JordOfTheJungle; so the story begins. (6 weeks pics, page 2)

[JordOfTheJungle]

Edit: Story begins on the 8th post, baseline pictures.
Update: 6 weeks pictures now on 2nd page

Hello all, first post on here. My names Jordan and I'm from the UK. (Aberdeen to be exact) Ive just turned 21 and started noticing my hair thinning about a year and a half ago prodomanantly around my crown area and general thinning of the hair on the top of my head and more recently at my hairline.

my doctor wasnt very helpful at all and took a "nothing I can do about it, these things happen" sort of attitude towards me. So I got in contact with the Belgravia centre, they were brilliant with me and had me diagnosed straight away and are now offering me treatment. My problem is the pricing, £1048 for the year or £262 every 3 months. I've been doing a fair bit of research on this forum and others and the general consensus is that belgravia is a huge rip off and all the treatments they provide can be bought online for a lot less money.

so, my question is.. If my doctor is dismissive and won't give me a prescription, how can I receive the treatment without going through the belgravia centre and their astronomical price, since a prescription is required to obtain propecia? Could I possibly just pay for 3 months through belgravia, then cancel my treatment and take the prescription from them elsewhere? Maybe that was a ridiculous thing to say I honestly dont know, like the title says looking for advice!

thanks in advance,
Jordan

 

[Chris87]

Re: New here, looking for advice.

Well..welcome to the wonderful (lol) world of hairloss man. First off..in my opinion (and in the opinion of many knowledgeable people)..hairloss centers or clubs like Hair Club For Men, Bosley, Belgravia, etc are a big *** rip off. It is true that they will charge you out the *** for things that either don't really work, or you can buy for a lot cheaper elsewhere.

The biggest and most effective tool we currently have is Finasteride (sold as the brand name propecia). This will lower the level of the hormone DHT, which is the main cause of hairloss in guys. The good news is, there are places online where you can get legit finasteride for way cheaper than if you were to buy the brand name Propecia. The source I, and many other people use, is inhousepharmacy.biz (I believe they have a specific site for Europe which is http://www.inhousepharmacy-europe.com/ )

On that site they have a section for hair loss, and under that section is a medication called Finpecia, made by a company in India called Cipla (which is a very large very well known pharmaceutical company). This is where I, and many other people here, get their finasteride and its 100% legit and WAYY cheaper than getting propecia.

The second biggest option is Minoxidil, which is commonly sold under the name Rogaine. This too can be bought in the generic version and should be available in most drug stores.

I would start with finasteride if I were you..in many cases just taking finasteride alone is enough for guys to stop and even reverse their hair loss.

Also, if you're into listening to podcasts or watching internet shows, theres a great show called The Bald Truth (http://www.guysfromqueens.com/spencer-k ... ald-truth/) which is basically an online talk/radio show about hairloss...its really entertaining and informative and you can listen either online through that site or through an app like Stitcher on your phone.

Hope this helps

 

[JordOfTheJungle]

Re: New here, looking for advice.

Thanks very much for your reply Chris, it was extremely helpful. Ive went onto the website you recommended and it looks like exactly what I was looking for. However, I noticed when going to purchase there is a little foot note at the bottom of the page saying "To satisfy the requirements of regulation 7 of the uk medicine (Advertising) Regulations 1994, this site is not Intended for those who reside in the uk." is this just a bit of legal jar gain or will I not be able to purchase?

Thanks in advance,
Jordan.

 

[Chris87]

Re: New here, looking for advice.

Thanks very much for your reply Chris, it was extremely helpful. Ive went onto the website you recommended and it looks like exactly what I was looking for. However, I noticed when going to purchase there is a little foot note at the bottom of the page saying "To satisfy the requirements of regulation 7 of the uk medicine (Advertising) Regulations 1994, this site is not Intended for those who reside in the uk." is this just a bit of legal jar gain or will I not be able to purchase?

Thanks in advance,
Jordan.

It seems to me like it would be just legal jargon..but I'm not sure. I live in the US so I have no experience at all with getting anything in the UK. There is a recent thread about getting finasteride in the UK though here: viewtopic.php?f=61&t=73999

in that thread it seems other people from teh UK are recommending this site: http://ukfinasteride.info/

maybe ask those guys in that thread about it

 

[IrishFella]

Re: New here, looking for advice.

http://en.pharm4all.com/ and http://en.generic4all.com/ are also highly reliable. I use the former.



