Fireman's Story - (Quit finasteride/PROPECIA) Update 1/9/10

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fireman

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

Not too sure what promox is..is it something like minoxidil? I've been thinking about adding minoxidil but it seems like it would be too much of a hassle. I kinda like my regimen because it's so easy.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to completely stop Nizoral. The TTO shampoo + conditioner seems to be working great. It also seems to thicken up my hair a little bit, but maybe thats just my imagination.

Anyways, if you are having problems with itchy/irritated scalp, I highly recommend jasons TTO shampoo and conditioner.
 
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fireman

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

Alright got some new pictures. Hair is a little longer now, and I'm probably gonna keep it around this length from now on.

June 10, 2008:






 
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fireman

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

I actually trimmed em up a bit so that's probably why they appear thicker.
 
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fireman

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

Just a little update-

Continued shedding, more diffused, temples have been receding at an alarming pace and I can't seem to rid of that goddamn itch. Maybe my male pattern baldness is super aggressive and the finasteride slowed it down a bit but I'll never know. I'll probably stop taking it after my 4 month supply is up. Not adding any topicals because that is just too much of a hassle for me. Time to accept that I'm gonna be bald before 30 :thumbdown2:

Ah well I learned a lot from this site. Thanks for all the insightful posts. It's just too bad it didn't work out for me! :smack:
 
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wotsthedeal

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

fireman:

It looks to me as though you've thickened a bit from your baseline. I would not quit finasteride after four months as that could have really dramatic and disastrous results. People harp on this all the time here, but I'll say it again, if you're going to take finasteride, you've gotta be ready for the long haul. That's how you get results.

Personally, that's why I've never gotten into the finasteride. I worried that I would take it for a bit, not notice a difference, stop taking it, and have my hair go to complete sh*t overnight. If I were you, I'd stick with it for at least six months and see where you're at. Who knows, maybe you'll surprise yourself.

Another note - going through sheds is tough, and it always feels as though you're gonna go bald in a week or two when one is happening, but theoretically a shed should probably be a good indication that the meds ARE having an effect. It's important to let your hair go through at least a cycle or two before you make judgements on how the treatments work for you.
 
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fireman

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

Well the first pic I have up there is from about month #6 (right when I had a camera available to me). My hair was waaaay thicker and my temples looked much better when I first started finasteride. For the first 4 months it seemed to be maintaining it well. I actually had longer hair was able to spike it up. But around months 4-5 is when it started getting really thin. I couldn't really style it good and I had to buzz it.

So the first picture is month 6, it's not my baseline photo.
 
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fireman

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

Just wanted to add an update. Been a while since my last post.

I'm still taking fincar because I've decided I would probably be worse off discontinuing it. About 4 months ago I decided to start taking .625 finasteride EOD. After a while I noticed that my scalp felt much better than when I was taking the 1.25 every day so I kept it up. So far I haven't experienced any bad sheds since lowering my dosage, and I don't get that severe scalp itch anymore, which I think was the worst part.

I doubt I'll ever get back to baseline, but my hair has been pretty stable since about month 7 or so, excluding the temples which seem to keep on receding.

I'll see if I can post up some more pics if I get my camera working again.
 
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ClayShaw

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Re: fireman's story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

wotsthedeal said:
fireman:

It looks to me as though you've thickened a bit from your baseline. I would not quit finasteride after four months as that could have really dramatic and disastrous results. People harp on this all the time here, but I'll say it again, if you're going to take finasteride, you've gotta be ready for the long haul. That's how you get results.

Personally, that's why I've never gotten into the finasteride. I worried that I would take it for a bit, not notice a difference, stop taking it, and have my hair go to complete sh*t overnight. If I were you, I'd stick with it for at least six months and see where you're at. Who knows, maybe you'll surprise yourself.

Another note - going through sheds is tough, and it always feels as though you're gonna go bald in a week or two when one is happening, but theoretically a shed should probably be a good indication that the meds ARE having an effect. It's important to let your hair go through at least a cycle or two before you make judgements on how the treatments work for you.
Click to expand...

I don't think finasteride can make things worse than they would be otherwise. If you took finasteride for four months, and then stopped, you could lose the hair you would have lost during those 4 months, but I don't see how you could lose more.
 
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fireman

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined)

I'll be posting up some more pics either after work tonight or sometime tomorrow.

