Anxiety going bald any advice?

[shadh]

First off hello to anyone reading my thread, my story goes like this. At the age of 22 I first notice that I was starting to loose my hair now 25 most of my hair on top of my head has thinned out significantly. A year ago I decided to go for it and shave my head bald this triggered major anxiety to the point where I didn't sleep for 4 days straight. I decided to let my hair grow out and the anxiety went away. Fast forward today I wanted to do something about my hair loss so I decided to get scalp micropigmentation. Now my anxiety is back and I can't get any sleep and it affects the rest of my day. I don't know what to do and I'm starting to get depressed. Anyone go through something like what I'm going through and have any advice/help for me.

[RanDave]

I think that shaving is the last option that should be done when you are NW 5-7. There are great chances to restore your hair. Why do not you trying to treat this problem? Take some finasteride (Propecia) and I'm sure your anxiety will pass away when you see the results.

[Mshape]

U r still young. Did u try minoxidil, biotin or saw palmetto .? I don encourage ppl to take propecia due to many side effect..my 2 cts

[AnnaM11]

I agree with others here. While shaving should be a last option, there are many drugs avaiable before you go for it, provided you take after a proper consultation. Have you been to dermatologist ever for this problem? If you hair loss is due to nutritional deficiency, you may get a benefit from biotin, its proven for that. However, if alopecia is in families, you will have hard time until you see result. You can start propecia 1 mg that is ideal starting dose, however to see benefits, be ready to wait for at least 3-6 months. Also accept the fact that these are temporary fix. The day you stop those medicines, your regrowth will fallout.

[Luca]

If you start propecia at 1 mg dose, I doubt you will get any side effect. However, as Anna said this is not permanent fix so be ready for hair transplantation sooner or later, if not confident to carry of shaved head.
P.S : don’t try antidepressant or anxiolytic drugs for your depression, they won’t help much but in fact will accelerate your hairloss adding to your worry.

[shadh]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I took minoxidil little over a year it had some positive affect but it speed up my hair loss.. Also I don't think propecia will help out as much due to how much hair loss I've already had and the side effects of taking it.

[robincurtz]

Side effects of fin are very rare.And is the only medicationwhich should be your first line of attack.

[KO1]

Yep, Finasteride will be your best line of attack. Your only line of attack really.

[RanDave]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I took minoxidil little over a year it had some positive affect but it speed up my hair loss.. Also I don't think propecia will help out as much due to how much hair loss I've already had and the side effects of taking it.

I'd like to pay your attention to the fact that many men experience increased hair loss at the initial phase of the treatment with Minoxidil or Propecia. You should not be afraid of that as it is a good sign. The reason of increased hair loss is that both these products encourage the growth of hair that is why follicles should work harder to stimulate hair growth. This pushes out the old, dead hair. Moreover, the rapid increase in blood flow to the scalp also increases this effect.

I keep repeating that to dispel the fears about Propecia side effects, you should try it. Propecia like any other medication has different effects on different people. Moreover, it is never too late to stop the medication if you have any undesirable effects.

[Jaclyn]

It makes my blood to little boil when you out rightly reject a good drug just under a fear of getting side effects. Wouldn’t be it unfair to judge reaction of drug to your body based on other experiences? I mean everyone is different, so the reaction of drugs would also differ individually. Propecia is the first drug in history to effectively treat male pattern baldness in the vast majority of men who use it. And you could be one of them. But unless and until, you try it out, you would never be able to understand its benefits.
As far as side effects are concerned, even if you start getting few of them, there is always way to get out of it by simply stopping it. I mean common, it’s not addictive drug, you can simply discontinue propecia and stop side effects.

[RanDave]

It makes my blood to little boil when you out rightly reject a good drug just under a fear of getting side effects. Wouldn’t be it unfair to judge reaction of drug to your body based on other experiences? I mean everyone is different, so the reaction of drugs would also differ individually. Propecia is the first drug in history to effectively treat male pattern baldness in the vast majority of men who use it. And you could be one of them. But unless and until, you try it out, you would never be able to understand its benefits.
As far as side effects are concerned, even if you start getting few of them, there is always way to get out of it by simply stopping it. I mean common, it’s not addictive drug, you can simply discontinue propecia and stop side effects.

Jaclyn is right. It is never too late to stop the treatment in case you have any side effects. By the way, Propecia is the first drug that is FDA approved for hair loss treatment.

[Nos]

It makes my blood to little boil when you out rightly reject a good drug just under a fear of getting side effects. Wouldn’t be it unfair to judge reaction of drug to your body based on other experiences? I mean everyone is different, so the reaction of drugs would also differ individually. Propecia is the first drug in history to effectively treat male pattern baldness in the vast majority of men who use it. And you could be one of them. But unless and until, you try it out, you would never be able to understand its benefits.
As far as side effects are concerned, even if you start getting few of them, there is always way to get out of it by simply stopping it. I mean common, it’s not addictive drug, you can simply discontinue propecia and stop side effects.

I feel the same.

As for the anxiety- this is how I would explain:

Taking fin / having a regiment is like chipping away at work slowly over time, you don't get some giant WIN all at once- but knowing your doing something about MPB will likely calm your anxiety a bit in the time that you choose the best pathway to achieve your desired result. As such, my hair still looks like shit (after 1 m on my regiment) but I feel better knowing that I'll probably get some hair back before i get a HT. (And my dick still works, shocker) Diet, exercise, and mindset plays a huge role in the working of your genitalia; for most people, a small amount of fin doesn't just cause "dick ornamentation" (as some other poster called it, I like the term better than ED), its proven to work, and it has limited side effects...

If you're really worried about sides that much, you're not psychologically ready to take fin. If you're having anxiety attacks when balding, your not comfortable enough to make calm, educated decisions about how to handle it; were all balding here (or most of us :P ) and were here to help-