Beach hair to beach ball

[blondguy]

FAMILY HISTORY:

Mom side:
No brothers, no uncles.
Maternal grandfather died with full head of hair.

Dad side:
Two brothers. One bald, one thinning, my Dad is 62 and just starting to develop a bald spot in the back of his head. Front its normal.
Paternal grandfather died with a full head of hair.

Two brothers- Older thinning hair N2- N3?

Twin (fraternal) - hair loss slightly better then mine.


Old Regimen: Propecia 1mg once a day.


Current Regimen: (last month):
dutasteride/finasteride- alternating each day.
Biotin- twice a day
Nizoral- Twice a week.


Questions:

1. Do you think I am balding quickly?
2. Any suggestions for my hair loss treatment?

My hair use to be really thick with a lot of fine blonde hairs. As a kid/teenager/college student I always got positive comments about my hair, even sometimes by strangers. It was something that I never got really obsessed about, (as someone who was quite shy, it actually was kinda annoying) but it was nice because it was a thing that could always give my young self confidence in social situations. Made it easy to talk to girls (even with a semi ugly face!) It was just an aspect of me that I really identified with, and honestly really liked.


So for me this hair loss thing really sucks not just because of the hair, and how people see me- but also because it feels like I am losing a small part of my identity.


This first picture is from when I was 24 (sorry for the negative effect, but its the best picture up close from this age) and is to give you an idea of my hair volume before hair loss.







I started first noticing hairs coming out in larger numbers when I was 26, but it wasn't enough to really make me think (or admit I was balding to myself). I had longer hair at the time and I attributed it to me just being able to notice them more. It wasn't until around my birthday (when I turned 27) that I could really notice the hair on the sides of the hairline had receded a little, then it was the corners of my hairline that I started to see recede.


I panicked and went to a dermo who put me on finasteride. in fall '11. Yet like an idiot I did not start taking finasteride until the end of Feb. '12 because I wanted to pretend none of it was happening.


Here is a picture from a few weeks after starting finasteride:









Here is a picture of me now:




Since starting finasteride I have gone through 2 major sheds where I lost a LOT of hair density. I get a lot of confused comments by friends about how “flat” my hair is starting to look.


Granted I have not had a lot of pure balding yet, but I am loosing and not seeing much gain.


Thats why a month ago I switched to the regimen I listed up top. Will keep you updated with things. I may soon add rogaine to the mix but still uncertain.

 

[antman]

Is your hair getting worse everywhere or just the front?


As for your treatment plan, it seems fine to me – I wouldn’t recommend minoxidil for you because most if it will get caught in your hair and not be absorbed.

It will be interesting to see if dutasteride can help with temple regrowth - I’ll be following this thread.

 

[blondguy]

For a long time it was only getting worse in the front. Then around June I started seeing more generalized thinning out of my volume, with a MAJOR shed all through August with it lessoning up after that but the lower level of shedding I am at now is more then before the big shed.

 

[antman]

I c - That sounds familiar - I hated watching my hair deteriate

higher dosages of finasteride/dutasteride although don't change overall DHT much they reduce scalp DHT more. So there's a chance dutasteride will be able to do what finasteride couldn't.

 

[blondguy]

Its been really frustrating, especially considering that when I first started this my hair loss was not noticeable, in fact my dermo was not even convinced I was losing my hair. When I asked her if it was safe to go on propecia she said "Some men go on propecia in case they ever start losing hair so they can stop it before it starts."

I was VERY on top of my hair loss yet it does not seem to matter! Frustrating does not even cover it! If I had been like most guys, I would have responded well to propecia and would not have seen any significant hair loss in the first place!


What is the difference between DHT and scalp DHT? (and how that effects hair loss?)

Any other advice?

 

[antman]

I not really sure, the study I read recorded serum DHT and scalp DHT. I think serum is overall and scalp is just in that location.

I''ve made the guess that the reason for the increase in hair count is from the extra scalp DHT being suppressed.

 

[LawOfThelema]

Your hair is still very good. I'm kinda jealous because I wear my hair similarly and it looks ratty as **** compared to your hair lol.

Whats good in your case is the temple does not seem "angled back" which makes the hair harder to style because you need to hide that gap from being exposed thru the fringe

If you can tolerate dutasteride you are probably set for life and will def not lose more hair. I've never seen a report of someone using dutasteride who lost ground while on dutasteride and adding dutasteride sometimes boosts peoples prior results.

Regarding scalp DHT serum dht: all DHT is produced in the tissues which includes, scalp, skin, prostate, and then it diffuses into the blood. Given that the enzyme concentrations that produce vary by tissues some have said its something of a paracrine hormone more than an endocrine (its not centrally produced or centrally regulated like test). The only DHT that really matters is the one being produced at the hair follicle in the scalp. But its easier to take a pill than to apply topicals for most which I am sure figured into them developing propecia into pill rather than making a lotion out of it. Plus the topical finasteride studies show mix results compared to orally.

