Anonymous' story... 22 Y/O thinning (Big 3) UPDATE
I started thinning around the age of 19. My hair had always been thick, and as a youngster I'd go to the barber and ask them to thin my hair out. If only I knew what would come...
I first noticed after a day in the rain. Someone took a picture of us and later, I saw my scalp showing at the crown of my head. An older friend pointed out that I might be thinning. At the time, I was like "oh well, that's part of growing up". I didn't know that it would progress so fast that by the time I was 22, I'm basically combing over to conceal. I thought this was something that wouldn't be a big deal until my 40s. How wrong I was.
I tried hard to just accept the fact. That's the easiest way. Hey, who cares. Plenty of men go bald. Men have been going bald for thousands of years. Everywhere I went, I observed people's hair. There were people my age, or even younger, who had it worse, or the same thing. But every now and then you'd see that elderly guy who still had an awesome head of hair, then I'd look at my own reflection and just get deflated. I don't want to lose my hair, not this young.
Initially, it wasn't even me who was freaking out the most about this. My grandma and mom were the most concerned, and their concern just made me more self conscious (thanks, ladies). My grandma is on all sorts of medication and as a result, she started to lose her hair. So naturally, her doctor has her on minoxidil. She saw my thinning head and told me about it (I didn't know what minoxidil was at this time) and actually rubbed some into my head. I think she's concerned because she knows how it feels. But at least she isn't 22.
Pretty sure my grandma told my mom, and my mom bought a can of minoxidil for me for freaking Christmas. OK, that might be a bit weird, but in our family we usually just gift each other small practical things like that. But yeah, that was still a bit weird. I didn't use this for a while, but eventually did for about 3 months, more on my treatment later.
Once the thinning progressed rapidly the last few months, I knew I had to do more. I researched finasteride, and naturally, was scared. But I did order some online and was ready to take the risk.
My ARSENAL
- Finpecia
- Nizoral
- Minoxidil
Starting DATE
- July 15, 2013
The PLAN
FINASTERIDE - Now, even though I was ready to go with finasteride, I still didn't want to become impotent or something. I did some thinking and decided it would be better to start with a lower dosage of finasteride. If you think about it, the 1mg and 5mg and stuff really makes no sense. What are the odds the appropriate dosage just happens to be a solid, and round 1 or 5mg? Those are just numbers made up for convenience. For the first two weeks, I cut my 1mg pill into quarters, and took it every other day. I will take .25mg every day if things look good, eventually, .5mg every day, then PERHAPS 1mg if all things are going well. I just didn't want to start at 1mg and shock my system, or risk it.
NIZORAL - I ordered a bottle of 2% Nizoral with my finasteride. I don't know what it's doing for my hair, but it definitely, thoroughly cleans my scalp. No oil, no scalp odor, nothing. I like it, and I use it twice a week.
MINOXIDIL - I am going to apply topical minoxidil twice a day starting at the 1 month mark.
Side EFFECTS
I know this is a sensitive subject so I won't make any affirmative statements. I can't say "there are no sides" or "there are definitely sides". It's different for everyone.
But I do believe you can do some things to safeguard against them. First, take some notes two weeks before starting finasteride. I made a daily log monitoring my sexual drive. Did I have morning wood every morning? How often did I jack it? Any random erections? Any ball aching?
The point of keeping a log is so you can compare pre-finasteride to post-finasteride. It's impossible to remember otherwise. I will say that personally, I personally DID perceive some side effects, but as of now (1 month into finasteride) I have absolutely no sides and am upping the dosage.
The sides I THINK I experienced:
-ball ache [first night only, lasted a few seconds then went away]
-ball tingle
-reduced bladder activity*
-possibly loss in libido**
*The bladder thing was weird, and I think it has to do with my prostate (the intended use of finasteride). I used to have to go, REALLY BAD, to the restroom in the mornings. I drink a lot of water, and I guess that's natural. But since taking finasteride, I'm actually noticing there's less urgency in the morning. I can lay in bed without my bladder hurting. Strange, I haven't looked this up yet or if that has anything to do with my prostate.
**I say possibly because, despite my precautions, I still freaked out about what finasteride was doing to me. I did experience ball ache and some tingling, and no, my genitals did not disappear or get smaller. I was constantly testing if I could get an erection throughout the day. I'd be driving and be like "could I get an erection now?" And obviously, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But then I checked my handy dandy log and noticed that I wasn't exactly walking around with a boner all day pre-finasteride. I took some comfort in that.
As of 1 month, my libido is doing just fine and haven't had any recent ball aches. I jack it pretty much daily, same frequency according to my log. I even had a rare ejaculation in my dream, which is always cool.
A note on depression, I was always depressive. Who doesn't get depressed? Just for the record, I haven't been depressed on finasteride, but I know this is a concern for a lot of people before they plunge into finasteride. It didn't really matter to me because I'm a pretty depressing person in general.
The PROGRESS
I know this is genetic because my dad has the same pattern. I don't know how to use the Norwood thing, I looked at the charts and can't really pinpoint exactly how the heck to use that.
I did use the Christmas minoxidil for 3 months. Didn't do anything noticeable. I wanted to continue it, but I was scared to go buy Rogaine because I didn't want anyone I knew to walk by and I didn't want the cashier to see my buying it. This is the type of idiocy and insecurity that comes with balding at 22. This is why I want to do something about it (the minoxidil was used months before finasteride).
I buzzed my head down BEFORE TREATMENT. I recommend doing this to monitor better what the heck is going on at the scalp level. I didn't know my pattern of male pattern baldness until I did this. Also, if anyone can tell me what the heck the pattern is, please tell me what it's called!
Starting minoxidil TODAY (1 month on finasteride and nizoral). I'll keep y'all up to date.
