Hair treatment for MPB in teenagers

[Illusion]

I'm 16 and currently thinning on top. Also am experiencing a lot of peach fuzz. I started a topic in Men's Hair Loss: Start Your Own Topic, but I've decide it is better to start a topic here since I have some specific questions about treatment (so sorry as this might come across as cross-posting). Btw I will see a dermatologist soon, but I thought it would be useful to gain some information here first.

I've already been recommended to start using rogaine and nizoral by a poster and to start with propecia in my 20's to help stabilizing the process even further. But I was thinking: since I'm in one of the very first stages of balding, would it be realistic to think that I could get away with using rogaine and a DHT-blocker shampoo only for a long period as stabilization for my MPB? With a long period I was think about 10 years at least.

The only reason I'm thinking this is because of the early stage my balding is in. I know propecia is much more effective than every other product on the market right now (except dutasterine but that's more or less the same), but the side effects scare me (yes I've been reading too many horror stories lately. It would be pretty awesome if minoxidil and a DHT blocking shampoo could keep me out of trouble for a long time.

Thanks in advance

[Kudu]

Unfortunately rogaine will not prevent hair loss. It'll help maintain the appearance of your hair but you will continue to lose ground. Shampoos do help but will generally have a minimal effect. Best of luck! My hairline was decimated at last year when I was 16 so I feel your pain.

[ShookOnes]

Hi, I was balding around 17. Around 18-19 I was a diffuser I almost looked like NW6! Even though I was a NW3 with much thinning on top. I grew back everything with fin in 2 years. HOWEVER, it did not grow back the temples so I have to combover until I get my FUE/piloscopy. My sides RECEDE and that's something I can never fix. get on fin, nizoral did nothing for me.

[Illusion]

Unfortunately rogaine will not prevent hair loss. It'll help maintain the appearance of your hair but you will continue to lose ground. Shampoos do help but will generally have a minimal effect. Best of luck! My hairline was decimated at last year when I was 16 so I feel your pain.

I have been reading more and more upon rogaine and indeed discovered that it's not that great, or at least not as great as I first thought... The way I see it now, it has more cons than pro's. What did you do to 'overcome' your hair loss at such a young age? Started taking meds/topicals or just accepted it and buzzed it off?

Hi, I was balding around 17. Around 18-19 I was a diffuser I almost looked like NW6! Even though I was a NW3 with much thinning on top. I grew back everything with fin in 2 years. HOWEVER, it did not grow back the temples so I have to combover until I get my FUE/piloscopy. My sides RECEDE and that's something I can never fix. get on fin, nizoral did nothing for me.

Sucks to hear that :/ . Did they prescribe propecia when you were 19-20? Because I thought it was a very big no-no to take propecia when under/around 20 years since the side-effects would/could be worse than usual. Btw, you're advising me to get on propecia, but I can't. No doctor/dermatologist in his right mind is going to prescribe propecia to a 16-year old... For good reasons ofc, I get that. So I'll have to figure out something to stabilize my hair loss without using propecia, which is going to be hard/impossible...


Also, quick question for everyone who started losing hair in their late teens: when we start losing hair this early, does that necessarily mean we have very aggressive hair loss? Or does "aggressive hair loss" not say anything about the age it starts but about the time it takes to get you from NW 0 - NW7 ?

[burtandernie]

rogain and a shampoo is better than nothing but over some years your hair is going to express whatever nature has in store for you.

[rdawg]

I started going around 17-18 myself, only did Rogaine until i hit 20(2 years ago), rogaine didnt do much more than maintain my hair for about a year, I had agressive loss so it really doesnt do much.

it doesnt necessarily mean you have agressive loss, but it usually points to that. to me it means once CB or another alternative comes out we will need to stack them together in order to see results, as FIN alone will only slow the loss, not stop it. It's usually in agressive hairloss sufferrers that FIN doesnt give any regrowth or reversal, while slow hairloss sufferers tend to have side effects from the drug but also receive some regrowth as well, something I've noticed from being on the forums for a while.

FIN is when my hairloss stopped or slowed to a near halt.

Id recommend getting on it as soon as you turn 18.

[Dom21]

Does Minoxidil lose its effectiveness because we become tolerante to it or does it just start to lose the battle eventually?
Or is it a mixture of both?

[rdawg]

Does Minoxidil lose its effectiveness because we become tolerante to it or does it just start to lose the battle eventually?
Or is it a mixture of both?

Mixture of both, Minoxidil alone is not powerful enough to cause a huge benefit against hairloss, you do become a little more tolerant to it but largely it has a maintaining effect after the first year I'd say.

FIN is far more important in my eyes.

[Illusion]

rogain and a shampoo is better than nothing but over some years your hair is going to express whatever nature has in store for you.

Yeah I'm starting to understand that (unfortunately )...

