26 Year Old Balding Creating Career Problems - (Picture)

[ChrisVarick]

I am 26 years old and have noticed my hairline receding since I was 18, my hair use to be so thick that when I ran my fingers through it, some of the hairs would prick into my skin, THAT thick. When I was 22/23 that's when I really started noticing the top of my head was starting to thin out and now well, as you can see, it is very bad. I can't even shave my head because I work in finance and am forced to see high net worth clients and even if I shaved my head, my hairline would have a weird shadow. I am going to see a dermatologist tomorrow morning and another dermatologist that specializes in hair loss next month (first availability). I have tried Rogaine a few years ago, but was not very consistent with it. Tomorrow, I'm going to ask about finasteride, but I've read some VERY scary side effects of the drug. I don't mind the side effects as long as it is REVERSIBLE. I also do have money for a hair transplant, but am afraid that when I'm in my mid 30's and I now need to shave my head, that the scars would show on the back of my head. What would you guys do?

I just came back from the doctor this morning and got prescribed finasteride 1mg, just took it about a hour ago and I feel kind of drowsy/tired.

 

[Chris87]

finasteride won't make you drowsy or tired, in fact its impossible for it to be doing anything that quickly. You'll probably be fine, just don't think about it or over analyze things. Your hair isn't that bad, finasteride should do a nice job of stopping/reversing it. Your progression has been very very slow if you've been losing your hair for almost 10 years and are only that far

 

[Cody1212]

yes, you have a receding hairline....you should have been on finasteride years ago and you need to fight this aggressively if you actually care to keep your hair. Honestly a hair transplant Doctor will tell you it's a great idea to get a hair transplant but you are awfully young and hair loss can occur quickly and drastically leaving you with a really weird looking head afterwards...as for finasteride you can get it anywhere on the internet much cheaper than through an md...
finasteride or dutas at a minimum, try minoxidil and see if it works for you, may or may not. nizoral shampoo is also necessary to round out the big 3.
now you also need to look into cetirizine, it's zyrtec and you can also find sodium chromoglicate in nasal inhaler or eye drop form...these are for pgd2 reduction and are the newest options we have

 

[ChrisVarick]

Thanks for both of your help, I know, I should've been more open minded towards finasteride a few years ago...I deeply regret it, I just read about the side effects and panicked which is why I never gave it a real try.

The new concepts, have they been proven to work well?

 

[bigentries]

I have the same pattern but it seem that you have a good hair texture.

In my case, buzzing looks good I guess, it actually makes the hairline look more "normal"

What about trying a little combover? it's not a sin to just fill the temples a little bit

 

[Chris87]

Thanks for both of your help, I know, I should've been more open minded towards finasteride a few years ago...I deeply regret it, I just read about the side effects and panicked which is why I never gave it a real try.

The new concepts, have they been proven to work well?

No, the other things he's talking about besides finasteride and minoxidil have not been proven to do anything...its just a hypothesized treatment based on a hypothesized additional cause of male pattern baldness (which is brand new)

Personally if I were you, I would get on finasteride and give it at least 6 months by itself. Its possible that on finasteride you will see your male pattern baldness stop progression and start seeing regrowth. If after 6 months-a year you're not happy with the regrowth achieved with finasteride alone you can add mino, but I would see if finasteride alone does it for you...applying minoxidil every single day is a pain in the ***.

I don't think your hair loss looks THAT bad and I would bet you'd have good results on finasteride

 

[ChrisVarick]

Thanks! I will keep you guys posted on how the finasteride goes. Where can I get this stuff online? Somewhere safe and name brand finasteride. Shelling out $104/month can get costly over time especially with the Minoxidil treatments too.

 

[jassi12]

If you went to your Doctor and got a prescription for Proscar you could go to Costco/Walmart/Shoppers and file it for quite cheap. I got 30 pills for 18$ and when cut into 4'ths that's 4 months supply. I'd look to do that rather then online, cause it'll garuntee the quality of the finasteride.

 

[ChrisVarick]

If you went to your Doctor and got a prescription for Proscar you could go to Costco/Walmart/Shoppers and file it for quite cheap. I got 30 pills for 18$ and when cut into 4'ths that's 4 months supply. I'd look to do that rather then online, cause it'll garuntee the quality of the finasteride.

Did your health insurance cover it?

 

[Rawtashk]

I was in the same boat 6 years ago. I was going to start on finasteride....but freaked out when I read some of the horror stories. That scared me away from finasteride for 2 years. I finally took the plunge when my crown was really starting to thin out. 4 years on finasteride now, and I've had great success.

Waiting to start finasteride for 2 years is one of the biggest regrets of my life at this point :-/

 

[Rawtashk]

Also, I can see that you are ALREADY looking for side effects. Let me assure you that you WILL find side effects if you look for them. Maybe you've just been stressing out about hairloss and not getting enough sleep lately. That could be your problem. There are 10000 things that could cause your drowsiness, so don't blame it on finasteride. You have a 2-in-100 chance of getting sexual side effects. Those are pretty good odds of being basically ok. If you get the more serious side effects, then you have about a 95-in-100 chance of being just fine when you stop finasteride. You basically have a higher chance of dying in a car accident than you do of getting long-lasting side effects from finasteride. Is the chance there? Yes. Is there risk in almost everything we do every day? Yes.

So, stop stressing out about it...it's only going to make it worse in your mind. I remember freaking out about everything when I started finasteride. Every time I felt tired I would freak. I would trot down a flight of stairs...and wonder "did my chest bounce a little more than it did last time? f***...I hope it's not gyno!". I was a nervous wreck for about a month, but then I FINALLY just said "eff it. I'm not going to worry about it."

Want an example of how powerful your mind can be? Read this http://www.cracked.com/article_19238_5- ... anics.html

My story is here, if you want to read it
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65594

 

[ChrisVarick]

Good post, thank you. I've been fortunate to not be experiencing any side effects (thank goodness). Do you guys recommend me using Kumrek or Goa for generic finasteride 1 MG? Thanks.

 

[Chris87]

Good post, thank you. I've been fortunate to not be experiencing any side effects (thank goodness). Do you guys recommend me using Kumrek or Goa for generic finasteride 1 MG? Thanks.

Its the same thing. Its just 2 different facilities owned by the same company