I'm so devastated for my son

[Hicks]

Have you thought about PRP? During my ground stomping to find a surgeon, Doctors or their office promoted PRP. If you got the coin I would at least try this and document the process over the years. They never promoted it as a regrowth but more as maintenance. You might not think something is working till you stop. Then it's game over. Best of luck.

[baldozer]

I realize my comment about my husband's flawed genes is irrational, possibly bitter and hopefully fleeting, but can't we just let it all out here?

I'd like to clarify that the fact that a guy was bald never even registered with me in the past - I really never noticed it nor did I particularly think negatively about it. That was before it began happening to my 20 year old kid! Once my kid realizes this is happening to him now and not at age 40, I know that he'll be so pained and that pains me.

You know what pisses me off is the thinking that baldness is an old man's disease. That is totally bullshit. Men with baldness gene, generally start balding in their teens, when their testosterone level is at its peak. If you don't have hairloss till 30, you won't ever go bald. I haven't ever seen a man with a full head of hair at 30 going bald later on. And you try to get advise on a forum whose members have the baldness gene, and then dare to say its a flawed gene. God, you are pathetic!

[Notcoolanymore]

I was listening to a famous national cancer doctor (Dr. Agus? based in LA) and he claims that Propecia is absolutely horrible for you. It may work for baldness but it's doing really bad things to the rest of you.

As a finasteride user, I thank you for this.

[goldnt]

well it might not be common but not everyones body can handle stress efficiently. I know this because ive had a friend who went through that. Besides its not like its something new though, heavy and long stress is known to cause hair loss. I for one when i have heavy stress i tend to shed more. I know as i take ru and i shed as if i dont have mpb.

[fred970]

Stress from college? Well it seems that no young man is suffering from this mysterious stress from college in my university then. All thick NW1 all around here in Brussels.

[goldnt]

Well it seems to me he might acutally just be suffering stress from college if he thickened very well with rogaine. I personally think the best way of stopping male pattern baldness would have to be a growth stimulator like rogaine combined with a dht inhibitor. If it get worse at any point consider dht inhiibtors like ru58841 and spiro which are actually topical and dont bring the side effects of propecia. And Jazz1 is right, get him on a keto shampoo like regenpure or revita. Ketoconazole(main active ingredient) is a weak anti fungal. But also has properties of a weak anti androgen. (dont expect miracles from a shampoo alone though)

[Jazz1]

Word advice get him on a good shampoo like Revita or regenepure, I use both but regenpure DR and NT is way better. Leave it applied on scalp 10-15 mins DR and 5 minutes NT then use a good conditiner. He can kiss his hair good by because minoxidol alone will work temp but he will start to lose gains after a while. I know how propecia can effect Someone it's a big downfall iv had major sides on it but 3 years later I'm still using it I always found a way to counter my major sides, one way is deffinatly less anxiety and stress mind control. But if he does not use propecia I really highly suggest he use a keto shampoo nizoral is junk regenepure is best, trust me it will help in everyway.

[burtandernie]

There is nothing to be said its part of life just like being short or any other genetic problem people face. Go see a derm or doctor about options since there are some treatments and go from there what else can you really do? I mean people get cancer everyday what comfort can you give them? Its not a curable problem its just part of life.

[muchtooyoung]

working REALLY WELL for now...

A lot of time has passed since I've been on this forum and started this thread. When my son was home from college last summer, I couldn't believe how much more hair he had lost just since that Christmas. I explained what I was seeing, remained very nonjudgmental, laid out his options and asked what he liked to do. He opted to try Propecia but stopped after only 2-3 weeks just due to bad side-effects (mostly sexual). I then got him some Rogaine but he didn't start using it until mid-December. I just saw him yesterday since he went back to school in January and his hair has SUBSTANTIALLY thickened on the application areas (entire top/back twice a day) - it's really incredible. Will it last and for how long - I don't know. He claims he's happy just buying some time for now as he was so upset with the prospect of baldness at an early age. I was listening to a famous national cancer doctor (Dr. Agus? based in LA) and he claims that Propecia is absolutely horrible for you. It may work for baldness but it's doing really bad things to the rest of you. I hated it when my son was taking it. So to those non-Propecia users, Rogaine alone (or the generic version) is definitely worth a try. Good luck.

[mpb47]

Your Michael Jordan, etal reply on each of these points is ignorant and actually doesn't even make a lot of sense. Can you not relate to losing your hair at age 20 as gut-wrenching? Not a 40+ year old man, a 20 year old kid! And yes, I feel that it IS flawed genetics no matter whose side it comes from, or is it desirable in your opinion to go bald at 20?? Other than this, some very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful posts - thank you everyone.

It sucks and is not fair but is probably more common than you realize. My friend at work could not believe her son was balding due to mpb and really thought it must be something else and asked me if it could happen to men so soon.

You should talk to to Tracy as she can explain it better than most of us.

Propecia is controversial...as I know too well, but if anything will save your son it will be it.. Knowing what I know now, if history repeated itself I would still go on it but at a reduced dose.

I lucked out that most of my mpb has been very very slow.. Today I saw a new pic of my friend's son and debated about suggesting propecia yet again as I noticed he is getting balder pretty quickly. I am not sure if women really understand or perceive how much guys dread it at my friend has very short hair yet it still very thick like what I had as a young teen.

