What should I do about my hairloss? (pics)

[Christoff]

Hey guys I just found this forum and I thought I'd make a post. I've had a bad receeding hairline for as long as I can remember. It just gets worse and worse over the years. I had long hair from 16-18 so it didn't matter. Now that it has to be short it's more noticeable. I've been using morroco method shampoos (http://www.morrocomethod.com) which seem to have a high rep but I haven't had much of an improvement yet. I wouldn't say my hair is thinning, just merely receding. I'm 19 now and it's definitely hard to deal with. I try to brush at least a couple of times a day as well (head down, brush from back of scalp to front, then head up and front to back)

I've been reading a bit and it seems that propecia is obviously an option, but should someone my age already be taking things like that to rely on hair growth? Thanks!

 

[Steve4263]

Sooner is better than later to get on Propecia. See a dermatologist first. Some minoxidil for the top of your head and nizoral shampoo to keep that minoxidil itch at bay.

 

[Christoff]

I'm just getting into this so I'm new to all these methods/pills. How much is propecia? Is it covered by health insurance? What's all this I'm reading about proscar? I'm switching my health insurance from my moms coverage to mine from my job so I'll have to wait a little bit until that all goes through.

 

[Goingat20]

each country is different with health insurance laws. But im guessing that it wont be covered, so search for it and buy it online, look into prosca then splitting it into 4ths. Also look into generic brands as they are much cheaper.
Good luck

 

[Christoff]

Where and how does one get prosca?

 

[valenta9]

about hair loss treatment:
http://www.2-hairloss.com/hair-loss-treatment.html

 

[EnjoyLife]

> I've been reading a bit and it seems that propecia is obviously an option, but should someone my age already be taking things like that to rely on hair growth? Thanks!

Before you take propecia, you may want to check out propeciasideeffects.com.

 

[techprof]

ignore enjoylife
sideeffects are very rare (less than 2%) and not significant most of the times.

 

[googler]

I'm 21 years old, I started propecia when I was 19, I have been on it 16 months now. I admit it was a big decision at the time. Maybe you should read enjoylifes link to have all the facts about it, side effects with propecia are rare but they can happen but will stop once you stop taking it. Men have been taking propecia for years (for prostate cancer at higher doses) so its not as if doctors know nothing about long term effects of the drug.

When I started to take it, my sex drive really went up for the first 6 weeks then returned to normal. I've experienced no side effects while on it, except my semen can be a little watery now and again. In my opinion you should start taking propecia (or a cheaper generic brand) to save your hair. But remember just because you've lost some hair it doesnt mean you are going to be completely bald, some guys hairloss stabilizes and they dont lose it for decades, your father, older brothers hair can be an a good indication.

Ask as many questions here before you start, it is the best hairloss site on the net.

 

[Christoff]

Thanks guys.

I'm considering propecia. Where and how does one attain it? How much?

 

[Guest]

drugstore.com. I pay $311 for 6 months supply. Prescription required.

 

[Christoff]

Anymore input? thanks!

 

[Goingat20]

unitedpharmacy.com

 

[goodtimeben]

To your health

Avoid taking Propeica at all costs. Are you kidding me? Taking a pill internally to screw with your hormones!? Even the people who make it don't really know how it works or what it damages. Plus you are so young my friend. Shave your head and see how it looks.

 

[Christoff]

Bump from the past. Hairs not getting much better. I'm scared of proscar and the likes and screwing up my hormones at 20. Minoxidil seems to be intended for crown balding...

Although I think proscar is the only thing that might help. Considering Finasteride 1mg/day

 

[bubka]

Re: To your health

Avoid taking Propeica at all costs. Are you kidding me? Taking a pill internally to screw with your hormones!? Even the people who make it don't really know how it works or what it damages. Plus you are so young my friend. Shave your head and see how it looks.

what are you even talking about? Finasteride has one of the best drug safety profiles of any drug out there, not to mention it's been used in the US for over 15 years... no drug interactions and very low sides... please, take your BS elsewhere, this is for scientific help, not supernatural BS beliefs

 

[shh5455]

I ordered fincar from http://www.inhousepharmacy.com. They are reputable and lots of people get their finasteride from them. It's generic finasteride but just as good. I'm 28 and have been in 1.25mg of fincar daily since 4/22/06. No side effects.

 

[TAINTED-MEAT]

I'm 20 and have been on propecia (Finasteride) for almost two months. I have had no side effects. Rarely do people experience side effects. Talk to you're derm, and come up with a plan.

 

[CCS]

treatment info for newbies

christoff,

sorry these guys did not give you more help. let me explain.

Finasteride (the active ingredient of propecia and proscar) is supposed to be by prescription only, but many web sites sell it without a prescription. The drug is one of the safest drugs there is, and is even safer than asprin. you do not need to see a derm to figure out if you have Male Pattern Baldness. i can tell from looking at your pictures that your hair is a norwood 2 and you definitely have male pattern baldness. Insurance will let you see a doctor with just a co-pay so you can get a prescription and by from a normal pharmacy, or you can skip the prescription and buy online with only a small risk that the pills will be fake sugar pills. Just browse around this sight to find out which sound the most reliable. Beaner is a good person to ask. Proscar is made by merk, the same company that makes propecia, and is the same drug but at 5mg instead of 1mg. Dose dose not matter a lot with finasteride. 0.2 mg grows 83% as much hair as 1mg/day, which regrows 82% as much hair as 5mg, though 1mg has side effects in only 2% of men, the same as placebo. Most side effects are mild and all go away shortly after stopping taking the drug, and most go away within 2 months of staying on the drug with them. Propecia in a normal pharmacy is normally $60 per 30 pills, and proscar is $90 per 30 pills. Buy the proscar and a pill cutter and cut the proscar in 4ths. It is OK to miss a few days. IF you buy online sites that don't require a prescription, you pay 50% as much.

