybe it grew back and went away again, I don't know.

I do have chronic anxiety, and I know there is a link between GAD and AA.

The diffuse thinning is not noticeable when my hair is longer; however, when it is shaved really close it looks more like typical AA. This is all shaved with a single grade.

https://imageshack.com/i/0jesr5j

https://imageshack.com/i/161sujj

https://imageshack.com/i/ndyb2mj

https://imageshack.com/i/g4yz9ej

http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Peter_Charles11/media/downsize1.j...

Longer hair:

https://imageshack.com/i/12xsakj

https://imageshack.com/i/jwlmubj

What makes me think that AA can cause a receding hairline are these few pictures:

http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/abd/v87n6/a10fig02.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yy7M2DR4G6c/UW3BZOF6fRI/AAAAAAAAEyA/ridnK...

http://www.linkhaircare.com.sg/images/aa_and_recede.jpg

Also, here is the case that made me think I possibly had AA, because my hair looks very similar:

http://www.thewestminsterpractice.com/blog/alopecia-areata-a-young-...

Notice that his hairline seems to have been affected.

As an addendum here: I suffer from chronic anxiety and feel it could have contributed. Not that that is the case for everyone who suffers from AA. I think it is a complex disease and can have all sorts of different etiologies.

So what do you guys think? There's still the chance that I could have both AA and MPB, but my hairline seems to be filling in gradually with the white hairs, some of which I think have darkened already.