24 year old healthy male fighting diffuse hair loss + regime + pictures

[effyouprostate]

Hi everyone, my name is Matt and I am a healthy 24 year white male with straight hair who has been experiencing hair loss for the past few years. I started noticing my hairloss becoming a problem while in my sophomore year in university. I was 21 at the time and was sexually active as I had a girlfriend but also enjoyed masturbating on a weekly basis. At that point, I began noticing hair loss as I was aware of it while working at my office but never thought hairloss would be a problem for me, I was wrong. Hair loss is in my genetics as it occurred on my mothers side of the family (father) and my fathers side. my father has diffuse thinning/frontal thinning but still has some hair remaining.

Fast forward two years and the hair loss remained a growing concern for me as my hair loss since that time has accelerated due to factors such as stress, relationships and potentially my hairs sensitivity to raised levels of DHT from masturbation. I decided to take measures into my own hands and take an active stance in combating my hair problems by starting finasteride this spring in April 2013. At first i noticed while on finasteride that my hair loss became worse over the past 7 months as my temples had receded and my libido seemed to increase. I also began sweating more than usual such as when I am driving or playing video games but this symptom has subsided as of lately. My scalp had became noticably more oily and I have been experiencing chest pains which I believe is due to my overactive adrenal glands. I have speculated there has been an increased production of body hair around my chest and stomach. My body odor has become very musky especially during anxiety and masturbation. I also noticed when I abstained from masturbation (7+ days), my temples would begin to burn and I would get an itching sensation which had led me to believe I experienced an adverse reaction around my frontal hairline. I BELIEVE if you have a high libido (younger males in particular) and have been masturbating for years, your body will require an adjustment period to get use to sexual abstinence as it felt like DHT was building up around my scalp. As well, I have noticed a persistent throbbing sensation in my prostate that is sometimes hard to ignore. I believe I am experiencing symptoms of REFLEX HYPERANDROGENICITY.

My hair loss at this present time is still not that noticeable (only along gaps in my hair between the temples) because I have hidden it by my long hair but its is obvious that DHT has been attacking my hair follicles in the frontal region only. I believe I am currently a 2 on the Norwood scale but can notice that my hair had been getting worse on a daily basis from finasteride. Recently, I have decided to attack my problem from multiple angles by incorporating spironolactone cream (S5) and nizoral 1% into my REGIME. I have been decreasing my dosage of finasteride from 1mg daily to 0.5mg every other day and my hair seems to feel better on the off days as it can rest from the my bodies natural resistance to the drug. Spirolactone feels like it has been working well as I feel like it has relieved inflammation on my hairline as it is less tight. I apply spironolactone twice a day as instructed but it is too early to see any results. I have been applying nizoral 1% on my hairline and scalp every other day (sometimes daily) depending on how my scalp feels. If it feels oily or I feel like it is inflamed, I will use it. I also began using heat/cold therapy which soothes my scalp whenever I feel a burning or itching sensation.

I try to listen to my body signals and respond according to how my scalp feels by taking a proactive approach to alleviating hairloss. I RECOMMEND that everyone do the same to slow down the progression of hair loss. My goal is to regrow hair around my temples and hairline as I feel hair is a form of self-expression and is important for your physical appearance.

I would like to ask what you guys think of my regime and what to add to it or change to improve my results. I also would like to know if any of you members have experienced any form of adverse reaction or symptoms to finasteride that are similar to what I have mentioned and how did you handle the problem?

(Pictures were taken on October 9, 2013. I will keep updating this thread with new photos and my story).

Thank you all for reading and wish you all the best of luck in dealing with this retarded and pointless genetic trait us humans have acquired.:salut:

 

[iFunny]

Hi Matt, your hair looks fine to me, at least, from that picture. Probably you just have a mature hairline.

However, male pattern baldness runs in the family, chances are slightly higher you might have it, but I would suggest you consult your family Doctor on it before jumping on any meds or treatments.

For my case, when it all began years ago, the number of hair loss is extremely high just from combing, shampooing, even when running my hand through. I could not care less at that point of time. I mean who would have thought that I would have hair problem at such a young age. Pretty much similar to what you're saying. I just wanna make a point that you should consult the professionals first before jumping on Fins, Dutas, etc.

Cheers buddy

 

[Raz]

Your hair looks really good in my opinion! I mean, I am not denying you might have some recession there with the temples etc., but from a NW3v diffuse thinner's point of view, it looks pretty much perfect. Thanks for sharing your story and best of luck with the maintaining and or getting some of that hairline back. As it is, even as a professional Norwood-spotter, I wouldn't say you have any hairloss with the way you style your hair in the two thumbnail pics at the end of the post. I do think it's excellent that you're combating this all early on to it (unlike some people, probably including me as well even though I still have a chance to get something like a NW2 back, maybe...) though and I wish you the best of luck. Profiled for updates.

 

[effyouprostate]

Thanks for your reply Raz. I know we will be able to regain the hair that was lost if we both act diligently and I believe it's going to take some changes both mentally and physically before our hair follicles are permanently effected.


From my own experience of hair loss, I believe if you force yourself to not be in a stressful state of mind, it will in turn, produce less androgens and sebum caused by the response to stress. I began noticing hair loss while i put alot of stress on myself while at work involving a strenuous delivery job in a big city and letting minor issues get to my head such as relationships and school. I strongly believe the mental stress you put on yourself has an adverse reaction to your hair. If you can avoid cues that stress you out on a frequent basis or can learn to manage it better, it will help and give time for your hair to regrow from the constant bombardment of hormones.

