brentx's story (SUCCESS!)

[brentx]

G'day all and welcome to my SUCCESS STORY!

To me, "success" means that I no longer spend hours thinking about my hair, I'm extremely confident in the way I look, and I even get comments from girls about my "funny, but cool" style.. Hmm..

To make things more interesting..

The Situation - Masses of male pattern baldness on both sides, and NONE of my male relatives have full heads of hair. Naturally, I thought I was f*cked when I started receding at 16/17, and then thinning diffusely at 19/20. It didn't really start effecting my once massive ego until about 21, when I got my hair cut short. BIG MISTAKE! I almost died when I could see my scalp through my hair, and soon my friends started to comment! I got quite depressed about it, and I am sure I was much less physically attractive to women with my noticeable noggin.. Skinny + Balding = NOT HOT!

The Battle Begins - After freaking out and becoming extremely devastated about the situation, I started popping Finasteride in the form of quartered Fincar pills (1.25mg/day). I used Nizoral a lot, at first every day, and as time went by down to once a week. After a few months I saw some improvements, but nothing amazing that stopped me from thinking about it 24/7.

Starting To Look Up - After about 1 year everything was getting much better. I could basically hide my thinning scalp, and I stopped worrying less. I started to get girls again, and my confidence came back a little. Finasteride was doing the job! I started getting excited and added Alpecin C1 Caffeine Shampoo to my regime. It was 2 days Alpecin, 1 day Nizoral 2% for about 3 months, and things really started going smoothly then! I swear that my temples started sprouting new hairs, and my hairline overall was starting to look more like a "mature hairline".. OK, make the a "very mature hairline", but still! I'm still not sure if this was due to the Alpecin, but it was definitely good timing if it wasn't.

Enemy At Bay - Now my hair is great. The top has thickened and my temples gotten a little better. I wear it in some kind of messy surfer look, which is basically all I can do with it. I love it. Many girls love it. Usually guys think I look "messy" and "like a clown", but I'm putting that down to merely being a "scruffy" Aussie in "suave" Europe. They JUST don't get it! I don't lose many hairs in the shower or on my pillow any more, and I can say that my hairline is still SLOWLY getting better and better!

Costs Of The War - No side effects that I've noticed. No tits. My dick works great, but sometimes if I get with a really hot Euro robobabe I get nervous and it doesn't work as well as it should, but I can't blame that on finasteride!

Weaponry - Like I said earlier, my results have been mainly from finasteride at 1.25mg/day, Nizoral 2% when I can be bothered, I had a phase with Alpecin, and I've also started exercising, eating better, and generally just living a healthier life!

Photos

Go to this thread for PICS!

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=48097&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

 

[person_123]

It's good that you seem so positive about everything. Judging by your post, I get the impression you have a carefree attitude about it. Sure, you care, but you don't care to the point where you're horribly upset about it.

Goodluck on all your treatments, I think the top of my head is similar to yours, I'm not certain because the hair length and everything may be different.

All the best.

 

[brentx]

Haha! Well, I do my best to stay positive, but really I'm scared out of my wits with this! I've definately been depressed about it lately, but now that I'm doing something about it I feel better! And damn I've had this sort of hairline for years now, and I can say that I've done very well with everything from good looking girls, to jobs, to being able to walk around in public with the wind exposing my lovely recession, haha!

The way I think of it, hair is part of who we are. It's like the colour of someones eyes, or the shape of their nose.. When it starts to disappear, we start to freak out that we're changing.. It's scary, especially if you're not even 21 yet like me! I have these visions of losing all confidence with girls from now until forever! And also thinking about getting sunburn on my head, and having to wear hats, etc..

All this stuff is pure psycological if you think about it, it's weird.. I think I'll have to accept baldness eventually, because I'm not going to take this pill forever! Perhaps something amazing will come out in 5 to 10 years, and maybe it'll help us all!

In the mean time, smile, talk with passion (eg STEVE IRWIN!), be confident, stand up straight, and get on with a happy life!

Ahem.. Now I feel like some kind of motivational speaker.. For myself..

 

[Stu85]

I completely empathise. I'm 21 too, and my hair seems to be in a similar state to yours, though I'm pretty indignant about the fact that nobody in my family has started losing hair as young as me. :-x

Your attitude is good. Mine ain't. I'm pretty f*****g pissed off about losing my hair, and I do feel like it's hurting my confidence. I think mine only looks it good when it's longish.

And you say you liked your receeding hairline? You strange fellow you!

Anyway, best of luck!

 

[BALD IS BEAUTIFUL]

It is always hard to accept baldness.Anyway nice to hear you.Like your attitude haha...Keep your hope alive and ride on big 3.Hope the best for you haha...

