My struggle

[Lito]

Prior to me going into detail, I want to say that I am posting here for those who have similar issues. I looked everywhere during my struggle for answers, and I found very little information or help. With that being said, here it goes.

I am 27 years old and only noticed my hairloss last August - at least consciously. I noticed signs prior to this, but denied them or ignored them. When I realized that I was potentially "balding" I scheduled several doctor appointments in hopes that it would be diagnosed as something else - TE, fungus, allergic reaction, etc. In fact, from my experience as a mental health therapist and from reading thousands of posts on here, I can tell you that "denial" is real. Dermatologist after dermatologist diagnosed MPB - all without ever doing a single test. Simply by examining my hair.
Finally it dawned on me - I'm effing balding. I cried. I cried for months. I was terrified. I thought "what are people going to say? What are people going to think?". I have friends who are bald or balding and I've seen how they get treated - this can't be happening to me. After the Initial shock of it all I finally decided to do something about it. I researched for hours, weeks, and months. I read about treatments, future drugs, the best hair transplant doctors - as I'm sure many of you reading this have or will do. I spent every waking moment trying to find a cure.
Through this process I became familiar with the famous "finasteride" and its associated side effects. I wanted to avoid it all costs, but from my research I knew it was my only choice. I was well aware of the minuscule chance that finasteride could destroy my body. I was vulnerable. I was desperate. I was willing to risk everything for a chance at keeping my hair. So, I contacted the best endocrinologist in my state, and the best hair surgeon within a 500 mile radius of me. I had my pre hormone levels tested. They both reassured me, and encouraged me. I was cleared for use and got my prescription filled the same day. I tapered onto the medication very slowly - starting at .25 EOD for two weeks, then .5 EOD for two weeks. A week into .5mg EOD (3weeks into fin) I started to get breast tenderness. I tried to ignore it and push through. But, the pain and discomfort continued to increase. Within two weeks (5 weeks on fin) I noticed I had started to develop gynecomastia.
After searching frantically for reassurance and ways to manage the breast symptoms I was experiencing I stopped the medication. I stopped because I was scared. I stopped because of the pain in my breasts. At this point I felt defeated. I fell back into depression - feeling hopeless and staring at my hairline every chance I got. I began to obsess again. I told myself I had to find a way. I met with my endocrinologist again. He reassured me. He told me that he had hundreds of patients on finasteride, and not a single one had had this side-effect - in fact he didn't even really think it was a legitimate side effect for people to be concerned with. By this time my swollen and inflamed glandular tissue had died down and almost returned to normal. So, it appeared as if i was crazy or experiencing a placebo. I even convinced myself I was falling into the placebo effect - after all I am a therapist.
After this visit I tried it again, but this time after 3 days my breasts began to hurt tremendously. I told myself "boobs are better than bald", and I pushed through the itchy painful feeling in my boobs everyday for two weeks until my next endo visit. When my endocrinologist examined me this time he got to see my concern first hand. He acknowledged my inflamed breast tissue, and in fact seemed very intrigued. From this point on he was willing to help me in anyway he felt possible. I told him I really wanted to take this medicine, and I was willing to try anything within medical reason.
The first thing he did was test my hormone levels again. Everything fell into range - my estrogen levels were even lower norm. But, he explained that in a minority of instances even a very small and subtle increase in estrogen can have this effect. This is due to the sensitivity of the receptors in the breast tissue - stating I must have very sensitive receptors. He prescribed me tamoxifen for three months, which is a medication that blocks estrogen from binding to the receptors. Well, let's just say that after two more months of pain and very little progress I gave up the tamoxifen.
Again, I fell into depression. I couldn't take it any more. I was about to quit finasteride once and for all. But, my endo had one last thing he wanted to try. He prescribed me letrozole at a low dose for three months. Letrozole prevents production of estrogen. Within 3 days my breast felt phenomenal. No more Itchy pain in my nipples. After one week on letrozole I decided to go for broke and I started to take 1.25mg of proscar daily on January 15th of this year - near triple what I did before. I had no issues. It was working. For the moment I was happy.
Over the next three months I Noticed a decrease in hair shedding. I also slowly tapered off letrozole as well, and thus far haven't experienced any recurrence of pain. But, the glandular tissue that grew didn't shrink back to normal size. I am now left with slightly puffy nipples, but it's not really noticeable to anyone but myself. So, I accept it. I continue to take 1.25mg of finasteride daily without any more side effects. Currently, I am in the stage where I don't know if finasteride is working for me or if I just continue to get worse. I have posted several before and after pics for you all to see, so be the judge for yourself. I will be on here for the next week answering any questions you guys may have. The struggle is real, and I'm glad I have you guys to relate to and share this with. Good luck all!

