docj077's story - (updated pics)

docj077

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Hello everyone.

I'm just a new guy. I've been reading over these forums for a few months now and slowly put together my own regimen while also eliminating drugs or topicals that have not worked for me.

I'm a 24 y/o male from South Dakota. My grandfather on my mom's side has male pattern baldness is most likely a Norwood 8 or 9. My uncle on my mom's side is likely s Norwood 4. On my dad's side, my grandfather was about a Norwood 3 when he passed away. Only my father and one other uncle suffer from male pattern baldness, but two of my other uncles have no symptoms whatsoever.

When I was seventeen my barber noticed that I had the beginnings of a receding hairline. She recommended Nioxin for me and I stuck with it for about two years with no results. During college, I started using rogaine and I also did not have any significant growth, but I did maintain my hairline. I added revivogen to a daily regimen of minoxidil and that did little to help me.

About a year and half back, my hairloss once again caught up with me and my hairline started to slowly recede. I tried using Saw Palmetto, Revivogen, and Minoxidil together, but they were of no help to me. I did maintain for about a month, but I started loosing hair once again. I stuck with that program for about 8 months.

Over the past month and a half I've added proscar cut up into fourths to a new program. When I first took it, my scalp would get incredibly oily. I have no doubt in my mind that this was due to the increased availability of testosterone in my body as a result of the inhibition of the Type II alpha reductase enzyme and the subsequent upregulation of my Type I alpha reductase enzyme in the sebaceous glands in my scalp. By adding Green Tea to my program, I've all but eliminated the oily scalp phenomenon.

As for the propecia, I did have a few side effects initially. My libido bottomed out for about a week, but slowly increased to normal levels after that time. I find that if I want to keep my libido up during the day, I just take the propecia at night after whatever sexual event I might take part in. The other side effect I've had was a general feeling of pain and discomfort beneath my perineum in the general area of my prostate gland. That disappeared after about three days, but it was very uncomfortable. Other than that, I sometimes get a slight headache after administration of the medication.

I'll try to post some pictures to show everyone where I'm at right now. This is after about a month on propecia and I shaved my head to help the viewing.

I have a pretty clear receding hairline and I might have some thinning on top, but I've kind of noticed that my hair has always been pretty thin in that area, so it could just be the lighting.


-Just a side note. I did use Minoxidil for about a week at the beginning of my new program involving Propecia. I wanted to switch my hair into their growth phase and it seems to be working as I have vellus hairs popping up all over my hairline.

Any suggestions are welcome and any opinions or observations are appreciated.
 

Aplunk1

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You can still save your hair...

That's still considered the early stages of hairloss.

Add minoxidil to complete the Big 3. :)
 

docj077

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Aplunk1 said:
You can still save your hair...

That's still considered the early stages of hairloss.

Add minoxidil to complete the Big 3. :)


Yeah, I'm just so unsure about that product. I want to regrow my hair, but I really don't want to rely on topicals for the rest of my life. I mean, if a cure or something better does come out and isn't based on the same physiological pathway as minoxidil, then I'll have to lose all the hair that requires minoxidil to grow all over again. I'm not too fond of that idea.

Maybe you have differing opinions on that, but it's just a scary thought.

Also, thanks for replying.
 

-cj-

Experienced Member
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docj077 said:
Aplunk1 said:
You can still save your hair...

That's still considered the early stages of hairloss.

Add minoxidil to complete the Big 3. :)


Yeah, I'm just so unsure about that product. I want to regrow my hair, but I really don't want to rely on topicals for the rest of my life. I mean, if a cure or something better does come out and isn't based on the same physiological pathway as minoxidil, then I'll have to lose all the hair that requires minoxidil to grow all over again. I'm not too fond of that idea.

Maybe you have differing opinions on that, but it's just a scary thought.

Also, thanks for replying.

Welcome to the forums. You'll have to continue to take Finasteride as well, but I'm sure you're aware of that.
 

docj077

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Docj077's story (update pics)

These are my updated results.