 

[brentx]

Seriously, my attitude is good, but as I said I'm still scared sh*tless about it! I'm just putting on a mask of confidence, haha! The longer you say to yourself it's ok, the quicker you actually start believing it. And I find it totally embarrassing that I'm so weak and emotional about some f*cking hair on the top of my skinny little head! All these girls liked me for that.!? Hmmm...

Yeah, mine only really looks good when it's long, and I'm in the process of growing it now.. I always had it long, and I think this is the rason I didn't quite notice this latest recession until I had a haircut (the haircut of knowledge)..

Yeah, my receeding hairline makes me look older! Gave me a better chance of being able to kiss older women, haha! ;-)

Cheers everyone for the support, and good luck to you too!

 

[BALD IS BEAUTIFUL]

Just went through your site,It is very well managed.Keep the spirit up. Very few people here shows flourishing attitude like yours.

 

[Lorenzo_91]

Brent Post more pics but I would not use minoxidil just yet. You are young, hair is not that bad and you just stated Propecia. I think your hair will come back without having it hooked on minoxidil. You have a great chance a good regrowth.

I have about the same pattern as you. Have used minoxidil in the past, wished I didn't. Lately applied the foam a couple times, freaked out and washed it out.

If you do go for it, just do the temples. Even there I would wait 9-12 months to see what Propecia does for you.

Edit: I would not say you are a diffuse thiner, just Vertex and temples with male pattern baldness patter. You are lucky. Take Propecia on empty stomach.
Actually do you temples with Foam if they really bother you they will come back also. finasteride will take care of your vertex.

 

[brentx]

Brent Post more pics but I would not use minoxidil just yet. You are young, hair is not that bad and you just stated Propecia. I think your hair will come back without having it hooked on minoxidil. You have a great chance a good regrowth.

I have about the same pattern as you. Have used minoxidil in the past, wished I didn't. Lately applied the foam a couple times, freaked out and washed it out.

If you do go for it, just do the temples. Even there I would wait 9-12 months to see what Propecia does for you.

Edit: I would not say you are a diffuse thiner, just Vertex and temples with male pattern baldness patter. You are lucky. Take Propecia on empty stomach.
Actually do you temples with Foam if they really bother you they will come back also. finasteride will take care of your vertex.

Damn.. Thanks for the heads up mate! Yeah I was thinking about this whole minoxidil thing, and perhaps I shouldn't use it since it causes severe shedding. I think I'll just use it on my temples and see how I go, though it would be nice to thicken my existing hair up.. Maybe finasteride by itself could help there? I've heard some people have pretty good results with finasteride alone when it comes to regrowth.. Hmm..

As for more pics.. I'll post some "wet" ones soon.. I am actually pretty sure I'm a diffuse thinner (thinning all over the top), just when it's dry and freshly washed (like in the photos) you can't see.. With a bit of light you can definately see!

Well.. Thanks again for the help, I think I've made my decision.. I'll use it only for my temples and see how I go! Your progress looks great by the way!

 

[brentx]

ONE MONTH UPDATE!!! *..and some advice..*

Howdy all!

Well, as hard as it's been, I'm feeling WAAAAY better about my hair

Before anyone posts back and starts telling me things like "it's only been 1 month idiot!" I would like to say taht I "feel" better about my hair mainly because it's grown longer, which basically covers my thinning and recession.. Not all, but mostly.. Actually, I always had my hair long in high school, so maybe this will make me look younger! God I had the shortest haircut EVER a month ago that made me look terrible!

I'd like to offer this peice of advice to anyone suffering from the early stages of baldness like me.. GROW IT LONGER! Long is is 1) pretty much in fashion, 2) a great concealer of thinning, although it can make it more obvious if it is too thin, 3) GREAT fun to style, and 4) makes you look like a new man if you haven't tried it before! Really, I must say that different hairstyles and lengths can REALLY change the way you look. I guess that's why bladness is so f*cking scary!

Anyway, I'd like to add that I've had few side-effects if any.. I thought I was getting mood swings, and temporary impotence, but.. I found that this was only happening when I was thinking about it! If I whack on a porno and forget about finasteride, then BOOM, up the little fella goes.. Well, not THAT little just average, but that's too much info! As for the mood swings, they've gone.. I guess I was just stressed about my travel plans (3 weeks until I fly away to Europe!), and my shitty job (car detailer working with a bunch of bogans!)..

