Obsidian's Story - (age 21) *** UPDATE***

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

I decided to see the area where I parted my hair for over a decade and to see how thin it was, doesn't look bad but not great. Defientley can't pull it off convincingly anymore (at least near the temples)

This is from the first week after propecia ( the top of the head)

My hair seems awfully thin today, I am hoping it is just one of those bad days along with the fact I switched from a volumizing hair loss shampoo to nioxin last night

The flash hides it but if you look up to the front you can see the huge gap when I scratch my head. :thumbdown2:

God I can be such an weiner sometimes about this.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Obsidian, If you want a shampoo and conditioner that is worth using that will do more than Nioxin, get Nano shampoo and conditioner from Dr Proctor. Put a little of that in your hand with Aveda Pure Abundance shampoo and you will get some great volume and at the same time help with hair growth. Your hair is very much like mine. I think my hair was in a better state than yours and for many years I just used Nano shampoo, Revivogen, and Lasercomb, no oral meds and my hair looked fantastic. I then used Follicare( minoxidil for a years or so) and got great results. Took Propecia and everything went downhill. Although, no one notices my thinning hair except me. I know how to add volume to it and style it so no one can tell. I went to my doctor and the nurse asked me why the heck I was taking a pill for balding because I have a beautiful head of hair. I told her, I take the pill so I can keep this beautiful head of hair. However, the pill is not working as well as I thought it would. I hope you have better luck with the pill.

 

[masculineyourheart]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

mmm... Propecia seems to work better for people with more advanced hair loss than those in the early stages. I had the same thing happen to me as DoctorHouse did and really starting to wish I never got on the bloody thing in the first place.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Well then should I get off it? I notice my hair has already become thin since I started taking it a little over a week ago.

 

[masculineyourheart]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Not unless you've got an alternative to switch to. Your hair's still started to thin out either way which it'll keep doing unless you find some way to treat it and unfortunately Propecia's your best hope for maintenance at the moment.

I got off it because it was messing with me in other ways as well but I haven't found any other way to maintain yet. If you're lucky you won't have to do anything but pop your 1mg pill for the next 8 years and see decent results.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

I forgot how even though the first to third months of propecia are hell, you panick when you scratch your head and see a bunch of I guess terminal hairs fall out (they were short but not fine). you panick and feel your hairline and notice how wispy it is on the sides (not so much on the tples :dunno: ). You start to think your a Norwood 3 but I slicked it back and I still have a decent hairline.

While it is still genetics at heart that play role in how slow/fast my male pattern baldness is going to happen. My stress/tension is not helping it at all if not making it WORSE along with the shed that propecia is causing. I have got to find a way to live more stress-free, I don't want to give up my major (Finance/ thinking of minoring in economics just to compliment) even though it is very hard (for me) I find it rewarding. I mean I can't believe I am stressing when it is SUMMER, I have no school, responsibilities? Yes but nothing major and here I am being a little girl about this looking at photographs trying to find out when it actually started instead before I started noticing it I was exercising constantly and hanging out with friends. I need to remind myself that no one is looking for it and by most cases is still not noticable. That I am doing all I can right now for it and that is it. That I won't go from a NW2 to a NW4 by the end of the week, that my hairloss while it is happening is still a slow process and won't be noticable yet.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Well today is the one month anniversary of starting propecia and I have to say, my hair thinning continues and I defientley think I am now a NW2 or pretty damn close.
I am finally learning to accept I am losing my hair after hoping it was just a mature hairline and Telogen Effluvium when the only person I waas convincing was myself. Please no one take offense, my hair loss is nowhere near as bad as some people on here, I figthe earlier I accept it the better off I might be as I get older.

Yes I know that Propecia takes a while to work but I think I am just overreacting like IBM to the fact I had a bad day since I talked to my high school sweetheart.


The pictures that made me accept I am losing my hair:
My 'mature' hairline (?) a little over a year ago

Back of my head at a show in late March (on the right of the chipolte hat) I think it is Telogen Effluvium fused with male pattern baldness to form a nice diffuse areata

Picture of the diffuse going all the way up to the hairline in Late April:

and now the current pictures
My current hairstyle which is a messy part to the right shows off my diffuse crown:

My front hair looks like it is just hanging on by a thread :laugh:

I always thought my right temple was taking the worst hit, it turns out it was my left

I don't think I will ever get rid of this

And now the front of the hairline

I think what is @#$%! about my hairline is it is within "mature hairline" measurements with the highest point on my temples being an inch give or take a centimeter, but it is miniaturizing on the left side bad. :thumbdown2:


I know it is still too early to make a statement on where my hair will go, it will defientley not dissappear but I know I am thinning in the middle, have that diffusing in the crown, and some miniaturization in my hairline so I think the closest I can make any assessment is within three months.

