I guess it's my time (please help, just noticed male pattern baldness)

[rint]

I'm the youngest of 4 brothers...Two of them were showing signes of male pattern baldness when they were 18/19...i'm 18

So naturally I would always be looking out for signs on myself in the mirror daily so I could treat the male pattern baldness early. When I was bout 17, I noticed a sort of V shaped callok starting to devolpe on the front of my hairline. I didn't think much of it, it looked cool and wasn't intrusive (though you could see it pretty clearly all pictures of me)..but it looked completely natural and non threatening towards male pattern baldness.

Fast foward one year...
I realized the callok has "grown" in the front and is making an indent in my hairline, and I had much more frizzy "baby" hairs on the front. I have a naturally very strong widows peak so i guess it hasn't moved its way down yet , and my crown is fine. As for now (and hopefully forever), i only have a slight (pretty noticable) indent in my hairline (both sides, front) that fade into a normal callok and some frizzy baby hairs in the front that i never had. The hairs surroundig this callok are finer and smoother and lighter than my normal hairs. My hair loss got a little more rapid when I developed dandruff and itch in april.

My questions are.

Which one should I choose?

Must I obtain a prescription to get a generic Finasteride?

Should I cut my pills in halves (or quarters) seeing that I am in the early stages of male pattern baldness . Or just take a full one?

 

[decro435]

Nizoral shampoo - Cheap and effective.

 

[SuperMeh]

Hi Rint,

You don't need a prescription to get generic finasteride, you can get Merck finasteride without a prescription from many places too. However! Maybe it'd be a good idea to see a Doctor first regardless of where you want to get the meds from, I'll admit I didn't, but it's always a good idea.

Rint, some people are worried about sides, if you are worried, first of all don't be, as that'll probably cause a few.. if you get standard 1mg finasteride then maybe start on a smaller dose, like 0.5, or even quarter it to 0.25. There is evidence that 0.25 is pretty much as effective anyway.

I buy the bigger 5mg and quarter that to 1.25, I worked my way up to that, not really because of worrying about my bodies reaction but because I got it from a cheaper source and I have no negative sides from it anyway.

:agree: with above nizoral is quite good too, but I use it only once a week as it's quite rough on my hair/scalp.

Good luck

 

[rint]

THANKS SO MUCH GUYS! unk:

Before I realized I was loosing hair I randomly got terribly bad dandruff and itchy scalp out of nowhere when I was laying in bed one night. And still I have dandruff and itchy scalp (not as often, every 3-4 days). When I took a shower (and ever since) I noticed a lot more shedding. At first I was shedding my thick, black, normal hairs but now I'm shedding less (but very fine, light hairs).

Thanks Decro, I will run and get some Nizoral today!

Would taking .25 or .5 of a pill lower the risks of possible side effects? Is it a good idea, since I caught male pattern baldness fairly early, to start on pills? I would like to possibly regrow a small amount of my hair in the front. I don't want to use rogaine as I already have dandruff/dry itchy scalp.

Are there any stores to buy finasteride from? or can you only order them online w/o needing a prescription?

Or any other suggestions?

 

[SuperMeh]

It's debatable re: dosages, 0.25mg - 1mg have a similar effect on DHT levels according to some sources, therefore you could say just play it safe and do 0.25mg, I take 1.25mg because it's convenient and I don't suffer any sides.. it's also cheap, so I'd rather do that and if anything get a higher dosage even if the difference in reduced DHT is only slight. If you buy 1mg finasteride you can just quarter it to 4 0.25mg pieces.

I think most people would say get on finasteride asap as the sooner you start treating it the better, you gotta decide for yourself if you want to do that without consulting an 'expert', if you are suffering from AA then definitely ASAP, if it's a temporary thing it could do more damage than good.

You said 2 of your brothers were showing signs of male pattern baldness, did that continue or did it halt? Could be a phase of hormonal imbalance.. If it didn't continue with your brothers maybe you should question and seek further professional advice.

 

[rint]

It's continued...One brother Starting loosing hair at around 18. 4 years later he started on Rogaine so it's stayed pretty much the same for 2 more years (now)

The other started at 18 (or a bit earlier maybe), but he went the all natural route 2 years later and it has slowed down the aggressiveness of male pattern baldness.


Here are some pics of mine... That's looking like male pattern baldness right?...I have always had that long widows peak but It is just getting wider for now. I will go to the dermitologist on Mon. to be sure.

I will get the Nizoral today.. Can the finasteride be bought in stores w/o prescription or do I have to order it online?

I really appreciate your help, thank you!!!
[attachment=2:2u2zbw16]Photo 137.jpg[/attachment:2u2zbw16]
[attachment=1:2u2zbw16]Photo 138.jpg[/attachment:2u2zbw16]
[attachment=0:2u2zbw16]Photo 17.jpg[/attachment:2u2zbw16]

It actually looks a little worse in person but I didn't want to look at it!

 

[SuperMeh]

In my opinion...

Looks like perhaps very very early onset, it's too hard to tell for sure, if all those little hairs are a recent thing that would suggest the beginnings as well.. I mean coupled with the family issues it's quite a good chance you're going to suffer from this sooner or later. However I think your hair looks pretty good at the moment..

I think you should take your time and get all the advice you need, it's not a serious problem now, don't leave it many months/years of course, but take time to make your decision, I think finasteride is good but if you end up not needing it you'd be a lot better off without.. obviously. Get as much info as possible and try not to stress out too much.

Also, if you're going to see a derm try to get a second opinion from a Doctor or trichologist or even another derm, the doctors I saw in the first place completely misdiagnosed me and I left the condition for a good year without doing anything to it, looked SO much worse one year on, was stupid angry at them when I came for a second appointment and started talking to me about minoxidil. I never should've trusted them because they were both balding

I've never seen finasteride for sale in stores, only through pharmacies with a prescription. I've only ever bought online, first buying Merck Propecia and then onto Cipla Fincar. - I don't believe you can just buy it in a store, no.

 

[rint]

Yes those little hairs are fairly new...I added another pic to show my hairline a bit better. That indent is new and as you can see, its moving further and further back (same on both sides). The rest of my hair seems fine but the frontal area is just a little bit thinner.


Thank you!

 

[rint]

Thanks guys, would finasteride be the best choice (I know I put this post in the pill section, sorry). Or would there be a better option seeing that I only have minor hair loss for now? Would Nizoral maintain my hair thickness or just slow down the hair loss? Any other ideas?


Thanks a million!

 

[LosingTouch]

Looks like what my hair looked like just over a year ago as well. At the time it was a big shock but I hadn't done anything about it till now when it is so so much worse. If you worried about the pace to which your thinning is happening I'd start on finasteride now and you could always use nizoral to keep your mind at ease. But yes, it's not that bad at all.