how do i know whether my hair is growin back? My story...

[nikhil]

Hi everyone,
I ve been reading this forum from a couple of days finally i thought of making up a post.
Im 24 and baldness Runs in my family. (extreme baldness,lol)my dad(doctor) is completely bald .but everyone from my moms family have thick healthy hair. My elder brother lost almost most of his hair from the front to the crown when he was at my age.and he has got Hair transplant done. i have to say im pretty luckier than him...and not as lucky as everyone who has hair. Ive been losing a lot of hair from the past few months-1year... my hair in the front region has been thinning out rapidly and excessively.. and my temples and hariline has been receeding like anything. I do have a high hair line..but i used to leave my hair long and cover it. im obsessed with my hair and loosing it all now is making me frustrated,angry and what not. its hitting on my confidence and ive dramatically decreased my social interactions.

im a student and adding to my genetic baldness i think the stress causes more hairfall. I do drink ocassionally and i roam a lot in the sunlight on a bike. though i was very much obssessed with hair, i never took much care. i started losing hair when i was around 20-21 itself.. till now i have been adviced to take finasteride and minoxidil and i never took them on a proper regimen as the hairfall was not that serious... maybe for some 2 years i had no touch with any sort of medication whatsoever.(i had taken finasteride and minoxidil for a few months before)

ill be digging up pics and posting them in a while...
Please do advice on what can be done and how drastic is my hairfall.
for 1.5 months im on the following regimen and im doing it properly:

every night minoxidil 10% foam(locally called togain foam)
900mg of cod live oil capsules
multivitamin hair supplement tablets( all stuff like biotin,zn,iron etc etc filled in it)

scared to try finasteride...though i have tried it once without any sides...
hairfall gets any worse, im starting finasteride for sure.
ive shown to a couple of dermatologists here, most of them suggest the big 3 itself. and some suggest me not to use finasteride for the sides.
ive noticed small hair growing on the front of my hairline...which are about half an inch or so... i do not know whether they are new hair or just old hair weak and my hairline receeding like s***.

and
Ive lost this forum and it has given me the greatest of hopes for me and my hair!

thanks in advance.

- - - Updated - - -

Hair which i had around 1.5 to 2 years back

present hair(dry hair)


wet hair... looking horrible

 

[nikhil]

close up of temples and front hairline...u can see small hair grwoing in the hairline...is this new hair?
right

left(notice small hairs)

front

close up

 

[nikhil]

anyone ?? :sobbing:

 

[secrethero89]

your hair looks like mine.. did you get any success on treatments?

 

[nikhil]

your hair looks like mine.. did you get any success on treatments?

i had not went through any proper regime so far until i lost so much of my hair. now its been 1 month since im into the non finasteride regime with supplements and minoxidil 10% everyday night.
i dunno whether my hair is just receding as usual and im left thin short hair in the front... or im growing some new hair in the baldareas..lol.. but surely my hair fall has stopped noticably.. like on my pillow, towels, while having shower etc.. and my hair feels its much healthier than before.. im gonna go on with this regime for a few more months then ill start up with finasteride if i see no good results.

ive added up ketokenozole 2% shampoo too, 3x a week, other than that i wash my hair just like that everyday. (i just cant stay comfortable without washing it)

and is cutting my hair short gonna help in anyway??

 

[nikhil]

update:
started talking finasteride 1mg/day
multivit capsules everyday night
cod liver oil tablets
minoxidil foam everyday night
ketokenozole shampoo 2% 3 times a week atleast.

- - - Updated - - -


hair towards the front is more thinner and density is very less.. pics are taken in bright flash ...
hoping for a good result from finasteride.

 

[bensmith]

Did you develop any sides from finn?

 

[nikhil]

no sides so far.. just finished 5 tabs..
as u can see... there were good improvements with minoxidil and ketokenozole shampoo itself from the before and recent pics... i wish to get my hair where ive thinned and lost it.
will get back with new photos after a month or two

 

[Jrthomas85]

Hi everyone,
I ve been reading this forum from a couple of days finally i thought of making up a post.
Im 24 and baldness Runs in my family. (extreme baldness,lol)my dad(doctor) is completely bald .but everyone from my moms family have thick healthy hair. My elder brother lost almost most of his hair from the front to the crown when he was at my age.and he has got Hair transplant done. i have to say im pretty luckier than him...and not as lucky as everyone who has hair. Ive been losing a lot of hair from the past few months-1year... my hair in the front region has been thinning out rapidly and excessively.. and my temples and hariline has been receeding like anything. I do have a high hair line..but i used to leave my hair long and cover it. im obsessed with my hair and loosing it all now is making me frustrated,angry and what not. its hitting on my confidence and ive dramatically decreased my social interactions.

