Hairloss - affecting my career

[Oknow]

I am a Norwood 1 fast approaching NW2 . My hair has seriously had a battering in the course of a year, my temples are receeding to the point there is a lot of velius hair around there. I cant style my hair pushed up without a V showing, meaning my old hair style I cannot do anymore. When I push my hair down my forelock is longer then my temples, which means it all looks uneven and sh*t. Forehead is getting wider and bigger. A matter of time before I look like I am balding.

I have a great job offer, but I am feeling so depressed by all of this to the point I am going to turn it down. I don't feel like socialising, and basically dont have the drive to do anything. I dont want to take propecia in case I aggrevate my hairloss (read cases on here where people have lost density due to it); plus given that it is in its early stages I feel it might be excessive. As for minoxidil I am tempted but scared, tempted because I have so much velius hair around my temples which can be thickened, which will bring me down to a low NW1. But scared that my good thick hair will become dependent on minoxidil. Using minoxidil is like someone putting a gun against your head, if you stop using it - bang hair is gone.

Lastly, I dont know if my hairloss will stabalise or is just a mature hairline, my male cousins have no male pattern baldness at all - same hair at 20, at 30. With my uncles male pattern baldness going at a slow rate, some have better hairline then me.

Anyway, I feel like turning down my job offer - just so depressed by all of this. I feel like its a matter of time now before I end up like a NW6.

My hair used to be my best attribute, now its like "meh" - just some sh*t on top of my head attribute.

So yeah more experience guys how can I cope with this?

 

[Boondock]

Not being harsh man, but you're barely a NW2 - with your good family history, you don't have much to worry about.

Get the job and do well at it. Even if you don't get on finasteride, no one will notice your loss for a few years.

Even if they do, after a few years you'll have enough cash for a hair transplant.

If in doubt, get on propecia.

 

[Oknow]

Not being harsh man, but you're barely a NW2 - with your good family history, you don't have much to worry about.

Get the job and do well at it. Even if you don't get on finasteride, no one will notice your loss for a few years.

Even if they do, after a few years you'll have enough cash for a hair transplant.

If in doubt, get on propecia.

hair transplant are like a lost battle - the loss will catch up eventually.

I think I might be taking up from my fathers side - dad is a NW6 at like 45 odd, had a good mane in his 30s but some of his brothers were not as fortunant.

Grandfather on mother side is bald, but his sons aren't except for one (out of 8) who prematurely balded.

But as you say, very very hard to predict based on that.

Thing that bothers me the most is losing ground in my early 20s (24) and finasteride is unpredicatable even if it does work - sides; hormones being messed up etc.

 

[Spanishlad]

If you're already losing your hair you have nothing to lose by starting meds. you have a good chance of keeping what you have and possibly regrowing some.

Dont believe all the horror stories you read look at the clinical trials for more realistic success rates.

I used to feel like you do but starting meds was the best thing i ever did..

Dont let your hair control your life. why not try and do some thing about it

 

[cuebald]

If you turn down a good job because you're upset about hitting NW1.5, you're nuts.
I'd hate to see you at NW4...

 

[thetodd]

Given the fact that most men will lose their hair to one extent or another during their life, it's amazing to me that there is still such a stigma about it. Just look around whenever you're out in public. I bet at least half the guys you see will have some hairloss.

 

[Oknow]

Given the fact that most men will lose their hair to one extent or another during their life, it's amazing to me that there is still such a stigma about it. Just look around whenever you're out in public. I bet at least half the guys you see will have some hairloss.

Yeah and that is the case; their looks are impaired too due to it.

 

[Oknow]

Take the job, and TRY THE %$%@# MEDS DAMMIT!

Then report back in 3 months.

You have nothing to lose. If the meds cause side effects, stop using them. The sides should go away relatively fast after stopping use. Most guys don't get any sides from the meds anyways.

Not sure if I can take finasteride, got an op is next year - so is it a good idea? Heard it takes 10 months to work. minoxidil yeah.

Second thing is I have read a sh*t load of stories of guys hair thinning due to finasteride on here - of which they never recover from, scares the sh*t outta me.

 

[Oknow]

If you turn down a good job because you're upset about hitting NW1.5, you're nuts.
I'd hate to see you at NW4...

I hope that never happens - worst nightmare comes to true.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Oknow, your dad is a NW6 at 45. You mean he lost most of his hair in his 30's and early 40's? You said he had great mane in his 30's?

 

[Oknow]

Oknow, your dad is a NW6 at 45. You mean he lost most of his hair in his 30's and early 40's? You said he had great mane in his 30's?

Basically yeah.

Not all of his brothers were so lucky. My older bro has a similar hairline but thick hair at 25. So I reckon I won't lose any density over the next year based on that.

 

[Oknow]

Take the job, and TRY THE %$%@# MEDS DAMMIT!

Then report back in 3 months.

You have nothing to lose. If the meds cause side effects, stop using them. The sides should go away relatively fast after stopping use. Most guys don't get any sides from the meds anyways.

