21 Years Old, Thick Hair But Bad Temples

[QueryKickBan]

Story
I've recently decided to take a more active approach to hair loss and I'm looking for advice and some information on setting up a regimen.

I'm currently 21 years old and I think I've been balding for about 3-4 years now, however it has been very gradual so I didn't really notice it until I saw my high school graduation picture.
My hair is generally pretty thick. I have not lost any hair on the top of my head, my crown is still completely intact. However, my temples are pretty bad. If I had to put it in numbers, I'd say my crown is still NW1 but my temples are somewhere around NW3. It's actually really similar to the person in this picture: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NKC4SN2Ny_s/maxresdefault.jpg
However, I still have some small hairs left that still have their original color and they're about 0.5cm long. I can still hide my hairloss pretty well, however it's getting tiring to do so every day.

My current regimen

• 1.25mg finasteride daily (5mg cut into 4ths) (€25 for 4 months)
• Possibly: 2ml minoxidil daily (€19 for 3 months)

My plans
My current strategy is outlined below:

1. Take finasteride 1.25mg until my hairloss stops, and the maximum amount of possible finasteride regrowth is accomplished. I'll be starting finasteride in the beginning of november 2016.
2. Wait a month to check for sides.
3. If no sides, add minoxidil.
4. Wait a month to check for sides.
5. Re-evaluate current growth after about 6-9 months on finasteride (this will be somewhere around june - august 2017).
6. If Brotzu has become available publicly, ditch finasteride and switch to Brotzu only.
7. After 2 years (in 2018-2019), when Replicel is available: consider treatment to (hopefully permanently) stop hairloss and regrow rest of hairs.
8. After 4 years (when I'm 25): If not satisfied with my regrowth, consider a hair transplant. This will be in 2020. If Trusji has become available by then, get treatment by Trusji no doubt.

Progress
[1-11-2016] Received finasteride
My finasteride came in the mail today! I took my first dose of 1.25mg.

[27-10-2016] Received minoxidil
Minoxidil arrived in the mail. Not starting it yet, I want to start off using only finasteride for at least about 6 months.

[24-10-2016] Bought minoxidil
I've purchased 3 months worth of minoxidil. Although I'm not entirely sure I'm going to take it, it's good to have some on hand anyway. It should arrive in 10 days.

[20-10-2016] Bought finasteride
I've purchased my first supply of finasteride. Exciting! I've bought 5mg pills, which I'm planning to cut up into 4ths and take every day. They should arrive by the end of the month.

[17-10-2016] Started my story
Here I am, starting my journey to recovery (hopefully).

 

[Zoro]

1- Most likely, it won't help to regrow your temples. finasteride is mostly used to slow/stop hairloss and some people get regrowth from it if they're lucky. it's very hard to get regrowth on bald areas with no existing hair. Your chances for regrowth are up to your genetics, what your regimen is,age, how long ago you lost your hair etc. no one can really tell you

2- Won't give any advice on rolling's safety (i think the admins don't want it discussed on here), but in my own experience I haven't had scarring

3- If you want regrowth minoxidil is more targeted for regrowth than finasteride is, you can pick up generic minoxidil online, like a 3 or 6 months supply for pretty cheap. Not many other options other than dutasteride or experimentals like RU/CB/Seti but if you can't afford minoxidil you can't afford these either. If you're on a budget i'd stick to finasteride/minoxidil.

 

[QueryKickBan]

1- Most likely, it won't help to regrow your temples. finasteride is mostly used to slow/stop hairloss and some people get regrowth from it if they're lucky. it's very hard to get regrowth on bald areas with no existing hair. Your chances for regrowth are up to your genetics, what your regimen is,age, how long ago you lost your hair etc. no one can really tell you

2- Won't give any advice on rolling's safety (i think the admins don't want it discussed on here), but in my own experience I haven't had scarring

3- If you want regrowth minoxidil is more targeted for regrowth than finasteride is, you can pick up generic minoxidil online, like a 3 or 6 months supply for pretty cheap. Not many other options other than dutasteride or experimentals like RU/CB/Seti but if you can't afford minoxidil you can't afford these either. If you're on a budget i'd stick to finasteride/minoxidil.

Thanks for your response! Do you think I should start taking finasteride anyway to stop my hairloss? It seems to have stabilized a bit the last year however you can never be sure. Genetics-wise I'm somewhere in the middle, everyone in my family is pretty healthy however my father is mostly bald and my maternal grandfather is completely bald , however his brother is rocking a full head of hair in his late 60s. My paternal grandfather was bald, however he had most of his hair until his late 40s.

Also, thanks I didn't know derma-rollers were off-limits. I've removed the question from my original post.

I haven't really looked into cheap minoxidil yet, since I've read on most places that it was quite expensive. I'll take a look in the coming days.

