I've lurked this forum a bit a while back and was a bit dissapointed with the lack of success stories from random people (it seemed like it was always the same people defending treatments with 1,000+ posts) so I figured that I would post mine so that other people who were like me can see that there are other people out there that are doing fine.
My story isn't a miracle so I'm sorry about that, but I think it will provide some reassurance for some people and help them stay same especially with respect to the sheds.
So, I'm 23 and play hockey and therefore rock a flow. I've always had pretty thick hair and very fast growing hair (at the barber they always used those thinning scissors on my hair) and really since my junior year in HS I noticed that I shed alot. And to be honest I have always been a pretty heavy shedder (I could always be pulling shed hairs out). Anyway, I began to notice that my hair was feeling a little thinner around the vertex and that I was shedding more than usual for about the last year. I don't think anyone could say that I was balding or even having a Manu Ginobli "monkey butt" thinning around the vertex by looking at me, but I could notice it and decided to try to squash it and decided that where I was I would just use 5% minoxidil and work on eating a more balance diet since I am contracting away from home.
Well, it's been 4 months and boy were there a number of times I felt like quitting. Holy shed and half! I had read about shedding, but never expected it to be as bad as it ended up being. I don't know if it was because I had alot of hair to start with, but after a couple weeks, my normal (what I HAD considered heavy) shed paled in comparison to the shed I started to experience. For a good couple or 3 weeks, there was hair everywhere in my bathroom and tons around my desk and floor at work (a little embarrasing I must say), then it started to die down and I took a deep and relieved breath. Then it just kept falling and falling and falling, a constant and heavy shed. Not a huge one like I first experience, but a damn good amount every single day. It wasn't like there were some days that were bad and others where it wasn't, it was a constant stream and it was getting a little depressing. Thankfully online there were a number of sources that said that shedding can be a much longer proccess than the 2-3 weeks they say on the minoxidil bottles (which they say to quit if it lasts longer than that period, hahahaha). So I kept reminding myself that, "Hey, I have alot of hair and the shedding is a good sign". Well the shedding has last for around 4 months but it has been about a week and almost instantly my shedding has dropped 10 fold so I'm pretty psyched.
I've can see new hair growth at the front hairline (I'm not norwood, and I actually have to trim, pluck hair around the sideburn, hairline, eyebrow area now since it is trying to blend together) and I can only imagine that all the hair I shed should fill back in and it is I believe. Again I'm sorry that this isn't a miracle story, as I think I may actually be an anomoly in that I already have a alot of hair and my history shows that I have fast growing and odd behaving hair, but I really hope this can make those out there that are going through what seems like a long shed feel better and make them not give up on it.
In anycase I wish everyone luck.
My story isn't a miracle so I'm sorry about that, but I think it will provide some reassurance for some people and help them stay same especially with respect to the sheds.
So, I'm 23 and play hockey and therefore rock a flow. I've always had pretty thick hair and very fast growing hair (at the barber they always used those thinning scissors on my hair) and really since my junior year in HS I noticed that I shed alot. And to be honest I have always been a pretty heavy shedder (I could always be pulling shed hairs out). Anyway, I began to notice that my hair was feeling a little thinner around the vertex and that I was shedding more than usual for about the last year. I don't think anyone could say that I was balding or even having a Manu Ginobli "monkey butt" thinning around the vertex by looking at me, but I could notice it and decided to try to squash it and decided that where I was I would just use 5% minoxidil and work on eating a more balance diet since I am contracting away from home.
Well, it's been 4 months and boy were there a number of times I felt like quitting. Holy shed and half! I had read about shedding, but never expected it to be as bad as it ended up being. I don't know if it was because I had alot of hair to start with, but after a couple weeks, my normal (what I HAD considered heavy) shed paled in comparison to the shed I started to experience. For a good couple or 3 weeks, there was hair everywhere in my bathroom and tons around my desk and floor at work (a little embarrasing I must say), then it started to die down and I took a deep and relieved breath. Then it just kept falling and falling and falling, a constant and heavy shed. Not a huge one like I first experience, but a damn good amount every single day. It wasn't like there were some days that were bad and others where it wasn't, it was a constant stream and it was getting a little depressing. Thankfully online there were a number of sources that said that shedding can be a much longer proccess than the 2-3 weeks they say on the minoxidil bottles (which they say to quit if it lasts longer than that period, hahahaha). So I kept reminding myself that, "Hey, I have alot of hair and the shedding is a good sign". Well the shedding has last for around 4 months but it has been about a week and almost instantly my shedding has dropped 10 fold so I'm pretty psyched.
I've can see new hair growth at the front hairline (I'm not norwood, and I actually have to trim, pluck hair around the sideburn, hairline, eyebrow area now since it is trying to blend together) and I can only imagine that all the hair I shed should fill back in and it is I believe. Again I'm sorry that this isn't a miracle story, as I think I may actually be an anomoly in that I already have a alot of hair and my history shows that I have fast growing and odd behaving hair, but I really hope this can make those out there that are going through what seems like a long shed feel better and make them not give up on it.
In anycase I wish everyone luck.
