2 years of battling aggressive MPB

[Harris]

Hi I have been battling MPB for nearly two years and I thought it to be important to share my experience so far to help others going down the same path.


Firstly a bit about me I inherited a very strong mpb which is in a NW6 pattern I strated treating my hairloss aged 23 (now 26) my farther was bald by the age of 29 (NW6). I noticed my hair thing out in the mirror one day and my life changed forever I never thought I would lose my hair it never was an option I had women chasing me as soon as I noticed this hair loss it took over my life constatnley checking the mirrior unable to go out beacuse I was convinced that my hair was so bad that people where laughing at me and I would become a laughing stock and lose my girlfriend and all my previous confidence. Alot of people think that people who suffer from mpb are insecure and b eing over the top about losing their hair beacuse they are " vain". for me this was not the case I hated the thought of losing my hair at such a young age beacuse i felt the confidence that I had built up for such a long time had been lost I hated the fact that people would call me the "bald one" or I would look older than I actualy was. the starnge thing is I have always had a 0 grade hair cut so I look good with a shaved head I could actualy proberly pull off the bald look but losing my hair actulay when deeper that looks alone. but that is anouther story altogether!

in october 2009 I started minoxdil and fiasteride as I did some research and found these where the best ways of traeting hair loss I spent hours reading and researching how hairloss could be beatean I would introduce vitamins and nizrol shampoo to the fight and still use these tools. I have never told anyone about my hairloss apart from doctors so have kept my battle away from people. I would count how many hairs would be on my hand after rubbing my hair, spend hours in the bathroom check how my hair looked from the back looking through differnt lights check my reflection in every window whilst walking it became an obsession. If my hair looked good I would be on a high convinced that I was beating it be the happy person I used to be, then one day I would catch my reflection and see a huge thining area and have to go hoem and would be stuck in a deep depression. I would go home and read things about future hairloss treatment consder crazy treatments such as SMP and hair transplants even though I had no money I even consdered moving to asia so I could bald in a place where no one would no me, I know it sounds crazy but it would take over my life. this routine of being high then low about my hair loss hasnt stoped of two years. I have recently been able to tone down my obession but it is still the first thing I think of when I wake and the the last thing I think of before I sleep.

Becuse I couldnt be sure if the treatment was working in october last year (1 year of treatment mark) I payed to see a hairloss specialist he confirmed that I had thinned in a nw6 pattern and suggested that I carry on whith the treatment for anouther year which did. during this year I felt my hairloss had gotten a lot worse, I went back to see him last month and he compared picture from the previous year and took photographs of my hair close up so he could see the thining in the nw6 area and the non affected area. He confirmed that in fact I had receeded slightly in the temple area but this was very slightly and to be honest Im not sure I agree. he then compared photos of my whole head and I was delighted to see that my hair had not gotten any worse which if I was not fighting hairloss with these traetment I would proberly be bald. he took the photographs of my hair close up and it was shown that my affected area was not far worse than the non affected area and suggested that the treatment was working!!! he said that in most cases in his experince if a user responds to treaement hair is kept for as long as the user keeps using the treeatment which ment the world to me.

I will go to see him agian in anouther 12 months time and that will be the key stage as it will 100 percent show that my hair has not gotten any more worse. this post aims to give people hope for losing hair whetaher you are a new to hair loss or exeprinced it shows that alot of the worrys can be created in your head I was convced that I was fully bald and I had gotten alot worse during the 2 years which in actual case this has proven not to be true. I am in no way cured of my hair loss worries as only today I looked in the mirorr and was horfied at how bad my hair looked but at least now I can accpet this may be due to poor lighting or reflection.

I hope this psot helps someone similar to me I am a hairloss sufferer that should be 100% bald by now and still have a leg to stand on and hopefully will maintain until the next cure comes out.

Thank you for reading my post and good luck to everyone going thru this expence. i would also encourage people in a simlar postion who has had good experinces in the hair loss fight to most there stories as I needed that when I was at my lowest point to many negative posts on this site!!

[Harris]

Sorry about my grammar i wrote this in a rush I also wanted to say that when I said "crazy" treatments such as SMP and hair transplants I only ment that was crazy for my particular situation I know these treatments can be great for some cases

[BigThinker]

I'm in the same boat I'm sure. I noticed my hairloss a year ago and I'm already NW2. My dad was bald by his late 20s as well. I'm on minox and fin as well, but they don't seem to be doing too much - slowing down the process maybe if I'm lucky.

The difference is that my headshape sucks, and I wish I could just shave with no-guard and move on. At least you can do that.

