Canuck2001's Story - (32 / Diffuse Loss on Scalp)

[Canuck2001]

So just a quick update for Month 5:

- I think my hair started to stabilize after the finasteride and I got the last of the minoxidil out of my system since the shedding has decreased a bit. Seeing a mix of thick and thin hairs in the morning.

- I was on 0.5 mg finasteride daily until the end of October and have since switched to 0.25 mg finasteride since I feel better on it. I might go back to 0.5 mg if I noticed my hair coming out again. Using nizoral 3 times per week.

- I think my crown may have filled in a little [I'll post some pics later] but the rest of my head is still a little thinner then when I started my battle back in July, don't know if it will ever get back to that level. It looks okay and unless you knew I had uber thick hair as late as feb it isn't that noticeable.

I'm still battling away at this and hoping for the best. I was in town today and I saw one guy who had pretty advance diffuse thinning (no bald spot, but just really thin on the top and heavy on the sides) I'm hoping that I won't get to that point for a bit and if I do I'll be shaving it down.

Thoughts/Comments? I'll work on posting some pics later.

Best of luck to everybody else out there!

 

[Canuck2001]

Well here are the pics after my last haircut. Not sure if I'm really seeing any real improvement here - I'm hoping that things are at least not getting substantially worse.

Would appreciate to hear back from you guys if you have any comments

All pictures are towel dry, without flash and no product in my hair.

 

[Canuck2001]

Hoping that you guys can provide some answers/feedback - I've started to notice a bunch of really thin wispy hairs in my hands the morning when I shower - does this mean that the finasteride is doing its job and I'm just going through another finasteride Shed or should I be worried?

I actually think that my hair looks a little thinner now then when I got my haircut at the beginning of the month (but I could just be stressing over it).

Do you typically go through 2 sheds with finasteride?

 

[Canuck2001]

Hey everybody,

Well I'm definitely going through another shed now (thick & thin hairs in the shower, hairs during the day when I'm at work) - the question is this a sign that things are getting better or is it a sign that things are just getting worse. I've also noticed that my head is a little itchier these days (again hoping that means growth) - I continue to use the nizoral and mix it up with T-Gel every so often.

I'm still on 0.25 mg of finasteride daily - however I'm just wondering if I should go back to 0.5 mg daily or mix it up (S, T, Th - 0.5, M, W, F, S - 0.25).

I went to take some pictures of my hair - but at its current length you can't see anything different unless it is wet or I use a flash. The bigger issue (which you won't see on a pic) is the loss in volume that I've had over the last 3 weeks - the hair just feels limp.

I was out with some friends last night and one of the guys (who has got perfect hair) asked if he referred to the guy going gray who would he mean (which is our other buddy who was there and started to go gray at 27 but has a perfect head of hair) and the guy going bald who would he mean.

I paused for a moment - since he could have been referring to me, but he was referring to our other buddy who was a diffuse thinner like me and is no essentially NW6 (and was a pretty good sport about the comment and just called my buddy a jackass).

I'm dreading more moments like that (especially if my loss doesn't slow down). This is what causes me the most anxiety these days (though not as bad as back in June/July).

I'm hoping that you'll give me some feedback - it is always appreciated.

Canuck2001

PS - Yes I know some of you may think I should ditch my friend - but he's an alright guy and the amount of jokes we've had the expense of his love life makes up for it at times

 

[Canuck2001]

Re: Canuck2001's Story - (32 / Diffuse Loss) - 6mths

I'm a little surprised that nobody has posted any comments or suggestions to any of my recent posts - I'm just like everybody else here and looking for some assistance and support and hope that you'll help out.

For those of you who have gone through the 6 month shed on finasteride - how bad does it get? I know that things are supposed to get worse before they get better - but I've lost a lot of hairs over the last two weeks and I'm back up to seeing 15 to 20 hairs in the shower again. The last week has been really really bad and almost feels like a giant step backwards.

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to my loss right now - I'm losing from the top and the sides, thick, thin and wispy, some with bulbs some without.

I'm just on nizoral & finasteride - but if this isn't maintaining then what good is minoxidil going to do now? I've seen some great results - but it seems like most people are on 1 - 1.25 mg of finasteride which I can't take based on how it impacts my body.

Given the stress that it is causing me - I'm debating whether or not to get my haircut next week. My hair looks worse then it did 2 weeks ago and the crown which had been looking good looks really bad right now.

Hope to hear back from you guys ...

