Hi guys - just wanted to say...

[CHL24]

Hi everyone, I posted on this board among others over 5 years ago now, when I was in my early 20's, I am now 28 in 2 months time.

I just wanted to thank alot of the old members on here who recommended propecia to me, and also adviced me against having a hair transplant at such a young age.

I actually forgot about these forums for many many months and would only visit them sporadically every 6 or 7 months or so as it could become so easy to spend hours on such boards worrying about hair which does no-one any good.

Its quite an eye-opener to browse some of the hair transplant forums and see people who were my age back then now complaining about agressive hair-transplants by certain doctors (wont mention any names, do I really need to?) - it makes me feel very fortunate and grateful that I was able to stumble across this website that offers unbias advice to hair loss suffers. I know on some boards it seemed like they were almost controlled by reps of certain hair transplant companies and always felt like their was a hidden agenda in any advice they would give.

SO...yes this post is already far too long..... just want to thank this board's owner and its long term members for staying neutral and unbias - I'm thankful I came across this cause I could have gone and done something really stupid in my early 20s that (from looking at other like minded people my age who went ahead with hair transplant's) I could of really regreted.

So yes, THANKS - and keep up the good work, and my advice to anyone 22/23 years old and worried that they might be losing hair, get on propecia (I take generic proscar). It was the best decision I made regarding my hair.

PS. For anybody that is interested, I got on propecia at around 23/24 years old and I am still on it now. I had quite a receeded hairline at 23, and was very worried that I would lose the rest fast - but I got on propecia and since that time my hair hasnt changed - you can check this by refering to my post I made nearly 4 years ago below (I actually kept it updated until about a year ago - but I can post updated pictures if anybody wants them).


http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=37451&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30

 

[Thom]

Thanks! I always appreciate the encouragement. It also helps to see that you pulled off the long hair because I cut my hair when it started thinning and now I want it long again because it was always my thing. I'm about to get on finasteride soon. Glad to see you've kept it looking good!

Nice Coldplay reference too. One of the best live bands I've ever seen!

 

[kthxbi]

19 years old, started propecia on the 29th of '10, 10 or 11 days before my 19th birthday. really hope i can get the same ( or hopefully even better ) results than you. stay strong brother.

 

[Thinneritgoes!]

Congrats! I remember you. I had a different username then.
I'm certain we would all love to see the updated pics

 

[GeminiX]

Always a nice start to the day when I read another success story

Thank you for keeping us all updated and good luck with your progress!

 

[CHL24]

thanks guys - I will try and sort out updated pictures this weekend to show you.

kthxbi = I maintained and maybe even had slight thickening, I think this is all you should hope for, else you might be dissapointed if you expect more

 

[SheSawMyCombover]

Good to hear you've had success CHL24

I've been really down about my hair loss recently but it is stories like yours that give me some hope that if I stick to my regimen of finasteride and nizoral that I might maintain what I've got for a few years.

At the age of 21 I'm already a Norwood 3 and have detected some thinning also so overall the prognosis for my hair aint good. :shakehead:

However, the way I see it is a couple of more years (all going well if the meds work) of my current hair status is better than being a Norwood 5/6 by the time I'm 25.

 

[CHL24]

Hey dude, to be fair - I was a norwood 2 verging on 3 by the time I was 16 - like my hairline pretty much started to develop that early, but thankfully *touchs wood* I think maybe I got that type of hairloss that is at a snails pace, who knows

but in all fairness, I wouldnt mind at all if my hairline was always like this, because although I grow my hair out, I actually like the look of a norwood 2/3 hairline when shaved, I think it looks quite 'manly' as it were - and I am quite a big guy , 6ft2 and 110kg so maybe have more chance of pulling that look off

I use to be so worried about my hair, like when I was 22/23 and at university, all my flat mates had perfect norwood 1's and I was continually obsessing about my hair, but looking back it really didnt do any good and was a waste of time. I was doing everything I could to maintain and it maintained just fine...sure some days I thought it looks awesome and other days I thought it looked like crap, but I always came back to my photos I took when I started propecia and things never changed.

I'm lucky enough that I have good density everywhere else, no crown thinning etc - so hopefully I could be like maybe one of those guys like string/sutherland who just have slow recession hairloss through life? Who knows

But one thing is deffinately true, as I approach 28, I dont care so much as I did when I was 22, you sort of man up as you get older (or atleast I did) and realise that being a pussy about hairloss gets you no-where and if it happens it happens, enjoy it while you got it

The way I see it, if it did get any worse I would just focus on getting super hench and then roll with the shaved hair style

wish you all the succes with your hair journey man, and remember, at the end of the day dont get too stressed about it, its only freaking hair - some guys on this forum can be quite pathetic when you realise their age (30 +) and that they put SUCH a great emphasis on their hair - im sure these people must be lacking in other areas of their life and nodoubt if they had norwood 1's they would still find something cripplying in themselves to moan about - dont be one of those guys

all the best (for us all)

 

[CHL24]

