body hair loss

While I have been suffering from MPB for 4-5 years with the typical symptoms of loss/thinning in the typical areas (crown, top of head, temples, hairline), I have also noticed recently that I am losing hair on other parts of my body too (before this was negligible but recently I have seen this increase dramatically).

I noticed that whenever I take my t-shirt off there are small hair stuck all over the inside of the tshirt and i looked in the mirror and saw that there's very little hair left on my back now. Also when I run my hands through my beard each time a hair or two falls out and I can notice some areas without hair. Even my genital area the hair have lessened and the hair come out extremely easily like in the beard. It seems as it in all these areas the hair comes out quite easily (and in the beard area the hair is extremely thick, yet it still comes out). All this is not something that happened suddenly, it has been happening for a while but now its concerning me.

So I am wondering what this could possibly be ? (the doctors arent of much use as the physician refers to the dermatologist and they give you some topical which is as useless as themselves)

Any ideas IH, anyone else?

edci - What is your current regimen?

cod liver oil
b-100
vitamin c (through emblica officinalis)
sensoril (ocassionally)
lithium/dmso topical

i was thinking on starting on the kudzu soon
cant afford the ecklonia cava

Recent Blood Test Results:

cortisol reading was 353 nmol/L
testosterone was 12.8 nmol/L (down from 21 a year ago, altho i dont think i took any
supplements that would have affected this)
sensitive tsh 1.12 MIU/L
fasting glucose 5.0 mmol/L

I know that this probably doesnt reveal a whole lot, but overall I have this feeling that the roots of my hair in general seem to be quite weak. Even in the areas that are usually not dht sensitive like the back of the head, the hair come out easily (obviously not as much as the crown,etc.). Is there anything you would suggest to strengthen the roots and improve overall hair strength generally (referring to the non-dht sensitive areas, since changing hair health in the thinning areas is a whole different ball game as you know)?

I think the beard hair loss might have to do with this dandruff like thing I have underneath the hair, which also seems to be present on my scalp. Sometimes it gets inflamed and becomes quite itchy and when that happens I can usually see a small acne-like red dot at the root of the hair (beard area). It seems to be small white scales/powder at the root of the hair and whenever the hair comes out, it has a small white dot or thin scale at the root. I tried nizoral as well as the lithium/dmso topical on that area and that didnt help so im wondering what that could be, anything internal I could take to improve this?

I am often stressed because of school etc, so not sure if thats a factor. Thanks for all your help! (PS: I am a 22 year old male)

edci - It's possible that you have a thyroid condition. Try a basal temperature test, which is done upon waking, before getting out of bed, place a thermometer under your armpit for 15 minutes, record the temperature for 3 to 5 days and average the temperatures. If you get below 97.8 to 98.2, then it's a possible indication of low thyroid, and above the latter number possible elevated thyroid. If this is the case, consider iodine supplementation and a glandular thyroid supplement to correct this.

thanks! will definitely check this out...also there was some iodine test on your website, cant seem to remember where (where u rub some iodine on your skin and if it disappears within a certain while, there is a deficiency or something, cant seem to recall the exact thing)

edci - That's right, it's a very crude test, but you find an area on your body you don't expect to touch or get water on (be careful this stuff will stain your clothes). Make a circle anywhere you want on your body, like underarm or wherever.
If it disapears within 18 to 24 hours you probably have a deficiency of iodine.