Back In Time's story

[Back In Time]

***EDIT***
***SEE THE LAST POST BY ME IN THIS THREAD***

Hi all.

I've been reading this forum for months and months, and I figured it was about time to join up and share my story.

I started losing my hair when I was around 25-28 or so, very slowly. I didn't lose it in the temples much, but it slowly got thinner. Once it got a bit noticeable (probably only to myself) I cut it down to almost shaved, and kept it that way. It bought me a couple of years, and I still didn't look like I was balding much.

My temples started to creep back, and I started to get a slight ring where I could see my temples would eventually connect, leaving me with a circle of hair up front. I also started to develop a thinning spot about the size of a quarter on the back of may head. As if this wern't enough, the thinning just started to get to the point where I could (maybe no one else) notice the sides thicker than the top, and I could see under bright bathroom light where my hairline (or lack of it) would be once I lost all the thinning parts. I was headed for the classic horseshoe around the sides of my head, with a patch on the fron top.

I had tried Rogaine a few years back, but didn't stick with it, and eventually quit. I didn't seem to see any results, and at that time I was more concerned about the thinning up front and at the temples, where Rogaine claimed it didn't work anyway, so it didn't seem to make much sense to me to continue.

Cut to about November of 2005. I was at a sort of a crossroads...My hair was at the point where I know I couldn't pull of looking like I wasn't losing (a lot of) my hair even with it cut very short or even shaved for much longer. Propecia wouldn't be covered by my insurance and I knew it would be too expensive for me otherwise, so I had never thought twice about it.

I started looking online, hoping I would find something and I did! I bumped around a few forums and found that I could order Fincar (without a prescription) and cut it into quarters, giving me 1.25mg generic Propecia, for cheap! I knew I could still get the Kirkland Rogaine at my local Costco for about $19.95 for four months worth, so my plan was set. I figuredfor the price (about $13.00 a month) it was worth fighting the hairloss and seeing what could be done.

So, here I am now, a little over 3 months into my effort, and I have to say I am seeing some slow but steady results. My temples are slowly starting to grow in. My quarter sized thin patch on the back of my head is slowly filling in. My overall thinning is a lot less noticeable. If my results continue in this way, in about 6 more months I am going to let it grow out and see how it looks. Already I feel that I have started to go Back In Time, thus my user name.

Zero side effects from the Fincar, I think I am about a Norwood 2.5ish, hard to tell since none of the pictures look much like my hairloss. Any questions feel free to ask away.

Thanks al for the great posts, they have kept me going through the process.

 

[Aplunk1]

Welcome!
Seems like you're doing the right thing. Have you thought about getting on Nizoral shampoo to help your hair loss, too?

Good luck, man!

 

[Back In Time]

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm thinking about it. I know it would be the right idea. I should have mentioned above that I use T-Gel just about every day, and I was even before I started the other "big 2".

If I can get it cheap enough I definitely will, getting the other big 2 for $13.00 a month is what started me on my journey to try and save my hair in the first place since cost is definitely an issue. If anyone has found rock bottom prices anywhere on Nizoral I would probably take a look. It's something I have definitely been thinking about.

I created my own Norwood avatar since there isn't one that seems to mach my head very well, it should give you all a better idea of where I am. The diffuse thinning isn't quite as noticable as it may look in the avatar, and it seems to be getting better.

 

[Back In Time]

I started writing in another thread, but I figured what I wrote was better placed here in "my story". This is what I wrote yesterday:

Today was one of my "better" hair days. I've continued to let my hair grow, and today was one of those days where for some reason my hair looked pretty good. I think unless you caught me under direct sunlight and looked right at the part in my hair I could pass for someone who has barely lost any hair. Some days I think it looks like crap, some days I think it looks better. Today was the best it's looked in a long time, which was a really, really, good feeling. I can't wait for another 7-8 months to go by if my hair is really going to continue to improve.

I'm REALLY tempted to shave my head back down so I can have a better look at what has grown in, but I kind of hate to cut it after not having my hair grown at all for so long. When it was shaved short I could really spot where it was sprouting, especially the temple area. I'm curious what the diffuse area behind the front "patch" I have looks like, I am getting better coverage I think...Oh well, perhaps tomorrow it won't look so hot and I'll go for it.

 

[Back In Time]

So now on to today: It's getting warmer around my area, and I was hot driving in the car today so I figured I might as well cut the ol' hair today when I got home. I hit it with the clippers, on the smallest guard, and as they are not labeled I'm not sure what setting that would be. THis clipper only came with three guards, so I'm guessing it is a 1 or a 2. My hair after cutting is now about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, somewhere in between there. Not so short that it feels like stubble, but not long enough to lay flat on my head.

So, here is the good, the bad, and the ugly. Take a look at my avatar and follow along:

My temples are way, way better. The areas where they have regrown still arn't as thick as the sides of my head, but I can see my old hairline, and they are starting to fill in. From a distance they look much better, from close up you can still see they are thin, but they have crept forward a good 1/2 inch to 1 inch. If they fill in up to where they are now I would be thrilled. I was never one of those guys with a straight "box" shaped front, I always had temples that were a bit further back so for me this is fantastic. I've been hitting the temples and front with minoxidil, so tough to say if it's the finasteride or minoxidil, but who the hell cares.

