curley
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First, thanks to everyone here for their help and frank advice. Now that that's out of the way...
I had quite the bushy hair back in college. I graduated in 1995 and shortly thereafter (end of 95 and early 96) I first started to notice more hair in the shower than just a year prior. When closely examined in the mirror, no noticible loss was seen and denial let me ignore it for awhile. However, by the middle to the end of 96 I could tell that the hairline was receding somewhat. That was pretty much the first time I could tell that there was any perceptable difference. I just figured I was maturing into a more adult hairline and that when my hair was styled forward, I couldn't tell anyways so.... watch and wait. It was about mid 1997 when I had the "Holy sh*t" moment. After a haircut and getting out of the shower, I could see my scalp in the frontal hairline in the mirror. This led to a closer inspection of the scalp and hair density which solidified my "Holy sh*t" revealation. It was thin.... To add insult to injury, I remember at my next barber appointment the guy who was cutting my hair said, "Man you're getting thin on top". Are you f'ing kidding me? The barber? The one who has only cut my hair maybe a half dozen times over the last year can tell a dramatic difference?!?
It was at this time (pre-propecia period) that I looked into rogaine, kevis, and even just tried to learn a little about transplantation, in case it would be needed in the future. I met with a dermatologist (very prominate hair transplant Doctor on these boards, well respected) about possible treatments. I didn't even know he did hair transplant, he was local and my reg Doctor sent me to him. He told me about Proscar and the soon to be released Propecia, and a few months before Propecia hit the market I started on 1.25 mg finesteride (quartered Proscar) and stayed on it for the next 5 years. My frontal hairline stayed recessed and thin, but did not advance much, and whatever vertex/crown thinning I had was essentially halted.
After 5 years, I started to wonder was the finesteride doing anything or not? Afterall, the inital response the 1st year or 2 was somewhat noticible as descrbied above, but since that time there was a "holding pattern". Additionally the price of proscar had jumped from about $180/year when I started to about $290/year after the 5 years. So, I quit taking it. This was late 2002, and I haven't been on a thing since.
So what happened with my hairloss? Hardly anything. Truth be told, I think I can tell a minimal to mild progression of the thinning (prob a bit worse in the hairline), but nowhere near what it could have been. I guess I always knew that I would restart some sort of therapy, but I wanted to take a drug holiday to try to ascertain exactly what level of benefit the finesteride was providing.
I have gone in for a hair transplant eval, but I have yet to "Do the Dew". I have many reasons for and against hair transplant, and have researched hundereds of hours, many hair transplant surgeons and have had a lot of back and forth conversations in my mind.
This is where you come in, my friends. I would like opinions. I have just started back on finesteride, and am adding the 1-2 punch of minoxidil and ketokonazole to the mix. I still however am comtemplating a hair transplant, mainly for the frontal hairline.
Please, opinions - especially the experienced posters! How noticible is the thinning? What Norwood?
My plan is to update the picts every 6 months, or sooner if I take the hair transplant plunge...
THANKS!
-Curley
I had quite the bushy hair back in college. I graduated in 1995 and shortly thereafter (end of 95 and early 96) I first started to notice more hair in the shower than just a year prior. When closely examined in the mirror, no noticible loss was seen and denial let me ignore it for awhile. However, by the middle to the end of 96 I could tell that the hairline was receding somewhat. That was pretty much the first time I could tell that there was any perceptable difference. I just figured I was maturing into a more adult hairline and that when my hair was styled forward, I couldn't tell anyways so.... watch and wait. It was about mid 1997 when I had the "Holy sh*t" moment. After a haircut and getting out of the shower, I could see my scalp in the frontal hairline in the mirror. This led to a closer inspection of the scalp and hair density which solidified my "Holy sh*t" revealation. It was thin.... To add insult to injury, I remember at my next barber appointment the guy who was cutting my hair said, "Man you're getting thin on top". Are you f'ing kidding me? The barber? The one who has only cut my hair maybe a half dozen times over the last year can tell a dramatic difference?!?
It was at this time (pre-propecia period) that I looked into rogaine, kevis, and even just tried to learn a little about transplantation, in case it would be needed in the future. I met with a dermatologist (very prominate hair transplant Doctor on these boards, well respected) about possible treatments. I didn't even know he did hair transplant, he was local and my reg Doctor sent me to him. He told me about Proscar and the soon to be released Propecia, and a few months before Propecia hit the market I started on 1.25 mg finesteride (quartered Proscar) and stayed on it for the next 5 years. My frontal hairline stayed recessed and thin, but did not advance much, and whatever vertex/crown thinning I had was essentially halted.
After 5 years, I started to wonder was the finesteride doing anything or not? Afterall, the inital response the 1st year or 2 was somewhat noticible as descrbied above, but since that time there was a "holding pattern". Additionally the price of proscar had jumped from about $180/year when I started to about $290/year after the 5 years. So, I quit taking it. This was late 2002, and I haven't been on a thing since.
So what happened with my hairloss? Hardly anything. Truth be told, I think I can tell a minimal to mild progression of the thinning (prob a bit worse in the hairline), but nowhere near what it could have been. I guess I always knew that I would restart some sort of therapy, but I wanted to take a drug holiday to try to ascertain exactly what level of benefit the finesteride was providing.
I have gone in for a hair transplant eval, but I have yet to "Do the Dew". I have many reasons for and against hair transplant, and have researched hundereds of hours, many hair transplant surgeons and have had a lot of back and forth conversations in my mind.
This is where you come in, my friends. I would like opinions. I have just started back on finesteride, and am adding the 1-2 punch of minoxidil and ketokonazole to the mix. I still however am comtemplating a hair transplant, mainly for the frontal hairline.
Please, opinions - especially the experienced posters! How noticible is the thinning? What Norwood?
My plan is to update the picts every 6 months, or sooner if I take the hair transplant plunge...
THANKS!
-Curley