I started thinning around the age of 19. My hair had always been thick, and as a youngster I'd go to the barber and ask them to thin my hair out. If only I knew what would come...
I first noticed after a day in the rain. Someone took a picture of us and later, I saw my scalp showing at the crown of my head. An older friend pointed out that I might be thinning. At the time, I was like "oh well, that's part of growing up". I didn't know that it would progress so fast that by the time I was 22, I'm basically combing over to conceal. I thought this was something that wouldn't be a big deal until my 40s. How wrong I was.
I tried hard to just accept the fact. That's the easiest way. Hey, who cares. Plenty of men go bald. Men have been going bald for thousands of years. Everywhere I went, I observed people's hair. There were people my age, or even younger, who had it worse, or the same thing. But every now and then you'd see that elderly guy who still had an awesome head of hair, then I'd look at my own reflection and just get deflated. I don't want to lose my hair, not this young.
Initially, it wasn't even me who was freaking out the most about this. My grandma and mom were the most concerned, and their concern just made me more self conscious (thanks, ladies). My grandma is on all sorts of medication and as a result, she started to lose her hair. So naturally, her doctor has her on minoxidil. She saw my thinning head and told me about it (I didn't know what minoxidil was at this time) and actually rubbed some into my head. I think she's concerned because she knows how it feels. But at least she isn't 22.
Pretty sure my grandma told my mom, and my mom bought a can of minoxidil for me for freaking Christmas. OK, that might be a bit weird, but in our family we usually just gift each other small practical things like that. But yeah, that was still a bit weird. I didn't use this for a while, but eventually did for about 3 months, more on my treatment later.
Once the thinning progressed rapidly the last few months, I knew I had to do more. I researched finasteride, and naturally, was scared. But I did order some online and was ready to take the risk.
My ARSENAL
- Finpecia
- Nizoral
- Minoxidil
Starting DATE
- July 15, 2013
The PLAN
FINASTERIDE - Now, even though I was ready to go with finasteride, I still didn't want to become impotent or something. I did some thinking and decided it would be better to start with a lower dosage of finasteride. If you think about it, the 1mg and 5mg and stuff really makes no sense. What are the odds the appropriate dosage just happens to be a solid, and round 1 or 5mg? Those are just numbers made up for convenience. For the first two weeks, I cut my 1mg pill into quarters, and took it every other day. I will take .25mg every day if things look good, eventually, .5mg every day, then PERHAPS 1mg if all things are going well. I just didn't want to start at 1mg and shock my system, or risk it.
NIZORAL - I ordered a bottle of 2% Nizoral with my finasteride. I don't know what it's doing for my hair, but it definitely, thoroughly cleans my scalp. No oil, no scalp odor, nothing. I like it, and I use it twice a week.
MINOXIDIL - I am going to apply topical minoxidil twice a day starting at the 1 month mark.
Side EFFECTS
I know this is a sensitive subject so I won't make any affirmative statements. I can't say "there are no sides" or "there are definitely sides". It's different for everyone.
But I do believe you can do some things to safeguard against them. First, take some notes two weeks before starting finasteride. I made a daily log monitoring my sexual drive. Did I have morning wood every morning? How often did I jack it? Any random erections? Any ball aching?
The point of keeping a log is so you can compare pre-finasteride to post-finasteride. It's impossible to remember otherwise. I will say that personally, I personally DID perceive some side effects, but as of now (1 month into finasteride) I have absolutely no sides and am upping the dosage.
The sides I THINK I experienced:
-ball ache [first night only, lasted a few seconds then went away]
-ball tingle
-reduced bladder activity*
-possibly loss in libido**
*The bladder thing was weird, and I think it has to do with my prostate (the intended use of finasteride). I used to have to go, REALLY BAD, to the restroom in the mornings. I drink a lot of water, and I guess that's natural. But since taking finasteride, I'm actually noticing there's less urgency in the morning. I can lay in bed without my bladder hurting. Strange, I haven't looked this up yet or if that has anything to do with my prostate.
**I say possibly because, despite my precautions, I still freaked out about what finasteride was doing to me. I did experience ball ache and some tingling, and no, my genitals did not disappear or get smaller. I was constantly testing if I could get an erection throughout the day. I'd be driving and be like "could I get an erection now?" And obviously, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But then I checked my handy dandy log and noticed that I wasn't exactly walking around with a boner all day pre-finasteride. I took some comfort in that.
As of 1 month, my libido is doing just fine and haven't had any recent ball aches. I jack it pretty much daily, same frequency according to my log. I even had a rare ejaculation in my dream, which is always cool.
A note on depression, I was always depressive. Who doesn't get depressed? Just for the record, I haven't been depressed on finasteride, but I know this is a concern for a lot of people before they plunge into finasteride. It didn't really matter to me because I'm a pretty depressing person in general.
The PROGRESS
I know this is genetic because my dad has the same pattern. I don't know how to use the Norwood thing, I looked at the charts and can't really pinpoint exactly how the heck to use that.
I did use the Christmas minoxidil for 3 months. Didn't do anything noticeable. I wanted to continue it, but I was scared to go buy Rogaine because I didn't want anyone I knew to walk by and I didn't want the cashier to see my buying it. This is the type of idiocy and insecurity that comes with balding at 22. This is why I want to do something about it (the minoxidil was used months before finasteride).
I buzzed my head down BEFORE TREATMENT. I recommend doing this to monitor better what the heck is going on at the scalp level. I didn't know my pattern of male pattern baldness until I did this. Also, if anyone can tell me what the heck the pattern is, please tell me what it's called!
Starting minoxidil TODAY (1 month on finasteride and nizoral). I'll keep y'all up to date.
