Officially 1 Year On Treatment - Tracking Progress

[macaroni]

. .

 

[michel sapin]

Why did you stop minoxidil?

 

[buckthorn]

Hi guys

Some of you may have seen my previous thread (https://www.hairlosstalk.com/intera...dy-regaining-what-i-lost-after-9-years.95204/) where i detail the start of my treatment, etc. I won't bore you with the little details but today I have officially been on treatment for 1 year and i wanted to post a progress picture for posterity. When i first joined the forum i was looking for case scenarios like mine, that showed progress photos of before/6 months/12 months so i could gauge how i could fare if i jumped on treatments, so i'd like to do that for others who may be browsing the forum looking for the same.

A couple of quick points:
1 - i was balding for almost a decade before i jumped on treatment
2 - after jumping on treatment i have not had any serious side effects, however, i immediately become aware of mood change where i am more passive (basically not as aggressive and more laid back). This has been effectively the only constant side effect (of Finasteride) and it has been this way from the first week until now.
3 - i have created several homemade hair mixtures that use castor oil, equol, coconut oil, and wax which i use sporadically (about once a week) which i have found help with inflammation and hair health
4 - my treatment consisted of 1mg finasteride, Nizoral shampoo (now replaced by Pura D'Or anti hairloss shampoo), and 5% Minoxidil (which i discontinued using 1 month ago)

Today i had my 12 month visit with my dermatologist and he advised me to stay on finasteride; he thought i had made some headway and expected more growth in the next 6 months. I do see many fine vellus hairs in my hairline which seem to be growing in but then again they have been there for many months so we will see if they ever grow in.

View attachment 43621

Good photos man! Your hair turned brown??? or is it dyed?

 

[buckthorn]

I stopped because i felt like it was not helping and maybe causing my condition to worsen. My hair felt thinner and more brittle when using minoxidil so i stopped to see if it would improve. Also, i had read reports that if minoxidil doesn't work for you after 6-9 months then you are likely not a responder so i didn't feel like continuing using it.


My natural hair color is dark brown; in the beginning my hair was in such bad shape that it looked pale brown and there was much more gray. I still have a lot of gray but the hair color is much more like my normal hair color than it used ot be. To clarify, i am not dying my hair or using concealer or any other products in any of the photos.

wow dude, this is definitely a good thing. It also seems like you've gained some ground from baseline. It was hard to tell at first because your hair was so light. Is it possible that your hair was somehow a lot of longer vellous type hairs to begin with and they've turned into thicker terminal hairs? thus, increasing the amount of pigmentation? Good work man. stick with it!!

 

[michel sapin]

thx dude , when you dropped minoxidil did you got a shed ? you said it worsened your hairline ? interesting

 

[michel sapin]

ok so you didn't get hairline regrowth with minoxidil ? Did you get hairline regrowth with finasteride? you've quit minoxidil for how long now ?

 

[DoctorHouse]

I stopped because i felt like it was not helping and maybe causing my condition to worsen. My hair felt thinner and more brittle when using minoxidil so i stopped to see if it would improve. Also, i had read reports that if minoxidil doesn't work for you after 6-9 months then you are likely not a responder so i didn't feel like continuing using it.


My natural hair color is dark brown; in the beginning my hair was in such bad shape that it looked pale brown and there was much more gray. I still have a lot of gray but the hair color is much more like my normal hair color than it used ot be. To clarify, i am not dying my hair or using concealer or any other products in any of the photos.

Great results. I am going to honestly tell you something that you might not believe but there is a strong possibility that some of your gains are going to be lost in about 6 months. I have been off and on minoxidil at least 8 to 10 times because its a pain to keep up with and it causes facial bloating in my case. And like yourself, I feel it makes the hair thinner and more brittle. However, I don't think the foam does that as much. When I quit minoxidil, I solved the cosmetic feeling of thinner and brittle hair but at the same time a few months later my hair slowly looked even worse. Every time I decided to go back on it, it got better again. Finally, I was able to find that using the foam once per day every other day is the best for me. I still get some thickening but virtually no negative effects. If you look at all the success cases, most will involve minoxidil combined with finasteride. The foam is the most cosmetically friendly as it adds thickness to the hair when you use it. Just use a half cap full and no more.

 

[cyrusthegreat@hotmail.com]

Great results dude. Happy for you.

 

[tiny7]

I think it looks worse in 12 months. I mean no dis-respect but it looks like you are hiding something with little to no progess at 12 months. The same spots are still thin even grown out. I'm sorry guys but am I wrong? I can see a horshoe even more so than before just saying. I'm the first to admit good results but.. results I see none.

 

[tiny7]

ok dude

sorry man I may be blind. I could be wrong I personally don't see it but glad you shared your story.

 

[tiny7]

it's ok man, everyone's entitled to an opinion. I don't particularly appreciate being accused of "hiding" something (especially since i am not), but I also don't feel like spending time and energy convincing some anonymous person otherwise. As far as the hair length, it is perhaps 1 week more growth on the photo on the right and yes i realize i still have hairloss and it is far from perfect but then again treatments aren't guaranteed and we should all take what we can get.

Yeah the accusing of hiding was wrong sorry man I know you aren't. I just don't see any results. I am sorry and frustrated like you but in all reality I just don't see it like other people did... I wish I could say different. God bless you sorry man - I hope this disease ends.

 

[hwezdarik]

Good gains.

You respond well to finasteride. Too bad you waited this long finasteride probably could've saved your hair had you started 5 years earlier .

I would try minoxidil + diclo and RU, If I were you as your gains could be even better.

 

[Midwest]

I think it looks worse in 12 months. I mean no dis-respect but it looks like you are hiding something with little to no progess at 12 months. The same spots are still thin even grown out. I'm sorry guys but am I wrong? I can see a horshoe even more so than before just saying. I'm the first to admit good results but.. results I see none.

Yeah I would agree with this. OP it looks like your hair is quite a bit longer in the second pic. Maintaining what you have is success, but I don't think you've made progress. Unless your hair is the same length in both pics, or you have close-up pics showing new hairs sprouting.

 

[Roberto_72]

Regardless of the length, the crown seems much fuller to me. The forelock wasn't already very thin.
then again this is the success story forum, not the miracle subforum.

 

[Tracksterderm]

Hey @macaronaroni how is your progress doing? I think it is pretty good what you achieved in 12 months, and I hope you have had continued success with regrowth.

 

[The_Journeyman]

The finasteride has definitely helped your hair, and now you should be able to grow it out a couple inches and style it decently. I'm coming up on month 4 using finasteride and hope to see same results as you by 12mo. I don't know if I've seen improvement from finasteride yet.

Funny too, I have the exact same bald spot pattern on the crown (thin strip of hair down the middle, bald in left/right side).