Finally out of denial. I am losing hair.

[borntoexpire]

Here are the descriptions for each photo so you can understand the state of my hair:



01.jpg - wet oily dirty hair brushed back.

02.jpg - dry oily dirty hair brushed back.

03.jpg - wet oily hair brushed back again

04.jpg - wet oily hair brushed forward. Crown is visible here

05.jpg - Wet hair out of shower brushed back. Hairline looks better than in the oily photo, but thin

06.jpg - Wet hair out of shower, low quality, but thinning hair is obvoius

07.jpg - 60% wet hair out of shower, brushed back. Hair seems to be very thick everywhere but the front.

08.jpg - 60% wet hair out of shower brushed forward.

09.jpg - wet hair brushed back out of shower. Crown seems very thick, no signs of male pattern baldness here.

10.jpg - moist hair brushed down - crown is visible, but not too bad.

11.jpg - Dry hair after being brushed down.

12.jpg - Dry hair brushed down -crown visible but not bad yet

13.jpg - Photo from February or January of how I was when I posted here.

14.jpg - Five year old photo of how long my hair used to be.

#11/12 is how I look on a regular basis and people do not believe that I am balding. Like someone on this board said a while ago, I started balding 'yesterday' Based on these pictures, it is really hard to deny that I'm losing my hair. I am extremely stressed out for other reasons, so perhaps it's stress related loss, I don't know. Regardless, I am losing my hair so I definitely need advice. In my older posts, I had longer hair like in 13.jpg, and it was hard to convince myself that I was balding.

 

[borntoexpire]

Any opinions? What type of baldness am I going through? I've been using Nizoral 2% on a regular basis for the past week. I read that the 2% version works as well as Minoxidil. Any chance that I could accomplish something by using strictly nizoral on a regular basis? My crown is pretty good, but my hairline is on its way out and I have some very noticeable frontal hair thinning/loss. Here are additional pictures after a nizoral shampoo.

Here's some more photos with my first week of Nizoral usage. Some of these photos were taken in the shower with the Nizoral in my hair. You can see how thin my hair is in the front. I am not sure if the hair is just thin or if I am already bald in these spots. What depresses me the most is that in my late teens and early 20's, people told me I'd never go bald and that I have very thick and beautiful hair. I was confident in that I at least had one decent asset. I'm already a small man, and not the best llooking, so I really am hoping there is something I can do. If I can get a bit thicker in the front and postpone the baldness for another 10-15 years, I'd be happy.

Anyway, here's the week 1 update...

 

[IrishFella]

It's still very early. My advice would be to start finasteride. I wouldn't use Minoxidil just yet as I don't believe your hair warrants it, still relatively thick, unless you're looking to get some potential regrowth on the bald parts of your temples!

finasteride & nizoral should suffice.

 

[borntoexpire]

Would it be wise to order Finpecia? Where should I procure Finastiride from? I've always had a very high hairline with partially exposed temples. However, my right (your left) temple seems to be going. I'd like to just thicken up and regain density in the thin areas and keep everything else of course. I'm grateful to have my crown where it's at right now and I'd like to keep it like that. So since I'm using 2% nizoral, I don't particularly need to use Minoxidil? Most importantly though, I am not sure where to procure finasteride and I hope that the sides do not outweigh the benefits. I'd just like to preserve what I have and grow my hair out very long one more time. Also, I'm heavily stressed out on a regular basis, but I doubt this is the cause for my hair loss. What's strange to me is my pattern though since I can't seem to find anyone with a similar pattern. Also, unrelated, but when I grew my hair out for 4 years, I would seemingly lose insane amounts of hair in the shower and my hair would form natural dreads/knots. I would condition and brush these knots out and maybe I am responsible for my own hair loss. However, I never tied my hair back so I feel that nature is just taking it's course.


Anyway, I greatly appreciate some regimen advice. I do not want to take a large dose, but I also do not want to take such a small dose to a point of it having no effect. I notice many people ration the pill over several days so I'd appreciate any advice on this matter.

 

[talmoode]

You need a prescription for propecia. Go and see a dermatologist or your local GP. They will be able to tell you what you should. Also Nizoral and Rogaine work in different way. Look up the Big three on this forum (propecia, minoxidil and nizoral shampoo). You should really do a little bit more of homework about hair loss and its treatments. There are so many good information, questions and answers to them on this forum. Sit tight and have a good study!! Good luck!

 

[borntoexpire]

I may regret this eventually, but I'm going to avoid taking finasteride until absolutely necessary. It is very expensive and seems to invoke a lot of side effects. I have a prescription for generic nizoral (2%) and I will be using it daily for the first two weeks and then 3-4 times per week for the remainder. It seems that there are people that have seen positive results from nizoral solely and that is what I'm hoping for. I've been using it for 1 week so far without sides, so maybe I'll be lucky. I actually like the way my hair feels and looks after using it. Attached are two photos after 1 week of use. This is how my hair looks while dry and brushed down out of the shower. For those that do not think I am balding or thinning, check my original thread for the obvious hair loss. As my hair is right now, people think I am crazy for thinking that I'm balding but they never see me with my hair brushed back under intense flash

 

[borntoexpire]

What is going on with my hairline? Do I have standard male pattern baldness? I have what seems to me as a strange recession, but I imagine not everyone goes through male pattern baldness according to the Norwood scale..

