Hello everybody,
I would like to share with you with my hair loss treatment results. I am 22 years old right now and I have been struggling with hair loss in the frontal part of my scalp for about 2 years, approximately 7 months ago the vertex also began to thin. The balding process commenced during my first year of studies. Initially I was certain that this must have been a result of relocation, change of surrounding and it is just a temporary reversible hair fall. As I can recall during that time I was losing a substantial amount of hair, I could also notice the temples formation but the middle part of the scalp was in good shape. I took action and tried to find out more about this irritating problem. I started to apply Minoxidil 5% to the temple area only, I also added vitamin supplements to my diet (Merz Special) and Revita shampoo. I have had a really good regrowth but I didn’t want to get dependant on this drug, the hair condition was really satisfactory so I decided to stop taking it, before I was gradually decreasing the doses for 2 months. With hindsight I know what mistake I’ve made – both giving up on minoxidil treatment and using it without DHT inhibitor was a huge error, with I could turn back time ... The outcome 6 months later – I’m not going to expand on it, just look at the photos ... What made me shocked was the fact that I also started to recede in the middle part of the scalp where I’ve never applied minoxidil before. The whole process from good hair coverage to what you can see took no more than 3 months in the winter –my case is a perfect example of what happens if you give up on minoxidil without taking Propecia.
It was the time I realised how complicated the situation became. It was surprising, ununderstandable and inexplainable as I have no family history record of male pattern baldness – both my grandfather and grandgrandfather from my mother’s side had heads full of hairs without any signs of hair loss (grandgrandfather who passed away at the age of 98 had better hair than I did 6 months ago). As far as my father’s side is concerned both my father and grandfather have so called „high forehead†but it applies to frontal part of the scalp only, their vertex is absolutely intact.
I wanted to confirm that the background of my hair fall is androgenic and eliminate another possible factors. Blood test results: Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Iron – all figures were right, morphology and vitamins – alike. Thyroid comprehensive tests results – everything perfect.
Being aware of my deplorable situation I have plucked up the courage and finally decided to take Propecia – I was really frightened after reading the articles and reviews on websites like propeciahelp about its impact and side effects but reached the climax when I didn’t care what will happen - the thing I knew was that I am not going to be bald at the age of 22 and need to do my utmost to stop it at any cost. As I took it my hair fall stopped immediately, during the 6 month period I have had no shedding at all. My look are substantially thicker and fuller. I can also discern (plenty of vellus non-pigmented hair sprouting from the scalp which do not provide me with coverage yet but I hope that over the time they will reinforce and turn into terminal hair (at least some of them).
To make it short my current regimen:
I have also tried Saw Palmetto for a short time but I eventually decided there is no point in combining it with finasteride to combat DHT. As far as minoxidil is concerned I only use in frontal part of the scalp, I do not apply it to vertex so the regrowth I’ve had in the back should be attributed to finasteride at most. I have no side effects, I am very excited and satisfied with my achievements so far.
However there is something what makes me very annoyed – these are my non symetric temples what you can see in the photo (in the mirror the contrast is even larger, it is difficult to reflect it in the photograph). The left one is larger than the right, I know that finasteride usually doesn’t boost temples regrowth and I should be grateful for what it did for me overall, in fact I have some regrowth over there (it is more a minoxidil merit I guess) but the hairline is very rough and even if it improves it still won’t look estetic because there are areas in the front where there are no hairs growing at all. That’s why I am seriously considering a small FUE hairtransplant in one-two years perspective. I know that some of you will condemn me for that saying I am too young, your hair loss pattern is not determined yet, you don’t know how it will progress in the future etc. I am aware of the risk that the donor is not unlimited but even assuming that I will lack out of it to cover vertex in the future with the well-designed hairline and short haircut the bald vertex is not going to look better than totally bald head . Apart from my head donor I have a abundance of body hair on my arms and the chest so BHT will be an option for it too. I don’t want myself neither to downgrade to NW0 nor to get rid of the temples totally (small temples are masculine in fact
) but to have a reasonably designed hairline which just looks normal in the front, for the time being the awful fringe I have makes me very frustrated.
As I said I know that the surgery is generally not recommended for patients in my age. In September I went for a consulation with Dr ******** in Warsaw and he turned me down as a hair transplant candidate. I’m not going to go into details, in short he explained his view in a very professional but adamant way saying that there is no way he performs a hair transplant at patient of my age with this type of hair loss, he also indicated that I have a miniaturisation in my donor. I understand and respect his point of view but I am not going to sit down, be passive about it and wait until I reach 30 to act, life is too short for waiting that long at the best age in my life.
With regards to my progress and current situation I have a number of questions to the friends taking Finasteride for many years and those who have undergone a hair transplant surgery:
Thank you in advance for your replies.
