Trig's story - (Age 20 Looking for Advice)

[Trig]

Hi guys, I am 20 years old, and if my family is a good indicator of where I'm going, I'm in serious trouble . My dad, both grandparents and every single one of my uncles are bald or thin haired. I have basically accepted that I will at some point begin losing my hair, and I think that time is starting now. I used to keep my hair pretty short (usually buzzed) but recently I've been keeping it longer as I noticed some thinning around my temples. After looking around it looks like it is so far an extremely mild case of thinning, but I would like to get in the game early and prevent what is almost sure to come, than to find myself with no hair playing catch-up.

I have talked with my doctor about Propecia, and he told me basically the same things I have read in these forums as far as what I can expect with results and side effect. I am in this for the long-haul, which doesn't bother me; but I was hoping you guys would be able to help me out a little bit. I have some pictures I will post so that you have an idea of what I'm currently dealing with. Currently I am considering starting to take daily Propecia (or the like) in order to retain what I have, but have also considered the Nizoral shampoo and did a little research into Rogaine.

After I took my pictures I noticed that they don't look nearly as bad as I feel about this whole situation, but it really has been bothering me recently. Any advice you guys can offer is greatly appreciated. In the pictures you can see I recently got my hair buzzed (which I now regret ) and most of the thinning is in my left temple area but also the right temple and top of my head are much thinner than the very front center. Thank you in advance.

Trig

 

[barcafan]

Re: Age 20 Looking for Advice

Sorry man, for a 20 year old that's definitely nowhere near mild. You should get on the Big 3 and hope for no side effects

 

[Trig]

Re: Age 20 Looking for Advice

My hairline has always been pretty far back. I have always had a pretty extreme widow's peak, so I'm actually not worried about the hairline its just the thinning. It seems like my hairline hasn't receded much recently, everything has just been getting thinner.

Edit: Also, I was going to start Propecia, and I was just wondering, I can afford to buy it from a legit pharmacy with a prescription as well as Rogaine and Nizoral; so do you guys recommend that? Also, where is the best place to buy Rogaine? The internet or do they carry it in pharmacies? Same questions for Nizoral.

 

[Petchsky]

Re: Age 20 Looking for Advice

Yep the big three mate, get on it asap! my hair was similar to yours when i was 22. I'm almost 28 now and have all my hair still plus additional regrowth, and that was propecia, minoxidil and nizoral.

As for the cheapest places to buy, shop around... i don't know where you live so there is no point in me putting up loads of uk based sites, but the sooner the better

 

[Trig]

Re: Age 20 Looking for Advice

I just picked up 30 days of Propecia, 3 months of Rogaine, and a bottle of 1% Nizoral. I'm going to start the Propecia right now as well as Nizoral every other day. I'm going to start the Rogaine in about a week. I have been looking at starting an MSM supplement as well, anyone have any advice? I heard about Maxi-Hair and am considering ordering some. I've also read that people take Vitamin C along with MSM; is this a good idea and if so what is good, Emerald Balance?

Thank in advance for the help. Also, I live in California, so if anyone either knows of any good pharmacies or websites, I greatly appreciate the advice.

ps. :lost: Please reply! I feel like I'm running headfirst into what is either a brick wall or a fuller head of hair... or both.

 

[Petchsky]

Re: Age 20 Looking for Advice

Don't worry dude, that's what this forum is for.... If you don't want to lose your hair then you're doing the right thing.

Just in future, you will find it cheaper if you buy proscar instead of propecia. Proscar is the same drug but used for prostate problems, which is how they found it worked for hairloss, by accident.

You will need a pill cutter as one pill gives you four 1,25mg doses and goes further, meaning it saves you money in the long run, and you get a slightly stronger dose. Also try and get 2% nizoral, but its not important for now.

I advise you to read this website fully, get to understand hairloss and how it works.

 

[Trig]

Re: Age 20 Looking for Advice

I read about cutting Proscar but it just seemed kind of shady to me. Is getting the extra .25mg a day good? bad? Also, wouldn't it be difficult to get a prescription for Proscar? If I tell my docter I'm want a Proscar prescription and I will cut the pills, what do I expect him to say?

