Vitriol01's story - (1st post Evaluate my situation [PICS])

[Vitriol01]

Hi guys

My Background

I'm 24. I started to notice that my hair was thinning a couple of years ago. I've always had a high forehead so was less concerned about my hairline and more concerned about the diffuse thinning on the vertex.

My Pictures

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/judith.donald@btopenworld.com/my_photos

My Treatment

Needless to say I was scared so started researching some possible treatments. I tried minoxidil 2% 18 months ago and switched to 5% (Both Regaine/ Rogaine) 12 months ago. I've been using it religiously ever since (never styopped the treatments but, like everyone, missed the occasional dose here and there).

I added Propecia (moved ot Proscar after one month due to cost) last August and have been taking 1mg - 1.25mg daily for about 10 months.

My Analysis

I don't think I've seen any improvement. My mum thinks that I have but I'm not so sure. I should have kept photos but sadly didn't so have found it difficult to monitor my progress.

My Options?

Is there anything else I should be taking? I am going to add Nizoral and am currently using L'oreal Elvive Thickening shampoo with Regenium-XY (which doesn't seem to do anything).

How bad is my hair loss? Could I expect to keep the hair that I have?

I have, fortunately, to my knowledge, not experienced any sides using finasteride.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Goingat20]

your hair loss isnt too bad. Some further treatments you could look into which my help are; xandrox 15% http://www.minoxidil.com , or SODS ( prox-n, tricomin ), Anti-adrogens -(spironolactone, flutamid) Just to name a few

 

[nervx]

stick with minoxidil and proscar until 12-14 months are up. if you think nothing has changed by then maybe try avodart instead of proscar.

as for shampoos, keep the nizoral but try different brands for regular use. personally i find thickening shampoo tends to weigh down your hair after a few uses causing more harm than good.

 

[Vitriol01]

Just noticed some blood in my semen today. Off to the docs on Wednesday - hope this is not a side of the finasteride

 

[Johnny24601]

re:

Tough to say much without before photos. I know I did not see too many results until about the 14th month, so ride it out. I would suggest nizoral as that should at least help improve the look of you hair a bit more. Also use a thiskening shampoo daily.
Other options include:
-uping to a higher minoxidil dose
-adding spironolactone once a day

 

[still_trying]

you've got some male pattern baldness going on but it's not too drastic..

things take time, so i would suggest waiting another 3 or 4 months on this treatment and comparing those photos with some in the future. Be careful with photos, i.e take them with hair at the same length, in the same light conditions, with hair either wet or dry, but not dry in one and wet in the other.

better yet, take a whole range of photos and record what each one was (so one with flash, one without, one inside, one outside, one with wet hair, one with dry hair - and then do the same in 3 or 4 months and compare)

p.s. there's been a lot of studies to say a lower dose of finasteride may be virtually identical, so you could even drop down to 1mg every other day if you;re worried about sides.

still trying