Hey guys,
I finally got the courage to join this forum.
Let's see about me: I'm 23 years old. My hair first started getting thinner during my junior year of college back in 2005. The thin, soft and free-flowing nature of my hair was actually nice, which I thought was a result of my shampoo. The following year in spring 2006, I noticed a shiny glimpse of scalp at the vertex. This worried me a little but not much. Then, I noticed a lot of hair falling out when I was showering. I went to the doctor, and he said it was nothing, but just a few inflamed follicles (whatever that meant). Thus, I ignored it. During the fall of 2006, I definitely noticed after a haircut that I was thinning drastically at the vertex and temples.
I have been in denial for a almost three years due to the fact that male pattern baldness does not run in my family AT ALL. I deduced it had to be some underlying medical condition (hyperthyrodism, lupus, even cancer or HIV), or maybe my diet or working out too much. After crossing off the checklist one by one by my own doctoring, I finally visited the dermatologist and another primary care physician, they said I was in really good shape and that I probably had bad luck with a recessive gene.
I've always been very confident, but as I look in the mirror every morning, it's been on a downward spiral. I haven't been able to comb or style my hair since last summer as I've been trying to conceal my scalp as much as possible. My hair is in this weird textured shape. I have interviews for grad school this year, and I hope it doesn't affect me too much.
Although I am still in denial of male pattern baldness, I finally gave in and started taking propecia about two weeks ago. Below is a pic of me in May. It's slightly worse now. Any advice or comments for me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
I finally got the courage to join this forum.
Let's see about me: I'm 23 years old. My hair first started getting thinner during my junior year of college back in 2005. The thin, soft and free-flowing nature of my hair was actually nice, which I thought was a result of my shampoo. The following year in spring 2006, I noticed a shiny glimpse of scalp at the vertex. This worried me a little but not much. Then, I noticed a lot of hair falling out when I was showering. I went to the doctor, and he said it was nothing, but just a few inflamed follicles (whatever that meant). Thus, I ignored it. During the fall of 2006, I definitely noticed after a haircut that I was thinning drastically at the vertex and temples.
I have been in denial for a almost three years due to the fact that male pattern baldness does not run in my family AT ALL. I deduced it had to be some underlying medical condition (hyperthyrodism, lupus, even cancer or HIV), or maybe my diet or working out too much. After crossing off the checklist one by one by my own doctoring, I finally visited the dermatologist and another primary care physician, they said I was in really good shape and that I probably had bad luck with a recessive gene.
I've always been very confident, but as I look in the mirror every morning, it's been on a downward spiral. I haven't been able to comb or style my hair since last summer as I've been trying to conceal my scalp as much as possible. My hair is in this weird textured shape. I have interviews for grad school this year, and I hope it doesn't affect me too much.
Although I am still in denial of male pattern baldness, I finally gave in and started taking propecia about two weeks ago. Below is a pic of me in May. It's slightly worse now. Any advice or comments for me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
