what do you guys think?

[tempreced]

So I've been on finasteride and minoxidil for a little over 5 months and I think things look worse. I meant to post pictures a while ago but never got around to it so here are a couple. What do you guys think? Am I a non responder or is it normal to get worse before better.

I'm still losing a lot of hair, not sure if its a shed or not since it seems to be ongoing for quite sometime. But when I run my hands through my hair I'm losing a lot.

Anyway on to the pictures: (some are from 3 months in and others are from today, 5 months in)

3 months:

[attachment=6:lf3n520q]HPIM0151.JPG[/attachment:lf3n520q]

[attachment=5:lf3n520q]HPIM0152.JPG[/attachment:lf3n520q]

[attachment=4:lf3n520q]HPIM0155.JPG[/attachment:lf3n520q]

5 months:

[attachment=3:lf3n520q]1123111454.jpg[/attachment:lf3n520q]

[attachment=2:lf3n520q]1123111455.jpg[/attachment:lf3n520q]

[attachment=1:lf3n520q]1123111456.jpg[/attachment:lf3n520q]

[attachment=0:lf3n520q]1123111455a.jpg[/attachment:lf3n520q]


let me know what you think!

Thanks

 

[Receding89]

Honestly it doesnt look any worse to me man. I actually think it looks better, maybe thats because your first pics were from a poor angle that might have made it look worse than it actually was. From your first pics I thought your hairline was alot worse than mine but looking at recent pics, I think mines worse. Its normal to have some small hair in your hand if you run it through it all the time.
By the way how have you been on the finasteride side effects wise? Its the only thing stopping me from going on finasteride Im 21. Maybe add a multivitamin and pumpkin seed/saw palmetto or a combination of both.. They mightened be as powerful as the finasteride but they could help. Worth a try anyway, there not gona do you any harm and will be good for your skin and might thicken your hair. I got 260 pumpkin seed tabs for 15 euros on ebay.
Best of luck man!

 

[abovedagame]

it looks better to me

where those shorter hairs always there on the edges of your hairline? that may be regrowth

the lighting of the original set vs this new set is quite different so it makes it a little difficult to judge

i elect that you keep pushing forward with treatments

 

[tempreced]

Thanks for the replies!

The hair on the edges seems to be the hair that has thinned out and is where the hairline used to be. I don't think it's regrowth. They're short and thinner than the other hair.

I know the original pictures are pretty bad, sorry about that! But what about between month 3 and month 5? To me it looks like month 5 looks worse than month 3. Does this mean the meds aren't working, or they haven't kicked in yet?

Thanks again

 

[abovedagame]

again, hard to make a concrete assessment since lighting differs between the two sets of pics. 5 months is wayyy to early to judge final results, give it at least one full year because shedding should be expected throughout that first year. At the least, it looks like your at the least maintaining

 

[tempreced]

Thanks for all the replies!

what do you guys think for hairstyles at this point? Can I still keep it long up top or do I need to go buzzed? I'd prefer not to buzz yet, but looking for opinions as I need to get a haircut soon.

Thanks

 

[tempreced]

Ok, so about 6 months on finasteride and minoxidil and things look like they're getting worse still. I've had a constant shed that hasn't decreased the entire time I've been on these meds. Here are some pics:

[attachment=3:2hwbf4kb]1228110411.jpg[/attachment:2hwbf4kb]

[attachment=2:2hwbf4kb]1228110411a.jpg[/attachment:2hwbf4kb]

[attachment=1:2hwbf4kb]1228110412.jpg[/attachment:2hwbf4kb]

[attachment=0:2hwbf4kb]1228110412a.jpg[/attachment:2hwbf4kb]

I know that it takes some time to see results from these medications. But I was hoping it would have at least slowed down by now. These pictures seem a lot worse than the other ones that I have posted, and I seem to be losing it at a rapid rate. Am I possibly a non-responder?

Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[Tom1985]

Sorry dude but the reality is that meds just don't work for some people.

My advice would be to stay on them for at least a year anyways.

