Start of my journey.

[Sequencer]

Right. I'm 30 years old from the UK.

My dad is from Iran and mum from Scotland.

My dad starting going bald around 27 years old and I would say I'm following the exact same pattern as him.

To be honest I'm absolutely gutted. My hair has always been my best feature I would say and to realise that I was losing it is heart destroying. It's like I think about it all the time, when I'm at work, wake up in the morning and go to bed at night.

I can see from all the photos posted on Facebook of me over the past 5 years that my hairline has clearly receded.

My crown is actually not bad right now, and it's the front of my head that is causing the problem.

I still have thick curly hair and I just want to keep it for another 10 years. I want to hold out until 40. Im planning to get married in the next few years and it would be great to have a thick barnet for the photos.

I've just purchased that Finastride stuff from Dr Singh by ordering online. I literally paid for it Friday night and the pills turned up Monday morning awaiting for me when I got home from work.

I've read all the side effects that could happen and have held off for the past 12 months but after noticing my front right side of my scalp through my hair when walking past a mirror in a really bright room on a night out, I just thought now is the time to act.

One thing I'm really scared of is this shedding business everyone keeps talking about. But that's the risks you have to take I guess.

The letter in the packaging says to take 1/5 of the pill this week, 2 the next and so on until week 7 from which ill be taking 1/5 of the tablet every day.

I took it this evening for the first time and lets see what happens.

Fingers crossed guys. How nice would it be to not have to worry about this type of thing? I constantly find myself looking at other men's hairlines and either feeling their pain or resenting them because they have nothing to worry about. I hate being that person!!!!!

Shall I just stick to the pills or buy some of that rogaine stuff too?

The photos attached are just from this weekend that I took from Facebook. You probably can't see much. But the hair at the front is 100% thinner that the rest of my head, you can physically feel it in your hand. I've accepted that fact that I am 100% losing my hair. I would just love to put it off for 10 more years.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys.

[Sequencer]

Another photo sorry.

[macster]

Rogaine and Propecia work really well. Rogaine is pretty much side effect free; if you are very risk averse, you may just want to start with this and be very good about using it (2x a day, be sure to work it in really well when you apply it to all the balding area. I use more than the 1ml recommended dose with each treatment to make sure I get it all in all over the top of my head.)

Propecia is also very effective. And well conducted studies show that it works very well, with side effects occurring only in 1-2% of the population. This means you have a 98-99% of doing just fine, with no side effects.

I guess you just have to decide whether you are willing to take a 1-2% chance of starting a treatment that gives you an 86% chance of keeping you hair for the next 10 years and potentially more. Keeping you hair and having a good chance of even getting some regrowth.

If you are not comfortable with taking ANY risk to improve the quality of your life through better hair, then do not take propecia. But then I would say...well...do not take aspirin for a headache either. And do not get into a car or take a flight in an airplane either.

[macster]

BTW: Congratulations on the baby! (if it is your baby).

And BTW, you seem to have nice hair, nice hair characteristics. Coarse and thick. These are good characteristics for creating the appearance of fullness.

I've been exactly where you are, specifically 3 years ago. It took me about a year also to finally pull the trigger on finasteride. But I had to face to fact that I was 100% going bald if I did nothing. And I really really did not want to go bald. So I pulled the trigger on the whole thing, started taking propecia once a day and rogaine 2x a day. I worried a bit about shedding but I figured heck, I am already shedding as I am already going bald. This is my only chance.

Best decision I ever made. My hair went from a norwood 3.5...almost a 4, to a good norwood 2. Hair looks good. No one can tell i have MPB and my hair looks good.

Good luck my friend. I hope you will have similar results. If you just do what you are supposed to with these medications and persist, I have a feeling you will do very well.

[Sequencer]

Awww this is exactly what I wanted to hear. I love the fact you've been in the same position as me and so far it's been a success for you Macster! Well done mate.

And thank you for the congratulations about our child.

She has beautiful hair and hopefully will never have to worry about what I'm worrying about ha ha.

