My experiences/thoughts so far during my hairloss journey

[StayStrongMen]

Hi all. Ever since I started losing my hair I have made some observations and have some thoughts that maybe you guys can relate to or maybe find interesting.

Quick background:

I am a diffuse thinner all over the top with a bald spot developing in the back. I think I slowly started losing my hair at 18 but it never really bothered me/wasn't noticable until 22. After a period of initial panic I have never been more confident with my body, and the old me would never believe my recent success with the women compared to slumps I use to have when my hair was at it's best.

I started on Propecia and eventually switched to 1/4 proscar and have been on fin for about 7 months now. I added rogaine foam (1x a day at night) at the beginning of the 5th month. I think I started using 1% Niz at the 4th month. I recently added 3% Salicylic azelediac (sp) shampoo (walgreens brand) that I alternate with Niz every other day.

When I go out I use dermmatch and nanogen just for my bald spot.

I unfortantely didn't take photos until the 3rd month. I took them again at the 5th month and will be taken them again next week. I have not looked at them yet, as I'm likely going to continue my regimen for at least another 8 months before making any adjustments.

Can't really tell if I'm making any progress yet.

/background

Anyways, here are some thoughts I wanted to talk about.

-When I was single and I was leaving a bar with a girl, I agressively would try to get her to my place instead of vice versa. This way there was much less to worry about in terms of concealers getting spotted on sheets and pillows, being able to apply them in the morning, etc. It's borderline hillarious the excuses I tried to make. The truth is that all the times I have slept over a girls or a friends place, everyone looks like crap the next day and I've stopped worrying as much as I used to. Not once did I get a "Did half of your hair run away in the middle of the night?" type comment, because no one is investigating your head like yourself.

-Concealer or no concealer, the average guy and girl doesn't like getting their hair went in the pool/ocean when socially interacting. Even before using concealers I was this way.

-Because I have really straight hair, it was more obvious to me that my hair was thinning, but this is almost a blessing in disguise that I am able to recognize it and get on treatments earlier, compared to the guys who appear to have a full head of hair due to their texture, when in reality they are losing their hair at the same pace as us. If the treatments help maintain my hair, I will be a lot better off at 30 compared to those types.

-Once you hit that mid twenties age group...so many dudes have some type of recession/thinning. I initially was freaking about about my hairline receding/hair thinning when in actuality it was happening to everybody. Girls of this age are not investigating your scalp like we do lol. It's like why did I care so much? It's really just another change in life that I wasn't ready for.
If you were a good looking guy before hairloss, bottom line is your still going to be reasonably good looking after. Face > hair, always.

-It wasn't until recently that I tried leaving the Niz/3% SA shampoo in my hair for a generous period of time (5min). I'll even step out of the shower, dry off and hang out before stepping back in to rinse it out. It definitely feels like it absorbs in my hair better and I definitely recommend it.

-They say we lose 50% of our hair before we even notice that we are losing it. It seems like a lot of us fall into that "too little too late" category, where we would have acheived the best results starting fin before we even worried about our hair loss, since fin is more likely to maintain than regrow. When I have kids, do I tell them to get on fin right away when I think it's going...probably not because that could be very devestating mentally.

- I may have gotten the best results from fin/minox if I started fin back in college. But I went through a period of a couple months were my johnson was out of wack, which might have been really disturbing in college...but all the times I couldn't get it up anyway due to being plastered, I guess I would disguise the low libido well lol.

-I feel for all you guys that are losing significant hair before you graduate college. It's got to be hard as hell to try to do a regimen/apply concealers in a dormitory setting. Much respect, things definitely get easier after college when you have your own bathroom and your own room.

-The more I apply my regimen/concealers, the more it just seems like an everyday chore like brushing your teeth, and the less bothersome it becomes.

-I love these sites that help cope/teach us about hairloss, but staying off the forums is very benefical in my opinion in terms of not worrying about the hair loss.

I will try to update in the future.

[KeepTheHair]

yeah, I basically agree with everything you said.


I truly wish I started researching this madly earlier, would have changed my life. Right now my regimen seems to definitely be working though. Whatever thinning I had in the back or top of my head has basically 90+% restored. I only say 90 instead of 100% because I can never be sure. It looks as full as it can be.

The front has been thinning for 3-4 years though and there is no way I can get the temple hair back. But it is also getting a lot thicker in a sense.

I have a lot of small/medium length frontal hairs that are growing since they shed a month or so ago. I am hoping they add thickness to my look... I am not getting a hair cut again, at least not for a very very long time.


Hair loss is definitely a pain in the ass. A very expensive and time consuming one. It also drains you a lot mentally. My hair loss is at a point where I will look like a baby if I cry over it, because it looks ok now. It's far from super crap...but very far from awesome. I really miss my hair... owell


I am looking to get a good result with my regimen and I will continue using my products until a cure comes along.


