OneStepCloser
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To be honest I have browsed these forums and hairlosshelpforum for a while now. I had never thought I would become a member or post my story, because i always had hope that things would magically fix themselves overnight. I change one thing in my lfie (diet,sleep,supplements) and my hair would return to normal. I have recently become slightly depressed and introverted, and realized i needed to take action if i wanted any hope at a happy normal life again.
My Story
Beginning
I had amazing thick brown hair in highschool, which i colored often, wth blond highlights. I was highlighting/dying my hair every 2-3 months.I was an athlete, and lots of my friends did the highlight thing. As time went on and i went got accepted to uiversity. First year was fine, I think maybe one or 2 people made joking comments about my hair, saying i had a comb over, which i knew wasnt true, at all, I still hat tons of har. Second year I noticed I was seeing more of my scalp, and i could no longer style my hair the way I previously had. My turning points was 2nd year in university (19/20 years old) i was on vacation in mexico with my friends. I came out of the shower one day, (i usually slick it back in the shoewr and thats how it comes out wet). To my horror, my wet slick, looked awful and i could see parts of my scalp everywhere. I think I wore a hat the rest of the trip. Since than out of fear, I have no longer color-treated my hair anything. I still had good amount of hair, and covered thnning up with my hairstyles, and thickening shampoos.
A Dark Place
I used to be most outgoing popular person. I literally could hook up with any girl i wanted. I drank alot with friends, went to bars, banged girls.... Since my hairloss i have noticed a complete 180 in my personality. I hate the weekends and making up excuses not to go out. I always wear hats everywhere i go. I got into gaming (video gaming ) heavily to pass my time in university, and only go out when neccessary. Since i was in uinversity I had no rules, so I stayed up to 3 am at least every night, sleeping in till noon, and erratic hours. This probably didnt help anytihng.
First Attempted Action
I read alot of stuff on the internet, mostly horror stories about side effects, and at age 20, 21, this scared the sh*t out of me. As mentioned i did start using the thickening shampoos, which helped a little. I could no longer use any styling products at all, because of the shedding i would get. I decided to go to a " Natural Medicine" store. There i picked up a natural shampoo/conditioner and a pill to be taken daily that contained palmetto/zinc/biotin etc. Didnt use this stuff too religiously, and it made no significant progress.
At this point i branched out to other things, i added Nizoral to my routine. I also picked up a bottle of Toppik. These are actually 2 solid products IMO so far, they have helped me through some times, although i do feel toppik is making my hair greasier these days.
Second Attempt
I had graduated university with a very respectable degree in Finance. I moved into a very nice bachelor pad by myself. I figured this would give me a chance to use products without worrying about roomates or disctractions. I decided i needed to take stronger action, and my searches had led me to something called "Hair Club". I booked a "free consulation", to see if they had something that could help me. I met with an attractive girl ( i know sales tactic right), and she expalined to me the 3 things they did Transplant,Biomatrix(wig), or EXT (shampoos,minoxidil). I will not go too in depth about my Hairclub experience because i feel i could write a whole post on this. She tried hard to push the Biomatrix wig thing on me (im f*****g 22)!. I somehow got her to agree to give me the other program with the vitamins, shampoos and minoxidil. For a ridiculus price. soething like $2500 for a 6 month contract. I came home from Hair Club, and poured over posts on the internet, knocking hairclub. I had felt cheated, like i had just been scammed. I literally just bought shampoos, a supplement, and minoxidil for hundreds of dollars, Where i probably could have got it for under $100. I thought about just taking it back, but i thought i had no other options and i had to give it a try. I am 1.5 monthes into this routine, and have seen slight positive effect, they said it would take at least 4 monthes to see results. I also hate the minoxidil, it makes my hair greasy, and i have read it bloats your face and gives you wrinkles. It may be in my imagination, but i do feel like my face is bloated since being on it.
Now i wasnt satisfied there, i decided go to my doctor, something I had been avoiding doing forever. I had seen him my whole life, and i was embarassed coming to him about this at age 22. I finally bit the bullet and went in. He seemed to have very minimal knowledge about hairloss( i probably knew more), and he referred me to a dermantologist/specialist.
So i see this Specialist (TODAY actually). He is half bald and he joked about the fact that he was balding and he was here to fix me. I told him the whole Hair Club sceneario, and how i was locked into a 6 month contract with them. He told me that the program i was on, even minoxidil would not be enough to help me, and i needed something stronger. He immediately suggest finasteride. I was hesistant because of what i had read. He seemed extremely confident in the product and said he used it himself. He said i was young, and could recover alot of hair. He actually suggested i quit the minoxidil after the 6 month period and just use the finasteride ( i dont know if thats smart, was going to ask). He calmed me down about the side effects, and he said that finasteride 1mg was a small dosage and only a tiny percentage of people experience them. He said if i didnt treat soon, it would keep getting worse agrreesively. So i go pick up my finasteride and the pharmasist. He also tells me he has never had anyone have side effects from this small a dosage, which also gives me peace of mind.
