Androgenetic Alopecia At 18 - Just Started A Regimen

[Cez]

Hello everyone!

I am new to this website, so I guess a small introduction may be needed. I am 18 and, as you may have probably got from the title, I have Androgenetic Alopecia. I’ll include pictures of the current state of my hair, which I think may fall under a Norwood 2.5 but I am not sure (my hairline has always been extremely high, so I am not sure how much is due to Androgenetic Alopecia and what is due my natural hairline being pretty high). My main concern is the hairline as it’s been receiving quite a bit. On the vertex I would say that it’s still quite okay, but it’s definitely seen better days.

I have already done 3 PRP injections (they are relatively inexpensive where I live) and I have another scheduled for the end of January. I also went to my dermatologist who told me to start taking propecia 1mg daily, which I have been doing for two days. So my current regimen is:
-Propecia 1mg daily
-PRP injections to try and strengthen/stimulate my hair
-Some other supplements that are not specificly for my Androgenetic Alopecia.

I also used minoxidil 5% in September, which I found very uncomfortable to use. Also, the increased shedding triggered a very low few weeks for me (I struggle with mental health issues, so I try to stay away from any trigger as much as possible), which leaded me to stop using it alltogether. So I am not considering starting using again as I would really rather look at my hair as little as possible as it causes me distress to have to look at it for more than 2 minutes at once.

I am open to any suggestions and things that I should add to my regimen. I was looking into dermarolling and LLLT to help with blood flow and hair stimulation. Which one would you all recommend? I will be posting updates every three months.

 

[Cez]

I just want to point out that I took three of the pictures before having a haircut and the other 2 after having my hair cut so that’s why my hair looks shorter in the last two pics. Also, I was wondering whether effectiveness of propecia/finasteride is heridatary? I tried to look for studies on the topic but I found nothing. I am asking this because my dad took finasteride for 6 months in his 30s and told me that he had amazing results (he then stopped taking it because at the time he thought that he could not take it for longer than 6 months) from finasteride only. I was wondering whether or not the effectiveness of DHT-inhibiting drug may be inherited just like we inherit our DHT-sensitivity.

 

[Logic]

Minoxidil and dermapen.

 

[Cez]

Hello guys,
I want to add dermarolling to my regimen. I have recently bought a 1.5mm dermaroller. Today I have tried to dermaroll on my hairline but I couldn’t feel any pain? And there was also very little to no redness. I was wondering if that was normal and if it’s not, what am I doing wrong??

 

[Cez]

today it’s officially three months since I started taking propecia! As you can see, no exponential change, as expected. I had no side effects whatsoever, just some shedding that hasn’t stopped yet but I am not stressing too much about it as I think it’s a good sign. I am positive and hopefully next time I update there will be some more interesting results

 

[Onni]

Propecia should help in few months. Good luck with that.

 

[Cez]

Yeah Onni, I hope so!!

 

[hemingway_the_mercenary]

finasteride will help with your crown but i think you will continue to thin on your hairline cuz your hairloss is so aggressive, kind of like min

pm me if youd like to join a fina restistant hairloss group chat

 

[Cez]

Hello Hemingway!
I am not sure whether or not I am finasteride resistant, but Idk, I feel quite positive that’s it’s working! Thank you for the offer, but I want to still give it a few months to see whether or not it’s helping. I have recently added nizoral to my regime (two weeks ago approximately) and I think it’s been really helping with the shed I was experiencing with finasteride! Also my hair hasn’t got any worse since decemeber (when I started taking it) so that’s a good sign I hope!

 

[Cez]

Hello everyone! Today is officially 6 marks since I officially started a regimen to treat my hair and I promised myself to update this thread every three months, so here I am. You can find my pictures down below.
I thought that because it is my first 6 months update I could maybe get in a little bit more detail about my experience so far.

My starting regimen was:
- propecia everyday
- nizoral shampoo every now and then
- three PRP sessions
- 1.5 microneedling weekly

As I have mentioned before, I started experiencing shedding pretty early on. I think I first started shedding a lot after a month on finasteride or so. That is, I think, the only side effect I have experienced so far. I know that many people experience sexual side effects from finasteride, but I guess I was lucky enough to not get any side effects at all. Actually, in January I actually experienced an increased libido but I can’t tell if it was due to the finasteride or something else. So, to conclude, I have not experienced side effects from finasteride, except for a major shedding, which I don’t know that it can be considered a side effect or not.

Results so far:
I’ll leave it to you to assess whether or not there was any improvements. I personally believe that, from what I can from the pictures, it looks like I haven’t changed much from baseline. This may not look like much to many, but in my opinion, no change is still a win. One huge improvement that I must add is that I feel like my scalp’s got a lot healthier. In November/December, my scalp was extremely flaky and red in colour and had a generally unhealthy look, but now I would say that it’s quite healthy. I do still get a little of occasional dandruff but it is overall healthier, which is a huge improvement in my opinion.
I think the hair per se is pretty much like baseline, but I think it might slightly fuller on the top and that there may be a bit more baby hair across my original hairline. I can’t remember if that baby hair all around my hairline was there a few months ago so I’ll just leave it to you decide. However, I feel quite positive about it as it is all around my original hairline and it gives me a bit more hope that I could gain part of it back.

