Rampant's story

[Rampant]

Right here goes. Im likely NW5 but I keep my head shaved very close so its difficult to tell. I'm 27, started losing hair when I was 17, first a receding hairline then diffusing on the top and crown. At the age of 20 I decided that rather than hide it I would shave my head. I have a nice symmetrical head and good features so I don't look too bad and I work out to keep the fat down. Anyway, I decided to take some finasteride and minoxidil to see if I could recover from what I've lost. I've been on the finasteride for about a week and bar some erection problems that now seem to have vanished am not having any sides (see sides forum). I have some 5% minoxidil but I'm going to wait a good month or two before I start using it to see if any more sides come up with the finasteride. Anyway I'll keep you updated and any advice is always welcome.

 

[Garm1]

Welcome mate.

I don't want to disappoint you, but I don't surely know if NW5 is a reversible situation
with the minoxidil/finasteride treatment alone.

For a greater recovery some would suggest hair transplants through surgery.

Anyway keep it up, and congrats for facing the problem.
Realisation is the first step.

 

[UK1]

Hi Rampant, I look forward to hearing your progress.

 

[Knendell]

Seems you must be comfortable to a certain degree shaving. I would not even start anything if I were you. I think the hardest thing for people on here to do is the first shave and get used to it. I know that is my biggest hurdle. Since you have already done that I would say stay as you are. finasteride from my experience and from the posts does not regrow and rogaine is responsible for the growth people do get. Sides and long term use are not worth it if I were in your shoes. I had to cut to .5mg finasteride a day to get descent erections. I am a Norwood 3.5 and if finasteride doesn't stop the loss within a year I am off it. Rogaine would be cool if it didn't all fall out after stopping it for a few months. That would be more tramatic than slowly losing hair over the years. My 2 cents.

 

[Rampant]

Well its been over a month since I started finasteride and I thought I would start minoxidil a couple of weeks ago since I was no longer getting sides from finasteride. I have noticed very obvious thick new hairs coming through on the front top right of my head(which was pretty much slick before) as well as the band of hair across the top clearly getting broader. I also have noticed that you can see my follicles in the slick areas which have darkened although it does not seem like hair is growing from them (yet?). I have noticed vellus hair all over my head although I do not know whether it was there before I started minoxidil as it seems a little too soon to see any effects. Anyway I am suffering no side effects in the penile departmenrt. I have put on a couple of kilos but this could also be due to me not exercising as much. I get puffy eyes in the morning for a few hours after I wake up but not facial bloating as has often been reported for minxodil. Oh and my girlfriend is still stunning

I think I'll keep the treatment up for at least another 4-5 months to see if things improve, if not I'll stop.