Picture #1 was in October of 2015
Picture #2,3 were April 17 2016
Picture # 4 was in October of 2015
Picture# 5,6 were April 17 2016

[Not giving up]

Dude, I read your whole story But all I needed to do was look at your pictures to answer your question - you're hair has improved drastically .

Be happy, it's working for you. Good luck brother.

[Lito]

Thanks not giving up. I guess I just don't notice, or I make excuses for the progress I see. Like, maybe I didn't replicate the pics good enough so it looks like it's better. Haha. Stupid I know. I really posted my story to give those suffering from side effects some hope. Giving them potential options to continue taking the medication.

[coffeeandtea]

Good to know that you found a way to live with it. My story i posted recently is not that different to yours except that it was testicle pain that occured for me when i started taking it. I really don't envy the months i passed at the start of the treatment where I had very big uncertainty about the drug and definately a lot of emotional trauma (about loosing my hair and suffering from sides).

Anyway, i'm 18 months in now and the drug is working at the pain is no longer. I'm very glad that I took it. It turns out it was a combination of placebo effect and anxiety which made me restrict the blood flow to my testicles through tightnend pelvic floor. One huge driver of the anxiety was reading all of the horror stories on fin like yourself. What was remarkable was the effects anxiety can in producing pain and symptoms which might otherwise be indistinguishable from the effects of the drug. I'm not in any way saying that what happened to you is not the case but i definately think it's something that you should keep in mind. I was at several times thinking i was growing breasts as well... pain in my chest area after 9 months at well as visually thinking they were growing larger... anyway, that never happend.

Without going on too much about my own experience, I just saw that I saw a parallel there with the trauma you might be going through when feeling the pain. I would encourage you to keep going with what you are doing as the drug is for the vast amout of people a very safe experience. Your opinion might shift the longer you are on the drug and the more you forget about the horror stories. It is a slow process.

Good luck in the journey.

[Soonbald]

men that look decent or good shaved or with a Buzz cut should NOT..and I say it again should NOT take the risk with finasteride...I couldnt care LESS about my damn hair on my head and im 28 years old..if I would look decent or good with a shaved head I would shave it right away I dont even look normal with a Buzz cut... this guy just by looking at his head shape he would look GREAT bald or with a Buzz cut..I dont see why these men are Crying so much over some hairs on their head jesus Christ guys grow some balls Life isnt permanent its only temporarily you can die at any second...and that should be a Comfort to you..dont risk your Health/mentall state boners or sex drive or whatever its not Worth it in the "long run" and most people quit fin after 10-15-20 years anyway so why even bother taking it..

[Johny41]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It can be very helpful for the beginners who are struggling with the fears of getting side effects.

[Lito]

men that look decent or good shaved or with a Buzz cut should NOT..and I say it again should NOT take the risk with finasteride...I couldnt care LESS about my damn hair on my head and im 28 years old..if I would look decent or good with a shaved head I would shave it right away I dont even look normal with a Buzz cut...

Why are you on this site then? Why do you have 140 plus comments on this site? For some one who doesn't care you sure do put forth a lot of time and effort associated with hair/hairloss. I don't randomly join sites for things I have no interest in or could care LESS about. Do you? Different people have different perceptions. For example, purple is my favorite color. But, I am aware that it's ok for people to perceive differently. This doesn't make

this guy just by looking at his head shape he would look GREAT bald or with a Buzz cut..I dont see why these men are Crying so much over some hairs on their head jesus Christ guys grow some balls Life isnt permanent its only temporarily you can die at any second...and that should be a Comfort to you..dont risk your Health/mentall state boners or sex drive or whatever its not Worth it in the "long run" and most people quit fin after 10-15-20 years anyway so why even bother taking it..

I can only speak for myself, but an extra ten years with a full head of hair would be phenomenal. I didn't write this story for you to be judgemental, and for you to write about how "manly" you are because you "accept" your hairloss. I wrote this for people who had similar struggles. Obviously you don't so keep flaunting your "big balls" else where. Thanks.

[JohnMPB]

Do you use anything else besides fin?

[Lito]

Do you use anything else besides fin?

No. I use fin daily and that is all. i want to say that I notice temple growth, but I'm not positive. I go in for another evaluation with my hair doc on may 28th. Ill update everyone then with the facts.

[Ilmdt]

Prior to me going into detail, I want to say that I am posting here for those who have similar issues. I looked everywhere during my struggle for answers, and I found very little information or help. With that being said, here it goes.

