Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding) Update 7/27/10

[paranoid]

Hi, I am 25 and have noticed that my hair was changing since I was 21. At 22 I got on finasteride 1mg daily for about 7 months and stopped because I was scared about future effects. I did not get any side effects. After about 6 months of being off I noticed my hair getting a bit thin. I got back on finasteride in July 2008 and started using Nizoral shampoo 2-3x a week for 5 minutes. My hair just seemed stable. My hairline had been receding sightly over the past years and it was started to bother me and I got some comments.

So I started Dr Lee's Xandrox 5% and 12.5% in Nov. 2008. I would apply and still do with cue tips. Is that an effective way to apply to the hairline and temples?

I was using this until spring of 2009 when the new Xandrox line with finasteride came out. Xandrox 6% and 15%. Again I would apply with cue tips to the temples and hairline.

I have been using that combo until now. I also added the Regenpure shampoo system that has the same active ingredient (ketoconazole) as Nizoral without the bad sulfates. I also added spironolactone 5% cream in October of 2009 and I apply morning and night to hairline and temples. I haven't noticed much but my temples especially on one side are slowly getting worse. Not a huge difference in the past few years but I would like to stop it and regrow.

I also have been using a 300 diode diffused laser helmet 3x a week for 20 mins since july of 2009

I will post pictures soon.

My overall top is not bad at all but its a little thinner then i would like. I have not tried to apply the Xandrox to the entire top but I am contemplating. If I could apply something all over at night only it would be easier. Applying xandrox to my entire scalp in the morning would be hell.

Any comments or advice would be appreciated.

UPDATE 7/27/10

Ok so I have been itching like crazy for about 6 weeks, Shedding much more than I have in over a year or 2. I definitely think my top is thinning. The crown is strong from propecia but the frontal area is thinning. I also think my temples are still receeding. I added a few pics.

What can I do about itching? Does this mean I am losing hair? A few well known Dr's like Dr. Rassman said it has nothing to do with male pattern baldness. But why am I shedding now with my scalp being itchy?

Should I start Minoxidil? I am really thinking of starting. But I want to know what Is the best version of minoxidil for me. For a daytime application I want it to look unnoticeable that I have stuff in my hair. I don't want it to look like gel. Night time doesnt really matter.

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Pics Just Added. I did not take crown pics since it very thick back there. Probably because of finasteride.

Note that xandrox and spironolactone cream were applied to my temples and hairline a few hours prior to taking these pics.

 

[thebump98]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

your hair looks dark thick and healthy to me , i dont see the problem ?

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

your hair looks dark thick and healthy to me , i don't see the problem ?

My hairline is obviously receding. My temple pics show how they are receding back. I know my hair looks ok but it is thinning a bit at the top and temples. If i wet my hair and pushed it back you would see how bad it is.

And I think it looks ok right now from the regimen I have but I do think my regimen does need work.

Applying xandrox to the hair line with cue tips is one thing that I would like a opinion on. Is that a good way to apply it?

Also what can I do to make the top thicker? The lighting doesn't show how thin it really is. I don't want to use xandrox all over the scalp in the morning. If I used xandrox 15% every night would it be effective?

 

[cuebald]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Norwood 1.5

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Norwood 1.5

Well I want to go from a norwood 1.5 to a 1. I think maybe with some changes to my regimen I can do so.

Can somebody read my first post and please comment on what I'm doing right and what I'm doing wrong. As well as what I should change and add? Thanks

 

[Axl_Rose]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Your user name sums up this story pretty well.

First things first, does your family have any history with male pattern baldness?

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

yes my family does. My uncle on mothers side started losing his hair in his 30's. He eventually became fully bald. My mothers father though had a decent amount of hair into his 70s. My dads father also had a good amount of hair. Norwood 3-4 at 89. My dad has always had high temples. His hair has thinned out over the past 10 years and he is now 54. I would say he is a norwood 4.

Also my brother is thinning and has been so for about 2 years. My hair is better than his. He is 2 years younger than me.

 

[cuebald]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

I was a bit sceptical that it was possible to regrow a NW1 back but I have seen a few posts in the "Success Stories" forum where people have managed good temple regrowth (using the "Big 3".)

If your family are thinning then it makes sense to at least take finasteride as a preventative, if you are set against losing hair. It's a lot harder to regrow hair than it is to maintain.

My father always had a thick NW1 so I was very surprised when the dreaded "gene" kicked in on my dome - that is until I went to a family dinner and saw my mothers three brothers - all bald.

Your treatments are very good. I only use finasteride ~1.7mg (cut 5mgs) myself for maintenance as I am just too lazy to apply topicals. (I do use nizoral once a week)

From what I can see your top looks OK - I wouldn't apply minoxidil to your entire scalp as it could cause a shed, making things even worse than they are now. I only like to use minoxidil on miniaturised hairs (like you are doing at present on the temples).

