I have reached NW3. Beginning of the end. Must Battle Now.

[Conpecia]

Now comes the slow, horrible realization all of us are either facing or have already faced: I am seriously losing my ****ing hair. Without a major breakthrough I am actually going to be bald in about three to five years. I have lost faith in the cutting edge treatments; two years of monitoring snail-paced advancements have led me to believe that we will not see a cure for baldness this decade, and by the time they release anything better than minox or fin I will be NW5 and too far gone to be saved (2015-17). It sucks. I think about it probably once a minute from wake to sleep. It has become the absolute bane of my existence, and my confidence dies a little more each time I feel that MPB itch on my scalp. I was off fin due to sides for a good 6 months and it wreaked absolute havoc on my hairline; I've lost about an inch in 6 months, totally unbelievable. I'm now noticeably thin in the front, and the worst part is that I have such god damn thick and healthy hair in the donor area that my hair always looks terrible and uneven, like I have a forward combover or something.

All this has led me to the conclusion that if I do not hear anything promising from the big hair conference this month (promising=superior treatment no later than winter 2015), I am going to get a hair transplant in 2013. It's a huge decision, and I may regret it if a cure is discovered and the cure doesn't work in transplanted regions (the original follicles being dead instead of dormant), but I am simply not willing to risk youth and wait until 2020 or beyond to deal with this. I am a young, single, decent-looking man, and I fully believe that having hair is more important now. That is not to say it will be unimportant in the future, but I do believe it will be less important at age 47 than age 27, as by then (I hope) I will have a wife and children, and these will be the focus of my life, not myself or my looks.

Ideally, my plan will involve getting a top surgeon for my hairline and frontal area, then supplementing the rest with Gho's technique as needed for the crown and back areas. Again, I'm pretty sure I have the donor area of Christ, so hopefully graft numbers will not be a significant problem at my level of hair loss. In the best case scenario, a treatment will arise that totally stops further loss (should be released long before a treatment that grows hair on slick bald areas is discovered) in the next five to ten years, at which point I can hop on that and ride into the sunset, hair flowing in the wind. If that fails, I'll just keep going back to Gho until all of my donor is used up, and even if I have bald spots behind the hairline, I'd still prefer that to having no hairline; I see lots of diffuse guys with bald areas behind their buzzed hairlines and IMO it looks better than my receding hairline now, were I to buzz my hair.

Anyways, felt like ranting, and this is the place to do so. If all else fails I'll shave my head completely bald, grow a beard, find some large-frame glasses, marry a slightly less attractive girl who likes me for who I am, and move on with my life. But that's only after I've done all I can.

My advice to anyone who is starting to bald and is NW1-NW2.5: get on the Big 3 NOW. You don't want to get this far, trust me.

[inspects]

Conpecia,

This is my first post on this forum after finding the site about two months ago.

I do feel for you and hope you do get some help while your young.

I'm 52 years old, my hair loss started about 15 years ago, I have a very noticeable horseshoe of thinning hair, no bald spots.

I had 2500 FUT grafts done in August, its the best money ever spent, I would say see a good doctor and go for it, especially at your age with good donor hair. After having the procedure I wish I would have looked into HT years ago, hell I didn't even know there were so many people who really cared until I stumbled upon this forum.

Best of luck to you...!

[BigThinker]

Now comes the slow, horrible realization all of us are either facing or have already faced: I am seriously losing my ****ing hair. Without a major breakthrough I am actually going to be bald in about three to five years. I have lost faith in the cutting edge treatments; two years of monitoring snail-paced advancements have led me to believe that we will not see a cure for baldness this decade, and by the time they release anything better than minox or fin I will be NW5 and too far gone to be saved (2015-17). It sucks. I think about it probably once a minute from wake to sleep. It has become the absolute bane of my existence, and my confidence dies a little more each time I feel that MPB itch on my scalp. I was off fin due to sides for a good 6 months and it wreaked absolute havoc on my hairline; I've lost about an inch in 6 months, totally unbelievable. I'm now noticeably thin in the front, and the worst part is that I have such god damn thick and healthy hair in the donor area that my hair always looks terrible and uneven, like I have a forward combover or something.

