Prior to me going into detail, I want to say that I am posting here for those who have similar issues. I looked everywhere during my struggle for answers, and I found very little information or help. With that being said, here it goes.
I am 27 years old and only noticed my hairloss last August - at least consciously. I noticed signs prior to this, but denied them or ignored them. When I realized that I was potentially "balding" I scheduled several doctor appointments in hopes that it would be diagnosed as something else - Telogen Effluvium, fungus, allergic reaction, etc. In fact, from my experience as a mental health therapist and from reading thousands of posts on here, I can tell you that "denial" is real. Dermatologist after dermatologist diagnosed male pattern baldness.
Finally it dawned on me - I'm effing balding. After the Initial shock of it all I finally decided to do something about it. I researched for hours, weeks, and months. I read about treatments, future drugs, the best hair transplant doctors - as I'm sure many of you reading this have or will do. I spent every waking moment trying to find a cure.
Through this process I became familiar with the famous "finasteride" and its associated side effects. I wanted to avoid it all costs, but from my research I knew it was my only choice. I was well aware of the minuscule chance that finasteride could destroy my body. I was vulnerable. I was desperate. I was willing to risk everything for a chance at keeping my hair. So, I contacted the best endocrinologist in my state, and the best hair surgeon within a 500 mile radius of me. I had my pre hormone levels tested. They both reassured me, and encouraged me. I was cleared for use and got my prescription filled the same day. I tapered onto the medication very slowly - starting at .25 EOD for two weeks, then .5 EOD for two weeks. A week into .5mg EOD (3weeks into finasteride) I started to get breast tenderness. I tried to ignore it and push through. But, the pain and discomfort continued to increase. Within two weeks (5 weeks on finasteride) I noticed I had started to develop gynecomastia.
I then stopped the medication. I stopped because of the pain in my breasts. At this point I felt defeated. I fell back into depression - feeling hopeless and staring at my hairline every chance I got. I began to obsess again. I told myself I had to find a way. I met with my endocrinologist again. He reassured me. He told me that he had hundreds of patients on finasteride, and not a single one had had this side-effect - in fact he didn't even really think it was a legitimate side effect for people to be concerned with. By this time my swollen and inflamed glandular tissue had died down and almost returned to normal. So, it appeared as if i was crazy or experiencing a placebo. I even convinced myself I was falling into the placebo effect - after all I am a therapist.
After this visit I tried it again, but this time after 3 days my breasts began to hurt tremendously. I told myself "boobs are better than bald", and I pushed through the itchy painful feeling in my boobs everyday for two weeks until my next endo visit. When my endocrinologist examined me this time he got to see my concern first hand. He acknowledged my inflamed breast tissue, and in fact seemed very intrigued. From this point on he was willing to help me in anyway he felt possible. I told him I really wanted to take this medicine, and I was willing to try anything within medical reason.
The first thing he did was test my hormone levels again. Everything fell into range - my estrogen levels were even lower norm. But, he explained that in a minority of instances even a very small and subtle increase in estrogen can have this effect. This is due to the sensitivity of the receptors in the breast tissue - stating I must have very sensitive receptors. He prescribed me tamoxifen for three months, which is a medication that blocks estrogen from binding to the receptors. Well, let's just say that after two more months of pain and very little progress I gave up the tamoxifen.
Again, I fell into depression. I couldn't take it any more. I was about to quit finasteride once and for all. But, my endo had one last thing he wanted to try. He prescribed me letrozole at a low dose for three months. Letrozole prevents production of estrogen. Within 3 days my breast felt phenomenal. No more Itchy pain in my nipples. After one week on letrozole I decided to go for broke and I started to take 1.25mg of proscar daily on January 15th of this year - near triple what I did before. I had no issues. It was working. For the moment I was happy.
Over the next three months I Noticed a decrease in hair shedding. I also slowly tapered off letrozole as well, and thus far haven't experienced any recurrence of pain. But, the glandular tissue that grew didn't shrink back to normal size. I am now left with slightly puffy nipples, but it's not really noticeable to anyone but myself. So, I accept it. I continue to take 1.25mg of finasteride daily without any more side effects. Currently, I am in the stage where I don't know if finasteride is working for me or if I just continue to get worse. I have posted several before and after pics for you all to see, so be the judge for yourself. I will be on here for the next week answering any questions you guys may have. The struggle is real, and I'm glad I have you guys to relate to and share this with. Good luck all!
