2 years of battling aggressive MPB

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Harris
    Member
    • Mar 2012
    • 60

    2 years of battling aggressive MPB

    Hi I have been battling MPB for nearly two years and I thought it to be important to share my experience so far to help others going down the same path.


    Firstly a bit about me I inherited a very strong mpb which is in a NW6 pattern I strated treating my hairloss aged 23 (now 26) my farther was bald by the age of 29 (NW6). I noticed my hair thing out in the mirror one day and my life changed forever I never thought I would lose my hair it never was an option I had women chasing me as soon as I noticed this hair loss it took over my life constatnley checking the mirrior unable to go out beacuse I was convinced that my hair was so bad that people where laughing at me and I would become a laughing stock and lose my girlfriend and all my previous confidence. Alot of people think that people who suffer from mpb are insecure and b eing over the top about losing their hair beacuse they are " vain". for me this was not the case I hated the thought of losing my hair at such a young age beacuse i felt the confidence that I had built up for such a long time had been lost I hated the fact that people would call me the "bald one" or I would look older than I actualy was. the starnge thing is I have always had a 0 grade hair cut so I look good with a shaved head I could actualy proberly pull off the bald look but losing my hair actulay when deeper that looks alone. but that is anouther story altogether!

    in october 2009 I started minoxdil and fiasteride as I did some research and found these where the best ways of traeting hair loss I spent hours reading and researching how hairloss could be beatean I would introduce vitamins and nizrol shampoo to the fight and still use these tools. I have never told anyone about my hairloss apart from doctors so have kept my battle away from people. I would count how many hairs would be on my hand after rubbing my hair, spend hours in the bathroom check how my hair looked from the back looking through differnt lights check my reflection in every window whilst walking it became an obsession. If my hair looked good I would be on a high convinced that I was beating it be the happy person I used to be, then one day I would catch my reflection and see a huge thining area and have to go hoem and would be stuck in a deep depression. I would go home and read things about future hairloss treatment consder crazy treatments such as SMP and hair transplants even though I had no money I even consdered moving to asia so I could bald in a place where no one would no me, I know it sounds crazy but it would take over my life. this routine of being high then low about my hair loss hasnt stoped of two years. I have recently been able to tone down my obession but it is still the first thing I think of when I wake and the the last thing I think of before I sleep.

    Becuse I couldnt be sure if the treatment was working in october last year (1 year of treatment mark) I payed to see a hairloss specialist he confirmed that I had thinned in a nw6 pattern and suggested that I carry on whith the treatment for anouther year which did. during this year I felt my hairloss had gotten a lot worse, I went back to see him last month and he compared picture from the previous year and took photographs of my hair close up so he could see the thining in the nw6 area and the non affected area. He confirmed that in fact I had receeded slightly in the temple area but this was very slightly and to be honest Im not sure I agree. he then compared photos of my whole head and I was delighted to see that my hair had not gotten any worse which if I was not fighting hairloss with these traetment I would proberly be bald. he took the photographs of my hair close up and it was shown that my affected area was not far worse than the non affected area and suggested that the treatment was working!!! he said that in most cases in his experince if a user responds to treaement hair is kept for as long as the user keeps using the treeatment which ment the world to me.

    I will go to see him agian in anouther 12 months time and that will be the key stage as it will 100 percent show that my hair has not gotten any more worse. this post aims to give people hope for losing hair whetaher you are a new to hair loss or exeprinced it shows that alot of the worrys can be created in your head I was convced that I was fully bald and I had gotten alot worse during the 2 years which in actual case this has proven not to be true. I am in no way cured of my hair loss worries as only today I looked in the mirorr and was horfied at how bad my hair looked but at least now I can accpet this may be due to poor lighting or reflection.

    I hope this psot helps someone similar to me I am a hairloss sufferer that should be 100% bald by now and still have a leg to stand on and hopefully will maintain until the next cure comes out.

    Thank you for reading my post and good luck to everyone going thru this expence. i would also encourage people in a simlar postion who has had good experinces in the hair loss fight to most there stories as I needed that when I was at my lowest point to many negative posts on this site!!
  • Harris
    Member
    • Mar 2012
    • 60

    #2
    Sorry about my grammar i wrote this in a rush I also wanted to say that when I said "crazy" treatments such as SMP and hair transplants I only ment that was crazy for my particular situation I know these treatments can be great for some cases

    Comment

    • BigThinker
      Senior Member
      • Oct 2012
      • 1507

      #3
      I'm in the same boat I'm sure. I noticed my hairloss a year ago and I'm already NW2. My dad was bald by his late 20s as well. I'm on minox and fin as well, but they don't seem to be doing too much - slowing down the process maybe if I'm lucky.