Good luck!!!

[baldozer]

Your Michael Jordan, etal reply on each of these points is ignorant and actually doesn't even make a lot of sense. Can you not relate to losing your hair at age 20 as gut-wrenching? Not a 40+ year old man, a 20 year old kid! And yes, I feel that it IS flawed genetics no matter whose side it comes from, or is it desirable in your opinion to go bald at 20?? Other than this, some very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful posts - thank you everyone.

In my opinion even if you are bald at 20, it is not flawed genetics. In my case it made me work harder on my career. I have a cousin who pretty much looks like me but had a full head of hair at 20. He is pretty much a failure in life, although he used to attract a lot of females.

Don't worry, your son can still work hard on his career, have a wife and kids. So baldness would in no way affect him. It didn't affect me. If it was that bad, then why so many men are going bald. Why nature didn't phase that gene out.

Perhaps you don't like baldness, but many women do. Otherwise why my wife married me when I was only 25 and bald? Even after 7 years of our marriage, she is still very much attracted to me, as she keep on asking for sex and I make excuses. Unless you were a model or looked like a model, you don't have perfect genes either, so stop ranting!

[Kayman]

Your Michael Jordan, etal reply on each of these points is ignorant and actually doesn't even make a lot of sense. Can you not relate to losing your hair at age 20 as gut-wrenching? Not a 40+ year old man, a 20 year old kid! And yes, I feel that it IS flawed genetics no matter whose side it comes from, or is it desirable in your opinion to go bald at 20?? Other than this, some very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful posts - thank you everyone.

Flawed genetics? I'd have to disagree, it's society's perception that makes people fear going bald, the general consensus that balding is a negative thing in terms of looks, but biologically it isn't a threat to your health or life, it has only become mentally damaging to some people and it is undesirable to go bald at age 20 due to the way some members of society look upon balding such as yourself by considering it to be flawed genetics, for instance if everyone in the world experienced baldness or culture saw it as a positive experience and it was desirable to go bald then nobody would call it flawed genetics. Something that is detrimental to your health due to your genes would be considered flawed genetics such as an illness you are born with. Male pattern baldness however is a natural and normal process that many millions of men in the world experience. The only reason that Baldness is a negative thing is because society has deemed it to be for no other reason than it isn't considered to be as aesthetically pleasing to some people. It's like the recent current trend of people pointing the finger at people with red hair, does that mean those with red hair are genetically flawed due to the modern day trend that ginger hair isn't as aesthetically pleasing as say brown? No, of course they aren't. It's the same with people who are losing hair, they aren't genetically better or worse than anyone else its just that parts of society have decided that their baldness doesn't look as good as hair. Now if there was a link made between male pattern baldness and illness then you could argue its flawed genetics.
It's not genetically abnormal to experience male pattern baldness. It's society's perception of it that's the problem.

[muchtooyoung]

Your Michael Jordan, etal reply on each of these points is ignorant and actually doesn't even make a lot of sense. Can you not relate to losing your hair at age 20 as gut-wrenching? Not a 40+ year old man, a 20 year old kid! And yes, I feel that it IS flawed genetics no matter whose side it comes from, or is it desirable in your opinion to go bald at 20?? Other than this, some very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful posts - thank you everyone.

[baldozer]

I'm the Mother of a 20 year old boy who is going bald!! I noticed it a bit over the summer on the back crown area but didn't say anything. When he was home from college over Thanksgiving though, he said he's noticing thinning at the crown but wasn't hugely concerned as he thinks he'll be 40 before it gets really going. The unbelievable thing is that he's home now for Christmas and I think it's now thinning not just in the back, but now progressing to the middle of his top head - how can this have advanced so in just a month?! I'm just sick over this - he's just too young and he's such a good kid -I don't want to have him suffer with this at this age. I come from a long line of full-haired men but my husband's brother and his son went very bald early, and I have to think that this is where it came from. This is messed-up thinking but I'm almost angry with my husband for passing this on - my other son also has another type of problem that my husband's family has and I at least thought this boy would be safe from the flawed genetics, but very unfortunately not. I haven't said anything to my son as I don't want to worry him and I know it greatly would. I'm thinking I should bring him to a dermatologist for a confirmation and then maybe get him on rogaine. He makes his own decisions but I would say propecia is a last resort. I'm not wealthy but nothing is more important to me than the well-being of my kids, so I'm prepared to pay for a hair transplant down the road if he wants it. I realize this isn't a horrible illness, but the mental effects on such a young person can be just as devastating. Any suggestions or words of wisdom??

"but the mental effects on such a young person can be just as devastating". If that was true than people like Michael Jordan, Steve Balmer and thousands of successful bald men would have been failures in life, while guys like Ted Bundy and Richard Ramirez (famous serious killers) would have been sane because they sported full head of hair.

"and I at least thought this boy would be safe from the flawed genetics, but very unfortunately not".
So according to you Michael Jordan and the likes have flawed genetics, LOL! Why don't you post a picture of yours so that we can judge how much superior genes you have!

[baldozer]

Balding has forced me to get my arse into gear. Lose weight, get a better job, exercise more and generally be the person I've always wanted to be. Obviously hair would be great to retain, but in it's current form it looks like I have odd hay on my head!

Amen to that brother!