today is my one year mark since starting propecia....
when i was 19 i started noticing my temples were receding gradually. my family has a history of hairloss that usually starts in mid 20's but happens very slowly. about a year and a half ago i started noticing more hair on my towel when drying off after a shower. i also started to get a irritation/itch on my crown. one day last december after showering my hair was still a bit wet and i looked in the mirror and saw that my hair was thinning and i was able to see some scalp. i freaked out and lost it. this was the first day i realized i was losing my hair.
i had been under a huge amount of stress that year. my best friend died in a car accident in may, i had moved to australia by myself for university in july, and in november i found out that my girlfriend of almost 4 years had cheated on me and was now dating the guy (she had not told me that last part until i came home for christmas). and on top off all that i was now starting to go bald!
i did some research and decided to start propecia at the end of january. when i started i was somewhere between a Norwood 1.5 and Norwood 2. my hair was still very thick and i was hoping for maintenance and maybe a little regwrowth.
after about 6 weeks i started noticing a huge amount of hair that was falling out in the shower, on my pillow, on my hands when i would style my hair, and all over my floor. i was also starting to get really bad acne on my face and body. i decided to cut my dosage in half around the middle of march. this helped the acne a bit but i was losing alot of hair.
i went to the doctor at the end of april and got a prescription for minocin to control the acne. i then starting taking the full 1mg propecia dose again. i also started with 2% nizoral to try and control the scalp itching/irritation.
the next few months were pretty rough. i was still shedding a lot of hair and was not seeing any positive results. my hair was looking worse and worse and i was unable to spike it up anymore. nizoral didnt help with my itch and actually seemed to be irritating my scalp more when i would use it. i tried using t/gel but it left me with red bumps all over my scalp.
by the end of august my hair was looking terrible. the girl i was dating commented to me one day that it looked like i was balding. this really made me feel terrible. i shaved my head and decided to add 5% minoxidil. i hated how i looked with a shaved head and it made my self-confidence even lower.
i did start to see some growth on my hairline and temples after about 2 months on minoxidil. but i was also getting really bad side effects. my skin was really oily, my pores were huge, it made me grow a lot more body hair, my beard became so thick that i could never get a close shave, and my scalp was so irritated that it was almost painful.
i decided to stop minoxidil after 3 months due to the side effects. after stopping i had a massive shed. its been about 2 months since then and my hair has gone to $#iT. i have really bad diffuse thinning, my hairline and temples look terrible, and i almost have a bald spot now. i cant do anything with my hair as its too thin and just sticks flat to my head.
this whole experience has only added to the depression and anxiety i was already experiencing. i never go out or see my friends cause im so embarrased about my hair. i dont have a girlfriend. i have lost a lot of weight and i really feel terrible. i really dont like my life right now and im under so much pressure and stress i cant take it.
i think i probably would have been better off not starting propecia and just letting nature slowly take its course. i just turned 24 and im now a Norwood 3 or Norwood 3.5 with really bad diffuse thinning. my brother is 5 years older than me and started losing his hair around the same age. however he is still only a Norwood 3 so in a year my hair has thinned worse than his.
i have an appointment with a dermatologist on Feb.28 to evaluate my hairloss. propecia was really my only hope since minoxidil gave me side effects so i really dont want to stop it. but it has been a year and my hair is getting worse everyday. i have tried every kind of shampoo but my scalp itch/irritation wont go away. and i have seen no positive results from propecia. i hate my hair and wish i had the guts to shave it off but i really dont like the look of it.
at this point im really at a loss. i have started to see a psychologist and will probably start antidepressants. im hoping the dermatologist will give me some hope or something positive but i think im pretty much screwed.
i really dont know what to do anymore. but from the moment i open my eyes to the moment i fall asleep hairloss is all i think about.
thats my story.....
when i was 19 i started noticing my temples were receding gradually. my family has a history of hairloss that usually starts in mid 20's but happens very slowly. about a year and a half ago i started noticing more hair on my towel when drying off after a shower. i also started to get a irritation/itch on my crown. one day last december after showering my hair was still a bit wet and i looked in the mirror and saw that my hair was thinning and i was able to see some scalp. i freaked out and lost it. this was the first day i realized i was losing my hair.
i had been under a huge amount of stress that year. my best friend died in a car accident in may, i had moved to australia by myself for university in july, and in november i found out that my girlfriend of almost 4 years had cheated on me and was now dating the guy (she had not told me that last part until i came home for christmas). and on top off all that i was now starting to go bald!
i did some research and decided to start propecia at the end of january. when i started i was somewhere between a Norwood 1.5 and Norwood 2. my hair was still very thick and i was hoping for maintenance and maybe a little regwrowth.
after about 6 weeks i started noticing a huge amount of hair that was falling out in the shower, on my pillow, on my hands when i would style my hair, and all over my floor. i was also starting to get really bad acne on my face and body. i decided to cut my dosage in half around the middle of march. this helped the acne a bit but i was losing alot of hair.
i went to the doctor at the end of april and got a prescription for minocin to control the acne. i then starting taking the full 1mg propecia dose again. i also started with 2% nizoral to try and control the scalp itching/irritation.
the next few months were pretty rough. i was still shedding a lot of hair and was not seeing any positive results. my hair was looking worse and worse and i was unable to spike it up anymore. nizoral didnt help with my itch and actually seemed to be irritating my scalp more when i would use it. i tried using t/gel but it left me with red bumps all over my scalp.
by the end of august my hair was looking terrible. the girl i was dating commented to me one day that it looked like i was balding. this really made me feel terrible. i shaved my head and decided to add 5% minoxidil. i hated how i looked with a shaved head and it made my self-confidence even lower.
i did start to see some growth on my hairline and temples after about 2 months on minoxidil. but i was also getting really bad side effects. my skin was really oily, my pores were huge, it made me grow a lot more body hair, my beard became so thick that i could never get a close shave, and my scalp was so irritated that it was almost painful.
i decided to stop minoxidil after 3 months due to the side effects. after stopping i had a massive shed. its been about 2 months since then and my hair has gone to $#iT. i have really bad diffuse thinning, my hairline and temples look terrible, and i almost have a bald spot now. i cant do anything with my hair as its too thin and just sticks flat to my head.
this whole experience has only added to the depression and anxiety i was already experiencing. i never go out or see my friends cause im so embarrased about my hair. i dont have a girlfriend. i have lost a lot of weight and i really feel terrible. i really dont like my life right now and im under so much pressure and stress i cant take it.
i think i probably would have been better off not starting propecia and just letting nature slowly take its course. i just turned 24 and im now a Norwood 3 or Norwood 3.5 with really bad diffuse thinning. my brother is 5 years older than me and started losing his hair around the same age. however he is still only a Norwood 3 so in a year my hair has thinned worse than his.
i have an appointment with a dermatologist on Feb.28 to evaluate my hairloss. propecia was really my only hope since minoxidil gave me side effects so i really dont want to stop it. but it has been a year and my hair is getting worse everyday. i have tried every kind of shampoo but my scalp itch/irritation wont go away. and i have seen no positive results from propecia. i hate my hair and wish i had the guts to shave it off but i really dont like the look of it.
at this point im really at a loss. i have started to see a psychologist and will probably start antidepressants. im hoping the dermatologist will give me some hope or something positive but i think im pretty much screwed.
i really dont know what to do anymore. but from the moment i open my eyes to the moment i fall asleep hairloss is all i think about.
thats my story.....