Hi Everyone,
I am a 37 year old male who started to see early signs of balding aged 23.
It was slow and discreet at first and quite easy to hide but not the case now unfortunately.
I am now sadly at the Norwood 5 stage and looking to try to reverse it back a few years if I can.
Here is my hair loss timeline:
1997 - Diffuse thinning throughout scalp. Hair felt slightly thinner, with some small recession at front.
1998 - Recession at temples increased, patchiness seen at vertex and mid of hairline.
1999 - 2002 - hair stayed the same, reduction in hair loss. Hair was cut to grade 4 and always grew back providing good coverage.
2003 - 2004 - Frontal thinning worsening, thinning a sides of head also.
2005 - slight bald patch appearing at back of head, hidden by growing hair longer and washing hair every day to fluff it up.
2006 - Frontal recession almost claimed the front hairline. A lot of hair getting smaller and not growing as long as before.
2007 - 2008 patch gets bigger at back of head and more thinning
2008 - 2011 more diffuse thinning presenting a Norwood 5 pattern.
I would say that my hair stayed at Norwood 3 from 1998 - 2003 and from 2003 - 2006 became norwood 4. The last 5 years has progressed it a bit more along the scale.
Initially I was in the denial phase and then in 2005 I started taking Saw Palmetto and used Nizoral, T-Gel, and Selsun shampoo along with Polytar which I think all helped maintain my hair and slow down the process.
I found that SP made me feel depressed for no reason back in 2005 and owing to this depression and immune system dip I got prostatitis bad! I had to stop taking SP and had antibiotics for quite a while. I think the trauma of that event and the bad adverse reaction I had to Cipro after that cost me a lot of my hair.
I did recover somewhat and met my girlfriend just after that, aged 31 at the time. We have been together for 6 years. During that time I didn't use anything on my hair and didnt think it would get much worse but it has. During the past year I have been the victim of name calling and jokes and it's really upset me. Almost to the point of depression again. I have to be very careful as I went on holiday in 2007 and got food poisoning for 6 weeks after! When I got over that I got prostatitis again which lasted for 6 months. I have not had a good ride at all.
Since 2006 I have been in and out of jobs, in I.T. I am a skilled programmer, web developer, and was looking to start my own business but my confidence lately has been shot totally. I was also doing Kickboxing again after stopping it 10 years ago. Been doing that for 2.5 years now and was soon to get my Brown belt and I have not been for 2 months now due to being depressed. I thought I was over it and could 'accept' it but the truth is i can't. It really pisses me off and I think it has had a massive impact on my life. I know perhaps I should consider myself lucky as I am 37 and my baldness has only just become very noticable so I was spared all the grief when I was at college etc, but the truth is the pain never goes away.
In 2008 I was diagnosed with a urethral stricture and had surgery to remove it. I think the bugger has reformed tho so the surgery and 7 weeks of utter pain down below were not worth it!
I was the victim of name calling at school because my hair was red, so I got the usual ginger jokes but I didn't care much about that. Over time my hair colour has changed to auburn and in places it is quite dark as in dark brownish?
I was thinking about trying again to see if I could get back some of my lost hair that I have lost in the last 5 years as I read someone elses success story who was going bald for about 10-15 years and was a norwood 6 easily. He started on the meds and got back about 6 years worth of lost hair.
I started minoxidil 5% about 2.5 weeks ago and already my girlfriend has noticed small sprouts (not peach fuzz) of colourless hair appearing where my hairline used to be about 10 years ago! The hairs are quite small but you can see them quite clearly in the light. There is also some at the vertex as well? Is this a good sign?
I was interested in taking propecia but I am scared to death of the side effects and fear of complete impotence. My hair looks quite thin on top now but the back and sides are thick enough to form locks of hair.
I'm on the minoxidil, saw palmetto , and nizoral again and I have noticed less itching, burning on the scalp than I did before. I don't know whether I have left it a bit late or whether it's worth a try for a year to see if things improve? What do you think?
My so called friends have been saying get a grade 1 etc, but i've been there done that and it just upsets me even more.
My dad is very bald. He is a Norwood 7 with patchy hair on the back and sides. His hair was fine till he hit his mid 40s and then his hair went within about 7 years. By 50 he was bald! His dad had hair but he was a norwood 3-4. His mother was quite butch I would say and her dad was extremely bald. So it was passed down to him it seems. My mother has thinning hair now shes in her 60's and her dad had hair loss problems too so it looks like i've inherited it from her.
I was thinking of perhaps trying propecia but not sure if its a good idea seeing as ive had prostate problems in the past and a stricture. The Saw Palmetto has made my testes feel funny and my prostate doesn't seem all that happy now that i have decided to take it again.
I would like to hear your thoughts guys. Do you think I have any chance of partly reversing this or am I too far gone? I would appreciate your wisdom.
What I find interesting is that one of my friends who still has his hair seems to think that he is safe because his dad has quite thick hair. He is the spitting image of his mother though who is quite butch in her build and appearance. Her dad had baldness. I have noticed he has receeded a bit in the past 3-4 years forming the M shape but his hair is still thick. I think perhaps he might have problems when hes in his 40's?
For the moment my hair loss is patchy and diffuse on top so is there any hope?
