buddyblake's story - (age 21, new to all of this)

[buddyblake]

Hi! I have noticed myself goin bald, and don't really know much about the causes, or terms or what have you. I was browsing these boards a bit and thought I should introduce myself. My name is Blake, I live in Ohio, and I just recently turned 21 at the end of june. I'm starting OSU in the fall and a lady friend of mine who does hair for a living has confirmed my suspicions that I am starting to go bald, or at least lose hair. I guess I should post some pics of this...

Also I will confess that I am completely new at this and don't have a clue where to start!! I just googled rogaine and somehow found myself here heh.

Definitely have a patch right in the middle of the top of my forehead where the hair starts thats really thinning and don't know what to do, but i hate this the most, just because I like having short hair, but when i have short hair it really shows. Also, the whole top half of my hair seems thinner than it was in high school but the sides and back are still pretty thick.

The pictures were just taken real quick and other than that i don't know what to say. HELLO

 

[Obsidian]

Re: hello everyone

Yeah you're defientley losing ground in the front of the hairline. The good news the rest of the hair looks okay. Most people would suggest getting on "The Big 3" these are:

-Finasteride (also known as Propecia) you can get a generic version of this is money is a problem called proscar in which it is a 1.25mg pill you can cut up into fifths.
-Minoxidil (also known as rogaine) you can get it in the liquid or foam form whichever is up to you and apply either once or twice a day (once in the morning, once in the evening) to the areas hit with male pattern baldness.
-Nizoral 1 or 2% shampoo to keep your scalp/hair clean and it show only be used two/three times a week.


At the end the day do whatever you think is best but remember those above are the only proven treatments to help maintain and possibly regrow hair, Good luck!

 

[buddyblake]

Re: hello everyone

wait i should get all three of those?? i was thinking just one, like the rogaine cream or something, i've always been a little weird about putting stuff in my hair. I'm the kind of guy that grabs whatever is in the shower that says shampoo and uses it. I guess those days are over heh. Also are these all able to be bought at a normal store or do i need to go somewhere special for em?

And yes i'm very cheap about things, i'm a full-time college student so this might be tricky

 

[kadosh]

Re: hello everyone

using all three is your best chance .
you will need prescription for propecia . minoxidil you can just buy .

 

[Obsidian]

Re: hello everyone

wait i should get all three of those?? i was thinking just one, like the rogaine cream or something, i've always been a little weird about putting stuff in my hair. I'm the kind of guy that grabs whatever is in the shower that says shampoo and uses it. I guess those days are over heh. Also are these all able to be bought at a normal store or do i need to go somewhere special for em?

And yes i'm very cheap about things, i'm a full-time college student so this might be tricky

Finasteride if you want FDA version which is Propecia you will need a perscription but like said before if money is a problem, you can buy a generic version of it online at at places like unitedpharmacies. As far as Minoxidil goes, you can get a generic store version called Kirkland minoxidil in liquid form which is the same as rogaine and can be found at most supermarkets. I would not suggest using rogaine alone as it is not going to work long term as you have lost a lot of hair in the front and if you will continue to lose hair if you just use rogaine.

 

[buddyblake]

Re: hello everyone

thanks for the advice, i'll definitly pick these up. Just one other thing though, I heard using products like these are good and all, but if you stop using them at any time you will lose even more hair. Again I just heard this but maybe like all the hair the products were keeping in will fall out or something, i dunno. Regardless I probably want to stop the hairloss where it is before it gets much worse

 

[lovemyhair]

Re: hello everyone

buddyblake, you must keep using both finasteride and minoxidil, or hairloss will continue.

 

[Norsk]

Re: hello everyone

I think you can let the Rogaine wait for a while unless you're really desperate to regrow everything you can as fast as possible. Some reasons:

• Finasteride works for about 85% of the users. It slows down the balding process itself, so if you're going to use it at all, you'd better get on it as soon as possible.

• Rogaine only works for about 50 % of users if I recall correctly, and only gives a fixed regrowth (which has to be maintained with Rogaine forever).

• If you find out that you can't tolerate finasteride, you won't really need the Rogaine anyway imho, since you'll probably go bald fairly quickly anyway if you can't do anything about what causes the hair loss.

• By starting everything at once it will be harder to determine what is causing what if you're unlucky and get shedding that won't stop or side effects.

• Rogaine is more of a hassle than finasteride. It's recommended that you put it into your scalp twice daily. And after each application you're not supposed to get your hair wet for the next 4 hours. You may find it to be cosmetically unappealing, too, if you get it into your hair. It's more expensive, too (compared to proscar).

 

[ali777]

Re: hello everyone

The front of your hair looks like mine a bit...

I had a small response from minoxidil, but noting major yet. I'm hoping in a few months time the hairs that responded will thicken and grow more.

the twice daily application isn't that difficult once you get into a routine. Besides it's no harm if you miss an application here and there.

 

[lovemyhair]

Re: hello everyone

I second the idea of using proscar first, worked for some of my friends really well. Cheaper in the long run if your on one med.

 

[buddyblake]

Re: hello everyone

So i was looking on unitedpharmacies.com and there are tons of different off brands for proscar/propecia. Should i just blindly pick one, or pick the cheapest one heh. I don't know if you guys have a favorite you choose but i'm still a little nervous about trying all this stuff.

Also will any of these mess with my prostate in some way, cause they all seem to be medicine for prostate problems.

 

[H/B]

Re: hello everyone

So i was looking on unitedpharmacies.com and there are tons of different off brands for proscar/propecia. Should i just blindly pick one, or pick the cheapest one heh. I don't know if you guys have a favorite you choose but i'm still a little nervous about trying all this stuff.

Also will any of these mess with my prostate in some way, cause they all seem to be medicine for prostate problems.

Just get Dr Reddys finast and cut it into quarters. I have used it with good results.