Kj's Story

[kj6723]

Hello everyone. I don't have much going on today, so I am going to go ahead and start a log of my progress not just for myself, but also so all the members and lurkers can appreciate how the meds I'm using are/aren't working.

Some of you have noticed me around on here for a bit I'm sure. I'm 27 years old. All of my hair loss is currently frontal, at the temples and hairline. I became aware that something was wrong about 2-3 years ago. I was in semi-denial for a while, until I finally accepted the horrible reality that I am, in fact, a balding man with sh*t hair genes. It's funny, because even when I look back at pictures of myself at like, 20 years old, I've been in NW2 and beyond territory for quite a while. Somehow it did not register in my mind during all that time that receding temples/hairline was even a thing.

On March 12, 2016, I began using 5% minoxidil twice a day and 1% nizoral a few times a week. Here are some pictures from the day I started:


About a month or two into minoxidil and nizoral, I realized my incessant, non-stop shedding had pretty much stopped, or at the very least significantly slowed down.

On May 18, 2016, I began taking finasteride. Here are some pics from the day before I started (about 2 months into just minoxidil and nizoral)

And these pics are from today, July 10, 2016.


Temples are complete sh*t, especially the right one. There seems to be a bit of thickening, I don't know how much of it to attribute to meds and how much it might just be the fact that my hair is significantly longer...there are a bunch of vellus esque hairs along the edge of my forelock I noticed in the last couple weeks, which I definitely didn't notice before(although I'm having a little difficulty judging what's vellus and what's not because my hair is light blond).

At this point, I would guess any success I'm having is mostly due to minoxidil, as I'm still just shy of the two month mark for finasteride.

 

[Johnmpb]

Your hair looks fine especially for 27. Don't take it for granted but fight hard.i bet most people don't even notice your minimal loss

 

[kj6723]

Your hair looks fine especially for 27. Don't take it for granted but fight hard.i bet most people don't even notice your minimal loss

Thanks. My temples are pretty much bald...I feel like if I can fill them in even just slightly it will make me look and feel exceptionally more youthful

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

My suggestion is fight for the time being and try and hold on until better treatments come out in the next two years, such as Brotzu's lotion, Swoop's experiment, and so on.

 

[kj6723]

My suggestion is fight for the time being and try and hold on until better treatments come out in the next two years, such as Brotzu's lotion, Swoop's experiment, and so on.

What exactly is Swoop's experiment btw? Is there a thread on it you can link me to?

 

[lickawrist]

^ ditto, i want to learn about swoops experiment; how come i was unaware of this?

 

[kj6723]

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/making-a-topical.99796/page-2#post-1341216

^ ditto, i want to learn about swoops experiment; how come i was unaware of this?

I believe I just found it:

 

[kj6723]

Assuming I don't get much of any regrowth, can anyone knowledgeable make a rough estimate as to how many grafts I might need to FUE to an NW1?

Even though I'm giving treatments a year to work their magic, I'm trying to assess now about how much the procedure and travel will cost me so I can set that money aside.

 

[KO21]

We have like the same story, my hairline is just a little worse.

Isn't it insane how we didn't notice it before?! I was a NW2 for years and had no clue. The fact that tons of guys in my family are bald didn't even register either.

 

[kj6723]

We have like the same story, my hairline is just a little worse.

Isn't it insane how we didn't notice it before?! I was a NW2 for years and had no clue. The fact that tons of guys in my family are bald didn't even register either.

I only ever thought of balding as something that happened on the crown. Now I realize there are and always have been lots of heavily receding hairlines on my dad's side of the family.

Growing up, my parents were all about making my teeth look perfect, getting my acne treated, etc. But hair loss was never remotely touched upon as something I might suffer from or consider treating one day...it just wasn't even acknowledged. I don't think it even occurred to them that treating hair loss was "a thing."...hell, it never occurred to me until the day I realized what was up...that realization was life altering.

It's funny, because If I do attain my dream of being an NW1, it will literally be the best head of hair I've had since I was a teenager. lol...trying to pull off the benjamin button thing

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

I only ever thought of balding as something that happened on the crown. Now I realize there are and always have been lots of heavily receding hairlines on my dad's side of the family.

Growing up, my parents were all about making my teeth look perfect, getting my acne treated, etc. But hair loss was never remotely touched upon as something I might suffer from or consider treating one day...it just wasn't even acknowledged. I don't think it even occurred to them that treating hair loss was "a thing."...hell, it never occurred to me until the day I realized what was up...that realization was life altering.

It's funny, because If I do attain my dream of being an NW1, it will literally be the best head of hair I've had since I was a teenager. lol...trying to pull off the benjamin button thing

Be thankful that your parents had the money and knowledge to look after your teeth.