Thanks.
I am a 37 year old male who started to see early signs of balding aged 23.
It was slow and discreet at first and quite easy to hide but not the case now unfortunately.
I am now sadly at the Norwood 5 stage and looking to try to reverse it back a few years if I can.
Here is my hair loss timeline:
1997 - Diffuse thinning throughout scalp. Hair felt slightly thinner, with some small recession at front.
1998 - Recession at temples increased, patchiness seen at vertex and mid of hairline.
1999 - 2002 - hair stayed the same, reduction in hair loss. Hair was cut to grade 4 and always grew back providing good coverage.
2003 - 2004 - Frontal thinning worsening, thinning a sides of head also.
2005 - slight bald patch appearing at back of head, hidden by growing hair longer and washing hair every day to fluff it up.
2006 - Frontal recession almost claimed the front hairline. A lot of hair getting smaller and not growing as long as before.
2007 - 2008 patch gets bigger at back of head and more thinning
2008 - 2011 more diffuse thinning presenting a Norwood 5 pattern.
I would say that my hair stayed at Norwood 3 from 1998 - 2003 and from 2003 - 2006 became norwood 4. The last 5 years has progressed it a bit more along the scale.
Initially I was in the denial phase and then in 2005 I started taking Saw Palmetto and used Nizoral, T-Gel, and Selsun shampoo along with Polytar which I think all helped maintain my hair and slow down the process.
I found that SP made me feel depressed for no reason back in 2005 and owing to this depression and immune system dip I got prostatitis bad! I had to stop taking SP and had antibiotics for quite a while. I think the trauma of that event and the bad adverse reaction I had to Cipro after that cost me a lot of my hair.
I did recover somewhat and met my girlfriend just after that, aged 31 at the time. We have been together for 6 years. During that time I didn't use anything on my hair and didnt think it would get much worse but it has. During the past year I have been the victim of name calling and jokes and it's really upset me. Almost to the point of depression again. I have to be very careful as I went on holiday in 2007 and got food poisoning for 6 weeks after! When I got over that I got prostatitis again which lasted for 6 months. I have not had a good ride at all.
Since 2006 I have been in and out of jobs, in I.T. I am a skilled programmer, web developer, and was looking to start my own business but my confidence lately has been shot totally. I was also doing Kickboxing again after stopping it 10 years ago. Been doing that for 2.5 years now and was soon to get my Brown belt and I have not been for 2 months now due to being depressed. I thought I was over it and could 'accept' it but the truth is i can't. It really pisses me off and I think it has had a massive impact on my life. I know perhaps I should consider myself lucky as I am 37 and my baldness has only just become very noticable so I was spared all the grief when I was at college etc, but the truth is the pain never goes away.
In 2008 I was diagnosed with a urethral stricture and had surgery to remove it. I think the bugger has reformed tho so the surgery and 7 weeks of utter pain down below were not worth it!
I was the victim of name calling at school because my hair was red, so I got the usual ginger jokes but I didn't care much about that. Over time my hair colour has changed to auburn and in places it is quite dark as in dark brownish?
I was thinking about trying again to see if I could get back some of my lost hair that I have lost in the last 5 years as I read someone elses success story who was going bald for about 10-15 years and was a norwood 6 easily. He started on the meds and got back about 6 years worth of lost hair.
I started minoxidil 5% about 2.5 weeks ago and already my girlfriend has noticed small sprouts (not peach fuzz) of colourless hair appearing where my hairline used to be about 10 years ago! The hairs are quite small but you can see them quite clearly in the light. There is also some at the vertex as well? Is this a good sign?
I was interested in taking propecia but I am scared to death of the side effects and fear of complete impotence. My hair looks quite thin on top now but the back and sides are thick enough to form locks of hair.
I'm on the minoxidil, saw palmetto , and nizoral again and I have noticed less itching, burning on the scalp than I did before. I don't know whether I have left it a bit late or whether it's worth a try for a year to see if things improve? What do you think?
My so called friends have been saying get a grade 1 etc, but i've been there done that and it just upsets me even more.
My dad is very bald. He is a Norwood 7 with patchy hair on the back and sides. His hair was fine till he hit his mid 40s and then his hair went within about 7 years. By 50 he was bald! His dad had hair but he was a norwood 3-4. His mother was quite butch I would say and her dad was extremely bald. So it was passed down to him it seems. My mother has thinning hair now shes in her 60's and her dad had hair loss problems too so it looks like i've inherited it from her.
I was thinking of perhaps trying propecia but not sure if its a good idea seeing as ive had prostate problems in the past and a stricture. The Saw Palmetto has made my testes feel funny and my prostate doesn't seem all that happy now that i have decided to take it again.
I would like to hear your thoughts guys. Do you think I have any chance of partly reversing this or am I too far gone? I would appreciate your wisdom.
What I find interesting is that one of my friends who still has his hair seems to think that he is safe because his dad has quite thick hair. He is the spitting image of his mother though who is quite butch in her build and appearance. Her dad had baldness. I have noticed he has receeded a bit in the past 3-4 years forming the M shape but his hair is still thick. I think perhaps he might have problems when hes in his 40's?
For the moment my hair loss is patchy and diffuse on top so is there any hope?
Thanks.
