Chester716's Story - (24/finasteride and minoxidil started on Sep8 2009)

[oarf11]

Those most recent picks look great, dude. Seems to be a big improvement from your first post. Keep it up!

 

[Chester716]

Aright... nother little update...

things are looking pretty good.. the pics dont really do it justice.. my hair grew about an inch and quarter in 4 weeks.. which is ridiculous.... i buzzed it to number two just a month ago.... and its pretty long now considering.. i rebuzzed the sides and bak a week ago... anyways.. i get lotsa comments on how much thicker its growing and am geting accused of using rogaine at work..(as if its a bad thing to) .. and i wasnt even balding before.. just thin hair..

finasteride i just recently started taking like 1.25 - 1.5 doses... only cuz i waste a lot trying to cut it into 5's.. so i just split into 4's now.. sometimes some are bigger tho.... the way it cuts...meh.... and i use kirkland minoxidil ever other day or so...

i put the minoxidil on the entire top of my hed. not jsut hair line and crown fyi..
anyways.. still hoping this continues and gets even better...

still zero sides and no shedding since the 3rd r 2nd week in when hair was flaling out left and right....

this marks 4.5 monthsish..

 

[Dogs3]

awesome results. this belongs in the success story forum.

 

[blink]

where are you getting your proscar/finasteride from? online or from a prescription?

 

[Chester716]

where are you getting your proscar/finasteride from? online or from a prescription?

theres a hair loss clinic in Hamilton Ontario.... in Canada u need a presc. i got my DX test done there and pos result got my prescription.

I think you can just have a consult and get a presc as well there.

With my work benefits it costed me a total of $5 for a year supply and i got the pills at wal mart.

the doctor there jsut phoned in a year supply.. whenever im out he jsut phones it in again.... pretty hassle free..an practically free.. why not take it

 

[lpm2]

that is brilliant recovery!

Congrats.

 

[SE-freak]

Great stuff.

 

[moonbase]

Only 5 dollars? You must have a great drug plan! I just signed up for one and a yr will still cost me around 140.

PS: Great results man, I can only hope I have similar!

 

[waynakyo]

CHESTER
Please can you share with us the results of your HairDx test ?
You are a very good responder, please let us know, the overall result, as well as whatever count they gave you ...
any side effects ?

I am planning to do the test as well, and I can share in time..

 

[postit15]

Hey does ur work cover proscar cuz they assume its for prostate issues rather than hairloss? Did u hav to fill out any forms to say which it was for?

 

[Chester716]

ill post pics later but i oubt they look much different

but lately my hair has been feeling and looking to me like its a LOT thinner than before.... but more ppl cant tell too much.... i uppd th dose about a month ago... it was too difficult to split into 5's so i just did 4's and the chunks can be pretty big at times....

anyways.


as for covering proscar thru work... my Doctor just calls it in to my pharmacy (wal mart) and they take my benefits card number ONE TIME and charge me $5.
thats its... no questions asked. i pay 20% as always .. wal mart gets the reimbursement form dejardins..... i dont have to do anything.. after the one time tho they never ask and just charge me the $5..

some places tho will make YOU pay th efull amount and then at my work we have form we fill out and fax or mail to dejardins and they send u a check for the 80% in your name which u just cash..

 

[pacinom]

ill post pics later but i oubt they look much different

but lately my hair has been feeling and looking to me like its a LOT thinner than before.... but more ppl cant tell too much.... i uppd th dose about a month ago... it was too difficult to split into 5's so i just did 4's and the chunks can be pretty big at times....

anyways.


as for covering proscar thru work... my Doctor just calls it in to my pharmacy (wal mart) and they take my benefits card number ONE TIME and charge me $5.
thats its... no questions asked. i pay 20% as always .. wal mart gets the reimbursement form dejardins..... i dont have to do anything.. after the one time tho they never ask and just charge me the $5..

some places tho will make YOU pay th efull amount and then at my work we have form we fill out and fax or mail to dejardins and they send u a check for the 80% in your name which u just cash..

Your pics are very interesting. I see a lot of stark contrasts between your pics on page 3. specially the ones with the wet look and the ones cut shorter. It seems like maybe you have naturally thin hair which look very wispy when wet but then as they dry up or cut short they look very full or blown up.
Or perhaps its the camera playing tricks.
your wet pics on page 1 almost makes it look like you have no hairloss but only thinner hair. But some of the dry hair pics on page 2 show that your top is visibly thinning compared to the adjoining areas.

Anyways continue with finasteride atleast for a long term if you dont have any side effects.

 

[Chester716]

pacinom: i believe you are correct. i do have naturally fine hair.... it was thicker when I was younger but it's been quite fine for years since like 15 and im 24 now and nothing has really changed much with it.... my mom has even finer hair than mine. I've never been able to use gels or creams fo styling because it would just weigh it down and flatten it.... lately ive been using pantene hairspray number 5 hold... works amazing actually.. spray on when my hair is dry and messy then mold slightly.. (you only have a minute to mold before it hardens tho) ...

anyway.. i dont think my hair is any worse than when i started..i do think its better actually... sometimes it jsut feels worse... i donno..
my hair is getting longer again bout 4-4.5 inches long.. i buzzed it again awhile ago.. my hair grows really fast.....

here are some updated pics from may 5.....

