My results after 1 year on the Big Three

[Gene_Fighter]

Hey everybody, here are my results after roughly 1 year on the Big 3. Actually, in about 3 weeks it will be 1 year on my finasteride treatment and about 6 months on a Minoxidil solution. I take 1.25mg finasteride once per day, I use Spectral DNC-L (the minoxidil solution) twice a day on my hairline (I usually really paste it on thick too), and I use nizoral a couple of times a week, just for the hay of it.

Without going into detail: I am a 23 year old with aggressive male pattern baldness, particularly strong recession but general thinning as well. If you want to read my whole story you can find it here:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=52833

Personally I'm not sure if I would describe my results as a success story but I wasn't sure where else to post this. It's been a really rough roller-coaster year for my hair after I started treatments (if I could show all of my pics you could see my hairline bouncing around), but ultimately I've come to the conclusion that my hairline stabilized after an initial 6 months of recession (although it just started receeding again recently )--and my hair has actually become even thinner on the top since starting treatments.

I'll let you decide. Some of these images are quite huge so you should be able to get a close look.

These were roughly from when I first began Finasteride in March of '09:

Left side:

Right side:

These are from June '09 with my hair dyed:

Left side:

Right side:

Sometime in Sept.-Oct. '09, just a little over a month after starting Spectral DNC-L. As you can see my hairline makes a good 1/4" improvement during this short time, unfortunately it doesn't last in all areas:

Left side.

Right side: Compare and notice how my left side doesnt extend out as far as my right, it never caught up with my right side in terms of growth. This still hasn't changed. This was definitely my "peak" in terms of growth but it didn't seem to last.

Notice how my crown seems to have filled in, although the lighting is favorable in this pic:

Notice how my widow's peak has become even more "rounded" than before. This area is still receding slightly:

Most recent, Jan.-Feb. 2010:

Left side:

Right side:

I circled the high areas above my widow's peak where I've noticed the hair is still thinning back:

I am hoping this is just a large shed, although I haven't experienced any noticeable sheds before, and I did this see this coming for a month or so. Currently this is the thickness of my hair:

Crown looks relatively better than when I first started treatments... not that the crown was ever a huge concern of mine to begin with...

So, those images are quite huge but hopefully you can observe with the best detail that way.

Honestly I feel like I'm starting to develop BDD by observing my hair loss so closely, but I think it's important as well. I am glad I that I decided to fight my hair loss but I expected Finasteride to be doing more by now. I am very surprised to see my hair still thinning and I've since doubled my finasteride dosage, I now take 1.25mg finasteride in the morning and a night, for a total of 2.5mg finasteride per day. I really don't want to do this because the long-term effects of just 1mg finasteride are reasonably unknown so I don't want to die of a heart-attack at the age of 40, but still, I feel like I dont have any other choice...

If anyone has any suggestions for other treatments I could be using, please let me know. For the most part I am reasonably satisfied with my results after 1 year I guess, I'm sure my hairline would be all but gone by now if I hadn't done this, but nonetheless I am somewhat disheartened as you can imagine, and the thinning is concerning...

2-19-10:

Lately I keep my hair long to cover my hairline, but it takes meticulous styling, and if the lighting is bad my hair looks so thin....

 

[dpdr]

Good :bravo:

 

[Gene_Fighter]

Anyone have ideas/suggestions for other treatments methods I could be using?

I'm using a ton of Spectral DNC-L + finasteride and it's still not really maintaining...

 

[mpbsux20]

You cant really treat male pattern baldness any better than this.Just stick with your current regimen mate....Try to be patient and I reckon you can maintain for a long time.You can consider a hair transplant in your temples in your thirties.I think you are a Norwood 2.5 at the most and not a 3 as your crown,sides and back still look solid.

 

[abovedagame]

honestly man, i think your hair looks pretty good. the fact that your temples still line up pretty straight is also a positive. i am a little older than you (24) and i am a real nw3, i would not consider you a nw3. are you using the regular spectral dnc or dnc-L and how much does it run you.

also does it cause any type of irritation?

 

[Gene_Fighter]

Thnx man, as we all know it is constant struggle that most people without male pattern baldness could never understand.

Yes I use Spectral DNC-L and it costs me $60 a pop for their small 60ml bottle, which is the largest bottle I believe. Typical cost is about $40-$45 I believe, but I always pay extra for faster shipping, as otherwise it could take 2 weeks to arrive, and I would be out before then.

I've contacted the manufacturer and was told that the 60ml bottle should last a month if I am using it on the hairline. However, I'm not sure--I think they are exaggerating this.

At my worst I've used 3 .5 bottles a month, which sounds like a lot but it's really not, because you are using it twice a day, and with the miniscule amounts that would justify a month-long usage it's difficult to tell if it's even being absorbed into the skin. I'm more careful about it but I still use 2 bottles per month on average.

So, if you're planning correctly and applying it carefully, you could probably expect to pay $80 a month. However you'll have to try it to find out for sure. IMO it is worth it, the results I saw within the first month were realistic, but impressive.

Also: yes it does cause irritation for me, esp. in larger doses. Redness and mild burning, occasionally pimples and scabs, but it shouldn't be anything too serious if you're careful about it.

 

[Petchsky]

I would seriously think about using less Gene, that redness and burning is a sign. Inflammation can do more damage than DHT imo.

ps, I think your hair looking good.

 

[Gene_Fighter]

I would seriously think about using less Gene, that redness and burning is a sign. Inflammation can do more damage than DHT imo.

Agreed. I use it almost as an indicator now. When I do occasionally get irritation, I just use less.

It's just so hard to tell if Spectral is even being absorbed unless you larger amounts, imo. Also the hairs do look cosmetically thicker when I use larger amounts.