billybob2929
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Hello all. This is my first post on this forum but I have been checking it off and on over the last couple of months. I had a few questions for some of you here who have a ton more experience and knowledge on this matter than I do. I figured this would be a great place to start as it seems to be one of the more helpful and knowledgeable forums in regards to this subject matter I have seen.
TLDR:
30 year old male. I had never seen any hair loss at all in my life and actually had hair that was almost to thick. Hair started thinning very fast all of a sudden the past 3 months. Got on Nizoral and have been for almost 3 months. Got on 1.25mg daily Proscar and have been on it for just under 2 months. I was completely fine with my baseline when I started Proscar, but in the last week imparticular my hairline has gotten extremely thin. I can deal with staying where I am at, but I got on Proscar in hopes of just keeping that baseline. Is this possible to get back to it? Are there other things I should get on asap? Any other experiences/suggestions? Thanks!
Full Version:
Timeline:
Prior to 5 months ago: Never once had any problems with my hair. It was to thick and I would always have to get the crap thinned out of it during haircuts.
5 months ago: Had a picture taken just after getting out of the shower with a bunch of gel slopped in my wet hair. Noticed for the first time I could see some scalp. Wrote it off a bit as a bad hair cut, lighting, whatever since I never had a problem. Everything was completely fine and I did not notice anything for 2 months.
3 months ago: I started noticing that when I spiked my hair straight up I could position myself to see some scalp. Brought this up to a couple of people. Everybody thought I was insane. But I kept noticing it getting worse. Went in to a Dermatologist and met with an RN who had worked there for a decade and a half. She did not notice anything other than my scalp had some build up on it and said that it did not look like I was losing hair but she would take my word for it. I had always had horrible dandruff and it was really bad at the time. She prescribed me 2% Nizoral and recommended it every day for a week which I did and then 2-3x per week after. I have been back and forth on the 2-3x a week and opted for lesser since I have read bad things about Nizoral here.
2 months ago: I could still notice some thinning, so after a lot of research on Finasteride I went to another Dermatologists office. They checked me out and said I might have a little bit of early thinning. They put me on a Proscar prescription of 1.25mg a day from a 5mg cut pill. I have been taking that daily since that time though the time I take it daily does vary. During the time after this I was completely fine with styling my hair, I really never noticed any shedding except I could occassionally notice hairs on my tablet and when I would style or run my hands through my hair I would end up with some hairs. Nothing like having a bunch on my pillow though. I was completely fine with this. It did seem to maybe be getting a little thinner but I figured that was part of the early shedding and was happy with myself so no problems.
A week ago: As insane as this sounds it feels like literally over night I lost a ton of hair. I went from going out the night before with no worries, maybe styling my hair over a little bit just to make sure no scalp could be seen ever, to noticing white scalp at the base of my hairline. It seems like it has only gotten worse throughout this week. Seems crazy for all of this to happen that fast, especially the last week, but it really seems to have.
Family History:
All males in my family have full heads of hair. My father, in his sixties, has zero hair loss. My grandfather on one side who is in his 70's or 80's has a little thinning. My mother's brothers have had at the very most a tiny bit of thinning on the crown if that. My father's brother is the same way. My grandfather on my father's side had a little bit of a receding hairline but it all looked pretty thick other than that. The only people throughout my family who have gone bald, as I found out asking, were my grandma's father and my grandma's brother. They both went completely bald on top at a young age as far as I understand. Perhaps I just hit the unlucky jackpot on that gene and here I am now!
My Medical History:
I have pretty much had zero problems. As mentioned above I have had HORRIBLE dandruff forever. Literally I would run my hands through my hair and it would look like it was snowing at times lol. The first couple weeks after Nizoral amazingly cleared this up to where I could see basically nothing. Remember I was taking it every day for the first week. Now I can definitely see dandruff but not nearly as much as I used to in the past. I am being a lot more careful with how much I take Nizoral from what I read on this forum so 1-2x a week. Also, I did take accutane when I was much younger. I have no idea if this can have an effect since it was a long time ago. It definitely did have an effect on me to this day though where I have to put on moisturizer every time I get out of the shower.
