4 Months on finasteride & minoxidil, good progress

[Pericolo]

Hello your result are fantastic good job!
What type of finasteride should I use? do you think 5mg is to much? I'm all new to this.
My right side temple has been bolding little by little (my left side not so much) for the last 2 years and I need all the help I can get before it gets worse.
I'm 25 years old, so I hope its not to late for me.
Tomorrow I am going to buy rogaine but I'm not sure what finasteride I should get and MG amount.

Thank you for all your help
Cheers

 

[CliffLee]

Get on generic finasteride straight away (any brand), you can split the pill into quarters. One a day. Start using Kirland Minoxidil foam in the morning, applying it to your hairline and any other area of concern. At night, use Lipogaine Minoxidil liquid, roughly around 1-1.5ml, again to the areas of concern, including your hairline. Lastly, you want to start washing your hair a few times a week with ketoconazole, either by using Nizoral or Revita/ Regenepure.

If you wanted, you take also take a multi-vitamin and perhaps some Biotin, but they're optional.

As a start, the above will be fine. If after 6-12 months if you don't see an improvement, you could look at using dutasteride, or even using topical dutasteride and mixing this with Minoxidil liquid. RU could also be an option but to start out, I would personally look to start the more recognised, FDA approved, generally accepted treatments, as detailed above.

 

[kiwixx]

Great results! I'm always amazed on how some people can regain so much hair haha! :beer:

 

[BeardedOne]

Hi pericolo, I was using a finasteride called Profal, prescribed as 5mg tablets. I cut the tablet into 5-6 pieces and took one every day (roughly 1mg pieces). I ran out of my prescription so I ordered some online called 'Proscare', I've been taking that and I think it's legit. I hope it's legit.

thanks kiwixx, I hope the regrown hairs thicken up a lot more though, then I really will have a great result!

 

[BeardedOne]

I just got a prescription for proscar filled out and I've decided to ditch the 'Proscare' meds I received via an online pharmacy. They may well be legit but I was starting to notice the male pattern baldness itch again and I think it was playing on my mind psychologically, so I'm happy to say my GP gave me a script for proscar and I'm definitely onto legit meds again.

I kind of had the sneaky feeling my hair was thinning again so I took a few more snaps:

The Before shots are pre-finasteride August 2013, the After shots are nearly 5 months on finasteride April 2014:

 

[BigTexasSexy]

Those first 2 pictures. Wow. Way to go man you're definitely a good responder. Hopefully it will be nothing but good results from now on for you! Keep it going and keep us posted!

 

[BeardedOne]

Thanks BigTexasSexy - great name - to be clear the latest photos are taken without any product in.

I had written elsewhere about the shadow the hairs on the hairline create, I think you can see it here. They're not strong enough or long enough (yet) to be styled but they create the shadow of a hairline which gets stronger every day and looks best from directly in front. You can see again from the side however that they are still quite thin. I'm looking forward to them thickening up over the summer months!

 

[I.D WALKER]

I think I speak for all members of hair loss talk, when I say I think we all look forward to hair success stories like yours. Every one is a small triumph for those of us still wounded by this relentless genetic oppressor. Thanx for sharing.

 

[BeardedOne]

Hi I.D Walker, many thanks for your kind words. Especially because today is one of those days where I look in the mirror and think it still looks like ****. Some days are really good but other days I'm far from happy with it and really pray it thickens up some more. I suppose it is quite psychosomatic.

I also am beginning to suspect my online pharmacy order of finasteride was dodgy, as I think the hair has worsened a little the past few weeks. I'm back on a legit supply of finasteride now so hopefully I'll bounce back!

 

[I.D WALKER]

I salute your warrior spirit. :salut:

 

[AlecGaro]

Hello Bearded one i actually put this page in my bookmarks since it is so inspiring! I am about to start the big 3. I am nearly 20 years old and am trying to fight my battle against male pattern baldness which i sadly inherited from my father.. I have 2 questions that would be great if you could answer ASAP!

1) I just got some 5mg generic Finasteride and want to know what you would recommend the dosage and why? should I just split it into fourths and have 1.25 mg each day which would be the easiest way? (Why did you begin with Finasteride 1.25mg per day and then drop down to .875mg per day?)