      The difference is that my headshape sucks, and I wish I could just shave with no-guard and move on. At least you can do that.

      Comment

      • Harris
        Member
        • Mar 2012
        • 60

        #4
        Are you sure you have progressed though? I mean I am NW2 my doctore said that fin may not work on the frontal area and like i said alot of the thought that hair is getting worse can be in ur head my doctor also said that if like you our farthers where bald be their late twenties after a two year period our hair should be very bad so maybe you may have lost a little during shedding but not as much as you may think.

        thats one other thing I forgot to mention if you have lost a hair alrady every time your hair sheds for my its around onece every four months your hair will look alot worse becuse you no longer have the density you used to have. I would suggest seeing a doctor who can measure your hairloss so it can give you pice of mind also maybe because you have longer hair use hair fibers or dermamatch which I have seen can offer great results. keep strong

        Comment

        • billybong
          Member
          • Apr 2012
          • 36

          #5
          Glad to hear you're doing ok.

          Maybe you could dust some toppik fibres or something into your hair, if you think it looks too thin?

          Comment

          • BigThinker
            Senior Member
            • Oct 2012
            • 1507

            #6
            Originally posted by Harris
            Are you sure you have progressed though? I mean I am NW2 my doctore said that fin may not work on the frontal area and like i said alot of the thought that hair is getting worse can be in ur head my doctor also said that if like you our farthers where bald be their late twenties after a two year period our hair should be very bad so maybe you may have lost a little during shedding but not as much as you may think.

            thats one other thing I forgot to mention if you have lost a hair alrady every time your hair sheds for my its around onece every four months your hair will look alot worse becuse you no longer have the density you used to have. I would suggest seeing a doctor who can measure your hairloss so it can give you pice of mind also maybe because you have longer hair use hair fibers or dermamatch which I have seen can offer great results. keep strong

            Hard to say, man. I'm taking pictures the whole way, so in Feb '14 I'll be: 1 year finasteride, 6 months dut, 6 months minox - at that time I'll assess. But, to your point, it looks like my hair loss hasn't gotten too much worse since Feb '13 (started fin).

            I'm over my hair line; it's as good as gone. I just want to not have scalp showing on top and in back. At that point, I'll own my shitty head shape and start no-guarding. I'm not really into hair fibers, wigs, dermamatch, or any of that. Minox twice a day is enough.

            Stay strong as well, bud.

            Comment

            • slantofreality
              Member
              • Oct 2012
              • 34

              #7
              I wish I would follow the typical mpb. I have very aggressive mpb too. My hair is ridiculously thick and if it weren't for that I have little doubt I'd be bald by now. The thing I used to hate the most is what's covering my hair loss.

              Comment

              • BigThinker
                Senior Member
                • Oct 2012
                • 1507

                #8
                Originally posted by slantofreality
                I wish I would follow the typical mpb. I have very aggressive mpb too. My hair is ridiculously thick and if it weren't for that I have little doubt I'd be bald by now. The thing I used to hate the most is what's covering my hair loss.
                I can't even tell you how many times I've had that exact same thought process. I started with such insanely thick hair - the hair dressers used to have to spend 5-10 minutes thinning my hair out after a cut. As aggressive as mine is, I would be bald by now (like my dad was), if it wasn't for my thickness.

                Inherited amazing thick dark hair from my mom and @#$!ing MPB from my dad.

                Comment

                • PatientlyWaiting
                  Senior Member
                  • Jan 2011
                  • 1637

                  #9
                  The way you described your obsession with this plague and how depressed it got you, most of us here can relate. We feel the same. Especially what you said about it's the first thing you think of when you wake up and the last thing you think of before going to sleep, i'm exactly the same. MPB does not "kill" and it is "not life threatening" but damn, mentally, psychologically, socially, appearance-wise, confidence, it's life-ending.

                  And about moving to Asia to avoid being seen by people you know, man, I have been dying to move to Buffalo, NY, to start a new life there on campus where nobody knows me, so I can bald alone/treat my hair loss away from people.

                  It's hard to ignore that most of us feel exactly the same, feeling for feeling. Almost all us relate 100% to each other without even knowing each other and being from different places and having different backgrounds. Almost as if MPB is a sickness and these are the symptoms, the things we describe that we go through on this forum, those are the symptoms of MPB.