My Regimen:
My Goal:
To get back to and stay at the baseline of when I started Proscar just under 2 months ago. Or even heck, where I was a bit after it or a hair better than today. Basically my hairline being super thin now is the only thing that bothers me. I would like to thicken it back up and keep it that way. If I have to go through some type of shed and use a bit of concealer through that to get to a good final destination I am completely cool with that. Or cutting my hair, styling it different, whatever. I would just like to know for sure how to get to that destination.
My Worries:
I tried to get right on top of this since I know it is way better to get on it asap to keep what you have. So, I do not want to lose time and lose more hair, since it seems to be going at an insane pace, when I could be doing something. Basically, my main worry, is to wait and see if the nizoral/Proscar works and then if it doesn't get me where I want be in a bad enough spot that I will never get back to baseline starting Rogaine/RU/dutasteride/etc at that time.
My Questions:
For those of you out there who have had any similar experiences with success, or know of any, I would love your input on what you think I should do. I will be getting back into see a derm again shortly but I value the opinions on this forum nearly as much if not more to be honest.
Once again my main worry is getting my frontal area/my hair line thickened back up. Back to baseline there would be fantastic. It does not need to be perfect just sufficient or a little below baseline I would be more than happy with.
I Know I Am Early On This And It Takes Time:
I do know I am early on Proscar and Nizoral and that it takes time. I am sure you guys get these posts all the time. That said, this coming out of nowhere in the last few months and being aggressive I just want to make sure I do not waste any time whatsoever. It seems far easier to keep what you have and keep an area that has not gone bald as opposed to letting it go to far.
Thank you for reading another post like this. I am sure you guys get them all the time. Just once again, as I have said, I want to make sure I am doing everything I can.
Pictures:
Attached are some pictures from today. I do not have any prior pictures of close ups of my hairline or anything like that(who the hell normally takes those? lol). So, that is why only pictures from today are attached. I had asked friends and family a couple months ago when trying to decide to go on Proscar about it and everybody thought I was nuts. Even the first derm. As said, my hair looked completely fine baseline even though I could notice the early thinning. From the pictures today though you can see there definitely has been significant thinning especially in the front.
The 1st and 2nd pictures really show how thinned out the front has gotten. You could not see anything like this a couple months ago, or even nearly that much a week ago to be honest. The third picture shows the hair wet down so that you can see it goes back a bit. The 4th picture just shows a normal picture of my hair not up under a spot light and in super close.... lighting makes just a little difference lol.
The 5th picture shows the back. You can see a little thinning back there. To be honest it does not really bother me that much. Likewise, the 6th picture shows the top of my head with my hair wet down. This little bit of being able to see the thinning there does not bother me at all either as long as it does not get worse.
The last 2 pictures show the sides. You can see in one picture quite a bit of scalp showing that the hair has thinned a bit going down the sides as well. That said, I was wearing a hat for part of the day so my hair is kinda bunched up, normally not a problem, nor does it bother me much.
The main issue I have is how quickly it has thinned in the front. Though I do realize that is exacerbated by the fact it is pulled up and the rest of the hair is not.
Thanks once again, and sorry for the long post. I just wanted to be as thorough as possible! I really look forward to the input any of you may have prior to going for another visit to the derm!
- - - Updated - - -
I should also do my part to help out others seeking information. In regards to Proscar side effects for those wondering I have had none that I can tell so far. No brain fog, still as horny as I ever was, etc etc. The only slight thing that MAYBE has occurred is maybe not as many erections all the time. I honestly can not even tell you if that is true. I definitely would not have noticed anything at all had I not read a billion things.
But yea, for anybody wondering, no sides as far as I can tell so far from Proscar. Not saying it does not happen or will not happen, but I figured it might be nice to point that out to others who are early in the journey and making decisions like I am.
TLDR:
30 year old male. I had never seen any hair loss at all in my life and actually had hair that was almost to thick. Hair started thinning very fast all of a sudden the past 3 months. Got on Nizoral and have been for almost 3 months. Got on 1.25mg daily Proscar and have been on it for just under 2 months. I was completely fine with my baseline when I started Proscar, but in the last week imparticular my hairline has gotten extremely thin. I can deal with staying where I am at, but I got on Proscar in hopes of just keeping that baseline. Is this possible to get back to it? Are there other things I should get on asap? Any other experiences/suggestions? Thanks!
Full Version:
Timeline:
Prior to 5 months ago: Never once had any problems with my hair. It was to thick and I would always have to get the crap thinned out of it during haircuts.
