Stressedout's Story -(20/I need advice from the experienced)

[stressedout]

Hey everyone!

I'm sure you hear these stories over and over. But it's nice to have someone listen and someone who might have an answer!

Here's the details:
1. I'm male, 20 years old.
2. I went home for winter break from school when my mom noticed that my hair had really thinned out on the crown of my head. She could see my scalp. I freaked out when I saw it too.
3. I went to my Dermatologist. He said I had lost 50% of my hair by now and am experiencing male pattern baldness.
4. I wanted a second opinion so I went to my family doctor, explained how I had been living in a stressful living situation and that stress might lead to hair loss. She did blood tests. Nothing wrong with my thyroid.
5. Yes, I'm usually high strung and I do feel like this year has been super stressful but only in the first semester when this started.

SINCE THEN:
1. I used rogaine. Nothing really happened.
2. Got propecia. I can't use it because I'm too worried about what people said about side effects and how sometimes they can be permanent even though the bottle says otherwise.
3. It's pretty much slowed down until now. And I feel like I'm losing lots of hairs again this summer.


I don't really know exactly how Telogen Effluvium works or how stress and nutrition affect the hair. But I'm wondering if I have a chance of growing it back and it going back to it's normal state and when that's going to happen. I did read a story of a kid my age who had the same problem of diffusion and thinning on the crown but it all grew back after a year.

I hate this always being on my mind! It's been 7 months. I feel so young and it sucks that it's always on my mind.

Thanks you guys for listening. Any advice, etc etc would be so appreciated. Or if you are just going through the same thing. Misery loves company.

-Stressed out to the max

-Stressed to the max

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Look up the best way to apply rogaine, apply it consistently, do not stop no matter what.

Take propecia. Chances are you'll have no sides. Stop whining about it and just start taking it. I was scared of all the side effect stories too--I had some minor ball ache for about a week and since then I have had nothing whatsoever. My shedding seems to have slowed down a whole lot (only been on it 1.5 months) and hoping for regrowth.

if you don't do those two, you probably stand no chance of regrowing anything.

 

[HairLoser]

It's good to hold on to that sliver of possibility that your hair might grow back, but the reality is that it's probably not going to happen. To save all the research and an endless amount of trudging through forums and reading posts, the best products to slow, stop, or regrow hair are the big 3 (Propecia, Rogaine, Nizoral).

I've been going through the same stuff as you lately, and in the end no one can tell you what you need to do. With that said, your best bet is to probably try Propecia and give it some time, then add Rogaine after about 6-9 months if you want more regrowth. My advice would be to possibly start Propecia at a lower dose (cut the pill in half maybe), give it 2-3 months, and see if you experience sides. If you don't notice any changes, you can play it cautious and continue with the lower dose for a while longer, or decide to move up to a full dose.

I've tried Propecia myself and I was one of the unfortunate ones to get sides. I got the ball pain and after about a month and a half I noticed difficulty achieving erection, panicked and quit, and for a few days after that lost all ability to get a boner. Lucky for me, it all came back after a few months, but it was scary.

Again, the choice is yours if you want to risk it. There's a lot of people here that say they haven't noticed any sides, and I think your chances of being one of those people are greater than the chance your hair is going to grow back on it's own. If you do decide to try Propecia, I highly advise you to monitor your sex drive closely. This way you're not going weeks or months without even noticing your libido is effected. Also, write down everything you plan on doing and stay away from the forums so you don't psyche yourself out.

My 0.02.