TBH the only other treatments are either experimental (copper peptides, RU, etc) or strong AA's (dutasteride, oral spironolactone) - and neither of them have the proven record that finasteride/minoxidil/nizoral do.
If what you are doing won't regrow a NW1 then only a FUE hair transplant will get it back.

There is a transwoman on this board who was I believe a NW5 who grew most of her hair back using spironolactone, Oestrogen and more - but even then she needed a FUE hair transplant in the temples.

 

[doyle11]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

I think for most people, going back to a norwood one is unrealistic and pointless. I don't think a perfect hairline will look any better and I can't imagine it will do much but burn a huge hole in your pockets. More than likely you've just developed a mature hairline like most men do. I'd be happy with hair like that at 25 and it would give some reassurance for the future.

 

[Oknow]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Your hairloss is exactly like mine. Did minoxidil help thicken up the minutirized hair on your temples?

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Your hairloss is exactly like mine. Did minoxidil help thicken up the minutirized hair on your temples?

It definitely did regrow some hairs and make some miniaturized hairs to become terminal hairs.

 

[Oknow]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Your hairloss is exactly like mine. Did minoxidil help thicken up the minutirized hair on your temples?

It definitely did regrow some hairs and make some miniaturized hairs to become terminal hairs.

Did you get a shed mate, and how much minoxidil are you using. I am concerned that by starting, my surrounding thick hair will become minoxidil dependent.

What are cue tips?

 

[BornIn89]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

I've seen people who are not even losing their hair have worse hairlines than that...

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

I've seen people who are not even losing their hair have worse hairlines than that...

I just want my hairline back from when i was 17. It was much better than my hairline now. Basically if you look at my hairline and temple pictures you will see how there is a decent amount of short hairs at the hairline if that area fills out i will have my original hairline back.

Also the top has definitely thinned out a bit. I used to put alot of hair gel in my hair and it looked great. Now if I do that or just even wet it it looks thinning.

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Does anyone has suggestions on how I can improve my temple regimen? My temples have had small success with minoxidil and spironolactone but especially my right temple is still horrible looking and high. My left one not *** much but it is still bad in my opinion.

If somebody can look over my first post and see my regimen and recommend some things to really attack the hairline or maybe change up what I am doing I would apprecite it.

 

[belowzero]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Mate ,

Are you purchasing your xandrox from Dr Lee's Minoxidil.com?

I am 24 and have a similar hairline to yours...
I'm currently about 6 weeks into Minoxidil Foam & about 1 year into finasteride (switched to legit from generic about 2 months ago).

I get the feeling that because I'm only receding on my temples and front hairline i'm gonna need to kick up the strength of the minoxidil to Xandrox 12.5% because the 5% foam doesn't work so well in these locations.

How much is all this costing you? Because im a student and i'm already struggling with the price of my current regimen (Foam , Nizoral + Proscar).

So finasteride is making my hair on top look thick and healthy as yours is (so i know its working) but the minoxidil doesnt seem to be doing anything. I have miniaturizing hairs on the hairline and temples that arent even being shed.

P.S the spironolactone wont regrow any hair , it will just stop the DHT from attacking the hair follicles topically.. I may have to add this into my regimen soon so my hairline doesnt get any worse. I'm about Norwood 2, but if i can convert some of the thinning hair to terminal i will be able to get back to Norwood 1.5 and with that hairline id just go back to a buzz cut and be happy again.

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Hi, I am buying my Xandrox directly from Dr Lee and I get My Finasteride from the Pharmacy. I also switched from Nizoral to Regenepure Shampoo System. Its like Nizoral but without the SLS.

It Costs me good money but its worth it so I keep my hair. The spironolactone does block the DHT so I figured it would help the minoxidil to regrow more hair on the hairline. I have been using it for 6 months now. It seems like there is really nothing I can do for my hairline.

I want to be a norwood 1 and I dont want to get a transplant. I guess I have to keep researching and listening to other peoples advice.

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Update: so about a month ago my scalp started to get itchy and I noticed more hairs falling out than usual. I don't know why this was happening but I was using regenepure shampoo during this time so I decided to go back to my old nizoral 2% that I had left. Since starting using it it has gotten less itchy but the hair still seem to be shedding. I have 2-3 hairs on my pillow on the moring and sometimes get a random hair behind the ear. I currently don't use minoxidil on the entire scalp just hair line temple area. Do you guys think I should start using it all over? Is there a way to apply in the morning where it wont make my hair look like sh*t? I use the xandrox 6% with finasteride from dr. Lee and it make the hair on the hair line and temples hard like I put gel there. I think if I applied it all over my hair would always look like sh*t? Do you guys recommend any good minoxidil that won't make my hair look bad in the morning? I don't want it to look like I put anything in my hair.

Also 2 weeks ago I read online that they are investigating whether or not propecia may cause Breast cancer in men. My mom had breast cancer and I'm scared it could effect me. Also when I was young I had gyno and had surgery 6 years ago to lipo it. I emailed dr lee and he said I should probably get off.

 

[paranoid]

Re: Paranoid's Story - (25 /Receding and Slight thinning on top)

Can anybody give me some advice?