25yo Guy, Just Noticed I'm Losing Hair

[DickFisher]

Hey there.

I've recently come to the conclusion, which should have been obvious in retrospect, that I have male pattern hair loss. My dad's side of the family has this strange hereditary thing where all the men during puberty get a sort of Norwood 2 style hairline, but it stays like that for most of the rest of their lives, which is probably what confused me a little bit, since my hairline has been like that since I was 18 or so and hadn't noticiably changed until recently. My hairstyle is quite long which probably masked any changes also.

Anyway, I would very much like to keep my hair since people compliment me on it all the time, and I don't really have the features for a shaved head. I had cancer as a teenager so I already know what that's like, I didn't enjoy it then, and I probably won't enjoy it in the future.

I'm trying to figure out the best approach to take at the moment, which is a bit difficult since there are a couple of things to take into consideration:

1) I'd try Finasteride, but I have a history of depressive episodes, and the risk of permanent sexual & neurological side effects is pretty terrifying

2) I went to a Hair loss clinic and they gave me some 10% minoxidil + 5% Azelaic acid cream to put on once a night, but I have terrible insomnia and ADHD, as well as occasional depressive episodes which tend to disrupt whatever routine I have, so I'm not sure I'd remember to put it on regularly, which would be counterproductive from what I understand. this was only in the past week but I haven't started on it yet because of that.

Right now the worst thing is the shedding and the itching. I got some nizoral shampoo from the pharmacy yesterday but it just left my scalp irritated when I used it this morning. I read that it might be because of the
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate so I ordered some Regenepure which doesn't have any of that, along with some 'sensitive scalp' conditioner and a light creme thing you can rub on your scalp after you have a shower to maybe help with the dryness.

I was thinking of trying Zix but I'm kind of lost on which ingredients are the best. I live in the uk so a lot of the stuff that's recommended in the zix thread is kind of hard to find. I'd rather start using it sooner rather than later.

I'm sort of stressing a bit because my hairloss has gone from unnoticable to very pronounced quite quickly and doesn't seem to be slowing down. Weirdly it seems to have coincided with when I started working out consistently 4 times a week over the past 6 months. It's mainly a receding hairline but the frontal area in general seems to be thinning out a lot (though my crown is unaffected at least).

So in summary I mainly have a receding hairline type MPHL, with some thinning on the frontal part of the scalp but thick on the crown. I'm not on finasteride but I might try it even with the risks, and I might try minoxidil if I can be sure I'll be able to take it consistently. Right now I've just started using a ketoconazole shampoo, I might try some zix in the future, and I take zinc and selenium supplements, and I just bought some Biotin 5000µg today which I'm going to start taking.


If any of you have any advice for me I would appreciate it a lot. Especially with regard to treatment options, or haircare products I can use to help soothe my scalp after I'm done showering.

Thanks

Edit: would a dermaroller/dermastamp would be worth looking into?

 

[DickFisher]

Well, no-one's replied to this yet, but I might as well keep track of my progress here.

The only thing I've started doing so far is using the regenepure 1% ketoconazole shampoo along with some sensitive scalp conditioner 3 days a week, as well as continuing to take zinc, selenium, & Vitamin A C E supplements, and started taking biotin (5000µg) and vitamin B complex supplements daily, for the past week. Already I've noticed I've stopped shedding by a significant amount, my scalp feels a lot calmer, and my hair feels more 'stable' in my head, whereas previously it felt quite fragile at the point where it met the scalp (though this may just be psychological).

Although I've stopped shedding, I'm not so stupidly optimistic to think that the process of baldness has stopped. Probably all that's happened is that increasing the health of my scalp has slowed the progress of the male pattern baldness to a more moderate pace. To regain the hair I've lost I'll need to add in something like microneedling and/or minoxidil. I want to avoid the minoxidil shed at this point so I think I'll start with microneedling; once I get some cash in a week or two I'll look into getting dermaroller or a dermastamp. It might be worthwhile trying Zix also, since that's not associated with any shedding either. For the moment I think I'll try and avoid any topical anti-androgens, since I'm not sure what sort of risk they carry in terms of systemic exposure, and if they end up being unnecessary (since I think Zix is supposed to be locally anti-androgenic anyway) it's probably better to avoid them.

All in all I feel a lot less worried about this now. The worst thing was not having an idea of how to mitigate or address the male pattern baldness without locking myself into a routine I know I likely wouldn't be able to keep up long term (minoxidil) or taking a drug with especially risky side effects for me (finasteride). But now I have a clear-ish plan of action I feel a lot better.

 

[frank1980]

Well, no-one's replied to this yet, but I might as well keep track of my progress here.

The only thing I've started doing so far is using the regenepure 1% ketoconazole shampoo along with some sensitive scalp conditioner 3 days a week, as well as continuing to take zinc, selenium, & Vitamin A C E supplements, and started taking biotin (5000µg) and vitamin B complex supplements daily, for the past week. Already I've noticed I've stopped shedding by a significant amount, my scalp feels a lot calmer, and my hair feels more 'stable' in my head, whereas previously it felt quite fragile at the point where it met the scalp (though this may just be psychological).