2) When using minoxidil do you wash your hair twice a day? (both times before using the minoxidil in the morning and night?) if that is the case I dont know how I could possibly use minoxidil because I have very dry wavy hair and if I wash it more than once every 2 days it because extremely dry and unmanageable.. what would you suggest I do?

Thank you so much!

 

[BeardedOne]

Hi AlecGaro,

apologies for missing this post! In answer to your questions:

1) I began by splitting the tablet into fourths, so 1.25mg per day. But I figured I could reduce the possibility of sides in the future and maintain effectiveness of the drug if I split it into fifths, or sixths. I could also save some cash in the long run. There is a tendency, when finasteride is working, to make your balls feel a little 'tight', I think. Nothing too major, just a feeling. I notice that it doesn't happen so much when I have a smaller dose.

2) I only wash my hair once per day. I think you will find your own rhythm with minoxidil as it may make your hair feel greasy, in which case you'll wash it more. Or it may not need to be washed out so muhc. I have noticed that, as my hair has gotten stronger, I need to wash it less, and only do so for styling purposes.

Cheers and all the best!

- - - Updated - - -

Well, 6 months have flown by really. I decided to use my good SLR camera to take a crown and a front shot, in the same location, so that I could accurately compare. Even then it's hard to get it right! It's hard to tell what's going on with the front (which I think is getting better all the time and the smaller, finer hairs are going terminal) but, even after trying in different places to try and highlight the thinning in the crown, it looks like things have improved there drastically. I'm well chuffed with that!

Pics on the left are pre-finasteride, pics to the right are after 6 months on finasteride (19 May 2014):





Looking forward to your comments, guys! I'm going to get myself a decent haircut next week so I'll post some new pics again soon.

Cheers!

 

[dam]

your hair looks great i am a receder also i can believe the pictures. Good job and thanks for sharing

 

[Mja017]

Congrats man, by 12 months you're results should be stellar. Keep it up.

 

[Fermat]

Nice to see someone getting temple regrowth, gives me a lil' hope that i'll get some of my temples back. I'm NW3 like you were, but I'm 23 so I don't know if that'l effect things... maybe my male pattern baldness is too aggressive to get back to NW1-2.

By the way, do you notice the minoxidil makes the skin a little rough/scaley around where you apply it? My skin round the temples looks much older than the skin round the rest of my forehead/face. I'm sure it used to be the same on my forehead too but I started clipping my hair up as soon as i applied it before bed, and washing my hair as soon as i got up and I'm pretty sure I saw an improvement on my forehead but I have no camera of high enough quality to be able to keep track of progress.

 

[BeardedOne]

Thank you for the comments guys. Fermat - I did notice a while back that rogaine made my skin look and feel quite old. I don't know whether my body adjusted to it or not, but my girlfriend made me change the face moisturiser I was using (which was some regular l'oreal / clinique brand - expensive but ultimately you are paying for the name only) to a high quality moisturiser. Ironically the one I use now costs less than the high street brands, it's not available everywhere but it is far more effective. It's a brand called Dr. Hauschka and I would highly recommend it. Anyway, since I started using that I've seen a big reduction in that sort of tired-looking skin that rogaine can create. I don't even notice it anymore.

 

[FormerFro]

Amazing results! Congratulations!

 

[BeardedOne]

Thanks for the comments. Ashurockers2211, I put minoxidil foam right at the centre of crown and I just mush it in. I'm aware that a lot of it gets stuck in the hairs but, what are you gonna do? Using the liquid foam at night is easier, because I drop it onto the thinner areas and I sort of roll my head around so that the liquid spreads on the scalp.

I got a haircut the other day so I'll do some update pics soon again .

 

[Donc83]

Man it sucks for those who cant tolerate finasteride. It would work wonders for me.Kudos to your progress. I am screwed.

 

[BeardedOne]

ashurockers2211, mThe only time I noticed liquid minoxidil itching my scalp was when I used Kirkland. Since I switched to Rogaine liquid there's been no itch at all.

Donc83, I'm really sorry to hear that. I detailed elsewhere my thoughts on finasteride and making the decision to use it, it's a big call for anyone. I think I have had some side effects, but they have not been too heavy. I don't know how much of it was down to my own state of mind. And when I slightly reduced my dosage they pretty much went away (touch wood). Still, hopefully some other non-side effect product comes on the market soon. I would switch instantly.