First Post, Ian, 27 UK

[IanIrving]

Hi there, my name is Ian, I’m 27 years old, I live in Manchester (England), I’m slightly overweight and I’m losing my hair and it sucks.

My dad was bald as a cue ball by my age so at least I’ve beat him, due to his situation I’ve always assumed I would lose all my hair. My real goal is to slow my hair loss. I think I can deal with being bald eventually, but I’d love a few more years of hair. I like my hair, it’s soft and straight, just like angora.

With the coming of the New Year I’ve decided to ask that ultimate agony aunt (the INFONETS) for advice in my quest. Allow me to apologise in advance if you see this message in any other place. I’ve posted it around – I’m just interested in garnering the widest number of solutions possible.

As I already said my father is bald, as was his mother, I’ve got no idea what my paternal grandfather’s hair war like (he disappeared from the Newcastle docks one day in 1952); my maternal grandparents had hair on their head until the day they died (although my maternal grandfather had a very receded hairline and generally thinned hair).

I’d say I’m type 2 or 5 from this scale (pictured below) and in moderate phase. My hair has thinned and disappeared over the temples but I’ve got no loss of hair on the vertex or crown of my head. I was born with a large head and a high hair line, the tip at the front of my hairline has not moved.

[attachment=2:2fxpierv]Top Down w scale.jpg[/attachment:2fxpierv]

Very recently (Dec 26th) I tried using Rogain 5% Minoxadil foam but I suffered from some of the side effects (fast heart beat, chest pain), this is probably due to the fact that I suffered from an attack of pericarditis (inflammation of the sack around the heart) during the summer and it can take up to 9 months to clear.

Last week I started using Alpecin Caffeine Shampoo and Alpecin Caffeine Liquid every morning. I do like these two products. They have defiantly made my hair feel a lot ‘nicer’ (easier to style, very soft), however I have no idea if it will slow my hair loss and I’m pretty sure they’re not going to give me a single new hair on my increasingly shiny bonce.

I’ve heard about Nizoral shampoo but I’ve never had dandruff and I think I have a pretty health scalp. I’m a little fearful of taking medications after my experience with Rogain. What I’m really looking for is advice on natural remedies, and medications which do not have heart-related side effects.

I’ve attached some images so you can see the state of my hairline. Any advice, suggestions or questions would be more than welcome; I really want to do something about this.

Oh and do those laser combs really work? :dunno:

[attachment=0:2fxpierv]Crown.jpg[/attachment:2fxpierv]
[attachment=1:2fxpierv]Side.jpg[/attachment:2fxpierv]

 

[dinosaur_sr]

Hey man, your best bet is to look into finasteride - that means Propecia, generic finasteride, or Proscar cut into fourths. You can get prescriptions on the net, but I would talk to your doctor or dermatologist about it, especially considering you had issues with Rogaine (that sucks, btw!). It has just above a 4/5 success rate in stabilizing hair loss.If you go to the men's guide to hairloss on this site, it explains about finasteride, Nizoral and other products in more depth. Good luck!

 

[IanIrving]

Thanks dinosaur_sr, I’ve taken a look into finasteride and I’ve booked an appointment with my doctor for next week. I’m also going to ask if I’ll be OK to try Rogaine after my heart inflammation has gone.

I’ve checked out the men’s hairloss guide on site and the only thing that concerns me about using finasteride is this line

“systemic side effects of lowered DHTâ€

I was wondering what these side effects are? Has anyone experienced any of these side effects? Do they only affect a minority of users.

It also mentions that people with DHT sensitive scalps experience pain and itchiness. I’ve not experienced either of these; I presume they only occur in a minority of cases, is this correct?

I’ve also ordered some Nizoral, I’m going to use it in conjunction with the Alpecin, which, although it may be nothing more than Voodoo in a bottle, has certainly improved the quality of my hair, has anyone else used it?

Thanks for making feel a little better about my situation Ben! :hump:

 

[Going2beBald?]

Most of the possible sides you can read from the label. There are still ways that we don't know how 5-alpha reductase inhibitors affect you body because blocking the dht there is continuous chain effect for three other hormones or so where it affect. I'm sorry I can't provide you a picture or better explanation.

Anyway I was also scared about the sides but I took the courage to give it a try. Well I didn't get any sides, I've been on finasteride 10 days now 0.5mg/day and I must say I couldn't be more happy about my decision.

You can't know if you don't try. I would say it's worse to know that you will know that you may have had a chance to do something about it than trying and noticing that was or wasn't for you. In the case you get any sides they are mostly reversible and if you are lucky you don't get any sides.

 

[IanIrving]

Having now read a little bit more about finasteride I’ve learnt that the side effects only effect a tiny minority of users so I think it’s worth the risk, going to hold off on making a final decision until I’ve talked to my doctor and done some more reading about the possible long term side effects of dht suppression.

I’m eagerly awaiting the delivery of my nizoral, from what I understand the active ingredient is ketoconazole, are there any shampoos that are optimised for the hair loss or is it just over priced Nizoral?

Have you noticed a difference in the quality of your hair from using Head & Shoulders thickening shampoo daily?