Hey, I just wanted to post my story with some current background. I am considering treatment but haven't started as of now. Probably should have years ago.
I am 29 now, hair loss was probably starting in my late teens to early 20's, noticeable by 22-23. I have strawberry blonde hair, and when I was 20, I dyed my hair jet black. When it started to grow out, a friend of mine commented that it looked like my hair was thinning or I was developing a bald spot. I brushed it off owing to the fact that my hair was black and the new hair growing in was blonde, so obviously it looked that way. My father was 32 when I was born and he has had a bald spot as long as I can remember. His baldness has slowly progressed over the years, although he still maintains some hair up front.
The point I'm at now, I would call my hairloss BAD. At the rate I'm going, I'll consider myself worse off than my father. If not overall, certainly for my age. My father's father had a better head of hair than my father, ironically, although he died of cancer in the 90's.
As said above, my hairloss became pretty frank in my early 20's. I probably should have done something about it then, but was clueless and had other priorities.
One thing I think has contributed to my hairloss is some mild condition of trichotilomania. I never pull my hair out, but starting in high school, anytime I wasn't actively using my hands or generally busy doing something, I would often be idly scratching my head, usually around the crown, e.g. when reading, studying, watching a movie, taking a test, listening to lecture in classes. This has been ongoing ever since high school. I think this has exacerbated my hair loss a lot, which is why I think I'm almost worse off than my dad, in some respects. Also I have a brother who is 20 months older than me, and he is starting to show the signs of hair loss about 2-3 years ago...age 27-28 for him, where as for me it started to show at 23.
One last thing for now...I think I might suffer from BPH. I am seriously considering seeing a doctor or doctors for BPH and/or hairloss, although there don't seem to be any specific doctors for hairloss in my area. I find it interesting that some people report increased urinary frequency from hairloss treatments. If hairloss treatments also conincidentally treat prostate symptoms, I would think that would be opposite. I believe I might have a prostate issue, for which they might prescribe me finasteride. One of the symptoms is that I think I have to pee a lot more frequently than most people I know. If finasteride is supposed to treat that condidtion and improve that symptom, I don't see how it could cause others to pee more, if you're routine is mostly unchanged. Just throwing that out there. (I work in the healthcare field, and have done so for the last 10 years).
So, I guess to wrap I might have 2 questions for now....
If I see a urologist, and he/she confirms I have BPH. The standard treatment is 5mg finasteride every day. male pattern baldness is 1mg per day. If I'm also concerned about male pattern baldness, I would think the 5mg of finasteride would cover that, if not be overkill? I assume I should still expect results if I also get on board with minoxidil & ketoconazole?
Could I talk to the doctor about conservative BPH treatment (if they decide I have that condition) along side my desire to improve/reverse male pattern baldness, and go with less agressive therapy e.g. what a lot of people do for male pattern baldness (~1mg daily)?
Lastly, I'm in the USA. What does anyone know about non-prescription products. Apparently we're not supposed to discuss this in threads, so you guys can feel free to PM me. The links this website sponsors are non prescription apparently, but I thought people said that was cheap. It says like $160 for 3 months. I have health insurance, and I'm pretty sure a generic prescription would be cheaper than that.
Also, how is minoxidil liquid availability vs. foaming shampoo (rogaine). That's one thing I'm torn on if I was to start. Hear so many mixed stories results, specifically about liq vs. shampoo (not minoxidil itself), or people using both.
I truly appreciate any responses if you've read all of this. I get kind of scientific about things. I already have some pre-treatment photos taken, and if I do start treatement, I will update regularly. I also have some photos taken right around or not long after high school with that excellent hairline, although my crown-loss far outweighs my hairline concerns.
I am 29 now, hair loss was probably starting in my late teens to early 20's, noticeable by 22-23. I have strawberry blonde hair, and when I was 20, I dyed my hair jet black. When it started to grow out, a friend of mine commented that it looked like my hair was thinning or I was developing a bald spot. I brushed it off owing to the fact that my hair was black and the new hair growing in was blonde, so obviously it looked that way. My father was 32 when I was born and he has had a bald spot as long as I can remember. His baldness has slowly progressed over the years, although he still maintains some hair up front.
The point I'm at now, I would call my hairloss BAD. At the rate I'm going, I'll consider myself worse off than my father. If not overall, certainly for my age. My father's father had a better head of hair than my father, ironically, although he died of cancer in the 90's.
As said above, my hairloss became pretty frank in my early 20's. I probably should have done something about it then, but was clueless and had other priorities.
One thing I think has contributed to my hairloss is some mild condition of trichotilomania. I never pull my hair out, but starting in high school, anytime I wasn't actively using my hands or generally busy doing something, I would often be idly scratching my head, usually around the crown, e.g. when reading, studying, watching a movie, taking a test, listening to lecture in classes. This has been ongoing ever since high school. I think this has exacerbated my hair loss a lot, which is why I think I'm almost worse off than my dad, in some respects. Also I have a brother who is 20 months older than me, and he is starting to show the signs of hair loss about 2-3 years ago...age 27-28 for him, where as for me it started to show at 23.
One last thing for now...I think I might suffer from BPH. I am seriously considering seeing a doctor or doctors for BPH and/or hairloss, although there don't seem to be any specific doctors for hairloss in my area. I find it interesting that some people report increased urinary frequency from hairloss treatments. If hairloss treatments also conincidentally treat prostate symptoms, I would think that would be opposite. I believe I might have a prostate issue, for which they might prescribe me finasteride. One of the symptoms is that I think I have to pee a lot more frequently than most people I know. If finasteride is supposed to treat that condidtion and improve that symptom, I don't see how it could cause others to pee more, if you're routine is mostly unchanged. Just throwing that out there. (I work in the healthcare field, and have done so for the last 10 years).
So, I guess to wrap I might have 2 questions for now....
If I see a urologist, and he/she confirms I have BPH. The standard treatment is 5mg finasteride every day. male pattern baldness is 1mg per day. If I'm also concerned about male pattern baldness, I would think the 5mg of finasteride would cover that, if not be overkill? I assume I should still expect results if I also get on board with minoxidil & ketoconazole?
Could I talk to the doctor about conservative BPH treatment (if they decide I have that condition) along side my desire to improve/reverse male pattern baldness, and go with less agressive therapy e.g. what a lot of people do for male pattern baldness (~1mg daily)?
Lastly, I'm in the USA. What does anyone know about non-prescription products. Apparently we're not supposed to discuss this in threads, so you guys can feel free to PM me. The links this website sponsors are non prescription apparently, but I thought people said that was cheap. It says like $160 for 3 months. I have health insurance, and I'm pretty sure a generic prescription would be cheaper than that.
Also, how is minoxidil liquid availability vs. foaming shampoo (rogaine). That's one thing I'm torn on if I was to start. Hear so many mixed stories results, specifically about liq vs. shampoo (not minoxidil itself), or people using both.
I truly appreciate any responses if you've read all of this. I get kind of scientific about things. I already have some pre-treatment photos taken, and if I do start treatement, I will update regularly. I also have some photos taken right around or not long after high school with that excellent hairline, although my crown-loss far outweighs my hairline concerns.