Minoxidil for a receding hairline - photos

[Jcm800]

Eromnova - what a brilliant update mate, I howled with much needed laughter reading that, thanks.

Not laughing at you or your situation, as I'm in it too. You're depiction of the cave dwelling fellow creased me up in particular, so thanks :-)

Anyway, minox foam raped and pillaged my hairline too, once a day application been on it longer than I remember now, but it's off label usage, they never claimed results there so it's a risk we take, and paid for sadly. Chin up, keep those updates coming :-)

[Eromnova]

Update (please note - this thread is now mostly just a document of my situation, for myself, albeit a public one):

So, minoxidil doesn't work. Or: minoxidil doesn't work on my particular head. It doesn't even seem to halt any further loss. All it's done is speed up the loss initially, and then do nothing indefinitely. Or is it too early too tell? Coming on six months now at one dose per day, I reckon that's a reasonable sample of time to evaluate. I don't know. But I'm losing more hair in my hairline. It's spread from the stubborn, isolated little spot near my parting, to the right and over to my forelock (that's right, isn't it - forelock? Like a horse?).

My hairline is all bitty now, if that's a word. All indecisive. Without edges. At least on one side. Right side still going strong, though it has no idea what's soon to come, the poor bastard. Back of my head still stupid and thick. So that's good.

But what I began this thread to document - the progress of minoxidil on my receding hairline - was a failure. So this thread might be more aptly titled 'Watch a dude's hair fall out, with pictures!'.

I'll probably still put that greasy, smelly, gunky shit on my head for the rest of my life, though. You know, just in case.

I'm starting finasteride this week. For real this time. I wish I'd started it earlier (unless it like, ruins my life or something, then I won't have wished that - retrospectively). I hope to see at least a sliver of regrowth. Somewhere. Anywhere (well, not anywhere). And I hope to maintain.

My hair is ridiculously long at the moment. Like, man-rescued-from-a-remote-cave-after-mysterious-year-long-disappearance long. Homeless long. I kind of dread how the thinning will look with a shorter haircut, hence the no-haircut. But I think it might be drawing attention to the thinning right now, rather than the reverse.

One lesson I've learnt through the duration of this thread: I never really realised I was such a vain shithead until this whole ordeal. Because someone who wasn't a vain shithead likely wouldn't consider losing some hair an 'ordeal', would they? But here were are.

Obligatory photos below. Increasingly frantic updates to follow.

[Eromnova]

Eromnova,
First of all, pay no attention to that fool accusing you of mental illness.

Second of all, you and i are in very similar situations. I recently started taking minoxidil for my hairline recession in early February of this year. I've been on proscar quartered for the last 8 months, though, which is different from you.

My experience with minoxidil thus far has been the same as yours. I apply it to the temples (twice a day not once a day like yourself). Three months in my hair in the areas that i have applied it have thinned significantly, which has been discouraging and scary. I am sticking with it for a full year though. About a year and a half ago i tried minoxidil and had a big shed as a result. I quit in month three because of it. This time around im sticking to it.

With proscar, i quarter the tablets and then further reduce the quarters down to an estimated 1-0.8 mg dose. At 1.25 mgs i was experiencing sexual side effects. At the reduced dosage the sides are mitigated enough to where i can live with them. I must say though that in these 8 months i have not experienced very much difference in my rate of shedding and my temples have continued to recede. I am holding out hope as some posts describe that 12-18 months is a sufficient time frame to give the medication.

Anyways, i enjoy reading your updates. You're a month further than me in your treatment so i review your posts in order to help formulated my own expectations for the coming month.

Keep taking photos and providing updates. It sounds positive that your shedding has ceased. Good luck to you.

Thanks man. Hope you see some progress, glad you enjoy the thread and hope it's helpful.

Going to start fin pretty soon and keep on with the minox. I'll keep this updated.

[spec]

Eromnova,
First of all, pay no attention to that fool accusing you of mental illness.

Second of all, you and i are in very similar situations. I recently started taking minoxidil for my hairline recession in early February of this year. I've been on proscar quartered for the last 8 months, though, which is different from you.