The first set of pictures is me after being on propecia alone for 4 months.




The next set of pictures is from the month of September alone. During the month of September, I reduced my finasteride intake to .75mg from 1.25mg the previous four months. I've also added Curcumin and Green Tea extract to my plan along with staying consistent with my intake of my GNC multivitamin.




It seems to me that my new plan is working, but only time will tell. New vellus hairs are growing along my hairline now and hopefully they will turn terminal, as well. I still have work to do.

Sorry for the lighting differences. I can assure you that there is a difference in both the thickness and density of my hair.

There are days when it's good to know that reading research articles pays off.
 

docj077

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I don't know how to update the line that says it's my story so it says updated pics. Damned computers. If someone knows, let me know.
 
G

Guest

Guest
I think most of that crown improvement is simply your hair growing out, but your temples and hairline do look a bit better to me. Less of the island formation but that could be the hair growing a bit as well. I do think that you've seen some moderate improvement in the front at least.

Early NW2 based on the hairline with some minor to moderate bitemporal recession. Very early stages of hair loss as Aplunk said. Your right temple looks a little bit better to me than your left- have you noticed that?

Edit: And if you want to update your title, just click edit in the top post and change your title that way.
 

docj077

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JayMan said:
I think most of that crown improvement is simply your hair growing out, but your temples and hairline do look a bit better to me. Less of the island formation but that could be the hair growing a bit as well. I do think that you've seen some moderate improvement in the front at least.

Early NW2 based on the hairline. Very early stages of hair loss as Aplunk said.

Believe it or not, the length of hair that you see with me on propecia is about a half inch longer than the hair that is in my more recent pictures. I just got a haircut today.
 
G

Guest

Guest
docj077 said:
JayMan said:
I think most of that crown improvement is simply your hair growing out, but your temples and hairline do look a bit better to me. Less of the island formation but that could be the hair growing a bit as well. I do think that you've seen some moderate improvement in the front at least.

Early NW2 based on the hairline. Very early stages of hair loss as Aplunk said.

Believe it or not, the length of hair that you see with me on propecia is about a half inch longer than the hair that is in my more recent pictures. I just got a haircut today.

Huh? I read that sentence over but I don't understand what you're saying. I thought that the propecia pics were the more recent pics.
 

docj077

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JayMan said:
docj077 said:
JayMan said:
I think most of that crown improvement is simply your hair growing out, but your temples and hairline do look a bit better to me. Less of the island formation but that could be the hair growing a bit as well. I do think that you've seen some moderate improvement in the front at least.

Early NW2 based on the hairline. Very early stages of hair loss as Aplunk said.

Believe it or not, the length of hair that you see with me on propecia is about a half inch longer than the hair that is in my more recent pictures. I just got a haircut today.

Huh? I read that sentence over but I don't understand what you're saying. I thought that the propecia pics were the more recent pics.

The bottom picks are of me on a reduced dose of propecia along with my new plan and shorter hair. The top picks are from a month ago when I was on a higher dose of propecia and my hair was longer.
 
G

Guest

Guest
wow i can't believe that. bottom pics are longer hair than top pics? wow.

so you're saying that your hair in this pic

P1010013.jpg



is longer than the hair in this pic?

P1010023.jpg
 

docj077

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No, I'm not comparing the original post of mine to my posts now. I'm comparing the pick one month ago of me on 1.25mg of propecia with long hair and pick I took today of me on .75mg propecia with shorter hair.

The top pick you posted is me with hair buzzed like 5 or 6 months ago before I even started propecia.
 

CCS

Senior Member
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your hair is a NW2. The bottom of your temples are good, the top of your temples need to come forwards 1/2 inch, the center of your hairline needs to come down 1/4 inch, and the sides of your top hairline need to come down about 1/2 inch. I think you said all your hair loss is in the last 3 years, so you do have hope of regrowing some. At least your top looks pretty good. But just becuase you thought it always was thin does not mean anything. I started receding at a young age. You need to part the top and part the sides and get the exposed scalp at the same angle to the light and the hair at the same angle to your eye and see which one has more exposed scalp at the same length. They should be the same. If the top has more scalp visible in the part, then you are thinning up there, though finasteride should help with that.

