Nene's Story - (My struggle with male pattern baldness)

[Nene]

I first started noticing my hairline was receding at around 17 years old. It was only a slight recession but I had a very short haircut with a "line up" aka "shape up" or "edge up," so it was very obvious to me. For those of you who don't know, this is a hairstyle very popular in urban America where the hairline is made into a perfect line across the forehead often using a blade for an extra sharp look. I was confused at first because I didn't know anyone in family who was bald, my father was in his late 40s and had all his hair. It turns out that the men on my mother's side of the family are all bald, but I never met any of them. When I was about 19 I saw a doctor who confirmed the worst and suggested I use rogaine. I used minoxidil throughout college and it worked wonders, I'm at least grateful that I was able to have a nice hairline throughout my college years. I eventually got tired of putting it on everyday and stopped using it for a few years. The hairloss got worse and a shape up was no longer possible. At 24 I finally decided to go back on rogaine and this time add propecia into the mix. At this point it wasn't just temple recession but also some thinning throughout the top part of my head. I've been on propecia for about 6 months and I don't see hair falling out in the shower anymore, but it doesn't seem to have re-grown hair either. Unfortunately the rogaine doesn't seem to be as helpful as it was when I was younger. I intend to stay on the meds for a year and decide if they are worth the money and hassle at that point. I keep my hair buzzed, I try to grow it out but I get frustrated because it looks like crap in the first few weeks and so I shave it off again. This has really diminished my quality of life and caused some major depression. Recently I have been coping with it better, mostly by working out and boosting my confidence. What norwood do you guys think I am?

 

[Caesar]

Re: Nene's story - (My struggle with hairloss)

Norwood 2.5, just hop back on the big 3 and you should be golden

 

[Nene]

Re: Nene's story - (My struggle with hairloss)

Yeah, I'm really hoping that the meds will help, at least for the next few years. I really want to make it to 30 with a good head of hair. By then I might consider a transplant or hopefully I'll feel better about it and might just move on with my life. But I'm really hoping that they have some better treatment options by then. I'll post up some updates in a few months.

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

Re: Nene's Story - (My struggle with hairloss)

NW2.5 is way too extreme. He still has most of his hairline left. Just a mature hairline. NW1.5.

 

[Caesar]

Re: Nene's Story - (My struggle with hairloss)

Yeah right now its not that bad, but it looks like its heading to a 2.5 which isn't even that bad. Just a mature hairline with some temple recession.

 

[Nene]

Re: Nene's Story - (My struggle with hairloss)

1.5 only? Phew that makes me feel a lot better unk: . My hair has been going at a pretty slow pace for the past 6 years or so and over the past few months it seems to have gotten worse much more quickly, I think/hope I'm just experiencing some shedding.

 

[rotsen182]

Re: Nene's Story - (My struggle with hairloss)

1.5 only? Phew that makes me feel a lot better unk: . My hair has been going at a pretty slow pace for the past 6 years or so and over the past few months it seems to have gotten worse much more quickly, I think/hope I'm just experiencing some shedding.

i ´d say .5 doctor told me im 2.5 so u are still on time and in a good shape

 

[Nene]

Alright guys here we are about 7 months later. I felt like my hair loss got much worse after my first post. I really started noticing thinning everywhere in the entire front part of my scalp except for the forelock. My crown was strong and I maintained somewhat of a mature hairline but had some considerable thinning in the norwood 3 region as you can see in my first pics. I got really depressed this past winter and my hair loss certainly attributed to that. I've been feeling happier and also think my hair improved a little. Still no hairs falling out in the shower and I think I at least maintained. Recently I stopped buzzing and shaving my head and let my hair grow for about 3 months. I finally got a haircut last week and think my hair looks better. Keep in mind it is somewhat longer. Below I'll explain my regimen.

- Finasteride -Still taking finasteride although now it's generic proscar. I was cutting it into 1.25 but now cutting that in half to what I hope is about .62mg. I did this because I thought I might be getting gynecomastia. I saw my doctor in december because I had felt some sensitivity in my nipple. He examined me and felt a small bump under my left nipple. He said it might be finasteride and suggested I stop taking propecia but wasn't sure what was causing it. I said I wanted to try a bit longer and then come back and see him to make sure it didn't get worse. He agreed. I stopped feeling sensitive in my nipples and so I felt better and continued the finasteride. I saw my doctor last week and now he says my breast are normal with no gynecomastia. i'm glad that I stuck it out with the finasteride. I wanted to give it at least a year. As for sexual sides, I have noticed slightly less libido and sometimes slightly weaker erections but still able to get strong ones. I did have some ball ache but I don't anymore. Honestly it doesn't both me much, it's certainly bearable if it means I can keep my hair I'm very willing to deal with it. BTW I am sensitive to different doses of finasteride. When I jumped from 1 to 1.25 my nipples hurt again and then went away. One day I was drunk and and lazy so I took a whole proscar pill and my nipples hurt like a b**ch that week. Now it doesn't bother me at all, my body is sensitive to different doses so I don't know if I believe that flat dose stuff.