My experience with minoxidil thus far has been the same as yours. I apply it to the temples (twice a day not once a day like yourself). Three months in my hair in the areas that i have applied it have thinned significantly, which has been discouraging and scary. I am sticking with it for a full year though. About a year and a half ago i tried minoxidil and had a big shed as a result. I quit in month three because of it. This time around im sticking to it.

With proscar, i quarter the tablets and then further reduce the quarters down to an estimated 1-0.8 mg dose. At 1.25 mgs i was experiencing sexual side effects. At the reduced dosage the sides are mitigated enough to where i can live with them. I must say though that in these 8 months i have not experienced very much difference in my rate of shedding and my temples have continued to recede. I am holding out hope as some posts describe that 12-18 months is a sufficient time frame to give the medication.

Anyways, i enjoy reading your updates. You're a month further than me in your treatment so i review your posts in order to help formulated my own expectations for the coming month.

Keep taking photos and providing updates. It sounds positive that your shedding has ceased. Good luck to you.

[Proper]

Dare say what you want, but say it elsewhere. Thanks.

It's my opinion that you're completely wrong, and I'm not interested in discussing it further. Move onto another thread.

He's a noob. Just disregard his comment cause noobs will always be noobs.

[Eromnova]

Firstly do not lecture me on how baldness occurs, thankyou very much. I am a man who has gone bald and you are a paranoid 20 year who has not. I know all the stages of baldness, you do not.

When it comes to mental health. How ignorant to belittle people with mental health problems! They are human beings who deserve respect. I did not use the term as an insult because there is nothing to be ashamed of.

When I warn people they have body dysmorphic disorder, I am trying to help people. Perhaps stopping them from taking drastic action they may regret (such as taking impotence pills at the age of 20).

This forum is full of people with body dysmorphic disorder asking for advice from people with body dysmorphic disorder. Its as bad as anorexia forums I dare say!!!!!!!(7)

Carry on yourself.

Dare say what you want, but say it elsewhere. Thanks.

It's my opinion that you're completely wrong, and I'm not interested in discussing it further. Move onto another thread.

[Conpecia]

Firstly do not lecture me on how baldness occurs, thankyou very much. I am a man who has gone bald and you are a paranoid 20 year who has not. I know all the stages of baldness, you do not.

When it comes to mental health. How ignorant to belittle people with mental health problems! They are human beings who deserve respect. I did not use the term as an insult because there is nothing to be ashamed of.

When I warn people they have body dysmorphic disorder, I am trying to help people. Perhaps stopping them from taking drastic action they may regret (such as taking impotence pills at the age of 20).

This forum is full of people with body dysmorphic disorder asking for advice from people with body dysmorphic disorder. Its as bad as anorexia forums I dare say!!!!!!!(7)

Carry on yourself.

he does not have body dysmorphic disorder. his hairline is receding and he is taking available measures to remedy it before it becomes worse. completely rational. telling a rational person he or she has a serious mental illness does not help.

[medion1]

1) I am receding/thinning on my left temple. I have been vigilante enough to notice this the past six or so months. There are not just two stages of baldness - a) completely thick head of hair and b) bald beyond repair. There are stages inbetween these two, I am in the early phase and observant enough to deal with it before I reach b), above. I have good, thick hair elsewhere on my head, and I want to keep it.

2) Kindly do not acuse of me being mentally ill, thanks. I've had a look at your other posts and all you seem to do here is hop around threads telling people they have mental problems. Stop it. You being in a more advanced stage of baldness does not = everyone in the earlier stages is sick in the head. I'm a stable and healthy person who knows well what mental illness looks like. This is not it.

3) No sentence has ever needed six exclamation points. None.

4) I appreciate your vote of confidence on my 'amazing hair'. Carry on.

Firstly do not lecture me on how baldness occurs, thankyou very much. I am a man who has gone bald and you are a paranoid 20 year who has not. I know all the stages of baldness, you do not.

When it comes to mental health. How ignorant to belittle people with mental health problems! They are human beings who deserve respect. I did not use the term as an insult because there is nothing to be ashamed of.

When I warn people they have body dysmorphic disorder, I am trying to help people. Perhaps stopping them from taking drastic action they may regret (such as taking impotence pills at the age of 20).