Unscrupulous hair transplant doctors and pitter people who get side affects from propecia and are loosing their hair will make up all kinds of stories about the side effects to scare you away from it.

Rogaine works everywhere you apply it, including the hair line. They just can't advertise this because they only tested the back of the scalp. Generic minoxidil is the exact same thing as rogaine and can be bought for $6 per month at walmart, or go to minoxidildirect.com if there is no walmart near by. Get the 5%. No prescription is required.

There is a big myth that these treatments make your hair dependent. Even senior posters believe the myth. They are wrong. Do a user search and read my most recent posts to find out why they are wrong.

Nizoral 1% shampoo not only gets rid of irritation from minoxidil that some people have, but it also weakly competes with DHT for androgen receptors, protecting your follicles somewhat. It is just as strong as 2% nizoral shampoo for fighting hair loss, and by itself is as strong as 2% minoxidil, but the benifits are aditional. it is $15 for 7 oz. use it 2-3 times per week.

Copper peptides and SOD's are helpful too, at least as much as minoxidil. read about them at drproctor.com under the information sections. you can buy them at many websites. A month supply is typically $25, but you can use half the dose and stretch it out.

Finally, spironolactone cream is a strong androgen receptor blocker and is good for your hairline. It won't do a lot by itself, and is messy and best used at night. It is $20 for the 2% and $30 for the 5%, usually. Combined with the other treatments, you can probably grow some fuzz below your hairline if you lost that hair in the last year or two.

there are also many scams like second chance, avacore, nisim, and many shampoos that don't grow hair. Many contain some minoxidil so they can say they are FDA approved.

read my posts (not the advanced stuff on topicals, though) and educate yourself a little about DHT. there are many misunderstandings even amoung educated people, so take it all with a grain of salt.

If you like this advice, show your gratitude by copying and pasting this in response to 10 other newbies who join and asked the same questions you did, as I am sure they did not get there questions answered by most people here.

 

[CCS]

one reason to see a Doctor

one in a million people have a genetic condition where either their thyroid or liver is not working right and the need to metabolize finasteride can be too much of a burden and give them problems. usually these problems develop in over 6 months. doctors usually like to do a blood test after 4 or 6 months on the drug to see if everything is ok. if it is, you don't need the test again.

finasteride looks like teststosterone, but has a few chemical groups on it that make it hormonally inert so that it does not interfer with your body. it is metabolised in the liver just like testosterone and DHT are. DHT is just testosterone with an extra hydrogen on it. an enzyme in your follicles (and many other parts of the body) grabs testosterone out of the blood supply and turns it to DHT, which is much more potent than testosterone for hair loss. some DHT leaks out of the cell into the blood and makes "serum DHT." the vast majority of DHT that damages the follicle is made by the follicle, and does not come from the leaks elsewhere in the body. finasteride looks like testosterone, but does not bind to the androgen receptor, and instead gets stuck in the enzyme 5ar2. normally the enzyme changes one testosterone molecule after another, but finasteride gets stuck in it and stops it, and the two stuck together go off to the liver to be metabolised. It take a few days for the cell to make more 5ar2, and within hours the DHT leaks out of the cell and is metabolised by the liver. Since the testosterone was not turned in to DHT, the testosterone levels are now 3% higher than they would have been. the liver will metabolize all the finasteride in your body in just over a day.

you can take enough asprin to kill yourself, but you can't afford enough finasteride to kill yourself, and would have to eat many many bottles at once. side effects occure in people who can't handle low DHT levels. You have to take a lot of finasteride to inhibit a little more DHT, and could probably handle 20mg per day, though maybe 5% or 10% of people would get side effects at this dose. Even avodart, which reduces dht levels to 1/3 the level finasteride dose, has a low side effect profile.

study this graph closely.

http://a248.e.akamai.net/7/248/430/2006 ... _chart.gif

notice how the people who got on propecia and back off for a year and back on catch up with the people who were always on it, and the people who start a year late never catch up. And look at the people who are always on placebo. 277 hairs is half your hair density. I card people for alcohol regularly and see that the hair in the pictures does not match the hair on the heads. 6 months is enough time to loose half your hair when it really starts taking off. the younger you are, the more aggressive you hair loss will be. you have to work a lot harder than men who start loosing it in their 30's. The reason men gain hair in the first year is all the hairs that can survive at the reduced DHT levels start to thrive, when they were smaller. The reason hair loss continues after 2 years is genetics keeps making your hair more sensitive to DHT every year, progressively, and propecia only lowers DHT a fixed amount. Most people's genetics are not too bad, but if your's tells your hair to get really sensitive, you will depend on early treatment with minoxidil and spironolactone and nizoral and copper peptides and SODs. Just get the nizoral, minoxidil, and propecia for not, and research the others later. buy propecia online now to start early, and get a prescription later when you decide to. don't waste time. your hair is still thick.