Funny What 7 Days Can Change...

[Grizz]

It was all good just a week ago...

So I've been losing hair for a while. Lately styling my hair has become damn-near a scientific endeavour... brushing this way and that, applying equal parts hairspray and gumption. A couple of days ago I hit a wall that no amount of cleverness could conceal. My hair looks like **** and it's time to get aggressive again.

I say again because I've used finasteride off and on in the past. I know the stuff works because when I used it for nearly a year straight (a decade ago) my hair was ****ing luxurious. Although if I'm being honest I definitely panicked for no reason back then because even though I was in the beginning stages of hairloss it was really nothing at all compared to my current situation.

The mission? I want to get back to where I was about a month ago. In a perfect world I'd go back to where my hair was in 2011 but if I can get it back to where it was a month ago I would be pretty satisfied. I will be using .5 finasteride daily but I'll have to wait for a couple of weeks for my benefits to kick in at my new gig (which commences in Feb). So.... I guess I'm wondering if that's realistic? Any hairloss gurus care to chime in on a way I can keep shedding down for a couple of weeks?

I'm terrified of using minoxidil because of the initial shed. My hair situation is precarious as hell and I feel like I can't afford to lose another follicle. Crazy right?

Any suggestions? Insights? Insults? Lay them on me fellas.... I'm panicked. I just buzzed my hair down and I'm not one of those brothers that looks pretty cool with a #2 fade. I look like an idiot and I can't believe a few hairs lost over a fort-night could make such a huge difference. Booooooo..

damn you hairloss!! *shakes fist*

 

[Dalton]

I feel your pain, there is a very thin line between a workable head of hair and being the balding guy. Sometimes I feel like my hair is just hanging on by a thread waiting for that magic cure that is always "a few years" away.

 

[Iopu]

I didn't get any shedding whatsoever from rogaine. You should give it a try.

 

[Grizz]

Hey, thanks for the replies!

I feel your pain, there is a very thin line between a workable head of hair and being the balding guy. Sometimes I feel like my hair is just hanging on by a thread waiting for that magic cure that is always "a few years" away.

Yeah it's pretty disconcerting how thin that line really is. I'm amazed there isn't a cure for hairloss yet.... it's like "hey guys we can send a payload to remote locations all over the Earth via unmanned aircraft but we haven't nailed this follicle death thing down yet? PRIORITIES!"

I didn't get any shedding whatsoever from rogaine. You should give it a try.

I'm glad to hear this worked for you man! Thanks for the feedback. I gave rogaine foam a shot a long time ago and 2 weeks in my hair was shedding like gangbusters.... I immediately put the can down and swore "never again". To be fair the shed may have been a great thing, foretelling strong results to come but I was too much of a chicken to ride the shed out and I'm afraid I still am.

This might change as my options dwindle.

 

[Grizz]

LMAO..... my hair looks so bad right now. I can't even believe it.... I took a pic of myself during the first week of January (in which I looked decent) and the difference now is stunning! Damn you hairloss... you fickle son of a such and such.

Can't wait until I start treating this in a couple of weeks. Here's hoping I can keep my hair until then haha.

 

[maher]

Maybe you are just having a bad (hair)day. There are days my hair looks like ****.. thin, flat, dead..... So, i'm like totally bummed... and 'm saying: ****! my hair was looking great just few days ago. how can this happen in this short period?! this can't be!... and usually its not! It's back to normal after few days..

 

[Grizz]

Hey maher... thanks for trying to paint an optimistic picture! I appreciate it. I think you're right and that in most cases people tend to panic and overanalyze their bad hair days. But I've been dancing this hair loss dance for a while now and I'm not as prone to panic anymore. What happened is that I was on a precipice until very recently where I had enough coverage to look pretty good (and I'm lucky in the way my hair lays) but this dynamic was changed when I lost some surprisingly crucial hairs.

Overall... I'm bummed but I'm confident that aggressive treatment will get me back to at least where I was a few weeks ago if not months/years ago. I'll post some pics when I get a chance and document my progress for my fellow hairloss brothers.

 

[der29]

try dutasteride also. why did you get off finasteride

 

[Grizz]

Deleted pics.... no reason to post them until I have some kind of progress to compare them against. Just thought... what's the point you know?

try dutasteride also. why did you get off finasteride

Hey der29, I guess I got off finasteride because I'm not thrilled about the prospect of taking a non-essential prescription pill for the rest of my life. I mean honestly the idea of using this thermonuclear approach...globally stopping the production of DHT2 to keep a few follicles seems a little.... intense, and not particularly smart. I mean... I'm sure it's there for a reason, this isn't like a vestigial tail or anything.

But ultimately, I'm at a point where I'm willing to risk the utter stupidity of this approach again in order to salvage my looks/confidence. It's shallow and when I think carefully about it I have to laugh at what I'm willing to do to save my hair but what the hell right?

 

[Greg187]

Deleted pics.... no reason to post them until I have some kind of progress to compare them against. Just thought... what's the point you know?

Hey der29, I guess I got off finasteride because I'm not thrilled about the prospect of taking a non-essential prescription pill for the rest of my life. I mean honestly the idea of using this thermonuclear approach...globally stopping the production of DHT2 to keep a few follicles seems a little.... intense, and not particularly smart. I mean... I'm sure it's there for a reason, this isn't like a vestigial tail or anything.

But ultimately, I'm at a point where I'm willing to risk the utter stupidity of this approach again in order to salvage my looks/confidence. It's shallow and when I think carefully about it I have to laugh at what I'm willing to do to save my hair but what the hell right?

Amen man. I'm in the same boat and have two packs of Propecia at home but haven't had the balls to crack them open yet because hair after all, is just hair. Health is a whole different ball game.