ItsTIME's story (with pictures!)

[ItsTIME]

First off, hello everybody! Secondly, I just want to say thanks to everybody on this forum for simply being on this forum. I've learned so much and I've gained much needed positive reinforcement and hope simply by browsing on here.

My story:
Alright, so I'm currently only 19 (freshman in college) and I've actually noticed my hairloss since somewhere around Sophomore to Junior year of high school. More recently (I'd say within the past year) it has rapidly been progressing, and I simply do not want that. I'm in college, and it is killing my self esteem. I've had a few instances where somebody would make nasty comments on my hair. It's not only embarrassing, but it's also just straight up depressing. I mean why do people do it? If only they knew how damaging that was, then they'd probably never say a word about it. Anywho, I've been browsing this forum for a few months now, trying to educate myself and to start taking some action against the fight with my hairloss. I still feel under prepared, but I figured I have to start somewhere. I just started this regimen on May 13th, and I plan on adding more to it with a little advice from you guys.

My current regimen:
1x .5mg Finasteride (Brand Propecia) daily
1x Nizoral every third day

I plan on getting on a multivitamin, Vitamin C, Omega3, and possibly L-Lysine/Arginine (I think those are what I've read good things about.) I also have some Rogaine foam, but I'm very hesitant to get on that because I simply do not want to be dependent on it for the rest of my life/until other options arise. But, yes I know it would help drastically...I just haven't decided whether or not I want to use it.

As you can see, I have a good amount of inflammation, and the hair just seems dry/dead.

It's pretty depressing to look at this one, it's what it would look like without my coverage.

Front view of the "no coverage."

Definite recession.

Now the opposite side.

I like to call this my "comb forward."

This is pretty much how I wear it from day to day.

More of the comb over/forward.

And just a side view.

As you guys can see, it's definitely progressing pretty badly. If you guys could please give me some tips on what I could do to prevent it, I'd definitely appreciate it. I'd love to regrow, but maintaining it wouldn't be too bad.

 

[Guest]

what you should do is wet your hair and comb it back or kinda spike it. its hard to see the extent of your thinning with that hairstyle.

 

[metalheaddude]

Your hair looks pretty thin..To be honest man I think you really need to go for the buzz cut, just so you can see the reality and extent of your thinning. It will be quite liberating for you (as it was for me) . You're getting comments from people because its pretty obvious you're trying to conceal your hairloss and some people just like to be mean and make insensetive comments unfortunatelly

I thick your regime is little light. I think you need to tackle this will all guns blazing now, or it will be to late, because you're very young and you seem to be balding fairly fast. You should possibly consider dutasteride, but at the very least you need to take the full recommended dose for propecia 1mg. Not this 0.5mg rubbish.

Just go the big 3 bro, its your best chance.

finasteride
minoxidil
nizoral

 

[Timi]

Hello ItsTIME

Go back to 1mg finasteride
5mg is to high

i have take Dutasterid
my hair get very dry thin and Yellowish Hairs
i have stop dutasteride
my Hair get better

later i have take
finasteride 2x1,25mg my Hair get Dry-thin and Yellowish Hairs

take 1-1,25mg finasteride and minoxidil 5%

Timi

 

[Lucky_UK]

I agree, your hair is very thin, perhaps starting on finasteride would help you out but at your age the problem is finasteride will probably start to lose it's effectiveness within 7-10 years, so maybe buzzing your hair might be an option, I agree with MH.

 

[ItsTIME]

Your hair looks pretty thin..To be honest man I think you really need to go for the buzz cut, just so you can see the reality and extent of your thinning. It will be quite liberating for you (as it was for me) . You're getting comments from people because its pretty obvious you're trying to conceal your hairloss and some people just like to be mean and make insensetive comments unfortunatelly

I thick your regime is little light. I think you need to tackle this will all guns blazing now, or it will be to late, because you're very young and you seem to be balding fairly fast. You should possibly consider dutasteride, but at the very least you need to take the full recommended dose for propecia 1mg. Not this 0.5mg rubbish.