I don't think topicals are too bad, as long as they are not thick stuff like 50% propylene glycol minoxidil. Folligen is really lite and dries fast, not that I'm saying you should be on it, but if you make your topical GTE in a lite weight vehicle, it might not be a hassle to apply. You really need it to not stick to the hair. That is the nice thing about alcohol and water, though I still think you need a small amount of PG and maybe DMSO for good penetration.
 

docj077

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JayMan said:
wow i can't believe that. bottom pics are longer hair than top pics? wow.

so you're saying that your hair in this pic




is longer than the hair in this pic?
 

docj077

Senior Member
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Well, I finally decided to breakdown and post what progress I've made with the regimen I'm currently on. I had to drop Green Tea, because I just couldn't find a good brand that I liked with a price that I could afford.


So, I'll just post some pictures and if people like what they see, I'm sure that they will let me know. Throughout the duration of these pictures I've had my hair cut twice.


At the beginning of my hair regrowth journey, I really didn't have much hair loss. I was maybe a NW2-NW2.5, I think. At this point, I'd been losing my hair since I was sixteen and I'm 24 in all these pics.

hair1-a.jpg


P1010013.jpg


P1010014-a.jpg


P1010015-a.jpg


P1010017.jpg



So, that's the beginning.

At this point I had tried Nioxin, Rogaine, Revivogen, and Saw Palmetto. They may have helped me keep my hair, but I never used any for longer than 4 months besides Saw Palmetto.

From here, I started Propecia 1.25 mg per day and I took that particular medication for 6-7 months.

Here's those results:

P1010015a-13.jpg


P1010015a-15.jpg


P1010015a-12.jpg


P1010015a-11month2.jpg



At this point I was pretty much forced to stop using propecia as it affected my health in numerous ways. My libido remained intact, but after suffering from extreme fatigue, palpitations, and increased sweating I decided to get my thyroid checked out and some other blood work done. My free T4 was elevated, but all my other tests came back normal. Since I dropped propecia, all of my signs and symptoms of hyperthyroidism have since disappeared.

After that little incident, I decided to formulate a new regimen. I began taking curcumin, green tea extract, and GNC megamen multi-vitamin. I did this for about a month. Here are those results:

P1010018c-1.jpg


P1010019c-1.jpg


Here is 2.5 months on the same regimen except after the first month I discontinued my use of Green Tea extract (I actually lost weight on this stuff and I'm already a skinny guy) and I began using Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo with Vit. E and Honey along with vitamin C tablets. I also began drinking a lot of fresh apple cidar at this point, as well:

P1010018b-1.jpg


P1010022-1.jpg


My hair dry with no molding paste in it:
P1010023-1.jpg


Here are my results with curcumin, GNC multi, and baby shampoo after four months:

P1010024-1.jpg


P1010025-1.jpg


P1010026-1.jpg


P1010028a-1.jpg



So, I've come this far and I intend to stay with my current regimen. I have absolutely no side effects and it's relatively cheap and easy to do. I still have a lot of vellous hairs around my temples and maybe someday they will turn terminal, but even if they don't I feel pretty confident that my hair will stick around for at least a few more years. My hair is actually all growing now (some used to grow slower in certain patches, especially around my temples) and continues do well. I comb my hair every night and I get maybe 2-3 hairs on the comb. I never notice any other shedding.

Also, since I've started using the baby shampoo my hair very soft, manageable, and my doesn't get as oily as it used anymore. My scalp also never itches, burns, or feels irritated, either. I highly recommend baby shampoo for everyone and anyone with hair loss.
 

tchehov

Experienced Member
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Looks like you've come a long way, Doctor, and your hair definitely looks well. I find relating your meds to your pictures a bit confusing. I would never have believed those last pictures were from someone NOT using finasteride or minoxidil.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of queries as to your regimen, if you haven't already. :)

Congrats.
 
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