This forum is full of people with body dysmorphic disorder asking for advice from people with body dysmorphic disorder. Its as bad as anorexia forums I dare say!!!!!!!(7)

Carry on yourself.

[PatientlyWaiting]

So, I got a proscar script today, though the doctor took a lot of convincing.

He had literally never heard of propecia. He kept telling me he had huge doubts as to the efficacy of any treatment such as propecia, despite admitting moments before that he'd never heard of the drug. He thought it was something 'like regaine' and would be well-known if it was as effective as I was claiming.

I told him it was well-known. I also told him I was shocked he'd never heard of it, whilst looking at his receding hairline.

I think somebody from the waiting room might have slipped into the GPs office, murdered said GP, stuffed him into a wardrobe and played doctor for the afternoon.

I'll probably hear about it on the news later.

Anyway, I have a 3 month proscar script now - 12 months on 1mg.

This doesn't sound strange at all. I have shared my experience with dermatologists and how shocked I was at their lack of knowledge when it came to MPB treatments.

[Eromnova]

I have had a look through this thread and all of your pictures. All I can say is that you are either

a) Trolling us. ie. you think its funny to complain about having amazing hair

or

b) You literally have a medical condition called "Body dysmorphic disorder".

I dont know which of these options is true but the only thing I can say for sure is that you haven't lost a single hair on your head.



Another point for everyone on the forum..... If you are truly destined to go bald the suscpetible area will deteriorate as an entire patch. Not one row of follicles at a time.
So this "i think my hair line has receded by one row of follicles" idea is nonsense!!!!!!

1) I am receding/thinning on my left temple. I have been vigilante enough to notice this the past six or so months. There are not just two stages of baldness - a) completely thick head of hair and b) bald beyond repair. There are stages inbetween these two, I am in the early phase and observant enough to deal with it before I reach b), above. I have good, thick hair elsewhere on my head, and I want to keep it.

2) Kindly do not acuse of me being mentally ill, thanks. I've had a look at your other posts and all you seem to do here is hop around threads telling people they have mental problems. Stop it. You being in a more advanced stage of baldness does not = everyone in the earlier stages is sick in the head. I'm a stable and healthy person who knows well what mental illness looks like. This is not it.

3) No sentence has ever needed six exclamation points. None.

4) I appreciate your vote of confidence on my 'amazing hair'. Carry on.

[medion1]

I have had a look through this thread and all of your pictures. All I can say is that you are either

a) Trolling us. ie. you think its funny to complain about having amazing hair

or

b) You literally have a medical condition called "Body dysmorphic disorder".

I dont know which of these options is true but the only thing I can say for sure is that you haven't lost a single hair on your head.



Another point for everyone on the forum..... If you are truly destined to go bald the suscpetible area will deteriorate as an entire patch. Not one row of follicles at a time.
So this "i think my hair line has receded by one row of follicles" idea is nonsense!!!!!!

[Eromnova]

Hi Eromnova - what did you decide in the end ? Please make sure you do NOT EVER stop taking rogain if you think its had some effect. I made this mistake a few years ago and so much hair fell out it was devastating. I remember thinking F**K it i can just go for a ht as money isn't a problem. HT will never give you what your normal hair can give you its just a illusion.

Also i dnt understand why you don't use rogain twice a day. Btw i have heard the foam type is quite good

good luck - i can see many people have tried to help you hear so i hope you will keep us all updated as we all learn from each other

I don't use minox twice a day because it's a practical impossibility, save me walking around for four hours of the day with hair that looks like it's been pissed on and smelling even worse. I use the liquid and I think the foam wouldn't work with my hair so long, it's difficult enough to get the liquid to my scalp. I also just don't really want to be applying that shit twice a day, to be honest. I don't think the once a day application will have much less efficacy, though it might take longer to see results.

I'm going to give it about another month or so before taking the plunge with fin. I'm only at about 4 months now so it seems right to wait that extra little bit of time to see if it's working for me. I don't seem to be losing any noticeable ground anyway so I don't think it will hurt to give it that extra month.

