Lessofarockstar's story

[Lessofarockstar]

Ok... so this is my story. I have been reading on this forum for a while, and I guess I should introduce myself.

I first noticed my hair thining when I was about 20, I am 24 today. At first I didn't do much about it. I just cut my hair shorter and shorter, and it kept looking good. Nobody ever noticed anything. And I didn't really think about it.
I don't know exactly when but I am guessing about 1.5 year ago I was getting worried about my hairline and to some extent about my vertex. My dad's hair is very thin with a lot of recession and a bald spot on his crown. I think I have the same kind of pattern.. So I started applying minoxidil 5 % twice daily but I can't say that it has done much for me.
About 8 months ago I started buzzing my hair all the way down to a no 2 guard, and I forgot about hairloss again. It looked good and I stopped worrying about it. (still using minoxidil though).

Around X-mas 05 I suddenly started thinking about it again. Ok not thinking, - more like obsessing about it!!! :shock: I guess it was triggered by some problems I had with my girlfriend. And the outlook of being single again after 5 years made me a lot more self conscious.
So mid January of this year I decided to do something about it. I supplemented my minoxidil regimen with proscar 1/5s and American crew revitalize system (copper peptides and shampoo) + nizoral 1 %.

BUT! :freaked:
The finasteride gave me this crazy testicular ache after only a few days. And my whole groin area just felt terrible. I tried ignoring it at first but when it didnt go away within the first week I chickened out and got off the finasteride. I know I should have stuck with it after reading on these forums, but I freaked out and decided not to.

Now I have decided to give it another go. I just got a new batch of finasteride yesterday and I will start it as soon as I build up my nerve to do so. But this time I am going to try a different approach. I am going to go with just 0.25 mg of finasteride. I have explained why in this thread:

http://www.gourmetstylewellness.com/discussions ... hp?t=25032

I just hope the nut ache won't be too bad or last for too long this time.

So my future regimen will be like this:
minoxidil 5 % twice daily (since appr. nov 04)
Copper peptides twice daily (since jan 06)
Nizoral 1 % shampoo three times a week (since jan 06)
American crew revitalize shampoo 2-3 times/week (since jan 06)
0.25 mg finasteride every day. (Starting this week?)

How does this sound? I guess I am about an NW2 (that's what my avatar says anyway.) I can't really figure out how much of it that is in my head, and how much that is actually missing on top of my head :wink: . - I will try to post some photos soon.

Ok that's it for now. Any input or advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Lessofarockstar

 

[Lessofarockstar]

March 24th
First day on finasteride. So a good day to upload photos I guess.

Front: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g208/ ... 5aed0d.jpg

Left side: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g208/ ... b4e230.jpg

Right side: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g208/ ... 8ceb6d.jpg

Top: http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g208/ ... 010038.jpg

As you can see I have stopped keeping it super short, but I might just shave it off again sometime soon. Just not to be confronted with that ever growing forehead of mine in every mirror.
Btw don't you just hate flash photography? Really exposes thinning.

Ok guys, I will report back with my progress and post some new photos in about three months time.

Edit: Uploaded front photo

 

[Aplunk1]

I would kill to be able to style my hair like that-- too bad it's too thin to try. f***.

 

[Lessofarockstar]

Hey Andy, I just visited your website and your hair doesn't look much different from mine when it's cut short.
I guess one good thing about visiting a forum like this is that it put things in perspective. You can see how other people tend to percieve their own hair loss as really bad even thought others might not think so at all. And I'm pretty sure that you (like most of us)see it as a whole lot worse than it actually is.

So maybe these forums aren't just for causing panic attacks and placebo effects.

 

[Lessofarockstar]

First update. (i know it's still early)

So I am about 10 days into the propecia...
I can't say that I'm loving it so far. First few days I didn't feel a thing. - Maybe I felt horny. Or maybe I just wanted to prove to myself that everything was fine. So I was all about banging my girlfriend and wanking. (Sorry for being explicit). Oh, and the occasional achy nut, but nothing compared to the first time around.

Then around day 5 I suddenly felt that my boners were kinda soft. SH¤#&"!T!! And for the last five days I have to say that my libido has definetely been down like never before. Softer erections and kinda hard just to get it up. Damn it!! I really dont need this sh*t.

But for now I'm going to stick with finasteride, and see if it becomes better soon.
I'm def not ready to stop, so I'll give it a couple of weeks. If my libido isn't up I'll try supplementing with some L-arginine. If that doesnt work I'll probably get off finasteride. My dick is still more important than my hair. But I hope I won't have to make that choice.