 

[Canuck2001]

Re: Canuck2001's Story - (32 / Diffuse Pattern Loss) - Month 6

Month 6 Update ....

My current program:
- finasteride - 0.25 mg daily, with 0.5 mg dose on Sunday & Wednesday
- nizoral - three times a week (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday)
- Min - not applying any min

My results:
- Hair is getting thinner and lighter, it just doesn't have the same volume it had 2 months ago. Since it is diffuse it is still not very noticeable, but its only a matter of time now
- The shedding continues (6 to 10 in the shower, a couple more on the floor after I dry my hair and stuff). Shed is from all over the head (long & short hairs) so not sure what is going on there
- Minimal finasteride side effects - I'm not 100%, but I'm nowhere close to as bad as when I was with 0.5 & 1 mg of finasteride daily
- Stress & Anxiety Level - manageable for the time being
- On a positive note I've managed to drop 30 pounds and feel better then I've ever felt in a long time.

Questions & Next Steps - This is where I'm hoping you all will be able to help out.
- Given the lower dose that I'm taking should I expect it to take longer then normal for the shed to stop or is it just not working?

- Would adding minoxidil at this point in time help given that the finasteride doesn't seem to be slowing down my loss. I'm going to go to my MD to get a refill for my finasteride & I'll be asking him to give me a Rx for MIN Foam

- I'm planning to re-assess my situation in Jan - if the lower doses of finasteride aren't working then it might just be better for me to drop it and enjoy life without it.

- Any other comments, recommendations and/or suggestions? I'll post some pics later this week.

Happy Holidays to all!

 

[123000123]

There's really not much anyone can say. You need to give finasteride 12 months to give it a chance to work. After 12 months you can reassess and if your hair is the same or better, then it's working.

0.25mg decreases DHT by only slightly less than 1mg. However, it will also only decrease the chance of getting "sides" by slightly less than if you were on 1mg. 1mg was chosen as the most effective dose, therefore you should be taking that dosage if possible. I think it's safe to say if you were getting sides at 1mg then you'll be getting sides at 0.25mg, since they decrease DHT by a similar amount. However, whatever dose you take, I would recommend keeping that dose and stop changing it around!

I think your current regime is complicating things and not helping, as you want to keep your hormones as stable as possible.

Regarding side effects, maybe look at taking 50mg zinc daily (get a high quality one). It acts as an aromatase inhibitor so it will shift your test:est ratio back in favor of test.

I think your hair looks good. I'd be happy with your hair at 32. Stop stressing and hit the gym hard! Forget about this website and others, and come back in 6 months time. Good luck.

 

[vjon]

Honestly man, your hair looks better than a lot of guys out there...mine included. I would say continue on with the treatments, but if you continue to see hairloss after several more months it may be time to throw in the towel. Your hairloss (based on your pics and story) seems to be like mine was. I was more of a diffuse thinner, with slight temporal recession and a thinning crown until after maybe 2 years or so and then the entire top started to fall out at the same time. Once I realized (after a couple years of being on the treatments) that I was still losing tons of hair I just finally quit the treatments and let nature take it's couse. Maybe 6 months to a year ago I finally lost the rest of my hair on top, do now I offically have the tightly buzzed "halo" look. I've tried lather shaving the "ring" of hair that I can still grow on the sides/back, but the "halo" is still sooo apparent because, like you my hair (remaining hair) is very very dark. So, in an effort to just say myself time and effort I quit lather shaving and instead just tightly buzz my "halo" every couple of days and move on with life. Being young and bald or balding, does suck...no lie, but eventually you get somewhat used to it and so do the people around you. Your friends WILL blow you crap about it, make jokes, rub your shiny, bald head in front of others etc...but it's just what guys do Anyway, I hope you don't get to that point, but if you..it's ok. The world keeps on turning and your not destined to a life of loneliness etc....just because now you're a bald guy.
Jon

PS you said you have a friend who is already bald...Norwood 6 or 7....how long has be been bald? Do you know how he feels about it? What is his dating life like?

 

[Canuck2001]

@vjon - Sorry to hear that things didn't work out for you with your hair loss battle. If I was only worried about my hair I would be taking the full 1 mg of finasteride and living with the side effects - but I want to enjoy my life.

I would say that one group of my friends started around 25/26 - and they were dating the women who are now their wives. Obviously none of them were happy about losing their hair - but they just cut it short and have made the best of the situation. The second group (which would include me) started to lose in their early 30's and are making the best of the situation.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to keep things at a reasonable level, but if it gets too bad I'll probably look to take it down with a razor. I personally don't like the halo or horseshoe look on the scalp. Depending where I am a couple years from now I might also look into an hair transplant. Some of my friends are using the CONAIR CLEANHEAD shaver daily and like the results they get from it.

