Don't even know what to do anymore

[Thinneritgoes!]

Hey you guys. My hairloss has brought me to a point where I don't even know what to say.

I'm 23 years old. I started losing around 17ish. I always had extremely thick blonde hair. That was my defining factor.
I was always the blond kid who would "never go bald"
Now the thing about me is... I was good looking before I started losing my hair. I used to be able to get girls and was just a pretty confident guy (never cocky or anything like that)

I just don't look right now. It has gotten awful. My hair is really really blond. I have white skin, blond eyebrows.. you get the picture. My hairline is heavily receded and front is really thin. Crown has been thinning for years also, but not as bad as the front. It's just like a puff of whitish blonde hairs now.
The sides of my hair, in front of my ears, has moved back giving me that wide forehead look. I just look like a freak.

I had (have I guess) everything to be happy about. I'm young, graduated college last year and got a real job at a major company, moved into a new place, good friends good family... But now I am slowly destroying it all.

My mind has been consumed with my hair. I was always a really happy guy. Hairloss is slowly ruining my life.

I can't look in the mirror without tearing up. It is seriously like looking at a stranger in the mirror. I catch glances of my reflection and I want to die. My forehead wrinkles are getting worse and my face mixed with hairloss is making me look OLD. ITS TERRIBLE. I ACTUALLY LOOK OLD AT 23.
My job revolves around constantly talking to a bunch of people and I'm having trouble even being comfortable around people because of my hair. I feel lost.
I will never leave my place or let anyone see me without toppik. Even with a ton of toppik I still look bad.
I was on propecia for a year and a half awhile back and quit. I'm back on it now for 6 months and have been on rogaine for 2 years... i dont think its helping at all though. It would take a miracle to get my hair back to a place where I can be content

Guys, I dont know what to do. I feel like im just waiting for my hair to come back. I avoid everything now, things I used to love. People will say the common "oh hairloss just triggered it. It's more than that" , but its not. It is the only thing keeping me down. Everything else in my life is beyond awesome.. I should be enjoying myself more than ever right now.

I can't do the shave thing. My head is huge and shaped weird. I shaved last year just to test it out and it was awful. Everyone told me how bad it looked and I needed to grow my hair asap. I looked even worse than with it grown out, especially with my forehead that sticks out, blonde eyebrows, and longish head. So that is out of the question.

What do I do????? I'm beyond the word desperate.

If you read this and even give me some input, thank you so much. It really does mean a lot. This is the only place I can talk about this

 

[Smooth]

You've been on propecia and rogain, nothing you can do.. these 2 are the best known "cures" so far; here are your options :
1) try to feagure out if an hair transplant is an option for you.
2) try to prevant with drugs (what you already trying again) which didnt helped you once, i cant see why it will now... (and personaly i hate to be a lab rat).
3) start working on acceptance - how manny times i can say this - that means, you have to do throw huge amount of suffering throw the stages untill (and if) you hit the goal.
4) do nothing and moan hair loss forums.

My personal favorite is no.3, tho i have somewhat feeling that something new will hit the market soon... keep an eye for the updates, it seems some private companies are trying to feagure thisone out..
gl!

 

[uncomfortable man]

Hey, I can relate to your suffering. Meds aren't going to help you much. You need a quick fix. Since you have a good job then you could afford to maintain a good hair system. Really the only problem that hairloss imposes on us is a cosmetic one and since you (or anybody else) can't wait for a cure, you should address the issue with a piece so that you may obtain a little piece of mind. Hope that helps.

 

[Thinneritgoes!]

Thanks for the replies guys. It really does mean a lot.

I wasn't very detailed about my regimen history. Propecia did work well for me when I was on it. I quit for dumb reasons (couldn't get back to the doctors for awhile and just said Forget it) Yeah... that was dumb. Then waited a few months and started minoxidil. Had a nice boost from that... sooooo that is why I'm back on them, hoping they help again.
I mean, it could happen, right?

I thought by now that I would be at the acceptance stage... but the more hair I lose, the more I don't accept myself. I've tried everything to just live with it.

U Man, the piece is going to be my last resort. I've read many of your posts and Im sorry if you've answered this many times, but how come you decide to not wear a piece?

 

[omgstfuty2]

Seen as you dont tell no one and your living in fear, you remind me of me, ill tell u what, and I guess it sounds doffy, but bear with me matey..
Gte out films where the lead guys are noticably balding, (i know it sounds f*****g stipud, but uit worked for me)
Watch them, and just apprectaite that okay you cant do nothing about it, however, make it fit WITH YOU, with what ever means tyhat should be friend,. First things first relaise that you arent the only one, secondly realise that you can do things well with f*****g ACCEPSTANCE.!, and then realsie once u know all this you can be just who you were before it even bothetred you.

 

[uncomfortable man]

To answer your question thinner, if by the time I finish school (apx. 5 yrs) they have not made any significant advances in treating hairloss beyond these crappy meds, then I WILL get a hair system, a really good one like Shatners and never look back. I figured through all of the emotional torment that being bald has caused me, whatever routine (however inconvenient) couldn't be worse than what I have been through. If it puts my troubled soul to rest then it's worth it.

 

[Thinneritgoes!]

U Man, I feel the same exact way about pieces. My uncle has worn one for years and I honestly had no idea until a couple years ago when my mom said something. He looks really good with it. I look similar to him so I'm definitely heading down that same path (maybe transplant, who knows).

