29 and Imperfect Overachiever
I’m not sure what kind of hair loss I have. The one dermatologist I saw said it looked like a combination of things. I mainly have hair loss at the crown and temples. Prior to hair loss, I had thick dense hair. I think I lost around 30-60% of my hair. I try to hide it by not putting my hair up, and side parts…
All of these pictures are after Jan 2026, including the ones where my hair has a side part and is hiding problem areas. Some of these pictures are under natural daylighting so it makes it look a little more dramatic. However they do highlight the problem areas.
I first noticed hair loss in late 2022… I was 25 at the time. At first I freaked out and I went to the doctor. He basically told me nothing was wrong and ran some tests. Then I was later diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. I got on a gluten and dairy free diet, I started exercising like crazy. I lost 20 lbs. since then I’ve gone on diets, exercised, take vitamins. I go through cycles of keeping good habits for like half a year or more. Then I go through cycles of having bad habits for like a month during stressful times ( usually during school finals, midterms, or winter holidays).
The main bad habits I haven’t really “fixed” in good or bad cycles is Sleep and Stress management. I’ve had insomnia and anxiety since I was a child. Maybe it’s time I try to put a stop to it but I don’t know how. I’m always on the go… I just finished one year of a stem program for grad school… I have another year left.
On top of that I got married in 2022. I love my husband but I don’t have good conflict resolution skills. My husband and I verbally “fight” multiple times a week. I say “fight” because he doesn’t consider it a fight but I do. I’ll keep it short by saying that I’m conflict avoidant and he’s more confrontational. I take responsibility for my side of faults and he takes responsibility for his share as well. Though all this fighting is of course stressful…
In the end, I try to forget about my hair loss. If i just do side parts and put makeup on my scalp, my hair looks ok…. Though I’ve been noticing it again lately. I just went through finals week at school, it’s summer again. So I’m going to try to work on good habits again and pay attention to my hair again. I’ll also work on stress management levels, including sleep, work stress, and conflict resolution with my husband (even if I am being selfish on my own needs). One thing for sure, is I am tired of putting myself last….
We’ll see how the summer goes 🥲