@123000123 - Thanks for your response as I stated earlier 1 mg of finasteride gives me really bad side effects hence the reason I can't take a full dose. I found that on 0.5 it wasn't as bad but still noticeable hence the reason I was trying 0.25. I stopped the MIN because I just wanted to maintain when it was a lot thicker - I really wish I never had ever used it.

I know that finasteride can take up to 1 year - but I would have expected to see a slow down in the shed and/or some visible improvement by now. As you can see from the pics there has been a constant decline in the density and thickness. You mentioned that my current regime is probably complicating things - would you recommend just doing 0.25 mg and leaving at that? You are probably right about just keeping to the one program and letting things be.

I'll look into adding some Zinc to my diet or a really good multivitamin. I'm just going to keep hitting the gym and watching my diet. If I'm going to be bald - there is no reason to be fat and bald.

I'll avoid posting 3 times per month to the boards - it is probably best that I just let things be and go from there.

 

[Canuck2001]

Jan/Feb Update:

Happy New Year to everybody. I was going to hold off on posting for a little bit longer - but things seem to be getting drastically worse and I wanted to get your feedback.

Current Situation:
- Continue to see a significant decrease in hair quality and volume. I've not a large increase in ultra waify & vellous hairs in the morning since the beginning of Dec. I would said that my hair volume is about 1/4 of what it was last January - I can see my scalp now under lights on a regular basis.
- Thanks to an improved diet & workout routine - I've managed to drop close to 40 pounds since last and I look and feel a lot better (well except for the hair)
- Can't take regular 1.0 & 0.5 mg doses of finasteride due to the side effects. Spoke to
my MD and he said that the last set of lab tests were fine - I'm just that sensitive to it.
- Since Nov 2010 - I've Been taking 0.25 mg finasteride daily with a 0.5 mg dose on Sunday & Wednesday (I think 0.33 would be ideal). Been using Nizoral 3 times a week (S, T, Th). The sides from the lower doses is somewhat bearable but still not ideal. I'm also taking the GNC MegaMan Sport (its got Zinc & Saw Palmetto in it)

Next Steps
- I can give it another month or so to see what happens (maybe the lower doses are working slower) - but at this point in time, given where my hair is today I don't think it is going to make that much of a difference.
- I can add in minoxidil into my regimen - its not going to stop the loss but it will probably help thicken up what i've got. If i add minoxidil should I go with 5%, 10% or 12%?
- I can just stop everything - let nature take its course, look into shaving the head for the summer and just enjoy not having to take any pills and being side effect free. Look into my options for a hair transplant down the road (assuming that the head shaved look doesn't work for me & my loss isn't to severe)

Comments / Thoughts?

I'm starting to come to terms with the situation - I'm not happy but I know that there aren't too many options at this point in time.

 

[Canuck2001]

Hope everybody is keeping well ...

Went to see the same hair transplant specialist I saw last year to discuss my options - better conversation this time (he actually took the time to chat). I ook in the pics that I've been keeping of my hair and he said it didn't look to bad (told him that the loss of volume was a big thing).

Basiclly to sum it up - its still too early to do a full hair transplant (which I pretty much knew), he did say he could do a a small 2000 hair transplant dense packing on the front if I wanted - but its still to early.

We discussed the effectiveness of the 0.25 mg finasteride and basically came to the same conclusion that it isn't working. He recommended either going back to 0.5 mg finasteride daily or trying 0.5 mg of duasteride twice weekly (more potent, longer half life, etc). He stated that his other patients had seen some good results on it.

I'm going to do some more reasearch on the boards about the duasteride. He also recommended adding MIN which I go back and forth on.

Any comments/thoughts?

 

[FCÂ]

Think about using coal tar extract, superoxide dismtuase, keratinocyte growth factor, curcumin, adenosine, lithium/dmso, copper peptides, lavender oil, tea tree oil, peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, sage oil, loquat leaf extract (corosolic acid), zinc pca, the list goes on.

