Mr Haverkamp
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My Hair Loss Journey.
I am writing this post to pass on what I have learned and amhoping that my experience helps others.
I started noticing hair loss around the age of 24/25 andwent on rogaine at the age of 26. This seemed to hold things in check for ayear or two but eventually was starting to thin in the crown area and at aroundthe age of 30 I had my first hair transplant in the crown area. Within a year thecrown continued to degrade and I started to lose the first inch of hair in thefront area with the sides also starting to recede slightly. I had a secondtransplant the next year which filled in most of the crown as well as the widowpeaks and some hair at the front. I was still only using rogaine 5%. My hairloss continued with my crown loss and front and sides continuing to recede. At the age of 33 I had researched proscar andpresented it to my Dr. who prescribed me 2.5mg daily (I cut 5% pills in half).I initially (within the first 4 to 12 weeks) lost a ton of hair and noticed thewhole top was shedding and I could see the scalp that had been previously verythick. I decided to stick it out as I had read that this is normally a goodsign. Within a 6 month period this shedding stopped and my hair started to fillback in. Within a year it was back to the point where it had been.It also had started to regrow hair thatwas lost in the crown, widow peaks and front. I have transplant hair that I useas a guide and it grew back my hair to the point that the transplanted hair wasnot noticeable because of the thickness of the regrowth. I was pretty much back to having a full headof hair that was still slightly thin in the areas of original loss. I did wellfor about 12 years on proscar with slight loss that was more than acceptablealong the way. At around age 45 it wasas if proscar had stopped working as I could see a very noticeable loss of hairin the areas that proscar had saved. The transplanted hair now became morenoticeable, and it appeared to me that my loss was picking up and would go wellbeyond where propecia had regrown hair. Sadly proscar and my hair were losingout to DHT. I got back on the web to see what had been developed over the last12 years to fight hair loss. I read a lot about Avodart and decided to give ita try. I started off taking .5 mg’s daily (stopping proscar the same day)forthree months and raised it by .5mg’s quarterly until I got to the 2.0 mg amountper day which I am still on. I am starting my third year on the drug and havebeen pleased with the results. After many bad shedding phases which have becomemore stabilized, it has regrown hair in the areas where proscar was at one timehaving success. The hairs are not near as thick or healthy but still appear tobe improving, and are more than acceptable to me. I would classify it ashalting my hair loss with some regrowth. I am now 48 and have the appearance ofa pretty good head of hair. I have a brother who is two years younger who hasnot taken any drugs to compare to. He held his hair much longer before itstarted to fall out then me but now is almost bald on top. I’m sure I would bein the same spot without the drugs.
Here are some things that I learned along my journey.
1) Hair loss is depressing. Make sure you have anymental health issues treated before you let hair loss over run your life. Idiscovered that my need to have hair was part of a depression based illnessthat went untreated until about 4 years ago. I’m not too sure I would have beenas obsessed with keeping my hair if I was in a good mental state.
2) Women really don’t care if you have hair. Atleast the kind of women that are worth having a long term relationship with.Let’s face it we are all going to get old and ugly and will thrive sociallybecause of our personalities and how we treat people.
3) A bad hair transplant is far worse than goingbald. I had two average hair transplants that unfortunately caused noticeablescarring in the donor area. I am like a lady without eyebrows in that I have todraw hair in each morning in the scar area using an eyebrow pencil (it workspretty well when I want to cut it short in the back and sidesStay committed towhatever drug therapy you choose. Itwill normally get far worse before it gets better. It will take 12 to 36 monthsfor you to see any results. Keep a diary because you will forget (even though Ididn’t do this or take any pictures).
4) Cut your hair real short or shave your head andsee what people think. You might lookbetter without hair and not have to deal with any of this.
5) I wouldn’t take generics of the meds that you dodecide on. This includes ordering them from un-reputable firms over theinternet.
6) Remember that you are far more than your hair. Iknow, I know this is a hard one to follow.
7) If you do have a transplant then do yourresearch. Go to the best no matter the cost.
8) Make sure the transplant Dr. plans for a designthat is for an older you so that if you need more than one transplant thestress on the donor hair is not too much. With that said, I probably wouldn’tconsider having one before the age of 35 so that you get a feel for how advancedyour hairloss will be.
9) Use drugs to stabilize your natural hair if youdo have a transplant.
Good luck to everyone. I wish you all the best in your hairloss journey.
