Do i desperately need finasteride? photos included!

[davestep]

I will try and keep this short as possible.

I'm 23, been fighting hairloss for about three years.
I started on 5mg proscar tablets cut into quarters and taken daily. I also used minoxidil 7% and saw palmetto tablets. This was all through the company Ashley and Martin.

I had to stop the proscar after a year due to sides(very weak bladder, wasn't to healthy down there,lol). i carried on with minoxidil for another year.

in October 09 i purchased s5 cream. In November 09 i stopped minnox for a month because of the smell when combined with s5. Was happy with s5(had like only two hairs fall out in shower), so decided i need more regrowth and added minoxidil back to the equation.

I soon later had the worst shed ever and my hair looks awful.
I ordered nanominox fms in december to replace my normal minnox.
Now my regimen is;

Nanominox fms once daily,
s5 cream twice daily,
Nizoral 2% twice a week, other scalp cleaner once a week, normal conditioner after each,
L'oreal thin to thick 4 times a week,
Flaxseed supplement,
Maxi hair supplement,

My hair is terrible at the moment, took a few photos on my camera phone. It is the worst its ever been but am hoping for little regrowth as i have just gone through a big shed. i'm worried i've done lasting damage though??

My question is:
Do you think i desperately need to get back on finasteride?
I'm extremely worried about permanent sides. But i saw this guys blog and wanted to know what everyone else thinks about it? his blog is:
http://andreaszam.blogspot.com/
Should i try crushing it into water and taking less, every other day?
Is it dangerous to take it every other day?
Is it dangerous to get back on it after quiting for over a year?
Are there any other suggestions to add to my regime? shampoos, etc?
I currently still loose like 20 hairs every shower.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Oh yeh, what Norwood am i?

 

[boke]

I would go on finasteride. If you had sides what about taking less? Also I think you should stick with whatever you're doing for at least a year, probably the reason you had a bad shed after starting up minoxidil was because that hap[pens to everyone when they first start. If you start , stop,start, stop I think it'll only make you go crazy and shed a lot more than you have to.

 

[Nene]

I hate to tell you this but at 23 with a norwood 4, you more than likely not only desperatlely need finasteride, but also a miracle. I would give it a shot though, what do you have to lose? Otherwise you should give the buzz cut a shot.

 

[davestep]

thanks for replys,

i think i will give finasteride another go,

do you think it is safe to do what that guy has done(the blog i posted before), he crushes it into water and takes every other day?
I'm willing to try this but don't want to go on just one mans word?
is taking every other day ok?

my hair has just been cut, it usually longer and it honestly looks quite good when i style it(i hope, lol), i love styling my hair, it obviously never hides my baldness but atleast shows i take a bit of pride, i always ware a hat when its not styled, even cut my night short the other day when they said no hats in a bar we went too, let my mates go in, but i couldn't face it and went home, fukin sh*t ruins my life, lol.

You say what do you have to loose...... i'm worried about loosing my erection for a start if i get back on finasteride???

fortunately a skin head suits me ok, had a skin head from age 15 - 20 out of choice, so atleast thats a small positive,

thanks

 

[Nene]

Well thats good if you look good bald, then at least you'll still be confident. If your worried about sides on finasteride, how about taking half the dosage? Just cut a propecia pill in half. Lots of people do that and supposedly it is like 90 or 80% as effective. I would give it a shot. I don't know what good crushing it in water would be, sounds silly.

 

[bezerra]

Finasteride won't give you any side effect if you keep away from this forum. Scientific evidenced says that Testosterona is the main responsable for the Libido and Finasteride make your Testo levels higher, making your libido even better. I'm taking it for almost 3 years and my Libido has only increased.
But, if every time you go to have sex or anything else you think about finasteride and these forum guys, you'll eventually lose your libido.

 

[davestep]

Bezerra, i do kind of agree with you, i think it's mind over matter half the time. I think i'm going to give it another shot and try not to think about it. I just get worried because i saw a video(from a link on this site somewhere) on a guy who totally lost his erection and can never get it back which was due to finasteride. I know it is like 0.000000001% of people that it happens to but the way my luck goes, it will happen to me,lol.
Will try not to think about it though.

Nene, I've been really intigued by this guys blog... He crushes a 5mg finasteride pill into 1.5L of water and drinks 150ml of the water every other day.
He has had amazing results on the big three. I'd really like to give this 'fina water' a go, but don't want to go just one mans word. Any thoughts on this?
Take a look at his blog and see what you think?

http://andreaszam.blogspot.com/

Anyone else have any thoughts on this too?

thanks.

 

[Brandon Mthson]

The article linked to suggests a solution for the difficulty in measuring cut up finasteride pills. He suggests dissolving a proscar pill in water and then drinking 1/10 of the water each day (.5mg of finasteride).

That seems like a good idea, but it'd be important to verify the finasteride is still just as active after sitting in water for 10 days. Unless someone can speak on that, I believe it's too risky to try. Better to just take 1/2 of a 1mg pill, as that's not as difficult to cut up accurately as 1/10 of a 5mg pill. It's a little more expensive, but it's worth it. I get my finasteride from inhousepharmacy.com.


