26 years old, not sure if I’m losing it yet.

[TDE97]

Approaching 1.5 to 2 since your temples point is creeping up. Make sure to do a hormone panel before starting finasteride.

 

[infamousrodi]

Approaching 1.5 to 2 since your temples point is creeping up. Make sure to do a hormone panel before starting finasteride.

Could it stop here? My dad is bald so it’s the main reason I want to hop on finasteride to pause my hair loss if it starts to get worse. Is Norwood 1.5 at 26 years old normal or could I start losing ground fast out of nowhere?

 

[TDE97]

It's very hard to say. Progression is different for everybody. You could be experiencing mature hairline development or the classic case of onset male pattern baldness. Is your overall hair feels thinner over the last few months?

For me, my hair loss might have started last year and now have considerably thinned out and recessed within a year or so. If you still want to try finasteride, I really recommend doing a hormone blood panel. The last thing you want is to progress it further with finasteride if you're susceptible to testosterone as well.

 

[infamousrodi]

It's very hard to say. Progression is different for everybody. You could be experiencing mature hairline development or the classic case of onset male pattern baldness. Is your overall hair feels thinner over the last few months?

For me, my hair loss might have started last year and now have considerably thinned out and recessed within a year or so. If you still want to try finasteride, I really recommend doing a hormone blood panel. The last thing you want is to progress it further with finasteride if you're susceptible to testosterone as well.

Well I weight lift a lot I don’t think I’m too sensitive to testosterone. My hair has felt a little thinner yes but I think it’s because I’ve been stressing about this a lot since November. How bad have you lost hair? I think I might have telogen effluvium since I noticed I shed hairs with white bulbs and some are really short hairs.

 

[Norwoody]

Hairline does look to be creeping up. But like TD said, there's no way to really tell if it will stop or not.

Your scalp looks inflamed and there is some acne. That could be just because you're constantly messing with it. Me personally, I would start some sort of treatment if I were you. Starting a regimen may at least bring you some peace of mind.

 

[infamousrodi]

Hairline does look to be creeping up. But like TD said, there's no way to really tell if it will stop or not.

Your scalp looks inflamed and there is some acne. That could be just because you're constantly messing with it. Me personally, I would start some sort of treatment if I were you. Starting a regimen may at least bring you some peace of mind.

Yeah I don't know where the redness came from, I think it might be me from being ocd about it and stressing tremendously about it daily! It's only one side that seems to be creeping up. I have noticed that since I was 19 years old, the other side of my head seems relatively the same. Would finasteride alone be enough? What should I expect while taking it? Can it cause a huge shed and make me worse from baseline? Would this be considered norwood 1.5? I notice I don't shed too much unless I really play with my hair, maybe 20-25 hairs a day I shed with 5-7 of those being in the shower. Since I have long hair should I part my hair and then look at the hairline? I hear that long hair can give off a weird looking hairline, but I don't want to buzz it to really see where my hairline is at.

 

[Norwoody]

Yeah I don't know where the redness came from, I think it might be me from being ocd about it and stressing tremendously about it daily! It's only one side that seems to be creeping up. I have noticed that since I was 19 years old, the other side of my head seems relatively the same. Would finasteride alone be enough? What should i expect while taking it? Can it cause a huge shed and make me worse from baseline? Would this be considered norwood 1.5? I notice I don't shed too much unless I really play with my hair, maybe 20-25 hairs a day I shed with 5-7 of those being in the shower.

For some people finasteride alone works great, for some people it doesn't. Different people react to it differently. I took it for almost two years. Initially there is a shedding period, but I don't think it will be too noticeable for you, it wasn't for me. Around 1-2 months there's a shed, but by 3-4 months you may see new hairs popping up. That's what happened to me. However, in my case, about 6-8 months in I actually got reflex hyperandrogenocity from it. My body hair, sebum, and ear wax all increased. My hair would shed like crazy but luckily those hairs were being replaced so that I maintained. I decided to give it about one more year to see if it changed but I was still at baseline, and one time my one ear was clogged with wax and I couldn't hear out of it for about 3 days. I still gave it about 3 more months after that, and still no improvement in my hair. This is quite rare though - most people do get results off finasteride by itself. I was also doing topical minoxidil on and off for about 6 months at a time when I took finasteride.

So I basically flipped my regimen. I started oral minoxidil and a topical antiandrogen. Over the past several months it's been gradually improving. Before I used to shed 50-100 a day easily, but now I'm shedding less than 10. I only have loss at the hairline. My suspicion is also that DHT isn't primarily responsible for my loss, but that my hairline is just really sensitive to androgens in general - and finasteride does nothing to combat testosterone - it actually increases it a bit.

But again, everyone is different. Some people do recover their hairlines on finasteride alone. Some people don't. It's hard to know exactly how to treat everyone. For me, I've just been experimenting and I'm only recently starting to figure things out that work for my unique situation.

