Chrisis Intro! 28 year old male with receding hair!

[chrisis]

I've been posting on the forum for a short while and figure it's about time I formally introduced myself!

About me:



I'm 28 years old and live in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK - think of Newcastle Brown Ale, Sting and Cheryl Cole....

About my hurr

Ever since my teens I've had a slightly raised hairline, however I considered it just "mature" and didn't worry about it much. In the last year, I've noticed my hairline receding more, to the extent that it's now difficult to style

I declared war in November after a few friends recommended generic finasteride and minoxidil. First I started with finasteride and in the last few weeks I've added minoxidil and Nizoral shampoo.

It's early days so I'm not able to say whether my regime is working, however if it doesn't, I'm prepared to go for a hair transplant and have booked my first consultation with Dr Feller in London in May.

The above pic is how my hair looks when it's styled! The receded areas are well hidden. Luckily I have a good hair stylist and good products!

Here is what my hair looks like without style and when wet etc.

The images were huge so I created an album:

http://imgur.com/a/O2Ryu

Not nice! And I've cropped my face out because I'm ashamed to have any association with such a hairline!

How hairloss has affected me

My hairloss has affected me quite badly so far. I suppose I've been lucky insofar as I've reached the age of 28 before this became a problem and I'm only a Norwood 2 or 2a at the moment. The hair remaining on my head is thick so I'm able to use strands from the back and sides to disguise the receded areas, although it can be challenging and stressful. If it's windy, my hair gets wet, or someone touches it, the illusion can fail. Not ideal! But I guess it could be worse.

I joined this community to learn more, get support from others and help in turn when I'm able to.

I'm quite obsessive when I get passionate about a topic, and that seems to be the case with hair loss! I feel this is a good thing however, as I've already learned a lot from browsing this forum and Spex's resources.

Looking forward

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Spex for this forum and everyone who posts here. Only hair loss sufferers understand the true torment of losing hair, and it's reassuring that there's somewhere to turn for advice and support. I hope I can play my part and return the favour when the time comes.

I appreciate any advice that comes my way and maybe I can make a few friends along the way.

Thanks for reading!

[rupe]

Welcome. Your hair looks good styled.

[spm]

Your hair looks good for just starting meds. Give meds a year and hope your happy. I freaked out in the beginning and really thought about a hair transplant. Im glad I listened to good advice and waited a year to see my results from propecia. Im very happy with my results on meds at 1 1/2 years. I hope I can keep my hair until the cell based therapies come out in a few years. Surgery should always be our last options. Best of luck and hope the meds work for you.

[chrisis]

Thanks guys.

Spm: did you get results in receded areas with the propecia? I've been on it 3 months and not really seeing anything yet I added the minoxidil and Nizoral shampoo to help it along but that's quite recent.

I've got the same hopes about new therapies! When I was in my teens I assumed/hoped we'd have a cure by the time my hair loss came about and here we are!

[spm]

I was thinning all over. My front did thicken though. Not as much in the crown. It is suppose to be the exact opposite.

[25 going on 65]

spm: that's an interesting, unusual result.

Chris: My personal experience after nearly 1.5 years on finasteride and 2+ on ketoconazole shampoo (no minoxidil for me) is that it maintained and improved my hair all over the top of my head, and around the crown. My temples seem to be holding but I have not seen regrowth in that area.
Meds in general tend to work better for the back and top; regrowing hair lost in the temples is much more difficult. But I also had less recession than you (and more diffuse thinning - funny how much the pattern of loss varies from person to person), so you may have more luck than I did in that area, especially if you are using minoxidil.
What I can say is that your hair behind the hairline looks quite strong, and on these meds you should at least be able to maintain and even improve it. This gives great styling options as you know.
If you've been on meds for 16-18+ months and still aren't satisfied, you definitely strike me as a good candidate for a transplant. But only a doctor can tell you for sure.
Good luck!

[StressedToTheBald]

did you get results in receded areas with the propecia ? I've been on it 3 months and not really seeing anything yet :

This might make You to strongly reconsider Your drug of choice.
http://www.examiner.com/courts-in-ba...#ixzz1mLgDjzw3

[25 going on 65]

You can ignore that.

http://www.thebaldtruth.com/hair-los...eride-syndrom/

[Kirby_]

Thanks guys.

Spm: did you get results in receded areas with the propecia? I've been on it 3 months and not really seeing anything yet I added the minoxidil and Nizoral shampoo to help it along but that's quite recent.

3 months is too early to notice anything positive with Propecia, just ride it out. You may get increased shedding for a bit, but that is documented as a sign that the tablets are working for halting hair loss.

I've got the same hopes about new therapies! When I was in my teens I assumed/hoped we'd have a cure by the time my hair loss came about and here we are!

I know how you feel. Didn't think hair loss would ever be an issue for me, but a combination of hair loss starting too early and scientific progress being too slow... Well, you'll get me. Let's keep up the hopefulness though, maybe there won't be a cure soon but it's inevitable than an improved (or ever drastically improved) new generation of treatments are just round the corner.

[chrisis]

Thanks Kirby.

By the time my consultation comes around I'll have been on the propecia for about 6 months. I wouldn't consider surgery until I've been taking the meds for at least a year, so I'll be reviewing it at the start of 2013 before scheduling any surgery.

Fingers crossed for promising new treatments!