See you around...

 

[powersam]

bro if you can manage to last the first month or so then the chances are the sides will disappear. for me the first month was a rollercoaster, horny for a week, then down for a week etc. After that first month everything seemed to level out back to normal. i have absolutely no problems libidowise now an the man is as hard as ever. its just the up an down of the first month that gets people i think, gotta not let it get into your head.

btw/ you seem to be developing a rash on the back of your neck.

 

[Lessofarockstar]

bro if you can manage to last the first month or so then the chances are the sides will disappear. for me the first month was a rollercoaster, horny for a week, then down for a week etc. After that first month everything seemed to level out back to normal. i have absolutely no problems libidowise now an the man is as hard as ever. its just the up an down of the first month that gets people i think, gotta not let it get into your head.

Yeah I'll try to ride it out. It's not all that bad, but it is pretty disturbing.

btw/ you seem to be developing a rash on the back of your neck

I noticed that the day I took the photo. But it's gone now... I think it was just some marks from shaving or some acne'ish... So no big deal. But thanks for looking out.[/quote]

 

[Lessofarockstar]

Depressing update

So... I am about three weeks into my finasteride.
Just 5 days ago I was really happy about it. My libido seemed to be on the rise and I was feeling really good about combating my hairloss. But then about 3 or four days ago I woke up and my one nipple was itchy as hell. At first I ignored it thinking that it was something with a t-shirt I wore or something. But I haven't worn anything or done anything to irritate the skin on my chest. And now it is no longer unilateral. Both sides of my chest seem to be irritated, itchy and sore.
f*****g GREAT!! Gyno symptoms. I am so depressed about this sh*t. And I don't know what to do. One thing is for sure though: I'll take a balding head over gyno any day of the week.
f*** sh*t *** b**ch!!!!!!
I am sorry for all the whining but I really need to let some steam out.
At this point I think I should get off the finasteride. Apparently I am not tolerating it very well. But should I tapper off? Or get off it cold turkey?
I wish there was a way I could stay on without getting freaking gyno and without having to take even more hormonealtering drugs.
Son of a b**ch!!!!
Sorry for the bitching thread guys, and thanks for reading my crappy story :x

 

[Don'tWantToBeBald..]

Mate.. ever since doing roids, I have these lumps(oestrogen) in my nipples. They seem static.. so i haven't given them much thought, got used to them, they haven't given me breasts, but i do workout, so maybe the pectoral muscle helps. But, The only way to treat gyno after it's reached a certain stage, is surgery. And apparently its not too intrusive.
Just see the docs, let them see what condition you are in.

I have so many things on my list of things to sort out(health related), some of them are incredibly draining, but they belittle one another, as usually it takes just one of these to get someone madly depressed.

Good Luck mate.

 

[Lessofarockstar]

Mate.. ever since doing roids, I have these lumps(oestrogen) in my nipples. They seem static.. so i haven't given them much thought, got used to them, they haven't given me breasts, but i do workout, so maybe the pectoral muscle helps. But, The only way to treat gyno after it's reached a certain stage, is surgery. And apparently its not too intrusive.
Just see the docs, let them see what condition you are in.

I have so many things on my list of things to sort out(health related), some of them are incredibly draining, but they belittle one another, as usually it takes just one of these to get someone madly depressed.

Good Luck mate.

Thanks man.
Yeah I hate to see all the hard work I have put in at the gym the last 5-7 years be messed up by a nice rack of man boobs caused by freakin finasteride. I just hope it'll stop growing now that I'm off finasteride. It can chill in there for all i care as long as it doesn't show. :wink:

 

[powersam]

dude i'm pretty sure that gyno cant develop in 3 weeks, not at any level. you've probably stopped finasteride for no reason at all. alot of people feel general itchiness etc but that most definately does not mean gyno will develop. theres a lot of info on this board about the warning signs of gyno and how long it will take to show up, have a look around

 

[Lessofarockstar]

dude i'm pretty sure that gyno cant develop in 3 weeks, not at any level. you've probably stopped finasteride for no reason at all. alot of people feel general itchiness etc but that most definately does not mean gyno will develop. theres a lot of info on this board about the warning signs of gyno and how long it will take to show up, have a look around

Man I am sure you are trying to help me here, so thanks but trust me... there is no doubt anymore. It's not just an itch anymore. It started like that and I was trying to ignore it, but let's just say that the symptoms got somewhat worse this last week. And by all means, I HAVE had a look around. Here and everywhere else.
And try asking bodybuilders who do roids how fast gyno can develop. :shock: That's why most of them keep anti-E's at hand while on a cycle because you need to kill it dead in it's tracks before it develops. And the effect on estrogen/estradiol from finasteride isn't that much different from some muscle drugs.