You can also look at http://www.pharmacyreviewer.com/ that site has a list of all the legit and the bogey online stores.

Good luck, pal.

 

[wstef]

Re: New here, looking for advice.

Finasteride is prescription only in the UK, and I believe it's a legal-grey area obtaining it without prescription? Prescriptions for it are really easy to get. You can do them online in a few minutes and if you answer the questions right then you get the option to buy it.

Of course, many men simply buy generic finasteride from other places and I'm sure it's all legit and fine but I am a sceptic.

I was considering it, but I know that stuff made in the UK (or EU or USA) are pretty much trialled and tested and the strict regulations means there's no nasties in them, or at least anything we don't know about.

Because I was a bit scared of finasteride in general anyway, I just went for Propecia. Plus, who can I sue if my dick falls off?

I done an online consultation with Boots and had it delivered to my house. No embarrassment of an in-person consultation, but you can also simply collect it from a local Boots shop... they can even send it to a Post Office free of charge for you.

However, they only allow you to buy 1 month's supply at first. It's just over £40, which is not the cheapest you can get it for, but after the first month's supply is delivered you can buy longer periods... £90 for 3 months.

I thought that £30 a month for the peace of mind I was getting something "proper" was worth it.

A friend of mine is with the Belgravia centre and he is being ripped off. I have told him but he trusts it... he gets this random 3 monthly laser thing done I think... would something so infrequently benefit anyone?! I considered them but I was too embarrassed to go to a consultation or phone them *blush*

I honestly don't get why more companies in the UK haven't jumped on the finasteride bandwagon... it seems pretty cheap to make and they can undercut Propecia and placed like Belgravia by making their own generic form of it. It's just 1mg of finasteride then filler.

I also bought Regaine, but I got that online using Google Shopping to find the cheapest place. You don't need a prescription for that and it's relatively cheap... £40 for 3 months I got it for.

Good luck!

(By "month" medication pretty much means 28 days, so not really a month at all... they'd be 13 months a year that way!)

 

[JordOfTheJungle]

Re: New here, looking for advice.

Thanks for your reply wstef, I wasn't aware you could get a prescription easily from boots. I appreciated your advice and the points you raised regarding meds from perhaps obscure countries, however after reading through this site I've decided to go ahead and order a 6 month batch of generic finasteride from inhouse pharmacy.

after reading through the success stories section I've decided to mimic the regime from someone who had phenomenal results (peapoddy). I understand that not everyone reacts the same but I feel it's a good place to start and I can tailor to my needs if I feel I need to change it.

So my regime will be;
1 x mg finasteride once daily
Regaine foam in the morning
Kirkland minoxidil in the evening

thanks
Jordan

 

[JordOfTheJungle]

Re: New here, looking for advice.

just thought i would post a little update. Obviously haven't yet recieved my meds as they were only ordered on Tuesday night, however i'll pop up some pictures of what my hair is currently like. As you will see im in the early stages of male pattern baldness with my main area of concern being the crown area. Any opinions on how my hair looks at the moment and how you think it would look if i dont start the meds would be much appreciated.

Apologies for the bad pictures, im in dire need of a hair cut also!

 

[JordOfTheJungle]

(update: pictures added)

Although nobody replied to my previous post with pictures I shall continue to update this thread just as a way to track my own progress as much as anything, a sort of hair blog I suppose.

The plan was to take regaine foam in the morning and Kirkland minoxidil in the evening, however, being the absolute spanner I am I ordered regaine liquid by accident which I didn't realise until it arrived yesterday.None the less I've decided to just keep it and get going with the treatment.

Applied last night once my hair was dry after my shower, bottle recommends that 6 squirts administers 1ml dosage. I found 6 squirts not enough to cover crown, top of head and hairline area. Has anybody else found this? If so how do you apply your dosage to cover all 3 areas?

Also, if any mods see this message could The thread possibly be moved to the story section? Thanks in advance.

Jordan

 

[akki46]

Re: JordOfTheJungle; so the story begins. (pictures added)

Hi jord i lived in uk and bought my finpecia online from inhouse its better to buy a year supply in my case my first few shipment came through but after that the packet was held at the post office i have to pay 17 gbp extra at the post office to get it so it is better to stock it up.

