doubleplay
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 0
Sup folks....
Here is my hairloss story and what I've learned through the process and these boards.
History:
At 25, I noticed a slight thinning (which I learned from this board to be diffuse) around
three years ago. My hair has been short ( #3 or below for the past 8 years) so I really
didn't realize any "shedding" . I buzz my own hair and one day I notice a small patch above
my left temple about a radius of a 1/4-1/2 inch that seemed to be slightly thinning.
At this point it was barely noticeable, only under the bright bathroom light with the
mirror buzzing my head could barley notice it. My father and brother is bald/balding so I had a sense it was coming, however cosmetically it posed no threat as my short haircut masked any loss.
At this point I found this board and eventually signed up. In fact I pulled one of my first posts dated 1/10/2005 shown below:
"I am 26 and starting to notice more and more a thinning at the front of my head. I want to attack it ASAP before it gets too noticeable. I've already been reading throughout these forums and everyone seems to have there own opinion, which is scary because if something actually worked you figure everyone would be on the same treatment....
at any rate my goal is to maintain what i got and regrow the little that i've lost. To do this I DO NOT want to use any products that have to be applied to the scalp everyday, (other than a shampoo). I would like to use any type of pill and/or a shampoo regiment. What are my options? Thanks in advance."
So this was my starting point. Obviously, I was recommended Propecia and Nizoral to start, and start I did. April 1, 2005, I began the regimen.
6 Month Update:
After 6 months of taking 1.25mg a day of propecia and Nizoral 2-3X week, RELIGIOUSLY, never missing a dose, I wasn't entirely thrilled to say the least. I seemed to be losing much more hair, at a much faster pace, of which I had ever seen. The board is plastered with blowhards who insist "It's shedding, it means the hair will grow back even thicker, it's a good sign!!!!!" It's hard to celebrate when youv'e just lost as much density over a 6 month period than at all other times combined. I had literally lost around 15% of total hair density throughout my head, and the "problem spot" as indicated by my first post on the boards was not only much worse and becoming more apparent to Joe Shmoe on the street, there seemed to be other patches on my head that were thinning out now as well.
So 6 months in I was pretty down on the situation but continued the treatment, and threw in spironolactone 2% for good measure. Maybe I'm still "shedding", maybe it's about to fill back in, after all, the propecia and spironolactone must be blocking nearly all of the DHT. Wrong again....
9 months in I'm sick to my stomach. The rapid loss of hair shows no signs of letting up. The original "trouble spot" that initiated these treaments that was "barely noticeable" has become painfully obvious, along with 3-4 other patches around the top of my head that have also thinned to noticeable levels. At this point, without exaggeration (and with baseline photos) I have lost 20% of my baseline hair in the past 9 months, on the most "proven" medications on the market.
Now I'm back reading all the posts on the forum and the blowhards continue screaming to keep up the treatment for a full year, when supposedly and miracuosly, I am to grow back all that I've lost during the "treatment". This would be fine with me, as my only goal was to simply preserve what I had left to begin with. 9 months in, I am beginning to wonder if the treatment is soley killing my hair. At this point I throw in minoxidil 5%, at the rate I seem to be going, I'll be bald in 3 more years.
13 MONTH UPDATE
My propecia has just ran out. My spironolactone as well. My hair has only slightly worsened from the 9th month period, so I suppose that in itself is progress, however, I think I am going to quit the finasteride. I simply cannot imgagine for the life of me that I would have lost even more hair if I had not picked up any treatments, if anything, it seemed pretty clear that these treatments had sped up the hairloss process. I may continue for a few more months on minoxidil to see if anything happens.
People are quick to lable "sob" stories like mine as the minority posted by the oddballs who's treament's didn't work so they sign up on the boards to whine (because, supposedly, you never hear from people who succeeded). While this is true to some extent, the success rate as indicated by Merck is grossly exaggerated, there are far more than 2% of people who continue to lose hair, and I am proof, as indicated by my posting dates, that I am not one who just "popped up" because my treatment didnt work, I have been here all along for the ride.
I havnt been around these boards much the past few months so if there's any new treament out there that is reasonably affordable for someone who's already exhausted these other avenues I'd like to hear about them.