 

[infamousrodi]

For some people finasteride alone works great, for some people it doesn't. Different people react to it differently. I took it for almost two years. Initially there is a shedding period, but I don't think it will be too noticeable for you, it wasn't for me. Around 1-2 months there's a shed, but by 3-4 months you may see new hairs popping up. That's what happened to me. However, in my case, about 6-8 months in I actually got reflex hyperandrogenocity from it. My body hair, sebum, and ear wax all increased. My hair would shed like crazy but luckily those hairs were being replaced so that I maintained. I decided to give it about one more year to see if it changed but I was still at baseline, and one time my one ear was clogged with wax and I couldn't hear out of it for about 3 days. I still gave it about 3 more months after that, and still no improvement in my hair. This is quite rare though - most people do get results off finasteride by itself. I was also doing topical minoxidil on and off for about 6 months at a time when I took finasteride.

So I basically flipped my regimen. I started oral minoxidil and a topical antiandrogen. Over the past several months it's been gradually improving. Before I used to shed 50-100 a day easily, but now I'm shedding less than 10. I only have loss at the hairline. My suspicion is also that DHT isn't primarily responsible for my loss, but that my hairline is just really sensitive to androgens in general - and finasteride does nothing to combat testosterone - it actually increases it a bit.

But again, everyone is different. Some people do recover their hairlines on finasteride alone. Some people don't. It's hard to know exactly how to treat everyone. For me, I've just been experimenting and I'm only recently starting to figure things out that work for my unique situation.

Yeah its interesting how for everyone the drug is unique. I myself want to take it because baldness runs heavily on my father's side of the family including my dad. My mother side of the family have full heads of hair. I'm just worried because at 26 you seem like you're safe but then again you can never be sure. That is the main reason I want to hop on finasteride, just worried how it will work on me. Would you say I'm still norwood 1.5?

 

[TDE97]

Well I weight lift a lot I don’t think I’m too sensitive to testosterone. My hair has felt a little thinner yes but I think it’s because I’ve been stressing about this a lot since November. How bad have you lost hair? I think I might have telogen effluvium since I noticed I shed hairs with white bulbs and some are really short hairs.

It is really bad. You can already see the parting in the middle and front. finasteride might have brought back a few my temples hair, but my overall hair continued to thin. Now, even my back starts to be itchy when it never happened before I took it 6 months ago.

Worst case, my inflammation started to rapidly increase to the point Nizoral only calms my head for a few minutes. I am not unsure if it is because of my hyperandrogenocity like Norwoody mentioned.

 

[Norwoody]

Yeah its interesting how for everyone the drug is unique. I myself want to take it because baldness runs heavily on my father's side of the family including my dad. My mother side of the family have full heads of hair. I'm just worried because at 26 you seem like you're safe but then again you can never be sure. That is the main reason I want to hop on finasteride, just worried how it will work on me. Would you say I'm still norwood 1.5?

Yeah you're not quite what I would call a 2 yet, but it looks like that's the direction you are heading. If you try finasteride, I would just advise that you give the drug enough time to work (at least 4 months). And, if it's not working, quit it sooner than I did and try a treatment with a different pathway.

 

[Norwoody]

It is really bad. You can already see the parting in the middle and front. finasteride might have brought back a few my temples hair, but my overall hair continued to thin. Now, even my back starts to be itchy when it never happened before I took it 6 months ago.

Worst case, my inflammation started to rapidly increase to the point Nizoral only calms my head for a few minutes. I am not unsure if it is because of my hyperandrogenocity like Norwoody mentioned.

It seems that topical AAs and estrogens do a good job at combating the itch. Some people also use ketoconazole cream and say it works much better than the shampoo. Dermarolling and castor oil will help the scalp heal too. Topical minoxidil made my itch worse, but I believe that was mostly due to the PG vehicle. I'm not sure if oral minoxidil helps with the itch or not, I would say that it does somewhat for me; but regardless it's very effective at improving hair and stimulating regrowth.

 

[Selb]

It seems that topical AAs and estrogens do a good job at combating the itch. Some people also use ketoconazole cream and say it works much better than the shampoo. Dermarolling and castor oil will help the scalp heal too. Topical minoxidil made my itch worse, but I believe that was mostly due to the PG vehicle. I'm not sure if oral minoxidil helps with the itch or not, I would say that it does somewhat for me; but regardless it's very effective at improving hair and stimulating regrowth.

How’s your experience with fluridil? Have you considered other topical AAs and if so why did you pick that one?

 

[Norwoody]

How’s your experience with fluridil? Have you considered other topical AAs and if so why did you pick that one?