I would like to share with you with my hair loss treatment results. I am 22 years old right now and I have been struggling with hair loss in the frontal part of my scalp for about 2 years, approximately 7 months ago the vertex also began to thin. The balding process commenced during my first year of studies. Initially I was certain that this must have been a result of relocation, change of surrounding and it is just a temporary reversible hair fall. As I can recall during that time I was losing a substantial amount of hair, I could also notice the temples formation but the middle part of the scalp was in good shape. I took action and tried to find out more about this irritating problem. I started to apply Minoxidil 5% to the temple area only, I also added vitamin supplements to my diet (Merz Special) and Revita shampoo. I have had a really good regrowth but I didn’t want to get dependant on this drug, the hair condition was really satisfactory so I decided to stop taking it, before I was gradually decreasing the doses for 2 months. With hindsight I know what mistake I’ve made – both giving up on minoxidil treatment and using it without DHT inhibitor was a huge error, with I could turn back time ... The outcome 6 months later – I’m not going to expand on it, just look at the photos ... What made me shocked was the fact that I also started to recede in the middle part of the scalp where I’ve never applied minoxidil before. The whole process from good hair coverage to what you can see took no more than 3 months in the winter –my case is a perfect example of what happens if you give up on minoxidil without taking Propecia.
It was the time I realised how complicated the situation became. It was surprising, ununderstandable and inexplainable as I have no family history record of male pattern baldness – both my grandfather and grandgrandfather from my mother’s side had heads full of hairs without any signs of hair loss (grandgrandfather who passed away at the age of 98 had better hair than I did 6 months ago). As far as my father’s side is concerned both my father and grandfather have so called „high forehead†but it applies to frontal part of the scalp only, their vertex is absolutely intact.
I wanted to confirm that the background of my hair fall is androgenic and eliminate another possible factors. Blood test results: Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Iron – all figures were right, morphology and vitamins – alike. Thyroid comprehensive tests results – everything perfect.
Being aware of my deplorable situation I have plucked up the courage and finally decided to take Propecia – I was really frightened after reading the articles and reviews on websites like propeciahelp about its impact and side effects but reached the climax when I didn’t care what will happen - the thing I knew was that I am not going to be bald at the age of 22 and need to do my utmost to stop it at any cost. As I took it my hair fall stopped immediately, during the 6 month period I have had no shedding at all. My look are substantially thicker and fuller. I can also discern (plenty of vellus non-pigmented hair sprouting from the scalp which do not provide me with coverage yet but I hope that over the time they will reinforce and turn into terminal hair (at least some of them).
To make it short my current regimen:
- Finasteride (at the beginning Propecia for three months, afterwards quarterted Proscar)
- Minoxidil (Loxon 5%)
- Ketokonazole (Revita shampoo, as I have it in a large bottle when I travel I use Nizoral instead)
- Merz Special (1 pill in the morning) and Vitapil (good biotine content before going to sleep)
- Nettle root and Epilobium parviflorum herbs mix (I prepare a tea in a teapot twice a day)
I have also tried Saw Palmetto for a short time but I eventually decided there is no point in combining it with finasteride to combat DHT. As far as minoxidil is concerned I only use in frontal part of the scalp, I do not apply it to vertex so the regrowth I’ve had in the back should be attributed to finasteride at most. I have no side effects, I am very excited and satisfied with my achievements so far.
However there is something what makes me very annoyed – these are my non symetric temples what you can see in the photo (in the mirror the contrast is even larger, it is difficult to reflect it in the photograph). The left one is larger than the right, I know that finasteride usually doesn’t boost temples regrowth and I should be grateful for what it did for me overall, in fact I have some regrowth over there (it is more a minoxidil merit I guess) but the hairline is very rough and even if it improves it still won’t look estetic because there are areas in the front where there are no hairs growing at all. That’s why I am seriously considering a small FUE hairtransplant in one-two years perspective. I know that some of you will condemn me for that saying I am too young, your hair loss pattern is not determined yet, you don’t know how it will progress in the future etc. I am aware of the risk that the donor is not unlimited but even assuming that I will lack out of it to cover vertex in the future with the well-designed hairline and short haircut the bald vertex is not going to look better than totally bald head . Apart from my head donor I have a abundance of body hair on my arms and the chest so BHT will be an option for it too. I don’t want myself neither to downgrade to NW0 nor to get rid of the temples totally (small temples are masculine in fact
) but to have a reasonably designed hairline which just looks normal in the front, for the time being the awful fringe I have makes me very frustrated. As I said I know that the surgery is generally not recommended for patients in my age. In September I went for a consulation with Dr ******** in Warsaw and he turned me down as a hair transplant candidate. I’m not going to go into details, in short he explained his view in a very professional but adamant way saying that there is no way he performs a hair transplant at patient of my age with this type of hair loss, he also indicated that I have a miniaturisation in my donor. I understand and respect his point of view but I am not going to sit down, be passive about it and wait until I reach 30 to act, life is too short for waiting that long at the best age in my life.
With regards to my progress and current situation I have a number of questions to the friends taking Finasteride for many years and those who have undergone a hair transplant surgery:
- How long do you think I will be able to maintain the hair I have using finasteride of course? 10-15 years? I’ve read that over the time it sometimes loses efficiency but do you think I will be able to halt the balding process until I am 35-40? Maybe dutasteride in the future will be an option?
- How many grafts would I need to cover the area which I outlined in the last photo at present?
- Is there anything else you would recommend me to add to my current regimen?
Thank you in advance for your replies.