Just a quick note because I remember how much help it was to read success posts. I don't have many pics because it pretty much stressed me out to take them, but I hope the couple I have help.
Back in October 2008 (I was 26) I moved to a new place and our shower drain backed up. Because I showered in 4 inches of backed up tub water, all the hair that I lost each shower floated and drained all together at the end, so it collected at the drain. I noticed that I was losing about 40 to 50 hairs each shower, then another 20 to 25 on the towel when I dried my hair. I had no idea my male pattern baldness was kicking in til then, but I got a mirror and noticed the back of my head was much thinner than it'd been (the kind that was noticeable only to me but still significant).
I started on liquid minoxidil 5% (Provillus) twice a day on my crown and each night on my hairline. I gotta represent for it on my hairline - within a few weeks I noticed little hairs springing up. They didn't grow into much, but it provided good cover. I didn't notice any improvement in the crown - I kept losing the same. This held through January - continued loss and no gain in the crown but improvement in little hairs on the hairline. Whenever I put my head over the sink and ran my hands over my head aggressively 2 or 3 times, 15 to 20 hairs fell into the sink. It was really discouraging because if I did it 5 minutes later, I'd still get 10 to 15 hairs falling out.
In late January, the minoxidil was causing so much dandruff (despite shampoos) that I had to stop. I ordered Cipla's fincar and quartered it. I did that for a month and didn't like the haphazard nature of cutting it, so in late February I got Dr. Reddy's Finax (both from United Pharmacies). My biggest fear at this point was that neither, especially the Finax which I settled on, was legit. If it didn't work after a year, I'd wonder if it was fake/low quality or if it was good but I just didn't respond to it. I worried that I was wasting primo months - if it was fake I'd eventually use Propecia, but in the meantime (when my hair was falling out fast but not embarrassing just yet) I'd be using low quality stuff when I could've just shelled out the extra to buy Propecia and not waste those months. So yeah...I was neurotic!
I kept losing hairs, and I identify with everyone who talks about wondering how different lights revealed my bald spot. I would hold a mirror up so the back of my head reflected in the bathroom mirror, and the intense light REALLY showed my thinning hair. After showers it looked awful. I don't have any pics of it wet. The BEFORE pics show it when it was dry but cut pretty short. Each morning I'd have to use the mirrors to move the little wisp of hair in the middle over the balder parts. The bald spot expanded over the months and started creeping up my head toward my hairline. It was a sad day when I could see it creeping over the apex of my head from a front view just looking in a mirror. The hairline stayed intact, but the little hairs from minoxidil fell out and it wasn't well defined.
I also identify with the self-consciousness of it all. I couldn't believe how I started to notice other men's hair (it's like buying a new car that you all of a sudden notice a ton of ppl driving), or how I thought about people looking at my head when I was out and about. And I WAY over analyzed it all - I'd count fewer hairs falling out one day and think things were getting better. I'd be in a great mood all day, only to find out the next that my loss was continuing as usual. The advice to stop counting, ignore things and just take finasteride for a year is great advice.
I went through a period when I hoped the hair falling out was simply shedding, but it just kept coming. I'd say I experienced a continual loss, but no real short-term shed (which made me worried things weren't working). I couldn't believe how many came out each day; there were about 200 that I actually counted.
In June (5 months after starting finasteride) I started using rogaine foam (once a day on my crown and hairline) and nizoral (twice a wk). I started applying the foam with one finger to my entire crown area. Each night I'd have about 15 hairs on my one finger - sad!
Just like the first time, the minoxidil helped to fill in the hairline really nicely, especially at the temples (even though my hair is longer in the AFTER pics, you can still see it). In early August (7 months on finasteride, 2 months minoxidil+nizoral) I got a haircut. The woman mentioned how thick my hair naturally was. I was like, "really?" and she said that although I have thin hairs, the hairs were really close together, especially the small ones. When I got home I noticed that there were a bunch of small hairs growing (which were hard to see, and I had to use a black comb and slowly comb through my hair, pushing the longer ones down and letting the little ones pop up, to see them).
That's when I started growing my hair out so I could see the difference in the little guys growing in as compared to the long ones. Sure enough, they kept coming. About three weeks ago in early Sept (8 months after starting finasteride), I can say that my hair stopped falling out. Now when I towel off, I count maybe 3 or 4 hairs. When I brush my hair aggressively with my hands over the sink, maybe 3 fall out. When I put Rogaine foam in, I have 2 hairs on my finger afterward. It's awesome and so rewarding because I considered throwing it all out, especially because Propecia said it if you respond, you could stop losing at 3 months and regrow at 6. It's only because of this forum and everyone saying to give it a year that I kept with it. And things have really improved in the last 2 weeks.
I still have a ways to go with growing new hairs. Both of the pics showing the top of my head looked worse in person. The AFTER pic doesn't show the little bit of thinning that's still there, but it's nothing embarrassing. I've got the little hairs and am waiting for them to grow in more.
Based on my experience and research, I assume the finasteride took about 7 months to kick in. I actually started growing small hairs right around the time when loss started slowing, and it took a month before I can say I'm down to a non-male pattern baldness rate of loss. I'm sure the Rogaine helped to grow little hairs, but I don't think it had long enough to really kick in. Now that the DHT it lessened in my scalp, I'm going to cut back on the foam. I'll apply it to the crown and hairline about 4 days a week, and after using it for six months I plan to stop altogether and keep the finasteride and nizoral.
I welcome any questions, but I hope this helps to reinforce the idea of not expecting anything until a minimum of 6 months but more like a year for real noticeable results, and for some even longer than that. It might seem like it should slowly kick in, but in my case I was disheartened and it all happened within 3 weeks or so. So hang in there! And don't be neurotic like I was - get on the Big 3 or finasteride and decide not to really look at it again for 9 months to a year.
