Lead Farmer
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 8
Hey guys,
I haven't been on here for a few months as I found myself a regimen and was trying to avoid thinking about my hairloss too much (and the crazy amount of negativity around here). Turns out when your hair doesn't improve at all and steadily gets worse it is impossible not to think about it (especially when you are 23).
I used minoxidil for 4 months twice a day and added in a couple of other topicals once a day with basically zero results, I could count the hairs I grew on my hands. So when I stopped using it unsurprisingly there was no noticeable loss of hair apart from the hair I was already losing with male pattern baldness. The reason I stopped using minoxidil apart from the lack of results was the inconvenience, I couldn't style my hair with it and it was a PITA to apply. Plus even if I did get regrowth I did not want to rely on such an annoying routine for the rest of my life.
I took the kitchen sink approach and along with the topicals I took 3 vitamins twice a day, used 2 shampoos and a conditioner and of course took finasteride. Today marks roughly 6 months on finasteride and I'm going to keep using it as I'm hoping it is slowing my hair loss and it doesn't get in the way of my life.
A couple of Q's before I move on:
-I haven't experienced any regrowth with finasteride, is there still any chance of growth after 6 months?
-Will increasing the dosage to 2x1mg tablets a day make much difference (once in the morning and once at night)?
Now today I had the dreaded haircut (I'm guessing everyone knows what I'm talking about here) and I was having a chat with the lady cutting my hair. When my hair is long it is hard to tell how thin it actually is. Anyway after she cut the sides she sprayed the top with water to cut it and our conversation stopped dead. I think she was shocked as it wasn't noticeable beforehand and I look pretty young for my age (I often have to prove that I'm actually over 18 let alone 23). Until it was over I sat there looking at the ground and got out as quick as possible. I've purchased some hair clippers on eBay tonight so I don't have to deal with the embarrassment anymore and can cut my hair shorter as it gets worse.
Basically I'm a NW2 right now but that is stretching it. While I still have hair in the NW2 formation it is extremely weak and disappearing fast, I am thinning into a NW4A pattern (my hairloss is at the front/top, everywhere else is still extremely dense). As I said before I'm young looking for my age and fair skinned so a sly look does not suit me at all, I've gone very short before and got a lot of chemotherapy patient remarks. So I really don't want to go that way unless there is no alternative.
So after much thought I'm thinking my only option is a hair transplant, I've always styled my hair and it looks much better that way for me. But I can't do it anymore as it looks terrible and reveals my scalp. I know people say transplants are less likely to be successful the younger you are, can anyone explain this a bit more to me and why? If it does work for me I know it will work well as I have excellent donor hair and I'm catching my hairloss before it is too obvious. That is the key for me; I don't want people to notice I've ever had hairloss, which I can just manage right now.
Sorry for a massive post of crap you've probably heard before but I wanted to give you all a description of my situation and would appreciate any advice and feedback.
Cheers.
I haven't been on here for a few months as I found myself a regimen and was trying to avoid thinking about my hairloss too much (and the crazy amount of negativity around here). Turns out when your hair doesn't improve at all and steadily gets worse it is impossible not to think about it (especially when you are 23).
I used minoxidil for 4 months twice a day and added in a couple of other topicals once a day with basically zero results, I could count the hairs I grew on my hands. So when I stopped using it unsurprisingly there was no noticeable loss of hair apart from the hair I was already losing with male pattern baldness. The reason I stopped using minoxidil apart from the lack of results was the inconvenience, I couldn't style my hair with it and it was a PITA to apply. Plus even if I did get regrowth I did not want to rely on such an annoying routine for the rest of my life.
I took the kitchen sink approach and along with the topicals I took 3 vitamins twice a day, used 2 shampoos and a conditioner and of course took finasteride. Today marks roughly 6 months on finasteride and I'm going to keep using it as I'm hoping it is slowing my hair loss and it doesn't get in the way of my life.
A couple of Q's before I move on:
-I haven't experienced any regrowth with finasteride, is there still any chance of growth after 6 months?
-Will increasing the dosage to 2x1mg tablets a day make much difference (once in the morning and once at night)?
Now today I had the dreaded haircut (I'm guessing everyone knows what I'm talking about here) and I was having a chat with the lady cutting my hair. When my hair is long it is hard to tell how thin it actually is. Anyway after she cut the sides she sprayed the top with water to cut it and our conversation stopped dead. I think she was shocked as it wasn't noticeable beforehand and I look pretty young for my age (I often have to prove that I'm actually over 18 let alone 23). Until it was over I sat there looking at the ground and got out as quick as possible. I've purchased some hair clippers on eBay tonight so I don't have to deal with the embarrassment anymore and can cut my hair shorter as it gets worse.
Basically I'm a NW2 right now but that is stretching it. While I still have hair in the NW2 formation it is extremely weak and disappearing fast, I am thinning into a NW4A pattern (my hairloss is at the front/top, everywhere else is still extremely dense). As I said before I'm young looking for my age and fair skinned so a sly look does not suit me at all, I've gone very short before and got a lot of chemotherapy patient remarks. So I really don't want to go that way unless there is no alternative.
So after much thought I'm thinking my only option is a hair transplant, I've always styled my hair and it looks much better that way for me. But I can't do it anymore as it looks terrible and reveals my scalp. I know people say transplants are less likely to be successful the younger you are, can anyone explain this a bit more to me and why? If it does work for me I know it will work well as I have excellent donor hair and I'm catching my hairloss before it is too obvious. That is the key for me; I don't want people to notice I've ever had hairloss, which I can just manage right now.
Sorry for a massive post of crap you've probably heard before but I wanted to give you all a description of my situation and would appreciate any advice and feedback.
Cheers.