Electron17's Story - (18 and losing hair fast)

[Electron17]

Hello.

I'm just 18 years old and I'm losing my hair quite fast...I think it's been going on for a few years now, but I'm not really sure as I didn't really know anything about male pattern baldness until earlier this year. I think I'm between a NW2 and a NW3; my temples have receded a heck of a lot, and the top of my head is getting quite thin. There is almost a bald spot at the little spiral in the back.

There's quite a history of male pattern baldness in my family, so I should have known it would get me too. On my dad's side, my grandpa still has a full head of hair, but four out of five of his sons have gone bald (including my dad). On my mom's side, my grandpa is bald but his only son still has a full head of hair.

I haven't started any treatment yet, but I'm looking to set up an appointment with a doctor (or should it be a dermatologist specifically?) so that I can get a prescription for Propecia and 5% minoxidil (which both require a prescription in Canada). I'd also like to know a little bit about Nizoral. It's an OTC shampoo, right? And how important is it to treating hair loss? I think I might have dandruff anyway, so it might be good for two causes.

Anyway, I'm glad that I've found this site and hopefully I can stop this monster in its tracks.

EDIT: Here are some pictures:

I'll post a wet one later, which is really quite scary.

 

[tooyoungforthiscrap]

Good job catching it early, this is about as bad as my hair was a year ago when I was 18 and now look at me. viewtopic.php?f=28&t=54422&start=20 If you get on finasteride now, this wont happen unk:

Get on finasteride ASAP, don't start using minoxidil until about 6 months into your finasteride treatment to see if it alone will regrow your hair (it does for a lot of people, and you'll thank yourself for not becoming dependent on minoxidil)

Your hairline isn't too bad, it's probably a little better than where mine is. I'd say nw2



Nizoral comes in 1% and 2%, I use the 1% as its OTC and my hair has always been dry anyway, so I think 2% would make it really brittle.. I'm not sure how much better the 2% version is, but it does require a prescription. I think I read somewhere that 2% can be compared to minoxidil, but I'm not sure if I believe that.



Oh and by the way, ask your doctor for proscar instead of propecia. It's a lot cheaper for us kids the only draw back is that you have to cut the pills. proscar is 5mg finasteride, I cut in 4s and take 1.25mg a day.

 

[Electron17]

Thanks for the advice, mate! I'll ask if I can get the proscar prescription instead, although I'm not sure if I'll get it because it's not usually prescribed for hair loss. I'm fighting over whether I should start on minoxidil right away; if I don't, I'll feel like I'm not doing as much as I can to reverse the hair loss.

Oh, and as promised, here is a picture of my hair wet and combed back:

Yikes!

 

[tooyoungforthiscrap]

He should give you proscar, it's the same drug as propecia and its from the same company.

Merck sells propecia in 1mg tabs and proscar in 5mg tabs.

Finasteride alone is enough to thicken hair in some people, so it'd be worth it to wait at least 6 months unless you don't mind the pain in the *** minoxidil

 

[astros148]

all you need is some finasteride . no need to be jumping on minoxidil, i think you'll see some great results

 

[Alan21]

all you need is some finasteride . no need to be jumping on minoxidil, i think you'll see some great results

just a question, would you notice accelerated hairloss let say after 2-3 years on finasteride?

 

[astros148]

all you need is some finasteride . no need to be jumping on minoxidil, i think you'll see some great results

just a question, would you notice accelerated hairloss let say after 2-3 years on finasteride?

nope, why would that be? I know people who have been on finasteride for 10+ years and they've maintained quite nicely.

 

[mpbsux20]

I can empathize with you dude....I have a similar hairline and my overall thickness is coming down steadily....I can also see a lot of hairs near the front becoming thinner and smaller in size.It all started when I was about 15-16 and my hairline was pretty similar to yours....This was the time when I started developing facial and terminal body hair[Chest,arms and legs]...BTW do you have a lot of body hair or are you noticing a drastic increase since the recession started ?

 

[Electron17]

I can empathize with you dude....I have a similar hairline and my overall thickness is coming down steadily....I can also see a lot of hairs near the front becoming thinner and smaller in size.It all started when I was about 15-16 and my hairline was pretty similar to yours....This was the time when I started developing facial and terminal body hair[Chest,arms and legs]...BTW do you have a lot of body hair or are you noticing a drastic increase since the recession started ?

I don't have a whole lot of body hair, no. For the past few months, I've had chest hair growing in for the first time, but that is nothing abnormal.

 

[astros148]

I can empathize with you dude....I have a similar hairline and my overall thickness is coming down steadily....I can also see a lot of hairs near the front becoming thinner and smaller in size.It all started when I was about 15-16 and my hairline was pretty similar to yours....This was the time when I started developing facial and terminal body hair[Chest,arms and legs]...BTW do you have a lot of body hair or are you noticing a drastic increase since the recession started ?

I don't have a whole lot of body hair, no. For the past few months, I've had chest hair growing in for the first time, but that is nothing abnormal.

your hairloss is VERY minimal, dont stress out too much . just hop on finasteride and you'll atleast maintain what you have and you'll probably see some thickness back