Ali777's Story - (30 / fighting hair loss with health)

[ali777]

Here is my story,

Age: 30
Race: White
Hair colour: Brown - dark brown...
Location: Somewhere in the UK
6'0"
75kg (underweight for my frame)
Smoke: Yes
Alcohol: once every 3-4 months... Binge drinker till 2005-2006....

Obviously the reason for me being here is that I'm not happy with my hair. My frontal hair has been in a rather bad shape for the last year or so, maybe 2 years. I keep noticing that the hair on the top of my head doesn't grow as quick as the rest, and I started having more regular haircuts to get rid of the heavier sides....

In the last few weeks I started paying more attention to my hair, reading the forums, etc. The diagnosis is that I have very heavy minituarisation at the front. The first inch of my hairline has practically disappeared, and the next inch doesn't look very secure at the moment. I'm not sure if that's male pattern baldness or just me not treating my hair/body well.... Either way, most of my receding coincided with me being extremely stressed, losing weight, etc. In a way, my body has been properly stressed and abused. I'm not sure about male pattern baldness because my parents have healthy looking hair, but my uncles don't. So I may not be genetically programmed to lose so much hair at 30.

Anyway, I lost 20kg in 1.5 years. The first 10kg was intentional weight loss through sports, and healthy eating, but the second 10kg dropped like a brick mainly due to stress. I don't even remember how it happened. One morning I woke up and I was 10 kg lighter. Most of that was unhealthy muscle weight loss. So, my body has been deprived of all the necessary amino-acids, and other minerals. Not to mention all the arteries clogged with tar from smoking.

I'm thinking, if my body is happy, my hair will be happy too.... So from this friday or saturday I start a new lifestyle, and I have three main targets:
1. Strengthen the thin and minituarised hair. I need some regrowth too.
2. make sure I have normal DHT levels to prevent further hair loss
3. ensure blood circulation to feed the existing hair

The path I'm taking is:

1. Reinforcements: minoxidil + Revita shampoo.... I will give it a go for three months and see if it helps. I was gonna go for Nizoral but someone told me revita is more complete, it has more ingredients.

2+3. Hormones and blood circulation: No finasteride... I'm gonna go this through healthy body, healthy hair route. I'm gonna quit smoking and start jogging 4-5 miles 3 times a week (I used to do 6 miles in 2006). In the diet side, I consume enough protein but my diet is still not balanced enough. I'm gonna make more effort to eat better, i'll also use multivitamin+minerals supplements on top of it.

Basically, I'm hoping that lifestyle changes will regulate my hormone levels and provide better and richer blood supply to my hair follicles. If I manage to rescue some of my miniaturised hair follicles before they die, that would be a real bonus.

I'm gonna go with minoxidil and revita for the frist three months, and see how I react to it. I'm also thinking of visiting a specialist at one point.

I will keep you posted with pic updates.

 

[Norsk]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

Not going to work. Enjoy your horseshoe.

 

[ITNEVERRAINS]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

Are you going to change your genetic makeup? If not, predetermined hairloss from genetic makeup will still occur. But I congratulate you on doing everything else, you'll be amazed at how much better you will feel.

 

[Hubert Gruber]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

You are not underweight.

 

[ali777]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

You are not underweight.

No, I'm not exactly underweight. I have a large frame, so I need more muscle weight. I was 72kg last year, so 75kg is an improvement.

Not going to work. Enjoy your horseshoe.

Thanks, i'll try to enjoy it

Are you going to change your genetic makeup? If not, predetermined hairloss from genetic makeup will still occur. But I congratulate you on doing everything else, you'll be amazed at how much better you will feel.

Well.. I'll give it a go for now. I will see a specialist at one point, if they tell me to take finasteride, i will take it. But I'll change my lifestyle first and do the external stuff before I start taking pills.

 

[thinninglatino80]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

i've been working out 3x a week for the past 3 years and running 2 days a week for the past year.

Guess what, my top is still slowly thinning. Didn't reverse it, didn't stop it.

Denial (gotta say it phonetically for the joke to work) isn't just an river in Egypt.

 

[Failing Follicles]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

My mate's a recently-reformed alcoholic, same age as you. He was pickled for ten years and chainsmokes heavy Marlboros. He would go without eating for, quite literally, a week at a time, surviving off booze. He used to be a head on a skeleton and has never done a minute's exercise in his life. He has the glossiest, thickest hair I've ever seen.

So there you go. Hairloss is nearly always the result of genetic predisposition and although an unhealthy lifestyle may exarcebate things, if you're gonna go you're gonna go (unless you take drugs etc to stop it which may or may not work).