On a final note - and possibly the most important, I've definately noticed some new growth, and some of the existing hairs growing longer and longer! YAY! Along my hairline there the short hairs are growing much longer (the MSM may have given them a boost), AND the most exciting.. NEW terminal hairs that were not there before! My guess is they were hairs that had fallen out a little while ago, and they may have been struggling to "get out" and with the reduced DHT and increased Sulphur, they popped out and grew, instead of continuing down the miniturisation cycle! Well, that's just a guess, but I've definately got new short hairs growing on the hairline (one even about half a centremetre down from the hairline!), which would indicate that my temples MAY fill in a little in time, and hopefully it means that new hairs are coming out on top of my head too to make it more dense..

As for photos.. Hmmm.. I really couldn't be bothered, and it's not like there is a BIG noticable difference yet.. Just some small things happening that if continue will make my hair look MUCH better in 2 or 3 more months It's amazing, they say finasteride takes 3 months to notice a difference in good responders, and that's they way I'm heading.. Fingers crossed!

Oh yeah, and maybe I shed a little bit more than usual this month, though I'm really not sure, might just be from longer hair being more noticable when it falls out :-s

Ciao! Next month I'll be posting from Germany!

 

[brentx]

3 MONTHS!

A bit late.!

Now, I was just back here having a browse and I realise that I haven't updated in a while! I've been in Germany seeing some friends, and now I'm in lovely cold London!

Now, it's almost been three months now on finasteride and nizoral alone.. A few things to take note of:

1) My temples are looking WAY better than before, with new vellus, and even a few nice terminal hairs popping up! Serious! Honestly, I feel like they've gotten noticeably better! I don't know if I feel confident about them improving much more, but yeah I'm happy, and I wasn't expecting this much improvement!

2) I've noticed a boosted sex drive.. Now, before anyone says anything, I'm pretty sure that this "boost" is actually me returning to normal after quite a fall. I'm not going to lie to myself, I've never gone so long without masturbating in my life, which is an obvious sign that either physically or mentally, my sex drive has been lower than ever before.. I'm horny as hell in the last few weeks though!

3) I've been shedding like a motherf*cker in the last month! It's really been scary, but I still don't see a noticeable loss on my head. If anything, it seems better! I've been losing 80% short thin hairs, so maybe this means the thicker ones are firmly planted? Anyway, I'm hoping that the ones I've lost will return thicker and healthier in the next few months, and not shorter and even more pathetic!

4) I've grown my hair longer, just getting the back and sides trimmed every now and then. I'm to the point where I can pretty much hide my hairline, though it still looks "mature" and obviously "receding" when the wind blows. This has been a problem since 16..

5) I'm banged three European babes in the last month.. Well, one was kinda "cuddly", but had an awesome face, and I like cuddly girls anyway ;-p

So, I feel like I'm more than half way to the level of success that I realistically have hoped for. A bit more thickness on top is all I really want now. I can live VERY comfortably with my current hairline if it just thickened up a little more

 

[giles890]

hahhahah cuddly, thats funny as fck!

 

[flimflam]

ohhhh yeah cuddly works well for me too

welcome to london! doing a tour of europe or something?

hair situation sounds good, being positive helps!

 

[brentx]

Haha, yeah well she wasn't THAT cuddly, but yeah.. Cuddlier..

Yeah London is great apart from the weather! I'll be here for about 4 months I think. Good times coming I hope. Need a job, haha!

 

[AussieSpirit]

What can I say brentx....you sound like a top bloke! Congrats on your progress mate, good to see a fellow Aussie on this forum as I'm only a newbie. One question, where did you get your MSM whilst you were still in Oz? Just a regular health/vitamin shop? Cheers mate.

PS. Keep running a muck in Europe!

 

[brentx]

Haha, yeah well I'm slowing down here in London.. I think it's a good thing!

EBAY! Cheap EVERYTHING! MSM rocks, but I swear it tastes like balls..

You REALLY need to stick with finasteride for a while I think.. I'm still shedding like a cat! Still, it's weird because my hair looks 20 times better! Hmm..

 

[RaginDemon]

when your hair is thin and you leave it long, it just wont look right. I guess the density of your hair is still good. I look MUCH better with short hair than long hair. With short hair, my hair looks a lot thicker.

 

[bold]

so.. got any new pics of the temples?

 

[RaginDemon]

Haha, yeah well I'm slowing down here in London.. I think it's a good thing!

EBAY! Cheap EVERYTHING! MSM rocks, but I swear it tastes like balls..

You REALLY need to stick with finasteride for a while I think.. I'm still shedding like a cat! Still, it's weird because my hair looks 20 times better! Hmm..

MSN only makes your hair grow faster... I tried it, it makes my hair grow super fast, but the texture didnt change much.

 

[brentx]

update on page 1

God, it's been so long since I posted! Still, things are going well, pics coming soon, this afternoon I hope.