I'm only doing the procepia right now but it sounds like I should get on the old rogaine now? Where do I order it? Isn't it really expensive?

Thank you.

[Notcoolanymore]

If you don't mind using generic minoxidil, then you should be able to get it pretty cheap. Around $50 for a year supply. Your hair looks pretty thick so hopefully if you do have some kind of shed you can cover it up for few months until it grows back.

[Sequencer]

If you don't mind using generic minoxidil, then you should be able to get it pretty cheap. Around $50 for a year supply. Your hair looks pretty thick so hopefully if you do have some kind of shed you can cover it up for few months until it grows back.

God that sounds scary? That much shedding that ill need to try and cover it up.

$50 for a whole year? That's like £35. So cheap. I can't find that price anywhere here in the UK though to be fair.

Thanks.

[DanWS]

Your pics are nowhere near good or close enough to see any balding. The lighting is also not bright enough. It looks like you have a completely full head of thick hair. Now obviously you don't as you said your hairline is receding, but I don't see why you posted pics that make it look like you have zero balding...

[Sequencer]

Your pics are nowhere near good or close enough to see any balding. The lighting is also not bright enough. It looks like you have a completely full head of thick hair. Now obviously you don't as you said your hairline is receding, but I don't see why you posted pics that make it look like you have zero balding...

Fair point.

I just took the ones from this weekend from my Facebook.

Here's me right now in bad light but you can see the hairline far back. About to watch champions league football.

My mates used to take the piss out of me because my hairline used to join my eye brows!!

[Notcoolanymore]

Your hair still looks pretty damn good in that last pic, so it is a good idea to do what you can now to save it. My hair was crap(still is) when I started the fight, so I threw everything at it: fin, minox, keto. Just going by your pictures though, I would just stay on fin and see how you do. If shedding stops and you grow some back you should be good to go. If you decide to add minox to your regimen, then you are making a commitment for the rest of your life. I would give fin a year and if you don't get the results you want, then add minox.

[Sequencer]

Your hair still looks pretty damn good in that last pic, so it is a good idea to do what you can now to save it. My hair was crap(still is) when I started the fight, so I threw everything at it: fin, minox, keto. Just going by your pictures though, I would just stay on fin and see how you do. If shedding stops and you grow some back you should be good to go. If you decide to add minox to your regimen, then you are making a commitment for the rest of your life. I would give fin a year and if you don't get the results you want, then add minox.

Thanks for the advice! Will deffo just stick to fin then.

Hope you start to see improvements in your hair.

[Sequencer]

Just a little update.

I've been taking Finastride for a while now. I must admit to missing a few days of the month especially weekends when I'm going out and getting hammered.

I can't say that I've noticed any major difference, however I deffo haven't lost any more since I started. Nothing new has grown (I wasn't expecting that anyway) but my hair looks and feels the same as it did when I started.

My partner also agrees that my receding hairline has stayed where it is.

I don't use any special shampoos or treatments at all.

One thing I will say with Finastride, when I first started it made my skin feel a little funny but that feeling has gone now (or maybe im used to it?)

[Notcoolanymore]

Good to hear you are having success. No further loss is considered success, especially since you caught your hair loss very early on.

[Sequencer]

Just a little update.

I'm still using Fin everyday (must be nearly 2 years now). I don't do anything else differently, normal shampoo (but not conditioner because that just makes my hair flat and greasy)

I feel great and I genuinely haven't noticed any substantial hair loss. I'm not sure if I've had any regrowth however.

I am doing my hair slightly differently, pushing it forward when I used to push it back. When I get a haircut and the man gets the mirror to show the back of my head, it looks fine, just a normal crown where as before I swear it looked as if I was thinning (or maybe I am used to it?)

Fact is, I definitely don't feel as conscience as I used to which can only be a good thing.

My hairline has 100% gone backwards, no doubt about it, but I'm not sure what can be done about that for now.

I just take a nibble of the pill everyday, trying to make sure that pill lasts most of the week.