strifestrike
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Hey guys.
I found this site a long time ago and have lurked on and off for about a year I would say.
So here's my story:
I am a 22 year old male who is balding. It started at the crown of my head and is still not really that bad at the temples as compared to the top.
It probably started around the time I turned 19 but it didn't start really getting noticeable until I was 20. At first I really didn't do anything about it because I was in a state of denial, always thinking it wasn't a big deal or it was just temporary and would get better. I finally accepted reality about a year ago but was living in Prague at the time and didn't start medicating until I got back to the states in late May. Thats when I started Rogaine 5% foam and Nizoral. For a while it seemed those two together were maintaining and even regrowing some of my hair. I don't know if that was an illusion or if it was actually true but things didn't seem too bad. At first I had been ready to jump on propecia but I thought I was ok with those two at first and was kind of scared of the side effects I had read so much about it, so I started putting it off.
I was taking pictures in October that were probably just completely horrible pictures but they looked like i was literally going almost hairless in a concentrated spot at the top of my head. I freaked out and ran to get propecia immediately. I thought I could save money and have less side effects by taking .5mg every day instead of the full dosage. So thats what I did from October onward.
I experienced horrendous shedding after I took propecia all the way into January. But despite the amount of hair falling my scalp never got worse, though I also didn't notice any appreciable gains. It seemed to be maintaining. Sometime around February it started to look like it improved a little.
In regards to side effects, I experienced a bit of "brain fog" people talk about, which is kind of like a disconnected feeling from reality where you feel like you are observing things in third person, but it was always very mild and at most an annoyance, never really hindering productive activity on my part. It faded after two months.
Sexual side effects wise I did experience some scattered instances of thinned sperm and right after I got on propecia I had a lowered libido, but the lowered libido faded after about two weeks and its hard to say whether the thinned sperm is from propecia or just bad sexual sessions. By March I was as horny as ever even while taking propecia and could probably ejaculate varying amounts of sperm 3-4 times a day. So the side effects of propecia seemed to be overrated.
Anyway I took a picture in late march which led me to being concerned again, it looked like I was slightly back sliding. So I upped the dosage of propecia to the standard 1mg a day. This was about a week and a half ago. I have noticed increased shedding again, and a slight lowering of libido again. I am hoping those fade away once again. Interestingly no brain fogs.
I decided to register for other lurkers out there who may be curious about the experience of another person. In all I have found the process of medicating for hairloss to not be very intrusive or difficult, though it is quite expensive.
Psychologically hairloss hit me very hard sometime around the mid point my realization period. Initially I wasn't freaking out because I didn't think it was that bad, I would take pictures in a dark room with no flash to simulate a club environment and think well this isn't visible at all. It was just another stage of denial.
After a while I started taking flash pictures only and swung to the opposite side of the spectrum, freaking out from wet flash pictures and seeing myself only in those terms. It really wrecked my confidence initially and made a bit more reclusive. I ended up shaving my head in April in Prague which looked terrible and really upset me. But it really didn't change the game scene that much because its really easy to pick up girls in Prague. I was terrified of what coming back to the states would do to me, and what my two previous hookups would think when I came back with my ugly shaved haircut.
The summer did a lot of good for me and showed me that people don't care about it as much as I was worried about, although my case hasn't really degenerated horribly yet so who knows. I still hit weird lows in self image occasionally when I see a bad picture or have a bad night, but overall my confidence is on the rise again and I have started to accept it at least somewhat. If the treatments really fail I'll just hit the gym hard and shave my head, and hope that someday there might be some sort of awesome hair cloning treatment or something, but not hold my breath for it.
Now some miscellaneous stuff:
Whenever I first start using rogaine foam not a lot of hair comes off from applying it, but when it runs down to the lower half of the bottle it gets greasier and more hair comes off when I rub it in. To cope with that I always buy the 3 month packs and use the emptier bottles only at night cause when the foam gets super greasy it will ruin your hair (make it very sticky and ugly).
The shedding is freaky but pictures can give you perspective, if it doesn't look like your getting worse you probably are not.
Nizoral absorbs really well into your hair so make sure to use generous amounts so that they get to your scalp. As a plus side I used to always have dandruff in small amounts before I started balding but thanks to the Nizz that wasn't even the slightest problem this year.
I tried Nissim shampoo, it does nothing.
I go out about 3 times a week drinking every one of those times usually, I have noticed that a post out night shower usually yields a bit more shedding but this may have to do with me usually coming home and falling right asleep instead of the usual routine of putting in rogaine which could displace already shed hairs, dunno but its probable that unclean living does not help matters. I have noticed a seemingly large correlation between smoking and shedding as well, which may be coincidence or may not, but I usually shed the most right after I stop smoking (I smoke in weird prolonged bursts of weeks followed by months of non-smoking, usually starting back up again after a drunken buy of a pack, only to once again discipline myself into quitting, weird I know). It levels out considerably either way when I am either smoking regularly or not smoking, though obviously anyones preference should be not smoking. Its likely due to stress.
A question: does anyone recommend some sort of supplement (I hear alot about this MSM but still not super sure what it is) or shampoo for thickening up hair. I think thickening my crown up would really help me better hide the balding process.
In conclusion I would like to say I wrote this post for lurkers like me, I have tried to be upfront and detailed about my experience with hairloss and coping with it. I have attached pictures to let you guys see what I look like. I have a feeling i'll eventually have to shave my head but maybe propecia will do its job and help me maintain in my 20's. I am working towards accepting this part of me, and even though its not something I would have ever wanted its something I will learn to live with.
Feedback on the question would be appreciated and good luck to all fence sitters, whatever decision you make.
