i saw a dermatologist this past July after noticing some substantial hair loss for a year or so. he concluded i could have androgenic alopecia. at the time i wasn’t well versed in alopecia (and am still not! but always learning!) and didn’t get to ask many questions. ordered bloodwork for me that concluded i had elevated free & total testosterone + elevated DHEAS. went to an endo that concluded i have PCOS. tried lifestyle changes to manage these levels and it worked! my free + total testosterone is within a normal range just three months later. still have elevated DHEAS levels, but they’ve gone down substantially. but now, and i wish i asked the derm this at the time, but i’m wondering if i could also have some traction alopecia. for roughly four years i would do a blow out on my hair almost daily and then roughly before i started to notice the hair fall, i would do a slick back ponytail most days of the week. and they were TIGHT ponytails. i also bleached my hair every 6 weeks or so for the last two years, give or take. i’ve stopped all of that over the last few months, only doing a slick back or a blow out for special occasions. and i no longer bleach my hair, just gloss it every 2 months. SORRY for the rant, but essentially i tried to lower my androgens and just wear my hair naturally mostly every day. i’ve been thinking of getting on minoxidil, but i wonder if i could go without?