If I could choose to do this all over again, I would NOT.

[Jewil]

KeepTheHair, what is your regimen?

[KeepTheHair]

Current:

Finasteride 1mg (April 21, 2010)(1mg/day)
Minoxidil 2%,5% and 15% (April 13, 2010)
Ketoconazole 2% / salicylic acid 3%(April 21, 2010)(Every Other day, 10-50min leave on)
Spironolactone Lotion 5% (May 8, 2010)(once daily)
MSM(Methylsulfonylmethane) (May 10, 2010)(2000mg-8000mg daily)
Biotin 5000µg

Soon:

Retin-A liquid 0.025%
Derma Roller 1mm





I go crazy, I know. But obviously most of my results are due to the big 3, especially minoxidil. Finasteride or a ketoconazole shampoo does not give results this fast, they are more long term than minoxidil. I owe my results to to the minoxidil that I use, once a day.

[Jewil]

Maybe i should consider beginning on minoxidil too. But isn't it a hassle applying it? Also i think i have read that it can make your skin look older?

[KeepTheHair]

There is no proof that it causes wrinkles or whatever nonsense. I don't believe in that anymore I did for a while though.

It's not really that much of a hassle if your not getting side effects. You just apply it, comb your hair and go. That easy... Dr. Lees 15% ******* plus is a bit sucky in the sense that it makes your hair look like complete garbage. But he does have good solutions like the #500 and the other 12.5% liquid. They leave your hair looking good. I plan on getting the 12.5 next time.

Minoxidil really works dude, it really does. I highly recommend it. It will make all the hair near where you use it "better". It is really working for me. I have grown a decent amount of "new" hair. But most of it's effect comes from making all my other crap hair better. It really shows. It's a miracle in a sense and I am glad we have at least this treatment and finasteride today. That combined with a good shampoo is good and sufficient treatment in like 90% of people if you ask me.

I only use it once a day. Probably smart to use it twice a day at first for the first few months, or even the first year...for faster results. I used it 3x a day in my first month.

[Jewil]

But how do you apply the minoxidil? And can you use it all over the head?

[CIT_Girl]

Great post, StayStrongMen...a lot of good advice and interesting insights!

[KeepTheHair]

But how do you apply the minoxidil? And can you use it all over the head?

You CAN use it all over the head. But this is actually more of a hassle because:

You have higher chance of side effects if you use more of it at once.
It will be more expensive.
Much more annoying.



But it will make your hair a lot thicker if you stick with it. Just remember that minoxidil spreads well beneath the skin and you don't have to apply that much. I have the habit of overdoing it, big.

But minoxidil really is an amazing product and I highly recommend it. It will probably give most people better results than a hair transplant if it works for you...since even if you do get a few thousand new hairs the other will still be "pathetic" like mine was. This has made all my hair "better"...even those who did not shed.

[whynot]

KeepTheHair - I remember you talking about Biotin on another forum. Did you find any study that provided some anecdotal evidence towards it being beneficial for hair loss? I'd love to see it - also, I'm curious about MSM. Can you tell us a bit about it?

[KeepTheHair]

As a premise I would just like to say: I am unsure of anything I use except the big 3.


BUT I do believe they do have some benefits and that is why I use them. I don't know how beneficial MSM is. I THINK it made my hair grow faster, but I can't be sure. I found this posted by another user on another forum


Authors: Floersheim GL.

Institution: Dermatologie FMH, Rennweg 15,CH-4052 Basel; Switzerland.

Title: "An examination of the effect of biotin on alopecia and hair quality."

Source: Zeitschrift fur Hautkrankheiten. Vol 67(3) (pp 246-252+255), 1992.

Abstract: "The effect of a daily oral dose of 2,5 mg biotin was studied in 93 patients with the symptoms hair-loss (mostly androgenetic alopecia) and reduced hair quality. The mean duration of treatment was 7,9 +/- 2,8 months. An obvious improvement of hair-loss was reported in 64%, and a slight improvement in 9%. Hair quality was clearly improved in 70% and slightly in 12%. Brittle finger nails as an additional complaint were improved in 80%. If alopecia, decreased hair quality and brittle finger nails occurred in combination, improvement was observed frequently collectively. The study allows - as already shown in a previous investigation concerning brittle finger nails - to suggest biotin as an effective and well tolerated therapy in cases of alopecia and decreased hair quality.




Most of the subjects had androgenic alopecia and they seemed to benefit from 2.5mg of biotin. Besides all that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence for it doing some good, that is why it is part of my regimen. I have another reason for it being part of my regimen though, I am on accutane and it can cause hypervitaminosis a which causes hair loss by reduces biotin regulation etc. I THINK that a biotin supplement can prevent this to a certain extent.