It's not everything, but it's extremely important.

 

[kj6723]

Be thankful that your parents had the money and knowledge to look after your teeth.

It's not everything, but it's extremely important.

I'm very thankful, but please let's not turn my story thread into a discussion about teeth...although I guess I did mention it first lol

 

[kj6723]

So this is the pic I plan on showing to surgeons when I start having consultations

#hairgoals

 

[kj6723]

Lots of vellus hairs popping up at the forelock.

Hoping they go terminal, if so it will be a significant improvement in density

 

[Runninghair]

Hi kj. Your hair looks pretty good. Your head shape seems to suit the receeded temples and the hair round them looks healthy and thick.

I will follow your story. My hairs similar and im starting dutasteride in few days : /

 

[kj6723]

Hi kj. Your hair looks pretty good. Your head shape seems to suit the receeded temples and the hair round them looks healthy and thick.

I will follow your story. My hairs similar and im starting dutasteride in few days : /

Thanks! The forelock is thin in front with noticeable gaps between the terminal hairs (although the gaps are presently filling in with vellus hairs). It's hard to tell in the pics with how I'm holding it flat. I attribute the volumizing conditioner I use to why my hair looks healthy: https://www.amazon.com/OGX-Conditioner-Thick-Biotin-Collagen/dp/B00ADR6M2U ...it's literally night and day if I do or don't use that conditioner.

The temple recession is also more abrupt than I care for. I'm getting a transplant to round them out...they've been gone too long to expect the regrowth I want

I wish you the best with dutasteride! I know others on here have had great success with it

 

[kj6723]

I might take some pics this week for comparison, as the last ones here are from about 2 months ago. I don't think anything is noticeably different. There's a small collection of new terminal hairs on the right side of my forelock, but they aren't offering any cosmetic improvement at this point, and there are a ton of vellus hairs all across my forelock. The front of the forelock is still very visibly diffused when it's not brushed flat.

Staying the course with the big 3. I haven't missed a single finasteride dosage. I've been diligent with the 2x day minoxidil as well, with the exception of a few days here and there when I was sleeping out, traveling or such. No side effects to report except watery semen, and POSSIBLY slightly more hair on other parts of my body (hard to say because I was quite hairy to begin with).

For those of you who aren't tracking, I have a transplant booked for early 2017. I'm anxious to nuke this sh*t and hopefully buy myself at least 5-10 years of stress free hair. In the meantime, for experimental purposes I've just ordered some toppik to test out and hopefully give my forelock the appearance of more density for the next few months. I have a suspicion it's going to look like sh*t in my light blonde hair lol

 

[Heat06]

I might take some pics this week for comparison, as the last ones here are from about 2 months ago. I don't think anything is noticeably different. There's a small collection of new terminal hairs on the right side of my forelock, but they aren't offering any cosmetic improvement at this point, and there are a ton of vellus hairs all across my forelock. The front of the forelock is still very visibly diffused when it's not brushed flat.

Staying the course with the big 3. I haven't missed a single finasteride dosage. I've been diligent with the 2x day minoxidil as well, with the exception of a few days here and there when I was sleeping out, traveling or such. No side effects to report except watery semen, and POSSIBLY slightly more hair on other parts of my body (hard to say because I was quite hairy to begin with).

For those of you who aren't tracking, I have a transplant booked for early 2017. I'm anxious to nuke this sh*t and hopefully buy myself at least 5-10 years of stress free hair. In the meantime, for experimental purposes I've just ordered some toppik to test out and hopefully give my forelock the appearance of more density for the next few months. I have a suspicion it's going to look like sh*t in my light blonde hair lol

You'll be surprised how effective a bit of Toppik can be for concealing thinning areas. Obviously, match the the color of your hair accordingly, but you should have zero issues with people thinking anything unusual is on your head. It blends quite nicely with the right hair type matched. I would not worry about that and this is coming from a serious OCD dude.

I'll be following your story and hair transplant journey closely. Good luck again.

 

[kj6723]

I was going to post update pics, but it's pointless as I just took some and they look EXACTLY the same as the last ones I posted lol.

I've got a f*ck ton of vellus hairs that don't seem to want to go terminal

On the bright side, things have not gotten worse, which is a positive considering how much things seemed to be accelerating in a bad direction for the 6 months or so prior to starting minoxidil.

Again, no unbearable sides. I still wake up with an erection most every morning

 

[kj6723]

You have a good hair color.

Why ruin it?

But, if you're going to color your hair, at least do it with hair dye (don't bleach). Bleaching will
only make it thinner (because it will be).

Go darker, if you're going to do it. Definitely don't go lighter.

lol dude....at no point did I say I am going to dye my hair