Hi all,
I'm new to the boards, but I've been lurking for months. At the risk of this post becoming a borderline 'story', my situation is basically this: I'm 26 and as of about 2 years ago I was told by a hair-dresser that I was thinning out a bit on top. This was after I had grown my hair out longer on a whim and styled it forward, because at the time I thought it looked better. What I didn't realize was that the slight thinning was what allowed me to style it this way in the first place; To explain, my natural hair is very much like Kiel's in that it is extremely dense. I never grew my hair out very long in the past, because I'd end up with this massive Jew-Fro if I let it go for too long (friends and family called it that, despite me being mostly Irish, still I found it funny).
I've just started a regimen of Xandrox 5% 2 times per day and started taking pictures back in December of last year. Prior to this, I tried finasteride .25 mg EOD for about 2 weeks and got serious side effects (unbelievable, right?). So I'm trying my chances with just minoxidil. Digging through some pictures I took of my hair about a year ago, I've noticed that it's changed very little in this amount of time if at all. I'm what you might call a NW1 (if I wear my hair back, it looks like I have a slightly matured hairline), and I've got what appears to be generalized thinning. What's odd is that the "thinning" seems to be more that I have fewer hairs on top of my head than before, rather than it being individual strands that are getting thinner (although there are some).
I shed maybe 10-20 hairs on average per day (though I've had a couple days since starting Xandrox where I noticed more like 40) and they are of varying thickness; some really thick, some pretty wispy. Note: In the past year I've been using Nizoral 1 and 2 percent, but around the same time I started Xandrox, I stopped it because I found that using only conditioner in my hair makes it look much better and reduces the amount of oil my scalp produces immensely. After reading about Laureth Sulfate, I'm really adverse to using Nizoral, though I'll admit that with my dandruff problems it may become necessary again. When I was shampooing, I was forced to wash my hair every other day because of how greasy it would get.
Anyway, my question is: would a purely Xandrox regimen probably good enough for now? I understand it's best to start with one item and then work your way up, documenting changes along the way. It seems that my hair loss is slow as well. I bought some 5% spironolactone cream, but that stuff smells truly awful. I mean, I've been told I have a decent sense of smell, but I don't know how anyone could not notice it. I used it for a couple days but decided against it for now. Does anyone know of a less smelly version of 5% (like the s5 cream on this site)?
In closing, I know that nobody here can really tell me with 100% accuracy what will or won't work for me. I also know that without pictures, there's less of an ability to tell what stage I'm at. I'm just looking for advice, because some of you guys have been at this for years. All I can say is that my hair loss seems to be at a very infant stage but may very well accelerate in the future. I'll also say that judging by some of the reactions to other member's pictures, I'm willing to bet that 95% of this board would say, "What? Where's your hair loss?" if I showed mine. In truth, I've been to a couple of doctors (one was even a derm, but I went for a problem I had with dandruff) to ask them about my hair loss and they've both reported that they see no problems. I still say it's subtle, but existent.
Essay over. Thanks for reading.
Edit: Sorry, one more thing; Family history. My dad is bald (Norwood 5 maybe and he's in his 50s, but I saw a pic of him from when he was 27 and he was a NW2ish or even 3 and in much worse shape than I am currently), his two brothers (also 50s) have their hair still. My mother's grandfather has had an awesome head of hair (think Clint Eastwood; my hair is similar to my mom's/grandfathers in terms of density) all the way up through his 70s. He's in his mid 80s right now and has a bald spot in the back + quite mature hairline, but still has some awesome thick hairs in the middle of his crown and on the back, etc and I assume his loss at this point is due to his age.
I'm new to the boards, but I've been lurking for months. At the risk of this post becoming a borderline 'story', my situation is basically this: I'm 26 and as of about 2 years ago I was told by a hair-dresser that I was thinning out a bit on top. This was after I had grown my hair out longer on a whim and styled it forward, because at the time I thought it looked better. What I didn't realize was that the slight thinning was what allowed me to style it this way in the first place; To explain, my natural hair is very much like Kiel's in that it is extremely dense. I never grew my hair out very long in the past, because I'd end up with this massive Jew-Fro if I let it go for too long (friends and family called it that, despite me being mostly Irish, still I found it funny).
I've just started a regimen of Xandrox 5% 2 times per day and started taking pictures back in December of last year. Prior to this, I tried finasteride .25 mg EOD for about 2 weeks and got serious side effects (unbelievable, right?). So I'm trying my chances with just minoxidil. Digging through some pictures I took of my hair about a year ago, I've noticed that it's changed very little in this amount of time if at all. I'm what you might call a NW1 (if I wear my hair back, it looks like I have a slightly matured hairline), and I've got what appears to be generalized thinning. What's odd is that the "thinning" seems to be more that I have fewer hairs on top of my head than before, rather than it being individual strands that are getting thinner (although there are some).
I shed maybe 10-20 hairs on average per day (though I've had a couple days since starting Xandrox where I noticed more like 40) and they are of varying thickness; some really thick, some pretty wispy. Note: In the past year I've been using Nizoral 1 and 2 percent, but around the same time I started Xandrox, I stopped it because I found that using only conditioner in my hair makes it look much better and reduces the amount of oil my scalp produces immensely. After reading about Laureth Sulfate, I'm really adverse to using Nizoral, though I'll admit that with my dandruff problems it may become necessary again. When I was shampooing, I was forced to wash my hair every other day because of how greasy it would get.
Anyway, my question is: would a purely Xandrox regimen probably good enough for now? I understand it's best to start with one item and then work your way up, documenting changes along the way. It seems that my hair loss is slow as well. I bought some 5% spironolactone cream, but that stuff smells truly awful. I mean, I've been told I have a decent sense of smell, but I don't know how anyone could not notice it. I used it for a couple days but decided against it for now. Does anyone know of a less smelly version of 5% (like the s5 cream on this site)?
In closing, I know that nobody here can really tell me with 100% accuracy what will or won't work for me. I also know that without pictures, there's less of an ability to tell what stage I'm at. I'm just looking for advice, because some of you guys have been at this for years. All I can say is that my hair loss seems to be at a very infant stage but may very well accelerate in the future. I'll also say that judging by some of the reactions to other member's pictures, I'm willing to bet that 95% of this board would say, "What? Where's your hair loss?" if I showed mine. In truth, I've been to a couple of doctors (one was even a derm, but I went for a problem I had with dandruff) to ask them about my hair loss and they've both reported that they see no problems. I still say it's subtle, but existent.
Essay over. Thanks for reading.
Edit: Sorry, one more thing; Family history. My dad is bald (Norwood 5 maybe and he's in his 50s, but I saw a pic of him from when he was 27 and he was a NW2ish or even 3 and in much worse shape than I am currently), his two brothers (also 50s) have their hair still. My mother's grandfather has had an awesome head of hair (think Clint Eastwood; my hair is similar to my mom's/grandfathers in terms of density) all the way up through his 70s. He's in his mid 80s right now and has a bald spot in the back + quite mature hairline, but still has some awesome thick hairs in the middle of his crown and on the back, etc and I assume his loss at this point is due to his age.