Hair loss gene to aggressive for big 3?

[Harris]

Hello I have been using Propecia for nearly 6 months now along with Nizorol and Kirkland Minox. Some days I think my hair has improved some days I think it is worse than ever.

Im 25 and have diffuse thinning on the top and crown NW6 pattern! my farther was bald aged 27 and he is now NW7! My mothers side have thick heads of hair.

I believe I caught my hairloss quite early I have no bald patches and no one can notice my hairloss as its so short all the time.

My main worry is that my hairloss gene is to aggressive which will mean none of the hairloss medications will work. And I will be NW6 in the next year or so

has anybody got any success storys or feedback on this situation I would be very grateful

[mattj]

Hey there Harris. All I can offer is that Propecia can take longer than 6 months to work and you still might see benefit from taking it. Hang in there and don't lose all hope. It's possible you've experienced a shed from using the medication which has made things worse. If I were you I'd give it another 6 months before judging it a failure.

[Harris]

Thank you for your reply but do you think I have no hope or are there people in a similar situation to me who do see benefits?

[mattj]

Yes, definitely. People with a NW6 pattern developing can see big improvement from Propecia. Nothing is certain, but it definitely occurs. You aren't completely alone.

[Tracy C]

My main worry is that my hairloss gene is to aggressive which will mean none of the hairloss medications will work. And I will be NW6 in the next year or so

At only six months it is much to soon to tell.

It generally takes a full twelve months before you will know if Propecia has been able to arrest your hair loss. It takes longer before you will know if you are growing any of your lost hair back.

It takes four to six months before you will know if Minoxidil is stimulating hair that can grow back to grow back. At the four to six month point, hair that has started to grow back is very downy and hard to see. If you are a diffuse thinner this regrowth may be even more difficult to see. Over time and hair cycles this small downy hair transforms into normal hair. This generally takes between twelve and eighteen months to become cosmetically significant.

Stick with it and give it reasonable time. It will be quite a while yet before you know the answer. Treating hereditary hair loss is a painfully slow process.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

At least you started early which will give you a better chance of having the Propecia be successful in slowing down or stopping the hair loss process.

[Harris]

Thank you all for help and opinions you have given me a little bit of hope. my hair is at the point where its not noticeable balding (because i have it so short) but if the thinning continues it will be im sure everything will be ok. I will keep you posted

[Harris]

Hi its been a month since I last posted and my hair has continued to thin, never seen it so bad I have lost a lot of hair in the last few days is this normal to still see thinning after six months?? like I said it seemed to get better for two weeks before this shed and now looks terrible and advice?

[Kirby_]

Harris, I'm getting the same just past the 7 months mark (on Propecia, without minox). I know the feeling. The advice is keep going with medications, but I know as much as you do how much more difficult that is in theory than practice.

[Harris]

Yes Kirby I know what you mean, its really hard when you can see that your hair is getting worse and worse! other people I see on forums who are in the same position just stop writing so we never know what happens, have they stopped because they are bald and it didn't work in the end or have they stopped because they manged to save their and so don't think about sitting on forums all day!
Personaly I will keep going until I am bald with the medication I saw that Spencer once knew someone that didn't respond to Propecia until the 15 month mark! just keep going with it and hopefully we can see benefits (that's what i tell myself anyway)!
The other thing I don't understand is that some people say that Propecia wont respond to people that have strong hair loss gene but people do better in twenties I imagine that most people in their twenties have a strong hairloss gene?

[boricotico]

Hi Harris.

I'm 34 now and I consider my problem like yours. I always had a thick hair and until mid 32 never thought I was going to lose my hair, but then it happened and every month I waited for it to stop but my hair just kept thinning. At months 7 and 10th I went to see HT Specialists and both told me I'd need 1500-2000 grafts to repair my problem.

I started taking Propecia then and I was 6 month on it but after that period I quit because the sides and because my wife and I are trying to have a baby and the sides were a problem. I must admit while on Propecia my hair started to feel better after the 4 month mark, but once I quit almost immediately my hair went to worse rapidly. I'm also a difuse thinner and until 4 months ago my hair was good enough to keep it under the radar.

[Harris]

yes well maybe if you where responding that is good news I too felt like i was responding around the 5 month mark but then seemed to get worse very quickly. Maybe you will be able to get back on it i have slight recession so dont need to replace any hair i have lost but have nw6 patten forming which the way my hair is thining it will be bald by next Christmas. Just trying to stay positive!

[boricotico]

Yeah, I was always worried not by my present situation but by the future I could see and it's really frustrating just to hope this is going to stop some day and to realize that it's not happening, but yes, We have to try to stay positive. Some days I'm in the mood to say, it's just hair, I'm healthy I have nothing to worry about really, at least nothing important, but some other days I'm not so positive. I wish you luck.

[Kirby_]

I wake up every morning cursing myself for having failed to die in my sleep again. I went from this time last year NW2 with barely noticeable thinning in places to heavily balding, obviously visibly balding. Got much worse in February and now there's still no sign of ANY regrowth 7 months since I started taking these worthless tablets on 8th January. Just getting worse. Only reason I'm still taking them if because I've already bought loads (out of pocket, not covered by the NHS). It's an impossible battle. Treatments that don't work, or if they do fir the lucky few, only for 5 years, and empty promises of vapourware like Histogen, Aderans, whatever the flavour of the month supposed "cure" will be...

[25 going on 65]

I wake up every morning cursing myself for having failed to die in my sleep again. I went from this time last year NW2 with barely noticeable thinning in places to heavily balding, obviously visibly balding. Got much worse in February and now there's still no sign of ANY regrowth 7 months since I started taking these worthless tablets on 8th January. Just getting worse. Only reason I'm still taking them if because I've already bought loads (out of pocket, not covered by the NHS). It's an impossible battle. Treatments that don't work, or if they do fir the lucky few, only for 5 years, and empty promises of vapourware like Histogen, Aderans, whatever the flavour of the month supposed "cure" will be...

I seriously feel for you because I know how bad I feel when I'm in the middle of a shed. But a minimum of 8/10 men do respond to finasteride and it keeps working beyond five years, that's just the amount of time on average it takes to start getting near baseline again (a good number can stay above baseline for much longer).
By chance are you able to upload any pictures that show your loss more clearly? From your thread in the Intro section it's hard to see if you've actually lost a significant amount of hair on fin, but I realize pics can be misleading. If you say you've lost hair I believe you, it's just not easy to see from the photos and that's probably why some on the forum think you're blowing things out of proportion.
I know I keep saying this but 7 months is very early in treatment for DHT suppression. The fin/dut timeline should really be viewed in terms of years and not months (I'm approaching the 2 year mark and it seems to look a little better after each shed). This is why I suggest people wait a minimum of 1 year before making changes.

I don't want to sound dismissive though because if I was shedding as much as you say you are, I would be freaked out.