On the plus side, I have noticed in this past month I have gained back some volume in my hair, not a lot but defientley noticable to me in the scalp area.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Obsidian, now with those pictures you are definitely showing signs of approaching a NW2 but it may stop there and stay like that for 20 years. Overall, you hair is not bad, you just need to put some thickening agents in it and blow dry it and it will look even better. If you see the new edition of TV guide with David Duchovny( Mulder from X-files), you should style your hair like that. My hair is pretty much like his.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Okay after reading more into barcafan's story, I can almost say for certain I am headed into NW6 territory earlier than I thought. The thin sides behind the ears, the sideburns and behind it, at the lower part of the neck, a good front portion of the hairline in a diffusing pattern, I can't believe I thought my hairloss was minor.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Obsidian, you need to think positive and read the book, The Secret. If you think you are going to be a NW6 you will become one eventually. You need to think your hair loss treatments will keep you under a NW2 for the next 20 years or more.

 

[Guest]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

i'll tell you this straight up man. my hair is very similar to yours, and no one with an exception of people who obsess about hair loss on the internet all day will notice that your hair is thinning. it looks fine the way you style it, your thinning is much more minor than you are fearing, and you're already on finasteride, which means if you keep at it, it really isn't going to get much worse anytime soon. you should just stick to your routine, tell yourself you're doing all that you can, and just ignore it and go on with your life. i'm telling you, the only people that might notice are the ones who are balding themselves. in which case, who cares.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Yeah you guys are right, I need to really practice what I preach and realize the bar is down and I am in for the rollercoaster ride that is male pattern baldness.

 

[Guest]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Yeah you guys are right, I need to really practice what I preach and realize the bar is down and I am in for the rollercoaster ride that is male pattern baldness.

dude, it's not even a rollercoaster ride. it's a long, slow process. your hair has probably looked like that for like 2 years now and you didn't even notice. your friends won't notice. no one in the right mind will notice. your hair 2 years from now will probably look the same. if you stay on finasteride, your hair will probably look the same for 10 years. think of it this way. you noticed it early and hopped on finasteride. how many people here do you think got on that when they first noticed it? you're good man. your hair looks good, and its not going anywhere. you're 21. go enjoy yourself.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Second month update (From here on out, all updates will be here)

-Since starting finasteride I never really set out a goal for my hairloss plan, obviously the most unrealistic goal would be to get back the hair I had when I was 16/17 which was NW1.5 with heavy volume. My realistic goal would be to get to a healthy NW2 but even then that might out of range in some cases. Anyway there is good news and bad news.

Let's start out with the bad news:
As stayed with my maternal Grandmother and then my Father's parents a week or two ago since nobody visits them, I decided to snoop around old album photos. As a result I am pretty sure I have my Maternal father's hairloss as I could only find one other person in my Mom's family who had heavy hairloss which is my Mom's maternal Grandad who slowly receding throughout his twenties and thirties to reach an NW6 by his early 60's (yes I am sure as I asked my Grandmother how old the photo was taken before he died). My uncle had his hairloss, so as a result I believe it is my Maternal father's male pattern baldness as he is the only one I known on both sides of the family to go this early as my everyone on my Father's side like him had their teenage hair density in till their late 40's early 50's and NW1 hairlines (which they all kept 'till death), the thing that does not make sense is in his high school graduation photo he is a NW2 with thinning, by his army photo at 21 he is basically what Bruce Willis looked like in Die Hard 3 (NW3V? NW4) with heavy thinning all over. Then finally with his wedding photo at 25 he was a NW6 and had a little tuff of hair when his NW4 used to be (God it looked terrible). He never went past a NW6 he may have showed signs of approaching an NW7 around his death (75 in 1994). Granted I know hair loss genetics is not a clear cut and paste answer as I could have gotten it from my Father's side as well too I doubt it as their sides never seemed to thin out and they kept their messy diffusing NW1 hairline.

Sorry for that long rant and onto my hair

The bad news is (I guess you could call it that) following a hefty shed all over last week, I am now officially a NW2 along with that my hairline has become (more noticably?) miniaturized, thinner and as well as the sides of my hairline being shot to sh*t (but they kind of already were to begin with). Along with that my sides have began to thin noticably more as I am now taking a #2 on the sides. I feel that if temples/hairline start to recede I will have no choice but to start adding minoxidil foam which I have bought along with finasteride to those areas even though I promised myself I would wait a minimum eight to ten months before thinking of adding any additional treatments.

