3 month results on Big 3 and counting (Early 20s with Diffuse Thinning)

[bluejay]

6 months-and-counting results on Big (Early 20s with Diffuse Thinning)

I'm 22 and have been diffuse thinning on top since 19 with the last year being particularly rough. So I'm currently on the Big 3.

Obviously I could have never expected this much regrowth after such a short period of time in my wildest dreams. After lurking around here for a year reading countless anecdotes of how the Big 3 are primarily preventative treatments aimed at maintaining what hair is left in most cases while rarely regrowing anything expect for a few exceptionally-good responders; my expectations were literally non-existent.

RESULTS

Hair feels thicker than it has in over 2 years; hopefully in another 3 months I'll be able to actualy style it again. The First pic is from March (a month before treatment) and the second one was taken today (July 8th) after three months on the Big 3. They're both taken during the same hour of the morning in the same spot to capture a similar lightning (full-on sunlight, sitting in front of my window) and the hair's cut about the same length. I'm definitely gaining some ground back in the crown area, but my temples are still thin. They haven't receded an inch yet so it doesn't show on the pics but if you shine a bright light on the top of my head or at my forehead then its obvious that its thinner than the rest; so they haven't responded yet, which makes sense because I don't apply any rogaine to that area (I think finasteride should be strong enough when it fully kicks-in, later on).

Anyways, I'm only posting this to cheer up some of the guys (or ladies) who are young and diffusing like myself into keepin' on with treatments through perseverance. For others; get on the big 3 straight-away if you haven't already and are still in the midst of debating it. Tell me what you guys think, any input is greatly appreciated. Hope everyone's doing well with their own respective struggles, regardless. Always keep up the fight & never let something you can't control define you as a person!

-March 6th: 1 month before treatments (started on april 9th)

-July 8th: 3 months on Big 3

-Baseline pic on the left compared to three months later on the right (you can kinda see how the temples were just beginning to recede in the before pic)


*6-month Update
Let my hair grow out for the first time in a year these last 2 months even though I went through a terrible shed during the 4th and 5th month that almost brought me back to baseline. I seem to be slowly recovering from it since October began and I've noticed a lot of vellus hairs have sprung up on the crown. **As far as side-effects go**; there was a slight ball-ache in the begining which passed after two weeks and my semen was completely transparent and watery the first two months but its now returned to normal. I'm also struggling with heavy dandruff and a dry scalp from the rogaine since day 1. Sexual sides: absolutely no libido-related issues so far and have maintained a healthy sex-life with my girlfriend. I've also dropped the nizoral a month ago for baby shampoo to see the difference but I'll start back on it because of the persisting dandruff.

-October 19th: 6 months on Big 3

(Taken outside under direct sunlight)



11 months in*

 

[kir]

WOW! Thant's some amazing results.

 

[bluejay]

Cheers kir that's encouraging

 

[hamish.baroube]

[SUP]​Nice one man![/SUP]

 

[russell2k9]

Good results. It's funny how everyone says only 2% gets sides from finasteride, yet everyone seems to get some sort of sides be they mild or not.

 

[kenny-k]

Hey bro, I'm the exact same age and have a similar pattern as you except my hairline is receded aswell, great results man! Sometimes people notice no difference at all in that time, I'm at the 2 month mark(10 weeks on Monday to be exact) for finasteride, and 9 weeks for everything else including minoxidil. And I have to say all I've seen is marginal improvements, but an almost unbearable amount of shedding. Did you experience shedding? Also do you ever get ingrown hairs or a tight scalp? Cuz I am. Anyways man good results, and I expect that you will have full coverage at 8 months or so! Best of luck to a fellow Canadian!

 

[bluejay]

Hey bro, I'm the exact same age and have a similar pattern as you except my hairline is receded aswell, great results man! Sometimes people notice no difference at all in that time, I'm at the 2 month mark(10 weeks on Monday to be exact) for finasteride, and 9 weeks for everything else including minoxidil. And I have to say all I've seen is marginal improvements, but an almost unbearable amount of shedding. Did you experience shedding? Also do you ever get ingrown hairs or a tight scalp? Cuz I am. Anyways man good results, and I expect that you will have full coverage at 8 months or so! Best of luck to a fellow Canadian!

I'd say practically all of the regrowth happened during the 3rd month, there wasn't any progress at all made during the first 2. I wouldn't worry since most people who see thickening usually start after the first 4-6 months or sometimes a year. I buzz my head down to a no.1 every two weeks so its hard to notice shedding hairs but it did seem like my bald spot got larger than ever after the first month or so. As for ingrown hairs its never happened to me, the only thing was the rogaine used to slightly burn in the beginning but its fine now. Cheers!

 

[40444]

Are you shedding at all? Been on finasteride for 7-8 months and I am shedding constantly.