Regardless if I go on fin, I'll be continuing with minox for at least the guts of a year. Pointless to use it otherwise, I think.

I've been using minox for about 3 months now and for me, I think it had some effect because when I first started, I was able to see my scalp a bit because of the wetness of minox. These days when my hair gets greasy from minox, I can't see my scalp anymore. I'm not sure about other factors that might have been apparent but I am very observative when it comes to this and it has worked for me to some degree.

However it has done nothing for my hairline. My hairline has been the same since I started it which is really a shame because thats the main reason why I started using it. I usually apply a thin layer to my hairline and a bit lower first and then I move to the back of my head but so far to no avail for the most part on hairline. PErfect on everything else though.

Yeah, I'm just hoping for the best really, even some maintenance would be okay in the run-up to fin. My crown is thick and has no signs of balding so I hardly use it there. I mainly just pile it on around the hairline.

[Proper]

I've been using minox for about 3 months now and for me, I think it had some effect because when I first started, I was able to see my scalp a bit because of the wetness of minox. These days when my hair gets greasy from minox, I can't see my scalp anymore. I'm not sure about other factors that might have been apparent but I am very observative when it comes to this and it has worked for me to some degree.

However it has done nothing for my hairline. My hairline has been the same since I started it which is really a shame because thats the main reason why I started using it. I usually apply a thin layer to my hairline and a bit lower first and then I move to the back of my head but so far to no avail for the most part on hairline. PErfect on everything else though.

[morelocks]

Hi Eromnova - what did you decide in the end ? Please make sure you do NOT EVER stop taking rogain if you think its had some effect. I made this mistake a few years ago and so much hair fell out it was devastating. I remember thinking F**K it i can just go for a ht as money isn't a problem. HT will never give you what your normal hair can give you its just a illusion.

Also i dnt understand why you don't use rogain twice a day. Btw i have heard the foam type is quite good

good luck - i can see many people have tried to help you hear so i hope you will keep us all updated as we all learn from each other

UPDATE: Okay, so it's been about four months since I began Minox. Besides the massive shed, I can't say I've noticed anything significant. Perhaps some darkening of the smaller hairs, but even that could be my imagination. The shedding seems to have stopped though, I don't notice hair loss in the shower like I used to, not as many hairs around me all the time.

But I can't really tell if it's gotten worse. Oftentimes I think it has - that the thinning is progressing around my left parting - but I've checked it so much it becomes hard to judge. It's certainly worse than the beginning of this thread due to the shed, but I'm unsure if it's gone past that. The photos I've taken recently have been better quality and in better lighting.

Again - the hair loss seems concentrated in one area. The right side of my hairline is still completely thick and unaffected, drawing more attention to its retarded, thinning neighbour encroaching from the left like a ****ing nuclear fallout.

I'm coming to the stage where I'm ready to concede that Minox might not be helping too much, and might be using that Proscar script pretty soon. I'm aware though that it could take longer, and that I should maybe give it a bit more time to see the full effects. I only apply it once a day so that could prolong results too. I do hope it's maintaining a bit anyway.

Some of the photos below are with minox applied and in strong light. So: looking like shit, then.

[morelocks]

You're probably right, 'most' men don't get sides, but what percentage exactly is 'most'?

Because I would STRONGLY disagree with the 2% figure most people parrot on here for suffering side effects.

Of 4 people I've personally known, 3 friends I know in real life, 1 guy I game with online who've taken it, ALL had sides and stopped.
Add me and that's 5/5.

A tiny segment, true, but it's enough for me to call BS on the 2% figure.
None of us are those idiots that took it for a week then cried side effects either, we all suck with it for minimum 3 months before calling it a day, thankfully we all recovered, SOME aren't so lucky.

You seem to be one of those people that think that if the FDA say it's safe, then it's safe.
You're living in lala land, the FDA will approve practically anything if the right palms get greased.

thanks itsmyhair. Like you i also do not believe it is as little as 2%. Can i ask what you and your friends experienced? Did you all have something different?
I have been on this drug for 4 years now, i do not have any of the common problems like ED or man boobs but i am suffering from some other things which i will write about in another post. Id really appreciate it if you could share with me the symptoms you all had