I started going around 17-18 myself, only did Rogaine until i hit 20(2 years ago), rogaine didnt do much more than maintain my hair for about a year, I had agressive loss so it really doesnt do much.

it doesnt necessarily mean you have agressive loss, but it usually points to that. to me it means once CB or another alternative comes out we will need to stack them together in order to see results, as FIN alone will only slow the loss, not stop it. It's usually in agressive hairloss sufferrers that FIN doesnt give any regrowth or reversal, while slow hairloss sufferers tend to have side effects from the drug but also receive some regrowth as well, something I've noticed from being on the forums for a while.

FIN is when my hairloss stopped or slowed to a near halt.

Id recommend getting on it as soon as you turn 18.

Thanks for explaining. You say that slow hairloss sufferers tend to have side effects from the drug but also some regrowth as well. This implies that aggressive hairloss sufferers tend to have no/less sides, right? You didn't say it literally in your post but you do imply it. Also,you've noticed this from your own experiences of being on this forum, but are there any studies/articles about this too? I know this would be somewhat hard since "slow hairloss" and "aggressive hairloss" is subjective up to a certain point, but I thought there might be some studies...


As for my situation, I went to my GP yesterday and she confirmed (or said that in the least case it's very likely) that I have MPB. I made an appointment with a dermatologist but the earliest I could see him was back in August, so that kind of sucks. I'm just hoping that I won't lose too much ground in those 5 weeks (I know MPB is something that advances relatively slowly but still, earlier is always better). Also hoping that the test results won't take a very long time.

Another question btw: Someone on another forum recommended doing a full (or as much as possible) hormone check before starting propecia. He said this would be beneficial, especially when you're experiencing sides so you could see what exactly causes those sides. Is such an hormone check regularly done when propecia is prescripted by a dermatologist and is it indeed that beneficial?

[rdawg]

Yeah I'm starting to understand that (unfortunately )...




Thanks for explaining. You say that slow hairloss sufferers tend to have side effects from the drug but also some regrowth as well. This implies that aggressive hairloss sufferers tend to have no/less sides, right? You didn't say it literally in your post but you do imply it. Also,you've noticed this from your own experiences of being on this forum, but are there any studies/articles about this too? I know this would be somewhat hard since "slow hairloss" and "aggressive hairloss" is subjective up to a certain point, but I thought there might be some studies...


Another question btw: Someone on another forum recommended doing a full (or as much as possible) hormone check before starting propecia. He said this would be beneficial, especially when you're experiencing sides so you could see what exactly causes those sides. Is such an hormone check regularly done when propecia is prescripted by a dermatologist and is it indeed that beneficial?

Yea it's always good to take precautions, I never needed to as I think the most side effects I had was watery semen for a month, I'm 100% normal now(maybe no morning wood sometimes?)

Im not a scientists but the way I'd explain it is(not the exact science just giving an example) Fin inhibits a certain percentage of DHT in the system, around 60%, so theres still that 40% left, it's possible agressive sufferers like myself can handle only having 40% because the DHT was so agressive before but slow hairloss sufferers maybe have less DHT or cannot handle it. The best results i've seen(although there are exceptions) almost always have a side comment saying they experience small side effects.

Either way try out Fin and Minoxidil for a year asap, and then if it's not working enough consider taking the next step(adding dut once a week, RU alternative, other grey market products).

[Illusion]

Well, I had an appointment with my dermatologist yesterday... It was a bit 'meh' but then again, I don't really know what I hoped for since he couldn't do a lot either. He said that when I turn 18, which is in a year and a couple of months, I could make another appointment to get my finsateride prescribed (him giving me a prescription of proscar would be covered by insurance).

I didn't like the guy. The way he talked about fin was way too laconic. I asked him about the sides which I'm worried about, esp since I would be starting fin at a very young age. He said that he had read stories online in which fin destroyed the lives of (young) men (think of a random propeciahelp story) but he literally said that the sexual sides they were experiencing were all psychological problems ("it's all inside their heads"). The only problems, according to him, was an increased chance of breast cancer in males and. He also noted that the chance of prostate cancer decreased, but if a fin user got developed prostate cancer he was more likely to develop a more aggressive form of prostate cancer.

He also used to prescribe fin to women and said it had good results, but he had to stop prescribing it to them because he wasn't allowed to do it anymore at a certain point (probably when they discovered that it could be very dangerous for women to take fin).

So basically this dermatologist was pro-fin. It's kind of nice to hear a professional so optimistic about fin, but on the other hand it's also scary. I know for sure that IF I get sides from fin, I sure as hell won't have to go to this dermatologist because he's going to blame it on something other than fin.

He also said that doing bloodwork (hormones) before starting fin was not necessary. I asked him about this because, like I said in post #9, if I would experience bad, long lasting sides, it would be easier to do something against it. He answered with "you don't have to get your blood tested, it won't harm your liver." I asked again, clearly stating that I was asking because of possible sexual sides. He then replied with "Like I just said, sexual 'sides' are all in your head." Great.