Not sure if I can take finasteride, got an op is next year - so is it a good idea? Heard it takes 10 months to work. minoxidil yeah.

Second thing is I have read a sh*t load of stories of guys hair thinning due to finasteride on here - of which they never recover from, scares the sh*t outta me.

I'm skeptical about those stories of guys who said they had massive sheds from taking finasteride. To me that sounds highly suspect.

For one thing, weren't they already losing their hair to begin with? I mean, after all, that is the reason why they tried finasteride in the first place, wasn't it?

Also, how did they know it was the finasteride that caused their sheds and not just them shedding from male pattern baldness, or from something else?

And, when they started taking finasteride, don't you suppose that they started "looking more closely" at their hair all the time up close in the mirror, and looking more closely in the sink, on their pillow, etc... perhaps more than they were looking before? Maybe they were doing just that, but didn't realize it. :dunno:

Another thing, its like when some people take their car into the shop to get repaired. When they get it back, they start listening for any little noise...any little nuance, and by golly "the shop must have caused it, because that was never there before"...when it was there all along but the customer never noticed it...because they always drove with their stereo cranked up, or whatever....

But you can apply that same analogy to a guy who tries finasteride. When he tries it, all the sudden he starts looking for the least little changes in his hair (good or bad), when his hair may have actually been like that for months...years even...but he never noticed it for whatever reason...JUST LIKE THE CUSTOMER AND HIS CAR!

It could be just all psychological. :dunno:

Well it is a risk, abeit recession my hair is really thick right now, so it is a hard decision for me to make. My templates having velius hairs annoys the hell out of me, because if they thicken up I am a solid NW1 again.

 

[Boondock]

Well it is a risk, abeit recession my hair is really thick right now, so it is a hard decision for me to make. My templates having velius hairs annoys the hell out of me, because if they thicken up I am a solid NW1 again.

Talk about glass half empty...

 

[BornIn89]

Well it is a risk, abeit recession my hair is really thick right now, so it is a hard decision for me to make. My templates having velius hairs annoys the hell out of me, because if they thicken up I am a solid NW1 again.

You're describing a mature hairline? :dunno:

 

[Boondock]

Well it is a risk, abeit recession my hair is really thick right now, so it is a hard decision for me to make. My templates having velius hairs annoys the hell out of me, because if they thicken up I am a solid NW1 again.

You're describing a mature hairline? :dunno:

Exactly, and he's 24 - plenty of guys have mature hairlines at that age (and plenty more are already balding). He hasn't even embarked on finasteride yet, either. I just don't see what there is to worry about - 95% chance he'll be fine, and zero reason to think about not getting this job. The whole thing is crazy.

 

[Nene]

Indeed it is crazy. This guy is absolutely paranoid. He has only a mature hairline and he's 24, many of us had a mature hairline in our teens. The fact that you think hair loss is going to impede you in anything in life is insane because to the average person you don't have hair loss. Just go live life, if you notice more hair loss hop on finasteride and minoxidil. Otherwise just stop bitching.

 

[timbo]

Well it is a risk, abeit recession my hair is really thick right now, so it is a hard decision for me to make. My templates having velius hairs annoys the hell out of me, because if they thicken up I am a solid NW1 again.

You're describing a mature hairline? :dunno:

Exactly, and he's 24 - plenty of guys have mature hairlines at that age (and plenty more are already balding). He hasn't even embarked on finasteride yet, either. I just don't see what there is to worry about - 95% chance he'll be fine, and zero reason to think about not getting this job. The whole thing is crazy.

I don't think it's fair to say that he isn't losing his hair. There is clear miniaturization present on the corners - something not present on a mature hairline. However, he is completely overreacting to say that he wouldn't accept a job offer because of it.

 

[Nene]

I've never said he doesn't have hair loss, but it is very minor and for all he knows it might not progress.

 

[sergiotahini]

Two things, both of which are obvious and have been mentioned before:

1. NW2 is not "balding" as far as normal people are concerned. The only people who might think you are balding are other norwood spotters afflicted with male pattern baldness; do you really care what these people think?

2. If you are scared of losing your hair then you should at least try a clinically proven treatment. Meds are really the only shot you have at keeping hair if you do in fact have male pattern baldness. I know you have your concerns, but at some point you just need to make a decision. If I were you I would at least try something out - considering the millions of men on finasteride and minoxidil throughout the world, the likelihood of negative side effects seems low.

I don't know what else to tell you. Balding sucks, and it sucks for you that you probably won't be one of those guys with great hair into middle age. It also sucks for short dudes in their 20s that they will probably never grow taller. I'm trying to deal with the idea of eventually looking like a balding guy myself.

 

[GeminiX]

Not sure if this will help or not, but I recently had a job interview (and got the job) and the two people recruiting and interviewing me had seen my website with the hair-loss photos and everything on it.

It actually became a conversation point in the interview, they were fascinated.

I find that living my life in "public" and having no skeletons or embarrassing little secrets makes life so easy

Maybe you can adopt that approach, sort of "embrace" all your life's experiences and use them to make you stronger and more interesting; I certainly find that has worked for me.