 

[Northman]

Re: JordOfTheJungle; so the story begins. (pictures added)

I'm relatively new to the site, but it seems you have some temple recession and some diffuse thinning concentrating in your crown area. You also have lots of hair left to work with so it is a good place to start treatment. I just started taking finasteride and I also ordered from InHousePharm. It took about 10 days to get to me in the US.

As far as I can tell it is legitimate stuff.

 

[JordOfTheJungle]

Re: JordOfTheJungle; so the story begins. (pictures added)

Hi jord i lived in uk and bought my finpecia online from inhouse its better to buy a year supply in my case my first few shipment came through but after that the packet was held at the post office i have to pay 17 gbp extra at the post office to get it so it is better to stock it up.

Yeah Inhouse does say when your processing your order that there's a charge upon arrival. I will most likely be at work when it arrives so here's hoping its just held at my local post office and not sent back!

I'm relatively new to the site, but it seems you have some temple recession and some diffuse thinning concentrating in your crown area. You also have lots of hair left to work with so it is a good place to start treatment. I just started taking finasteride and I also ordered from InHousePharm. It took about 10 days to get to me in the US.

As far as I can tell it is legitimate stuff.

Hi northman, thanks for your reply. 100% agree with what your saying about the current state of my hair, I'm still young and the process only started around 2 years ago so I'm hoping that since I'm doing something about it earlier in life I can have good results, although I won't be getting my hopes up! There seems to be quite a lot of people on this forum that have had positive results using finasteride from inhousepharm so hopefully I'm the same. I've seen your thread in the stories section and hope you see some improvement, we're all in this together I suppose!

 

[akki46]

Re: JordOfTheJungle; so the story begins. (pics added, 8th post)

Hi jord yes they r going to held it at the PO for 2 weeks so i think u have enought time to pick it up and u have to pick it up at early hour

 

[JordOfTheJungle]

Re: JordOfTheJungle; so the story begins. (pics added, 8th post)

Hi jord yes they r going to held it at the PO for 2 weeks so i think u have enought time to pick it up and u have to pick it up at early hour

Yeah, I think you get from 7am until 1pm to pick up packages from the post office.

 

[JordOfTheJungle]

Re: JordOfTheJungle; so the story begins. (pics added, 8th post)

My plan was to wait at least 3 months before I put an update up on here, however I took some picture today and have decided to just throw them up along with some notes on things i've noticed in these opening 6 weeks.

Shedding
First of all i'd like to say i wasn't worried about the prospect of shedding as i had done plenty research on here and listened to the sound advice knocking around this forum, therefore knew that shedding was a sign things were working instead of the panic that most people put themselves through. Didn't notice any shedding until my 2nd week in, happened mostly in the shower when lathering the shampoo through my hair where i would see around about 25 to 50 hairs (rough estimate) in my hands, some short, some long. It lasted 5 to 7 days and since then ive seen no more than 5 to 10.

Side Effects (Finasteride)
I had very very slight ball ache the first day or two, when i say very slight i mean very slight. Nothing to inhibit me from doing anything. Apart from that, i can safely say i haven't experianced any of the other sides commonly spoken about on this forum. In my personal opinion, the sides are in your head. If you're a naturally pessimistic person then you will create the side effects in your own mind.

Application of Regaine (Minoxidil)
I've stuck to my regime more or less regimently, i think ive perhaps missed two applications in 6 weeks. I use the foam in the morning so as to avoid greasy hair at work, then kirkland minoxidil liquid in the evenings when im not going anywhere and nobody will see me. I shower in the evenings before i go to bed, i dont shower in the mornings before i go to work as im an electrician and will just be getting dirty anyway, what ive noticed is that an application of liquid minoxidil in the evening coupled with an application of regaine foam in the mornings with no shower in between can sometimes leave me a bit flaky by mid to late lunch time that day, slightly itchy also but nothing major, doesnt bother me at all but something i just thought i would note.

Shampoo
I used Nizoral on a Monday and Friday and Body Shop Ginger anti-dandruff shampoo on the other days, nothing to note really. would perhaps be better off with a different shampoo on days off of nizoral, any suggestions welcome?

Pictures
Will pop up a picture of my crown on day one along with my crown at 6 weeks for easy comparison, will also do the same with my temple region. Theres not a drastic improvement but i feel as if i can certainly see something happening, particularly in my temple area funnily enough as thats where there are alot of question marks over the treatments effectiveness. Im only 6 weeks in and have no intention of haulting my routine until i've done a year at least. i understand its a long process and will see it out regardless of the outcome.