31 yo, losing hair

[ItsGoing]

So a little about me. I'm 31yo, successful, beautiful wife, 4 awesome children, good job, etc......except I'm losing my hair. Looking back, I've always had a large forehead, but it was who I was. I was told early on that I would go bald, EVERYONE in my family is bald. It's not something that is talked about, and is the norm. I figured I really wouldn't care,..man was I wrong, so so wrong.

The first time I noticed losing hair was 28, I was making a video with my wife and noticed a blond spot on the crown in the video. I immediately got on minoxidil (5%) and within 8-9 months I had thicker hair than I've ever had in my life. I felt like a f***ing king. I was working out, I looked GOOD. Sadly, I became cocky. I read that you could achieve the same results with 1 application as opposed to 2. And that 1 application was me tilting my head back and letting it run down head into my hair. I was soooooo stupid. Within a month of doing this I was getting a tingling, like waves all over my scalp. It actually was pleasant. Almost 1 year to the month I started to shed, and shed, and shed....It was the worst experience of my life, and came the itching. Oh my God did it itch, and all the while I was trying to go back to 2 applications 5% twice daily. I got on finasteride right away, at first 1.25mg. This literally lasted for a year (the itch), I gave it the recommended year on finasteride all the while still shedding, itching, going crazy. I did get sides in the beginning from finasteride, I remember slight brain fog, watery semen, a small decrease in libido (honestly though, it was always crazy high, drove my wife nuts, so this was a good thing, lol). The sides went away after a short time, but no results whatsoever at the year mark.

I decided to order some dutasteride and add that to my regimen. I started with .5mg/week, then at some point 1mg/week. I read somewhere about someone taking 2.5mg finasteride everyday and decided to try that. Thank God the itch stopped, and I'm not sure at what point I moved up to .5mg dutasteride dailyr, but that's where I'm at.

Current regimen is 5% minoxidil twice daily, 2.5mg finasteride in the am, and .5mg dutasteride in the pm. I am seeing

Oh hell, accidently deleted my own thread. WTF, I'll add more tomorrow.

 

[parisienne]

Hi, welcome.
So you had crazy itch and shedding for a year and then it all disappeard when you added dutasteride and increased the dose of finasteride ?
That's interesting. How is your hair now, do you have regrowth/reduced shedding ?

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**** sorry I realised a part of your thread is missing. Will read rest of the story tomorrow then ^^

 

[ItsGoing]

Hi, welcome.
So you had crazy itch and shedding for a year and then it all disappeard when you added dutasteride and increased the dose of finasteride ?
That's interesting. How is your hair now, do you have regrowth/reduced shedding ?

I might not be able to finish the story today, but soon. Yes, after I disrupted minoxidil and got the biggest shed of my life, I slowly upped dosage of everything until itching subsided. Hair has gotten better, but nowhere near what it was. Hairline has receded, and crown is thin but not gone. I'm seeing growth but it is so painstakingly slow. It's amazing how fast minoxidil worked in the beginning, and how now everything is so slow to work. I feel as of now I've stabilized, although I do still see hairs (1-2) when I style my hair. I know it's normal to shed, but still scary....

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That's too much finasteride and dutasteride in my opinion. These drugs are not to be taken lightly and can have really serious side effects.

I agree, but as of now the only side effect that I've seen is mild weight gain, and some loss of libido.....I'm married (might explain the weight gain) , so the loss of libido is probably a good thing, lol. I have seen the horror stories about finasteride and dutasteride, and I'm also a little p*ssed because I waited well over a year to start with any DHT blocker, only to lose ground, and then find out I get very little sides at all. TBH, I wish I could turn back the clock and jump on them sooner... I will monitor my situation and cut down if sides arise. I'm just sharing my experience.

