TheGrifter1's Story - (age 23)

[TheGrifter1]

Hey guys,

My name's Steve and I'm a 23 year old medical student from the UK.
I first started worrying my hair might be thinning about a year and a half ago. Ironically it was during the first time I'd ever tried to grow my thick curly hair out (thanks to my girlfriend at the time!) and I discovered a couple of patches at the front where things didn't seem quite as well covered as others. Thanks to a brutal barber who chopped off ALL my curls when I requested a bit of a trim after about a years growth I found I did indeed seem to have a couple of patches stretching back from the temples which seemed a bit lighter than the rest of my head. Over the last year I'd say these patches have become slightly more noticeable, I'm double crowned and they run down each side of my head in a line to their respective crowns.

Anyway. In the last two weeks I've started to tackle my thinning problem head on, using 1/2 a Finpecia tablet (they're cheap!) every other day based on the idea that 0.25mg a day is on average not greatly less effective than 1mg a day and the fact that I'm afraid of taking larger amounts of these chemicals when I'm still fairly young. I'm also applying Minoxidil 5% once a day- it's supposed to have a 22hour half life and one dose of shiny, flaky hair a day is all I want to stomach and I'm using Nizoral shampoo about 3 times a week.

Right now my hair's trimmed to about a grade 3 all over, its very short so it's hard to notice any hairs being lost. In the last day or two the lighter area on my right temple seems to have started looking a bit patchy, I'm hoping this is the effect of the minoxidil and will pave the way to some healthier looking hairs pushing through in the future.

I'd say my hair loss isn't too noticeable to others right now, I hope to try and grow out my hair again and recapture some of my lovely Justin Timberlake style (so I'm told :gay: ) curls incase I don't get the chance to again, but I'm hopeful that being young and having caught the problem early on in the process I might be able to turn the situation around a little, stop the loss and hold onto my hair for the next few years... by which time hopefully they'll have some more permanent treatment for male pattern baldness!

Anyway, I just thought I'd post my story as it stands now, I'll try to keep you guys up to speed with any developments I have as they happen. Any words of wisdom along the way will be greatly appreciated I'll also try to post a few pictures when I'm not under pressure to clean my room (it doesn't seem to matter how old you get!) and have chance to figure posting pictures out.

Best wishes fellow baldies!

Steve

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

im sorry your story
does not stand out

the best regrowth results
come from using minoxidil twice a day

and approx 1mg of finasteride "once a day every day" is the recommended dose for hair loss

i just wanted to mention this to you for your consideration

good luck with your endeavor

 

[TheGrifter1]

Hey BodyDysmorphic,

Thanks for the reply, I know my story is nothing unusual, I just thought I'd keep a track of my progress for my own use and for anyone else thinking of starting on the big three.

Also, thanks for your advice regarding minoxidil/finasteride, I know minoxidil is recommended twice a day and finasteride is said to give best results most often if you take 1mg a day. For me, I struggle to use minoxidil liquid twice a day because it's so messy and I've read that using it once a day is often almost as effective due to its 22 hour half life when applied topically. As for finasteride, the evidence suggests there isn't a great difference in DHT levels whether you take 0.2mg a day or 5mg, sure go for 1mg+ if you want to make sure you're doing everything you can, but to me, at least right now I'm thinking I'll stick with 0.25mg a day and reduce the risk of any sides as well as saving myself a small fortune!

 

[TheGrifter1]

OK just a quick update, over the last few days I'd say the thinning areas in my temples where I've been applying most of the minoxidil, particularly the right temple have become more noticeable and quite patchy/ mottled looking. I'm really hoping this is the effect of the minoxidil kicking in and is a good sign, if not, I'll look on the positive in as much as if it keeps getting worse I'll have to shave my head sooner than expected and start learn to accept that look!

 

[TheGrifter1]

OK, well I guess it's too early to say if my meds are having any positive effect on my hairloss, I could say I've noticed some very small hairs around my temple region which weren't already there, but I do have some very fine hairs on my forehead anyway so it might not be any more than me noticing those that happen to be near my temples!

The only thing currently bothering me is the massive flakiness I'm getting from Kirkland's 5% Minoxidil liquid (As well as the horrible oiliness that lasts for hours!). I'm fairly sure it's not actually my scalp flaking, but the liquid once its dried on. I don't think my hair looks like I've got dandruff all the time, but when I try to style my hair, or brush it it looks like I've stepped into a blizzard!

I'm wondering whether Kirkland will develop an equivalent to the Rogaine foam (assuming patents won't stop them doing it sometime down the line), I don't think I can afford to buy the original product but the liquid is not easy to work with!

 

[TheGrifter1]

OK I'm looking like a Zebra! I think the sides of my head, especially on the right side look worse than ever. I don't know if it's anything to do with the treatments or if I'm just continuing to bald, but whereas before I could notice a sort of feint line running back from my temples where the hair was lighter in colour and maybe a bit thinner, now these lines, which run back a few inches seem very obviously noticeable to me.

It's odd, I haven't really seen anyone out and about with this pattern of balding. I still seem to have a fairly good hair line, it's not like my hair's receded massively in any area or that I have completely bald spots, but my hair seems to be lighter in colour and a bit thinner, in two lines about an inch thick, either side of my head from the temples back... I think I'd prefer a bit of recession!