-MInoxidil - still applying it twice a day. I had been using foam at the time of my first post which I found to be effective albeit somewhat less than the liquid I had used in college. The benefit was that it gave me no scalp irritation. However I haven't been working for a year so I had to save money. I tried to experiment using liquid every night and foam in the morning but I found it still irritated. Now I do generic liquid every other night and it doesn't irritate me so I save some money.

- Nizoral - I use nizoral about 3 times a week. I don't think it does anything for hair loss but it makes my scalp feel healthy, fresh and clean and it can't hurt. I don't shampoo every single night, but currently I use T-gel when I don't use nizoral.

I have pics but I'm having trouble uploading them. Will try again soon.

 

[deadlocks]

Could be an urban legend but... they say Dutasteride hasn't got Finasteride's side effects, like gyno and libido-loss cause even though it blocks DHT (by 98% I believe reading somewhere) it makes the body produce more testosteron to 'compromise' for the lack of DHT.

That plus working out (especially the chest muscle) would at least prevent gyno from happening I think. You do have some noticeable thinning in the NW3 area, but I suggest trying Dutasteride. Look at nickypoos's thread. He's using Duta 'full time' now and hasn't got side effects iirc. I to take it twice a week, and to be honest I feel better when taking dutasteride, than finasteride. Though, I've only been taking it since early in this month (5 capsules now) so my opinion might not be the best around.

Personally, I'm also willing to try topical spironolactone. Or at least, a topical DHT-blocker. Maybe you could give that a try as well?

 

[Nene]

Dim light.

 

[Nene]

I"m having serious trouble adding more pics, I'll try again tomorrow, don't know what's going on with this site.

 

[timbo]

Could be an urban legend but... they say Dutasteride hasn't got Finasteride's side effects, like gyno and libido-loss

Actually, the side effects of finasteride and dutasteride are almost indistinguishable. Although the incidence of side-effects is higher with dutasteride. Taking dutasteride to try and divert finasteride side-effects is illogical to say the least.

cause even though it blocks DHT (by 98% I believe reading somewhere) it makes the body produce more testosteron to 'compromise' for the lack of DHT.

Both Finasteride and Dutasteride raise Testosterone levels.

That plus working out (especially the chest muscle) would at least prevent gyno from happening I think.

Working out will have no effect on developing Gynecomastia, as it is related to a sex hormone imbalance.

 

[zeroheat]

Hair looks good Nene, keep it up

 

[Nene]

@ Deadlocks - Thanks for the advice but I'm satisfied with finasteride. No hairs fall out in the shower or when I run my hand through my hair. Also, I don't have gynecomastia as my doctor said my chest is normal and even though I have sexual sides, they are minor and bearable, and honestly might be psychological. I certainly wouldn't want to take dutas (which my md probably wouldn't give me anyway) and end up getting sides when finasteride is working out!

@Zeroheat - thanks bro, but that pic is deceiving as it is in dark lighting. I'll put up some better pics from my friends computer when I get a chance.

 

[Nene]

Here are a couple pics of me when I was younger. In the last pic when I was 20, I was already using rogaine 5% for about a year.

 

[Nene]

Below are 2 more pics. One of me on my 14th b-day and one of me on my 17th, you can see my hairline had already matured in the 3 year time span. I took accutane at 15 and sometimes I think that started the hair loss process a bit earlier than it should have. My hair stayed the way it was until about 19 where the thinning in the corners got worse.

 

[Nene]

I'm having trouble uploading my newest pics, how can I shrink them? I think they are too big.

 

[Vanzzzz]

Dude I really do not see why you are worrying. I think you should show some close up pics if you really want us to see the thinning. It is quite impossible to see thinning hair at that kind of range.

Also, I do not understand why some ppl never use flash. I always take my pics with flash so that I can see the worst possible case.

 

[Nene]

I have more pics but I'm having trouble uploading them for some reason.

 

[Nene]

I don't have close up picks of my hair at those ages. So I'm just trying to give people an idea of how my loss has progressed best way I can. As you can see I had very thick hair but recession started early. I think I've mainted reasonably since my early 20s however. I'm 26 Solid Norwood 2 with help of big 4.