himynameisjustjohn
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Hi everyone,
Just to give you a brief synopsis, I'm an African-American male, just noticed my hairloss at 26, I am 27 now. I think I have slight thinning in the crown area, but what bothers me most is my hairline, which has pretty much been straight my whole life. I went through a horrible shed almost a year ago and the type of pattern that developed in my hairline area was unsightly; it was reminiscent of some horns on my head (weird description?). So I got my barber and close friend to "shape it up" and make it straight again, which encompassed him slightly cutting into my hairline.
At the moment, I still resemble a high NW1 with slight crown thinning, I guess. It's hard for me to judge, because my family and moreso, my friends, who are very candid and would tell me in a minute if something is wrong, say that it doesn't look like I'm losing anywhere at all. When I look at old pictures, my hairline seems to look the same as it did before I cut into it to shape it up, so maybe I didn't lose as much as I thought I did, I don't know. I've had 2 consultations with Hair Docs, 1 with Dr. Bernstein and 1 with Dr. Feller, both of whom turned me down because they said that visibly there is nothing wrong with my hair. Dr. Feller told me to save my hair in the back and come visit him again when I really had a problem, he said that to perform surgery on me now would be "unethical." Still just knowing it's going makes me extremely anxious and apprehensive. Dr. Bernstein told me that I won't be "very bald" and that I probably wouldn't need a transplant until I'm an old man. I think he was just being "nice" or something, how can someone make that type of prediction? I went to Dr. Bernstein initially because a friend of mine in med school had went to see him and described him as being very blunt and candid. Anyway, both docs seemed to be very amicable and compassionate individuals, I suppose.
Anyway, on to my dilemma, I've been on rogaine foam 5% and finasteride for 10 months. My skin flakes really badly on that rogaine and peels too. It was worse when I tried the liquid; the crap seemed to calcify on my scalp or something. Anyway, my hair hasn't changed perceptibly and surprisingly for going on a year. I informed Dr. Feller of my problem and he told me it was the finasteride that was probably maintaining my hair and not the rogaine. He basically said in most cases, rogaine sucks and he refrains from advising patients to get on it. I've only been applying it to the hairline and he said if it was working, my hairline would be thicker than the rest of my hair, but he stated my hair had a uniform appearance. He basically told me to discontinue Rogaine as it was probably causing me to lose hair.
I am cognizant of the minoxidil dependency issues and that's why I am scared as hell to get off of it. Are there any alternatives to both of the rogaine products? At this point I just want to maintain what I have....Has anyone successfully got off of the minoxidil without experiencing a shed? So far I've been off of the crap for 4 days and my wife says that my hair looks healthier, it feels better too, no itching or f'in flakes.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Just to give you a brief synopsis, I'm an African-American male, just noticed my hairloss at 26, I am 27 now. I think I have slight thinning in the crown area, but what bothers me most is my hairline, which has pretty much been straight my whole life. I went through a horrible shed almost a year ago and the type of pattern that developed in my hairline area was unsightly; it was reminiscent of some horns on my head (weird description?). So I got my barber and close friend to "shape it up" and make it straight again, which encompassed him slightly cutting into my hairline.
At the moment, I still resemble a high NW1 with slight crown thinning, I guess. It's hard for me to judge, because my family and moreso, my friends, who are very candid and would tell me in a minute if something is wrong, say that it doesn't look like I'm losing anywhere at all. When I look at old pictures, my hairline seems to look the same as it did before I cut into it to shape it up, so maybe I didn't lose as much as I thought I did, I don't know. I've had 2 consultations with Hair Docs, 1 with Dr. Bernstein and 1 with Dr. Feller, both of whom turned me down because they said that visibly there is nothing wrong with my hair. Dr. Feller told me to save my hair in the back and come visit him again when I really had a problem, he said that to perform surgery on me now would be "unethical." Still just knowing it's going makes me extremely anxious and apprehensive. Dr. Bernstein told me that I won't be "very bald" and that I probably wouldn't need a transplant until I'm an old man. I think he was just being "nice" or something, how can someone make that type of prediction? I went to Dr. Bernstein initially because a friend of mine in med school had went to see him and described him as being very blunt and candid. Anyway, both docs seemed to be very amicable and compassionate individuals, I suppose.
Anyway, on to my dilemma, I've been on rogaine foam 5% and finasteride for 10 months. My skin flakes really badly on that rogaine and peels too. It was worse when I tried the liquid; the crap seemed to calcify on my scalp or something. Anyway, my hair hasn't changed perceptibly and surprisingly for going on a year. I informed Dr. Feller of my problem and he told me it was the finasteride that was probably maintaining my hair and not the rogaine. He basically said in most cases, rogaine sucks and he refrains from advising patients to get on it. I've only been applying it to the hairline and he said if it was working, my hairline would be thicker than the rest of my hair, but he stated my hair had a uniform appearance. He basically told me to discontinue Rogaine as it was probably causing me to lose hair.
I am cognizant of the minoxidil dependency issues and that's why I am scared as hell to get off of it. Are there any alternatives to both of the rogaine products? At this point I just want to maintain what I have....Has anyone successfully got off of the minoxidil without experiencing a shed? So far I've been off of the crap for 4 days and my wife says that my hair looks healthier, it feels better too, no itching or f'in flakes.
Any advice would be appreciated.
