20 year old NW3 story!

[rdawg]

To OP,

My balding pattern is similar to yours, except my temple recession is not as high. I started balding at the crown around 18, and if it wasn't for people commenting on it, I wouldn't have noticed until I was about 22, when i started thinning out more all over the top and it became noticable when I looked at myself in the mirror straight on. Good luck with the meds. I am using rogaine and nizoral currently and will be hopping on fin soon.

Best of luck.

I wouldnt say I didnt notice, but I didnt really pay attention to it(which I regret as I wish I started on say propecia a few years ago). until I hit university and it started thinning on top. It's not really the recession I hate, its the thinning that comes with it, it makes it really hard to style your hair when it's longer and doesnt quite look right when it's shaved. Still I keep my hair relatively buzzed as anything longer than an inch just looks weird with my hairline.

Goodluck though the big 3 seem to be helping me so far and I hope they help you. It's a decent solution until something better comes out over the next few years.

[DannyBoyy7]

Best of luck.

I wouldnt say I didnt notice, but I didnt really pay attention to it(which I regret as I wish I started on say propecia a few years ago). until I hit university and it started thinning on top. It's not really the recession I hate, its the thinning that comes with it, it makes it really hard to style your hair when it's longer and doesnt quite look right when it's shaved. Still I keep my hair relatively buzzed as anything longer than an inch just looks weird with my hairline.

Goodluck though the big 3 seem to be helping me so far and I hope they help you. It's a decent solution until something better comes out over the next few years.

What i think is horrible about balding is how long it takes for it to all go like mine since 16 i have watched it slowly get weaker and weaker im 20 now the front is pretty much gone with a few hairs now im waiting for the crown to go.

[BigThinker]

What i think is horrible about balding is how long it takes for it to all go like mine since 16 i have watched it slowly get weaker and weaker im 20 now the front is pretty much gone with a few hairs now im waiting for the crown to go.

I feel the exact opposite. I think that gives you time to learn to cope and, maybe more importantly, intervene.

[DannyBoyy7]

I feel the exact opposite. I think that gives you time to learn to cope and, maybe more importantly, intervene.

Same here dude i ment to begin with when it started i mean its still annoying now for different reasons now i just want it all gone get it over with but back then i didnt want it to get worse and watching go slowly back then was annoying...now im use to my hair balding weirdly enough i couldnt see it any other way i just ment that its horrible cause you dont know hold long its gonna take will it stop for a bit etc but yeah like you i have came to terms with it when it got to the point where it was noticeable to others i had no choice really i thought **** it everyone knows now cant be arsed to worry is what it is.

[rdawg]

Same here dude i ment to begin with when it started i mean its still annoying now for different reasons now i just want it all gone get it over with but back then i didnt want it to get worse and watching go slowly back then was annoying...now im use to my hair balding weirdly enough i couldnt see it any other way i just ment that its horrible cause you dont know hold long its gonna take will it stop for a bit etc but yeah like you i have came to terms with it when it got to the point where it was noticeable to others i had no choice really i thought **** it everyone knows now cant be arsed to worry is what it is.

yea man it's no use covering it up, you could use concealers but eventually you're gonna forget to use it or someone will see you without it. Hats only work for certain bars so when you gotta go to a fancy bar you're screwed haha(I used to hate going to those bars).

It's been close 4 years since i've had a full hairline, in fact I took my drivers licencse picture a few months before the recession began I believe and it's always a reminder of what I used to look like.

The slow process is not fun but I think it'd be worse if I was a pure NW7, at least now I can shave it or keep it short and have something there. I'm used to it now and I'd say it humbles me at this age too, but I'd like to at least halt the process as aesthetically, hairloss is just not a good look.

People dont care THAT much though, BUT I find it's much worse when you wear a hat and then say it falls off or something, I've had a couple freakout, it makes you look really insecure as opposed to when I go without a hat and most wont say anything.

[dda]

yea man it's no use covering it up, you could use concealers but eventually you're gonna forget to use it or someone will see you without it. Hats only work for certain bars so when you gotta go to a fancy bar you're screwed haha(I used to hate going to those bars).

It's been close 4 years since i've had a full hairline, in fact I took my drivers licencse picture a few months before the recession began I believe and it's always a reminder of what I used to look like.

