Hi, my name is NotBelievingIt and I'm losing my hair.

[NotBelievingIt]

Warning: this is a TL;DR but I’m sure some/most of you will anyway.

So yah, I sort of burst onto this website a couple months ago and havn’t done this yet so I figure its time. The RepliCel stock thread got me going. In 2008 I started down the path of learning about the stock market and personal finance. So I felt it necessary to speak up on the subject.

My real name is Fred and I turn 32 in April. I am 100% honest when I tell you that until the last week of September 2011 and the month of October 2011 I had absolutely no idea that I was losing my hair. It wasn’t a denial thing where I finally threw my hands up; I literally did not realize it. I’ve been slowly losing it in minor noticeable ways since sometime in 2007. I have a pic of me in Jan 2008 that is obvious it is not just short cut hair. It has accelerated starting in summer 2011 but even at my 30th birthday the photos taken you can tell it is not just a short cut on the top of my head. I will admit I never used to shower (head shampoo) every day or even every other day before that. But I decided to get into the habit around June 2011 which didn’t help the hair in the drain issue. I am a hairy guy in general, so I basically attributed the hair in the drain to the hair everywhere else coming off naturally. I have no good pictures of myself prior early 2008 that are good pics of my head. Prior to my realizing the hair was going, I’d looked at all of these same pictures from 2007 through to 2011 a number of times, but now I know what I’m looking at and looking for and it is plain as day even back to a close up in September 2008 and a top down view in 2009. My hairline has barely budged in 4 years. In fact, I should take a measurement based on the picture from Jamaica and I’d bet it hasn’t moved at all in 4 years. But what has happened is a general thinning all along the top. The temples have thinned out way more along with the hair on the top front of my head over the last couple months. The hair part over my right eye was never as exposed as it has become in the last month actually. My hair naturally combed from right to left (my POV) and thus the temple thinning/recession on the left side was combed over (ha!) by virtue of that’s just how it has always been.

I’ve always kept my hair short. Always. I can’t stand longer hair; it is just a huge nuisance. It helped always having short hair because just a quick “watering” was sufficient if it felt a bit greasy or needed a flattening due to bedhead. This is why I feel sorry for guys who have long hair (and I mean even 1.5” is long) – if they start losing it, it is going to crush them. They’ve wasted an inordinate amount of time in their lives worrying about their hair. I would spend all of 30 seconds looking at myself in the mirror in the morning – quick face wash, make sure theres no annoying zits or whatever, maybe a quick comb to correct and that was it. When I shaved I left my glasses off and just got closer to the mirror. Hair was just never a factor for me. Funny, and sad, how it is now.

When I had my moment of…wow, I’m losing my hair…it didn’t really strike right away, that took a couple weeks and boy did it kill me. The double whammy for me in September/October 2011 was a relationship I was hoping to build into more than just friends ended when I f’d up. So forever will my brain be imprinted with “lost hair, lost the girl” LOL. I absolutely know they have nothing to do with each other, they just timed together so they will forever be thought of together. Basically it took looking at pictures to put on match.com that made me realize it. I went through the stage of thinking “oh it could just be telogen effluvium” that I’m sure most folks go through…wish it were true though!

I went to the doctor in late October and got a thyroid test (1.35 tsh) and the Doc basically said “yep looks like regular pattern hairloss”. He prescribed finasteride 5mg to cut into 4ths and take once a day. At first I was excited, if it would help me keep what I’ve got, I was fine with where it was at. Man those tiny TEVA 93/7355 pills were annoying to cut into 4ths. Anyway, I started reading about side effects and learned more about how basically DHT inhibition, let alone 5AR, isn’t fully understood about the how and why sides occur and how DHTs role in general is not well documented and I basically got paranoid about side effects and decided to finish the month of November (get what I paid for) and then stop taking it. Frankly if you weigh the side effects properly, hair loss rather pales in comparison in my opinion. Had I continued would I have had sides? I have no idea. I’ve considered having him re-prescribe again, but I’d first want a hormone panel of T, Free T, E, DHT, SHBG and Allopregnanolone and then regular draws once a quarter in the first year to see how my body has responded. I have not considered Minoxidil because that just seems like a royal pain in the ass to have to do, let alone the greasy mess it leaves apparently. I really don’t want to shell out for the Rogaine foam as that seems more manageable but it is a brand name and I’m a tight wad.

