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

[Obsidian]

I know I should ride it out and still not make conclusion in till 8/9 months. Yet eight is coming up soon (7 1/2 months on it) and my hair is in bad condition.

Right before the shed it was doing great:

Here are some from the past few days:

 

[DoctorHouse]

Obsidian, I hate to tell you this but your hair actually looks better than when you first started. Your thickness has improved. I think you are definitely responding well to the medications. I think you may have the same problem I have. You see things and your mind unfortunately distorts your perception and you think things are worse. But an outsider like me will see your hair as everyone else does and it definitely looks improved.

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

ok first time adding a reply but i think i should say your hair is definitely improving are you just on finasteride and nizoral?

I too have an distorted image of myself maybe like you and doctorhouse

keep it up! looking at your monthly photos it looks like things will just get better

 

[Obsidian]

Yeah I try to think of the positives and just read the success stories, while the hair on top still doesn't look great I do notice the hair on my sides looks a lot fuller than it did when I first started.

 

[Guest]

your hair looks a lot thicker overall man. plus your hair definitely looks good as is, and will most likely only get better. keep it up!

 

[zb00st]

It looks better. You are responding to it.

 

[Obsidian]

Here is 8 months and 1 day as of today.

This one is right before the shed. To be honest, I don't mind not having an extremely thick hairline I just wish it wasn't see through especially the left side because when a shed happens I look like a NW2.5-3. Still, I am going to wait another four to five months before deciding whether or not to use the foam. Like anything I bet I could get good results with it but like anything cost/time are the ones that matter most to me.

My hair this past saturday

The shed that has happened recently, I figure I got this one and then maybe one more because I was thinning for exactly 3 years (summer of 2005, I was 18) when I got on propecia. I will be 22 March 5th.

My face isn't bloated I just took the picture upside down because I am a goof.

And here's a picture of last Friday when it was perfect and nice Spring weather in mid February.

I plan to get a haircut this Saturday and see how my hair is.

 

[BALDIE42]

Why are you even on a hairloss forum,your hair looks good,no real signs of hairloss,what hairloss runs in your family?

 

[Obsidian]

Ehh no man, trust me I was in bad shape eight months ago. I had the beginning of a crown/vertex shot. Just thin everywhere while my hairloss wasn't agressive, it certainly was not light, I am defientley following my grandad's footsteps of being a NW6 (I still need to find a picture of his crown because even though he had pretty high sides think Red Foreman from the seventies show, I think his crown dropped low but then again that might of been because he grew his horseshoe long and proud uke: ) because my Dad is still a NW1.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Obsidian, your hair is getting better and better. Your are definitely a good responder. Maybe some of your thinning previously was stress related too. Now those hairs are coming back too. Are you growing your hair out longer again? Your hairline is very similar to mine.

 

[Obsidian]

Nah i'm not growing it out again. I just haven't gotten a haircut in a while and when I had my massive shed at month 6, I really only got a trim because I thought any shorter and it would be :crazy:

Basically I hope that the haircut I get next week won't be too thin because of the recent shed.

My main goal in this is defientley to get back some density/coverage on the left side of my hairline and hopefully be able to do something other than this one hairstyle.

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

have you noticed your hair line thickening?

its hard to tell by your pics

 

[Obsidian]

I wouldn't say my hairline has thickened up, maybe it's just my cognitive distortion I actually think I have lost a little ground on the hairline because that picture at the end of month 5 on the previous picture post, I thought the right side of my hairline looked full. When my hair was thickening up at this month 7, my hairline on the right and left (imo) was not in great shape compared to month 5.

I think the results I want on my hairline (where it justs looks I have just started to thin in the front) would probably only be achieved with rogaine. Still, if I am responding pretty good at month 7 maybe I will be having awesome results at month 12-14.

 

[DoctorHouse]

I think you might be right about Rogaine thickening up things. However, its a commitment that once you start you are going to have to stay on it until something better comes along. Now that I am back on it, things are thickening up again so I guess it was helping me all this time. I still don't like the fact that it causes some facial bloating and water retention. So I would just stay on Propecia for now unless you want to deal with topicals. You are lucky that you don't have a large forehead. You can wear your hair real short or with a buzz cut and it will still look good. I wish I had that option.

 

[Obsidian]

Well I mean from the sounds of it, even a once a day application (morning or night) sounds pretty effective and especially after seeing results from diffuse thinners like H/B or ShadowRX, it's hard to think of a reason not to start except time (but it dries quick)/money(If a buy a 3 month pack and use it once a day, I have to imagine it would last a while).

 

[DoctorHouse]

I used it once per day and that is when things got worse. Twice per day, my hair looked better. If you are going to start, you need to use it twice per day for maximum results and then you can go to once per day for maintaining. The foam is not too expensive and it goes on nicely. It even thickens the hair cosmetically like hair mousse products. The smell can be quite strong but you get used to it. However, with your hair length its sort of a challenge to apply the foam but I just spread my hair apart and apply it on the scalp the best I can. However using the liquid minoxidil like Lee's is easier with the dropper. Most of the success stories are with minoxidil twice daily not once per day. Harry(H/B), I remember, would always recommend it twice per day and to stick with your treatments like a good soldier. From your picture, your hairline looks diffuse with those baby hairs. Is that true? My hairline is diffuse with all these baby hairs that are starting to grow out. It looks like I had a hair transplant in a sense.

 

[Obsidian]

Well everyone is different, what didn't work for you might work for me. The way I look at it, I should start with one half-cap a day just to ease myself into it for a week or two. Then, if everything is okay in the sides department (no bloating, dizziness, black rings around the eyes) then I will go into two half caps a day.

As far as my hairline being diffuse, originally the right side was fine in my book but as of recentley it has become diffuse on certain areas of the right hairline.

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

thank you for posting

i think your hair looks great

are you considering going on min?

to improve your hair line?

 

[Obsidian]

IMO my hairline is fine as long as it does not move back any further. I would just like to thicken up the areas most affected by male pattern baldness (the left side of my scalp/crown). I will make the decision to go on it when the year mark comes up this May/June.

 

[Obsidian]

I don't have any pictures for this nine month update but I may have a lost a little ground when I had to stop taking meds for four days. Last Friday I got admitted to the hospital for extreme abdominal pain. I was diagnosed with pancreatitis due to gallstones which will likely result in me having my gallbladder removed and having to cut down on spicy foods. :thumbdown2:

Before that I also got my hair cut the shortest I have ever had it since my early teens and there are still a lot of thin spots sadly, mostly on the left side of the vertex where male pattern baldness is the worse. The good news is my hairline and temples are making a comeback and are cycling through into terminal hairs. I still have a lot of vellous hairs popping up along the hairline and some that I bet if I used minoxidil could possibly put me into NW1ish territory :shock:

Still I need to wait the full year to see the results, but I am defiently going nowhere but up. unk: