I've been lurking here for a while now, and felt it about time I post my story.
I'm now 22, and my hair loss first began mid-2005. Starting with the crown, the front began to thin out towards the end of 2005. I wasn't so bothered about the crown, but the front bothered me very much. Naturally, I was worried what was wrong so I went to the doctor. He did blood tests, checked me out and said "well I can say it's not male pattern baldness, as your hair isn't losing in the normal places to be that." he left it at that and said "for all we know, it's going to grow back. I think it's likely to be stress."
Cut to almost two years later and my hair is thinner than ever. The front has become much worse, but the crown seems to be deteriorating at a slower rate. In October 2006 it became harder to style without it looking thin. I thought there definitely must be something up and finally again went to the doctor June 2007 (this time a different guy). He checked out my hair and said "well it looks like male pattern baldness to me, but as this problem with your hair has been address before, it may be something else such as a fungal infection." so blood tests again. They came back okay, and his diagnosis was indeed male pattern baldness.
He told me about Finasteride and said "because you're quite young, your follicles are likely to respond much better to treatment than say someone 15 years older than you, I recommend you get on the treatment as soon as possible, but not only this but minoxidil aswell." and then he told me the price - £30 a month for the Finasteride. There'd be no way I could afford that. It was a good news/bad news kind of moment. Then he said "however, it's expensive I can understand. So an alternative is Proscar. This was initially prescribed for prostate cancer sufferers but studies found it also is able to reverse male pattern baldness, or at least stop it. It's much cheaper - £20 for a three month supply, however you must cut the pill up into 4's, or 5's to last for four months."
I was overjoyed, finally there could be something that will help me out. Now I've been on Proscar 1.5mg since 18th June 2007, and Regaine 5% solution since 28th June 2007. The front is now worse than ever and I can't do that much with my hair these days. The crown doesn't bother me as I can't see it, now as it is it seems to be that the hair has just turned to the vellus hairs and not that many have fallen out. With the front, it's the same, but there are hairs missing. I've never noticed hair falling out, just the usual amount in the shower. I've had some support from people but some have said "why bother? Why don't you just go bald gracefully?"
The only noticeable side effects I've had has been very bad spots around the temples and on my forehead near to where I apply the Regaine solution. Other than that, there's been no problems.
Here are pictures of my hairline. With the right hairstyle, I could kind of hide it from looking as bad. But now...not so much.
I'm now 22, and my hair loss first began mid-2005. Starting with the crown, the front began to thin out towards the end of 2005. I wasn't so bothered about the crown, but the front bothered me very much. Naturally, I was worried what was wrong so I went to the doctor. He did blood tests, checked me out and said "well I can say it's not male pattern baldness, as your hair isn't losing in the normal places to be that." he left it at that and said "for all we know, it's going to grow back. I think it's likely to be stress."
Cut to almost two years later and my hair is thinner than ever. The front has become much worse, but the crown seems to be deteriorating at a slower rate. In October 2006 it became harder to style without it looking thin. I thought there definitely must be something up and finally again went to the doctor June 2007 (this time a different guy). He checked out my hair and said "well it looks like male pattern baldness to me, but as this problem with your hair has been address before, it may be something else such as a fungal infection." so blood tests again. They came back okay, and his diagnosis was indeed male pattern baldness.
He told me about Finasteride and said "because you're quite young, your follicles are likely to respond much better to treatment than say someone 15 years older than you, I recommend you get on the treatment as soon as possible, but not only this but minoxidil aswell." and then he told me the price - £30 a month for the Finasteride. There'd be no way I could afford that. It was a good news/bad news kind of moment. Then he said "however, it's expensive I can understand. So an alternative is Proscar. This was initially prescribed for prostate cancer sufferers but studies found it also is able to reverse male pattern baldness, or at least stop it. It's much cheaper - £20 for a three month supply, however you must cut the pill up into 4's, or 5's to last for four months."
I was overjoyed, finally there could be something that will help me out. Now I've been on Proscar 1.5mg since 18th June 2007, and Regaine 5% solution since 28th June 2007. The front is now worse than ever and I can't do that much with my hair these days. The crown doesn't bother me as I can't see it, now as it is it seems to be that the hair has just turned to the vellus hairs and not that many have fallen out. With the front, it's the same, but there are hairs missing. I've never noticed hair falling out, just the usual amount in the shower. I've had some support from people but some have said "why bother? Why don't you just go bald gracefully?"
The only noticeable side effects I've had has been very bad spots around the temples and on my forehead near to where I apply the Regaine solution. Other than that, there's been no problems.
Here are pictures of my hairline. With the right hairstyle, I could kind of hide it from looking as bad. But now...not so much.
