Please Provide Your Opinions On My Progress

[Trance]

Hello, guys. I've been a dedicated 2-year lurker to these forums; however, I never envisioned posting my story until I realized that I had nothing to lose by doing so just today. I'd first like to acknowledge that the wealth of information regarding the aspects and treatments for hair loss garnered by all of you guys is just insightful. I can frankly say that this board provides very inspiring, persistent and superlative information regarding potential future innovative treatments.


My History of Hair Loss

The texture/color of my hair is wavy, black and thick. For the entire time I was in high school and prior, I had an abnormal hairline. When I say "abnormal," I mean in the sense that it did not fit it any of the Norwood scale categorizations. It more or less resembled the notorious feminine hairline, with the signature inverted U-shaped look. If I had to classify this hairline on the Norwood scale, I would give it a Norwood -1; with the zero classification being a straight horizontal hairline. Here is a picture back in 2001 to describe this:



When I reached the age of 17 around the year 2006, it matured into a NW 0 hairline. Even though most people would not consider this significant, this really altered my looks in my opinion. I felt as if a bigger forehead was not suited to my facial cosmetic appearance. Fast forward to 2009, and my hairline began maturing to a NW 0.5. I took notice of this; however, I did not do anything to combat the loss as I totally felt it was part of the normal cycling of hairs. Then, when 2010 came, the hairline began to mature more, reaching NW 1.0 by the Spring. Again, I did nothing because I thought this was perfectly normal.

However, in 2011, my parents began commenting about my receding hairline and stated that I was starting the process of balding. This was a crucial moment in my life, as I got the infamous confirmation that my condition was to worsen as time went on and was destined to become bald. My father is a NW 6 and my mother's father was a NW 7. I became really self-conscious about my hair and started to research potential treatments on the Internet. The most promising treatment I read about at that time was Rogaine; however, since I was in college and had no job at that time, financial issues were a factor and I decided not to invest in it. Thus, I settled into covering my receding temples with styling as it was easy to accomplish as my hair is thick.

In 2012, my temples further degraded to a NW 1.5. I was getting more and more depressed at this point. Again, I did not counter my a hair loss because of a lack of a permanent job. Towards the end of 2013, my right temple degenerated to a NW 2.50 - 2.75 and my left temple remained at NW 1.50 - 1.75. Since I had a better job at this point and read about the efficiency of finasteride on these forums, a dermatologist prescribed my generic Finasteride and 2% Nizoral in December 2013.

From December 2013 to January 2015, I can safely say that finasteride virtually halted my hair loss; however, I experienced no regrowth unfortunately. As such, I was disappointed and wanted to lower my hairline at an appreciable level to both temples, preferably back down to a NW 1 or below.


Current Regimen

So I decided to dedicate myself to this complex regimen everyday starting on January 17, 2015, in addition to the finasteride and Nizoral I was already taking. I want to throw the entire kitchen sink at MPB:

Topical Regimen:
2% Nizoral
5% Generic Minoxidil Foam
Azelaic Acid
Saw Palmetto
Taurine
Retinol
Biotinoyl Tripeptide-1
Acetyl tetrapeptide-3
Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate
Apigenin
Oleanolic Acid

Internal Regimen:
Finasteride - 1.25 mg/day
MSM - 2 g/day
Biotin - 5 mg/day
Vitamin B6/B12 Complex
Niacin
L-Arginine/L-Lysine Complex
Flavonoid/Polyphenol Complex


The Results:


Baseline - January 17, 2015.

First pic of frontal shot shows how I can style my hair to cover the temporal recession. Vertex pic is a normal shot with no styling whatsoever.






Here is a true baseline shot of my frontal recession. I have such a horrific hairline now:






Right Temple Under Strong Fluorescent Light - left picture was taken on March 6, 2015 (1 month and two weeks into added regimen) and right picture was taken on April 5, 2015 (2 months and two weeks in):



Right Temple Under Weak Fluorescent Light - left picture was taken on March 20, 2015 (2 months into regimen) and right picture was taken on April 5, 2015 (2 months and two weeks in):



Left Temple Under Weak Fluorescent Light - left picture was taken on March 20, 2015 (2 months into regimen) and right picture was taken on April 5, 2015 (2 months and two weeks in):




Thus, I would like to ask you guys if I have experienced any results at all. Some people on other Internet boards say that I have had no change; however, I think I see some progress. Any feedback on this topic would greatly be appreciated. Also, you can vote on the poll in this thread if you want.

[Trenblastoise]

I don't got much feedback, but since you wrote a lot I thought I should say something:

Adding lots of different medications at the same time you don't know what works and what doesn't work.

At least it looks like you have a great donor area. Hopefully you don't get side effects.

Good luck.

[thejack]

Haha that it one serious regimen! Looks like you have some good regrowth for a month.
You are in a good position for a transplant (once the effects from your new regimen has plateaued) given your hair characteristics.