All this has led me to the conclusion that if I do not hear anything promising from the big hair conference this month (promising=superior treatment no later than winter 2015), I am going to get a hair transplant in 2013. It's a huge decision, and I may regret it if a cure is discovered and the cure doesn't work in transplanted regions (the original follicles being dead instead of dormant), but I am simply not willing to risk youth and wait until 2020 or beyond to deal with this. I am a young, single, decent-looking man, and I fully believe that having hair is more important now. That is not to say it will be unimportant in the future, but I do believe it will be less important at age 47 than age 27, as by then (I hope) I will have a wife and children, and these will be the focus of my life, not myself or my looks.

Ideally, my plan will involve getting a top surgeon for my hairline and frontal area, then supplementing the rest with Gho's technique as needed for the crown and back areas. Again, I'm pretty sure I have the donor area of Christ, so hopefully graft numbers will not be a significant problem at my level of hair loss. In the best case scenario, a treatment will arise that totally stops further loss (should be released long before a treatment that grows hair on slick bald areas is discovered) in the next five to ten years, at which point I can hop on that and ride into the sunset, hair flowing in the wind. If that fails, I'll just keep going back to Gho until all of my donor is used up, and even if I have bald spots behind the hairline, I'd still prefer that to having no hairline; I see lots of diffuse guys with bald areas behind their buzzed hairlines and IMO it looks better than my receding hairline now, were I to buzz my hair.

Anyways, felt like ranting, and this is the place to do so. If all else fails I'll shave my head completely bald, grow a beard, find some large-frame glasses, marry a slightly less attractive girl who likes me for who I am, and move on with my life. But that's only after I've done all I can.

My advice to anyone who is starting to bald and is NW1-NW2.5: get on the Big 3 NOW. You don't want to get this far, trust me.

Sorry to hear that bro... What NW were you when you started intervention? I'm prob a NW1.5 or so, just started keto and actually notice some hairs budding at my hairline, but could just be my imagination... next step in fin.. gotta make it 20 more days until my derm appointment.

[yeahyeahyeah]

Now comes the slow, horrible realization all of us are either facing or have already faced: I am seriously losing my ****ing hair. Without a major breakthrough I am actually going to be bald in about three to five years. I have lost faith in the cutting edge treatments; two years of monitoring snail-paced advancements have led me to believe that we will not see a cure for baldness this decade, and by the time they release anything better than minox or fin I will be NW5 and too far gone to be saved (2015-17). It sucks. I think about it probably once a minute from wake to sleep. It has become the absolute bane of my existence, and my confidence dies a little more each time I feel that MPB itch on my scalp. I was off fin due to sides for a good 6 months and it wreaked absolute havoc on my hairline; I've lost about an inch in 6 months, totally unbelievable. I'm now noticeably thin in the front, and the worst part is that I have such god damn thick and healthy hair in the donor area that my hair always looks terrible and uneven, like I have a forward combover or something.

All this has led me to the conclusion that if I do not hear anything promising from the big hair conference this month (promising=superior treatment no later than winter 2015), I am going to get a hair transplant in 2013. It's a huge decision, and I may regret it if a cure is discovered and the cure doesn't work in transplanted regions (the original follicles being dead instead of dormant), but I am simply not willing to risk youth and wait until 2020 or beyond to deal with this. I am a young, single, decent-looking man, and I fully believe that having hair is more important now. That is not to say it will be unimportant in the future, but I do believe it will be less important at age 47 than age 27, as by then (I hope) I will have a wife and children, and these will be the focus of my life, not myself or my looks.