5 months ago: Had a picture taken just after getting out of the shower with a bunch of gel slopped in my wet hair. Noticed for the first time I could see some scalp. Wrote it off a bit as a bad hair cut, lighting, whatever since I never had a problem. Everything was completely fine and I did not notice anything for 2 months.
3 months ago: I started noticing that when I spiked my hair straight up I could position myself to see some scalp. Brought this up to a couple of people. Everybody thought I was insane. But I kept noticing it getting worse. Went in to a Dermatologist and met with an RN who had worked there for a decade and a half. She did not notice anything other than my scalp had some build up on it and said that it did not look like I was losing hair but she would take my word for it. I had always had horrible dandruff and it was really bad at the time. She prescribed me 2% Nizoral and recommended it every day for a week which I did and then 2-3x per week after. I have been back and forth on the 2-3x a week and opted for lesser since I have read bad things about Nizoral here.
2 months ago: I could still notice some thinning, so after a lot of research on Finasteride I went to another Dermatologists office. They checked me out and said I might have a little bit of early thinning. They put me on a Proscar prescription of 1.25mg a day from a 5mg cut pill. I have been taking that daily since that time though the time I take it daily does vary. During the time after this I was completely fine with styling my hair, I really never noticed any shedding except I could occassionally notice hairs on my tablet and when I would style or run my hands through my hair I would end up with some hairs. Nothing like having a bunch on my pillow though. I was completely fine with this. It did seem to maybe be getting a little thinner but I figured that was part of the early shedding and was happy with myself so no problems.
A week ago: As insane as this sounds it feels like literally over night I lost a ton of hair. I went from going out the night before with no worries, maybe styling my hair over a little bit just to make sure no scalp could be seen ever, to noticing white scalp at the base of my hairline. It seems like it has only gotten worse throughout this week. Seems crazy for all of this to happen that fast, especially the last week, but it really seems to have.
Family History:
All males in my family have full heads of hair. My father, in his sixties, has zero hair loss. My grandfather on one side who is in his 70's or 80's has a little thinning. My mother's brothers have had at the very most a tiny bit of thinning on the crown if that. My father's brother is the same way. My grandfather on my father's side had a little bit of a receding hairline but it all looked pretty thick other than that. The only people throughout my family who have gone bald, as I found out asking, were my grandma's father and my grandma's brother. They both went completely bald on top at a young age as far as I understand. Perhaps I just hit the unlucky jackpot on that gene and here I am now!
My Medical History:
I have pretty much had zero problems. As mentioned above I have had HORRIBLE dandruff forever. Literally I would run my hands through my hair and it would look like it was snowing at times lol. The first couple weeks after Nizoral amazingly cleared this up to where I could see basically nothing. Remember I was taking it every day for the first week. Now I can definitely see dandruff but not nearly as much as I used to in the past. I am being a lot more careful with how much I take Nizoral from what I read on this forum so 1-2x a week. Also, I did take accutane when I was much younger. I have no idea if this can have an effect since it was a long time ago. It definitely did have an effect on me to this day though where I have to put on moisturizer every time I get out of the shower.
My Regimen:
- 3 months Nizoral 2% 1-2x a week. I wash my hair 3xish a week since I heard it is bad to wash it every day. I use a minty type shampoo/conditioner that I got at a salon which was recommended to me awhile back by a stylist for my dandruff.
- Just under 2 months of Proscar 1.25mg. I cut 5mg into quarters and take one every day. I have not missed a day. I do take it at varying times throughout the day though. I have no idea if perhaps it is better to take it at some set time?
My Goal:
To get back to and stay at the baseline of when I started Proscar just under 2 months ago. Or even heck, where I was a bit after it or a hair better than today. Basically my hairline being super thin now is the only thing that bothers me. I would like to thicken it back up and keep it that way. If I have to go through some type of shed and use a bit of concealer through that to get to a good final destination I am completely cool with that. Or cutting my hair, styling it different, whatever. I would just like to know for sure how to get to that destination.
My Worries:
I tried to get right on top of this since I know it is way better to get on it asap to keep what you have. So, I do not want to lose time and lose more hair, since it seems to be going at an insane pace, when I could be doing something. Basically, my main worry, is to wait and see if the nizoral/Proscar works and then if it doesn't get me where I want be in a bad enough spot that I will never get back to baseline starting Rogaine/RU/dutasteride/etc at that time.