I just hope propecia kicks in and does its thing again. It helped me so much before so I have confidence in it. I hope to at least maintain and maybe some thickening.

Sadly, I dont think i will ever accept me as balding. I thought after all these years of losing that I would, but it just gets worse. I can't waste my younger years worrying about this anymore. I feel like im going to regret all this suffering years down the road.

 

[Hammer87]

My advice, you have a lot going for you with far more significance in life than a bunch of fibres on your head.

Buzz you head, it'll make your thin hair look thick, you won't see hair fall out etc. It may also look very stylish and you'll get used to not having hair. Keep up the treatments so you don't go 'slick' and it'll look like you've buzzed it more out of style than necessity. It often makes people look a lot younger too as their hair doesn't look fine and whispy.

Hair piece? Have a bit of self respect dude. You're 23, I know how friends mess about and stuff and that age. The day a friend sets fire to your hair while you're sleeping or yanks it off in public, or you meet a long term girlfriend and she plays with your hair while you sleep is the day I really wouldn't want to be you. - Better to be up front and act confident about things.

 

[elvis123]

Man I feel you....especially when you had nice thick blond hair and it's slowly thinning away.

I think people who have blond hair have it worse because blond hair is the nicest color and texture you can get from any type of hair

but o well, life ain't fair...it never is....

Just learn to live with it.....

 

[uncomfortable man]

U Man, I feel the same exact way about pieces. My uncle has worn one for years and I honestly had no idea until a couple years ago when my mom said something. He looks really good with it. I look similar to him so I'm definitely heading down that same path (maybe transplant, who knows).

I just hope propecia kicks in and does its thing again. It helped me so much before so I have confidence in it. I hope to at least maintain and maybe some thickening.

Sadly, I dont think i will ever accept me as balding. I thought after all these years of losing that I would, but it just gets worse. I can't waste my younger years worrying about this anymore. I feel like im going to regret all this suffering years down the road.

Do you think it is possible for an nw6 to get back to an nw3 by getting on the big 3 after being bald for almost eight years?

 

[HatPrisoner91]

Do you think it is possible for an nw6 to get back to an nw3 by getting on the big 3 after being bald for almost eight years?

I definitely don't think it's possible.

 

[StrangeKarma]

Thinner, if you have landed yourself a good job, have you considered saving up for a transplant in a couple years? 23 def is really young, no question, but if you could have even maybe 5 years of good hair during your 20's maybe it would be a good option for you?

 

[treeshrew]

I really don't understand why you are freaking out so much if both propecia AND minoxidil have proven to work for you.

If propecia was working for you, and hair matters so much, why did you drop it?

If it worked before, it should work again. I'd up your minoxidil apps to 2x a day (aggressive) and don't miss a single day of finasteride.

At the very least you should stabilize where you're at now, and thicken up what you've got. You're doing all you can.

I take offense to people calling propecia/minoxidil "crappy meds" - they've been miracle drugs for me.

It would help to see some pics man, don't know if you've got any to share.

 

[Thickandthin]

I really don't understand why you are freaking out so much if both propecia AND minoxidil have proven to work for you.

If propecia was working for you, and hair matters so much, why did you drop it?

If it worked before, it should work again. I'd up your minoxidil apps to 2x a day (aggressive) and don't miss a single day of finasteride.

At the very least you should stabilize where you're at now, and thicken up what you've got. You're doing all you can.

I take offense to people calling propecia/minoxidil "crappy meds" - they've been miracle drugs for me.

It would help to see some pics man, don't know if you've got any to share.

They call them crappy meds because they are NW6's who have been slick bald for 8 years. Of course they're not going to work. If they did they would be considered a cure for baldness.

 

[treeshrew]

They call them crappy meds because they are NW6's who have been slick bald for 8 years. Of course they're not going to work. If they did they would be considered a cure for baldness.

Well actually, they do work, but since mostly they just maintain the hair, it's sort of pointless for someone who is already that far progressed.

 

[Thinneritgoes!]

Thanks for all this feedback guys, i really need all the support i can get. This is a tough point in my life.

SK, I really admire all you're doing on this forum. You're not only completely documenting your process of awesome regrowth, you are also helping people. Thank you.
And I definitely think a hair transplant will be a sure thing not too far down the road.

I really hope the finasteride and minoxidil cut back in. These 2 are amazing drugs. I never said they weren't
I quit the first time because it just wasnt in the cards for me to be on it at the time.

I really hope I can thicken up a bit. Sorry for complaining so much guys

I'm just real messed up over this

 

[Thinneritgoes!]

and also... i have pics that i took months back when i started finasteride again. I will post them soon and compare with new ones to see how I've done so far

 

[uncomfortable man]

Since meds are out of the picture, a peice is looking better already.

 

[SE-freak]

You once responded to finasteride/minoxidil, my guess is you will do so again-possibly with less impressive results. These treatments are not an on/off thing, I am sure you have already found out. Buzz your hair short, dont miss applications, use recommended dosage, add a 2% ketoconazole shampoo to the mix, skip (or at least try to do so) checking your hair for results every hour or so and be patient.

Big mistake: denial, prior to treatments
Worst mistake: denial after you have gotten results due to treatments. Get loose. Skip an app or two. Stop. Pretend it wasn't that bad anyway.

Realize that after you get results (even if those are a full head of hair), you are still an male pattern baldness hit individual. And act accordingly.

 

[elvis123]

yea man...se freak knows what he saying....

hey, Freak, how is your regimen maintaining? still going strong? did the shed you have earlier stop?