 

[vjon]

Bottom line...hairloss sucks, but it sounds like you're definitely getting a handle on the situation...controlling it, instead of letting it control you. I like the part about you shaving this summer and then going from there. Trust me, life does continue to go on for you....with or without hair. You just have to learn to adjust and change with it. Personally, I dislike being bald, but I've come to realize I'm much more critical of my bald head than anyone else is....that also goes for the opposite sex. Some women don't like bald, true, but some look past it..some are more attracted to personality...confidence etc...you just have to work harder at getting their attention... Two weeks ago, while at a bar I snagged an AWESOME looking girl away from a good looking, NW1 !! Talk about a confidence booster, to say the least lol Besides, you haven't lived until you've had a hot chick just slowly rub your smooth head...Ok, I'll stop there LOL

 

[Canuck2001]

@vjon - good to hear back from you.

I'm not going to throw in the towel right away - but I've got to live my life and not let the hair run it (though i've got to do something about the body hair).

I'm giving dutasteride a try - but I'm only doing 0.5 mg / week. After 3 weeks I'm already feeling sides equal to taking 1.0 to 0.5 mg of finasteride on a daily basis so it might be a short trial (how the hell do people take 0.5 mg of dutasteride on a daily basis).

I know I'm never going to have have my hair from my teens or 20's again - but I'll make the best with what I got and when I think it is at that point I'll take the appropriate steps with the clippers.

I hear what you are saying about being more critical about your hair - I was out with a friend of mine and complaining about my hair and she said asked me wtf I was talking about since my hair looked awesome.

With or without hair women are always going to be a challenge. I agree that personality, confidence, caring are going to be more important after that first meeting. Also - if women realized how much work goes into keeping that scalp smooth and buffed they would be amazed.

 

[Canuck2001]

Quick update,

Been on 0.5 mg of dutasteride weekly for about 6 weeks now (so just one pill on Sunday) and it is still to early to say if there is any real improvement. I've noticed an increase in shedding - but that could be due to the change in regimen - need to give it more time.

Side effects - similar (maybe a little better then before, random rise, morning wood, etc) though I've noticed my pecs are feeling a little more sensitive then before. Spoke to the hair transplant Specialist about my concerns and he said it would be too early to be developing gyno symptoms - so I'm just hoping that this is a short term side (might go and schedule an appointment with my family doctor if it feels worse in the next couple weeks). I've lost a lot of weight over the last year (down 60 lbs - woo hoo) so I've always had some form of moob and can't really tell if it is better or worse then before.

Again - noticed more of a shed and there is definitely less volume (due to less hair and thinner hair shafts) then before - but I'm getting it cut a little differently (textured for volume) and wearing it a bit different. The last set of pics I took showed that the crown was thinner then before - again I'm hoping that this is just due to an interim shed.

I'll post some pics later - all the best to everybody out there fighting the fight!

 

[Nex]

Quickly scanned your thread, from what I see you can barely notice your hairloss, I saw you switched to dutasteride, just keep up with that and start exercising. I mean you are 32 now most men at this point begin to deal with hair loss. In my opinion you should be able to maintain for at least five years when hopefully something else comes out, I wouldnt even think about getting a hair transplant right now but it is up to you.. Believe me it could be much worse I am 21 and I am a Norwood 2.5

 

[Canuck2001]

Hope people are doing well - I haven't been on for a while because I've been busy and wanted to focus on other stuff as I let things take its course.

Its probably been a year from when I first really acknowledged that I was losing my hair and started to do anything about it. I tried the Min & finasteride - but I hated the chore of Min (and how it made my hair feel) and due to the sides (and my desire to live a normal life) I couldn't take the full dose and tried lower doses which didn't seem to be all that effective.

Lower doses of dutasteride seem to have been a little better for me even though I'm noticing my system react even on a single 0.5 mg weekly dose. After about 4 months things look like they might be stabilizing (or at least the rate of loss is slowing down). I don't see a lot of hairs in the shower in the morning but I know that my hair is not as thick and lush as it was once before (and this is all over my head which makes me wonder how bad things will eventually get).

When my hair is short it looks okay- but when it gets longer then it becomes more noticeable.

I'm going to give the dutasteride regimen some more time and see what happens - if there is no improvement then it might be time to just move on and face the facts. But until then I'm keeping a positive outlook and not letting my hair run my life (btw I've lose 75lbs in the same period and feel so much better - which is a huge accomplishment by itself).

I'll post some pics after I get my hair cut and let you all comment if you feel like it.

Good luck to everybody out there!

 

[metadalll]

hey canuck, im in pretty much the same exact position as you, except im 17, but can you let me know your results with the zinc?

 

[Canuck2001]

@metadalll - not sure what the real impact of the Zinc is - but I think it helps (of course it could be all psychological).