The article linked to is a long page, so here's the relevant excerpt:

i dissolve finasteride because its impossible to cut the proscar to 10 pieces and i believe that the liquid finasteride abrosbs and metabolizes better!

*from finasteride datasheet i read that "Finasteride Solubility=Partially insoluble in water" dont says how mg/L but i belive that 5mg is well solube in 1.5L water, in the case its not well solube in 1.5L i shake the bottle before the use


*until 31-dec-2009 i dissolved 1 proscar 5mg (crushed) in 10ml VODKA and every other day i drink 1ml with alot of water
*Finasteride dont lose its effectiveness in alcohol, ethanol based liquids, at least for me coz i see it to works!

 

[Brandon Mthson]

Regarding more general advice, I recommend re-starting finasteride. We can't really tell if it's working or not, but the science is good and getting off of it causes shedding, so I recommend getting on it and don't bother evaluating whether it's working or not.

I don't think your hair looks bad. You might consider shaving it anyway. Hair pieces aren't bad. Full hair transplants can cost just $1500 in India.

Doing weightlifting at home 15min every day will turn most people into a badass.

Best of luck

 

[TEDDYRUXPIN]

Yep. You are balding and as above stated - norwood 4.

Now.......

You seem to be messing about to quickly with different medications. You do not stay long enough on the medications before seeing true results. Second - you dive straight onto non-fda approved drugs for hairloss. Ok. Some people do swear they work.

Before people stop moaing about generic or paying for full price.

I suggest you seek a doctor first - that is up to you.

(1) Try propecia (merck) - 1mg per day. Take this at the night. Buy from a reputable pharmacy. One that is actually registered. You need to stay on this in order to get confidence as well as stop the stress! Stress is a major killer for hairloss!!!!!!

(2) Minoxidil. Now this depends on how your skin reacts. If you suffer from skin allergies such as eczema or sensitive skin, you will have to stay away from the liquid form. Rogaine / regaine have released a 2% gel version. I am currently using spectral DNC-lotion containing 5% minoxidil and other stuff. The latter does not cause any skin reactions but does leave a yellow residue if not rubbed in properly. Alternatively, use the standard spectral DNC. As you are norwood 4, you will be using alot of this.

(3) I don't know if you have wet your hair or you have natural shiny and greasy hair! If so, you need to control this first. You need to wash your hair daily and allow your hair to dry naturally. Do not blow dry it. If you do, use the cold setting. Use nizoral if you want. I don't swear on it and have not use this for 4 months. If you do, use it one day on, one day off. Get a nice hair thickener shampoo. I use l'oreal hair thickening shampoo. Cheap and cheerful.
I have used alpecin shampoo for three months. I can't say it works or not. It is caffeine shampoo but I can only note that it smells nice.

So I swear the (1) propecia and (3) - washing your hair works. I have used propecia coming up to 9 years soon. No side effects at all. Only one I can swear, is that the first 2 weeks I was sensitive to light and balance was poor. After that, I was fine. No erection problems and actually the opposite. Horny as ever. No bladder problems, no depression etc etc.

Now.... it is up to you what you do with life. Hair loss does not rule anything. What I did do at 23 yrs old was shave all my hair to grade 1 using a nice clipper. I kept this for 1 year on and then grew it out again. I did that the next following year to keep the hair fresh. It actually took the stress away.

So up to you!!!!! Live life!

Don't forget to seek a doctor for advice. Generally speaking - alot of the side effects are in your head for propecia. Only a minority suffer. If they do! They have purchased finasteride from a dodgey site and cut it in 5 pieces.

 

[Nene]

Hey man, I just want to apologize. My first post was a bit insensitive. I just wanted to get across the point that your hair loss is very aggressive for you age, and if you care about keeping it, then yes you desperately need finasteride, as well as the rest of the big 3 and any other help you can get.

 

[davestep]

Thanks for all replys people,

nene - no offence taken, it's ok, it's got to the point where i've basicaly just accepted it. I know it looks bad but i know it looks ok when i properly style it, plus i enjoy having hair so keeping it as long as i can.
I'm sure we all know this feeling, but i know exactly what it's like for girls when guys talk to there tits, except everyone talks to my scalp.

Teddyruxpin - i was on proscar 5mg cut into quarters for a year which i had to stop due to sides(really weak bladder, and things didnt look to healthy). As you can imagine im in two minds to get back on it, i know i desperately need it but worried i could cause permanent damage, thats why i liked the look of that 'finasteride water'.
Maybe i should try cutting the 1mg proscar and taking half every other day?
I can also consult the doctor so i get monitored for sides?
Its been over a year since i stopped finasteride.

i have been on minnox for over two years with just one break of 1 month.
That was because i bought s5 cream and couldnt stand the smell along with minnox.

i was happy with s5(hardly any hairs falling out in shower), so decided i need to get back on minnox and went for nanominox fms. the smell is much less now and ok. i cope fine with all minoxidils aswell.