                  Comment

                  • Californication
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2013
                    • 134

                    #10
                    Originally posted by PatientlyWaiting
                    The way you described your obsession with this plague and how depressed it got you, most of us here can relate. We feel the same. Especially what you said about it's the first thing you think of when you wake up and the last thing you think of before going to sleep, i'm exactly the same. MPB does not "kill" and it is "not life threatening" but damn, mentally, psychologically, socially, appearance-wise, confidence, it's life-ending.



                    It's hard to ignore that most of us feel exactly the same, feeling for feeling. Almost all us relate 100% to each other without even knowing each other and being from different places and having different backgrounds. Almost as if MPB is a sickness and these are the symptoms, the things we describe that we go through on this forum, those are the symptoms of MPB.
                    Yeah, but at the same time "most" people don't think this way at least not for an extended period. Most people aren't on these forums and aren't on any treatments. There are plenty of people, even younger guys, who get over it. So yeah, it *can* kill you in the way you described, but it doesn't have to at all. I'm not trivializing it, it sucks, but that's the truth.

                    People who it's actually killing should get smp done in my opinion. Ridiculous? Yes. But basically concealable? Yeah. And less hassles than a wig although that's another way to go I suppose.

                    Comment

                    • slantofreality
                      Member
                      • Oct 2012
                      • 34

                      #11
                      Originally posted by BigThinker
                      I can't even tell you how many times I've had that exact same thought process. I started with such insanely thick hair - the hair dressers used to have to spend 5-10 minutes thinning my hair out after a cut. As aggressive as mine is, I would be bald by now (like my dad was), if it wasn't for my thickness.

                      Inherited amazing thick dark hair from my mom and @#$!ing MPB from my dad.
                      same here. All the guys from my dad's side are bald and I got my mom's strong hair. I hope that makes me a good HT candidate. I really used to hate my hair back then. Haha. It was like the hardest thing to gel.

                      Comment

                      • Harris
                        Member
                        • Mar 2012
                        • 60

                        #12
                        Hi thanks for all your feedback and your right many people do feel the same when I was thinking about moving to asia I thought I was insane and looking back it seems crazy bthat I thought like that but thats what people do when they panic. And I get angry with myself when I see people going thru terable situations and im going crazy about losing a bit of hair. I have had some not nice things happen in my life that many would feel are 100 times worse than losing hair but I can honestly say they didnt affect me as much as my hairloss which suggests that losing hair is not a vanity issue for many it a deep down phycolgical issue and it needs to be seen like that!!

                        How ever I can honestly say I am alot better now I dont have those thoughts anymore and like I say I have maintained the most of my hair fingers crossed I have very aggresive hair loss and 1.25 mg of fin saved me. during the early days of my hairloss I serched everywhere for a post like this a post with some sort of success regarding a aggresive hairloss suffrerer and I hope it helps. I am by no means fixed but I am on the right path

                        Comment

                        • BigThinker
                          Senior Member
                          • Oct 2012
                          • 1507

                          #13
                          Originally posted by slantofreality
                          same here. All the guys from my dad's side are bald and I got my mom's strong hair. I hope that makes me a good HT candidate. I really used to hate my hair back then. Haha. It was like the hardest thing to gel.
                          Some 5'4 dude came over to my pad the other day with the biggest HT scar I've ever seen. It was so egregious, I can't even imagine how many times he's had to explain what it is. Dude is super paid, crazy jacked (prob wears L or XL shirts at 5'4), and had way nice style. But there was just a huge line on the back of his head. Was nuts.

                          Comment

                          • mpb47
                            Senior Member
                            • Apr 2012
                            • 676

                            #14
                            well I can't say this is true for your case, but what a lot of guys don't realize is mpb can be quite variable. Just because it is aggressive now doesn't mean it will always be that way. When my crown first started thining, it happened really fast and I even took pics to make sure I was not crazy. I went on propecia which of course helped but even after I got off of it my loss slowed down and has been that way ever since. So you may get 5 years of rapid loss then it just slows down for whatever reason. Do a search on the net and you see other guys talking about how it goes from fast to slow to fast again.

                            Bottom line for many people mpb is gradual over time and yes you may have spurts but it doesn't mean you will be bald in 5 years. Yes sometimes that is true but not always.

                            Comment

                            • capitan
                              Senior Member
                              • Oct 2013
                              • 121

                              #15
                              Thanks for letting us know, man.

                              I'm a 17 year old with what I feel is aggressive MPHL and I've been on Finasteride for over a month now. My hairline seems to keep thinning, and some days I just feel like it's not working.

                              I really appreciate this post. I read it all and it's good to know that even if I believe I've gotten worse, I could be mistaken and if I'm right, it could still get better.

                              Thanks again for posting this.

                              Comment

                              Working...