Although I've stopped shedding, I'm not so stupidly optimistic to think that the process of baldness has stopped. Probably all that's happened is that increasing the health of my scalp has slowed the progress of the male pattern baldness to a more moderate pace. To regain the hair I've lost I'll need to add in something like microneedling and/or minoxidil. I want to avoid the minoxidil shed at this point so I think I'll start with microneedling; once I get some cash in a week or two I'll look into getting dermaroller or a dermastamp. It might be worthwhile trying Zix also, since that's not associated with any shedding either. For the moment I think I'll try and avoid any topical anti-androgens, since I'm not sure what sort of risk they carry in terms of systemic exposure, and if they end up being unnecessary (since I think Zix is supposed to be locally anti-androgenic anyway) it's probably better to avoid them.

All in all I feel a lot less worried about this now. The worst thing was not having an idea of how to mitigate or address the male pattern baldness without locking myself into a routine I know I likely wouldn't be able to keep up long term (minoxidil) or taking a drug with especially risky side effects for me (finasteride). But now I have a clear-ish plan of action I feel a lot better.

Hey man, sorry about the hair loss. I know the finasteride sounds scary, but maybe talk to a doctor to see if maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Anyways, there are options. There's topical finasteride which has less systemic effects on your hormones. If finasteride is a no no and the minoxidil is too much of a hassle, then I guess just stay on the shampoo and nutrition plan you're on. Also, look into microneedling if you think it's something you'd be able to do. Seems like it stimulates hair growth more than minoxidil.

 

[DickFisher]

Hey man, sorry about the hair loss. I know the finasteride sounds scary, but maybe talk to a doctor to see if maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Anyways, there are options. There's topical finasteride which has less systemic effects on your hormones. If finasteride is a no no and the minoxidil is too much of a hassle, then I guess just stay on the shampoo and nutrition plan you're on. Also, look into microneedling if you think it's something you'd be able to do. Seems like it stimulates hair growth more than minoxidil.

Ah well this is from a long time ago now, but just to update, I tried microneedling but I'm a wimp so I didn't keep up with it, and I never tried minoxidil because that would be a hassle, so my hair has continued to recede and thin slowly over the past 9 months. None of the ketoconazole or other hair loss shampoo and conditioners worked either, and I think some of them make the hair loss worse.

It's not noticeable yet just because of my hair style and the shape of the hairline but if it goes much farther it will be. So I decided to go on finasteride about a week ago. And it's actually fine so far, my dick still works, my brain hasn't melted, and I haven't noticed any change in my mood. My libido went down a little bit after taking the first pill but it hasn't decreased any more since then, and it's only just barely noticeable. Just in case though I started taking maca root a couple days ago which seems to be making up any deficit in my libido very well.

Obviously I haven't noticed any changes in terms of shedding yet since it would probably be too early for that, but one thing I have noticed is the awful itching on my scalp has been reduced by a huge amount to the point where it's negligible, which is fantastic, and I'm already very happy with just that result, since the itching was so intense that it would often keep me up at night (which is part of the reason I took the plunge and decided to try finasteride). Hopefully this is a sign that whatever process was damaging my hair has slowed down or stopped to some degree.

Anyway I'll continue on the finasteride until either I start getting symptoms of suicidal depression or my dick stops working, and if neither of those things happens then hopefully I'll start to see some result in terms of hair regrowth or even just a cessation of hair loss. If I don't get any negative symptoms but I don't see any benefit in terms of stopping the hair loss or hair regrowth then I'll probably end up trying dutasteride and see if that works.

I'll probably try microneedling again at some point because that will probably be helpful too, but it would be good if I could rope a friend into stabbing me in the head repeatedly instead of having to do it myself.

 

[Derelict]

Good luck, sides from finasteride are overblown on this site, that's not to say they don't happen, but it's usually minor if at all, only rare cases are really bad. I would stick with finasteride for a year and look at how your hair is doing, if you are not satisifed then add minoxidil, topical is not much of a pain, foam takes 5 seconds to apply and you can use it only once a day, at night like me for example while brushing your teeth, just becomes part of your routine, or you could opt for low doses of oral minoxidil if you still think it's too much hassle to apply.

 

[DickFisher]

Good luck, sides from finasteride are overblown on this site, that's not to say they don't happen, but it's usually minor if at all, only rare cases are really bad. I would stick with finasteride for a year and look at how your hair is doing, if you are not satisifed then add minoxidil, topical is not much of a pain, foam takes 5 seconds to apply and you can use it only once a day, at night like me for example while brushing your teeth, just becomes part of your routine, or you could opt for low doses of oral minoxidil if you still think it's too much hassle to apply.

Ah cool I hadn't realised low dose oral minoxidil was an option. I would try topical but I have pretty bad ADHD so I tend to forget to do simple menial tasks that require consistency. I'm used to taking daily pills though, so I can handle that a lot easier. I'm already taking a blood pressure medication which has a double use as a therapy for ADHD (guanfacine) so I would need to come off of that before I tried oral minoxidil. I think I'm still around 2 or 2.5 on the norwood scale atm so I have some leeway for the moment.

Where would I get oral minoxidil anyway? It'd be pretty hard to get prescribed I think.

 

[DickFisher]

Well after about two weeks now on finasteride my hair has started shedding a lot more. Don't really know what that's about. Apparently it's not uncommon but a lot of disagreement on if it's a good or a bad sign! Sure is annoying though.