Rogaine: I would not add it in your case. Maybe just in the hair line alone. Applying topicals throught the whole scalp is a pain in the ***. If you arent noticably thinnning thru the whole scalp just spot treat the temples / hair line.

 

[Kirby]

Since starting finasteride I have gone through 2 major sheds where I lost a LOT of hair density.

I've been on finasteride for one year, three weeks and I've had the same in my time using it. No rebound whatsoever, in fact my baseline was better than anything I've had since. However, I have been diagnosed with telogen effluvium due to stress by a dermatologist, which explains in part the diffuse hair loss and loss of density while on finasteride. Could that be a possibility in your situation? Anyway, I know how frustrating it can be fighting hairloss with finasteride.

 

[Armando Jose]

Its been really frustrating, especially considering that when I first started this my hair loss was not noticeable, in fact my dermo was not even convinced I was losing my hair. When I asked her if it was safe to go on propecia she said "Some men go on propecia in case they ever start losing hair so they can stop it before it starts."

I was VERY on top of my hair loss yet it does not seem to matter! Frustrating does not even cover it! If I had been like most guys, I would have responded well to propecia and would not have seen any significant hair loss in the first place!


What is the difference between DHT and scalp DHT? (and how that effects hair loss?)

Any other advice?

It seem that finas don`t go well in you, The big problem is that your dermo was not even convinced of alopecia in your case. Any medication that alters hormones in our body can cause hairloss....

 

[blondguy]

I have been diagnosed with telogen effluvium due to stress by a dermatologist, which explains in part the diffuse hair loss and loss of density while on finasteride. Could that be a possibility in your situation? Anyway, I know how frustrating it can be fighting hairloss with finasteride.

How exactly did your dermo diagnosis you with telogen effluvium? Is it unusual to lose hair volume in quick batches for male pattern baldness?

I am currently getting off dilantin- a medication which has a boat load of side effects one of which is hair loss. So that might be a component of my hair loss.

 

[BlackSheep]

Presumably a hair pull test (although this might not work with chronic tel effluv), most certainly a biopsy showing no follicle miniaturization and an appropriate number of follicles not in the "rest/dormant" phase.

Or it might have just been pattern recognition through Kirby's hair loss distribution (he's seen a lot of similar cases) combined with Kirby's history.

 

[Kirby]

^ all of that without the biopsy part (it was just a single appointment), yes.

 

[BlackSheep]

^ all of that without the biopsy part (it was just a single appointment), yes.

Glad to hear I'm right, but more pertinently Kirby, my friend;

1) Do you show any signs of hair regrowth?
2) Was it chronic or acute tel ef?

 

[Kirby]

No regrowth (yet) as far as I can tell. The doctor didn't state how bad the Telogen Effluvium, but it isn't chronic, probably not even acute.

 

[BlackSheep]

Hang in there mate, you'll get regrowth soon enough. So long as the causative factor (stress?) is no longer there.

As with all things hair related, it'll take some time.

 

[Benjamin36]

@blondguy Your situation sounds a lot like mine. I was prescribed finasteride because I noticed a spot on my crown, but I put off filling my prescription for about a year or so because I was worried about all of the horror stories I read on the Internet. Just a month or two after starting finasteride the front and midscalp area became thinner, so much so that the natural part in my hair is really noticeable.

 

[Kirby]

Hang in there mate, you'll get regrowth soon enough. So long as the causative factor (stress?) is no longer there.

As with all things hair related, it'll take some time.

Hey, thanks. I know it'll take time, unfortunately, patience is not one of my strengths. I''m less stressed at the moment - going over the timeline with with the dermatologist, it was like a stress feedback loop, as in discovered my early male pattern baldness caused me stress, which caused some degree of Telogen Effluvium, which made me stressed about finasteride and male pattern baldness, which caused more Telogen Effluvium... :freaked:

@blondguy, getting off Dilantin/Phenytoin might help, a quick Google search has revealed to me that hair loss is a known side -effect. has But not without medical supervision, of course. Good luck buddy!

 

[blondguy]

Hey, thanks. I know it'll take time, unfortunately, patience is not one of my strengths. I''m less stressed at the moment - going over the timeline with with the dermatologist, it was like a stress feedback loop, as in discovered my early male pattern baldness caused me stress, which caused some degree of Telogen Effluvium, which made me stressed about finasteride and male pattern baldness, which caused more Telogen Effluvium... :freaked:

@blondguy, getting off Dilantin/Phenytoin might help, a quick Google search has revealed to me that hair loss is a known side -effect. has But not without medical supervision, of course. Good luck buddy!

No worries, I am on a phase off plan with my Neuro. and switching to a new medication. Dilantin has been giving me memory problems anyway!