shampoo regime -
mondays and fridays - nizoral followed by ashley+martin conditioner.
wednesdays - ashley+martin scalp cleaner followed by a+m conditioner.
tuesdays, thursdays, saturdays and sundays - l'oreal thickening shampoo.

so i am quite embarrased my hair looks so greasy as you say :blush: , not sure what more i can do? I rarely miss any of my applications.

s5 cream - once in morning at night
nanominnox fms - once nightly

Brandon - i totally agree with the weight lifting
was training to be a firefighter for a year, was training loads and got pretty big, best ive ever felt, for the first time in years i didnt give a sh*t about going bald, it just stopped bothering me, i had my career and health and looked and felt great.
In august 09 a week before my final test i slipped a disc in training . had emergency operation 3 days later. Ever since then ive had a numb leg due to nerve damage. Can now never play football again, do weight training or be a firefighter. so ive now lost my build and my health and now my hair loss is killing me again.
i would recomend weight training and sport to everyone though, it makes you feel so good.
Oh, and i have tinitus in my ears, since 18 have to wear ear plugs every club i go too. i feel like a 60 year old man but what doesn't kill me will make me stronger i suppose.

So do you think i should take half a 1mg proscar pill every other day?

Sorry to go on so much but it does make me feel better to talk about it all.

Thanks for all the help from everyone, it is appreciated.

Oh, and ive always thought if it got to the stage of hairpiece, transplants, i would be better off shaving it all off and getting on with my life.

thanks

 

[davestep]

i apolagise, just realised how long my post was, but it helps to talk i think.

thanks guys

 

[Nene]

i apolagise, just realised how long my post was, but it helps to talk i think.

thanks guys

No need to apologize man. We all come on here to b**ch, moan, or just rant. It's all good. I like the idea of half a 1mg propecia every day and getting monitored by an M.D for sides. Before you were on 1.25 mg so maybe with .5 you won't get the sides? Honestly I'm not liking the idea of the finasteride water. Like someone else posted before, you don't know if it's effective after sitting in the water for all those days. Try not to freak yourself out if you do go back on, it's best to try not to think about it. I also freak myself out about taking finasteride and possible long term damage, but I just decided to have my doctor monitor my blood work and check my breasts for gyno every so often. I think I will regret not trying it in a few years if I go slick bald. I would ask your doctor to order some blood work and examine you so that he has a baseline to compare against once you're on the finasteride again. Like I said considering the extent of the loss at your age, I wouldn't expect too much re-growth. However you seem like you'll be happy to simply maintain, and with a little luck you very well might maintain for a few years and maybe thicken up your crown a bit. Good luck.

 

[Brandon Mthson]

Dave,

It sounds like you have the right attitude

I think cutting finasteride 1mg in half each day sounds good. That's probably better than taking the pill every other day.

What about the slipped disc prevents working out? Will it cause nerve damage or something?

Reading PUA (pick up artistry) helps me build the kind of 'irrational self-confidence' they advocate. PUA: http://www.pualingo.com/pua-definitions ... method-mm/

 

[davestep]

Thanx for replys again.

I will most prob give finasteride another go, but will definately keep consulting with my doctor checking my breasts and blood. I think that would give me a great peace of mind.
Im gona stick out the s5 and nanominnox for a little bit first though as ive only been back on it a couple of months so gona wait for it to kick in.

Brandon, i already have nerve damage from my slipped disc. was weight training 4 times a week and playing football twice. i had to have an operation to cut the disc out of my back because it squashing my nerves and caused me numbness down my left leg. I have had that numbness for 5 months now, doctors think i wont get it back.
I can start training again soon but have to take so much care, cant really push myself like i like to. Can never run again unless i get feeling back!
To be honest, i'd rather be able to play sport etc than have a full head of hair, going bald only disrupts your life if you let it to!

Thanks for the link aswell, will give it a good read, :woot:

will take more fotos in a few months, just so people can see how i done on my routine, so hopefully this thread will still be here with the photos to compare as i have deleted them. thanx

 

[Hoppi]

Only thing I would chuck in there man is that I know I am a noob to the regimen and treatment stuff, but I have a theory that some of the answer here lies in treating your follicles well.

That's why I'm taking B vitamins (as part of a single multivitamin tablet), omega 3, coenzyme a and possibly MSM as WELL as my Saw Palmetto 450mg (my equivalent to Finasteride) and Nizoral 2%. I'm also trying to balance my hormones with less stress, better diet and more exercise.

Do you see what I mean? It might give your hair follicles and body that extra oomph to fight!

Additionally coenzyme and all that helps reduce sebum, which means you're coming at it from a totally different angle to the 5-alpha reductase inhibition of finasteride. Plus, Ketaconazole in Nizoral binds to androgen receptors, which is another massive plus.

Good luck dude ^_^

 

[eth0]

Nene, I've been really intigued by this guys blog... He crushes a 5mg finasteride pill into 1.5L of water and drinks 150ml of the water every other day

Why don't you just get propecia or one of the generic 1mg tablets like finepica and cut it in half?
That's how I get my 0.5mg per day