dantericci
New Member
- Reaction score
- 0
Here goes.
I'm 22 years old. Young enough - but no stranger to hair loss.
I'm not quite sure where to classify myself on the Norwood scale... perhaps a 3 Vertex? I'm experiencing diffuse thinning through the top (particularly at the vertex), and significant recession at the temples.
My father has what I guess I would call a reduced hairline with some thinning... but until I started losing my hair, I never looked at him as someone who had experienced hair loss, and I never thought I'd be affected, since NO ONE in my family has ever lost any hair (both of my grandfathers and all of my uncles have more hair than me). My dad's hair is the same now as it was 20 years ago, which I guess gives me a little hope.... but sometimes I feel as if I've already surpassed him in terms of loss.
I guess I started to notice loss 3-4 years ago or so, though I wasn't significantly bothered by it until 1 1/2 years ago. At that time, I was still very much in denial, and seemed able to convince myself that the loss was some sort of transient phase that i'd work my way out of. Doh.
What I wouldn't give to go back and start finasteride the second I noticed loss - when I think of all the emotional anguish I might have spared myself...
I didn't do anything about it, though. The reason for that was partly financial - I wasn't aware of the availability of generic finasteride, and paying for Propecia was beyond my means. I bought some minoxidil but never had the guts to start using it. I tried thickening shampoos and creative styles, and though the loss was not overwhelmingly apparent, in my mind's eye, I was practically cue-ball bald.
Thank God for this site. It provided, all at once, a wealth of information, an outlet for venting frustration and dispair, and a resource for developing a regimen that is right for me. In addition, hearing frequent success stories gives me hope, which is probably the most important part of my regimen.
I started 5% minoxidil, once a day, about 3 1/2 months ago. Once a day is all I can tolerate, because applying the minoxidil and then trying to style afterwards is not working for me... I may switch to 15% xandrox, which only requires a once daily application and evidently dries much more quickly (thoughts?). In addition, I'm on day 21 of Fincar (1.25 mg/day), and I use 2% nizoral about every other day. I bought some Folligen which I've been using periodically, but I'm not sure that I'll buy more when I run out. I also take a daily multivitamin, but I would take that regardless of the extent of my hair loss.
I've really not noticed too much of a difference yet, but considering the fact that I've only been applying minoxidil once a day and I just started finasteride 3 weeks ago, I'm not expecting any overwhelmingly noticeable results at this point. I'll be sure to post here when I do.
I have a very supportive girlfriend, and I can style my hair to my satisfaction about 4-5 days out of the week. Otherwise, I have baseball caps that I'm very fond of.
I'm not quite sure where to set my expectations. I'd certainly like to retain what I have, and I think I'd be satisfied with that. Still, I'd really like to see some general thickening, if not regrowth. My hairline is OK by me, but the hair is just not thick enough to provide good coverage on top. I'd like to see progress there.
Anyway - thanks for all the help, and good luck to everyone.
~ d
I'm 22 years old. Young enough - but no stranger to hair loss.
I'm not quite sure where to classify myself on the Norwood scale... perhaps a 3 Vertex? I'm experiencing diffuse thinning through the top (particularly at the vertex), and significant recession at the temples.
My father has what I guess I would call a reduced hairline with some thinning... but until I started losing my hair, I never looked at him as someone who had experienced hair loss, and I never thought I'd be affected, since NO ONE in my family has ever lost any hair (both of my grandfathers and all of my uncles have more hair than me). My dad's hair is the same now as it was 20 years ago, which I guess gives me a little hope.... but sometimes I feel as if I've already surpassed him in terms of loss.
I guess I started to notice loss 3-4 years ago or so, though I wasn't significantly bothered by it until 1 1/2 years ago. At that time, I was still very much in denial, and seemed able to convince myself that the loss was some sort of transient phase that i'd work my way out of. Doh.
What I wouldn't give to go back and start finasteride the second I noticed loss - when I think of all the emotional anguish I might have spared myself...
I didn't do anything about it, though. The reason for that was partly financial - I wasn't aware of the availability of generic finasteride, and paying for Propecia was beyond my means. I bought some minoxidil but never had the guts to start using it. I tried thickening shampoos and creative styles, and though the loss was not overwhelmingly apparent, in my mind's eye, I was practically cue-ball bald.
Thank God for this site. It provided, all at once, a wealth of information, an outlet for venting frustration and dispair, and a resource for developing a regimen that is right for me. In addition, hearing frequent success stories gives me hope, which is probably the most important part of my regimen.
I started 5% minoxidil, once a day, about 3 1/2 months ago. Once a day is all I can tolerate, because applying the minoxidil and then trying to style afterwards is not working for me... I may switch to 15% xandrox, which only requires a once daily application and evidently dries much more quickly (thoughts?). In addition, I'm on day 21 of Fincar (1.25 mg/day), and I use 2% nizoral about every other day. I bought some Folligen which I've been using periodically, but I'm not sure that I'll buy more when I run out. I also take a daily multivitamin, but I would take that regardless of the extent of my hair loss.
I've really not noticed too much of a difference yet, but considering the fact that I've only been applying minoxidil once a day and I just started finasteride 3 weeks ago, I'm not expecting any overwhelmingly noticeable results at this point. I'll be sure to post here when I do.
I have a very supportive girlfriend, and I can style my hair to my satisfaction about 4-5 days out of the week. Otherwise, I have baseball caps that I'm very fond of.
I'm not quite sure where to set my expectations. I'd certainly like to retain what I have, and I think I'd be satisfied with that. Still, I'd really like to see some general thickening, if not regrowth. My hairline is OK by me, but the hair is just not thick enough to provide good coverage on top. I'd like to see progress there.
Anyway - thanks for all the help, and good luck to everyone.
~ d