Ok I've decided it's time to do something!!! (Pics included)

[Chodo]

Hi guys. I've been looking through these boards for quite a while now and decided it was time to post. I'm 27 years old and have never noticed any problems with my hair but recently it seems to have gotten a lot thinner very rapidly . I started noticing hair all around the sink and in the shower and the hair on my head seems thin and lifeless. This all has happened within the last couple months. It seems to be thinning out everywhere but that i really noticed it on top. I'm wondering if this is all stress induced or if i do have male pattern baldness. I had a bad breakup about 6 months ago and lately i've been super stressed and depressed about losing all this hair. (It seems like a never ending cycle, losing hair because you're stressed and stressed cause you're losing hair.) I've attached some pictures so you guys can see for yourselves

Dry (Top left pic is one month ago. Do you see any difference?)

Wet

I'd love to be able to just shave my head and be done with it but I have a large scar at the front of my head just behind my hairline that you can see here:

And here's my hair about 4 years ago so I don't think my hairline has moved much (My father's head is on the right. He's 63):

So what do you guys think? I've decided it's time to go to the doctor either way to get checked out. Do you think it's best to go to a general physician first or to a dermatologist first? I'm really hoping this is all in my head but I don't really know how to fix it. All I can think about is my uncle who had diabetes and ended up with total alopecia (no eyebrows or body hair at all!!!) Also what would you recommend to try to get rid of this constant stress and nervousness about this whole situation? Any pills or anything? (I already work out 3-4 times a week and take a multivitamin.)

I would really appreciate any feedback you guys could give, even if it is just some encouraging words. Hopefully you don't hate me as one of those people with plenty of hair bitching over nothing Thanks a lot guys!

 

[GonnaBeatHairLoss]

Hey brother. Haha no I won't bash on you for having lots of hair.
It's a good thing that you happened to do something about it quickly, because if you do in fact have male pattern baldness, you still have a lot of good quality hair that you can maintain & possibly grow more.

I do see a slight trail of thin spots down the middle of your head but that could be where your hair splits, everyone has that.

Do you have any history of male pattern baldness on either side of your family?

I wish you the best of luck! I'd suggest you go seek a good dermatologist that has experience with hairloss patients because some of them don't know ****.

 

[s.a.f]

Have you asked your father if his hair thinned out at your age?

 

[Chodo]

My father doesn't really remember. I guess he never really worried about it like I am. The main reason I'm worried is cause of that stupid scar. Otherwise I probably wouldn't care as much. And yeah all my uncles are bald. My grandfathers were too but I'm not sure how early their's started. But my dad's doing real good for his age so who knows?

I'm going in next tuesday to get a physical and get tested for other stuff that could cause hairloss like diabetes which evidently runs in my family. I'll probably see if I can get a perscription for propecia, start taking it, and then take some more pictures in a few months. If there's no change or it gets better I'll probably chalk it up to stress and quit the propecia cause that takes about a year to notice right? But we'll see. Also bought some nizoral today too cause my scalps been itching but that could just be cause I'm constantly doing pull tests on it while i'm at work. I'm starting to feel better now that I've become proactive about it (plus i'm animating a character doing the Carlton dance!!! How can you be upset doing when you're doing that?). I was just wondering if any of you noticed anything that would suggest male pattern baldness in the pictures.

And I took some pictures of my hairline. What do you think?

Thanks again guys. Just talking about it is helping me feel tons better.

 

[Jack82]

It looks like the begining of male pattern baldness, but it seems to follow your dad's pattern. You may not recede more for many years but you can't be sure.

If you wanna keep your hair i think you should give propecia a try before it gets much worse. You have a good chance to maintain and probably regrow some hair.

good luck

 

[Chodo]

Yeah I've been thinking about taking it just for the piece of mind if nothing else. If I can just keep the hair I have i'd be happy as a clam. Just to check propecia costs about $50 a month right? and does anyone know when the patent is up and the generics hit the market?

 

[Webster]

The patent is expired, you can get Finepecia much cheaper than $50 per month.

 

[beaner]

Yeah I've been thinking about taking it just for the piece of mind if nothing else. If I can just keep the hair I have i'd be happy as a clam. Just to check propecia costs about $50 a month right? and does anyone know when the patent is up and the generics hit the market?

The patent for Propecia (1mg) doesn't expire until 2011 I think, but the patent expired on 5mg Proscar last June and generics are available in local drug stores. 30 pills (4-5month supply) can be had for about 70 bucks. The generic 1mg (Finpecia, Finax etc.) made in India, while totally legitimate, is a violation of US patent laws (India doesn't treat US patent laws the same) and won't be found in U.S. pharmacies, but can be found online.

 

[Curly2bald]

Very interesting info^^thanks!!

 

[Chodo]

Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate the info. I thought I saw a graph somewhere showing how effective taking a half pill or a pill every other day would be but I can't find it again. Does anyone have any opinions on that? I'm thinking of taking either a half pill of propecia daily or 1/4 proscar ever other.

 

[RaginDemon]

I don't know if you have male pattern baldness from that pic...if you do, your at the very early stage, taking finasteride will most likely maintain it for many years to come.

 

[Chodo]

Well it's decision time I guess. I went to the doctor today and he gave me a perscription to proscar (90 pills and 3 refills which is an absolute shitload in my opinion) Now I've just got to decide if I'm going to start down this path or not. This seems like it's a pretty big decision to me. It's either I start and take this stuff for the next however many years or I wait and see if my hair sticks around on it's own. I'm also not even convinced that I have male pattern baldness!

But it's not like taking proscar could make it worse right? I've heard about shedding and whatnot but I think I've got good enough coverage I may not even notice even if I do shed. This just seems like a big hurdle I'm facing. Anyone else had this problem or have any advice?

 

[Chodo]

Also I wanted to ask..... What's the reason you're only supposed to use Nizoral shampoo every few days instead of every day?

 

[RaginDemon]

Also I wanted to ask..... What's the reason you're only supposed to use Nizoral shampoo every few days instead of every day?

nizoral can last up to 72 hrs if you let it stay for 3-4 mins on your head

 

[Chodo]

Alright so I just popped my first piece of proscar. Gonna start on 1/4 pill every other day for the first month or two just to see if I get side effects or whatnot. I'm gonna try not think about it as much from now on and not visit hairloss sites either. But I'll be sure to come back after a while and update you guys on the progress. So bye for now! And thanks a ton everyone!