I also think If a person changes their diet and lay off red meat and high saturated fats, it will also be of benefit as steroid hormones are partially derived from your diet. These areas are where I'm trying to improve right to see if it has any benefit on improving my hair. I mostly eat chicken and almonds for my protein now and try to stay away from simple carbohydrates such as sugary drinks and candy to not interfere with my hormonal levels.

I would like to ask you if you ever felt DHT attacking the hair follicles on your scalp. Did you ever notice any signs of it in action such as itchiness or inflammation? I think I am aware when it's been occurring as my temples begin to burn which I now use cold packs for relief and my hair line starts to becomes itchy. I also sometimes feel stinging pain in concentrated areas. I am not overreacting either because when this happens, my hair each week has becoming thinner and I can see the outcome as I keep track of my hairloss Nizoral has been a huge help in making my scalp feel like it can breathe and reduce the inflammation. Do you think that perhaps your diet has had an underlying effect on your hair such as more hair loss after eating poorly or drinking?

I am not anexpert on hair loss,yet. I have been scowering the Internet for awhile to try to find any advice I could utilize to fight this issue. It's whether people want to try or not and see if it will make a difference on them. Everyone will have to customize their own regime so that it suits their own hair needs. It's a puzzle we must all solve and I'm trying my best to be constructive and try these options to figure out if it doesn't have any effect. Please if you have any information to share I would be grateful if you posted it regarding the routine that best works for you.

 

[Raz]

That's an interesting way to look at it with the stress and everything taken into account. I don't know much about stress-related hair loss, but there might definitely be something in there, too. At the very least, what I can comment on is this part:

I would like to ask you if you ever felt DHT attacking the hair follicles or your scalp. Did you ever notice any signs of it in action such as itchiness or inflammation?

The answer is yes. I do sometimes get the "male pattern baldness-itch", and the itch happens where my hair loss is the most aggressive and or visible, ie. the crown in my case. Getting on finasteride around 10 weeks ago has nigh defeated this itch, along with Nizoral, which I also find to help, as my scalp - like yours - feels like it's "breathing" a bit easier on the nizoral-days. I did get some temporary redness from nizoral as well, mainly because I let it sit in my head for too long, but that settled itself with limiting the time nizoral stays on my scalp by a bit, as well as getting on omega-3 supplementary pills. Nowadays, I rarely get the itch, but I do know what you're talking about.

 

[effyouprostate]

Hey Raz, how often do you use nizoral? I feel compelled to use nizoral 1% every other day and it seems to not make my hair irritable but it does feel dry and perhaps more create dandruff. I am looking to get a topical shampoo for my off-days inbetween nizoral treatments, any suggestions? I was thinking about giving 'tricomin' a shot. I also have been taking omega 3's capsules (around 2 per day) with food which elevates my mood and makes me feel healthier. I also ordered 'rhodiola'- a natural herbal product from a flower that grows in harsh ecosystems which is suppose to reduce fatigue and and give better mental clarity on those rough days. It wont help hair loss directly but will definitely enhance my mood as people say it help resist stress which is a symptom that accelerates hair loss. I will let you if it has any benefits to my wellbeing if you are interested in the upcoming weeks.

 

[effyouprostate]

Hey guys, I've been experiencing some very scary and very real side effects to finasteride that I have been consciously been observing daily within the past 8 months as evidence that finasteride in my case, might be actually doing more harm to me than good. Ive been tapering off this drug aswell from 1mg to .5mg daily but now I am considering dropping my dosage to .5mg every other day because I am WAY worse off than I started but can at least maintain a hairstyle.. When I began taking this drug, I noticed my hair loss wasn't a major issue but I wanted to be proactive to make sure it didn't accelerate. Since starting this drug, the symptoms I noticed have made my hair loss worse as I believe i went from an Norwood 1 to Norwood 2 over the course of 6 months and I think this is a result of an imbalanced hormone profile. I have a healthy diet, non-smoker and exercise so theres no other reason that the rate should have increased.:thumbdown2:

The symptoms I have noticed:

- Recession of hairline and temples
- increased sebum production on scalp
- Increased body hair
- Hair feels much weaker
- Less volume
- Increased libido
- Wet dreams increased. I had 2 wet dreams twice a week for TWO WEEKS NOW
- Buzzing/pulsating/humming feeling near groin
- dripping sensation in groin region often triggered when aroused
- Burning sensation in frontal hairline with excess heat around temples
- Excessive arm pit sweat especially on my right armpit (EVEN FOR NO REASON SOMETIMES :doh
- Weird bowel movements


Any of these symptoms relate to any of your guys situation? It would be very informative to correlate whether or not these are symptoms of rejection or are universal to men that react poorly to the drug because of our body chemistry and if the drug is indeed causing damage to our hair. I believe these symptoms are problematic and are signs that i MIGHT be making things worse being on finasteride. Any information on these adverse symptoms that you read on other forums?

 

[GoldenMane]

DHT inhibition should not result in thinning. The only thing it may do is kick alot of hair follicles into the telogen phase. I would try riding it out and see if it recovers even stronger. Increased long term hairfall is not really a noted side effect of finasteride aside from early shedding