Just go the big 3 bro, its your best chance.

finasteride
minoxidil
nizoral

Haha thats why I dont want to buzz it...Im concealing it for a reason. I understand it's probably pretty bad, but I'd like to take action and try to stop/slow it down.

 

[ItsTIME]

You should possibly consider dutasteride, but at the very least you need to take the full recommended dose for propecia 1mg. Not this 0.5mg rubbish.

I am on .5mg to save some money, and I've also heard that its just as effective. I've also heard there are less side effects with a lower dosage...so it seemed like a win-win for me.

 

[Timi]

You take 0,5mg

sorry
5mg i think

you should take 1mg
0,5mg ist not so good

Timi

 

[metalheaddude]

You should possibly consider dutasteride, but at the very least you need to take the full recommended dose for propecia 1mg. Not this 0.5mg rubbish.

I am on .5mg to save some money, and I've also heard that its just as effective. I've also heard there are less side effects with a lower dosage...so it seemed like a win-win for me.

Apparently 0.5mg is 70% effective but 1mg only blocks around 60-70% of DHT. So 0.5 will only block around 50% of DHT. Bottom line is I think 0.5mg is great for guys who aren't suffering from aggressive hairloss. But based on the OP pics and his age I dare say he is NW7 bound. He needs a SERIOUS dht blocker. dutasteride blocks like 90% of dht and type 1 and 2 inhibitors.

 

[ItsTIME]

Ive been on .5mg Propecia for about 2 weeks now, and to be honest it's kind of freaking me out. It seems like one day I won't lose any hairs in the sink after a shower, and then the next I lose tons. Any idea why this might be happening? I guess I've never thought about it, but I don't take my dosage at the same time everyday. Could that have some sort of effect?

Also, I could really use some advice on what to do, because this hairloss is rapidly eating my self-confidence away...is it possible to re-grow without minoxidil? I'm still hesitant to get on it, because I dont want to be dependent on it, and I dont think I could apply it twice a day everyday due to my inconsistent schedule..

 

[winterheartlee]

Seriously its not as bad as you think....
When you wash and brush ur teeth in the morning put some on...
and when you wash and brush your teeth at night put some on... lol
Im sure you do that everyday, so you dont really have to go out of the way to do it and weird times of the day.
After a few months it just becomes habit..... you just do it without thinking.

 

[ItsTIME]

Seriously its not as bad as you think....
When you wash and brush ur teeth in the morning put some on...
and when you wash and brush your teeth at night put some on... lol
Im sure you do that everyday, so you dont really have to go out of the way to do it and weird times of the day.
After a few months it just becomes habit..... you just do it without thinking.

Yeah I understand it's pretty easy to do, but I wasnt exactly sure if I could have any negative side effects if I do not do it twice daily. Being in college, sometimes I might not always be able to. I could definitely apply it at least 5 times per week, twice daily...and more than likely do it the other days as well, but I didnt know if I could harm the "system" by missing a day or two.

 

[treeshrew]

i apply once a day before bedtime, so far so good. it's quicker then brushing my teeth or putting on deoderant. no problem.

don't worry about missing a few days here and there, the effects of minoxidil takes months to arrive and months to dissapear, missing a day or two won't do anything. i'd suggest starting the foam 1 app per day at night - don't expect regrowth, but do expect to maintain. and ride out any sheds.

the first 1-3 months of propecia can be a rollercoaster of shedding and regrowth and thickening. best not to analyze it on a day to day basis, but week to week or even month to month. i'd also suggest upping the dose to the full 1mg/day if you can handle it.

and finally, some posters might disagree with me, but unless you have an inflamed scalp or some other scalp condition, nizoral every 3 days is way overkill. i'd say once a week MAX, i personally do once a month or so, just to keep the scalp healthy.