 

[Chester716]

wet pics

 

[Chester716]

update....

its been almost a year.....

my hair has gotten worse now over the last two monthsish.... quite a bit worse..



when i grab my hair now it feels like theres barely anything there... its really thinning out...the crown but also at the front pretty much everywhere on the top. sides and back arent affected much.. dont NOTICE a lot of hair falling out but i definitely put my finger nail on my head it pretty much just feel scalp... really bringing me down.... hate it...

im pretty much just using the finasteride at this point daily....
als I feel like it is affecting my sex drive quite a bit... not so much that its a problem but im noticing changes like.... my gf and i can do like 4 times a day usually if we want.. after once or twice im just like not interested anymore and just dont really feel up to it......but then some days i am overly amped.

its tough to say if the finasteride is affecting it.. i think it is to a point.. if i forget a pill for a day or two.. im usualyl a lot more amped... so...

anyways. hers a pic.. i just snapped at work on my phone...so quality not so great...ill stay on finasteride.. just kinda getting depressed.. im 25 as of last month.. i dont wanna lose my hair so early or ever..

 

[mike_b]

Hey man, our hair is very similar...so I feel like I can get a good vibe outta what's going on here.

I think you've maintained your hair. It looks fuller when it's shorter, but it looks like you grew it out with high hopes and are disappointed by the results.

Don't be. If you can maintain the amount of hair you have forever, you'll be a lucky guy - even if you don't get to wear it longer like you may want to. Plus, I think it could still get even better, based on some of the success stories I've seen online.

If I were you, I would cut it back down. I'm not educated on treatments, so I've no advice for you there - but you looked like you had NO probs on some of those short hair pictures.

 

[jimjams]

Hey Chester,

dont get down about it mate. if i were you i would cut it short, get back on the min, maybe do the 6% + from Dr Lees on regrowth.com and stick with the routine. finasteride on its own is better for maintaining. If you are like me you may just shed heavy, grow it back, shed heavy, grow it back on so on.

Keep us posted, but to prevent depression, shorter hair cuts.

good luck mate

 

[Chester716]

hey all thanks for replies.

ya, im not too sure anymore.....

nmy hair is def worse than it was last year.. but not by much i dont think. Some days it jsut seems worse than others.. im not sure why....like right now it actualyl feels ok and looks decent.. maybe its how much oil is in it.... hard to say...


I hate having short hair... im used to have messy medium hair... looks good on me.. short hair makes my face loook massive. :S guess thats why i keep growing it out......

i think im maintaining.....id like thicker hair tho.... my mom's hair is quite a bit thinner than mine... all overe tho.... mine is thinner at the crown but also all over... not sure if i have much hope knowing that even my MOM has thing hair....

im relatively confident that the finasteride will help me maintain what is current... the minoxidil doesnt seem to how me any better results when i use or dont use it.. but maybe i just dont notice...

also im taking 1 - 1.25 mg of finasteride daily.. usualyl the morning but sometimes around 1pm if i forget.... ive heard that it only lasts for 6- 15 hours... should i be taking one in the morning and one at night???
also is it better to go on dutasteride?? is that more effective??


thanks....

also other than mild lack of interest in sex at times.... no real important sides

 

[Chester716]

Re: Chester716's Story-(2yrs and dropped finasteride, starting RU/minoxidil)

Ok... so its been awhile since I've updated, mostly because I haven't had much to say.

My hair has definitely gotten worse in the last year.. not too dramatically though. So I guess the finasteride has helped slow the loss.

Since my last post I dropped everything BUT finasteride. So I just couldnt be bothered to minoxidil ev day.. too much hassle....

Anyway.. i've decided this week to stop minoxidil.

basically I havent noticed any sides specifically but I think the sexual sides have been creeping up.. so I've decided to stop finasteride at least for awhile to see how I get on without it.

I'm not going into all the details here as I have in this thread already if you're interested

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=65496&p=616884#p616884

I'm going to start Monday on RU and minoxidil 5%. I still use revivogen shampoo and cond... . just cuz I have a bunch. Im dropping finasteride for at least a month if not forever..... after a month if RU is helping... i may stay off finasteride.. but if its not helping enough or i notice dramatic changes.. i might do finasteride ev other day or much smaller doses... or both.. i'll see how goes..

I'll post pics on Monday and begin tracking progress for a bit on RU

Oh and my last 1.25 dose of finasteride was yesterday morning...

 

[Chester716]

So my first hit of RU and minoxidil 5% was tonight.

here are my baseline pics.

I'll keep the progress tracked. with pics and update here.