Taking the plunge, started taking fin from today

[Difthin]

Hi all,

I think most of us remember when we first noticed when we started to lose our hair. For me, it was almost three years ago when I got a short hairdo and noticed seeing my scalp through my hair in the mirror of the hair salon. That definitely was a sucky day!

At this point, Ive thinned out to such an extent that you start to see my scalp even if my hair is completely dry, and I decided that I wouldnt take it anymore and take the plunge with finasteride. Last week I made an appointment with my physician, and today he prescribed me proscar. He was fairly understanding, mentioned that his son was also taking the drug and also prescribed me minoxidil. Fortunately, with proscar and minox on prescription, I can spend less than $15 a month on my regiment, including multi vit and zink tablets.

After much contemplation Ive decided to start on 1/8th proscar EOD, which amounts to approx 0.6mg fin EOD. Next to that I will take multi vit and zink (no minox...yet). I want my body to get used to the fin and see if Im perhaps very sensitive to it, ie sides, so thats the reason for taking a small dosage (I am expecting some sides and have decided to battle through those for at least 6 weeks to see if they subside. I will probably up the dosis after one month to 0.6mg ED if I dont experience bad sides. Iver read on many occasions that a low dose ED will work almost as good as 1mg ED so I want to try that for the next 5 months. After 6 months Ill reevaluate the dosis. My final evaluation will be after 18 months.

With this thread this long time lurker wants to keep a journal of the journey of hopefully regaining my hair through monthly updates. I have taken baseline pictures in the worst possible conditions, ie bright flash, hair completely soaked, bright lights. I pretty much freaked out when I saw the pictures so I am happy to start my regiment. Actually, I was so freaked out that I had to take a picture in the same conditions when my hair was dry and luckily it looked much better, almost no visible scalp, phewwwww.

So........day 1 of fin, 0,6mg EOD, update after 30 days!

Baseline pics can be found here

[BigThinker]

Good luck, bro. I think you're making the right decision.

Stay true to yourself. Stick to the low, intermittent dose early and give your body time. You're not going to go bald in 3 months if the dose is too small.

Stay away from bright lights and don't torture yourself hyper-analyzing your hair. It's a slippery slope.

Keep taking pics, stay consistent with your dosing, and keep living life. There's life after hair loss, so don't let it be a road block to your social, academic, and professional lives.

Best regards.

[Difthin]

Hi BT,

Youre thread actually inspired me in starting my regime, as you can see from the similarities compared to yours. Thanks for that thread and your comment here. It means a lot

Luckily, when my hair is dry its hardly noticeable, and Ive been pretty open about my hair loss to family and friends, so I dont agonize myself too much about keeping it hidden, which is good. But yeah, Its definitely getting to the point where it is starting to influence some aspects of my life. Am really going to try to keep that at an absolute minimum! Thanks again for your 2c and hope youre doing well

[AGL]

When I started I did it took .75mg every MWF for several months, than jumped up to .75mg every mon to fri for a few weeks and then went up to 1.25mg every day. I think this is the reason why was and am able to take it successfully with absolutely no side effects. In fact my parts are working better than ever. Stick to the plan and you'll be fine.

[Difthin]

When I started I did it took .75mg every MWF for several months, than jumped up to .75mg every mon to fri for a few weeks and then went up to 1.25mg every day. I think this is the reason why was and am able to take it successfully with absolutely no side effects. In fact my parts are working better than ever. Stick to the plan and you'll be fine.

Exactly my thought as well. Thanks for the reassuring words

If you dont me asking, how was your progress those first months on the small dose? Did you shed those first months? Any progress with regaining hair/improving density while on the low dose? Or did that only start when you start taking the larger dose?

Cheers!

[AGL]

Difthin,

Before answering your question I want to make a correction I actually started with 0.63mg, I cut a 5mg pill into eights.

It's difficult to say if it would have worked if I remained on the low does because I was only in it for 5 months and they say you have to give it 12. In the five month period I can't say that I had any improvement.

After the 5 month period I also combined minoxidil to my regime and what I can tell you now as it definitely made an improvement.

I was a NW VA slick bald and the benefit for me was not as great as if perhaps I started sooner but it has helped no doubt.

I've attached 2 photo's; 1 month post-op HT2 after about 5 months on the low dose and no minoxidil and 8 months post-op with 1.25mg and minoxidil use.

