The Struggler
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I'm probably the most shallow person alive...
I'm only 20 years of age. My hair started thinning about two years ago and has since gone from a full head of hair to, well, it does not look good. It looks like I have a lot of hair if the lights are dim enough but if they are bright I'm screwed. I suspect it's male pattern baldness, even though not a single male in my family has had/has male pattern baldness for atleast two generations now (not my father, not my brother, not my uncle, all of them have no hair loss, well, maybe the usual slight temple receding that most males get anyway). My grandmother had to wear a wig by the time she was 40 though so maybe that's where it comes from, even though it mighty sucks that it's kicking in for me this early.
Anyway, it's been quite a long story already - I tried Rogaine, it worked, I foolishly thought that was it and gave it up, the hair it had regrown fell out and took some new ones with them, I only got back on Rogaine after a lot had already been lost. It worked again and amazingly enough I repeated the mistake. Foolish of me, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. I had been very hesitant of taking Propecia ever since I heard of the side effects, but eventually I got desperate and took the drug for two days. I couldn't get my dick to stand up and lost all sexual desires so I threw it all away - I'd like to keep my hair but not that much, I felt like killing myself and like there was no purpose to life which has never happened with hair loss. Thankfully the sides have since gone away like 90%, but I am absolutely not willing to ever try Propecia or any of its varieties again. It's an absolute no-go.
After the disaster that was trying out Propecia, I just decided to let it go. Losing my libido completely for a while made me realize that losing my sexual appetite just to keep my hair is not worth it at all and so I haven't used anything for three or four months now.... it shows. And this is where we come to the shallow person part. See, even after realizing that hair really has nothing to do with how others perceive as long as I'm OK with being bald, here I am at the end of the day, panicking out about what my hair now looks like. It's like I've been living in denial for these past few months and tried to convince myself that it wouldn't happen, but it is happening.
TL;DR: I've tried Rogaine and Propecia, Rogaine worked but gave up, tried Propecia but got sides, never willing to try again, hair loss has gotten to a pretty crucial point, panicking, would rather not shave everything off.
Well, that was just to give you an idea of what's been going on with me and not entirely necessary, but I felt like writing it down. I'm actually here for a question or two.
1) Is it a completely futile effort to apply Rogaine liquid to the temples? I did this last spring after noticing some slight recession in the temples and lo behold, shedding took place in there. I panicked and stopped applying Rogaine there, ergo I ended up with increasingly receded temples : D They are now receding even more, almost to the point where I will soon be dealing with what some here call "the island" - you know, the hair in the middle of the head is disconnected from that on the sides.
2) Does it work at all on the front of the head, because hair is thinning out there too? The receding hairline usually follows a "V" pattern, but I'm even getting thinning in the middle part of that V.
3) Rogaine always causes shedding at first, right? So my already significantly reduced head of hair would get even thinner if I took up Rogaine again?
4) Is there anything else you might recommend? One thing I know is that I may or may not be getting enough nutrients. I have, in general, never been a big eater but am not thin by any means - I just don't feel like eating that often. I sometimes wonder if my body has shut down hair production due to lack of necessary nutrients to sustain it. But are there any other "drugs" like Minoxidil that might do the trick?
5) What would you, in general, recommend? Getting back on Rogaine and trying to get more nutrients is all I can really think of here. Propecia is absolutely off the limits.
I'm basically willing to accept that I have to go bald if there is absolutely no way to win the fight, but I'd really rather not. It's not really even a confidence issue for me, it just really blows to see your youth die away like that (at the age of 20 no less), and it will make many things at my age a lot harder - not impossible, but harder. That's the stinger here.
Finally I apologize for what are probably among the most often asked questions in regards to hair loss and what you here probably get all the time.
EDIT: In case I made it unclear, my thinning started out as balding of the crown but nowadays I'm losing hair pretty much all around, except for the sides of the head and my neck obviously. Not the crown, not the middle part, nor the front of the head is safe.
