Damnthis' Story (7 years on finasteride, diffuse with pics(05/2007)

[damnthis]

Damnthis' Story (started finasteride 12/2004, diffuse)

ME:
I have been reading these boards for quite a while now, time to post my story. 25 years, diffuse thinning in upside-down-V-shape, so it's wider in the front, my hairline is still quite allright the thinning is more pronounced behind the hairline.

Noticed my hairloss end 2002, when I cut my hair in a normal style, before that I used to backcomb (with a small comb) it every day, I hoped it would be due to the backcombing, so I didn(t immediately act.
But it was denial because my older brother has the same pattern but much more pronounced. At this time I was loosing like 250 hairs each day, maybe more (I have always counted hairs).

Treatments:
I started searching the net for a solution. September 2003 I went to a dermatologist and he prescribed me minoxidil 2%. I started using it and the hairfallout did go down the first months to about 140 hairs each day and I saw some hairs sprout at the hairline.

I saw the daily fallout increase again and I added saw palmetto in march/april 2004, in may I was shedding even more, but it calmed down again to like 140 hairs each day maybe a little more.

I saw my hair deteriorating a bit (maybe in my head) so I added nizoral in october 2004.
Again I think I shed on that, especially on the days I washed my hair, I lost so much (like 300 hairs or more).

I kept loosing more then 150 hairs each day, so in december 2004 i added propecia to my regimen. I didn't shed on propecia and everything was clearing up because the first months untill month five I saw gradual thickening of the hair and the daily fall-out reduced to 60 hairs each day. Those were the days.

But in month five and six the shedding started again, the sheds come and go since then and I am now in month nine and I still have those sheds and inbetween the sheds the fall-out doesn't go back to 60 hairs each day but to 150 hairs each day.

Results:
I still have the same amount of hair like in 2003 maybe a bit less (edited 28/11/2006: I have more hair now then in 2003), my brother is bald on the whole top of his head.

Questions:
About the number of hairs I loose, I always see people wine about the fact they lost 50 hairs, where I wouldn't worry one bit if that was my amount of daily loss. I always have the same routine in regards to the hair-counting, so maybe the total number of hairs is not correct but it is a good tool for comparison, considering the margin of error is the same.

Thanks for reading the story you can post suggestions, opinions, etc...
Feel free...

The big problem I have is the amount of hairs I loose, so suggestions about that are extremely welcome, also opinions on the propecia-experience are very welcome, what can I expect?(it definately worked the first five months, are those days gonna come back?etc.)


Long story, hope we win this battle, damn this...

 

[damnthis]

bump

My right side is worse then my left (I sleep on my left side, whereas when I was litlle I slept on my right side).

 

[Slartibartfast]

Hi damnthis, thanks for the story.

About the right being worse than the left; same here, in fact I remember this asymmetrical thinning thing having its own thread some time back - from memory more reported a worse right side than left.

Not sure what to say about the daily loss; outside of what were very obviously sheds, I've had the same rate of hair fall as pre-male pattern baldness. Of course it's whether these hairs grow back (and how thickly) that really counts, so unless you can see that the overall density of your hair is in rapid decline you should be alright. Just as some general info. my own stint on Propecia (well, Proscar quartered actually) yielded its best results between the 12 and 16 month mark.

Slarti

 

[damnthis]

thanks for the response slartibartfast.

I consider my hairloss to be from the female type.
The best picture I found resembling my pattern, can be found here:
[/img]http://intermedica.nl/pages/AA.pdf
and can be found at the bottom of page 3
(it's of a woman with androgenetic alopecia)

Other people with this type of balding?
Can anyone post this picture here, I can't...

 

[mark16v]

yeah I think i've just started to get that, notice it on my parting line, and the front isnt as bold and strong anymore

whatdowedo ?

 

[damnthis]

I don't know that's why I am here. For now all we have is the big three treatments, but Ifeel there has to be something better, they should make hairlossproducts directed towards specific types of balding. My biggest problem is shedding.

Strang thing lately is that the most shed hairs are from a non-male pattern baldness-prone-area, the back of my head, behind the ears and they are all strong hairs and no cosmetic differnce can be seen downthere at the back of my head.

 

[damnthis]

My shedding is down again, this is exiting, it's again like the first five/six months

 

[damnthis]

shedding is still down (YESSSSS).


I checked my temperature this morning, while lying in bed under my tongue, and it was only 95.7. I'm gonna start monitoring this to check for a thyroid-disorder.

 

[Weepy]

I checked my temperature this morning, while lying in bed under my tongue, and it was only 95.7. I'm gonna start monitoring this to check for a thyroid-disorder.

95.7!?! Are you sure?

 

[damnthis]

yes I am sure (I was a bit sick those days (a bit of a flu)), the next days it was a bit higher 35.8 and 36.0 degrees (sorry I have no time now to convert it to fahrenheit. I will check it again for a few days now (I'm not sick anymore) and report back.