 

[KO21]

Our hair is like identical man! Sucks eh

Get on that finasteride ! Gotta at least give it a shot

 

[Zoro]

Thanks for your response! Do you think I should start taking finasteride anyway to stop my hairloss? It seems to have stabilized a bit the last year however you can never be sure.

Also, thanks I didn't know derma-rollers were off-limits. I've removed the question from my original post.

I haven't really looked into cheap minoxidil yet, since I've read on most places that it was quite expensive. I'll take a look in the coming days.

It's up to you, but it's much easier to maintain what you have then end up losing more hair before you decide to get on finasteride, i learned this the hard way. Go see a derm/hair loss specialist if it helps you make a decision

I don't think talking about rolling is really off limits, just can't go into too much detail or post pictures of it i guess.

You can get a 3 month supply of liquid minoxidil on Amazon for about 20 bucks last time i checked. the foam will be more expensive but it also doesn't make your hair stick together/greasy as much as the liquid does.

 

[QueryKickBan]

Our hair is like identical man! Sucks eh

Get on that finasteride ! Gotta at least give it a shot

Yeah, hairloss is the worst - especially not knowing where you'll end up if you let it run its course :/

I'm eager to try finasteride, the reason I'm still hesitating a bit is because of the life-long commitment (or until Tsuji comes out ). A big choice to make at this age.

 

[QueryKickBan]

It's up to you, but it's much easier to maintain what you have then end up losing more hair before you decide to get on finasteride, i learned this the hard way. Go see a derm/hair loss specialist if it helps you make a decision

I don't think talking about rolling is really off limits, just can't go into too much detail or post pictures of it i guess.

You can get a 3 month supply of liquid minoxidil on Amazon for about 20 bucks last time i checked. the foam will be more expensive but it also doesn't make your hair stick together/greasy as much as the liquid does.

I think I'm going to buy 4 months worth of finasteride next month when I have some money to spare, and see where that takes me. I tried to get to a dermatologist, but my GP won't refer me (which is necessary where I live). He said everyone gets hairloss and I should just live with it . I'm in the process of switching GPs by the way.

I'll probably check minoxidil out later, one thing at a time Finasteride first.

 

[stachu]

Definitely jump on finasteride. Atleast on 1mg Every day - stick to it.

Minoxidil 5% twice a day. First update you should give after 6 months - enough time to manage your male pattern baldness status.

Dont read shits that finasteride will not make a regrowth on temples. It will for sure in your situation and you will jump atleast one noorthwod status.

Good luck. Lurk more in forum. You will gain core knowledge and aditional informations.

Too early for explaining and talking about teories... Give it a time. Just go for "finasteride+minoxidil" starter pack and good luck.

 

[Roberto_72]

He said everyone gets hairloss and I should just live with it

I would have replied that - even more indubitably - everyone gets death, so what are doctors even for?

 

[QueryKickBan]

Definitely jump on finasteride. Atleast on 1mg Every day - stick to it.

Minoxidil 5% twice a day. First update you should give after 6 months - enough time to manage your male pattern baldness status.

Dont read shits that finasteride will not make a regrowth on temples. It will for sure in your situation and you will jump atleast one noorthwod status.

Good luck. Lurk more in forum. You will gain core knowledge and aditional informations.

Too early for explaining and talking about teories... Give it a time. Just go for "finasteride+minoxidil" starter pack and good luck.

I will try to get a 4 month supply next month of finasteride, and I'll take a look at minoxidil. The only thing I'm hesitant about it the lifelong commitment status and that it might stop working after 7 years or so.
You think I could gain a norwood? Since that would be great, it'd make it look a lot better.

I've been lurking for a while now looking at new treatments and hoping something comes out. I know there are a lot of things being developed, but I figured that it was better to be safe than sorry.

I would have replied that - even more indubitably - everyone gets death, so what are doctors even for?

Haha you're right, I don't know how someone who should provide public services and help others could be so clueless and out of touch with the needs of their patients. Aren't they there to provide health services in all of their forms? Anyway hope my new GP will be more understanding.

 

[QueryKickBan]

Small update:
Just ordered finasteride online from inhouse pharmacy, they should arrive within 2-4 weeks.

A small question though: I ordered the 5mg version. I was wondering, should I try to cut them in 5 pieces or just simply cut them in 4 (making it 1.25mg each). A third option would be to cut them in 4 and then skip one day every 4 days. Any thoughts?

EDIT: Decided to just cut them in 4ths and take 1.25mg daily.

 

[QueryKickBan]

I just purchased a 3 month supply of minoxidil as well. Not sure if I'll start it at the same time as the finasteride, since I want to wait a few weeks to check for sides first, but if all goes well I'll add it to my regimen.

 

[QueryKickBan]

Finasteride arrived in the mail today! Just took my first dose of 1.25mg, I'll update if I get any sides and on my progress.

Feeling excited!