And when I asked the pharmacy about Nizoral 2% they said you need a prescription for it. Does it cost more than 1% and again, would I have any problems asking my doctor for it? He is a pretty cool guy, and I think he would trust me to do what I say, but I'm just not sure about how you guys dealt with this stuff.

And if anyone has any advice on MSM I appreciate it a lot. I read what I can find on it, but there seems to be some disagreement on it, or at least confusion on my part. How important is the Vit. C to help MSM work?

 

[Trig]

Hey guys, I've been taking Propecia for a week now and everything seems to be going well. I am also using the Nizoral 1% every other day. I still have a couple questions though. How big is the difference between the 1 and 2% nizoral and does it really matter? Also, I have bout some minoxidil, but I haven't started using it yet. Given my pictures and age, do you think it's necessary? And if anyone has any advice about MSM or other vitamin/mineral supplements, I'd greatly appreciate the help.

 

[Hans Gruber]

there is no real difference between the 1 and 2 % nizoral,use whatever you want.Looking at your pics i also think itll be a good idea to use the minoxidil,you have some coverage there so the minoxidil could very well kick things into motion.

msm is great stuff,i havent had it for a long time but when i did my hair grew very very quick and also looked quite shiny.A multivitamin too wont harm

 

[Trig]

Hey guys, everything has been going well. I'm on Propecia for 2 weeks now and everything seems pretty good. I think any sides I think I have are just in my head, so I'd say nothing to report. I haven't started minoxidil yet partially because my hair has grown long enough so that it looks really good again. This has kinda reduced my motivation to start the minoxidil. However, I think I'll start using it in about 2 more weeks. I just want to have long enough hair so that if I start shedding, it wont be as noticeable (for others). I'm thinking if it gets thinner from a shed, the longer hair will disguise most of it.

Oh, my head itches like a mother! It's a pain, but I just resist. I'm not sure if it actually does itch more than when I started Propecia and Nizoral, or I may just be noticing it more. Either way it's flippin annoying!

 

[SE-freak]

Re: Age 20 Looking for Advice

I read about cutting Proscar but it just seemed kind of shady to me. Is getting the extra .25mg a day good? bad?

 

[Trig]

I'll talk to my doctor about Proscar. What do you use to cut the pills?

And just a quick update, still using the Propecia daily, probably about 3 weeks in and Nizoral EoD. Still holding on minoxidil til my hair is a bit longer. But for now I can say I'm probably at an all time low. My hair looks pretty bad most of the time and my sex drive is taking a major hit and a seriously bad time. I've been hanging out with this chick for a while now, and I have like 0 confidence in the bedroom... worst feeling ever. I'm just in a bad mood lots of the time now. I really hope this business goes away soon so I can get back to business :ididit:

 

[SE-freak]

I'll talk to my doctor about Proscar. What do you use to cut the pills?

My teeth.

 

[Avery]

I use a $3 pill cutter I got at Walmart.

 

[Tom28]

I'll talk to my doctor about Proscar. What do you use to cut the pills?

And just a quick update, still using the Propecia daily, probably about 3 weeks in and Nizoral EoD. Still holding on minoxidil til my hair is a bit longer. But for now I can say I'm probably at an all time low. My hair looks pretty bad most of the time and my sex drive is taking a major hit and a seriously bad time. I've been hanging out with this chick for a while now, and I have like 0 confidence in the bedroom... worst feeling ever. I'm just in a bad mood lots of the time now. I really hope this business goes away soon so I can get back to business :ididit:

one caveat of taking Propecia is that it may cause some slight loss of libido though it affects only a certain proportion of users.

propecia is to be taken for life

 

[Trig]

I've heard that the sexual side effects will go away with time, is this true? Right now this is bothering me more than my hairloss. I'm trying to stay positive about it, but this is just the worst time for this to be happening to me. Maybe it's all in my head, I'll just start thinking more positively.