Hey everyone - I'm a long-time lurker who's finally decided to create an account. Long story short, I'm 24, and I've been battling hair loss since I was 16. I was diagnosed with androgenic alopecia (only at 18, though, because I'd always had thick hair and never paid much attention to it till things got bad).
TIMELINE
2009 - mid-2011: Right temple started thinning out, and I started noticing diffuse hair loss some time after. Did numerous blood tests and EVERYTHING came back normal (hormone levels, iron, ferritin, etc., etc.); was tested for PCOS and that came out negative. My follicles are probably just extremely DHT-sensitive? Anyhow, I was diagnosed with Androgenetic Alopecia and prescribed 5% minoxidil (2x daily).
End-2011: My hair worsened steadily for half a year, so I stopped using minoxidil - and switched to a left part (since my left temple was unaffected then).
Mid-2013: Noticed an acceleration of hair loss. Got back on minoxidil (1x daily) and was prescribed Diane-35. I'm not sure if it was the minoxidil, Diane, or both, but my hair thickened up a fair bit and I was really pleased. Unless I parted my hair on the right (my right temple is probably unsalvageable, ha), you couldn't tell I had hair loss.
May 2017: Noticed that in recent months, I'd lost quite a bit of ground after maintaining my hair on minoxidil and Diane for 3+ years. Added 2% Nizoral (once every three days) to my regimen; upped my usage of minoxidil to 2x daily from 1x.
June 2017: Added 5mg of finasteride (daily) to my regimen. Not planning to ever have children, plus I'm vain as heck and would do ANYTHING to keep my hair... I've also struggled with depression since 14 (I've been on antidepressants for a number of years now), and successfully managing my hair loss would help a lot with that.
MY HAIR NOW
I don't have photos of my hair at its peak, but I've stuck pretty religiously to these treatments since mid-2013, and I firmly believe that I would've lost a LOT more hair without Diane and minoxidil. I'm really hoping finasteride can thicken my hair up - I have a lot of miniaturisation (especially at the temples and hairline), and I think it'd make a cosmetic different if those thin, short hairs were to thicken up. If there's no improvement after a year, I'll consider either spironolactone or dutasteride.
My right temple, which has been thinning since I was 16. Weirdly enough, I have a lot of miniaturised hairs there still (probably thanks to the minoxidil).
Left temple. My temples are honestly the hardest-hit in this Androgenetic Alopecia battle.
My streaky centre part in harsh sunlight.
My left part, where I normally part my hair. I'm holding my hair back to show the part more clearly - normally, no one can tell I have hair loss. I'm hoping it doesn't thin out any further.
Left part in harsh sunlight. It's streakier than it used to be, especially at the front.
TL;DR: I just want to encourage all of you ladies to never give up! Realising I was losing my hair at 16 and having people comment on my hair loss was painful, but I'm trying to stay as optimistic as possible. And hey, I'm not totally bald yet.
TIMELINE
2009 - mid-2011: Right temple started thinning out, and I started noticing diffuse hair loss some time after. Did numerous blood tests and EVERYTHING came back normal (hormone levels, iron, ferritin, etc., etc.); was tested for PCOS and that came out negative. My follicles are probably just extremely DHT-sensitive? Anyhow, I was diagnosed with Androgenetic Alopecia and prescribed 5% minoxidil (2x daily).
End-2011: My hair worsened steadily for half a year, so I stopped using minoxidil - and switched to a left part (since my left temple was unaffected then).
Mid-2013: Noticed an acceleration of hair loss. Got back on minoxidil (1x daily) and was prescribed Diane-35. I'm not sure if it was the minoxidil, Diane, or both, but my hair thickened up a fair bit and I was really pleased. Unless I parted my hair on the right (my right temple is probably unsalvageable, ha), you couldn't tell I had hair loss.
May 2017: Noticed that in recent months, I'd lost quite a bit of ground after maintaining my hair on minoxidil and Diane for 3+ years. Added 2% Nizoral (once every three days) to my regimen; upped my usage of minoxidil to 2x daily from 1x.
June 2017: Added 5mg of finasteride (daily) to my regimen. Not planning to ever have children, plus I'm vain as heck and would do ANYTHING to keep my hair... I've also struggled with depression since 14 (I've been on antidepressants for a number of years now), and successfully managing my hair loss would help a lot with that.
MY HAIR NOW
I don't have photos of my hair at its peak, but I've stuck pretty religiously to these treatments since mid-2013, and I firmly believe that I would've lost a LOT more hair without Diane and minoxidil. I'm really hoping finasteride can thicken my hair up - I have a lot of miniaturisation (especially at the temples and hairline), and I think it'd make a cosmetic different if those thin, short hairs were to thicken up. If there's no improvement after a year, I'll consider either spironolactone or dutasteride.
My right temple, which has been thinning since I was 16. Weirdly enough, I have a lot of miniaturised hairs there still (probably thanks to the minoxidil).
Left temple. My temples are honestly the hardest-hit in this Androgenetic Alopecia battle.
My streaky centre part in harsh sunlight.
My left part, where I normally part my hair. I'm holding my hair back to show the part more clearly - normally, no one can tell I have hair loss. I'm hoping it doesn't thin out any further.
Left part in harsh sunlight. It's streakier than it used to be, especially at the front.
TL;DR: I just want to encourage all of you ladies to never give up! Realising I was losing my hair at 16 and having people comment on my hair loss was painful, but I'm trying to stay as optimistic as possible. And hey, I'm not totally bald yet.
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