24M, significant diffuse thinning and receding hairline - is this salvageable?

[RagnarLothbrok]

I seen this happen literally to every hyper-responder that starts at NW4+ (including myself). Initial 6 month regrowth is insane but after a couple sheds things take a few steps back. Also most people who hyper respond start being a bit more lazy with needling and minoxidil commitment, start changing treatments too often... (myself included).

My theory is that first-time minoxidil + needling is such a strong WNT upregulation that the follicles go into massive growth mode whats why you see all those hyper-responder cases but once you are not at minoxidil newbie gains and your scalp can't mantain such high levels of stimulation DHT starts f*****g you over again on next hair cycles.

Anyway the good news is that you can still improve again, I had really similar story to you and now 1.5 years later im starting to improve again after taking it more serious. This time I'm not ever relaxing regardless of my hair state. Consistency is key to improve every single hair cycle.

 

[welshman123]

What happened?

Stopped using topical min like a donkey - thought oral alone was ok

 

[welshman123]

Today after shaving 2 days ago . Feel like it looks better already, about 5 weeks since restarting topical min

 

[welshman123]

These are both from the 9th July.

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

Looks like some improvement ! (although lighting is more harsh in the previous ones)

So whats your protocol now? 2.5mg OM + topical + microneedling? (and didnt finasteride>dutasteride I assume)

 

[welshman123]

Looks like some improvement ! (although lighting is more harsh in the previous ones)

So whats your protocol now? 2.5mg OM + topical + microneedling? (and didnt finasteride>dutasteride I assume)

Yeah it’s been 2.5mg OM and topical min twice a day. finasteride 1mg daily. Weekly 1.5mm needling

 

[welshman123]

update, still back to the original routine - topical min liquid 2x a day
1mg finasteride every day
Needle weekly (had few weeks off as I was on holiday)

 

[BurningCoals]

update, still back to the original routine - topical min liquid 2x a day
1mg finasteride every day
Needle weekly (had few weeks off as I was on holiday)

Amazing how much hair length changes everything.

 

[welshman123]

Update

 

[RagnarLothbrok]

another case of someone with diffusse thinning switching from topical to oral and regressing... oh boy. Too scared to stop topical even if I hate it.


https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/wopygy

 

[dani500]

another case of someone with diffusse thinning switching from topical to oral and regressing... oh boy. Too scared to stop topical even if I hate it.


https://www.reddit.com/r/tressless/comments/wopygy

Not really good reference. DUPA is curse beyond Androgenetic Alopecia. Its gods way of saying he hates you. That guy would still lose on HRT judging by looks of it.

 

[welshman123]

Not really good reference. DUPA is curse beyond Androgenetic Alopecia. Its gods way of saying he hates you. That guy would still lose on HRT judging by looks of it.

It isn't DUPA. It's diffuse thinning.

 

[dani500]

It isn't DUPA. It's diffuse thinning.

Im referencing the guy from the post. He literally says he has dupa. Which is thinning of whole head and he even mentioned thats the reason hair systems/hair transplants are out of question.

btw we have same hairloss pattern, im just less aggressive. But you seem to recover more easily then me. Anyway I would suggest adding RU its as good as trans regime for me (yes i tried it, im not proud).

 

[welshman123]

Im referencing the guy from the post. He literally says he has dupa. Which is thinning of whole head and he even mentioned thats the reason hair systems/hair transplants are out of question.

btw we have same hairloss pattern, im just less aggressive. But you seem to recover more easily then me. Anyway I would suggest adding RU its as good as trans regime for me (yes i tried it, im not proud).

Oh, I understand. You've tried RU? How do you find RU and dutasteride in terms of effectiveness?

 

[coco_304]

I regained most when I added bicalutamide oral to my daily dutasteride.

View attachment 183112View attachment 183113
Its like oral RU, but ofc becuase its oral/systemic i grew tits and had higher bodyfat etc. as it affects whole body (no significant facial feminization fortunately).
Anyway I switched to RU and it worked atleast as good as bicalutamide and even better because its topical it didnt give any sides no matter the dose. There are atleast 3 people known to me here that transitioned from these extreme trans regimes (spironolactone/bica/cypro) to RU + dutasteride/finasteride and they all maintained or gained more ground. (Jgray,noah,KSA)

finasteride + RU is probably as effective thats what KSA used.
View attachment 183110 And keep in mind he used all 3 main oral antiandrogens for 1+ year each and said “this was by far most effective combo in long time”.
Reason i tried RU last because I saw no proof of success but lately I’ve seen good stories on discord and tressless.
Example of one:
View attachment 183111

How much bica did you use ?

 

[welshman123]

update from today. ?improvements

 

[welshman123]

i think it's still better than where we started, so i can't really complain. it is what it is haha

 

[Captainboss]

It looks like you have fully recovered again. It's crazy how well you respond to topical. Great results again.

 

[Kartezor]

how are you currently? post photo and keep updated!

 

[Will Be an Egg in 5 years]

You're still a great responder