 

[metalheaddude]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

My mate's a recently-reformed alcoholic, same age as you. He was pickled for ten years and chainsmokes heavy Marlboros. He would go without eating for, quite literally, a week at a time, surviving off booze. He used to be a head on a skeleton and has never done a minute's exercise in his life. He has the glossiest, thickest hair I've ever seen.

So there you go. Hairloss is nearly always the result of genetic predisposition and although an unhealthy lifestyle may exarcebate things, if you're gonna go you're gonna go (unless you take drugs etc to stop it which may or may not work).

:agree:

But a guy like that also has NO male pattern baldness genes. Just like Mick Jagger, amazing hair for such a life of abuse. They will never bald no matter what lifestyle they live because ALL of their hair is DHT resistant.

But consider someone whose follicles does have a mild reaction to DHT, if he lives a poor lifestyle he may bald to a NW3 when he would of only balded to a NW2 if he lived a good lifestyle.

It does happen.

 

[Failing Follicles]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

er yeah that's what I said...

 

[ali777]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

:agree:

But a guy like that also has NO male pattern baldness genes. Just like Mick Jagger, amazing hair for such a life of abuse. They will never bald no matter what lifestyle they live because ALL of their hair is DHT resistant.

But consider someone whose follicles does have a mild reaction to DHT, if he lives a poor lifestyle he may bald to a NW3 when he would of only balded to a NW2 if he lived a good lifestyle.

It does happen.

That's my point, I haven't done my body or hair any favours in the last 2 years (although I don't really consume alcohol). As I said, my dad has extremely healthy looking hair even at 65. My brother and I have naturally high lines, but I do think my minituarisation is half my genes and half my lifestyle. I could slow the hairloss down to a certain degree with a better lifestyle.

Don't get me wrong, I've never been alcoholic but I used to have big nights out :innocent: and all the calories from the alcohol were obvious to see in my belly. I also used to play football in a summer league, and the weight was causing me all sorts of injuries. My ankles couldn't carry my weight and one summer I sprained both my ankles. So I got off my back side and started a weight loss regime, I was pretty fit at one point.

Then it all went wrong, the stress of a career+broken relationship absolutely messed me up, that's when I dropped far too much weight and my hair went haywire :freaked: . All my close friends told me I should put on some weight. Most of my stress is still present, but I manage it. Now I need to manage my body and hair.

I only wish I listened to my mother when I was younger she always told me I should get a proper career before I get involved in a long term relationship... Handling stress from two fronts is a hard job :woot:

 

[ITNEVERRAINS]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

i am literally the only bald guy on either side of my family, aside from my great grandfather. 5 uncles (3 on dad, 2 on mom) 8 cousins (1 on dad, 7 on mom) and one brother. All NW2 or better. Talk about the short end of the stick.

I don't think finasteride or minoxidil change your genetic coding, they simply f#$% with it and succeed about 40-50 percent of the time, as long as you keep up the usage. And then of those lucky few, some will develop a tolerance to the meds over time and its effects will become less and less. Then your back where you started, minus the $50-75 a month for x number of months/years on meds.

 

[metalheaddude]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

i some will develop a tolerance to the meds over time and its effects will become less and less. .

Nah you don't develop a tolerance to the meds, it will always do its job of elimating most of the DHT (this will never change) what seems to change over time is our follicles sensetivity to DHT. So basically our follicles become more sensetive to DHT so even small amounts that propecia doesn't block gets through and continues to cause miniturization. So the balding process continues.

 

[ali777]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

What the heck, I'll get on the finasteride too...

Everything is good so far. Dragged my a** out of the house and started jogging again, stepped up my resistance training, etc. I haven't quit smoking yet, but I'll work on this at one point. I'm mentally preparing myself for the struggle of nicotine withdrawal. I really need to divert the cost of smoking into hairloss treatment :dunno:

I just need to visit a professional and get an OK to start using finasteride. I'm gonna go all the way for 3-4 months, and see if I react to treatment. I wasn't sure about finasteride, but I'm in generally good shape with high sex drive, my body usually reacts well to medicine, I have no known allergies, etc. So, I don't expect any noticeable side effects.

However, I've started using Revita and minoxidil.

My first reaction of Revita is that it's a nice shampoo. Smells nice, and feels powerful. It says in the booklet that it starts working after the first wash. My hair does feel different, not necessarily stronger, but it's doing something. I admit a shampoo on its own will not give me hair, but it might be doing what it's supposed to do.

