4 Months on finasteride & minoxidil, good progress

[BeardedOne]

Hello all, long-time lurker, first time poster.

Thought I'd share my current progress as I've definitely benefitted a lot from your stories and I thought I should give back. I posted this in another forum so I'll just put it all in here, too. Pics below, the first batch pre-meds in August 2013. I began Finasteride 1.25mg per day (since dropped to about .875mg per day) on 21 November 2013, I use minoxidil foam during the day and the liquid at night, and I use a ket 2% shampoo a few times a week. I'm pleased with the results so far, I'm 32 so I expect my results to be a little slower growing in.

Anyway, the BEFORE photos (August 2013):





These photos taken today (March 19 2014) with my iPhone (with the exception of the crown shot, taken a few days ago on a better camera):



As I said I'm happy with the results so far, hair quality is overall much thicker and better and if it fills out any more I will have gone from a NW3v to about a Norwood 1.5. I'll keep updating here as the months roll in, hoping for a good grow over the next few months - my traditional time of year to grow out a good mane!

 

[michalek]

Wow! This is amazing! Well done )

 

[dam]

WOW! things are looking good buddy, thanks for sharing. do you apply the minoxidil directly to the hairline or just underneath the hairline. Please keep us updated

 

[Fergie91]

Did you have any shed, ive been on finasteride and nizoral 2%(once a week) for two months from today, and ive been shedding like crazy

 

[BeardedOne]

Hi guys, yeah I've been applying a little dab of minoxidil foam to the hairline on each side (and a decent blob on the vertex) every morning and then I use the dropper to put some minoxidil liquid around the vertex and also again on the hairline. I have to say that I think the finasteride has done most of the work - I've used minoxidil on and off for the last few years and never seen too much of a difference, but I do believe that finasteride and minoxidil together are much more powerful than on their own! And although I definitely miss a minoxidil application here and there I'm far more disciplined than before. I think that's key.

I definitely did have a shed when I started the finasteride. Probably for about 2 months. I remember around Christmas my hair was super thin-looking, so much so that I used concealer nearly every day. I just regrouped and held faith that it was the finasteride doing it's work - pushing out the miniaturising hairs to make way for new ones. I don't use concealer at all now.

 

[scalp'hell]

it is already a great success in so little time. after how much time you have seen regrowth?

 

[BeardedOne]

Thanks scalp'hell, I started to see some new hairs along the hairline after about 2 months. I think it's important that there were hairs there before, they were just so miniaturised they were almost see-through. From what little I know about minoxidil it has helped to keep these hairs in their growth phase, while the finasteride is helping to repair them and thicken them up. So long as I stay roughly side-free I will stay on this regimen for the long term.

To Dam: I forgot to say that yes I put the minoxidil behind the hairline but also right in front of it (where the miniaturised hairs are/were).

Before starting on finasteride my hair was measured at 15% miniaturisation across zones 2-4 and at the vertex, so I'm hoping that I can reverse that process. If I make gains at the hairline then it's a real bonus. I never had a straight hairline, even as a kid (probably a NW1.5!), so if I can make and hold modest gains there I will be ecstatic.

 

[chemicalbrother]

looking good so far man. really impressed (at such short time)
I think I agree with your remark : "it's the finasteride / minoxidil combo" ... just finasteride alone will not regrow anything (imho) ... needs minoxidil

so here are my questions:
1) which minoxidil foam you using ?
2) which minoxidil liquid you using ?

 

[BeardedOne]

Hi chemicalbrother, thanks for that. I'm using rogaine foam and rogaine liquid. I have used kirkland before and I remember it being kind of itchy, and I also used to get some heart palpitations. I read somewhere that there are different inactive ingredients in rogaine and the generic brands so I decided to just pay the extra for rogaine, the foam is a little annoying for styling but that's about it, I barely notice it on my head once it's dried in. The liquid is a different story, but I think it gets better absorption so I don't mind if it leaves my head a greasy mess at night time. A regular poster on this site (or somewhere else, can't remember) advocated alternating between foam and liquid so I thought I'd give it a go. My gut tells me the liquid works better, but the foam is far easier to manage. But that's bro science right there.

As for the combo, yeah, from what little I've read and copied from elsewhere, minoxidil helps to keep the little hairs growing even if they're ready to give up, while finasteride stops the thing (DHT) that makes them weak and provides them with a healthier basis on which to grow. It's definitely a marathon, not a sprint. The hairs are the runners, barefoot on the street, about to pass out. minoxidil is like that ball-buster of a life coach screaming KEEP GOING!!! in the runners ear, squeezing just another few more yards out of them, step by step. And finasteride is like the water station, or a pit stop, making them stronger with every station and pit stop, bringing them back to 100% so that they can keep going and finish the race. At least that's how I see it!

I've been ordering rogaine online and getting roughly 8-9 months supply for about 100 euro, including postage. So it's not too bad.

 

[chemicalbrother]

thats exactly how I see it too .... I couldn't have described it as well tho well done on the analogies xD
100euro whut ? Care to share that online place where you get your stuff ?

Cheers and have a Guinness on me tonight

 

[kirk]

BeardedOne, your regimen shows that you are taking "rogaine one per day". Did you change from two applications a day? Thanks and good job!

 

[BeardedOne]

kirk, I should probably change that. I think I registered for this site a while back, but since then I've upped to twice a day. cheers!

 

[scalp'hell]

I laugh a lot with the description!
what are the side effects you?

your male pattern baldness is slow, you already reverse the process.
in 1year you will haired!I am sure.unk:

read this.
http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/medications/propecia-finasteride/

Fast results are very good sign.
you will become very dark I think.
votrecrown s will close completely in 6 months.
look at the history padsh.

a guiness is important for hair XD

 

[I.D WALKER]

Two are better.:beer::beer:

 

[BeardedOne]

Haha thank you scalp'hell! I must say there's some truth to saying Guinness is good for hair. I've recently changed my eating habits to incorporate far more protein on a daily basis. I think it's helped a lot! And, well, Guinness is a great source of iron and protein, so... (goes to kitchen to fetch can of Guinness).

I've been lucky with side effects. I noticed a slight ball ache, on and off, at the beginning. And then again abut a month ago, but I dropped the dose slightly and it went away again. It was nothing too bad anyway. I suppose I noticed from time to time a slight drop in libido, but everything still works fine down there. it's funny but because I'm in a stable relationship, whenever I have gotten even slightly paranoid about that I have 'tested' myself with my partner and absolutely no problems yet! Touch wood (pardon the pun). So yeah there've been a couple of small issues, but like this is a drug that actually reverses genetics and regrows hair on your head! That is some strong stuff.

I'm really optimistic about my regimen, and I think that's the main thing. I'm doing what I can. It makes me feel better and accept my head of hair just knowing that I'm doing what I can.

 

[scalp'hell]

harm to the balls is at the beginning I think.
not inssuportable.
just a little lower finasteride enough.
I am one day 0.5 mg and one day 1mg I have no worries sore balls.

you had a little trouble on the side of the dick or not?

 

[BeardedOne]

No, no trouble.

 

[scalp'hell]

Is that what you had a shed?

 

[BeardedOne]

Hi Scalp'hell, yeah I think I had a shed for like the first month or 6 weeks maybe. It was a pain because it was around Christmas and I couldn't hide from seeing loads of people and yeah, my hair looked crappy and thin all over. But in a perverse sense I took strength from it - because I believe that the more hairs finasteride causes you to shed, the better, because they are making way for new, stronger hairs to emerge from a much more healthy and robust basis.

 

[dam]

Thanks for sharing, do you apply the foam directly to your hairline or underneath it and push it up towards the hairline?