Ideally, my plan will involve getting a top surgeon for my hairline and frontal area, then supplementing the rest with Gho's technique as needed for the crown and back areas. Again, I'm pretty sure I have the donor area of Christ, so hopefully graft numbers will not be a significant problem at my level of hair loss. In the best case scenario, a treatment will arise that totally stops further loss (should be released long before a treatment that grows hair on slick bald areas is discovered) in the next five to ten years, at which point I can hop on that and ride into the sunset, hair flowing in the wind. If that fails, I'll just keep going back to Gho until all of my donor is used up, and even if I have bald spots behind the hairline, I'd still prefer that to having no hairline; I see lots of diffuse guys with bald areas behind their buzzed hairlines and IMO it looks better than my receding hairline now, were I to buzz my hair.

Anyways, felt like ranting, and this is the place to do so. If all else fails I'll shave my head completely bald, grow a beard, find some large-frame glasses, marry a slightly less attractive girl who likes me for who I am, and move on with my life. But that's only after I've done all I can.

My advice to anyone who is starting to bald and is NW1-NW2.5: get on the Big 3 NOW. You don't want to get this far, trust me.

Are you on meds, if so how are they working?

And yes - go for the HT and use gho to fill the other areas in.

You need all the confidence you can get in your 20s.

I feel EXACTLY the same way.

[Conpecia]

Conpecia,

This is my first post on this forum after finding the site about two months ago.

I do feel for you and hope you do get some help while your young.

I'm 52 years old, my hair loss started about 15 years ago, I have a very noticeable horseshoe of thinning hair, no bald spots.

I had 2500 FUT grafts done in August, its the best money ever spent, I would say see a good doctor and go for it, especially at your age with good donor hair. After having the procedure I wish I would have looked into HT years ago, hell I didn't even know there were so many people who really cared until I stumbled upon this forum.

Best of luck to you...!

Thank you for the encouragement! It's definitely been a tough time the past couple years, but I'm grateful to have found this forum where I can connect with people who are going through the same thing, and where I can get good information about upcoming treatments, good HT docs, etc. I absolutely believe there will be a superior treatment for hairloss released within the next decade, but there's just no indication that something is on the way NOW, like within the next year or two. I don't want to wait three years and then learn that we're still another three years away. When I first discovered BTT I was so amazed to hear about stuff like Replicel, Aderans, and Histogen, but now I see just how far away we really are. By the time this stuff makes it through testing I will have already lost most of my hair. In my opinion it's better to get a top of the line HT now in the frontal region and try to maintain, rather than losing time and staying NW3 or worse. I'm going to do a lot of research on HTs obviously, but at the end of the day I'm just not confident about these cutting edge treatments being released anytime soon. Again, I'm waiting until November to see what the October conference holds. But this time last year I was considering a HT and was advised to "stick it out until spring 2012 when the Replicel results were released." I listened and we were burned by a company who had been bullshitting us and then put nothing on the table. No way I'm letting that happen again. No way.

[clandestine]

Hey Conpecia; curious why you're reluctant to try RU?

[Conpecia]

Sorry to hear that bro... What NW were you when you started intervention? I'm prob a NW1.5 or so, just started keto and actually notice some hairs budding at my hairline, but could just be my imagination... next step in fin.. gotta make it 20 more days until my derm appointment.

I was around NW1.5 when I started. Was on fin alone from 2006-11, worked wonders on the crown, hairline slowly crept back though. If I had added Nizoral and Rogaine I'd probably still have all my hair. Def get on fin man, it's the most important.

[Conpecia]

Are you on meds, if so how are they working?

And yes - go for the HT and use gho to fill the other areas in.

You need all the confidence you can get in your 20s.

I feel EXACTLY the same way.

I'm on fin .25 mg EOD, all I can handle without sides (gynecomastia, prostate pain, epididymitis). Nizoral 2% 1x/week. Seems to have stabilized my crown. Hairline is fading fast, as are temples.

I'm really hoping Gho's technique makes it to the USA in the next 5 years. Probably going with Feriduni or Rahal on the HT, 2500 grafts at most unless I lose a lot more hair in the next year, which is possible. I have very thick hair so I should get good coverage from that. I'm looking for a strong hairline, and I've seen great results from both of those surgeons. Once I'm satisfied with the frontal end, I'll get Gho touchups on the other areas as needed, since I should have at least 4-5K left over, which can be repeatedly used (supposing Hasci works) until a treatment comes out that halts all further loss. I find it very difficult to believe that all of these companies are going to strike out forever.

