need some advice

[dontlikehairloss]

Hey, I have been following the forum for quite some time now, but never registered, now I am in a situation I need some advice.

Last year I had a decent amount of hair, not great at all, it was thin, I have the windows peak, and I saw it thinning out on the crown, its what made me took the plunge to start on treatments..

I bought some minoxidil and started to apply it regular twice a day for 4 months
before I only applied it once a day for the rest of the year 2015 untill now.

However I tried finasteride before but it had a inflammation effect of my prostate,
so I only took it maybe max 2-3 times a week and than maybe a week nothing for the last half year in 2014

I saw alot of shedding from the minoxidil last year, but I continue because I see alot of people posting that it got to get worse before it gets better.

Not satisfied with the results I started finasteride 1.25mg now everyday regular
since April this year so 4 full months now without sides or inflammation.

Today I have way less hair on my head I can see, but what keeps me going is that in the mirror on a right angle I can see a full head of hair without the windows peak more hair than I had in years, and also it feels like its really thickening up in the last months, but its what I feel and not what i see because in harsh light I can see right trough my hair and I look more bald than ever.

But it seems my hair got replaced with this thin colorless hair from minoxidil and they have a hard time getting color and thicken up definitely considering I am on minoxidil for almost a full year.

Well it does not seem to work that great for me, in a panic I ordered some oral minoxidil, I am also taking that 5mg a day for a full month.

I am shedding again since last week of august and it looks worse than it ever was,
I feel like I screwed my hair but something tells me its doing something so I still use it everyday, 1.25mg fin, 5mg minoxidil and 1x minox liquid

But when will i see results, will these hairs I see in the right angle ever really thicken up and get color? Or am I just screwed and accelerated my mpb?

I am losing hope, I need some advice, I just want my ****ing hair back, I dont even ask for a hairline, just some damn density so I could be a nw3 again, think i am now a 4 with diffuse thinning in the middle and temples have taken a huge hit too with the treatments, will it ever get better or is this just a waste of money and time?

Thanks for reading

[dontlikehairloss]

Looks like i post in the wrong section, sorry.. if a mod wants to put it in the right section, thanks.

[CaliD]

Does the topical Minoxidil make you itch or make your scalp red? Minoxidil did more damage than good for me after 3 years of using it without missing very many days. I weened myself off Minoxidil and got on finasteride. This has made the most improvement to my hair and it looks thicker for sure. If you feel that your hair is worse after a year of using it maybe get yourself off it slowly. Drop to once a day then after a few weeks go to every other day for a while then stop. I hear its not good to stop Minoxidil cold. It just doesn't work for some people and can even do more harm than good for some guys (like me).

[dontlikehairloss]

Yes it makes my scalp itch when I use twice a day and dont shampoo with ketoconazole, also dandruff.
What scares me is going trough another big shed if i quit minoxidil, I will probbably lose most of my hair and it will take another
3 months before it sheds I read.
Well this hair is not making a diffrence anyway, because its colorless and thin, but it seems I can see these hairs
better now than a copple months ago, but its still a joke.
Also when I go tru my hair with my hands it just feels good and thick, probbably because of the improved hair count
and its what keeps me going hoping these hairs will get color and go terminal. I would have a full head of hair with widows peak but
I dont care about that, just need some thicker hair on top.
I dont know if i should quit minoxidil, i just want to get some results
I know people who keep their hair for years just using topical minoxidil and nothing else, shit is depressing.

[CaliD]

I feel your pain buddy. Hair loss is a horrible thing. I had a lot of hair til I hit my 30's and hair loss seemed to hit me very quickly. When I lost it I lost a lot of it very fast. In 1 year I seemed to drop from NW 1-2 to NW 4. If you're able to get your hormones checked to see if you are imbalanced somewhere you might want to try that. Of course your DHT levels should be low since you're on finasteride. The good news is you've only been on fin for 4 months. Some guys see results from it after 12-18 months. It definitely improved my hair after a year. I use 1mg fin 3x a week.

The minoxidil is really a trial and error thing. I had to shower within 2 hrs of using it so my scalp wouldn't get too red and irritated. It was just too much of a hassle. My good friend uses minox every day and he's seemed to get back about 50% of the hair he lost in just 10 months so he's thrilled with it. It just didn't work for me and I used it for 3 yrs. I'm not really giving you any answers but you are not alone. So many of us men go through this crap. I believe the fin is your best hope.

[dontlikehairloss]

Appreciate the supportive message, it gives me a bit hope that it will work out later, well I really hope so, just going to continue with what im doing. Wish you and all the best man, and other people fed up with this shit