I am writing this post to pass on what I have learned and amhoping that my experience helps others.
I started noticing hair loss around the age of 24/25 andwent on rogaine at the age of 26. This seemed to hold things in check for ayear or two but eventually was starting to thin in the crown area and at aroundthe age of 30 I had my first hair transplant in the crown area. Within a year thecrown continued to degrade and I started to lose the first inch of hair in thefront area with the sides also starting to recede slightly. I had a secondtransplant the next year which filled in most of the crown as well as the widowpeaks and some hair at the front. I was still only using rogaine 5%. My hairloss continued with my crown loss and front and sides continuing to recede. At the age of 33 I had researched proscar andpresented it to my Dr. who prescribed me 2.5mg daily (I cut 5% pills in half).I initially (within the first 4 to 12 weeks) lost a ton of hair and noticed thewhole top was shedding and I could see the scalp that had been previously verythick. I decided to stick it out as I had read that this is normally a goodsign. Within a 6 month period this shedding stopped and my hair started to fillback in. Within a year it was back to the point where it had been.It also had started to regrow hair thatwas lost in the crown, widow peaks and front. I have transplant hair that I useas a guide and it grew back my hair to the point that the transplanted hair wasnot noticeable because of the thickness of the regrowth. I was pretty much back to having a full headof hair that was still slightly thin in the areas of original loss. I did wellfor about 12 years on proscar with slight loss that was more than acceptablealong the way. At around age 45 it wasas if proscar had stopped working as I could see a very noticeable loss of hairin the areas that proscar had saved. The transplanted hair now became morenoticeable, and it appeared to me that my loss was picking up and would go wellbeyond where propecia had regrown hair. Sadly proscar and my hair were losingout to DHT. I got back on the web to see what had been developed over the last12 years to fight hair loss. I read a lot about Avodart and decided to give ita try. I started off taking .5 mg’s daily (stopping proscar the same day)forthree months and raised it by .5mg’s quarterly until I got to the 2.0 mg amountper day which I am still on. I am starting my third year on the drug and havebeen pleased with the results. After many bad shedding phases which have becomemore stabilized, it has regrown hair in the areas where proscar was at one timehaving success. The hairs are not near as thick or healthy but still appear tobe improving, and are more than acceptable to me. I would classify it ashalting my hair loss with some regrowth. I am now 48 and have the appearance ofa pretty good head of hair. I have a brother who is two years younger who hasnot taken any drugs to compare to. He held his hair much longer before itstarted to fall out then me but now is almost bald on top. I’m sure I would bein the same spot without the drugs.
Here are some things that I learned along my journey.
1) Hair loss is depressing. Make sure you have anymental health issues treated before you let hair loss over run your life. Idiscovered that my need to have hair was part of a depression based illnessthat went untreated until about 4 years ago. I’m not too sure I would have beenas obsessed with keeping my hair if I was in a good mental state.
2) Women really don’t care if you have hair. Atleast the kind of women that are worth having a long term relationship with.Let’s face it we are all going to get old and ugly and will thrive sociallybecause of our personalities and how we treat people.
3) A bad hair transplant is far worse than goingbald. I had two average hair transplants that unfortunately caused noticeablescarring in the donor area. I am like a lady without eyebrows in that I have todraw hair in each morning in the scar area using an eyebrow pencil (it workspretty well when I want to cut it short in the back and sidesStay committed towhatever drug therapy you choose. Itwill normally get far worse before it gets better. It will take 12 to 36 monthsfor you to see any results. Keep a diary because you will forget (even though Ididn’t do this or take any pictures).
4) Cut your hair real short or shave your head andsee what people think. You might lookbetter without hair and not have to deal with any of this.
5) I wouldn’t take generics of the meds that you dodecide on. This includes ordering them from un-reputable firms over theinternet.
6) Remember that you are far more than your hair. Iknow, I know this is a hard one to follow.
7) If you do have a transplant then do yourresearch. Go to the best no matter the cost.
8) Make sure the transplant Dr. plans for a designthat is for an older you so that if you need more than one transplant thestress on the donor hair is not too much. With that said, I probably wouldn’tconsider having one before the age of 35 so that you get a feel for how advancedyour hairloss will be.
9) Use drugs to stabilize your natural hair if youdo have a transplant.
Good luck to everyone. I wish you all the best in your hairloss journey.