Picture #1,3,5,6 were in April 17 2016
Picture #2,4were In October of 2015
Sorry for the weird order
I am 27 years old and only noticed my hairloss last August - at least consciously. I noticed signs prior to this, but denied them or ignored them. When I realized that I was potentially "balding" I scheduled several doctor appointments in hopes that it would be diagnosed as something else - Telogen Effluvium, fungus, allergic reaction, etc. In fact, from my experience as a mental health therapist and from reading thousands of posts on here, I can tell you that "denial" is real. Dermatologist after dermatologist diagnosed male pattern baldness.
Finally it dawned on me - I'm effing balding. After the Initial shock of it all I finally decided to do something about it. I researched for hours, weeks, and months. I read about treatments, future drugs, the best hair transplant doctors - as I'm sure many of you reading this have or will do. I spent every waking moment trying to find a cure.
Through this process I became familiar with the famous "finasteride" and its associated side effects. I wanted to avoid it all costs, but from my research I knew it was my only choice. I was well aware of the minuscule chance that finasteride could destroy my body. I was vulnerable. I was desperate. I was willing to risk everything for a chance at keeping my hair. So, I contacted the best endocrinologist in my state, and the best hair surgeon within a 500 mile radius of me. I had my pre hormone levels tested. They both reassured me, and encouraged me. I was cleared for use and got my prescription filled the same day. I tapered onto the medication very slowly - starting at .25 EOD for two weeks, then .5 EOD for two weeks. A week into .5mg EOD (3weeks into finasteride) I started to get breast tenderness. I tried to ignore it and push through. But, the pain and discomfort continued to increase. Within two weeks (5 weeks on finasteride) I noticed I had started to develop gynecomastia.
I then stopped the medication. I stopped because of the pain in my breasts. At this point I felt defeated. I fell back into depression - feeling hopeless and staring at my hairline every chance I got. I began to obsess again. I told myself I had to find a way. I met with my endocrinologist again. He reassured me. He told me that he had hundreds of patients on finasteride, and not a single one had had this side-effect - in fact he didn't even really think it was a legitimate side effect for people to be concerned with. By this time my swollen and inflamed glandular tissue had died down and almost returned to normal. So, it appeared as if i was crazy or experiencing a placebo. I even convinced myself I was falling into the placebo effect - after all I am a therapist.
After this visit I tried it again, but this time after 3 days my breasts began to hurt tremendously. I told myself "boobs are better than bald", and I pushed through the itchy painful feeling in my boobs everyday for two weeks until my next endo visit. When my endocrinologist examined me this time he got to see my concern first hand. He acknowledged my inflamed breast tissue, and in fact seemed very intrigued. From this point on he was willing to help me in anyway he felt possible. I told him I really wanted to take this medicine, and I was willing to try anything within medical reason.
The first thing he did was test my hormone levels again. Everything fell into range - my estrogen levels were even lower norm. But, he explained that in a minority of instances even a very small and subtle increase in estrogen can have this effect. This is due to the sensitivity of the receptors in the breast tissue - stating I must have very sensitive receptors. He prescribed me tamoxifen for three months, which is a medication that blocks estrogen from binding to the receptors. Well, let's just say that after two more months of pain and very little progress I gave up the tamoxifen.
Again, I fell into depression. I couldn't take it any more. I was about to quit finasteride once and for all. But, my endo had one last thing he wanted to try. He prescribed me letrozole at a low dose for three months. Letrozole prevents production of estrogen. Within 3 days my breast felt phenomenal. No more Itchy pain in my nipples. After one week on letrozole I decided to go for broke and I started to take 1.25mg of proscar daily on January 15th of this year - near triple what I did before. I had no issues. It was working. For the moment I was happy.
Over the next three months I Noticed a decrease in hair shedding. I also slowly tapered off letrozole as well, and thus far haven't experienced any recurrence of pain. But, the glandular tissue that grew didn't shrink back to normal size. I am now left with slightly puffy nipples, but it's not really noticeable to anyone but myself. So, I accept it. I continue to take 1.25mg of finasteride daily without any more side effects. Currently, I am in the stage where I don't know if finasteride is working for me or if I just continue to get worse. I have posted several before and after pics for you all to see, so be the judge for yourself. I will be on here for the next week answering any questions you guys may have. The struggle is real, and I'm glad I have you guys to relate to and share this with. Good luck all!
Picture #1,3,5,6 were in April 17 2016
Picture #2,4were In October of 2015
Sorry for the weird order
yes, currently I only take finasteride 1.25 daily and have no recurrence of pain. If by chance the pain does return, I have the option to just have it surgically removed by dr Blau, which will more than likely take care of the issue long term - small chance of recurrence. I took both tamoxifen and letro, and feel that my hair improved over time - granted I was taking finasteride also. please view my pics above. Obviously it didn't help my hair, but I don't feel that it hurt it either.