lilltoolate's story -(4 month update,success,pics -page 3)

[lilltoolate]

Hi everybody...

First of all a big thanks to this site for providing tons of information and stuff to read from ppl in similar situations which has helped a big deal to boost my confidence and hopes....

Now to start with my story....

The title of this post suggests my present condition....i've been losing hair pretty badly for almost the last 4 yrs....i believe my situation wud probably be the worst case scenario for anyone who started losing hair by age 17/18

Before hairloss....

I had thick,long, straight hair which my classmates envied and my long hair made me look good....but i've always looked 1or 2 yrs older than most of my classmates eventhough i'm younger than most of them...my facial hair started growing earlier than most of them and i was naturally well built....and i got a very mature look in my late teens

My bad genes kick in .....male pattern baldness and hairloss begins.....

For the initial 2-3 months when i started losing lots of hair i was a bit ignorant since i never imagined i cud be going bald at such a young age...just felt it was a temporary thing since my dad (less than Norwood 6 now and seems like balding stopped there) started losing his hair in his late 20s and became bald gradually.....also my two elder bros had no signs of baldness at all ...but i still bought some unproven stuff to prevent hair loss.. which didnt work...then ppl started noticing and telling me that i was losing hair bcos of the reduced volume....i started to freak a bit....and eventually cut my hair really short and totally freaked out bcos my hairline had receded by abt 1 inch at the sides and abt 1/2 inch at the front (probably Norwood 1) after abt 5-6 months since hair loss started!

Fighting back male pattern baldness...

After trying various oils and stuff for abt an yr I went to a doctor who asked me to try minoxidil 2% and an anti dandruff shampoo...i still believed (out of my lack of research and knowledge abt male pattern baldness) that this hair loss wud stop eventually and i wud go back to normal ....so after trying minoxidil for abt 2-3 months and seeing no big results i stopped it.....a decision and i deeply regret now...

I tried homeopathy medicine then for abt 6 months since i was a bit concerned abt side effects of minoxidil and shampoos ....but those didnt give any +ve results either....in fact all this time i was losing more hair....abt 2 yrs later my hairline was receding more and my scalp along the sides and front were partially becoming visible when my hair was wet or under very good lighting....

As usual, still believing all this wud stop and reverse, i switched between treatments frequently since i didnt c good results ...since nothing seemed to work slight depression was setting in and i was starting to lose hope...

I always had good support from my family and friends.... but still i started wearing caps frequently to avoid ppl that i knew from staring at my head, stayed at home more often, avoided social events as much as i could...and going to college really sucked ( still does and i'm in my final yr)

I lost hair very badly during the last 2 yrs and i'm in the Norwood 4/5 level now( see the pics )!!....i wonder how i managed to keep my sanity!! i had lost complete hope and had no treatments watsoever for the last few months when i stumbled upon this site( wish i found this site a lot earlier)...read alot and did some research and as of now have started on finax( or propecia or 1mg finasteride) after consulting a doctor( who was surprised to hear that i was just 21...he thought i was a lot older)....i'm planning to add minoxidil and nizoral( to complete the big3 ) in a few months time...still have some hope bcos i have lots of small hair in all the areas that i've lost hair except 1 inch at the front of my original hairline...

As of now...my life has changed alot (mostly for the worse) in the last 4 yrs...mainly bcos of my change in attitude and outlook towards life more than anything....physically...i cant think of going outside my house without wearing a cap .....and most of the ppl i meet think that my elder brother( who has really good hair and looks his age) is my younger brother!! now i take that with a smile on my face....

Here's a link to my pics ....
http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o206/lilltoolate/

Thats pretty much my story till now....i'll be a regular visitor to this site now and i'll keep updating....

Anybody with similar situation ( i dont expect many with such a bad case) or some comforting words or some advice and whole heartedly welcome ...i'll be grateful to those....

Thank you

 

[thinning_esteem]

is there any chance this could be caused by a medical condition?

 

[lilltoolate]

Thanks for the quick response...

i'm definite that this is male pattern baldness....i think it became so worse bcos of lack of proper(proven) medication for such a long time....however i always had a dry skin prob which is not such a big issue since its under control...still cud have some effect on my hair loss ...after reading thru this site i think that i shud seriously consider biotin eventhough the hair that i have left look pretty strong and dont break off very easily...just that they fall off

 

[Far Too Young]

Wow. That's really profound loss. It's definitely in the male pattern baldness pattern, though. At this point you should definitely use some propecia, and maybe think about talking to a good hair transplant specialist. I think you're too the point that background loss shouldn't be a huge consideration.

 

[Webster]

Thanks for the quick response...

i'm definite that this is male pattern baldness....i think it became so worse bcos of lack of proper(proven) medication for such a long time....however i always had a dry skin prob which is not such a big issue since its under control...still cud have some effect on my hair loss ...after reading thru this site i think that i shud seriously consider biotin eventhough the hair that i have left look pretty strong and dont break off very easily...just that they fall off

I always thought oily skin was a sign of high DHT, not dry skin.

 

[beaner]

You indicated you would start minoxidil and nizoral in a few months time...my opinion would be to get on minoxidil right now. Your degree of loss is such that would be greatly benefited with the immediate addition of minoxidil...there's no point waiting.

