Really Disturbing Comment From Dr.Lee

[stax]

Hi guys, i was reading on the Dr. to Patient section on Hairloss Help and some of the Doctor's were saying that if you experience a early onset of male pattern baldness in your late teens or early 20's that you are at risk for the most aggressive type of hairloss and that hairloss treatments like Propecia wont work for you in most cases.

Well i e-mailed Dr.Lee and asked him what he thought about these comment and here's what he said:

Dr.Lee Said: I have no argument with the comments in blue. It is often the case that early onset of male pattern baldness is a good predictor of extensive hair loss later on. These patients often do not respond to hair loss medicines. Furthermore, it would be unwise to seek transplant surgery before the loss has had time to stabilize.
Richard Lee, M.D.


So can anybody here prove him wrong? Has any long time user of Propecia and minoxidil started losing their hair in their late teens early 20's, started using Propecia and or minoxidil, and are maintaing today successfully with these treatments? Please respond as im sure many people would like to hope this is not true. Thanks!

 

[stax]

Just posting the comments here that Dr.Lee was commenting on in the post above. These comments below were highlighted in blue when i e-mailed them to Dr.Lee and asked his opinion on them.

here is what "Dr. Robert True, MD" said: " The most important thing to talk about is: should you be doing transplants right now? Unfortunately, your hair loss started very early in life, in your teens. Because of this you are at risk to have the most aggressive and progressive form of male pattern baldness. While there may be exceptions, most men who start to lose their hair in their late teens go on to Class 6 or even 7 by the the time they hit thirty."

This is what "Dr.Bernstein " said: "Dear Steve,
It It depends upon the person’s age, how bald he is likely to become, and the donor supply. As a general rule, the crown should not be transplanted in a younger person (under 30) as the extent of his balding is hard to predict and crown thinning at this age often suggests that the person will become at least a Norwood 6. This is even more important, there is continued hair loss on finasteride (Propecia)."

 

[GeminiX]

Well this certainly was not true in my case.

My frontal balding and thining began when I was about 21 and by the time I was 23 my hair was to thin on the top/front for the "flat top" style I usually had.

By the time I hit 27 it was pretty much over, my hair had thinned and receded to the back of my crown and it then slowed down so that it was just the area already receded which continued to thin out.

I'll modify my diary pics to show some late 20's images.

D

 

[too bald too furious]

well i think Ropcat has been on Finasteride for 5 years and his hair is better than what it was before he started. I think he started at 21 or so and now he is 26.

PM him and ask.

 

[dbaser]

Please see my earlier posts on this subject, too. I started thinning a lot from age 21-24, then got a hair transplant (800 grafts) and started finasteride. I'm 29 now and I think my hair is about the same as 24, probably better, now that I'm taking folligen & minoxidil +lasercomb additionally. PM me with questions if you want...

 

[chewbaca]

f*****g doctors...Can t u see /..all these comments are under the pretect to sell some new product or treatment..

 

[Guest]

f*****g doctors...Can t u see /..all these comments are under the pretect to sell some new product or treatment..

Is that an e e cummings poem?

 

[ropcat]

well i think Ropcat has been on Finasteride for 5 years and his hair is better than what it was before he started. I think he started at 21 or so and now he is 26.

Yep, that's right. I maintained successfully for four years (ages 21-25) and am only slipping mildly in the eight months since the four-year mark. Pretty good stuff, this Finasteride! And by the way, I'm one of those rotten people who was having good results but didn't return all that much to report them. (From the one-year mark on finasteride to about the four-year mark, I was totally absent.) So all the people who do well on the stuff aren't necessarily here anymore to tell us about it.

 

[follijinxed]

My hair loss started when I was a freshman in high school. Unfortunately I have always had a high hairline and big forehead, Now, at 24, I'm a Norwood 1.5 - 2. The tip of my widow's peak is still where my original hairline was, though last summer I noticed my widow's peak area start to thin and could see my scalp barely under direct light for the first time.

Been using revivogen for last 8 months, haven't noticed it get any better or worse. Just added lasercomb and folligen last week and already it seems thicker. Got lots of baby hairs that have been there for months that I hope to convice to grow. Dont know if they were there before starting revivogen. They are at my hairline and about an inch long and clear. I hadn't noticed them before so maybe revivogen has something to do with that.

My dad said he had the same hair pattern as me. He's 50 and does the combover thing, so I don't know how bad his hairline really is. I think he is prolly about a 3.5. Certainly no thining in the crown area whatsoever. I didn't even realize he combed it over until I started paying attention to my own hairline.