The Good News:
My temples seem to be holding though after reaching a NW2 status at least for now and along with that my crown/midscalp area have not gotten any worse but not any better as well meaning I am at least maintaining there. Along with that my libido which had dissappeared even before starting treatment has come back with a venegance this past week and I have found it does not hinder my running/weight-lifting abilities and I have not put on significant water-weight. Still the libido makes me a little worried I might have an increase in testerone.

Conclusion: I still have a LONG way to go before I think i'll see any noticable difference if any so I will continue treatments and if anything I realize that the mind eye is still powerful as most people have complemented me on my hair looking nice when in the back of my mind I am thinking "are you kidding me?!" I have been styling it in a way similair to Ed Norton's hair in the 25th hour. I also realize that with this I need to start focusing on more healthy things, I am going move back into my apartment this Friday for college and I feel that I need activities to focus my mind away from this so I am going to involve myself with their community service organizations as I noticed how much I enjoyed doing it when I was in Boy Scouts.

While it does look gloomy at times, I realize I just got to keep my head up and hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

Pictures 2nd month 08/17/2008: Like I said I can't let this eat me up anymore, I still have minor hairloss at the end of the day and if I am worried about this now then what will I do when it becomes a NW2 diffusing in a NW5 pattern or worse? And there is also the possibility I may reach the end of my journey in my mid to late 20's or I may not at all, like said genetics is impossible to trace on what will happen. At the end of the day there is only so much I can do and the rest is up to the meds and how I respond, I can't control it simple as that. I need to focus on the things I can control like my school grades and my future. If anything I need to work on my self and confidence as I have been trying to get back into the dating world, how will I be able to do that if I am a wreck about myself and my hair? I have also realized my problem is I always give out advice that is good but never follow it when it comes to myself and I am sick of doing that. Like said this has just really made me want to really start self-improving on my attitude/views/just everything in my life in general.

To be honest, I am probably just getting nervous since I got my hair cut shorter than usual. :shakehead:

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

You already went to a Norwood 2 in a few months? That was too fast.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

You already went to a Norwood 2 in a few months? That was too fast.

My thoughts too, but then again maybe it is the hair on the temples became more pigmented.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Are you going to post new pictures? Maybe you "think" it got worse.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Hey guys,
Just checking in with the six month update, I think my hair is responding to propecia. Overall I think it looks better and not nearly as dried, thin, and wispy as it did in the previous August pictures, then again it could just be because my hair is longer than usual. Right now I am just on Propecia and use Jason's thin to thick and Nizoral 1% in my rotation


I don't really expect the left side of my hairline to really thicken up/maintain/whatever in till the year and even then I am not holding my breath on it looking a million times better since I have been thinning in the front for three years when I started treatment.

Can't see the Crown even with flash

Now comes the hard question, I think I am losing ground on my hairline and temple regions, do you think I should add minoxidil foam?(I have a 3 month supply when I first started finasteride back in June) or should I wait on it and just keep an eye on it? I realize though any flash picture will make anything worse but I guess you can say I am concerned.

In the side effects/shed department, I seem to be doing okay. I suffered a nasty shed the first month and nothing happened in till the third or fourth month where it got even worse and at that point I just stopped looking in the mirror because it was driving me nuts. Side effects, I notice some libido problems and this seemed to work for me but it may not work for you is I take stress tab vitamins with zinc and it seems to help my libido problems. On a un-related note, I can't exercise sadly due to a nasty knee injury while running in October, when I get my MRI results tomorrow I hope it is not bad.


Anyway, sine hair loss has started I have started to use that to actually start to change me. By that I mean mentally reprogramming myself because of my low self-esteem I have suffered for most of my life and because of that low self-esteem I became a ‘nice guy’ or ‘guy everyone can use and walk on’. With the guide of self-help books I am slowly (it is going to take a long time) but surely learning to change my outlook on life (no more black and white views), put myself first instead of others, and look upon myself in a POSITIVE WAY. Sure there have been slip ups along the way (along with me making a nasty post about a certain someone in the impact section) but I have to realize I make mistakes and I am human that I can’t be perfect. Otherwise have a happy X-Mas/ Chanukah/Kwanza/what-the-hell-ever.

 

[Petchsky]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

Your hair looks darker and much healthier, keep it up

 

[thenational]

Re: Obsidian's story - (age 21) UPDATE

This is an excellent page, i feel your loss is similar to mine although you caught it at an earlier stage.

I think your hair is in a stable condition and you are maintaining well, i cant see much (if any) loss between now and the previous six month pictures.

Keep on trucking, the national