 

[Guest]

you need minoxidil. oral drugs alone are not going to do the trick for hair loss that severe

 

[Guest]

you need minoxidil. oral drugs alone are not going to do the trick for hair loss that severe

 

[lilltoolate]

thanks again everyone for the advice....my reason for waiting for a couple of months was to see whether i'd get any side effects from finasteride....and if i dont get any side effects then i can go on minoxidil and ensure that i'm on the right track without harming myself....but i guess i shud start with minoxidil rightaway..

by the way..shud i go with 5 % or 2% minoxidil?? ...i know this question might annoy some frequent posters bcos i know the answer for this is out there... really sorry abt that...but i have to ask...r there more chances of side effects and/or better results with 5 % than 2%??

thanx

 

[lilltoolate]

also...i think i can pretty much confirm sadly the fact that i probably have the worst case scenario for someone whose hair loss started in their late teens ..from the reactions of some of the experienced and senior posters over here

 

[beaner]

thanks again everyone for the advice....my reason for waiting for a couple of months was to see whether i'd get any side effects from finasteride....and if i dont get any side effects then i can go on minoxidil and ensure that i'm on the right track without harming myself....but i guess i shud start with minoxidil rightaway..

by the way..shud i go with 5 % or 2% minoxidil?? ...i know this question might annoy some frequent posters bcos i know the answer for this is out there... really sorry abt that...but i have to ask...r there more chances of side effects and/or better results with 5 % than 2%??

thanx

Get on the 5% and don't worry about side effects from minoxidil because they are amost non-existent regardless of what you may infer from this forum. You should probably start the foam because it's more than likely
better.....and again, disregard any babble on this forum about the foam being less effective.

 

[barcafan]

Yeah bro, i think im in the same boat as you (i have HORRIBLE genetics) my dad was nw6 @ 26ish ive just found out (Eeek). i started loosing at 16 and ive receded in the temples/sides and im 18 now but i recently started minoxidil 5% and i hope it'll help a bit till im older and ready to use propecia (afriad to use it now since im not fully grown yet).

Anyways, you say you're in senior year in college so i'll assume you're 22, you're on the right track in using propecia and you should get on nizoral and IMMEDIATLY get on minoxidil 5%, use that for about 6-12 months and if you dont get much improvment just step it up to like 12.5% minoxidil, if that STILL doesn't help i think you should just shave your head. You have dark skin so thats a very big plus (looks better IMO). Because if the drugs wont help enough for cosmetically suitible results, i really dont think anything will with hairloss that strong.


Last of all, try not to worry! I know its almost impossible but dude you just gotta try, it really does help.

 

[Guest]

Hello,

first of all my honest opinion. Your hair looks pretty bad particularly for someone who is only 21 years old. I don´t mean this in an offensive way it is just how I see it. You should definetly get on treatments asap. But there is some hope. Your head looks as you still have hair all over it, just it is very thin. This is a good thing to begin with and you should see results quickly. Just take a look at this guy.

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/discussions ... sc&start=0

He had a similiar degree of hairloss and saw results very fast. I wouldn´t be surprised if the same thing happened to you, too. Good Luck!

 

[lilltoolate]

thanx all u guys

taugenichts :that really lifted my hope man..thanx for bringing that up...i wish i get good results soon! ...and i appreciate ur honesty..

barcafan : its grt that u have started on the right treatments..i hope everything goes well for u....good luck to u
...shaving my head has been on my mind for some time now..but the thing is that is not really common where i live and also i dont think it'll really suit me..

beaner : my Doctor actually asked me to take the 2% minoxidil as of now...i'll ask him abt the the 5% next week when i c him...he'll most probably give a goahead....

 

[lilltoolate]

question regarding minoxidil

Hey guys...this question shud probably be asked in the minoxidil section but i have to ask here bcos i think its relevant to this thread as well as to me...

as i mentioned in my first post in this thread, i used minoxidil 2% for a short duration (2-3 months) abt 3.5 yrs back...i just had to apply it at my front and temples back then since thats the only area i really had a prob with...i read a warning on the label of minoxidil that not more than 2ml shud be applied on the scalp per day..ie.. 1ml max twice a day...i dont know how in the world i'm supposed to apply it on the whole top portion of head with just 1ml of minoxidil? ? this question truely puzzles me....any help guys..pls

 

[sphlanx2006]

First of all use minoxidil 5% at all costs. No reason for using a LESS-effective drug, when 5% solution has no real side effects. I would also apply some retin-a, it seems to be very helpfull in combination with minoxidil.

As for applying more than 2ml/day or 1ml/per application, i think its fine. I apply about 1,5ml/per application since this is how much i need to get enough minoxidil in all my thinning areas.

 

[lilltoolate]

shud i really take the risk of using more than 2ml per day especially since i've to use this for a long long time to come?

 

[kalbo]

Why don't u just shave your head? It looks as though you have a good tan going on (or maybe your of east indian descent, can't really tell) and a nice shaped head to pull it off.

Besides, I don't wanna sound too discouraging, but judging from the severity of your hairloss at such a young age, I doubt any of the treatments would make your hair look as aesthetically pleasing with hair than if you shaved it off.

 

[lilltoolate]

i'm from south india and that is the natural color of my skin..not a tan...by the way i did get a hair cut today ...now it looks sort of like the style of jason statham(wish i cud look that good being bald...lol)..check out my album

http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o206/lilltoolate/

 

[UK1]

Yes your hair looks much better shaved, you should shave 1 grade lower around the sides and blend it into the top and it will look fine.