Crucial stage - what's next step?

[Glapots]

First of all I hope know one minds me posting this post in two forums on this website; I'm new here so I'd like to share my story while getting some advice.

Hi, I think I've got to the stage where I want to do something constructive about my hair loss. I'm 28 and have been losing my hair since I was 18. My dad is bald and my uncles on my mam's side have thin hair - so it was always ineviatable that I would follow suite. Even though I have been losing hair for 10 years now - I'm probably only at stage 2 of the Norwood scale but heading quickly towards 2A. Basically the temple area is receding and my forehead has receded. All over my gair is extremely thin and limp. I've tried thickening shampoo but I only get severe flaking, so I usually just use an nati-dandruff shampoo.

Anyway unfortunately I'm obsessed about my hair to the degree that it effects my mood and personality. I have a fixed idea that people effect my hair loss. e.g. if someone annoys me, the situation in my head escalates because I have a fear of my stresed mood effecting my hair loss. Hence my scalp then feels stressed out and begins to flake and I do be convinced that I'm losing hair. This has a knock on effect that effects my personality and other aspects of my life; I know it may sound pathetic and vain but it's obsessive behaviour.
Does anyone understand this situation?

I have to say the resources on this website are excellent and I have already found them helpful. However I would like to ask a few questions/

So basically my questions are as follows?

Does anger, depression, OCD, fustration, bad sleeping patterns, stress and a stressed flaking scalp escalate hair loss?

Given the stage my hair loss is at - what would you recommend specifically for me? I'm not to worried about regrowth, I'm more concerned with thincknesss and particulary maintenance:

Thanks for reading!

 

[The Gardener]

Welcome to this forum, Glapots. There is a lot of good information here. Each of us have tried different combinations of different things, and we all have different starting points and different experiences, so in my opinion the collective knowledge of all of the participants here is about the best source of answers on male pattern baldness that anyone will find. It's been SO helpful to me and I would not have had the success I have had without these fellow assholes here on HairLossTalk.com dot com.

Does anger, depression, OCD, fustration, bad sleeping patterns, stress and a stressed flaking scalp escalate hair loss?

I can't point to a specific study to back this, but I would definitely say YES. One key thing to pay attention to that plays a role in all of the above is your nutrition. If you are considering starting some treatment for your hairloss, then you need to think in a bigger picture than just the meds. If you are dedicated to saving your hair and your youth, and addressing all of the above symptoms that you mention than the first step is cleaning up your eating habits. Start a multivitamin, a good one, and start eating with some balance. For me, I gave up fried foods, no more fries and no more chips. I eat fruit and/or lowfat protein bars between meals. I avoid fast food and try to make better choices. Eat your broccoli, etc. And if you smoke, stop now. It's bad for the vascular system and certainly will not help you fight your body's natural ageing triggers. Exercise is good too. I think if you get a feel for all of the contributors here, one thing that a lot of us have in common is health-consciousness.

Given the stage my hair loss is at - what would you recommend specifically for me? I'm not to worried about regrowth, I'm more concerned with thincknesss and particulary maintenance

Given your stated goal, your age, and your Norwood, I would very strongly recommend a Finasteride (Propecia) and Nizoral regimen. Propecia is not the strongest regrowth agent out there, but it is good for maintenance because it lowers the level of the hormone in the blood stream that causes male pattern baldness. It is also very easy, just take a pill each day and you keep your hair, provided you respond to it. Nizoral is a shampoo you can pick up at your grocery store. It is marketed as an anti-dandruff shampoo, but it is great for male pattern baldness sufferers because it fights the scalp irritation associated with male pattern baldness. As the hormone DHT attacks your hair, it incites an allergic-type response that causes a lot of irritation and this response actually accelerates hairloss. Nizoral not only helps fight this irritation, which slows this downward cycle, but the active chemical in it also has some anti-androgenetic properties that help fend off the DHT itself. It's a bit more expensive than normal shampoo, but you only have to use it 2-3 times a week and you can use your normal shampoos for your other showers. It's good stuff, made my scalp feel a LOT better.

That is what I would suggest... hope it goes well! take care