My Questions:
For those of you out there who have had any similar experiences with success, or know of any, I would love your input on what you think I should do. I will be getting back into see a derm again shortly but I value the opinions on this forum nearly as much if not more to be honest.
Once again my main worry is getting my frontal area/my hair line thickened back up. Back to baseline there would be fantastic. It does not need to be perfect just sufficient or a little below baseline I would be more than happy with.
- Is this type of drastic thinning normal after never having a problem your whole life?
- Could Proscar "shed" actually be causing this? I do not notice any hairs on my pillow at night but if I run my hands through my hair or style it I will get hairs on my hands. This seems pretty similar even after Proscar to what it was for the last 3 months.
- If Propecia shed could be the problem will I get back to baseline of when I started Propecia? I have read a lot about sheds, propecia inhibiting dht to keep you from going further, etc. But I really have not seen much of a definitive answer on if after you lose hair early on propecia if it will bounce back to your baseline eventually.
- Should I start Rogaine? Foam or Liquid? 1x or 2x a day? I honestly was avoiding Rogaine since it seems like it could be a pain to do it 1x a day if not 2x a day for the rest of my life. I also had read about it messing up hairlines. At this point after a bit of research though I think I could probably manage to apply Rogaine in the morning before styling my hair prior to work pretty easy and, if necessary, after I shower at night. If I could get some opinions here that would be great as it is a pretty big lifetime plunge and I want to make sure it is worth it or that if I wait to see if the propecia kicks in eventually I will not have lost time and ground by not using Rogaine.
- Should I consider anything else? RU? Dermaroller? Higher amounts of Propecia(I ready Dr. Bernstein would subscribe higher amounts and it would help some people), dutasteride, etc.
I Know I Am Early On This And It Takes Time:
I do know I am early on Proscar and Nizoral and that it takes time. I am sure you guys get these posts all the time. That said, this coming out of nowhere in the last few months and being aggressive I just want to make sure I do not waste any time whatsoever. It seems far easier to keep what you have and keep an area that has not gone bald as opposed to letting it go to far.
Thank you for reading another post like this. I am sure you guys get them all the time. Just once again, as I have said, I want to make sure I am doing everything I can.
Pictures:
Attached are some pictures from today. I do not have any prior pictures of close ups of my hairline or anything like that(who the hell normally takes those? lol). So, that is why only pictures from today are attached. I had asked friends and family a couple months ago when trying to decide to go on Proscar about it and everybody thought I was nuts. Even the first derm. As said, my hair looked completely fine baseline even though I could notice the early thinning. From the pictures today though you can see there definitely has been significant thinning especially in the front.
The 1st and 2nd pictures really show how thinned out the front has gotten. You could not see anything like this a couple months ago, or even nearly that much a week ago to be honest. The third picture shows the hair wet down so that you can see it goes back a bit. The 4th picture just shows a normal picture of my hair not up under a spot light and in super close.... lighting makes just a little difference lol.
The 5th picture shows the back. You can see a little thinning back there. To be honest it does not really bother me that much. Likewise, the 6th picture shows the top of my head with my hair wet down. This little bit of being able to see the thinning there does not bother me at all either as long as it does not get worse.
The last 2 pictures show the sides. You can see in one picture quite a bit of scalp showing that the hair has thinned a bit going down the sides as well. That said, I was wearing a hat for part of the day so my hair is kinda bunched up, normally not a problem, nor does it bother me much.
The main issue I have is how quickly it has thinned in the front. Though I do realize that is exacerbated by the fact it is pulled up and the rest of the hair is not.
Thanks once again, and sorry for the long post. I just wanted to be as thorough as possible! I really look forward to the input any of you may have prior to going for another visit to the derm!
- - - Updated - - -
I should also do my part to help out others seeking information. In regards to Proscar side effects for those wondering I have had none that I can tell so far. No brain fog, still as horny as I ever was, etc etc. The only slight thing that MAYBE has occurred is maybe not as many erections all the time. I honestly can not even tell you if that is true. I definitely would not have noticed anything at all had I not read a billion things.
But yea, for anybody wondering, no sides as far as I can tell so far from Proscar. Not saying it does not happen or will not happen, but I figured it might be nice to point that out to others who are early in the journey and making decisions like I am.