Adding Finestride / Using Rogain / Nervous

[DeterminedGuy]

Hello everyone,

Well, I have been a lurker here for a long time but decided to create an account and really get serious about saving my hair. I was in denial for a while, but reality has hit. Let me give the summary, and hope some of you can help. I know most can understand my fears.

OK, so the background:

- my father was basically bald by 30
- began thinning at 25, but noticeable to the everyone else... Not till I was 32-33. I am now 37.
- I started Rogain almost 2 years ago. I have lost 3xs the hair in a short time, my assumption is Rogain sped things up. My hair loss seems to take jumps every 6 months or so. I'm using Rogain twice a day, 5% foam.
- 1.5 month ago I started taking natural supplements, I have noticed some thickness and improvement. I decided to take 500mg saw palmetto, 1000mg pumpkin seed oil, standard multi vitamin, 5000mg biotin, doubled my water intake. I use regenpure shampoo, I add 3 drops spearmint oil and extra coconut oil each wash.. I wash hair daily.


OK now I'll add that I'm scared to go on finasteride, but I honestly can't spend the money on a fue at the moment. I don't have the head for shaved, I'll look like a Martian. So here I am, desperate, ready to mess with my hormones to save some hair. From what I can tell I'm a norwood 3v, and in a year I predict a 4.

So now for the questions, and hopefully your advice. Some I have read elsewhere, if it's posted elsewhere please be gentle. I'm just tired of reading the negative posts.

- honestly from what you guys know, what are the odds of it not working vs regrowing vs stopping hair loss with finasteride?

- is it better to start with .5 or 1mg finasteride?

- I'm afraid of shed, I've been using toppik and it's worked well. I can't hide this much longer. Will staying on Rogain help with shed? Meaning, do existing Rogain users see less shed or more? I'm legit scared to have a big shed and then getting stuck.

- I'm willing to try finasteride for like 6 months, what's chances of long term effects? I read you stop soon as you have issues and it goes away. I'm scared of irreversible damage.

- if I want to have kids, do I need to stop finasteride?

- does type of thinning/balding yield different results on finasteride? Meaning I have minimal in front, hairline had barely moved. However, I'm a big vertex thinner.. it's just something I thought of.

OK, that's all for now I'm just really needing to reach out and connect. I really avoid this topic, it's embarrassing. I attached photos, I'm beyond embarrassed. One photo is from 2 months ago, the other today. I think the natural supplements approach thickened me up a bit. I'll admit, the first photo my hair was maybe damp and the newer has slightly less light. Oh and I just started stemo Garnier version, applying after Rogain beginning 1 week ago.

Let me say thank you in advance, I honestly can't seem to get any advice from individuals around me. Nor do I feel comfortable with individuals close to me on this topic.

 

[Oscar66]

OK so you're 37. That means it will be slow. You are not going to wake up tomorrow bald. Mine started getting like that around 43 (or so). I'm 50 and it's a little worse, but I just started finasteride. I know it's embarrassing. I HIGHLY recommend using Rogain, finasteride ,and nizoral. Add some vitamins. You HAVE hairs, so finasteride should help. Also, look into some concealers. They do wonders. As long as you have something, concealers will work.

 

[Zoro]

No one can tell you how much rogaine or finasteride will help, it all depends with how fast you're balding, genetics, etc. Just start with the full 1mg of finasteride, it could fill in your whole bald spot, it could give a few vellus hairs, or it could do nothing. Supposedly some people don't even have enough of the enzyme to make mixonidil useful for hair loss, so it's kind of hit or miss.

I have worse hair than you and toppik still works decently, so i'm wondering how it's not working for you anymore. Although i do burn through the stuff

 

[DeterminedGuy]

@Oscar66 @Zoro Thank you both. To add a little more detail, my brother in law first (colorfully) pointed out my thinning when I was about 28. It pretty much stayed a small thin spot that was easily hidden with hairstyle. Then at 32 it jumped to growing hair longer, but still concealed. Then at about 33-34 I had to do a bit more, I started with concealers with little effort. Honestly, I feel like minoxidil screwed me up a bit. At 35 I started minoxidil and within 1.5 years, I went from a 2x3inch thinning spot to the very thin/bare area you see today. Impossible to say, but I think it put my hairloss into double time. Now to quit, I don't know if I loss miniaturized hairs or more so I'll keep with it.

Anyway, i read these stories about people going impotent, irreversible sides, all kinds of stuff and it scares the hell out of me. It feels like more than 2-5% but all we can do is try. So many good success stories though, keeping a strong mind about it. If I can get like 25% growth and maintain for several years i'll be real happy. Seems like sides get everyone at some point, that would really suck. Another reason I was looking at 0.5mg, start light and work my way up.

 

[Cobbs]

I tried Minoxidil without Propecia for about a year. My hair thinned out a ton. I had the same issue, I was afraid to take Propecia because of the horror stories I read online.
I finally started The Big 3 at 41 years old. My hair is much worse than yours and I am getting regrowth. Propecia and Minoxidil really do have a synergistic effect. I would imagine with all those miniaturized hairs you have a really good shot at filling your crown back in.
I believe if I had started 10 years ago I would have filled in and maintained my crown. I may have waited too long but your hair loss is more recent. If you respond well you can still save your hair.

 

[DeterminedGuy]

@Cobbs Yea - I feel as though (and many do say) that minoxidil sheds hairs that you will most likely lose regardless. Then the min hairs come in and they just go through so many cycles before they leave you as well. I feel that every 6 months brings a huge shed and I lose more than gain, this one shed really scared the hell out of me. Sorry I could not determine how long you on Propecia/finasteride + minoxidil, and how many mg are you taking? These stories are really scary, in real life I have 1 friend whose been in on it a couple of years no problem. My doctor who i would trust with my life has several individuals he has prescribed it for, he admits he won't push it unless the patient asks for it. He feels balding/thinning is part of life, and taking pills for cosmetic is a personal choice. He has not had one patient come back with side effects, and in his circles he said he has heard of side effects but nothing that was more than temporary that was simply resolved by ending the use of it.

 

[michel sapin]

so minoxidil worsen you hair?

 

[Cobbs]

so minoxidil worsen you hair?

The first time I used it, It seemed like it really pushed my hairline back. After adding Propecia it's working really well, my hair overall has thickened up and is regrowing on my crown. I did have a scary shed for the first month and a half.
The big 3 really compliment each other, in my case leaving one of them out really diminished my results. Minoxidil by itself seemed to do nothing or actually make things worse. After adding Propecia and Nizoral it's like night and day.

 

[michel sapin]

ok so this time you benefit from minoxidil ? this is not he propecia alone

 

[Zoro]

The first time I used it, It seemed like it really pushed my hairline back. After adding Propecia it's working really well, my hair overall has thickened up and is regrowing on my crown. I did have a scary shed for the first month and a half.
The big 3 really compliment each other, in my case leaving one of them out really diminished my results. Minoxidil by itself seemed to do nothing or actually make things worse. After adding Propecia and Nizoral it's like night and day.

Minoxidil doesn't seem to do anything for me other than shed vellus/thin hairs. I've tried it for 3 months or so before and the shedding wouldn't stop, giving it another good shot again and try to ride it out for 6-12 months and see what happens.

 

[Cobbs]

ok so this time you benefit from minoxidil ? this is not he propecia alone

It could be just the propecia, There is no way to tell since I started everything at the same time.
It's definitely getting better, besides the initial shed. There seemed to be a second shed midway through the 4th month as well.