 

[damnthis]

Things are going well, shedding is still down.

My hair looks better then in 2003 and I get compliments about having nice and lots of hair from strangers (it's a superficial world)

I did stop saw palmetto(a month ago), any experiences with that, what to expect etc.?

 

[harist]

why

hi
i would like to ask you why did you stopped saw palmetto??
did you see any results using it??

you were taking it orally or using it topically?

i am using it both ways (follicare sytem) about a month now!!

excuse me for my poor english

thanx

 

[damnthis]

I was taking standardized capsules.

there were a couple of reasons for stopping it: I didn't have any saw palmetto left and my usual supplier stopped delivering. And also I do not think it was doing much, I still shedded a lot while using it (I was already on minoxidil then), it wasn't untill I added propecia that the shedding calmed down.

I did experience a bit of an initial shed when I first started using saw palmetto.

I hope I don't start shedding big time due to stopping it.

 

[damnthis]

shedding is the lowest ever, I'm really happy about that.

my only concern is that my head has become a bit irritated maybe from all the minoxidil I pour on it (but have been doing that for two years prior with no problem, I use double the advised amount) or maybe stopping the s.palmetto caused it or the use of nizoral... any suggestions on how to stop the itching?

 

[damnthis]

Due to some severe irritation-issues and red and dry eyes, I am gonna stop using Minoxidil for two weeks.

Any input on the effects of that two week interruption?
Will it cause me a shed in three months???
Anyone who stopped using it for a while??

 

[damnthis]

One year on finasteride :lol: :

it's all good, my hair looks a lot better then in 2003 when I first started treating it with minoxidil.
The individual strands look thicker and healthier and there are more of them.

I did experience a big shed (read my previous entries for more info on that)

The biggest difference is the shedding, I shedded a lot of hairs before starting propecia, this has ceased to happen. I now only shed 1/3 th or even less of the amount I used to shed (which was a lot). The amount I loose now I consider to be totally normal.

So I couldn't be happier right now and I hope it continues to get better.
My only concern right now is the minoxidil-irritation-issue I am suffering from, I hope that doesn't cost me any hairs...

About side-effects, a week ago I would have said I hadn't experienced any (except for the pain in my balls, the first three days or so), but now I noticed my erection being not that hard all the time (maybe it is from having too much sex the last weeks, my girlfriend can't get enough :hairy:

Have a nice day

 

[Anderz]

How's it going?

 

[damnthis]

ahigt Anderz,

Well I am still going strong, shedding is still way down.

I haven't experienced the side-effects again, thank god.

About the minoxidil-irritation thing, I am struggling with that. I haven't used it now about a month and a half, because during this period every time I thought my head had almost healed I started using it again and things got worse again. So now I am waiting untill it has completely and totally healed. Obviously this scares the sh*t out of me because I like the way my hair is now and I cannot afford a minoxidil-shed due to stopping usage.

On the upside I think propecia is the cornerstone of my regimen and I hope minoxidil wasn't doing much for me anymore, also it is a hasle to apply, but I will start it again when my head heals.

 

[damnthis]

1 year and three months on generic proscar (1mg):
(please read my whole story: http://www.gourmetstylewellness.com/discussions ... 1&start=10, it will be easier to follow this update)

Allright the most important thing is, it is going well.
My hair is in the same state as it was in at the one year point and
that is a really big succes considering the fact that I dropped minoxidil 2% early december 2005 (I had been using it consistently since october 2003).

Two or three weeks ago I maybe experienced a little increase in shedding, but it went away after a week or two. Now the shedding is back to normal.
I stopped minoxidil due to irritation issues, the more I think about it the more I believe it must have been a bad batch (I got mine from the pharmacist, he mixes it up himself) because I never had any problems using it before.
The irritation is gone now but I am a bit reluctant to start it again, because it is really liberarting not having to put it on mornings and evenings and also my hair dries now in twenty minuts where before it took up to one and a half hours. It's now three months and a half since I stopped minoxidil so I think/hope the biggest shed should have came by now (any confirmation about that??).

Like I said in previous entries in "my story" I believe minoxidil was not very efficient anymore for me (that was also the reason I started finasteride) and finasteride is the cornerstone of my regimen.

side-effects: not really maybe my erection is bit softer, but maybe that is because I do not smoke marihuana every day anymore, because on those rare days I do smoke it I am like an animal and hard as a rock...

 

[damnthis]

1 year and five months on generic propecia

I shed very very litlle hair, I am maintaining and I' am very pleased with that.

Maybe more important is that I stopped minoxidil six months ago (I had been using it for a couple of years), and I haven't lost hair due to it. For more info on this read my previous entries...

considering all this hairloss-crap started in 2002-2003 and I have more hair now then I did then, I think this is a big big succes...