Good luck to all
Here is my hairloss story and what I've learned through the process and these boards.
History:
At 25, I noticed a slight thinning (which I learned from this board to be diffuse) around
three years ago. My hair has been short ( #3 or below for the past 8 years) so I really
didn't realize any "shedding" . I buzz my own hair and one day I notice a small patch above
my left temple about a radius of a 1/4-1/2 inch that seemed to be slightly thinning.
At this point it was barely noticeable, only under the bright bathroom light with the
mirror buzzing my head could barley notice it. My father and brother is bald/balding so I had a sense it was coming, however cosmetically it posed no threat as my short haircut masked any loss.
At this point I found this board and eventually signed up. In fact I pulled one of my first posts dated 1/10/2005 shown below:
"I am 26 and starting to notice more and more a thinning at the front of my head. I want to attack it ASAP before it gets too noticeable. I've already been reading throughout these forums and everyone seems to have there own opinion, which is scary because if something actually worked you figure everyone would be on the same treatment....
at any rate my goal is to maintain what i got and regrow the little that i've lost. To do this I DO NOT want to use any products that have to be applied to the scalp everyday, (other than a shampoo). I would like to use any type of pill and/or a shampoo regiment. What are my options? Thanks in advance."
So this was my starting point. Obviously, I was recommended Propecia and Nizoral to start, and start I did. April 1, 2005, I began the regimen.
6 Month Update:
After 6 months of taking 1.25mg a day of propecia and Nizoral 2-3X week, RELIGIOUSLY, never missing a dose, I wasn't entirely thrilled to say the least. I seemed to be losing much more hair, at a much faster pace, of which I had ever seen. The board is plastered with blowhards who insist "It's shedding, it means the hair will grow back even thicker, it's a good sign!!!!!" It's hard to celebrate when youv'e just lost as much density over a 6 month period than at all other times combined. I had literally lost around 15% of total hair density throughout my head, and the "problem spot" as indicated by my first post on the boards was not only much worse and becoming more apparent to Joe Shmoe on the street, there seemed to be other patches on my head that were thinning out now as well.
So 6 months in I was pretty down on the situation but continued the treatment, and threw in spironolactone 2% for good measure. Maybe I'm still "shedding", maybe it's about to fill back in, after all, the propecia and spironolactone must be blocking nearly all of the DHT. Wrong again....
9 months in I'm sick to my stomach. The rapid loss of hair shows no signs of letting up. The original "trouble spot" that initiated these treaments that was "barely noticeable" has become painfully obvious, along with 3-4 other patches around the top of my head that have also thinned to noticeable levels. At this point, without exaggeration (and with baseline photos) I have lost 20% of my baseline hair in the past 9 months, on the most "proven" medications on the market.
Now I'm back reading all the posts on the forum and the blowhards continue screaming to keep up the treatment for a full year, when supposedly and miracuosly, I am to grow back all that I've lost during the "treatment". This would be fine with me, as my only goal was to simply preserve what I had left to begin with. 9 months in, I am beginning to wonder if the treatment is soley killing my hair. At this point I throw in minoxidil 5%, at the rate I seem to be going, I'll be bald in 3 more years.
13 MONTH UPDATE
My propecia has just ran out. My spironolactone as well. My hair has only slightly worsened from the 9th month period, so I suppose that in itself is progress, however, I think I am going to quit the finasteride. I simply cannot imgagine for the life of me that I would have lost even more hair if I had not picked up any treatments, if anything, it seemed pretty clear that these treatments had sped up the hairloss process. I may continue for a few more months on minoxidil to see if anything happens.
People are quick to lable "sob" stories like mine as the minority posted by the oddballs who's treament's didn't work so they sign up on the boards to whine (because, supposedly, you never hear from people who succeeded). While this is true to some extent, the success rate as indicated by Merck is grossly exaggerated, there are far more than 2% of people who continue to lose hair, and I am proof, as indicated by my posting dates, that I am not one who just "popped up" because my treatment didnt work, I have been here all along for the ride.
I havnt been around these boards much the past few months so if there's any new treament out there that is reasonably affordable for someone who's already exhausted these other avenues I'd like to hear about them.
Good luck to all