The front of my head has some sprouts. I maybe only lost 1/4 of an inch from my hairline, so the sprouts are pretty close to the hairline, but far enough away for me to notice. I wasn't in trouble in that area really, so they are nice bonus.

The crown is definitely better. If my balding spot there was the size of a quarter or silver dollar, it's down to about the size of a dime, and that dime has hair on it. It's small enough now that it almost looks like the natural crown of my head, and before I cut my hair today I think it would have passed for not balding or barely balding in that area. Now that i cut my hair you can still see some thinness but in a smaller area, and quite frankly it's not as big of a deal as it used to be.

My diffuse areas (this is the big one) are not where I want them to be at all, but are better. This was the main reason for cutting my hair today, so I could check them. As you can see by my avatar on the left I have a thicker patch up front and diffuse all over the top of my head. If you look very closely at the avatar you can see right behind the thick patch there is a lighter "line", where I was worse than the other diffuse areas. This lighter line is from temple to temple, and you can see where eventually my temples would connect leaving me with an island on the front of my head. That line is starting to dissolve. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. It's much harder to tell where that line was now, so that is proof to me that I am starting to fill in more. It's also a bit harder to tell where the diffuse areas stop and where the sides of my non-male pattern baldness head start. I'm not saying you can't tell, but I can definitely see a change. I am definitely still diffuse, and after cutting my hair, standing right under the light in my bathroom close to the mirror it's easy to see scalp. Before I cut my hair I could just about pull off the non-diffuse look if I combed my hair just right, and that was a new thing too...so it's working...day by day it's working....

I've only been on the generic proscar and minoxidil for just under 5 months now, so I have no where to go but up. It should be a bit easier to apply the minoxidil now with my hair shorter, and checking results a bit more closely today has just redoubled my desire to stick with it, not that I was going to stop! Even if this is where my results stop I've still come a long way already.

Just to add this again for anyone reading: No sides at all. No shedding that I can tell, and I stopped losing hair. I still lose a few if I shake my head over my white desktop for a minute or two and count them, but I think that is a normal amount. Before starting all of this I would lose so many I wouldn't even want to look.

Stick with your treatments, whatever you choose, and good luck!

 

[Aplunk1]

Congratulations!

It only gets better down the road. Stick with it.

 

[Lessofarockstar]

So, here is the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Man, that was nothing but good.
Congrats!

 

[Back In Time]

Thanks Aplunk1 and Lessofarockstar.

Yeah, I really can't complain at all. If you told me in January if I would have more hair on my head by the end of April I would have told you you were nuts. I really wasn't hoping for much.

Like I said, I'm not where I want to be yet but I have made some really good progress and it's pretty early on in my finasteride treatment. If the diffuse areas continue to fill in in the next 6-8 months I'll be one happy camper.

 

[Back In Time]

UPDATE DECEMBER 30th 2006

I NO LONGER LOOK LIKE MY AVATAR!

Well. I hope someone is reading this update, I came back just to make this post. I like many others have not had to think about my hair in a long time, and I hope that my post gives others hope. I have only used what I have already posted, same stuff the whole time.

I AM ONLY ON MY REGIMEN IN MY PROFILE, SAME THING THE WHOLE TIME. I know that info may be important for those of you wondering what to use. Those two things may not work for you, but they worked like a charm for me. My advice would be to try the big three (I went with the "bigger two" in my opnion and I might add the third if I need to). Generic Fincar cut up and Costco Rogaine did it for me.

If you will notice this is my first post since (I think) April.

i know tons of folks have read about people starting treatments and never posting again, I just wanted to come back and tell you folks that my treatment has worked for me.

I don't have pictures which is usually the holy grail, but if you look at my last post date you may notice it's been a damn long time since my last post. I just remembered it was getting near a year since I started my attempt to save my hair and I thought I owed to you folks to report back.

Looking at my avatar I know I wasn't THAT bad off but I was getting there, but right now I have about a 1 1/2 inch to 2" growth all over my head and I do not look thin at all. When wet you MIGHT be able to tell a difference but that might just be my mind looking for it. Dry you can't see thinness and honestly it's getting better and better.

Again, I'm not 100% recovered, but I would say I'm about 90% from my avatar to now. I look my age and I walk around with a normal haircut, no bald spot at all and temples have grown in enough to look natural again.

Edit: After reading that it may not make sense, but I look like I have roughly 90% of the hair I lost BACK, I regrew hair in the temples, and in the balding spot in the back, and SOME in the "ring" behind the front hairline. It's not perfect but I can wake up, take a shower, comb my hair and go to work like before with a normal haircut. I'm not wearing a hat anymore or cutting my hair short.

I haven't re-read my old posts at all and it's been a while since I was here, but I think all of you get the idea.

I just wanted to tell you in closing, thank you for all of the help you have given me so far.

My fight isn't over, and if i lose hair in the next year or my current treatments fail on me I will be back looking for more help and I thank you in advance for you unending support. I love this forum for what it gave to me. It helped me find answers and help find solutions.

I respect all of you for what we are going through and I hope you all contine to fight the good fight. Never give up.