What's up world. My name's dboty and I just started using Generic finasteride 1.25 mg/day TODAY and I thought I'd use this place as somewhere to track my progress and results.
My current regimen is (Big 3):
-Generic finasteride (is it Proscar? I don't really know it just says Generic finasteride on my bottle) 5mg cut into quarters, skip every 5th day.
-Rogaine Foam 2x/day. Once in the AM, once in the PM.
-Nizoral 2-3x week (haven't started it yet just picked it up)
A little bit about me:
-I'm 24 going on 25 in a month or so.
-I've probably been receding/balding since I was 21/22... it's really hard for me to tell for sure... the thing sort of crept up on me! It may have even started earlier, but it's slowly progressed with time. I didn't do anything about it though (doh!). I would say for sure since I was at least 22...
-My pattern is diffuse thinning on top with a receding of the temples as well. I'm not really sure what Norwood scale I am (which you'll see why below)
-For the past year I've been shaving my head quite regularly. As a matter of fact I've grown fairly accustomed to me with the shaved head/bald look. By now most of you are probably wondering... "why start now then?" which my response to that is... why not?
I mean I have no problems with shaving my head, but it would be nice to have hair though ya know?
I'm going to continue shaving my head for at least the next 6 months or so. There are positives and negatives to this:
Positive: I don't have to worry about shedding (lol)
Negative: Progress will be hard to track
That said, I'm in this for the long haul. I really don't expect to be seeing results overnight and hopefully I'll be able to gauge my results after 2 years or so. This is also the main reason I opted for Generic finasteride over Propecia. IF I grow my hair out after 2 years and see no results or even a worsening then what it was previously, at the very LEAST I will have spent less $ then if I had bought brand name Propecia. I'm unaware of whether or not a generic version of Rogaine Foam exists, but whatever I'll pay for name brand when it comes to this.
If I experience any sides (libido primarily being the biggest concern) I will drop Propecia and pursue alternatives (if any exist). When it comes to messing around... I'm not going to mess around with that. Sex > Hair. Plain and simple.
They say pictures are worth a thousand words so here goes nothing:
(I apologize in advance. I tried uploading the pics through here but to no avail)
http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/1895 ... bBdiFW.JPG
Me at 18. This a typical wonky picture that parents want of their children so I apologize in advance for the stupidity of it. I don't personally notice any signs of male pattern baldness, but I do have a high (hairline... I've always had that though (at least to my understanding). I also have a humongous head. Seriously my hat size is 7 5/8 and I was about 5'6 135 lbs in this pic. That's a big head... big forehead especially I think.
http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/2550 ... NxxXBV.JPG
Me at 23. This was taken October 2010. As you can see some damage has been done. I'm not sure where you'd put that hair on the Norwood scale. Somewhere around 2-3 I guess? The diffuse thinning is hard to notice, because the hair's been grown out and it kind of covers it up, but I swear it's there. There may have been the beginnings of a bald spot in the back as well, but it may just be a a symptom of the diffuse thinning in the back... not entirely sure. I was in a hat wearing stage during this time so there aren't very many pics of me with hair that's why I used this pic.
(side note: I hate this picture. I obviously wasn't prepared and I look like a clueless dolt, but oh well)
http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/2022 ... mnVNJF.JPG
Here's me today. I loaded it sideways b/c when I uploaded it normally the website cut most of my head off (lol). I apologize as I never got the myspace mirror photo look down. I'm bald. Very bald (lol). I think my head looks funnier in this pic in the angle compared to how it looks irl. I shave my head every few days or so and I'm okay with it, but again... I'd like to be able to grow some hair!
So this is it. I'll update it periodically every now and then, but as I stated before: I'm looking at the big picture. I'm in it to win it, but I realize this is going to be a very arduous and time consuming battle. I'll try to upload a few more pics later, but for now...I need to eat.
My current regimen is (Big 3):
-Generic finasteride (is it Proscar? I don't really know it just says Generic finasteride on my bottle) 5mg cut into quarters, skip every 5th day.
-Rogaine Foam 2x/day. Once in the AM, once in the PM.
-Nizoral 2-3x week (haven't started it yet just picked it up)
A little bit about me:
-I'm 24 going on 25 in a month or so.
-I've probably been receding/balding since I was 21/22... it's really hard for me to tell for sure... the thing sort of crept up on me! It may have even started earlier, but it's slowly progressed with time. I didn't do anything about it though (doh!). I would say for sure since I was at least 22...
-My pattern is diffuse thinning on top with a receding of the temples as well. I'm not really sure what Norwood scale I am (which you'll see why below)
-For the past year I've been shaving my head quite regularly. As a matter of fact I've grown fairly accustomed to me with the shaved head/bald look. By now most of you are probably wondering... "why start now then?" which my response to that is... why not?
I mean I have no problems with shaving my head, but it would be nice to have hair though ya know?
I'm going to continue shaving my head for at least the next 6 months or so. There are positives and negatives to this:
Positive: I don't have to worry about shedding (lol)
Negative: Progress will be hard to track
That said, I'm in this for the long haul. I really don't expect to be seeing results overnight and hopefully I'll be able to gauge my results after 2 years or so. This is also the main reason I opted for Generic finasteride over Propecia. IF I grow my hair out after 2 years and see no results or even a worsening then what it was previously, at the very LEAST I will have spent less $ then if I had bought brand name Propecia. I'm unaware of whether or not a generic version of Rogaine Foam exists, but whatever I'll pay for name brand when it comes to this.
If I experience any sides (libido primarily being the biggest concern) I will drop Propecia and pursue alternatives (if any exist). When it comes to messing around... I'm not going to mess around with that. Sex > Hair. Plain and simple.
They say pictures are worth a thousand words so here goes nothing:
(I apologize in advance. I tried uploading the pics through here but to no avail)
http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/1895 ... bBdiFW.JPG
Me at 18. This a typical wonky picture that parents want of their children so I apologize in advance for the stupidity of it. I don't personally notice any signs of male pattern baldness, but I do have a high (hairline... I've always had that though (at least to my understanding). I also have a humongous head. Seriously my hat size is 7 5/8 and I was about 5'6 135 lbs in this pic. That's a big head... big forehead especially I think.
http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/2550 ... NxxXBV.JPG
Me at 23. This was taken October 2010. As you can see some damage has been done. I'm not sure where you'd put that hair on the Norwood scale. Somewhere around 2-3 I guess? The diffuse thinning is hard to notice, because the hair's been grown out and it kind of covers it up, but I swear it's there. There may have been the beginnings of a bald spot in the back as well, but it may just be a a symptom of the diffuse thinning in the back... not entirely sure. I was in a hat wearing stage during this time so there aren't very many pics of me with hair that's why I used this pic.
(side note: I hate this picture. I obviously wasn't prepared and I look like a clueless dolt, but oh well)
http://www.picvalley.net/v.php?p=u/2022 ... mnVNJF.JPG
Here's me today. I loaded it sideways b/c when I uploaded it normally the website cut most of my head off (lol). I apologize as I never got the myspace mirror photo look down. I'm bald. Very bald (lol). I think my head looks funnier in this pic in the angle compared to how it looks irl. I shave my head every few days or so and I'm okay with it, but again... I'd like to be able to grow some hair!
So this is it. I'll update it periodically every now and then, but as I stated before: I'm looking at the big picture. I'm in it to win it, but I realize this is going to be a very arduous and time consuming battle. I'll try to upload a few more pics later, but for now...I need to eat.
. Anyways for now... patience.