how being in denial costs us bigtime:(

[elnino]

just wondering to all us fellow baldies and baldings out there, i think from my own experience with hairloss made me realise i left it too late to act. how many of us actually left it untill norwood2.5-3 before we acted with meds? i kept saying to myself jesus im losing me hair but it will stop now or, ah sure il see how it is in a few months...

before you know it, those hairs are adding up. i just think big kudos to anyone who is brave enough to battle it early, thats half the battle won. maybe its just in our genes as men to deny any negativity about ourselves that we cant face up to it. anyway as a fellow norwood 2.5 sufferer. i was ignorant, in denial, dismissive and now im paying for it.

[Widowmaker]

I'm 35 and a NW 3 or 3.5ish. I didn't get on fin until 33 and rogaine about a year later. I began to recede around 20 or 21 and quickly progressed to my "widows peak", "frolock", "Eddie Munster hairline" or whatever you call it. No diffuse thinning though. Any recession I had until getting on meds was so gradual that I barely noticed much of a change. I always knew I was receding and only decided to take action when I thought my age and likelihood of additional and substantial loss could become an issue rather quickly. Sometimes I feel I waited too long, but other times I'm not too bothered by it because most of my peers are dealing with hairloss as well. I've read that there are some positives from waiting to get on fin. Some feel it no longer "works" after a period of time (perhaps that's just genetics catching up though). I feel that maintaining what I have for 10 years (fingers crossed) from now would put me well beyond what my peers (who are doing nothing) will likely retain and sorta take me out of the "balding" category.

I guess my point is that your recession may not continue at a rapid pace and by maintaining what you have now (even if you feel you've lost a fair amount) could eventually put you above the "curve" at a certain point in your life.

[Kevin85]

I'm about to turn 28, I started working on it 4 months ago. Around 25 it started to thin a little, but at 26 is was slowed down so wasn't worried about it. Then all of a sudden at late 26 early 27 it started to speed up, I could tell because my scalp had a very mild itch. Right away I ordered a 6 month supply of Rogaine, a bottle of Nizoral, but didn't do enough research and got 1% instead of 2%, and a bottle of !0,000 mcg Biotin.

Kept on the first 2 strictly... slacked on the Biotin, didn't know if it was really helping. My hair grew really fast on it, but it didn't seem to be adding hair. I didn't just want my hair to grow fast, I wanted hair to come back. Was afraid the biotin would wear out the good hair before the Rogaine started to work.

At first I did like 7-8 full days straight with Nizoral, every day.... then went down to twice a week like I was suppose to.

[Ktownmatti]

Yep, same boat. I have been thinning a touch and receding for 10 years. Now I'm a NW 2-3 and just stared on meds last month. Sooo wish I had started earlier.

[britissh]

I too denied it for a long time for 6-7 years approxim. and started medications several month ago.but my situation is a bit interesting.I lost lots of hair between 16-20 and then I dont remember losing a single hair for 4 years since then even without medications.I have also little facial hair and nearly no body hair.if dht makes beard-body hair thicker and I dont have beard-hair.what does this mean? did I lost my hair because of something else?My hair on top is miniaturized but doesnt fall out.I'm living with this questions for years.jesus I dont even remember my hairline because I lost it when I was child.I couldnt even appreciate hair

[elnino]

yeah it really sets in how we faltered looking at our old hairlines. i know this is weird but you just think that baldness is like some disease that you think you will never have. hair definitely is a privilege!!

[dav38100]

I think it's more or less the same story for everyone.
I'm 28 now and I have been losing my hair since my early 20's but the progression was really slow and it was only affecting my temple a little bit so it didn't really bothers me at the time.

The denial period ended one year ago after my usual hair cut, when I saw my hairline in the mirror I was in panic (I think we all been thought that day).
Since them I'm on propecia.

This denial period coast me a lot of hair and today I really regret not having done anything earlier.

[ChrisM]

I was a NW0 in 1988 as a kid once 1991 rolled around bam a burning sensation hit my scalp and a dime size portion of my hair on the crown started to go that should have been the first sigm for me I went to a dermatologist nothing conclusive no MPB or androgenetic alopecia as he looked in his lens. So I tried Scalpicin and TGel to cool the burn down it did but more hair started to fall out the dime became a quarter sized hole now. I then invested in the first over the counter Minoxidil at 60 bucks a popl a small can with a eye dropper with barely 2 percent. Nothing happened it did not retain anything after three months. The quarter now became the size of a baby's hand. by 1995 and 1996. By this time I wore a lot of baseball caps probably a NW3 - 4 by then which seemed to only make the baldness more pronounced and by then I was shaving my head to hide the pattern. By that time I was using Dr. Lee's Copper Peptide shampoo, Nioxin, Tricomin, jojoba oil, biotin, Foillcure the ( anti-sebum shampoo) Provillius and Procerin ostensibly.. all with zero results nada.
I was only able to slow it down I think keeping the peach fuzz and follicles alive on my crown and vertex by what I had done with miniaturized hairs to allow for the treatments I am using today. For the next ten years nothing no losses or gains to speak off though Minoxidil was used off and on in the early to mid 2000's. I restarted Minoxiduil in full earnest in 2011 and into 2012 with propecia starting in July of this year.. and this is where I have seen the most gains ever it has literally resurrected hair that I hadn't seen in years previous combined with Rogaine 5 % and Nizoral which although drying my hair out signficantly I have swtiched to Regenepure intermittently and now for the first time in years I am not shaving my head down.. I am letting the chips fall where they may with confidence.

I think I fought baldness tooth and nail though the technologies to show more progress came later than the onset of the disease. Propecia already came in the mid to late 90's you could only get a doctor's script for it at the time. Generics came later than that if I remember right.

[UK_]

I'm 35 and a NW 3 or 3.5ish. I didn't get on fin until 33 and rogaine about a year later. I began to recede around 20 or 21 and quickly progressed to my "widows peak", "frolock", "Eddie Munster hairline" or whatever you call it. No diffuse thinning though. Any recession I had until getting on meds was so gradual that I barely noticed much of a change. I always knew I was receding and only decided to take action when I thought my age and likelihood of additional and substantial loss could become an issue rather quickly. Sometimes I feel I waited too long, but other times I'm not too bothered by it because most of my peers are dealing with hairloss as well. I've read that there are some positives from waiting to get on fin. Some feel it no longer "works" after a period of time (perhaps that's just genetics catching up though). I feel that maintaining what I have for 10 years (fingers crossed) from now would put me well beyond what my peers (who are doing nothing) will likely retain and sorta take me out of the "balding" category.

I guess my point is that your recession may not continue at a rapid pace and by maintaining what you have now (even if you feel you've lost a fair amount) could eventually put you above the "curve" at a certain point in your life.

Excellent point.

[drybone]

I have a different take on this guys.

I started losing my hair at 20 and it was devastating to me. However, I did nothing because it was falling out very slowly.

I did not go on rogaine or minoxidil because the theory is that you have to keep taking it or it will all fall out. In fact, you will STILL lose hair. You cannot stop your hair loss. Just slow it down.

I think the decision is very individualistic and so I tried to figure out what genetic pattern I would follow and by time I was 35 realized it was my mothers father. I inherited his hair .

I do not recommend medications unless you are under thirty and are in danger of going NW 6 or 7 before age 30.

For guys who lose their hair more slowly and wont ever get to NW 5 or worse before age 70, permanent hair transplants are the answer.