Seriously, the best method I can think of right now is to get the HT and supplement with HASCI until either Bimatoprost, Histogen, Replicel, or whatever Costarellis is working on comes through and totally stops baldness, which should happen in the next decade. Best plan available at the moment.

As for the youth factor, I think most people will agree with you and I. If I see a 50+ year old man with a receding hairline, I never, ever think "Oh man he is going bald." Just seems natural, part of the aging process. That's not to take anything away from the older guys around here. Baldness sucks at any age, and I would get an HT at 70 if it made me feel better. But seeing a younger guy like Jude Law or Prince William go bald is much more noticeable and pitiable. It's getting robbed of youth, and modern society has really made it unacceptable to be bald in one's 20s.

[yeahyeahyeah]

I'm on fin .25 mg EOD, all I can handle without sides (gynecomastia, prostate pain, epididymitis). Nizoral 2% 1x/week. Seems to have stabilized my crown. Hairline is fading fast, as are temples.

I'm really hoping Gho's technique makes it to the USA in the next 5 years. Probably going with Feriduni or Rahal on the HT, 2500 grafts at most unless I lose a lot more hair in the next year, which is possible. I have very thick hair so I should get good coverage from that. I'm looking for a strong hairline, and I've seen great results from both of those surgeons. Once I'm satisfied with the frontal end, I'll get Gho touchups on the other areas as needed, since I should have at least 4-5K left over, which can be repeatedly used (supposing Hasci works) until a treatment comes out that halts all further loss. I find it very difficult to believe that all of these companies are going to strike out forever.

Seriously, the best method I can think of right now is to get the HT and supplement with HASCI until either Bimatoprost, Histogen, Replicel, or whatever Costarellis is working on comes through and totally stops baldness, which should happen in the next decade. Best plan available at the moment.

As for the youth factor, I think most people will agree with you and I. If I see a 50+ year old man with a receding hairline, I never, ever think "Oh man he is going bald." Just seems natural, part of the aging process. That's not to take anything away from the older guys around here. Baldness sucks at any age, and I would get an HT at 70 if it made me feel better. But seeing a younger guy like Jude Law or Prince William go bald is much more noticeable and pitiable. It's getting robbed of youth, and modern society has really made it unacceptable to be bald in one's 20s.

Does .25 propecia work? I am thinking of starting a low dose of fin in the near future.

Currently my loss is only at the temples, hairline. Very thick hair everywhere else.

The thing with HASCI is that it is unproven - if it turns out he is not regenerating hairs constantly then we are screwed.

[Conpecia]

Hey Conpecia; curious why you're reluctant to try RU?

I am considering RU, but from my understanding it will only stop hairloss and will not induce regrowth. Also, I'm waiting for reports on efficacy from you guys who are trying it out on here. Then there's the possibility of sides. I'm very sensitive to propecia, as you know. Finally, there's a slight hesitancy to try something the long term safety of which hasn't been determined by a federal regulatory agency. It's more of me being a worrier than anything scientific though.

Even after the HT I will need to stop further loss, and RU just may do the trick. My plan is to get on it around January or February if you and others have good results.

[Conpecia]

Does .25 propecia work? I am thinking of starting a low dose of fin in the near future.

Currently my loss is only at the temples, hairline. Very thick hair everywhere else.

The thing with HASCI is that it is unproven - if it turns out he is not regenerating hairs constantly then we are screwed.

Yeah .25 has stopped the shedding big time. I may bump it up to .5 in a month if I experience no sides, just to play it safe.

How old are you? If you're over 25 and not thinning everywhere else you may be able to save what you have with fin, regrow with minox or else get some hairline work and be set. I'm going bald in the crown too, so if hasci fails I'll definitely be in bigger trouble.

