17 years old and I really want to start finasteride

[r1989]

Hey guys. Well, safe to say I never thought I'd be browsing these forums at my age, but what can you do. Thanks dad for your genetics. Anyway, I went to the dermatoligist a few days ago and he said I may be in the very early stages of androgenic alopecia (I don't want to call it by its more common term, it's too painful =p). My mom wants a second opinion 'cause she says my hair has always been kind of thin, but whatever. It does look thinner to me at the top of the scalp, and when I wet it and part in the middle it definitely looks thin. Anyway, he said I could take finasteride if I wanted to, but I wanted to see what you guys thought. I heard it could "stunt growth" or something but I'm 6'2'' lol.

My next question is, for the people who did start taking it in their teens, how well did it work, and how long did it last? Or, how long do you guys think it will last if I start taking it now? I figure once it eventually loses its effectiveness, I could upgrade to dutasteride and start that Big 3 thing. I don't care about "regrowth" so much; my hair looks thick and perfect unless I wet it and put it under a very good light. I just want to keep what I have so it doesn't become noticeable! Man, going to college with noticeable thinning would not be fun.

Thanks guys.

 

[anf]

i am currently on propecia 1mg and nizoral and have been taking it for the last 2 weeks ... no side effects atm but maybe to early to tell. i am only 17 and yer im about a NW1.5. looking for maintenance and regrowth would be a bonus.

im in exact same position as you exept im not as tall lol. parents can be a big stress ball especially mine. = (

 

[CCS]

finasteride will last to the same age whether you start early or later. the difference is you will have more hair at the time it fails if you start earlier, or if you are one of the ones it does not really fail for, you will just have more hair.

as for development, if you have happy with your height and penis size, go for it. I don't know if finasteride affects either of these. If your derm said to go for it, it might be safe, but many derms are incompetant about hair loss drugs.

as for your hair always being thin, my parents told my my hairline and every other guy's in my family has always been high, and that we don't go bald. Then my brother went from NW1.5 to NW5 in 6 months and we started looking for treatments then. I was a NW3 then and did not realize just how "too high" my hairline was. I knew it was bad, but it was not until recently after 3 transplant procedures that I'm finally realizing how low I need to take it. Years of telling myself I look fine takes years of re-evaluation to undo.

hair grafts are much more expensive and less dense than regrowth, and they take as long to grow out as the regrowth from meds take to reach a max, so you might as well do the regrowth unless you know you can't do any more. My grafts cover a lot of smooth bald areas.

 

[r1989]

finasteride will last to the same age whether you start early or later.

And what age is that? =p Or is it just impossible to tell

 

[bubka]

yeah, i have seen no evidence that finasteride would stunt growth, actually anti androgens will have no effect (most likely, my opinion, understanding) because androgens increase at the end of puberty which start sealing your bones growth plates

 

[MPBWarrior]

see how much development u have left. for example, i stopped growing when i was 15/16 since i started puberty when i was 11. so i guess someone like me couldve started finasteride at 17. if you're kind of the same, go for it.

 

[CCS]

I think I stopped growing around 14 or so.

 

[r1989]

I was reading about this thing called telogen effluvia today. It said its a certain kind of hair thinning that grows back, and can be caused by a number of things including stress and rapid weight loss. I've lost 15 pounds randomly in the last couple months, and have been extremely stressed out about certain things in this same time span. I also noticed, when I tug at my hair, I notice just as much hair in the back come out (if not more) as I do on the top and front! Shouldn't that not happen, since the back is a non-balding area? I guess I'm just grasping at straws here, cause I guess this telogen thing would be better than androgenic. lol It more than likely is androgenic, though.

 

[bubka]

i noticed when i started, there was an even diffuse thinning all over, not the classic male pattern baldness that you see later on...

you can usually tell by the look of your hair too, the hairline will move up, and the hair has a miniaturization look to it

i lost 65lbs in 6moths after i finished undergrad, never lost hair, but that is probably individual specific...

that hair loss is usually from starvation and no getting enough protein, not losing fat, but rather all ones fat is gone, and losing muscle too

 

[biglemoncoke]

i am 88 still 17, do u think 6 inch penis is good enough? if so i'll start finasteride

 

[r1989]

Okay and I just remembered something else which I completely forgot about. About 7/20 of this year my sister said my hair was getting too long, and demanded that she cut it. I said whatever and let her do it. She trimmed my bangs and cut some of the middle and top sections of my scalp. It was about 10 days later when I first noticed my thinning! Could it just be that she did a sh*t job (she's not a certified hairdresser or anything) and that's why I can see so much of my scalp still, cause it hasn't grown back yet? Or maybe the haircut actually just exposed the thinning that was already taking place? I didn't mention the amateur haircut to my dermatoligist because I completely forgot about it. gahhh I just don't know what's going on for sure. =/

 

[MPBWarrior]

r1989,
how r we supposed to answer that questions without any pictures?!?! post some pics and then we can see if it's male pattern baldness or not!!