So as i mentioned that was today. I took my first finasteride today, i am deciding whether to finsih my 6 monthes on the minoxidil, like the Derm suggested. I am slso wondering if i can get away with doing it just before bed, instead of twice a day. I have a lot of questions. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read my story/rant. I am probably missng alot of the details, but this is the general idea. I took alot for me just to post this, i look forward to a brighter future, with the help of you guys
Thanks guys - OneStepCloser
Present Date
My Story
Beginning
I had amazing thick brown hair in highschool, which i colored often, wth blond highlights. I was highlighting/dying my hair every 2-3 months.I was an athlete, and lots of my friends did the highlight thing. As time went on and i went got accepted to uiversity. First year was fine, I think maybe one or 2 people made joking comments about my hair, saying i had a comb over, which i knew wasnt true, at all, I still hat tons of har. Second year I noticed I was seeing more of my scalp, and i could no longer style my hair the way I previously had. My turning points was 2nd year in university (19/20 years old) i was on vacation in mexico with my friends. I came out of the shower one day, (i usually slick it back in the shoewr and thats how it comes out wet). To my horror, my wet slick, looked awful and i could see parts of my scalp everywhere. I think I wore a hat the rest of the trip. Since than out of fear, I have no longer color-treated my hair anything. I still had good amount of hair, and covered thnning up with my hairstyles, and thickening shampoos.
A Dark Place
I used to be most outgoing popular person. I literally could hook up with any girl i wanted. I drank alot with friends, went to bars, banged girls.... Since my hairloss i have noticed a complete 180 in my personality. I hate the weekends and making up excuses not to go out. I always wear hats everywhere i go. I got into gaming (video gaming ) heavily to pass my time in university, and only go out when neccessary. Since i was in uinversity I had no rules, so I stayed up to 3 am at least every night, sleeping in till noon, and erratic hours. This probably didnt help anytihng.
First Attempted Action
I read alot of stuff on the internet, mostly horror stories about side effects, and at age 20, 21, this scared the sh*t out of me. As mentioned i did start using the thickening shampoos, which helped a little. I could no longer use any styling products at all, because of the shedding i would get. I decided to go to a " Natural Medicine" store. There i picked up a natural shampoo/conditioner and a pill to be taken daily that contained palmetto/zinc/biotin etc. Didnt use this stuff too religiously, and it made no significant progress.
At this point i branched out to other things, i added Nizoral to my routine. I also picked up a bottle of Toppik. These are actually 2 solid products IMO so far, they have helped me through some times, although i do feel toppik is making my hair greasier these days.
Second Attempt
I had graduated university with a very respectable degree in Finance. I moved into a very nice bachelor pad by myself. I figured this would give me a chance to use products without worrying about roomates or disctractions. I decided i needed to take stronger action, and my searches had led me to something called "Hair Club". I booked a "free consulation", to see if they had something that could help me. I met with an attractive girl ( i know sales tactic right), and she expalined to me the 3 things they did Transplant,Biomatrix(wig), or EXT (shampoos,minoxidil). I will not go too in depth about my Hairclub experience because i feel i could write a whole post on this. She tried hard to push the Biomatrix wig thing on me (im f*****g 22)!. I somehow got her to agree to give me the other program with the vitamins, shampoos and minoxidil. For a ridiculus price. soething like $2500 for a 6 month contract. I came home from Hair Club, and poured over posts on the internet, knocking hairclub. I had felt cheated, like i had just been scammed. I literally just bought shampoos, a supplement, and minoxidil for hundreds of dollars, Where i probably could have got it for under $100. I thought about just taking it back, but i thought i had no other options and i had to give it a try. I am 1.5 monthes into this routine, and have seen slight positive effect, they said it would take at least 4 monthes to see results. I also hate the minoxidil, it makes my hair greasy, and i have read it bloats your face and gives you wrinkles. It may be in my imagination, but i do feel like my face is bloated since being on it.
Now i wasnt satisfied there, i decided go to my doctor, something I had been avoiding doing forever. I had seen him my whole life, and i was embarassed coming to him about this at age 22. I finally bit the bullet and went in. He seemed to have very minimal knowledge about hairloss( i probably knew more), and he referred me to a dermantologist/specialist.
So i see this Specialist (TODAY actually). He is half bald and he joked about the fact that he was balding and he was here to fix me. I told him the whole Hair Club sceneario, and how i was locked into a 6 month contract with them. He told me that the program i was on, even minoxidil would not be enough to help me, and i needed something stronger. He immediately suggest finasteride. I was hesistant because of what i had read. He seemed extremely confident in the product and said he used it himself. He said i was young, and could recover alot of hair. He actually suggested i quit the minoxidil after the 6 month period and just use the finasteride ( i dont know if thats smart, was going to ask). He calmed me down about the side effects, and he said that finasteride 1mg was a small dosage and only a tiny percentage of people experience them. He said if i didnt treat soon, it would keep getting worse agrreesively. So i go pick up my finasteride and the pharmasist. He also tells me he has never had anyone have side effects from this small a dosage, which also gives me peace of mind.
So as i mentioned that was today. I took my first finasteride today, i am deciding whether to finsih my 6 monthes on the minoxidil, like the Derm suggested. I am slso wondering if i can get away with doing it just before bed, instead of twice a day. I have a lot of questions. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read my story/rant. I am probably missng alot of the details, but this is the general idea. I took alot for me just to post this, i look forward to a brighter future, with the help of you guys
Thanks guys - OneStepCloser
Present Date