Hope this is helpful.

[Difthin]

Difthin,

Before answering your question I want to make a correction I actually started with 0.63mg, I cut a 5mg pill into eights.

It's difficult to say if it would have worked if I remained on the low does because I was only in it for 5 months and they say you have to give it 12. In the five month period I can't say that I had any improvement.

After the 5 month period I also combined minoxidil to my regime and what I can tell you now as it definitely made an improvement.

I was a NW VA slick bald and the benefit for me was not as great as if perhaps I started sooner but it has helped no doubt.

I've attached 2 photo's; 1 month post-op HT2 after about 5 months on the low dose and no minoxidil and 8 months post-op with 1.25mg and minoxidil use.

Hope this is helpful.
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What is VA? still learning!

I feel that the coming month low dose is more to get my body used to the drug, not as much fighting the hairloss. Im also cutting proscar in eights, jsut like you did...So Im pretty sure taht I should not expect too much these first months, maybe not even the dreaded shed, which I hope will come since thats a good sign in general. And yeah, I know its a waiting game, taking at least 12 months. Pretty crazy to have to wait that long before you know whether its doing anything! Nothing seems easy when it comes to hairloss

Obviously its quite hard to exactly know what effect the fin/minox combo had on your hair, especially by looking at your pics, considering your HTs and all. But your hair is looking pretty damned good, bro Healthy and dense! Are you going to fill in the bald spot as well? Hows the hairline?

Finally, did you have a shedding? And if so, when did it happen?

[AGL]

The Norwood Scale is a set of images that depict the different stages of male pattern hair loss, see attached.

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated...this process has made my obsessed with my hair so I look at all the imperfects and want it all fixed, not realizing my starting point and appeciating how far I've come. I'm almost 12 months post-op now and with concealer (toppik) and combing a certain way I can make the spot next to non-existent, however to answer your question yes I want to do something more. That's what keeps me on the forms (as well as passing on knowledge). The problem I have and many other that are far along on the norwood scale is donor. You only have some much that can be moved. I do have some in the bank but I'm 36 and don't know how my hair loss will progress in the years to come so have to keep some in the bank. I can look to body hair and beard, but body hair is what they call a last resort because it's different than scalp and is better for density although yields are very low and inconsistent although I'm considering it. Who know's, donor doubling or hair multiplication may be something in the future that can save me.

A lot of people think my hair looks great but I don't believe anyone because I see all the faults. My hair line is ok but I would like to add just a touch more density one day...maybe soon. I think I'm going to try and be patient and at least wait 18 months post-op (sometimes growth comes a little slower after the second HT and benefits of Fin and Minox can still be maturing, I've also started dermarolling 6 wks ago so have to give it some time).

Here is a pic pre-op (25 months ago) and here is 2 pic post 2 HT a few weeks back (not how I style me hair but this is how I monitor the progress). The picture weren't taken by the same camera or in the same lighting so actual could differ.

As for shedding, difficult to tell because the fin and minox probably only started to work after my HT and there would have been shedding as a result of the procedure. You may see more since you have more hair than when I started. So I can't say I noticed much.

[Difthin]

The Norwood Scale is a set of images that depict the different stages of male pattern hair loss, see attached.

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated...this process has made my obsessed with my hair so I look at all the imperfects and want it all fixed, not realizing my starting point and appeciating how far I've come. I'm almost 12 months post-op now and with concealer (toppik) and combing a certain way I can make the spot next to non-existent, however to answer your question yes I want to do something more. That's what keeps me on the forms (as well as passing on knowledge). The problem I have and many other that are far along on the norwood scale is donor. You only have some much that can be moved. I do have some in the bank but I'm 36 and don't know how my hair loss will progress in the years to come so have to keep some in the bank. I can look to body hair and beard, but body hair is what they call a last resort because it's different than scalp and is better for density although yields are very low and inconsistent although I'm considering it. Who know's, donor doubling or hair multiplication may be something in the future that can save me.

A lot of people think my hair looks great but I don't believe anyone because I see all the faults. My hair line is ok but I would like to add just a touch more density one day...maybe soon. I think I'm going to try and be patient and at least wait 18 months post-op (sometimes growth comes a little slower after the second HT and benefits of Fin and Minox can still be maturing, I've also started dermarolling 6 wks ago so have to give it some time).