I haven't used minoxidil long enough to make a comment, but my first reaction is that I hate the twice daily application of it. I don't want to be constantly thinking about my hair, and I hope I don't get fed up of it.

I took the pics, prepared a spreadsheet to keep track of what I'm doing/taking, etc. I'm all set and ready for this....

I will file a proper report in 3 months.

 

[ali777]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

Quick update.

I tried finasteride for a week, but I quit. I know sides are supposed to go away and persistence is the key, but now is not the right time to wait and hope. I might try it again later on.

The sides I had were testicular pain, and lack of motivation. For me the lack of motivation was the real killer.

finasteride actually made me feel extremely calm, and care free. I didn't get the brain fog, in contrary my brain was clear and relaxed. The problem is i couldn't be bothered to think and get any work done. At this point in time, I need every single ounce of aggression and edge I can get from my brain. So, being too relaxed is out of question. If I wanted a stress reducing medicine, finasteride would do it for me. The whole week I was on the finasteride I felt like I was on holiday, that's how relaxed it made me.

Yesterday I took Saw Palmetto supplement instead of finasteride, funny enough it gave me testicular pain as well. I'm relatively healthy, and I am not aware of any allergies I might have, but Saw Palmetto made me itch a bit. It was nothing unbearable, but I think I might have had an allergic reaction to it. I'm not gonna take it again.

So, for the time being it's only minoxidil and revita for me. It's been only 10-11 days, but I feel like minoxidil might be working in my left temple. I know I am not supposed to check my hair everyday, but how do you manage not look at your hair everyday while applying minoxidil?

I consider my diet to be healthy and balanced at the moment. I haven't managed to get into a regular jogging routine, but I'm getting there.

 

[Jojje]

Re: ali777's story - (age 30, fighting hair loss with health)

any pictures of youre situation ?

 

[RP3X]

Re: ali777's story - (age 30, fighting hair loss with health)

any pictures of youre situation ?

yep pics would be great

I know for us indian guys even with black hair its even worser with hair loss tbh its plain worser for any guy lol

 

[ali777]

I haven't taken any pictures for a very long time

I can tell you that there hasn't been any "noticeable" change in my hair since I started posting here. I feel like my hair is stronger and my male pattern baldness isn't progressing very aggressively or at all.

I think making subtle changes has helped me. I'm still sort of stressed with my work, but I handle the stress much better. I've also put on a few kg of muscle weight. Although, I've had a reasonable diet for a long time, my problem is that I don't eat enough when I'm stressed.

I'm just trying to be content and at peace with things. I use Alpecin shampoo, nizoral shampoo, hair&nail vitamin and mineral supplements. That's pretty much it...

I tried both minoxidil and finasteride, but I hate them. finasteride makes me feel very strange, and minoxidil gives me bloated face and dark circles around my eyes.

 

[Jokerman]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

I tried finasteride for a week, but I quit.

finasteride actually made me feel extremely calm, and care free. I didn't get the brain fog, in contrary my brain was clear and relaxed. The problem is i couldn't be bothered to think and get any work done. At this point in time, I need every single ounce of aggression and edge I can get from my brain. So, being too relaxed is out of question. If I wanted a stress reducing medicine, finasteride would do it for me. The whole week I was on the finasteride I felt like I was on holiday, that's how relaxed it made me.

The exact same thing happened to me when I first began finasteride - I felt incredibly calm and relaxed like I was on Valium or something. That didn't last long at all though. If you ever decide to give it another go know that the "calm" side is only temporary.

 

[ali777]

Re: Let's see if healthy body means healthy hair...

I tried finasteride for a week, but I quit.

finasteride actually made me feel extremely calm, and care free. I didn't get the brain fog, in contrary my brain was clear and relaxed. The problem is i couldn't be bothered to think and get any work done. At this point in time, I need every single ounce of aggression and edge I can get from my brain. So, being too relaxed is out of question. If I wanted a stress reducing medicine, finasteride would do it for me. The whole week I was on the finasteride I felt like I was on holiday, that's how relaxed it made me.

The exact same thing happened to me when I first began finasteride - I felt incredibly calm and relaxed like I was on Valium or something. That didn't last long at all though. If you ever decide to give it another go know that the "calm" side is only temporary.

I've tried finasteride twice and gave it a month at a time. I experimented with different doses, etc... I know all the sides are supposed to be temporary and they should go away after a few weeks, but in my experience after a month or so I just wanted that thing out of my body.

I don't think I will ever try it again. finasteride isn't for me. I put up with it for a month, and that's about all I could take.