On my way back home I asked my dad (a pharmacist and a NW7 since his ~30th) what he thought of me starting fin when I would turn 18. He replied with "It's like using a cannon to kill a fly. Just think it through properly if you are ever going to start this."

I forgot to ask my dermatologist about starting minox or nizoral. I kind of regret that, but on the other hand there would not have been much new stuff he could've told me about those things.

So I have a lot of time to decide whether I'm going to start fin on my 18th or not. The more I read about fin, the more I don't want to take it. Maybe it's just me being paranoid, I don't know... On the other hand, going bald starts to look worse and worse in my eyes (not how being bald looks but I mean going bald itself). Maybe I should look into experimental drugs or something... Problem is that it might not work and that it's pretty expensive (and I'm just a 16 y/o high school student, so I don't have a lot of money).

I wish I was less shallow than I am right now and just had the courage to go bald. There are a lot of things that are worse than going bald, still I make a big deal out of it. If I could choose between being a NW1 untill my 80th or never worrying about going bald (but still going bald) and being bald ever again, I would instantly pick the second option. It's just much more worth to have that confidence and insight (in some way I find that word very suiting) than having a full head of hair the rest of your life. But like I said, I guess I'm just a bit shallow and insecure.

Sorry for the long and unorganised post. Even if nobody reads it, it's nice to vent once in a while. I'm probably starting regenepure soon. Not because I have high hopes of regenepure stopping my hairloss, but because I hope it'll make my hair feel & get a bit thicker. Right now it feels a bit thin and I'm noticing it gets harder to style it because of that.


Good luck 'fighting' to all you guys out there

[Illusion]

About the above post... maybe "shallow" and "insecure" aren't the right words to describe how I feel about me not wanting to go bald... I just don't know. Lets just say that puberty and its insecurities + balding =/= a good combination

[Kudu]

Dude, I know exactly how you feel, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to bald, it sucks balding at the age we are. But I'm on the fence about taking fin too, I keep thinking that most likely won't get sides but it's hard to weigh the risks for the benefits. I'm a NW 3 but my hair loss is pretty slow, so I keep procrastinating until I'm afraid I'll lose what I have. I grow a pretty good beard that helps and I style my hair so it doesn't look that bad right now. Do you catch any crap for balding? I have before, but most of the people our age that I'm around don't really care that much. My only problem is that I don't look near as good without hair. Best of luck man

[Illusion]

Dude, I know exactly how you feel, there's nothing wrong with not wanting to bald, it sucks balding at the age we are. But I'm on the fence about taking fin too, I keep thinking that most likely won't get sides but it's hard to weigh the risks for the benefits. I'm a NW 3 but my hair loss is pretty slow, so I keep procrastinating until I'm afraid I'll lose what I have. I grow a pretty good beard that helps and I style my hair so it doesn't look that bad right now. Do you catch any crap for balding? I have before, but most of the people our age that I'm around don't really care that much. My only problem is that I don't look near as good without hair. Best of luck man

What are the main risks of fin you fear? Because I fear the sexual sides, but I'm also afraid of ****ing with my development as a male. Sure, you can get fin legally prescribed when you turn 18 but that doesn't mean it's advisable to take it when you're 18. I've seen people on fora claiming that starting with fin before you're 21 y/o is prob a bad idea b/c of development of your body.

Now I don't exactly know how DHT influences your growth process (note that, when saying growth, I'm not necessarily talking about height and weight but also about possible development of face characteristics and things like penis growth (I have no idea if these things are actually influenced by DHT but just to name some things)) but I recently found an article that's all about DHT and its functions in the body (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/reform8.htm). It's a pretty complex article with a few concepts I can't really get my head around (yet), but I'll look into this subject a bit more in the near future.


My balding is not visible yet since it only started a couple of months ago (well, that's when I first noticed so it might have been going on for somewhat longer but not a whole lot longer I guess). My hairline hasn't really receded yet (I'm like a NW1,5 atm) but I'm diffuse thinning all over the top of my head. When I'm in the light, you can already see the U-pattern a bit. Also, I'm shedding like 250 hairs a day so that's really a good sign I guess. But because of my hairline still being the same as it used to be, nobody knows that I'm going bald except for the people I told it to. Therefore I don't really get any crap... But I'm pretty sure that if I don't take action soon, my hairline will take a hit or I'll get a very thin crown.

Have you ever thought of using RU? I've read mixed stories about it but still, might be worth giving a try?

[burtandernie]

In a few years you might be able to stop MPB with CB so its really a battle against time if its going slow waiting is always an option because your not going to wake up bald tomorrow its a very slow process most of the time anyways so a few years in some cases isnt a big deal.