Stayclassysandiego's Story - (25 / Losing hair at temples)

stayclassysandiego · Sep 19, 2008

hey guys,

the story so far: i'm 25, male, and i started losing hair pretty badly about a year ago. mostly around the temples, some thinning on top and a bit of a patch at the back.
about 4 and a half months ago I decided to do something about it so I started on rogaine. it made the shedding worse for about 3 weeks in and then it stopped completely. no hair loss in the shower, nothing. i'm pretty sure that the hair thickened up a good bit in that time too.

sadly though i've started shedding again in the last 3 weeks or so (so after about 4 months on rogaine) and i'm worried that this shed is thinning out what gains i made up in that time. it's strange since there was absolutely zero hair being lost before now. fortunately the shedding isn't as bad as it was in the time before i started using the rogaine, but still.

i'd like to get some advice on whether I should also start on propecia or if i should play the waiting game for a bit longer? i'm worried that I might have developed a tolerance to rogaine so maybe shouldn't waste any more time before moving on. basically i'm kind of stuck on what to do so any advice would be much appreciated.
i know that either switching to propecia or augmenting my existing regimen with propecia is something that i'll probably try at some stage eventually so I have a couple of other questions about the drug:

* I know that it can be absorbed through the skin but is there any loss of effect from applying propecia topically? I presume that it's marketed as a tablet because of it's background as a prostate drug, and I'd rather apply it topically if possible.

* regarding dosage, has anyone found any differences in effect between the standard 1mg daily dose and a 0.5mg daily dose? it would be nice to divide them up to save on cost (and the frequency of reordering).

* and lastly, i've heard mention of the positive effects of caffeine (applied topically) on hairgrowth, does anyone have any experience of trying this?

basically though, if none of this works, i wouldn't be dead set against just shaving it right down. i've had it shaved before and it didn't bother me. i just decided that i'd give re-growing a shot before settling for good on shaving.

PS. i've just realized that I've asked quite a few questions in the one post so I've underlined them all for clarity.

thanks in advance guys

gotnowhatchamacallit · Oct 5, 2008

Re: stayclassysandiego's story - (age 25)

I would definitely get on Propecia if you're serious about treating your hairloss. Also introduce Nizoral 2% to your regimen. Then you're on the big 3. You'll then have piece of mind that your pretty much doing everything you can to prevent further hairloss and maybe you will regrow too.

I'm not sure if you can take Propecia topically so I can't help you on that one.

As for splitting the Propecia tablets, I buy Proscar from Inhouse Pharmacy. Each tablet is Finasteride, the same as Propecia, but 5mg rather than 1mg. I then quarter the tablets so I get 4 days worth from one pill. It costs the same as Propecia but you get 4 times the amount.

Sorry I can't be of any more help and good luck.

cleverusername · Oct 5, 2008

Re: stayclassysandiego's story - (age 25)

gotnowhatchamacallit said:
I would definitely get on Propecia if you're serious about treating your hairloss. Also introduce Nizoral 2% to your regimen. Then you're on the big 3. You'll then have piece of mind that your pretty much doing everything you can to prevent further hairloss and maybe you will regrow too.

I'm not sure if you can take Propecia topically so I can't help you on that one.

As for splitting the Propecia tablets, I buy Proscar from Inhouse Pharmacy. Each tablet is Finasteride, the same as Propecia, but 5mg rather than 1mg. I then quarter the tablets so I get 4 days worth from one pill. It costs the same as Propecia but you get 4 times the amount.

Sorry I can't be of any more help and good luck.

this is excellent advice. You'll find the majority of the people here are on generics. They work equally well and only costs about $20 a month to be on both finasteride and minoxidil. If you buzz your hair the shampoo lasts for ages since you dont need to use much. I also use inhousepharmecy but there are other websites that are similar that probably are just as good. It takes a couple weeks to get your pills though so make sure you take that into account when ordering your next batch. You don't want to miss a couple weeks.

BlahBlah12 · Oct 5, 2008

Re: stayclassysandiego's story - (age 25)

i wouldnt worry about the 4 month shed if i was you. it will probably allow your hair to grow back thicker.

perhaps you would want to look into xandrox15 plus before making the leap to internal propecial. its 15%minoxidil so each mL of Xandrox15-PLUS contains 150mg of minoxidil, 50mg of azelaic acid and 1mg of finasteride all in a topical solution for you. since most people use a mL of minoxidil each time, and this is only to be used once, you get your daily intake of finasteride without as much risk of side effects, though this has still not been backed up because theres not much research on topical finasteride

i wish this product had come out earlier so i could have been on it by itself for a year to see if it helps and report back, but in my situation i feel like im running out of time fast and im not sure if i have a year to give to it instead of propecia