[yeahyeahyeah]

Yeah .25 has stopped the shedding big time. I may bump it up to .5 in a month if I experience no sides, just to play it safe.

How old are you? If you're over 25 and not thinning everywhere else you may be able to save what you have with fin, regrow with minox or else get some hairline work and be set. I'm going bald in the crown too, so if hasci fails I'll definitely be in bigger trouble.

I will be 27 in december.

My older bro who is going to be 28 in jan, has exactly the same hairloss pattern without any thinning.

Isn't .25 propecia maintaining what you have?

[Dan26]

Hey bro. I'm a NW2-2.5, planning to get on fin at 0.25 EOD after getting blood/hormone/semen analysis done first. Hoping it stabilizes my crown. I really think RU is worth trying for you man, I am getting it to use on my hairline/front. With KB solution as a new vehical the systemic sides are low. I know it sucks man but honeslty if there comes a time within the decade where you can buy your own full head of hair (whether it be HT will unlimted donor) or some combo of anti-androgens, growth factors and PD2 moudlaters, who gives a shit if you are already bald. This whole bald stigma is not really a big deal anymore, SOO many people get HT's nowadays, and when there are better solutions that are marketed as 'cures' the stigma will be further crushed. Im just trying to live my life not worrying to much about my hair, but still fighting to stop my loss. May even shave my head in the near future for a couple months to try it out and to go on an intense topical regimen if fin and RU does not help me. Peace brother dont let this get you down.

BTW, I should be gettign RU in the next couple weeks. I'll let you know how it works for my hairline. I'm sure you know propecia raises testosterone and testosterone can effect your hairline, not just DHT like with the rest of your head (minus donor area of course). I've been plotting for a while now before I finally made my moves lol, and having an antiandrogen (that blocks T also) in hand in case fin ****s up my hairline was always part of the plan!

[Conpecia]

I will be 27 in december.

My older bro who is going to be 28 in jan, has exactly the same hairloss pattern without any thinning.

Isn't .25 propecia maintaining what you have?

I dunno, definitely stopped my shedding but hairline may still be slipping away, only been back on .25 for about two months after a six month stretch of no meds due to sides, I'll have a better idea after Xmas.

[Conpecia]

Hey bro. I'm a NW2-2.5, planning to get on fin at 0.25 EOD after getting blood/hormone/semen analysis done first. Hoping it stabilizes my crown. I really think RU is worth trying for you man, I am getting it to use on my hairline/front. With KB solution as a new vehical the systemic sides are low. I know it sucks man but honeslty if there comes a time within the decade where you can buy your own full head of hair (whether it be HT will unlimted donor) or some combo of anti-androgens, growth factors and PD2 moudlaters, who gives a shit if you are already bald. This whole bald stigma is not really a big deal anymore, SOO many people get HT's nowadays, and when there are better solutions that are marketed as 'cures' the stigma will be further crushed. Im just trying to live my life not worrying to much about my hair, but still fighting to stop my loss. May even shave my head in the near future for a couple months to try it out and to go on an intense topical regimen if fin and RU does not help me. Peace brother dont let this get you down.

BTW, I should be gettign RU in the next couple weeks. I'll let you know how it works for my hairline. I'm sure you know propecia raises testosterone and testosterone can effect your hairline, not just DHT like with the rest of your head (minus donor area of course). I've been plotting for a while now before I finally made my moves lol, and having an antiandrogen (that blocks T also) in hand in case fin ****s up my hairline was always part of the plan!

I like your attitude. Definitely better to be bald now than 20 yrs ago. I'll hop on RU if it looks like you guys are benefitting from it in January or so.

The day I can know for certain that I beat baldness is gonna be one of the best days I'll ever have. Gonna grow my hair so long. Or maybe I'll just slick it back Leo Dicaprio style, real classy. Haven't been able to do that since I was like 15, always had some slight recession. I really have no other complaints physically, everything else is fine except the hairloss. And I agree with you, it's gonna get nailed soon, just a matter of time. Can't wait.