Right now I think a very effective hair loss regimen is the big 3. But I think perhaps Dr. Lees shampoo is better than normal nizoral...actually it is better. It has salicylic acid in addition to the 2% ketoconazole. Which definitely has a lot of extra benefits. Good supplementation/diet and exercise also isn't bad but probably won't have that much of an effect on your hair. I think supplementing with msm and biotin will probably make your hair better and might make it grow faster. My hair seems to have grown pretty damn fast the last 2 months if you ask me. According to the photos I got some good growth, so perhaps the MSM did that I am not sure. Retin-A also has good growth properties in itself so perhaps it is worth a try for someone too. I also think that because finasteride does not block all dht and because dutasteride does better at growing new hair that perhaps a topical antiandrogen such as spironolactone definitely has some benefits if it does what it's suppose to do.


There IS something we can do about hair loss. The thing is...are we starting our counter attack soon enough?

[StayStrongMen]

Hey guys.

After a month of using Rogaine I was shedding like a mad man: it's hard to describe, but they were tons of little tiny hairs that weren't the same length of the hair on my head. If you held out a white sheet of paper, and brushed my hair forward with your hand, the paper would get covered in black speckle.

I was suprised today when I try brushing my head over white paper. I see very little hairs popping out. They are still the tiny ones and not the regular length hairs on my head. Not sure if this because I have now been on rogaine for 4 months, or that I added the 3% salicylic acid shampoo.

I still am clueless if my hair is better off now compared to when I started, but I'm still trucking along.

For those that are freaking out about shedding, I post this to show that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[StayStrongMen]

12.5 months since I started propecia (now on proscar, as well as minox)

Hello everyone. I figure I give another update as it is now 12.5 months since i popped my first propecia pill. I remember how paranoid I was about the hairloss process and I know getting some feedback from someone further down the road may be helpful. (I apologize in advance for the lewd language I use to describe my sex drive)

(I also apologize in advance for the length of this post, but if you can relate to any part of this post, maybe you can take something positive from it)

Anyway, I continue to take my 1/4 proscar every day when I wake up.

I remember how around 2-3 months in it became difficult to become erect. Nowadays I swear when it's time for the real thing I'm as hard as ever.

^In hindsight I wish I could put my finger on when things started to pick up, or if it is still difficult to get erect and I have just become used the current state of my family jewels. I always remember that I was able to get hard when it was go-time regardless...and today I would argue that I am just as horny or hornier than before I started propecia.

I am still on minoxidil but I have switched from rogaine 5% foam to Dr. Lee's 12.5% liquid 1.5 months ago. I did the switch because I didn't see any improvement from rogaine and I wanted to step up the strength. In hindsight I don't know if this was the best decision, as it is really difficult to notice a difference, but I'm sticking with the 12.5% for now.

I do remember how at one point on rogaine 5%, I notice a shed that became worse and worse, but eventually plateaued and slowed. I did continue to shed but less hairs appeared per check (rubbing up and down my head once onto a white piece of paper).

The hairs that were shed were very tiny thin hairs, much smaller than the average hair length on my head. I searched endlessly for an answer for what this meant: I'd like to think the hairs that were shed were miniaturized and thicker hair would grove in eventually, but I have no clue.

Nowadays I am shedding a lot more with the 12.5%. It's a risk I am taking....I am comfortable with the consequences and I'm hoping to see some benefit months down the line.

I used to use nizoral 1% every other day but my head became painfully itchy. I stopped using niz for a couple weeks and was able to pinpoint the Nizoral as the cause of the itch. I still use Niz but much more sparingly.

I have taken pictures every 2-3 months from different angles...flash and no flash.... to document my progress. All I can say is that it is really tough to tell if I am improving or things are getting worse. If I had to say what was going on, I'd say that I am holding my ground, with slight, slight thinning that is continuing. But now that I introduced 12.5% into my regimen it really has become difficult to track my progress.

Probably the greatest realization I have had during this journey so far, is that most men are losing their hair/seeing their hair thin. Sadly it seems like a natural process. I only thought it was happening to me, but now as I pay attention to everyone's hair around me, I realize that it's happening to everyone at different paces. I can tell that my peers at age 24 are all thinning on top. Very few people have teenage hair in their mid twenties.

I have grown my hair longer on top to adjust to my thinning on top. I notice a lot of people do the same at my age and older.

I realize that while I'm paying serious attention to everyone's hair, very few people are also paying this close attention to detail, especially the ladies.

Thanks for reading, I'll try to chime in again a couple months down the road, hopefully with good news to report.