I know that quitting finasteride before a year has passed is pretty much frowned upon, but if the choice is between b**ch tits and a bald head, there really isnt anything to discuss.
Of course I am not saying that I have a big rack already. But something is way wrong. Anyway it doesnt take a full set of double DD's to make it look weird.

It does suck having to quit finasteride however, cause i had a lot of faith in it, but in my case it is just not worth it.
Right now my main priority is to get my body back in balance. and as soon as that resolves I will look back into saving my hair from f*****g DHT and male pattern baldness.
Take it easy

 

[powersam]

well its your body and you'd know best. damn shame that you had to stop finasteride, but if i thought i was getting gyno i'd probably stop also. maybe give the spironolactone+revivogen combo a go, no systemic sides with that. or even fluridil maybe

 

[Lessofarockstar]

Son of a b**ch. I saw my doctor today and he confirmed that there was gyno behind my nipples.
And the worst thing is that the itching, soreness and so on is still going on. I wish it would just stop. If this thing continues I'll end up needing surgery to correct it. f*****g finasteride!!!! Damn you to hell

My Doctor however said that normally drug-induced gyno resolves after discontinuation of the mofo culprit.
Has anybody experienced that after discontinuing finasteride?

 

[hairhaircomeagain]

Dude, I feel sorry for you and sorry for me too. Everyday I stop being a pussy and plan to order finasteride I read about a case like yours. I have seen quite a few instances where people have developed Gyno or lost libido but all of them came back strong after stopping the sh*t. Anyways, I dont know If I wanna get on finasteride. I am trying some natruals although there is no sayin that natruals are absolutely harmless. BTW, I am pretty sure your gyno is gonna disappear. So dont worry about that.

Now as I look at your pic, Dude dosent look bad. And surely not bad enough to dvevlop Gyno

 

[Lessofarockstar]

Dude, I feel sorry for you and sorry for me too. Everyday I stop being a pussy and plan to order finasteride I read about a case like yours. I have seen quite a few instances where people have developed Gyno or lost libido but all of them came back strong after stopping the $#iT. Anyways, I dont know If I wanna get on finasteride. I am trying some natruals although there is no sayin that natruals are absolutely harmless. BTW, I am pretty sure your gyno is gonna disappear. So dont worry about that.

Now as I look at your pic, Dude dosent look bad. And surely not bad enough to dvevlop Gyno

Thanks man, i appreciate the support.
I don't want my story however to make you fear finasteride. Obviously I cannot recommend it personally, but as everybody says it is your best bet to keep your hair.
Less

 

[powersam]

it just came on so fast, are there any other parts to this equation? other medications etc?

really bad luck bout the gyno, lucky you didnt listen to me

 

[Lessofarockstar]

no no other medications at all.
Sucks.
It is a week ago that I took my last finasteride. And my chest is still all wacked out and feels awful. It's kind of a burning dull pain...

 

[Lessofarockstar]

Update:
My gyno symptoms seem to be getting better. I havent felt much pain or itching the last couple of days. I didn't get the nolvadex (i should get it monday), and I dont know if i want to use it now. I did develop a little bit of gyno but I think it is only visible to myself. And i can feel it (as could my doctor), but I dont think I want to mess anymore with my hormones.

I am going to replace finasteride with topical spironolactone which I am starting today. I got both the 2 and the 5 %. I dont know exactly how I am going to use it. I guess the 2% smells a little bit too weird to use during the day.
So I am thinking that my regimen will look like this for now:

AM:
minoxidil 5%
spironolactone 5% on temples/hairline
Flax lignans
MSM


During the day
Copper peptides

PM:
minoxidil 5 %
spironolactone 5% temples/hairline
spironolactone 2 % crown


I hope this will yield some results. I am so pissed that i couldnt tolerate finasteride, but still i am happy that the gyno and discomfort seem to be on retreat.
Hmmm, maybe I should buzz my hair short to make thise topical monster a little easier to handle...
I'll post new photos if I do, as it will be easier to track progress with a buzz cut.


Later guys.