 

[bluejay]

Are you shedding at all? Been on finasteride for 7-8 months and I am shedding constantly.

Hard to tell cuz I buzz it down to a no.1 every 2-3 weeks but the thinning pattern definitely got larger during the first 6 weeks & currently there isn't really any noticeable shedding.

 

[Blessed99]

Impressive results, wish mine were like that.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Very impressive results. You are a true success story. Minoxidil combined with finasteride always tends to work better than each one by themselves. You don't have any sides from minoxidil? I have been on and off minoxidil at least over 15 times because I know the stuff helps thicken up diffuse areas but for some reason I get sides from 5 percent and going less percentage just does not work as good. You responded well because you have vertex balding which tends to respond the best to treatments. Receding hairlines with no vertex thinning tend to show less success compared to yours. I also believe when you have more loss and it improves you can see it more dramatically than someone who starts off with very minor loss.

 

[Folliman]

Awesome results in only 3 months! Keep it up! Looks like you'll be back to NW1

 

[TeenageHairLossSuffer]

I have actually noticed that the very good improvements is mostly in younger people. Do you think age has something to do with how well you will respond to the medication? I'm 19 myself, and I'm an NW2, and have to do something now!

 

[bluejay]

I have actually noticed that the very good improvements is mostly in younger people. Do you think age has something to do with how well you will respond to the medication? I'm 19 myself, and I'm an NW2, and have to do something now!

I don't think its so much to do with age as it does with how recent the loss is. Like I said my hair loss went into overdrive this last year and wiped out a good half of the front. Because the loss in that area is more recent, it came back very quickly as the pictures show. However the crown has been thinning for three years now and is therefore still noticeably thin compared to the front. The more recent the loss the quicker the gains will be in that area.

- - - Updated - - -

You don't have any sides from minoxidil? I have been on and off minoxidil at least over 15 times because I know the stuff helps thicken up diffuse areas but for some reason I get sides from 5 percent and going less percentage just does not work as good.

I had terrible sides with the liquid brand last summer; psoriasis that made my scalp red and a little bloody plus a thick layer of dandruff I could only scratch at to remove after 2 months. I also woke up with dusty dead skin flakes on my face every morning that could only come off when I applied olive oil. It was not pretty. Now I'm on the foam and although I do get alotta dandruff on it; its nothing in comparison to before but it is still quite bad. I'm looking for a solution to it but I think its somewhat to do with overdosing on the foam so I'm gonna cut back on it to see if it improves.

 

[mompo]

Nice !!!Update?

 

[danimaldonado]

damn

thats some good results right there

 

[bluejay]

6 month Update*

Decided to let my hair grow for two months (buzzed it to a no.1 in August) to see how it looks longer. I went through a pretty bad shed at the 4th and 5th month-mark (right after I started this thread) that brought me back to baseline but it seems to be recovering a little this past month so I feel good about posting another update. I apply a little toppik and dermatch to get by completely unnoticed but only when I attend university classes twice a week. This update is nothing spectacular but I am recovering from an awful shed so hopefully I have some more regrowth ahead of me. I can already say it looks better than it did a year ago. Here's a pic of my hair after 6 months, without any concealers and in the same lightning as all previous pictures.





(Taken outside under direct sunlight)


I'm gonna get back on the nizoral as my dandruff is kicking back with a vengeance. Otherwise I have no side-effects to report. If it's worth it, I'll post an update in another 3 months**

 

[thatguywelbz]

This is the only thing I don't like about big 3(in my case dutasteride instead of finasteride). Some people get rapid regrowth whereas some get slow regrowth. It's difficult to get an idea how bad or good you will be at 2 year mark. Little hairs on my hairline are turning thick but growing very slow but temples are growing uber fast. It's irritating.

This is some regrowth in just 6 months. It could be even better after 1-2 years at it's peak.

 

[bluejay]

7-months in

Now that I've been growing out my hair longer, I can compare my results with baseline pics i took a year ago, before I used to shave my head so regularly. These draw even more dramatic comparisons even though they are rather ****ty cell-phone quality. I think what's most important is that they've both been taken under the same lightning/angle/hair length & with the same phone so the quality is at least consistent. Since i started balding, I've shaven my head down to a no.1 every august before school starts, so these pics show how my hair used to grow after 3 months compared with how it does now.

november 2014 (5 months before starting big 3)

november 2015 (after 7 months on big 3)

Woah, I can't even believe that's how bad my thinning spot used to look. I'm sure I'd be slick bald in a year at age 23 had I not gotten over my fear of side-effects and jumped onto treatments; my only regret is that I had not started sooner. My main point in posting this is; if you are young and balding, stop hesitating. Stop losing ground that you might never gain back. Jump on treatments as early as possible and you'll be dodging some serious mental anguish in the future. It's so completely worth it, trust me.

 

[cristianoronaldo7]

rly good!