Good luck!
Back in October 2008 (I was 26) I moved to a new place and our shower drain backed up. Because I showered in 4 inches of backed up tub water, all the hair that I lost each shower floated and drained all together at the end, so it collected at the drain. I noticed that I was losing about 40 to 50 hairs each shower, then another 20 to 25 on the towel when I dried my hair. I had no idea my male pattern baldness was kicking in til then, but I got a mirror and noticed the back of my head was much thinner than it'd been (the kind that was noticeable only to me but still significant).
I started on liquid minoxidil 5% (Provillus) twice a day on my crown and each night on my hairline. I gotta represent for it on my hairline - within a few weeks I noticed little hairs springing up. They didn't grow into much, but it provided good cover. I didn't notice any improvement in the crown - I kept losing the same. This held through January - continued loss and no gain in the crown but improvement in little hairs on the hairline. Whenever I put my head over the sink and ran my hands over my head aggressively 2 or 3 times, 15 to 20 hairs fell into the sink. It was really discouraging because if I did it 5 minutes later, I'd still get 10 to 15 hairs falling out.
In late January, the minoxidil was causing so much dandruff (despite shampoos) that I had to stop. I ordered Cipla's fincar and quartered it. I did that for a month and didn't like the haphazard nature of cutting it, so in late February I got Dr. Reddy's Finax (both from United Pharmacies). My biggest fear at this point was that neither, especially the Finax which I settled on, was legit. If it didn't work after a year, I'd wonder if it was fake/low quality or if it was good but I just didn't respond to it. I worried that I was wasting primo months - if it was fake I'd eventually use Propecia, but in the meantime (when my hair was falling out fast but not embarrassing just yet) I'd be using low quality stuff when I could've just shelled out the extra to buy Propecia and not waste those months. So yeah...I was neurotic!
I kept losing hairs, and I identify with everyone who talks about wondering how different lights revealed my bald spot. I would hold a mirror up so the back of my head reflected in the bathroom mirror, and the intense light REALLY showed my thinning hair. After showers it looked awful. I don't have any pics of it wet. The BEFORE pics show it when it was dry but cut pretty short. Each morning I'd have to use the mirrors to move the little wisp of hair in the middle over the balder parts. The bald spot expanded over the months and started creeping up my head toward my hairline. It was a sad day when I could see it creeping over the apex of my head from a front view just looking in a mirror. The hairline stayed intact, but the little hairs from minoxidil fell out and it wasn't well defined.
I also identify with the self-consciousness of it all. I couldn't believe how I started to notice other men's hair (it's like buying a new car that you all of a sudden notice a ton of ppl driving), or how I thought about people looking at my head when I was out and about. And I WAY over analyzed it all - I'd count fewer hairs falling out one day and think things were getting better. I'd be in a great mood all day, only to find out the next that my loss was continuing as usual. The advice to stop counting, ignore things and just take finasteride for a year is great advice.
I went through a period when I hoped the hair falling out was simply shedding, but it just kept coming. I'd say I experienced a continual loss, but no real short-term shed (which made me worried things weren't working). I couldn't believe how many came out each day; there were about 200 that I actually counted.
In June (5 months after starting finasteride) I started using rogaine foam (once a day on my crown and hairline) and nizoral (twice a wk). I started applying the foam with one finger to my entire crown area. Each night I'd have about 15 hairs on my one finger - sad!
Just like the first time, the minoxidil helped to fill in the hairline really nicely, especially at the temples (even though my hair is longer in the AFTER pics, you can still see it). In early August (7 months on finasteride, 2 months minoxidil+nizoral) I got a haircut. The woman mentioned how thick my hair naturally was. I was like, "really?" and she said that although I have thin hairs, the hairs were really close together, especially the small ones. When I got home I noticed that there were a bunch of small hairs growing (which were hard to see, and I had to use a black comb and slowly comb through my hair, pushing the longer ones down and letting the little ones pop up, to see them).
That's when I started growing my hair out so I could see the difference in the little guys growing in as compared to the long ones. Sure enough, they kept coming. About three weeks ago in early Sept (8 months after starting finasteride), I can say that my hair stopped falling out. Now when I towel off, I count maybe 3 or 4 hairs. When I brush my hair aggressively with my hands over the sink, maybe 3 fall out. When I put Rogaine foam in, I have 2 hairs on my finger afterward. It's awesome and so rewarding because I considered throwing it all out, especially because Propecia said it if you respond, you could stop losing at 3 months and regrow at 6. It's only because of this forum and everyone saying to give it a year that I kept with it. And things have really improved in the last 2 weeks.
I still have a ways to go with growing new hairs. Both of the pics showing the top of my head looked worse in person. The AFTER pic doesn't show the little bit of thinning that's still there, but it's nothing embarrassing. I've got the little hairs and am waiting for them to grow in more.
Based on my experience and research, I assume the finasteride took about 7 months to kick in. I actually started growing small hairs right around the time when loss started slowing, and it took a month before I can say I'm down to a non-male pattern baldness rate of loss. I'm sure the Rogaine helped to grow little hairs, but I don't think it had long enough to really kick in. Now that the DHT it lessened in my scalp, I'm going to cut back on the foam. I'll apply it to the crown and hairline about 4 days a week, and after using it for six months I plan to stop altogether and keep the finasteride and nizoral.
I welcome any questions, but I hope this helps to reinforce the idea of not expecting anything until a minimum of 6 months but more like a year for real noticeable results, and for some even longer than that. It might seem like it should slowly kick in, but in my case I was disheartened and it all happened within 3 weeks or so. So hang in there! And don't be neurotic like I was - get on the Big 3 or finasteride and decide not to really look at it again for 9 months to a year.
Good luck!