Here is a pic pre-op (25 months ago) and here is 2 pic post 2 HT a few weeks back (not how I style me hair but this is how I monitor the progress). The picture weren't taken by the same camera or in the same lighting so actual could differ.

As for shedding, difficult to tell because the fin and minox probably only started to work after my HT and there would have been shedding as a result of the procedure. You may see more since you have more hair than when I started. So I can't say I noticed much.

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Not a lot of time now, so Ill read your post more closely later on, just wanted to say wow, you really pulled through! Great results

[Difthin]

After less than a week, I am starting to notice that Im having an almost constant itch in region of crown. I have only taken 3 doses of fin the past five days + the vitamin tablets ED so not sure what is going on. Seems to be some inflammation going on but am not sure if it's even possible that fin is causing that after just one week. I am ordering keto shampoo 1% tomorrow. Any body else had this or is it just a coincidence?

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

Good luck with that. Try to think of it as a vitamin.

[Difthin]

Good luck with that. Try to think of it as a vitamin.

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for taking the time to respond, appreciate it.

With 'think of it as a vitamine' I assume that you mean that 'the itch' is a coincidence/psychosomatic more than a side related to fin in your opinion?

Short update:

Have now used .6mg fin EOD for 11 days. Besides having an almost constant itch for the past week, I do not have any other sides that are noticable, if the itch was related to fin anyway, I think it is but am not sure of course. So far so good.

Have added regenepure to the regime for the first time today and the itch has subsided! My hair does feel kind of dry but not too bad and not that different from other shampoos. My hair looks pretty full so in that sense regenepure might be working for me as well.

Have also decided to take better baseline pictures and will update those next update. If any one could explain or point me to a discussion on how to take decent baseline pics that would be grand.

Although I feel that I am not taking a sufficient dose of fin with regard to the halftime (.6mg EOD) I have now definitely decided to stick with the low dose for a month, or 19 more days. I wanted to switch to .6 ED because of the itch which seemed to be worse on the days that I didnt take fin. But Im going to stick to it because I hope my body will better cope with the higher dose next month. Fingers crossed, will update soon. Cheers and good luck ALL!

[Difthin]

Just a short update as there is not too much to tell.

From today on Im taking .6mg ED instead of EOD. No sides, except that maybe my balls are a little sensitive. In other words, no reason to quit. I do suspect that fin causes me to have an itchy scalp, but with keto shampoo that is very easy to control.

I dont think Im shedding, which is perhaps not a good sign, but it's also very early in the game for me. Photos did not show any notable difference so no need to post them. If there is more to report I will do so.

Good luck all my bold brothers and keep the faith!

[capitan]

Just my opinion:

You should really be taking the approved dose for hair loss, which is 1mg.

All the studies on Finasteride's efficacy have been done with this dose, where 90% maintained or regrew hair.

Yeah, I know there are some studies showing that smaller doses reduce just as much DHT, but I wouldn't trust those. Did they evaluate its long term affect on the patients hair?

Even then, some people have taken smaller doses, took some tests, and realized that the smaller doses were barely affecting their DHT. I think one of them is a member of this site.

Bottom line, I've talked about this with a dermatologist, urologist and endocrinologist. They all recommended I take the approved dose, the dose which helped so many men retain hair, the dose which has been consistently trialed again and again. Go figure.

Maybe you should do the same.

[Difthin]

Just my opinion:

You should really be taking the approved dose for hair loss, which is 1mg.

All the studies on Finasteride's efficacy have been done with this dose, where 90% maintained or regrew hair.

Yeah, I know there are some studies showing that smaller doses reduce just as much DHT, but I wouldn't trust those. Did they evaluate its long term affect on the patients hair?

Even then, some people have taken smaller doses, took some tests, and realized that the smaller doses were barely affecting their DHT. I think one of them is a member of this site.

Bottom line, I've talked about this with a dermatologist, urologist and endocrinologist. They all recommended I take the approved dose, the dose which helped so many men retain hair, the dose which has been consistently trialed again and again. Go figure.

Maybe you should do the same.

Thanks for your reply. Ive been contemplating the same for about a week now. With your added opinion I am even more sure that I should...so Ive decided to take 1mg every day instead of the .6mg. Will update if there is anything to report with this new regimen, if not, Ill report back in a month from now.