1 Year Update (Finasteride + Rogaine Foam)

[Dedge89]

Hey guys,

So it's just been a year now since I've started using Rogaine Foam and Finasteride and from these pictures I'm quite pleased with the results so far. I've been applying the foam in the general crown area and the hairline, though it hasn't been consistent and a lot of days I would only apply it once. I've posted this in the general hair loss discussion section since I don't think it's truly worthy of a 'Success Story' yet , I believe my crown still has a long way to go until I'll be fully satisfied but none the less I'm happier now than then!

I also used Nizoral for the first 4-5 months and quit smoking for the first 6 months, coincidentally my hair was probably at it's peak around the 5-6 month mark and then I experienced a shed but it's slowly built back up to where it's at now.

I've just included the baseline pictures from two angles and three pictures from this month, the 3rd picture on the right being just before I cut my hair to see the difference better. Note that in the other two pictures on the right my hair is slightly longer than on the left, it was a grade 0.5 on the left and roughly a 1-1.5 on the right.

Feedback appreciated! And I hope this gives faith to some people who are wondering if they can restore their hairline.

Peace!

 

[israelite]

soild results bro!

 

[maradona]

Solid results bro ! Hopefully u don't get any sides : ) . unk:

but dude you're a handsome dude...no homo.

I mean you can pull off the bald look so good, in fact you might even look better with it.

Have you thought about micropigmentation?

 

[Going2beBald?]

Looking good dude! I'm happy for you. Hopefully I will get even nearly that kind of results. I've been on big3 (0.5mg finasteride/day), 17 days now.

At the moment I can say for sure the itchiness and redness of the scalp is already nearly gone, before big3 I might have itchiness two to three days a week, now it's once or twice. The hair falling rate has went down dramatically, before when I ran my hand over my hair I may got 2-4 hairs every time, now I get one or two hair every now and then.

What comes to regrowth there isn't much to say yet. I'm just thinking that my hair looks thicker but that's not probably true. I'm just so eager to wait for my one month post to get some second eye comments. I've tried to be as realistic as I can about my situation and in my opinion things looks promising so far no sides of finasteride or minoxidil etc.

 

[Dedge89]

Solid results bro ! Hopefully u don't get any sides : ) . unk:

but dude you're a handsome dude...no homo.

I mean you can pull off the bald look so good, in fact you might even look better with it.

Have you thought about micropigmentation?

Wow, thanks man, appreciate the compliment!

Yeah, quite a few of my female friends have told me to shave my hair off after seeing it long, saying it suits me better really short :dunno:
Micropigmentation looks interesting and it would definitely help improve the appearance of density on my hairline/crown but when I'm 40 I would look ridiculous with a still straight hairline! It's definitely an option though.

@Going2beBald - Thanks man! Good luck with your regimen and all I can say is be persistent with it as it will be at least a few months before you see any significant results. Look forward to seeing your progress none the less!

Peace

 

[kejan]

I have similar hair loss to you. Both at the hairline and thinning crown, although My Norwood hairline is a bit more receded.
I am having small 'success' on the hairline with rogaine although not tried finasteride yet.
Your results look good to me. A definate improvement and your hairline has sproused up too and looks in better shape.

All the best.

 

[hairhoper]

Great results and yeah shaved head suits you

 

[Thom]

Phenomenal improvements man! I've been on the big 3 for over a year now and it was going great but I have had massive sheds lately. My hair is very long now but the part has become wider in my hair. I think it's due to the hard water because it makes my scalp itchy and flaky when the filter runs out. My girlfriend has the same problem. Good to see others getting good results though!

 

[Boomer01]

Great improvement!

 

[uk100]

that is a fantastic result. when your hair is longer it will look normal and not balding

 

[MGZ]

Update?

 

[Rotting Inside]

Looks good I think! Obvious improvement. People like you give me hope.

 

[MGZ]

c'mon update us, I have the exact same hairloss as you, hoping you have progressed.

 

[MGZ]

??

 

[Thom]

Now that he has good hair and no worries, he went on to better things. I didn't come back here until I started losing hair again.

Of course he could have died too, but we'll hope for the former.

 

[MGZ]

Now that he has good hair and no worries, he went on to better things. I didn't come back here until I started losing hair again.

Of course he could have died too, but we'll hope for the former.

