26 and balding.. seriously depressed

[tc87]

Hello All,

I thought I would update everyone on my progress; I have been on generic finasteride (roughly 1.25mg) every day for about 3 and a bit months, and been on rogaine foam once a day for about 5 and a half months, and to be honest i have seen no results. If anything i think my hair is now worse off!. I cant help but feel very down and helpless about it all. I have attached pictures i took today, the first few are in day light right after a shower and the last one is dry hair under bright light. I'm seriously considering a hair transplant as i just keep loosing hair! I also think rogaine has made my hair worse but am scared to come off it as I will loose more hair!



Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[CursedMen]

Switch from Rogaine foam to liquid Minoxidil; it is cheaper, and I believe penetrates skin better. Also, people seem to forget that regrowing hair is a slow process. It can take a couple years of treatments to show the most improvement. A fair amount of people tend to lose hair for several months, ending up below baseline, before it starts to improve. The key is to keep on going.

 

[BigTexasSexy]

Couldn't agree more with Cursed. I want Rogaine to become completely irrelevant because the liquid is just so much better. A 6 months supply is like $30 too, cheap stuff. Best of luck to you

 

[tc87]

thanks guys - I tried min. liquid (Kirkland) but it gave me terrible scalp irritation - is there a difference between Kirkland and Rogaine liquid? I'm wondering as it may be that Kirkland use more alcohol in theirs? I will persevere with treatment for another year or so, but if I don't see any changes, I'm seriously considering a hair transplant, am I good candidate? How many grafts do you think I'll need?

 

[Da Crow]

It's the propylene glycol, I experienced some breakout/irritation from it as well. Picked up tribooster off ebay, but there are other formulas without PG as well.

 

[GoldenMane]

Yeah I'd say you are a good candidate, if you can maintain on finasteride. minoxidil liquid is much better at recahing your scalp than the foam

 

[tc87]

Thanks guys. I forgot to mention that I'm having terrible side effects from finasteride. My libido is low, and erection is weak. I was hoping that my body adjusts to taking finasteride, but there seems to be no sign of sides going away. I'm scared to come of finasteride as I'll start loosing more hair.. Any thoughts? Shall I lower the dosage? Or try powering through and hope the sides go away?

 

[BeardedOne]

You could try lowering the dosage of finasteride. I cut up a 5mg tablet as much as I can, usually 6/7 pieces. You could try even more, or take a portion every other day. Studies have shown that something like .2mg of finasteride is almost as effective as 1mg. Bottom line is I agree with everyone else here, you have to keep on your regimen, if you can deal with the sides then I would believe you have a great chance to regrow hair - diffuse thinners tend to do better with finasteride.

As for the minoxidil liquid, I read somewhere there are different inactive ingredients in kirkland and in rogaine. I used to be irritated by kirkland so I switched to rogaine, I use the foam in the morning and the liquid at night, and there's no irritation anymore.

 

[tc87]

Hello all

I thought I would give you an update of my progress (or lack of). I have been on rogaine/minoxidil liquid once a day since November, and on generic finasteride 1 mg since December and to be honest I have seen no re growth, and to be honest I continue to loose hair. I'm pretty sure that I have lost more hair as it seems fair thinner than before.

i am pretty down about it all, the least I was hoping was to maintain my hair, but it has worsen! I have recently switched to branded proscar and cutting in to 1/5, in a hope that may be it was because I was using generic finasteride that my hair was still falling out.

Any advice/ tips? I'm pretty down about it all!

thanks

 

[Diffuser44]

Are you sure you didn't just experience a second shed? Give it a year. Did you see a dermatologist to confirm its male pattern baldness and not some deficiency of some sort?

 

[tc87]

I'm not sure if i'm experiencing another shed. To be honest, i have nt really seen the hair stop falling. I'm pretty sure its male pattern baldness.

I few months back i started using liquid Min once a day, any applying to the front of my hair, can this be the reason i'm seeing a worsening situation? Also, I have now started branded proscar, as a pose to generic finasteride, as i guess it will give me piece of mind. \\

Anyway i have attached picture under bright light, a week after a hair cut, parted. As you can see my front is thing. Also, i just noticed that my side (i.e. were i parted my hair) is also thin, which i never really noted before... I'm quite down about it all! At the least i was expecting to retain my hair...

 

[tc87]

Anyone out there with advice? Why am I still loosing hair despite being on finasteride for six months? Could it be that I was using generic? Or has the impact worn off due to me being on and off it over the past few years?

Thanks

 

[eenrak]

Do you get your finasteride with or without a script? There is an off chance that Internet bought finasteride might be fake.
Have you been consistent with finasteride and minoxidil? To see results you need to be really consistent.

You will never stop shedding some hair. That is a natural process. You have to compare to the growth amount and rate.

Perhaps it is too early to tell, perhaps you are not responding optimally. Time will tell. Due to your pattern, maybe it takes longer to see results. I mean, I first saw results in my hairline. Since the hairline is not surrounded by hair, I could see clear results, but not on top, since the hairs need to thicken and grow a lot longer to be noticeable.

Are you applying to the hairline?

 

[Da Crow]

You could let it grow out to cover up the thinner hairs and/or new hairs growing in, in the meantime.

I personally would mow it down to a .5 or 1 and watch the grass grow fresh.

Allows you a complete external perspective of your skullscape, and of course makes applyIng topicals like some lotion

 

[disfiguredyoungman]

Just get some cabooki to camouflage your thin spots until you see some results, that will give a more peaceful mind.

All the best to you bro.