I found this site a long time ago and have lurked on and off for about a year I would say.
So here's my story:
I am a 22 year old male who is balding. It started at the crown of my head and is still not really that bad at the temples as compared to the top.
It probably started around the time I turned 19 but it didn't start really getting noticeable until I was 20. At first I really didn't do anything about it because I was in a state of denial, always thinking it wasn't a big deal or it was just temporary and would get better. I finally accepted reality about a year ago but was living in Prague at the time and didn't start medicating until I got back to the states in late May. Thats when I started Rogaine 5% foam and Nizoral. For a while it seemed those two together were maintaining and even regrowing some of my hair. I don't know if that was an illusion or if it was actually true but things didn't seem too bad. At first I had been ready to jump on propecia but I thought I was ok with those two at first and was kind of scared of the side effects I had read so much about it, so I started putting it off.
I was taking pictures in October that were probably just completely horrible pictures but they looked like i was literally going almost hairless in a concentrated spot at the top of my head. I freaked out and ran to get propecia immediately. I thought I could save money and have less side effects by taking .5mg every day instead of the full dosage. So thats what I did from October onward.
I experienced horrendous shedding after I took propecia all the way into January. But despite the amount of hair falling my scalp never got worse, though I also didn't notice any appreciable gains. It seemed to be maintaining. Sometime around February it started to look like it improved a little.
In regards to side effects, I experienced a bit of "brain fog" people talk about, which is kind of like a disconnected feeling from reality where you feel like you are observing things in third person, but it was always very mild and at most an annoyance, never really hindering productive activity on my part. It faded after two months.
Sexual side effects wise I did experience some scattered instances of thinned sperm and right after I got on propecia I had a lowered libido, but the lowered libido faded after about two weeks and its hard to say whether the thinned sperm is from propecia or just bad sexual sessions. By March I was as horny as ever even while taking propecia and could probably ejaculate varying amounts of sperm 3-4 times a day. So the side effects of propecia seemed to be overrated.
Anyway I took a picture in late march which led me to being concerned again, it looked like I was slightly back sliding. So I upped the dosage of propecia to the standard 1mg a day. This was about a week and a half ago. I have noticed increased shedding again, and a slight lowering of libido again. I am hoping those fade away once again. Interestingly no brain fogs.
I decided to register for other lurkers out there who may be curious about the experience of another person. In all I have found the process of medicating for hairloss to not be very intrusive or difficult, though it is quite expensive.
Psychologically hairloss hit me very hard sometime around the mid point my realization period. Initially I wasn't freaking out because I didn't think it was that bad, I would take pictures in a dark room with no flash to simulate a club environment and think well this isn't visible at all. It was just another stage of denial.
After a while I started taking flash pictures only and swung to the opposite side of the spectrum, freaking out from wet flash pictures and seeing myself only in those terms. It really wrecked my confidence initially and made a bit more reclusive. I ended up shaving my head in April in Prague which looked terrible and really upset me. But it really didn't change the game scene that much because its really easy to pick up girls in Prague. I was terrified of what coming back to the states would do to me, and what my two previous hookups would think when I came back with my ugly shaved haircut.
The summer did a lot of good for me and showed me that people don't care about it as much as I was worried about, although my case hasn't really degenerated horribly yet so who knows. I still hit weird lows in self image occasionally when I see a bad picture or have a bad night, but overall my confidence is on the rise again and I have started to accept it at least somewhat. If the treatments really fail I'll just hit the gym hard and shave my head, and hope that someday there might be some sort of awesome hair cloning treatment or something, but not hold my breath for it.
Now some miscellaneous stuff:
Whenever I first start using rogaine foam not a lot of hair comes off from applying it, but when it runs down to the lower half of the bottle it gets greasier and more hair comes off when I rub it in. To cope with that I always buy the 3 month packs and use the emptier bottles only at night cause when the foam gets super greasy it will ruin your hair (make it very sticky and ugly).
The shedding is freaky but pictures can give you perspective, if it doesn't look like your getting worse you probably are not.
Nizoral absorbs really well into your hair so make sure to use generous amounts so that they get to your scalp. As a plus side I used to always have dandruff in small amounts before I started balding but thanks to the Nizz that wasn't even the slightest problem this year.
I tried Nissim shampoo, it does nothing.
I go out about 3 times a week drinking every one of those times usually, I have noticed that a post out night shower usually yields a bit more shedding but this may have to do with me usually coming home and falling right asleep instead of the usual routine of putting in rogaine which could displace already shed hairs, dunno but its probable that unclean living does not help matters. I have noticed a seemingly large correlation between smoking and shedding as well, which may be coincidence or may not, but I usually shed the most right after I stop smoking (I smoke in weird prolonged bursts of weeks followed by months of non-smoking, usually starting back up again after a drunken buy of a pack, only to once again discipline myself into quitting, weird I know). It levels out considerably either way when I am either smoking regularly or not smoking, though obviously anyones preference should be not smoking. Its likely due to stress.
A question: does anyone recommend some sort of supplement (I hear alot about this MSM but still not super sure what it is) or shampoo for thickening up hair. I think thickening my crown up would really help me better hide the balding process.
In conclusion I would like to say I wrote this post for lurkers like me, I have tried to be upfront and detailed about my experience with hairloss and coping with it. I have attached pictures to let you guys see what I look like. I have a feeling i'll eventually have to shave my head but maybe propecia will do its job and help me maintain in my 20's. I am working towards accepting this part of me, and even though its not something I would have ever wanted its something I will learn to live with.
Feedback on the question would be appreciated and good luck to all fence sitters, whatever decision you make.