Fluridil has worked really well for me. The reason I chose it is because it's designed to break down in water (once it hits the bloodstream), and so the side effects are essentially nonexistent. The other reason I chose it is because I had never tried an AA, and I wanted something to address testosterone on my hairline. I've been on it for about 4 months. Easy to use, dries in a minute or two, not greasy, and it helps with the itch. The half life of it is also decent, around 6 hours. It's probably weak in terms of regrowth, especially for those with aggressive loss. But it's a solid maintenance treatment IMO. My goal is regrowth, though, and so I just started RU last week. No issues at all thus far. I am going to experiment with some bi-estro as well once that comes in. My temples are really stubborn so I plan on only applying it there.

 

[TDE97]

It seems that topical AAs and estrogens do a good job at combating the itch. Some people also use ketoconazole cream and say it works much better than the shampoo. Dermarolling and castor oil will help the scalp heal too. Topical minoxidil made my itch worse, but I believe that was mostly due to the PG vehicle. I'm not sure if oral minoxidil helps with the itch or not, I would say that it does somewhat for me; but regardless it's very effective at improving hair and stimulating regrowth.

I am currently using keto cream, but not daily due to spending budget (costs a lot for what the amount it provides). I've been taking castor oil orally but will see if it is better topically after derma stamping. Currently, I am using finasteride (might drop soon), oral castor oil and keto cream/shampoo.

Sadly, I can't take minoxidil in any form due to heart palpations and severe headache topically after using it for a month. I think it improved my shedding, but the sides were too much. I plan to use either the bistero cream or RU. However, I am not too keen on RU since the sides profile is very similar to minoxidil once it goes systematic.

 

[infamousrodi]

Yeah you're not quite what I would call a 2 yet, but it looks like that's the direction you are heading. If you try finasteride, I would just advise that you give the drug enough time to work (at least 4 months). And, if it's not working, quit it sooner than I did and try a treatment with a different pathway.

Ok would it be better to wait until full norwood 2 to start treatment? It just gets to me not knowing if it will stop here or not, is it possible to out of nowhere get aggressive loss at 26? This is what also scares me and makes me want to hop on finasteride asap.

 

[TDE97]

Ok would it be better to wait until full norwood 2 to start treatment? It just gets to me not knowing if it will stop here or not, is it possible to out of nowhere get aggressive loss at 26? This is what also scares me and makes me want to hop on finasteride asap.

As always the earlier, the better. If you are still worried, try and see how your hair would be in a month or two. If your temples stop receding once it matures, you should be good. Did your doctor do a scalp biopsy when prescribing finasteride?

 

[Norwoody]

I am currently using keto cream, but not daily due to spending budget (costs a lot for what the amount it provides). I've been taking castor oil orally but will see if it is better topically after derma stamping. Currently, I am using finasteride (might drop soon), oral castor oil and keto cream/shampoo.

Sadly, I can't take minoxidil in any form due to heart palpations and severe headache topically after using it for a month. I think it improved my shedding, but the sides were too much. I plan to use either the bistero cream or RU. However, I am not too keen on RU since the sides profile is very similar to minoxidil once it goes systematic.

I used castor oil topically and I am definitely a fan. I'm currently doing it orally. The reason I stopped doing it topically is that it made my scalp and hair too greasy, hard to wash out. But I do believe it definitely assisted the wound healing and improved the quality of hair. Just hard to deal with cosmetically. It would probably be great if it could be mixed into some kind of vehicle.

CB is supposed to be similar to RU, albeit weaker, but with less sides. However it's quite expensive. I haven't tried it.

Maybe try fluridil or alfatradiol for an antiandrogen, could try stemoxydine for a growth stimulant. All of those have low side effect profiles.

Are you having sides from finasteride? Sometimes people use it topically and they go away.

Ok would it be better to wait until full norwood 2 to start treatment? It just gets to me not knowing if it will stop here or not, is it possible to out of nowhere get aggressive loss at 26? This is what also scares me and makes me want to hop on finasteride asap.

Why not try finasteride or minoxidil for a few months and see what happens. You can always get off of the stuff.

 

[Norwoody]

Crowns are always hard for me to tell. But the good thing is you're going to be doing something about this, so that should put you at ease. Just be patient and give things some time.

 

[infamousrodi]

Crowns are always hard for me to tell. But the good thing is you're going to be doing something about this, so that should put you at ease. Just be patient and give things some time.

Thanks Norwoody, I just want to keep what I have until at least my mid 30's! I wouldn't freak out so much if all the men on my dad side of the family all have male pattern baldness. Is it usually a good sign that I'm just starting to notice some degree of change at age 26 as opposed to a younger age in terms of aggressive loss? I hear DHT peaks at around my age but I'm not too sure on this. Do you think this side of my hair line will progress as well? This side has been relatively the same since 18.

 

[Norwoody]

Doesn't look too bad there. Looks pretty straight/square still. The rounding/circular shapes are what you want to look out for.