 

[UKguy84]

some people are lucky and grow a stupid ammount of hair back in 4 months.
now the rest of us, the 99% it's probs going to be a much slower process.
If you read anything about finasteride and min its that you can shed, its scary and your hair can look worse.
To me you've lost some of the miniturized hair, which had to fall out ANYWAY if you want new strong hairs to grow.

some people quit it at this stage, they see it like you do "i dont respond" i'm still losing hair.
if you dont give the drugs atleast a year then your shooting yourself in the foot.


for all you know all your missing hairs could be sat there resting, just waiting for that day when finasteride/min triggers them and they come back through. if you stop the treatmeant you'll remove that possiblilty.

just stay positive, take really close up pics of your hair every 2 weeks and zoom and compare etc and you'll see exactly whats going on.
CLOSE UPS ARE THE KEY, all your pics are at slighty different angles so its impossible to tell precisily for us whats happening.

also remember your not the only guy in this situation, look around on here you'll find other people 5-6 months into finasteride complaing of inneffectiveness.
then behold at the 12th month mark they are seeing good results.

 

[roseofthenorth]

Hat wearing causing baldness is an old wives tale mate. So if you want to wear a hat wear one as it will have no impact on your hair.

It is an old tale but I am convinced that somehow... something happens when one wears a cap or a hat. Just my opinion though.. and besides, it's better to be safe than... sorry.

 

[Dedge89]

Receeding hairline. Seems to be no diffuse balding across the top though so you're lucky in that sense. Like previously mentioned I'd recommend getting onto Min and finasteride. Minoxidil really helped my hairline in the first 6 months, it's not as good now as then but still better than baseline. Hope that helps dude.

 

[tempreced]

Thanks for the replies! Yea I'm planning on staying on the treatment for a little while longer. Hopefully something will begin happening in my favor. I'm just concerned because I seem to be losing it so fast. Month to Month just looks so much worse and I'd hoped that it would have at least been slowed down a bit.

Anyone have any stories where their hair got worse at month 6 and then turned around a couple months later? Just want to hear some hopeful stories.

Also I just finished my last bottle of liquid minoxidil. I bought some CVS brand the other day as it was cheaper. Will this be ok or could it cause a problem?

Thanks!

 

[tempreced]

bump, any opinions?

 

[tempreced]

I've also been on minocycline for a while. Would that have any affect on hair loss. Also I've finished 6 bottles of liquid rogaine. I have 3 more bottles of a cvs minodoxil brand. Should I take a break from minoxidil for a while or keep going with the cvs brand?

Thanks

 

[tempreced]

So my temple has continued to get worse. I stopeed Min after i finished the 6th bottle about 2-3 months ago, but I'm thinking of starting back up since I still have a couple bottles left. After I cut the finasteride in 4ths i keep them stored in a plastic bag. Would that cause them to lose their effectiveness, or am I most likely just a nonresponder to the treatment. I'm on my 9th month on the drug.

 

[DonaldAnderson]

if i were you and you're serious about fighting this, you might as well get on minoxidil and nizoral right now. i'm in the same boat youre in man, im 21 and hair looks about the same as you, maybe a little worse. I was on finasteride for a year and then i stopped cause i was poor but it definitely helped. A month will hardly make any difference, especially for how much you'll benefit after starting the big 3!

Ive gotten it cheap.Generic proscar. Most expensive part is the doctor making me visit him to write the script.

 

[Thom]

You may not be diffusely thinning but those types of receding hairlines tend to wrap around and create an island at the front of your hair. I would stick with it!

I was told not to pre-cut finasteride because the oxygen apparently gets into it and reduces the effectiveness. I pre-cut it last year and it seems to have had negative results.

 

[IrishFella]

So my temple has continued to get worse. I stopeed Min after i finished the 6th bottle about 2-3 months ago, but I'm thinking of starting back up since I still have a couple bottles left. After I cut the finasteride in 4ths i keep them stored in a plastic bag. Would that cause them to lose their effectiveness, or am I most likely just a nonresponder to the treatment. I'm on my 9th month on the drug.

I wouldn't take the risk, your cutting the pills and leaving them exposed to air and moisture, which could cause them to loose effectiveness, what your best off doing is, cut up a weeks worth of tablets, so 2 5mg tablets, then, store them in an air tight tablet container, you know the ones you get with anti-biotics and other medication, you have to push down on the cap to open them because they are sealed properly.

Something like this -

 

[tempreced]

Sorry, I meant that I only cut one finasteride pill into 4ths at a time then store it in a plastic bag. Would they lose effectiveness that fast? I'll try storing them in a bottle from now on. Thanks for the tip!

 

[deadlocks]

Really? You mean that's really true that it can lose effectiveness when cutted???