[Harris]

Are you sure you have progressed though? I mean I am NW2 my doctore said that fin may not work on the frontal area and like i said alot of the thought that hair is getting worse can be in ur head my doctor also said that if like you our farthers where bald be their late twenties after a two year period our hair should be very bad so maybe you may have lost a little during shedding but not as much as you may think.

thats one other thing I forgot to mention if you have lost a hair alrady every time your hair sheds for my its around onece every four months your hair will look alot worse becuse you no longer have the density you used to have. I would suggest seeing a doctor who can measure your hairloss so it can give you pice of mind also maybe because you have longer hair use hair fibers or dermamatch which I have seen can offer great results. keep strong

[billybong]

Glad to hear you're doing ok.

Maybe you could dust some toppik fibres or something into your hair, if you think it looks too thin?

[BigThinker]

Are you sure you have progressed though? I mean I am NW2 my doctore said that fin may not work on the frontal area and like i said alot of the thought that hair is getting worse can be in ur head my doctor also said that if like you our farthers where bald be their late twenties after a two year period our hair should be very bad so maybe you may have lost a little during shedding but not as much as you may think.

thats one other thing I forgot to mention if you have lost a hair alrady every time your hair sheds for my its around onece every four months your hair will look alot worse becuse you no longer have the density you used to have. I would suggest seeing a doctor who can measure your hairloss so it can give you pice of mind also maybe because you have longer hair use hair fibers or dermamatch which I have seen can offer great results. keep strong

Hard to say, man. I'm taking pictures the whole way, so in Feb '14 I'll be: 1 year finasteride, 6 months dut, 6 months minox - at that time I'll assess. But, to your point, it looks like my hair loss hasn't gotten too much worse since Feb '13 (started fin).

I'm over my hair line; it's as good as gone. I just want to not have scalp showing on top and in back. At that point, I'll own my shitty head shape and start no-guarding. I'm not really into hair fibers, wigs, dermamatch, or any of that. Minox twice a day is enough.

Stay strong as well, bud.

[slantofreality]

I wish I would follow the typical mpb. I have very aggressive mpb too. My hair is ridiculously thick and if it weren't for that I have little doubt I'd be bald by now. The thing I used to hate the most is what's covering my hair loss.

[BigThinker]

I wish I would follow the typical mpb. I have very aggressive mpb too. My hair is ridiculously thick and if it weren't for that I have little doubt I'd be bald by now. The thing I used to hate the most is what's covering my hair loss.

I can't even tell you how many times I've had that exact same thought process. I started with such insanely thick hair - the hair dressers used to have to spend 5-10 minutes thinning my hair out after a cut. As aggressive as mine is, I would be bald by now (like my dad was), if it wasn't for my thickness.

Inherited amazing thick dark hair from my mom and @#$!ing MPB from my dad.

[PatientlyWaiting]

The way you described your obsession with this plague and how depressed it got you, most of us here can relate. We feel the same. Especially what you said about it's the first thing you think of when you wake up and the last thing you think of before going to sleep, i'm exactly the same. MPB does not "kill" and it is "not life threatening" but damn, mentally, psychologically, socially, appearance-wise, confidence, it's life-ending.

And about moving to Asia to avoid being seen by people you know, man, I have been dying to move to Buffalo, NY, to start a new life there on campus where nobody knows me, so I can bald alone/treat my hair loss away from people.

It's hard to ignore that most of us feel exactly the same, feeling for feeling. Almost all us relate 100% to each other without even knowing each other and being from different places and having different backgrounds. Almost as if MPB is a sickness and these are the symptoms, the things we describe that we go through on this forum, those are the symptoms of MPB.

[Californication]

The way you described your obsession with this plague and how depressed it got you, most of us here can relate. We feel the same. Especially what you said about it's the first thing you think of when you wake up and the last thing you think of before going to sleep, i'm exactly the same. MPB does not "kill" and it is "not life threatening" but damn, mentally, psychologically, socially, appearance-wise, confidence, it's life-ending.



It's hard to ignore that most of us feel exactly the same, feeling for feeling. Almost all us relate 100% to each other without even knowing each other and being from different places and having different backgrounds. Almost as if MPB is a sickness and these are the symptoms, the things we describe that we go through on this forum, those are the symptoms of MPB.

Yeah, but at the same time "most" people don't think this way at least not for an extended period. Most people aren't on these forums and aren't on any treatments. There are plenty of people, even younger guys, who get over it. So yeah, it *can* kill you in the way you described, but it doesn't have to at all. I'm not trivializing it, it sucks, but that's the truth.

People who it's actually killing should get smp done in my opinion. Ridiculous? Yes. But basically concealable? Yeah. And less hassles than a wig although that's another way to go I suppose.