I'm only 20 years of age. My hair started thinning about two years ago and has since gone from a full head of hair to, well, it does not look good. It looks like I have a lot of hair if the lights are dim enough but if they are bright I'm screwed. I suspect it's male pattern baldness, even though not a single male in my family has had/has male pattern baldness for atleast two generations now (not my father, not my brother, not my uncle, all of them have no hair loss, well, maybe the usual slight temple receding that most males get anyway). My grandmother had to wear a wig by the time she was 40 though so maybe that's where it comes from, even though it mighty sucks that it's kicking in for me this early.
Anyway, it's been quite a long story already - I tried Rogaine, it worked, I foolishly thought that was it and gave it up, the hair it had regrown fell out and took some new ones with them, I only got back on Rogaine after a lot had already been lost. It worked again and amazingly enough I repeated the mistake. Foolish of me, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. I had been very hesitant of taking Propecia ever since I heard of the side effects, but eventually I got desperate and took the drug for two days. I couldn't get my dick to stand up and lost all sexual desires so I threw it all away - I'd like to keep my hair but not that much, I felt like killing myself and like there was no purpose to life which has never happened with hair loss. Thankfully the sides have since gone away like 90%, but I am absolutely not willing to ever try Propecia or any of its varieties again. It's an absolute no-go.
After the disaster that was trying out Propecia, I just decided to let it go. Losing my libido completely for a while made me realize that losing my sexual appetite just to keep my hair is not worth it at all and so I haven't used anything for three or four months now.... it shows. And this is where we come to the shallow person part. See, even after realizing that hair really has nothing to do with how others perceive as long as I'm OK with being bald, here I am at the end of the day, panicking out about what my hair now looks like. It's like I've been living in denial for these past few months and tried to convince myself that it wouldn't happen, but it is happening.
TL;DR: I've tried Rogaine and Propecia, Rogaine worked but gave up, tried Propecia but got sides, never willing to try again, hair loss has gotten to a pretty crucial point, panicking, would rather not shave everything off.
Well, that was just to give you an idea of what's been going on with me and not entirely necessary, but I felt like writing it down. I'm actually here for a question or two.
1) Is it a completely futile effort to apply Rogaine liquid to the temples? I did this last spring after noticing some slight recession in the temples and lo behold, shedding took place in there. I panicked and stopped applying Rogaine there, ergo I ended up with increasingly receded temples : D They are now receding even more, almost to the point where I will soon be dealing with what some here call "the island" - you know, the hair in the middle of the head is disconnected from that on the sides.
2) Does it work at all on the front of the head, because hair is thinning out there too? The receding hairline usually follows a "V" pattern, but I'm even getting thinning in the middle part of that V.
3) Rogaine always causes shedding at first, right? So my already significantly reduced head of hair would get even thinner if I took up Rogaine again?
4) Is there anything else you might recommend? One thing I know is that I may or may not be getting enough nutrients. I have, in general, never been a big eater but am not thin by any means - I just don't feel like eating that often. I sometimes wonder if my body has shut down hair production due to lack of necessary nutrients to sustain it. But are there any other "drugs" like Minoxidil that might do the trick?
5) What would you, in general, recommend? Getting back on Rogaine and trying to get more nutrients is all I can really think of here. Propecia is absolutely off the limits.
I'm basically willing to accept that I have to go bald if there is absolutely no way to win the fight, but I'd really rather not. It's not really even a confidence issue for me, it just really blows to see your youth die away like that (at the age of 20 no less), and it will make many things at my age a lot harder - not impossible, but harder. That's the stinger here.
Finally I apologize for what are probably among the most often asked questions in regards to hair loss and what you here probably get all the time.
EDIT: In case I made it unclear, my thinning started out as balding of the crown but nowadays I'm losing hair pretty much all around, except for the sides of the head and my neck obviously. Not the crown, not the middle part, nor the front of the head is safe.