Just need some advice...

[Deaner]

Hey guys,
I'm new to the board, this is my first post. I finally decided to sign up, after a somewhat agonizing day worrying about my hairloss, and feeling like now is the time I have to do something if something's ever gonna be done.

I'm 18, and have been losing my hair since I was about 16, albeit at a fairly slow pace. Right now I'd classify myself as a Norwood 2, somewhat approaching a Norwood 3 but not very noticably. The thing isn't that I wanna save my hairline, I've been totally content with having a radically receded hairline since it began. This is good, because growth at the hairline, from the sounds of it, is the hardest to achieve. So scratch that, I'm totally cool with the Norwood 2 I've got. I've had a large crown area for about the last 2 years, maybe a tad bigger now, but I'm hoping to stop that and maybe get it back to what it was a few years ago. You see, I have of those swirly crown things, so it's always looked like I have a bald spot there. It's a little bigger now, like I said, and I would like to bring it to its size as of a year or two ago.

Now, the biggest problem, I would have to say, is a little demon called diffuse thinning. It hasn't happened all at once, or very fast, and my hair is still what could be considered of manageable thickness. I just recently got a haircut though, and that's where the trouble began. I'm very picky about my hair, because I've been afraid of losing it "on top" ever since it started to recede in the hairline. I shrugged that off though, I guess you'd consider it denial, telling myself "ah, it's just a slow hairline recession, you've got years before you lose what's on top." My hair is roughly an inch long on top right now, and when dry, covers my scalp about 95% even under the brightest of overhead bathroom lights. I say 95%, because there are the odd spots where hair has been pushed a bit, and there's a faint sight of scalp through. You see, I'd say I've caught it fairly early, and when my hair is wet and lifted all up and such, after close examination, it looks like I have a fairly dense network of follicles. The problem, it appears to me, is that these hairs have become too fine. Considering I have no visuals to show you guys this, it may be hard to understand, but I'd assume that this would be what's called minitiurization? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Now, from reading many of your posts, it sounds like associated with your diffuse thinning, you've had some more than normal shedding. However, even after taking 3 showers today alone (yes, I'm worried about my hair), I can't say I saw more than 10 hairs the first shower, and about 2 or 3 in the two subsequent showers. Even after running my hands through my hair over the sink for 5-10 minutes, I lose no more than 5 or so hairs. I'd say I lose in the range of 50-75 hairs a day (max), and never see any on my pillow. The only time I was ever worried about shedding was about 9 months ago, in the shower, when I ran my hands through my hair I was getting 20-30 each time. But that only happened on one occassion, never to repeat itself. My loss has been incredibly gradual, and at 1.5-2 inches long, my hair can be styled quite reasonably, illiciting responses such as "your hair's definitely thicker than mine". The thing is, I know deep down it isn't, it's clever styling.

My sex life is incredible right now, but I feel like I'm gonna lose the girl I share it with along with my hair if I don't do something about it. And you can't just say she's shallow and such, cuz I know what it'd do to me if my partner started to lose their hair and was no longer physically appealing. It's a fact of life. Basically, we've discussed what me shaving my head would do to the relationship, and it didn't go over entirely well. I've tried to convince myself that if she leaves me, she leaves me, but then I realized that even I'm not entirely happy with the person I'm becoming because of this... affliction. There's worse sh*t to come by in life, but damn, this is really killing the confidence I once had. I'm not happy with my appearance anymore!

I guess after this long winded (sorry) talk of my gradual hair loss, I may as well have put it in the "Your Story" section, but this is more of a plea for advice and such. I was wondering if you think I've caught it at an early enough stage that the minoxidil 5% I'm getting this weekend (Rogaine Extra Strength) will prompt some quality gains, maybe coupled with a prescription to Proscar. I figure the earlier you catch it, and the younger you are, the better the gains. Do you guys think I have a great chance at even a 60-75% recovery of what I had 2 years ago? Do you think Rogaine alone would do the trick, or will I need to go into the doctor's office again and tell him I'd rather have hair than be horny, and take a Proscar prescription off his hands?

Thanks alot for any advice guys, and I'm glad to have joined the board No matter what anybody tells us, fighting for your hair is worth it, at least in my mind. Keep fighting the good fight!

 

[VOVVIE]

you know... there is such thing as mature receding that occures in some men when they reach a certain age (like.. 18-22).. you should make sure thats not whats happening instaid of flat out going bald... btw i started receding at 18.. and i thought it would be mature.. but its getting thin on top.. so i use rogain.. and theres a good chance i will keep my natural recesive looking hairline.. or maybe grow more if im lucky.

 

[Deaner]

Problem is, it's definitely thinning on top :shock: I think it's definitely time to do something about it...

 

[Deaner]

Nobody else has any suggestions, words of wisdom, anything? Sorry if I'm pestering, I'm just having another one of those worrisome days :roll: Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Fuzz]

Now, the biggest problem, I would have to say, is a little demon called diffuse thinning. It hasn't happened all at once, or very fast, and my hair is still what could be considered of manageable thickness.