 

[parisienne]

I might not be able to finish the story today, but soon. Yes, after I disrupted minoxidil and got the biggest shed of my life, I slowly upped dosage of everything until itching subsided. Hair has gotten better, but nowhere near what it was. Hairline has receded, and crown is thin but not gone. I'm seeing growth but it is so painstakingly slow. It's amazing how fast minoxidil worked in the beginning, and how now everything is so slow to work. I feel as of now I've stabilized, although I do still see hairs (1-2) when I style my hair. I know it's normal to shed, but still scary....

Okay, that's interesting. It's good that you sticked with the 5ari, it definitely paid off ! And yes it seems like the more advanced Androgenetic Alopecia is the longer it takes for treatments to work.
Anyway you see improvement so it's all good, now it's "just" a waiting game !

 

[buckthorn]

So a little about me. I'm 31yo, successful, beautiful wife, 4 awesome children, good job, etc......except I'm losing my hair. Looking back, I've always had a large forehead, but it was who I was. I was told early on that I would go bald, EVERYONE in my family is bald. It's not something that is talked about, and is the norm. I figured I really wouldn't care,..man was I wrong, so so wrong.

The first time I noticed losing hair was 28, I was making a video with my wife and noticed a blond spot on the crown in the video. I immediately got on minoxidil (5%) and within 8-9 months I had thicker hair than I've ever had in my life. I felt like a f***ing king. I was working out, I looked GOOD. Sadly, I became cocky. I read that you could achieve the same results with 1 application as opposed to 2. And that 1 application was me tilting my head back and letting it run down head into my hair. I was soooooo stupid. Within a month of doing this I was getting a tingling, like waves all over my scalp. It actually was pleasant. Almost 1 year to the month I started to shed, and shed, and shed....It was the worst experience of my life, and came the itching. Oh my God did it itch, and all the while I was trying to go back to 2 applications 5% twice daily. I got on finasteride right away, at first 1.25mg. This literally lasted for a year (the itch), I gave it the recommended year on finasteride all the while still shedding, itching, going crazy. I did get sides in the beginning from finasteride, I remember slight brain fog, watery semen, a small decrease in libido (honestly though, it was always crazy high, drove my wife nuts, so this was a good thing, lol). The sides went away after a short time, but no results whatsoever at the year mark.

I decided to order some dutasteride and add that to my regimen. I started with .5mg/week, then at some point 1mg/week. I read somewhere about someone taking 2.5mg finasteride everyday and decided to try that. Thank God the itch stopped, and I'm not sure at what point I moved up to .5mg dutasteride dailyr, but that's where I'm at.

Current regimen is 5% minoxidil twice daily, 2.5mg finasteride in the am, and .5mg dutasteride in the pm. I am seeing

Oh hell, accidently deleted my own thread. WTF, I'll add more tomorrow.

You are seeing what?? YOU ARE SEEING WHATTTTTT?!?!?!?!?!?! :nono:

 

[parisienne]

Haha yes that's a cliffhanger

 

[ItsGoing]

...Sorry guys,... had to revive my penis. He flat lined for a little bit, lol.......Seriously, I've got kids and a life. I do want to at least share my experience, but ran out of time, and probably won't have enough time today.....but stay tuned!!

What I was going to say is "I am seeing vellus at the hairline start to strengthen. They are getting thicker, but still not enough to do anything cosmetic. I can take close up pictures, but only a few have any pigmentation at all. All in all, I think I'm maintaining more than anything, I don't think I'm going to see anything miraculous. I've been on finasteride since June of 2014, no results. I've been on dutasteride since June of 2015, ramping up to .5mg ED since ~Sep. 2015 with very little to report. I have not "removed" anything from my regimen for fear if it's even working a little, might as well keep it up.

I would like to finish my story at some point w/pics and timeline, but for now, at least no more cliffhanger, lol

Does anyone have a good shampoo to use to add volume? Make the hair "feel" thicker? I use nizoral every few days, and Head and Shoulders thickening something or other, but it's a hit or miss how they make my hair feel. TBH, when my hair "feels" thicker, it's a confidence boost, even if there's no difference in the way it looks. I know it's psychological... I go through periods where it starts to feel thick, and then it goes back to feeling limp again......