When I got my haircut in early December I decided to start going to a stylist (all of about ¼ mile away) for two reasons: my four rotating barbers I had been using for a very long time never said anything explicitly to me about my hair. They must have assumed I knew what was going on because I just kept getting it cut short, “crew style”. IMO a barber is a special connection to a part of a guys head he basically never sees regularly (unless he’s vain) so they have every right to call out things they see. I never attempted to develop a relationship beyond the mere acquaintance level with them, so that may be why. I never considered that kind of relationship might be important. So with the stylist I called out immediately about my hair loss and that I’ve chosen to come to a stylist for the purpose of keeping it looking good as it goes, however that happens which means as things change I’m hoping and assuming she will comment on it. I’ve gone a couple times now and we have a good rapport, so that’s a plus. I’m strongly considering a buzz in May/June just due to the weather and to see if my belief about looking good with it pans out. I am slightly paranoid about doing that though because I have this gut feeling it will make the thinning extremely obvious which puts me in an awkward position. Do I let it grow back out to a reasonable length, but people will know? Or do I just hope it doesn’t look bad and just keep it that way from now until “the cure”? Neither seems appealing. Maybe I should take a month off work LOL.

Am I doing anything else specifically to help the hair? Yes and no. That whole tocotrienol thing is the only reason I bought Toco8 and will continue to use it. I’m sure its general health benefits will be good also, but if it staves off loss or even thickens or grows hair that’s a bonus. At the beginning of February I started taking Fish Oil for Omega3 and in December I had started taking Vitamin D. No specific deficiencies, I’ve just learned that people in northern states, especially those who spend a great deal of time inside, should take Vitamin D and the American populace as a whole basically lacks sufficient Omega3 in their diet thanks to processed, corn-fed meat and farm raised fish. I’ve also learned that the “good fats” of Omega3s can actually help scalp health (capillary) also which can lead to protection of existing hair. So who knows…maybe the last month of what seems like additional thinning is actually the same kind of symptom that Fin users see before it starts taking effect. That’s what I’m telling myself at least I also take a daily vitamin supplement – the same one for the last ~20 years in fact. If I add any more supplements, I might as well buy a juicer and start throwing things together in the morning in a blender! Heh

How am I coping? Well I do and I don’t like most. As of this writing I’ve actually had a good two weeks without feeling bad at all. In September I took an indoor rock climbing class that came with 8 weeks of membership (class was only 4 days over two weeks) and I met a couple folks so I went climbing once a week just about until colleges Christmas break time. I got a membership because I figured I would be going at least 4 times a month. In January I took the next level up class and again met a couple more people and have gone climbing with them also, as well as just going by myself. I mentioned in another thread that having something to take your mind away from worrisome thoughts is hugely helpful and “rock” climbing has been that outlet for me. The staff is friendly, everyone there is friendly. There are a proportional number of balding or even slick bald guys there. NW1s up to NW7s. There has only been one guy that was bald on the top of his head only and he looked horrible with the way his hair was not cut and his lanky lack of musculature and hunched forward shoulders, felt sorry for him. Oh and there are plenty of fine women too that is a huge bonus. Starting 3 weeks ago I've been going every Monday and Wednesday for 1.5 - 2 hours in the evening.

*breathes*

So why "NotBelievingIt" ? Because it basically came out of nowhere. I couldn't believe it was happening to me.

..and as you can tell, I litered some URLs throughout if people had any specific questions about things I mentioned.

[z06guy]

Cool story bro

[NotBelievingIt]

nm i pussied out.

[67mph]

Very much a typical story, don't take that wrong, as, i read that and it was like reading what i could have wrote in regards to my own situation, minus a detail or two of course!

Still, that said, stay strong best you can and i hope you have more good days than bad.

[NotBelievingIt]

nm i pussied out.

I had photos posted, but decided against it.

If you read my introduction and post something, then I'll read yours.

That's some serious tl;dr going on there. Bit of a wall of text too.

Based on a whole lot of what else you've written, I'm not sure it would be fruitful.

Very much a typical story, don't take that wrong, as, i read that and it was like reading what i could have wrote in regards to my own situation, minus a detail or two of course!

Still, that said, stay strong best you can and i hope you have more good days than bad.

I've had zero bad days since I wrote that. A few depressing hours looking in the mirror or thinking about a girl, but I've kept it out of my mind in a negative light. Mostly because I have very little hair line recession so once the hair is "done" in the morning, you really can't tell with casual glances or looks when I'm looking straight on.

Eventually the general diffuse thinning will render the lack of hair line recession pointless and I'll be "forced" to buzz or it'll look ridiculous like that consultant for our telecom department at work or that guy at the training class a few months ago. Both of them clinging to such thinness on the top of their head....just take it off!