 

[irishpride86]

post some pics so we can see what kind of hairloss you have

 

[cuebald]

I#ve seen a few pictures on here where people have unusual "lines" running in their hair, usually near the temples.

I think one turned out to be an imprint from a guy wearing glasses :laugh: but the rest were unresolved.

 

[TheGrifter1]

Hi guys, another quick update. I'm back at uni and don't know whether it's escaping the harsh bathroom lighting at home or not, but I feel my hair's already starting to look better! I also seem to have stopped getting that horrible white flakiness on my scalp from the minoxidil residue which is good.

It's hard to say for sure, but I think I'm seeing quite a few small hairs filling in the area in my temlpes, touch wood they'll continue to grow, but it's feeling good so far to the extent that I'm no longer worrying about how my hair looks everyday.

I've also decided to up my finasteride dose to 1mg four times a week... while I'd rather have stayed on 0.5mg I feel happier that I'll stop further hairloss with the bigger dose and I haven't had any obvious sides to date.

The only thing I'm currently wondering about is switching from finpecia to fincar, just to save some extra money, I know it should technically be the same stuff (finasteride), but while I want to maintain my hair with as little effort and cost as possible (as we all do!), I can't help but worry about making any little changes that might affect my progress.

Cheers!

Steve

 

[TheGrifter1]

Me again guys, I've been meaning to come on here for a week or so now just to let you know that I seem to be progressing really well on Minoxidil once daily and 1mg finpecia 4 times a week.

Already I'm able to style my hair pretty much as I want without worrying about glaring patches around my temples (they're still a little thin compared to most of my head, but not obviously so). There are loads of new hairs around the temples and I've had my first notable shed, all the hairs I've been losing have been about a centimetre long, so nice and small and they've all had the little white bud on to show they're shredding rather than breaking. Like a few guys have mentioned on here before I think I may have to be careful because I seem to be seeing a few hairs quite a way outside my old hairline and I don't really want a furry forehead!

I'm still at uni at the moment and don't have access to my old camera, but when I get home for christmas I'll try to sort out some before and after photos, I'm just sorry I didn't take more before pictures, but I guess when you're feeling down about your hair you don't want to be taking pictures.

The only other update is to say I've just ordered some fincar from inhousepharmacy because I'm on my last blister strip of finpecia... hopefully this will have the same postive effects I've been having so far.

I'm praying these results can be maintained as my hair's already looking better than it has in years, if I don't lose it all again I guess the message is that you can get very positive results if you tackle this thing fast.

Keep at it guys,

Steve

 

[zeroheat]

please get some pics up so we can see it first hand..

 

[TheGrifter1]

Well a few of you guys have been asking for pics and I've come home for a reading week (didn't realise we had such things in medicine!) so I've dug out my old digital camera to post up a couple of shots. I'm sorry I didn't take more photos before because I'm not sure how well these show things before I started, but at the time I wasn't too keen to be taking pictures of my head.


Joe, from what I've read, taking 0.2mg propecia was believed to have been about 80% as effective as taking 1mg per day. I started by taking 1/2 a finpecia tablet every other day (so the equivalent of 0.25mg a day) but have increased this to 1/2 a finpecia 3 or 4x a week because having had some good results, I wanted to make sure I kept them as long as possible and I was worried that taking the absolute minimum amount might not be enough to keep my DHT levels down- I guess only time will tell.

 

[TheGrifter1]

OK so I appreciate that this is a very poor comparison, because everything that could be different is different with these photos, but I haven't got round to taking a photo of my head yet- something I'll try to do later today. The fact is though, that yes my hair's a bit longer now, but the longer my hair used to get, the more noticeable the thinning areas of my hair became and there was no way I could've styled my hair like this before without obvious thin patches down the side of my head.

I now feel I can walk out in the street without thinking I look like I'm receding to anyone I pass, even if they were on the look out for receding hairlines as I was during the summer. I can style my hair however I want now without triangles of light, very thin areas stretching back from my temples to my two crowns. People have been commenting about my hair for a while now, asking what I'm doing differently to it, whether I've had it cut differently, if I've coloured it, and my mum- who I hadn't seen for well over a month couldn't stop commenting about my hair when I came home on Sunday night, she even came over to look for a hair piece or signs of some sort of treatment (I hadn't told her about my regime and she'd convinced herself that as millionaires Prince William and Wayne Rooney were going bald at my age, none of these snake oils could possibly work or they'd have full heads of hair- needless to say she's a bit confused about my new look).

I just hope now that I can keep this progress up long term. I've got more thin hairs in the temples and just infront of the hairline and I'm hoping these'll keep thickening up, if they don't and I manage to keep the hair I've got for the foreseeable future, I'll be very happy.

 

[TheGrifter1]

Joe, I've been on Propecia and Nizoril for about 2 1/2 months now and Minoxidil for about 3 months. I realise my hairloss wasn't major to start off with, but I'd noticed it, others were starting to notice it was getting a little thin, and I knew it was only going to get worse without treatment and that feeling gnawed away at me till I started my regime.

As I've said before, hopefully if people tackle the problem early enough they can get good results with the big 3. I'm very happy with my hair now and any improvement I get over the next few months will be a bonus.