My grandpa on my mom's side went to a Norwood 1000 before he hit age 30 I think.

Bottom line is that I'm hoping Dr. Lee is wrong.

 

[WindyCityHair]

man if what these doctors say is true, we're all screwed.

I don't think there's many people in this forum over the age of 35.

 

[WithTheLidOff]

whats so discouraging about that?? Of course someone whos only mildly losing their hair at the age of 30 + will have better results than a person who's losing their hair rapidly as an early teen. I started losing my hair in late high school, its not too much of a shock because i always knew i'd be bald. It just sucks to see. The medication slows it down considerably, and a person whos slowly losing their hair just benefits that much more. People can be balding, just not as bad...they were just dealt a better card. Certainly no reason to stop treatments. For what its worth I have shitty hair and started early and the treatments worked for me. I know they'll stop one day. but at the very least I will have tried SOMETHING when I could and I'll be that much older. Good luck

 

[BostonHawk]

my loss started when I was about 19. I've been on dr lees minoxidil and propecia for a while, and for the most part, the medications have slowed down the loss a lot. There's definately a little bit of regrowth, but the hairs are a bit thinner, so its probably the minoxidil working. Anyway, make sure you're not stressed out, because when I got less stressed, my hair definately became better. Best of luck!

 

[Hotlegs]

I know they'll stop one day

I know of no data that supports the idea that medications (specifically finasteride and minoxidil) will 'stop working'.

 

[venden]

Felt a need to respond. Became aware of losing my hair at age nineteen. At the time, there was nothing available to treat hairloss(yes, I'm well past 35) As a consequence pretty bald by age 27 Norwood 7 by age 30.

 

[WithTheLidOff]

what i meant by that is that these treatments are by no means permanent sollutions to hairloss, but can still have a possitive effect on people that lose their hair early, such as myself. Even before i started treatments..it was much easier to deal with the hairloss at a later age than as a high school kid. If anyone can get a few more years out of it...i say go for it.

 

[rapidfrontal]

I'm 34 and have been told I have Telogen Effluvium(temporary hairloss), but don't believe it, and if I am right than I am going to set the world record for going bald faster than anybody in history. I started taking finasteride 1.5 months ago and I guess it is too soon to see any positive results, which is good, because I don't see any positive results. I've lost at least half the hair on my head in just over 3 months and in 3 more, if nothing changes, I'll be clearly about to be bald to everybody that sees me. So this aggressive thing is not just reserved for those in the late teens and early 20's, you see.

 

[Fallout Boy]

yea this post is highly depressing if its true

 

[Baldie]

I started loosing my hair rapidly at the age 23-25..I'm now 30 and I just posted a post in the "Tell your story" section. Have a look at the post I made there

http://www.gourmetstylewellness.com/discussions ... hp?t=15644

...i think it speaks for itself....and i honestly didn't expect that result on just minoxidil.

 

[too bald too furious]

well i think Ropcat has been on Finasteride for 5 years and his hair is better than what it was before he started. I think he started at 21 or so and now he is 26.

Yep, that's right. I maintained successfully for four years (ages 21-25) and am only slipping mildly in the eight months since the four-year mark. Pretty good stuff, this Finasteride! And by the way, I'm one of those rotten people who was having good results but didn't return all that much to report them. (From the one-year mark on finasteride to about the four-year mark, I was totally absent.) So all the people who do well on the stuff aren't necessarily here anymore to tell us about it.

Hey Ropcat,

I have a question to ask.

When you say you maintained for 4 years...did the thickness of hair change?

I mean it must be thinning when u started finasteride. So for those 4 years did your hair get thick and u felt volume on top?

 

[gonna_win]

whats so discouraging about that?? Of course someone whos only mildly losing their hair at the age of 30 + will have better results than a person who's losing their hair rapidly as an early teen. I started losing my hair in late high school, its not too much of a shock because i always knew i'd be bald. It just sucks to see. The medication slows it down considerably, and a person whos slowly losing their hair just benefits that much more. People can be balding, just not as bad...they were just dealt a better card. Certainly no reason to stop treatments. For what its worth I have shitty hair and started early and the treatments worked for me. I know they'll stop one day. but at the very least I will have tried SOMETHING when I could and I'll be that much older. Good luck

I agree, furthermore the big 3 is not a cure for hairloss it only delay's its onset. You have 20years delay at best. Let's hope they invent a cure by then. Otherwise invent the cure yourself!