The slow process is not fun but I think it'd be worse if I was a pure NW7, at least now I can shave it or keep it short and have something there. I'm used to it now and I'd say it humbles me at this age too, but I'd like to at least halt the process as aesthetically, hairloss is just not a good look.

People dont care THAT much though, BUT I find it's much worse when you wear a hat and then say it falls off or something, I've had a couple freakout, it makes you look really insecure as opposed to when I go without a hat and most wont say anything.

One time me and my buddy were at a ball game, and we started talking to these two girls we saw walking by us in the stadium. After a while for some reason the one chick, who was my height unfortunately lol, asked to see what I look like without my hat on. So I take it off and I know she could see my thinning. She didn't comment on it, but I could tell by her facial expression and then she just looked away and started talking about something else. pretty f*ckin deflating.

[rdawg]

One time me and my buddy were at a ball game, and we started talking to these two girls we saw walking by us in the stadium. After a while for some reason the one chick, who was my height unfortunately lol, asked to see what I look like without my hat on. So I take it off and I know she could see my thinning. She didn't comment on it, but I could tell by her facial expression and then she just looked away and started talking about something else. pretty f*ckin deflating.

haha i've had some similar situations, on my license is my picture from when I was 16 and had a full head of hair, one time a friend from work(I have to wear a hat at work) looked at it, took my hat off, his facial expression said it all, and he put the hat right back on haha.

Hats are like a curse, I've used them at some bars and sometimes a girl will want to wear it and some wont care when they take it off, but some will just laugh.

I'm tapering off hats, I used them at first but they became a crutch, it's alot easier just being happy with what I have and it shows more confidence going without a hat.

However if Fin improves my situation a decent amount(say improves the hairline slightly and thinning), I may consider using a concealer to do the rest.

[rdawg]

Alright so I got a quick update and maybe a question.

My hairline looks/feels maybe a touch better, but overall I'm shedding noticeably and my vertex/top of my head feels thinner(maybe looks thinner? But I cant tell a huge difference.).

I've noticed however many others experience a shed around the 3 month timeline, can anyone comment on this? how long did the shed last? and how long til it got better(if it got better?). I hear it's usually a good thing to shed this early.

I've heard of late sheds(like 5-6 months or later) being bad, but has anyone started early and never stopped?

[rdawg]

So just passed month four on the drug and this drug is definitely doing something.

Still no side effects BUT, I'm going through a fairly heavy shed, my hair on top feels thinner(and maybe looks slightly thinner too.) Everytime I comb my hair now a couple hairs drop out.

The positive is, my actual hairline may have improved slightly, more vellus hairs, a few thicker hairs definitely popped up(as I said in the OP, I have alot of vellus hairs in my hairline area), it's just the thinning on top that has gotten worse.

So overall, i'm a little worse on top but slightly better in the hairline. Hopefully this shed ends soon and I actually get some hair back!

anyone else experience a heavy shed and then gain back some thickness?

[unk]

I have the same pattern as you rdawg, though I would say I'm perhaps a NW2A. I'm 23, since around 20 my hair got more annoying to style, until age 21 I was losing hundreds of hairs onto my pages studying for my finals because I had an itchy head (supposedly what happens when you're losing hair right) which became a bad habit to play with my ever crappier hair when I was stressed. I think I was in denial for over a year, I guess I had no clue about MPB age 20/21. Volumizing shampoo's became a must, but my hair was still getting worse, and I was horrified the first time I could see so much scalp on my thinned head after a shower.

Been taking the big 3 since October last year. I have experienced something similar to your current results. I think the front has improved, the sparse new hairs around the hairline and temples give a cosmetic improvement. Though, 12 months ago I thought the thinning was only half way back on my head, whereas now it's all the way to the crown. This could be because they say fin can take several months-a year to begin halting further loss, so perhaps I've only had a few months of stability. Either way I have no real way of monitoring it, except long term results. I buzz cut my head today because I get angry about my hair when it's a normal length for me (an inch on top). It wasn't my first time, but I'm already quite liking it, and I think it feels improved compared to when I last shaved my head. Like you say, if I can maintain where I am for the foreseeable future, I will take that as a win. It's not a deal breaker but getting worse would suck. Halting it would feel like a moral victory against MPB haha. Imagine our friends confusion 10 years from now when we have maintained our hair the same.