PS: Didnt mean that post as a dig at anyone on this board (read over it and seems abit agressive)

Was just trying to make the point that its not healthy to allow yourself to really beat yourself up about something that inevitable you have no real control over anyways - if its gonna happen its gonna happen - where is the sense is torturing yourself over it in that case? - Thats the point I was trying to make

Peace

 

[SheSawMyCombover]

PS: Didnt mean that post as a dig at anyone on this board (read over it and seems abit agressive)

Was just trying to make the point that its not healthy to allow yourself to really beat yourself up about something that inevitable you have no real control over anyways - if its gonna happen its gonna happen - where is the sense is torturing yourself over it in that case? - Thats the point I was trying to make

Peace

I'm hoping given a bit of time that I can obtain this frame of mind. Deep down I know that I'm doing myself no favours constantly thinking about my hair loss and I am in actual fact only causing myself more grief. I just hope like you CHL24 that I can gain some acceptance as I age.

 

[CHL24]

It's the best attitude man and dont let anyone tell you differently, alot of guys on here seem convinced that without hair their never gonna get female attention etc - and alot of elder guys on these forums also drum to the same beat on this.

But i'm willing to bet these same guys really didnt have all that great success with women before they had hair problems (even if they told you they had women kicking down their door 'back in the day they had flowing locks) and now sort of use it as a crutch to weight all their problems on.

And lets face it, alot, no infact, the whole point 99% of people post on here is because they are concerned about their hair and are worrying about the possible negative impact it will have on their interaction with the opposite sex.

But one thing I've learnt (and that none of these guys probably even realised) is that being so negative to yourself about your hair, and being insecure due to this same reason is the ONE main thing that women can sense like an alarm bell from 10 miles away.

Now I dont claim to be cassanova by any stretch of the imagination (and I'm no oil painting myself) but when your so self obsessed about your hair it effects other areas of your life and its easy to come across as a very negative and dull person to others - this I'm convinced is the main reason those guys feel that hair loss is to blame for this, when infact it is their outlook on hairloss that is to blame, not the hair loss itself.

I think im rambling on abit now, Ill stop

 

[kthxbi]

thanks guys - I will try and sort out updated pictures this weekend to show you.

kthxbi = I maintained and maybe even had slight thickening, I think this is all you should hope for, else you might be dissapointed if you expect more

ahh yeah if you thickened up a little then that's awesome. i really really hope to have your results (and keep them)

quick question brother, what was your side effects situation? i've been taking it for- 21 days maybe? and my dick still works fine and all that jazz and i still seem to get a bit of a scalp itch every now and then - not a severe one, just that slight 'skin crawly' feeling that you get when you think about cockroaches or something like that. but i've been thinking maybe the finasteride isn't hitting me as i might like?
sh*t i don't know i'm almost certainly just psyching myself out.

 

[CHL24]

hey - I never had any side effects and had no trouble standing to attention down there :whistle:

 

[CHL24]

Re: Hi guys - just wanted to say...(updated 21.01.2011)

Hi guys, back again to show updated pics for someone who requested it earlier in the thread

sorry about the poor quality of the pictures, they were taken on my phone and I had just came back from football so hair was abit sweaty - but close to the conditions of what the first pictures were like back in 2006. I didn't try and recreate exactly the same conditions, cause frankly I couldnt be bothered but I think it's enough to illustrate that atleast on propecia I am still maintaining.

What do you guys think? Would you say I am norwood 2.5 or 3?

here is a pic just to show general density -

I will try and take higher res pictures when I get my camera fixed - but the orgionals were also took on a 2mp mobile phone so thought this would be ok for now.

Have a good weekend guys, peace.

 

[SheSawMyCombover]

Looks great CHL24. unk:

I'd say your hair is looking thicker now than back in 2006.

:bravo:

 

[SuprisedGuy]

Looks like a solid NW2, maybe 2.5 but congrats in any case on your success!

 

[Rutt]

hate to differ but my gut reaction is that you never had hair loss in the first place

in my opinion that's just your mature hairline and it would have stayed exactly the same even without treatment.

 

[CHL24]

Not so sure, Rutt - I remember friends at school saying I was going bald at 15, when they saw the hairline that was in my photo @ 15 years

I think it's abit to U shaped for a mature hairline, but I always had a big forehead even as a child, so maybe you could be right, in that my hairline matured already on a forehead which was high to begin with, so it makes it look even more dramatic.

But whatever the case, I am happy I got on propecia just to play itself and for my own peace of mind - and the generic proscar only costs me £140 or so a year and I *touch wood* havent suffered any side effects - thanks for your oppinion though, its all valued

 

[Tyler_Durden]

'Mature hairline' is such a cop out (99% if the time), you're nuts if you don't think this guy was balding and would be in a much worse situation without finasteride. So congrats on that dude because your hair still looks great

Are you on generic finasteride or the real stuff btw?

 

[CHL24]

Hey Tyler, thanks for the honest oppinion, appreciate that!

and I use Proscar (as said in my last post )