Also, what am I supposed to do in terms of styling? I brush my hair down but it just isn't presentable and when I brush it up, I feel even worse. I guess my best option is to just shave my head on a regular basis. I'm honestly tired of having to brush my hair down just so I don't have to see my hair loss.

Here is a comparison photo between myself now and at 18. The left is now, the right is 18. This is the only picture I have of myself from that time with a similar haircut and I also brushed it down there. Hair is somewhat moist on the left and fully dry on the right. But it seems that with my hair brushed down, my hair looks fairly similar to that of myself at 18. However, as can be seen in the other photos, it's impossible to deny thinning and hairloss. In the gaps that you see in the photos above, am I bald in those spots or is my hair just so thin that it looks that way?

 

[borntoexpire]

What explains such a drastic difference in my hair appearance? The first is baseline prior to using any nizoral with oily wet hair. The second is with my 2nd week of daily nizoral usage and my hair combed back out of the shower. The hair is combed back in both of these pictures the same way. The first picture is the worst I"ve ever seen my hair, clearly balding and no way I could deny it. In the second one, it looks thinner in the front, but much fuller.

 

[talmoode]

Nizoral makes hair look thicker and fuller in general. I wish I could say it's possible to grow that much hair in a few weeks but it is not. But hey, what do I know? I am no expert! Oh, by the way, using Nizoral shampoo everyday will do more harm than good so you might want to cut back to 2 to 3 times a week. Good luck!

 

[borntoexpire]

The doctor that prescribed me the 2% nizoral said to use it daliy for two weeks, so once that is up, Ill move back to 3-4 times per week. The only side effect I experienced so far has been increased scalp sensitivity.

 

[borntoexpire]

Here's my hair after 14 days of Nizoral usage. I had some intense folliculitis 2 days ago and there are some zoomed pictures of that. In some pictures my hair looks thick. I doubt there was any improvement over 14 days, but i definitely will not be using this daily anymore. I am not sure if the folliculitis was caused from the shampoo,but it seems likely. I need some opinions/thoughts. Would anyone here with really thick hair mind posting pictures of their hair while in the shower? There are two pictures of my hair literally in the shower as I put my fingers through it. It doesn't seem bad to me, but maybe it's worse than I think it is.

 

[borntoexpire]

I used nizoral for 2 weeks as prescribed by my doctor, and I think I lost a decent amount of hair. My crown seems to be more prominent now and now I have a bald patch in the front that wasn't there two weeks ago.

 

[VarunS]

I have hair that is nowhere as thick as yours but in general our thinning patterns are similar. I have lost more than you at this point and my advice is to get on finasteride to slow it down which wont happen with Nizoral or Rogaine. I have been using Finasteride for sometime now and the only noticeable sides I have are watery semen. If you feel that right now its not so bad but in the event that it does accelerate quickly you would be ready for finasteride, you rather get on it now.

 

[borntoexpire]

Yeah as of now, I still guess my hair is manageable. When I brush it down, people think I'm crazy when I say I'm balding. It's strange how thick it looks with it brushed down. Yet when I brush it back, you can clearly see in pictures that I have a problem. I still wonder if it could be hair loss due to stress? My hair is thinning in a strange pattern. My left temple is very thick and the left side of my head is thick, while the right is thinner. My vertex looks normal to me, but I guess I do not really know what normal is. I've seen people with thick hair all around with a similar vertex to me so I"m not sure if it's bad yet. Anyway, I guess I have to resort to finasteride. I fear the effects and the possible gynocomastia.

I'd like regrowth in the front if possible because my family is starting to wonder why I always brush my hair this way.

 

[borntoexpire]

So I have about 4 or 5 pimples on my crown and in the middle of my head. These are the areas in which I have thin/bald spots. What should I do? I assume the folliculitis is what's killing my hair. What can I do about this? Nizoral seems to have exacerbated it and made my folliculitis worse!

I will be seein ga doctor soon. Do you guys think that the minor folliculitis that I have caused permanent hair loss?

My overall thinning pattern doesn't resemble any of the Norwood diagrams, so I still feel I may be balding for reasons other than male pattern baldness, but then again, that's just me being in denial again.

 

[borntoexpire]

So I think I damaged and lost hair from Nizoral. Anyway, is folliculitis the general known precursor to hair loss and male pattern baldness? Do people that suffer from male pattern baldness all endure folliculiltius before the hair falls out? I've noticed that my hair loss is predominantly where I have folliculitis only...so I wonder if it will ever grow back in these areas.

 

[borntoexpire]

So the general consensus is that I should get on finasteride as soon as possible, right? I've been in denail long enough. The right side of my head is obviously thin and although it isn't noticeable to anyone yet, it's obvoius to me.

I think i will drop nizoral because I think it aggravates my folliculitis rather than curing it. Who wouldve thought that such a product would make things worse for me. I feel like a lost a considerable amount of hair from my crown thanks to Nizoral and the folliculitis it caused. I'm very angry and I should have avoided jumping the gun with the shampoo. Hopefully finasteride could do something. I'd rather not use minoxidil, so hopefully I can get results solely with finasteride.