At your age and progression, treatments have a better chance to work. When I first started (at 23), I used 5% minoxidil only. Within 9 months, I was absolutely satisified. It had thickened my diffuese thinning well.

I figure the earlier you catch it, and the younger you are, the better the gains. Do you guys think I have a great chance at even a 60-75% recovery of what I had 2 years ago? Do you think Rogaine alone would do the trick, or will I need to go into the doctor's office again and tell him I'd rather have hair than be horny, and take a Proscar prescription off his hands?

My recommendation would be to use Nizoral shampoo, if you do not already. It is easy to get and to use. gourmetstylewellness.com has a new a new article about Nizoral in the May 2004 Newletter.

Rogaine alone will not do the trick over the long-term. It will work for many for quite awhile, but over time your hair loss will progress in spite of it.

As for Proscar (finasteride), it gives you a better (60-75%) chance recovery when used with Rogaine. If you are afraid your body will react negatively, try topical spironolactone. gourmetstylewellness.com is a great reference to the ill affects of finasteride (for some people) and can provide his thoughts and science behind topical spironolactone. A potential plus of topical spironolactone is it may compete with DHT locally, but does not have systemic absorption.

--Fuzz

 

[Deaner]

Thanks alot for the reply! it looks like I'll get a prescription to Proscar ASAP, as I want the best chance of maintenance and some fair regrowth. I more or less figured I'd need to get the Proscar to combat any further loss, and then use the Rogaine to regrow the damage that's been done. I'm not a big fan of this topical stuff in the first place, and if I could take Rogaine in pill form, I sure as hell would! The side effects for Proscar don't bother me too much, and they're fairly unlikely to happen (at least severely) from the sounds of it.

The only problem with all this is cost cost cost, as I have to run to my parents and feel like an idiot asking them to pay for me to save my hair. At least my mom understands though, she agrees that it's too early for me to give up and shave it all off, so she supports it. I think she's gonna go out and get my Rogaine today

I'm just so hopeful that I'll see fairly big gains, and from the sounds of it, the gains I'm looking for aren't too unrealistic, considering a big gain for me would just be a noticable thickening, not like, regrowing an entirely bald patch of head.

Thanks again!

 

[Jaygee]

Sounds like you're about where I am, except my hairline is merely "mature"----at least for now. It is, however, a bit transparent.

I'm not sure if I would still look good with hair 2 inches long. Mine's about 3.5. When dry, there's only a problem if you lift it up and push it around (and even then my parents barely believe me), but when wet it's pretty obvious. Not sure if I'm further along than you are, but it sounds like we're in a similar place. (I'm 21.)

I'm also about to start Proscar. Hope we come out of this with a grin. :shock:

 

[Deaner]

When you say when it's wet it's obvious, how so? Like, you can see scalp and such? Coming straight out of the shower, how much coverage are you seeing? I really wish you the best of luck buddy, let's keep in touch, I wanna hear how you do. I'm just starting my regiment very soon.

 

[Jaygee]

Obvious as in quite a bit of scalp shows. There are no areas that are bald, even when wet, but all over the top it clings together and shows a lot of "white lines". With 2 rubs of the towel, however, they almost disappear. When dry, I have a wide-ish part in the middle, but that's about it. The difference between the dry and wet states is frankly puzzling to me. Knock on wood.

Good luck to you too, comrade. :wink:

 

[Deaner]

Yea, I get the same thing, but it's not bad at all. On most occassions, even with just 1.5-2 inch long hair, it takes minutes of drying before the white lines are even visible. So I dunno, perhaps we ARE at the same point in hairloss? Either way, it sucks, and I'm not ready to lose it.

Take care.

 

[Jaygee]

"it takes minutes of drying before the white lines are even visible"

Did you mean to type "invisible"? If not, you might have misunderstood what I meant by "white lines". I meant that when it's wet, the hair clings together and shows white scalp in what I guess you could call "lightening bolt" patterns.

You actually have to work to pull your hair out, and only lose something like 30 per shower, y' say? I lose anywhere from 70-150 per shower, and who knows how many more during the day. The fact that I still have full coverage after 2.5 years of this must mean that I have very short resting phases(?)

 

[Deaner]

No, I meant visible. When my hair is totally wet, I get entirely 100% coverage. Once it starts to dry is when it clings more, and then white lines start to emerge, albeit not horribly. My hair's really short right now, so the likelihood of it happening is increased over what my hair was a few days ago. I had about 2 inch long hair a few days ago, and the white lines wouldn't even emerge. But I know exactly what you're talking about, and meant to type visible.

Oh, and yes. I just showered and didn't notice any loss at all on my hands. Ran my hands through my wet hair after the shower to puff 'er up a bit, and got maybe 2 or 3. Combing is the same deal, if I try to comb my hair I lose maybe 3 or 4, sometimes none? What I don't understand is why most people report fairly large loss numbers associated with their thinning, yet my loss appears (at least to me) to be even below average. What gives? :?