I realize the lighting is pretty terrible on all my photos, so I'll start trying to take better ones in the bathroom after this batch of pics. Also, my hair is a bit longer in the current photos.

Here's the pics(been around 9 months since I last posted pics, a little over a year and a half on FINCAR):














 
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fireman

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

Alright I finally quit finasteride after about 2 years because my hair has only gotten worse since I've started it. The top has thinned a little bit and temples keep on receding. I just keep a REAL short buzz now and I kinda like it that way.

Been off it for about 2 weeks now. I'll try to let you guys know if I get a super massive shed in the upcoming weeks/months but my scalp has actually felt better since I've been off it(or so I think haha :dunno: ).
 
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thebump98

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

big moves sir , yes keep in touch with your no finasteride progress now
 
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Artas

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

I envy you loads. You've had big improvements for saying your father is a NW7

Keep it up :)
 
rotsen182

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

your hair looks much better than mine, i think u are going slow but at least keeping your hair.... dont give up
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timbo

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

Let's be honest, there was a good chance that you would've been bald right now had you never started the propecia. You started losing at a very young age and your dad is an NW7. I think the propecia was doing a pretty good job at helping you maintain, you just needed minoxidil. Finasteride alone rarely grows back all of the hair that is lost.
 
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fireman

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

Not gonna be hopping back on finasteride anytime soon. I'm pretty sure I was getting some gyno from it since my pecs were pretty sore occasionally. I also had gyno from puberty so I'd rather not mess with the drug anymore.

I also haven't even maintained from baseline so I'm not even sure if finasteride did anything in the first place. I mean it looked like it maintained for the first 3-4 months(used to have long hair, this was before I started taking pictures) but then just went downhill from there. I never saw a decrease in shedding at all. Also, I'm pretty sure my bad scalp itch only began after I started taking finasteride too, but that could just be in my head. I know I have a good chance of losing a lot but I'm pretty content with that.

I'll definitely let you guys know how it turns out in the next few months.
 
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himynameisjustjohn

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

Although you said that your hair is a little longer now and pictures can sometimes be deceiving as real life, in person might tell an entirely different story, to me it looks like it has improved...maybe no regrowth but the existing hairs look thicker to me. Unless you are experiencing obvious side effects, I would stay on finasteride; if you THINK you are maybe you should see a doctor in an endeavor to have a second opinion on what is happening to your body or to help you monitor what is happening...the side effects may be in your head; for instance, I saw that before you began Tx, you indicated that you had severe itching; now it seems as though you are attributing the itching that you had before to the finasteride (I browsed through the first part, so maybe that's inaccurate, but that's what it seemed like).....

By the way (although it probably doesn't matter and it shouldn't), in my humble opinion, your hair at it's current length doesn't look that bad (and I scrutinize everything).....Oftentimes when we compare our situation to other people's, our expectations become higher to exorbitant degrees, I myself can attest to this, I think you may have improved but that you were looking for a lot more, which is understandable from an emotional perspective....

You weren't using minoxidil, you were using finasteride, which you even admitted isn't too much of a hassle; I can only reiterate what others have said, you might've been in your Dad's position or you may be alot sooner if you stop....if you are willing to go there at your age and you have truly accepted that, then I commend you and wish you the best, you have acheived a feat that many of us have yet to achieve; if you are still a little bit apprehensive about that, then I would stay on the medication....you'd be surprised at how much a HUGE shed could change one's perspective, I've only had one big one, lasted about 4 months and that's what intiated this whole hair-saving fiasco in the first place.

Sorry for the long message, good luck man.....if you truly are NW7 bound at your age, I can commiserate with you.......

PEACE
 
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himynameisjustjohn

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Re: Fireman's Story - (21 yr old NW7 destined) Update 5/3/09

Also, when I referred to "shed", I was alluding to hairs that visibly disappeared from my scalp, not shitty hairs on my laptop screen, shower drain, pillow case, etc......As you probably have read from others, everyone, even people not affected by male pattern baldness notice their hairs in places other than there own scalp, so just because you're seeing "shed" hairs doesn't mean sh*t ain't working....

I myself shed hairs everytime I comb my friggin' hair, but over the last year, since my initial bout with hair loss, the hair on my scalp hasn't changed too much....
 
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