31M, started noticing I was balding around 19/20, but looking at old pictures I'm guessing it probably started earlier. I ended up taking Propecia at the time and had pretty decent results. My hairline filled in, all of my hair got darker/thicker, and my hair texture changed from straight to wavy/curly. I stopped taking it after a couple years, and honestly I cant remember why, maybe the price? I probably forgot to fill the prescription a couple times and then just stopped entirely sometime in 2008. I've been letting my hair fall out slowly since then, slipping into a not-great NW3, probably closer to NW4 if I'm being honest. In 2013 I tried finasteride again and got ALL the sexual sides, was immediately losing boners etc. Stopped after 3-4 days and they went away in about the same amount of time. Since I couldn't take finasteride I started once a day min foam around this time and have been using it on my crown, albeit without 100% adherence, since then.
Now, in 2018, from the front, my hair looked okay and I was generally okay with going bald, though obviously I would rather have hair than a shitty horseshoe. Late last year I saw a few pictures of me from behind and was shocked at how bad my crown had gotten. I shaved my head and figured I'd just stick to shaving from then on since clearly min had either lost its effectiveness or just never worked for me. Luckily I look okay bald, but since I was looking at my hair again, I decided to see if anything new had happened for hair loss since 2012/2013. Didn't find much, but I did find a bunch of info about "the nocebo effect" and finasteride. The first time I took finasteride, I only got occasional watery/low volume semen as sides. The second time, I got all of the sexual ones, and the only difference was I had done some research on finasteride and learned about the potential sides that I didn't know about the first time. Believing that I was most likely a victim of the nocebo effect, I decided to take finasteride again in December 2018.
So far I haven't had any of the troubling side effects from my last attempt and my experience is more in line with my first stint. I've also started making sure to use min twice a day, as well as on all balding parts. I started using a dermapen on my entire scalp 5 weeks ago, going once a week at 1.6mm and applying min immediately after. I'm extremely pleased with my results so far. My hair strands feel more substantial, denser, and seem a bit darker too. My hair is less straw-like and feels softer and healthier. Objectively, my crown has started to fill in a ton, and at a faster pace than I expected. Unfortunately I haven't been documenting my temples because, after looking at bare skin for 12 years, my temples are starting to come forward. I was planning on waiting until the 6 month mark to grow my hair back out (I'm tired of shaving twice a week) but I feel like, while its still clear I have thinning spots and receded temples, at the rate I'm going it might fill in enough to be a convincing NW2 around 12-15 months.
Pictures are - baseline; 1 month finasteride/full scalp min (probably below baseline); last two are from yesterday. I did two because I wanted similar lighting to compare to the 1 month picture (since the original pic is potato quality) and more flattering lighting to better see the regrowth.
Now, in 2018, from the front, my hair looked okay and I was generally okay with going bald, though obviously I would rather have hair than a shitty horseshoe. Late last year I saw a few pictures of me from behind and was shocked at how bad my crown had gotten. I shaved my head and figured I'd just stick to shaving from then on since clearly min had either lost its effectiveness or just never worked for me. Luckily I look okay bald, but since I was looking at my hair again, I decided to see if anything new had happened for hair loss since 2012/2013. Didn't find much, but I did find a bunch of info about "the nocebo effect" and finasteride. The first time I took finasteride, I only got occasional watery/low volume semen as sides. The second time, I got all of the sexual ones, and the only difference was I had done some research on finasteride and learned about the potential sides that I didn't know about the first time. Believing that I was most likely a victim of the nocebo effect, I decided to take finasteride again in December 2018.
So far I haven't had any of the troubling side effects from my last attempt and my experience is more in line with my first stint. I've also started making sure to use min twice a day, as well as on all balding parts. I started using a dermapen on my entire scalp 5 weeks ago, going once a week at 1.6mm and applying min immediately after. I'm extremely pleased with my results so far. My hair strands feel more substantial, denser, and seem a bit darker too. My hair is less straw-like and feels softer and healthier. Objectively, my crown has started to fill in a ton, and at a faster pace than I expected. Unfortunately I haven't been documenting my temples because, after looking at bare skin for 12 years, my temples are starting to come forward. I was planning on waiting until the 6 month mark to grow my hair back out (I'm tired of shaving twice a week) but I feel like, while its still clear I have thinning spots and receded temples, at the rate I'm going it might fill in enough to be a convincing NW2 around 12-15 months.
Pictures are - baseline; 1 month finasteride/full scalp min (probably below baseline); last two are from yesterday. I did two because I wanted similar lighting to compare to the 1 month picture (since the original pic is potato quality) and more flattering lighting to better see the regrowth.