 

[bubka]

your hair is dead, cutting it in any style or fashion will do nothing to cause male pattern baldness...

some styles will make your thinning more obvious however

if you are shedding hair and you can see those roots, 100+ a day, you most likely have male pattern baldness

 

[r1989]

Meh, just ignore my last post. I'm pretty damn sure I have hair loss now.

Anyway, I got a prescription for Propecia today and the battle begins tomorrow! After this month I'm buying my stuff online, my horrible job gives me no money and I can't afford Propecia every month. =/

One more thing, as I said in another post, it seems like I lose just as much hair from the back of my hair as I do in the male pattern baldness areas. When I run through my hair in the back for about 10 seconds, I can usually find about 10-15 hairs on my hand. Is that a lot?

 

[MPBWarrior]

yes, thats a lot. but u shouldn't be finding a lot of hairloss in your non-male pattern baldness areas if it really is male pattern baldness.

 

[r1989]

Yeah, so that's why I find it kind of strange. But I mean the dermatologist said it was male pattern baldness, but judging by you guys' stories, doctors are completely useless when it comes to hair loss. I'd post pics of my scalp but unfortunately I have no digicam or webcam atm. I have a second doctor's appointment soon so maybe I'll be diagnosed with something else. Until then I'll probably hold off on the Propecia, though it is tempting to start taking them now lol

 

[r1989]

Well I ended up starting Propecia about a week and a half ago. Luckily no side effects so far. I'm still noticing a lot of hair coming out from the sides and back, which is still very strange. I actually used Rogaine 5% for the first couple weeks in September before switching to Propecia. I'm wondering if that's the reason for the shed. So yeah my hair really sucks and it's driving me insane. But I'm sure we all share that sentiment.

 

[cscott]

see how much development u have left. for example, i stopped growing when i was 15/16 since i started puberty when i was 11. so i guess someone like me couldve started finasteride at 17. if you're kind of the same, go for it.

dude wow! you started puberty at 11? i didnt start puberty till like 15. maybe i should definitly halt on the finasteride because it might stunt my growth.

 

[Guest]

i noticed when i started, there was an even diffuse thinning all over, not the classic male pattern baldness that you see later on...

you can usually tell by the look of your hair too, the hairline will move up, and the hair has a miniaturization look to it

i lost 65lbs in 6moths after i finished undergrad, never lost hair, but that is probably individual specific...

that hair loss is usually from starvation and no getting enough protein, not losing fat, but rather all ones fat is gone, and losing muscle too

I have the same thing bubka had, r1989, with the diffuse thinning over the top but no real bald spots. I think it does start for a lot of people with the diffuse thinning all over and the hair just feeling generally thinner than it used to, and then a pattern develops on the top and in the crown as it progresses towards the horseshoe.

Diffuse thinning is easier to treat with oral meds like Propecia and Avodart because while the area of hair loss is greater, the severity of the balding is less than that of typical male pattern baldness sufferers. So if you have diffuse thinning right now consider yourself lucky compared to typical male pattern baldness sufferers.

As for telogen effluvium, I echo what bubka says in that it's usually caused by extreme stress or starvation could kick it in as well. But hair lost from Telogen Effluvium does grow back, although it may take a few months.

 

[r1989]

Just thought I'd give an update. Been on it for about a month and for the last couple weeks my hair loss has decreased a lot. Yesterday I don't think I saw one hair in the shower (as opposed to the 20 plus I'd see before), and I can run my hands through my hair without losing any strands. My hair still looks thin and feels thin but hopefully finasteride will fix that next. My second dermatologist who I saw a couple weeks back wasn't fully convinced it was male pattern baldness but I'm gonna stay on finasteride indefinitely, just to be safe.

Oh yeah and no sides so far. just thought I'd mention this to any other 17-18 year olds afraid to take finasteride. I feel perfectly fine.