I am 27 years old and only noticed my hairloss last August - at least consciously. I noticed signs prior to this, but denied them or ignored them. When I realized that I was potentially "balding" I scheduled several doctor appointments in hopes that it would be diagnosed as something else - TE, fungus, allergic reaction, etc. In fact, from my experience as a mental health therapist and from reading thousands of posts on here, I can tell you that "denial" is real. Dermatologist after dermatologist diagnosed MPB - all without ever doing a single test. Simply by examining my hair.
Finally it dawned on me - I'm effing balding. I cried. I cried for months. I was terrified. I thought "what are people going to say? What are people going to think?". I have friends who are bald or balding and I've seen how they get treated - this can't be happening to me. After the Initial shock of it all I finally decided to do something about it. I researched for hours, weeks, and months. I read about treatments, future drugs, the best hair transplant doctors - as I'm sure many of you reading this have or will do. I spent every waking moment trying to find a cure.
Through this process I became familiar with the famous "finasteride" and its associated side effects. I wanted to avoid it all costs, but from my research I knew it was my only choice. I was well aware of the minuscule chance that finasteride could destroy my body. I was vulnerable. I was desperate. I was willing to risk everything for a chance at keeping my hair. So, I contacted the best endocrinologist in my state, and the best hair surgeon within a 500 mile radius of me. I had my pre hormone levels tested. They both reassured me, and encouraged me. I was cleared for use and got my prescription filled the same day. I tapered onto the medication very slowly - starting at .25 EOD for two weeks, then .5 EOD for two weeks. A week into .5mg EOD (3weeks into fin) I started to get breast tenderness. I tried to ignore it and push through. But, the pain and discomfort continued to increase. Within two weeks (5 weeks on fin) I noticed I had started to develop gynecomastia.
After searching frantically for reassurance and ways to manage the breast symptoms I was experiencing I stopped the medication. I stopped because I was scared. I stopped because of the pain in my breasts. At this point I felt defeated. I fell back into depression - feeling hopeless and staring at my hairline every chance I got. I began to obsess again. I told myself I had to find a way. I met with my endocrinologist again. He reassured me. He told me that he had hundreds of patients on finasteride, and not a single one had had this side-effect - in fact he didn't even really think it was a legitimate side effect for people to be concerned with. By this time my swollen and inflamed glandular tissue had died down and almost returned to normal. So, it appeared as if i was crazy or experiencing a placebo. I even convinced myself I was falling into the placebo effect - after all I am a therapist.
After this visit I tried it again, but this time after 3 days my breasts began to hurt tremendously. I told myself "boobs are better than bald", and I pushed through the itchy painful feeling in my boobs everyday for two weeks until my next endo visit. When my endocrinologist examined me this time he got to see my concern first hand. He acknowledged my inflamed breast tissue, and in fact seemed very intrigued. From this point on he was willing to help me in anyway he felt possible. I told him I really wanted to take this medicine, and I was willing to try anything within medical reason.
The first thing he did was test my hormone levels again. Everything fell into range - my estrogen levels were even lower norm. But, he explained that in a minority of instances even a very small and subtle increase in estrogen can have this effect. This is due to the sensitivity of the receptors in the breast tissue - stating I must have very sensitive receptors. He prescribed me tamoxifen for three months, which is a medication that blocks estrogen from binding to the receptors. Well, let's just say that after two more months of pain and very little progress I gave up the tamoxifen.
Again, I fell into depression. I couldn't take it any more. I was about to quit finasteride once and for all. But, my endo had one last thing he wanted to try. He prescribed me letrozole at a low dose for three months. Letrozole prevents production of estrogen. Within 3 days my breast felt phenomenal. No more Itchy pain in my nipples. After one week on letrozole I decided to go for broke and I started to take 1.25mg of proscar daily on January 15th of this year - near triple what I did before. I had no issues. It was working. For the moment I was happy.
Over the next three months I Noticed a decrease in hair shedding. I also slowly tapered off letrozole as well, and thus far haven't experienced any recurrence of pain. But, the glandular tissue that grew didn't shrink back to normal size. I am now left with slightly puffy nipples, but it's not really noticeable to anyone but myself. So, I accept it. I continue to take 1.25mg of finasteride daily without any more side effects. Currently, I am in the stage where I don't know if finasteride is working for me or if I just continue to get worse. I have posted several before and after pics for you all to see, so be the judge for yourself. I will be on here for the next week answering any questions you guys may have. The struggle is real, and I'm glad I have you guys to relate to and share this with. Good luck all!

Picture #1 was in October of 2015
Picture #2,3 were April 17 2016
Picture # 4 was in October of 2015
Picture# 5,6 were April 17 2016

Thank you for sharing your personal experience. I think you look great!!!