New regimen!
In April I went to another dermatologist who highly recommended the use of minoxidil to thicken up that baby hair and I therefore decided to give it a second chance. He said that using it once a day should be enough, so that’s what I am doing. I have been using a daily dose every night. I know many people say that it works best by applying it twice a day, but my dermatologist advised to apply it only once a day and I honestly feel like this may help with compliance (at least in my experience). It is definitely to early to report any changes due to the minoxidil as I have been using for insufficient time to actually assess any possible improvements due to the minoxidil. Call me optimist but I have a good feeling about implementing minoxidil in my regime and I feel that I may see some kind of results by August.

Hopefully I will have much juicer results next time I update the thread in September

 

[Cez]

My 9 months on finasteride and 4 (or maybe 5) months on min update!

 

[BigOl'BaldingHead]

My 9 months on finasteride and 4 (or maybe 5) months on min update!

Wow congrats dude, your hairline appears to be alot fuller!

 

[Mapleman]

My 9 months on finasteride and 4 (or maybe 5) months on min update!

Looks like you have maintained and thickened up your receded hairline. Growing BACK the hairline is very rare, be happy for your results!

 

[Cez]

Hello guys! Thank you for the very kind messages and I truly am grateful for the results I got!

I know I wanted to post every three months for two years, but once I got decent results I felt tonnes better and I started enjoying my life more and had way less time to focus on my hair, nor did I want to focus on my hair.
I had a bad hair day today which made me feel kind of insecure again, hence why I came here: to get a proper look at my journey to this point. Being here I decided to post a 1.5 years progress picture. I don’t know if it looks tonnes better than it did in September but oh well, you can be the judge of that!
I’m very grateful of where my hair is at the moment, when I have my curly hair down the receding hairline is not as prominent as it was before, I actually had lots of people commenting on how much healthier and thicker my hair looks!

The regimen is still pretty much the same as it was in September, only difference being I haven’t microneedled since August cause I didn’t feel like it made too much of a difference and cause I was always very busy, I’m thinking of starting that again now that I have heaps more time for myself.

My plan at the moment is to try and enjoy my life trying not to think of my hair too much and hopefully continuing to get results from my regimen and maybe getting a hair transplant in a few years to fix my hairline forever

 

[Cez]

Hello there!

on the 19th December 2020 it was officially 2 years I started my regimen so I thought of sharing where I am at the moment. As you can see, situation’s been pretty stable. I had a bit of a shedding in September/October, but nothing terrible. I think my hair still looks pretty much the same
hopefully next hair cycle some thinner hair will grow back thicker! I’m hopeful and grateful of my journey so far and where I am at the moment

 

[Cez]

Hey there!

it’s been two months since I last uploaded an update. My updates are a bit whenever I feel like updating now haha so much for my initial goal of every three months.

I decided to take pictures in both artificial light (like most of my other pictures) and a more natural light which might be a bit more reliable over time.

I’ve recently been a bit nervous that maybe my hair is looking a bit thinner but then I look back at pics from last year and it seems pretty much the same. There’s also a lot of thin hair that I don’t know if it’s the same as the last few times I uploaded. Part of me is stressing thinking aah that’s hair that is now thinning whereas another part of me is like yess new hair, a few cycles and it will be nice and thick! Overall I’d say there aren’t any juicy differences, but please do feel free to let me know if you think there are any differences.

I’m still very happy and grateful for my results so far, but I should be honest - I’ve been thinking a lot about getting a hair transplant. I’m happy now but I feel like getting one might help with a few insecurities I still struggle with and might help me enjoy my 20s a bit more. Idk what the youngest I could get one is.
For the moment I’m still taking finasteride everyday, minoxidil once a day and using regenepure shampoo. I’ve been duelling with the idea of trying dermarolling again, not 100% sure though.

I’m still hopeful! Hopefully next time I’ll have even better news!

 

[Andi0501]

Your hair and hairline looks much better now!

 

[Pls_NW-1]

Nice! I am pretty sure you can regrow all this back to NW1 with some potent stuff. You seem like to have the same hair as Bridgeburn. Good you started treatment directly, he let it go soo far, that he needed a aggressive regimen to regrow his hair.

 

[Cez]

Your hair and hairline looks much better now!

Thank you!! I really appreciate your reply!
Do you think it looks better or the same as my last update?

 

[Cez]

Nice! I am pretty sure you can regrow all this back to NW1 with some potent stuff. You seem like to have the same hair as Bridgeburn. Good you started treatment directly, he let it go soo far, that he needed a aggressive regimen to regrow his hair.

Hey thank you for the response!!
have you got any recommendations? As I mentioned I only use finasteride, minoxidil and regenepure. Not sure if I should implement dermarolling again (my results kinda plateud after stopping it but idk if that’s a causation or a correlation).
Not sure who this Bridgeburn is! Who is he?