I wan't to like this comment 1 million times.

 

[G35guy]

Those are some dam fine results....I wish you continued success.

 

[Dedge89]

Now that he has good hair and no worries, he went on to better things. I didn't come back here until I started losing hair again.

Of course he could have died too, but we'll hope for the former.

Haha!

Sorry guys, It has been a very long time. I carried on my regime for a few more months, however I dropped minoxidil (Rogaine Foam) for a good 6-7 months as I was developing extreme dark eye circles and had to attempt to identify the culprit. For those of you that are interested, my dark eye circles are alot better now than they were earlier in the year, however I still have them (more so under my right eye than left) so it's still hard to establish what the cause is. I'm assuming the minoxidil definitely makes them worse though, along with smoking cigarettes, smoking marijuana (this always clogs up my sinuses) and sinus infections. Also, to an extent sleeping on my back may have helped the circles aswell, though I'm pretty sure I still sleep on my side most nights ^^. The minoxidil was probably a large contributor since I've carried on doing the just mentioned things but my circles have still faded.

Naturally, I lost some progress but it was mostly the hairline, which is still better than baseline but took some damage. My hair has thinned down the middle aswell, though this was an on/off area even when I was using minoxidil there. I'm about to restart my Rogaine Foam regimen and keep it up solidly for 2013 in hope to make some good progress again. I'm thinking to apply on the hairline only for a few months and see how badly the dark eye circles return lol, I'm going to have to do 'under eye' update pics aswell as hair ones! It's funny because in the months of not taking minoxidil everyday I felt free-er than I ever have in terms of hairloss.

What you gain in growing your hair back, you sort of lose in another way through the mechanical process of putting weird chemicals in your hair everyday, constantly taking pictures, constantly thinking how long until progress is made e.t.c. It is quite depressing to think about again, but the results are most probably ultimately worth it.

Anyway, when I manage to fix my phone I will start taking pictures again and post tri-monthly updates. Sorry for keeping you guys in the dark. All I can say is stick to the regimen of Foam/finasteride/nizoral and keep your hair short, Minoxidil is SO MUCH more effective on short hair, and when I grew my hair out applying the **** was a nightmare and I could tell no where near the same amount penetrated the scalp. Good luck guys and I'll keep you posted - again!

Edit: Also guys, some of you suffering from low confidence (I for sure was) may find it nice to know that even in those months where my hair had degraded significantly after I dropped minoxidil, I was getting attention from girls as young as 18/19 (despite being a receeding hairlined and semi bald patched 23 year old)! And girls who had known me well prior didnt even seem to notice and would still be flirtly and fun. I really do believe a large part of it is in our heads, especially in thinking we can cover up signs of balding and until then it's hell on earth. The way I see it is that the minute a girl identifies any hair loss she will realise you're balding and at that point the extremity will not matter too much (almost as if her brain had at that point accepted you would be bald one day), if she's not into that she will not be interested and if she doesn't care then she simply doesn't care. I've had 10x more slack from girls about me losing weight or things like that, and its only my guy mates who have ever seemed to comment/care about my hairloss.

The biggest pain is going from perfect hair to balding and no doubt that will change your attractiveness in the eyes of others, but after that point its best to not beat yourself up (this will lead to sad, lonely road for a while :[) and realise the worst is over (people seeing you go bald for the first time) and at that point it really doesn't matter! You can try your hardest to recover your hair, but honestly you'll still be 'balding' in the eyes of girls (they're not blind), or you can just let go of your ego, shave it all of (like alot of people these days) and accept your new character. What I'm trying to say is, and this helped me alot, is to realise that honestly things can only get better, either way. Whether you regain some hair and are in a 'better' state of balding which will make you feel younger and more attractive again or whether you lose it all and accept your bald/shaved head (which probably more girls dig than a NW2/3 grown and quite a lot prefer it even over a NW1 grown), you will eventually reach a humble happiness that shatters the shallow frames of perspective society has taught us to look through.

Just my 2 cents from this whole experience. This board helped me alot in my darker days. Hope it helps guys, peace.

 

[WillNotLetItHappen]

This is great advice and some wise comment! Congrats!

 

[Silverfox1]

Some good results and sound advice.

When I had a full head of hair I wished I shaved it real short but never did.