im a student and adding to my genetic baldness i think the stress causes more hairfall. I do drink ocassionally and i roam a lot in the sunlight on a bike. though i was very much obssessed with hair, i never took much care. i started losing hair when i was around 20-21 itself.. till now i have been adviced to take finasteride and minoxidil and i never took them on a proper regimen as the hairfall was not that serious... maybe for some 2 years i had no touch with any sort of medication whatsoever.(i had taken finasteride and minoxidil for a few months before)

ill be digging up pics and posting them in a while...
Please do advice on what can be done and how drastic is my hairfall.
for 1.5 months im on the following regimen and im doing it properly:

every night minoxidil 10% foam(locally called togain foam)
900mg of cod live oil capsules
multivitamin hair supplement tablets( all stuff like biotin,zn,iron etc etc filled in it)

scared to try finasteride...though i have tried it once without any sides...
hairfall gets any worse, im starting finasteride for sure.
ive shown to a couple of dermatologists here, most of them suggest the big 3 itself. and some suggest me not to use finasteride for the sides.
ive noticed small hair growing on the front of my hairline...which are about half an inch or so... i do not know whether they are new hair or just old hair weak and my hairline receeding like s***.

and
Ive lost this forum and it has given me the greatest of hopes for me and my hair!

thanks in advance.

- - - Updated - - -

Hair which i had around 1.5 to 2 years back
View attachment 20054View attachment 20055
present hair(dry hair)
View attachment 20056View attachment 20057View attachment 20058View attachment 20059View attachment 20060

wet hair... looking horrible
View attachment 20061

You appear to be showing a diffuse thinning pattern of hair loss. Your hairline may also be receding, but most of the pictures show that your hairline is still relatively in tact, although thinning quite rapidly.

In my opinion, which is certainly not guaranteed to be correct or a substitute for a professional opinion, you really need to get on a 5 AR inhibitor (such as Finasteride). minoxidil alone may help to grow some new hair or slow down your loss, but it won't do anything to combat the root cause of your hair loss. If you really care about saving your hair in the longer term, you should consider finasteride. Your hair loss is quite aggressive and you need to be doing more than just minoxidil. I doubt that stress and sunlight are significantly contributing to your problem. Good luck.

 

[nikhil]

Thanks a lot for your advice... my hair is improving a lot day by day...and I can see lots of regrowth..(lots of small hair.).atleast to what I think... my hair is darker and healthier...
And u as u told I ve added finasteride to ny regimen... obasically my regimen is the big 3. I want to get down to dutasteride...but im scared as its much more potent than finasteride. Ill be on this regimen for another day 6 months and think about dutasteride later.but I think finasteride alone is enough. I really wish for some good regrowth.

- - - Updated - - -

update on my hairline.
same regimen.
2+months on minoxidil
15 days on finasteride 1mg/day
before and after pics. any improvement??

 

[nikhil]

Hello everyone...
Quick update.
its been almost a month since i started 1mg finasteride/day.
and minoxidil from almost 3 months..
and nizoral almost everyday..
here is how it is for now..
i feel the temples are growing back..
and hair has thickened all over..and new hair is still growing day by day.
happy with the results!

 

[Jrthomas85]

Yes, I see some definite improvement. I think there's a good chance you will see some very good results! Best of luck.

 

[nikhil]

Back with an update!
and yeah im really happy with progress..
Im on the big 3.
minoxidil from more than 3 months
finasteride for around 45 days
and nizoral 1%

Let the pics talk! (I know pics are taken in a little different angle,but u can make out the difference. My hair was all F'ed up before.)
I no longer worry about my hair anymore.

 

[deadbeat777]

Wow Nikhil, bohat sahi!

Where did you get minoxidil from? I had to order Rogaine online over ebay; is there a generic version available in the Indian market? My hair loss at the crown is very similar to how your's was before you moved to big 3. I have started using Rogaine foam twice a day since the last week so hopefully I see some positives by 3 months.

For the time being, if you would like to cosmetically thicken up your hair or hide any spots on crown, you can get "Roots Hair Builder" from flipkart or healthkart.. It's a much cheaper alternative to Nanogen or Toppik and blends into Indian hair much better than the other two.

 

[Sam234]

If you are talking about only minoxidil it is available in mostly any medical store.I buy mine from nearby medical store.Rogain foam however i havent seen.

 

[nikhil]

Wow Nikhil, bohat sahi!

Where did you get minoxidil from? I had to order Rogaine online over ebay; is there a generic version available in the Indian market? My hair loss at the crown is very similar to how your's was before you moved to big 3. I have started using Rogaine foam twice a day since the last week so hopefully I see some positives by 3 months.

For the time being, if you would like to cosmetically thicken up your hair or hide any spots on crown, you can get "Roots Hair Builder" from flipkart or healthkart.. It's a much cheaper alternative to Nanogen or Toppik and blends into Indian hair much better than the other two.

I get minoxidil from the local med shops.
I do not like the solution since it makes my hair all crappy and difficult to apply since it drips down my huge forehead.
I use TuGain 10% minoxidil foam. its pretty expensive actually. ANd i only apply it once a day, in the night. i just cannot manage it during the day. Just minoxidil isnt gonna do anything. I think u gotta try finasteride.
I was thinking about those hair fibres.. but they are pretty expensive too and do not last long..Anyway i do not worry much about it now. It can be seen in only harsh sunlight.

 

[deadbeat777]

I find the price for Rogain acceptable at $55 for 3 months. If Tugain's cheaper which I hope it is, then I don't see a harm in trying it out although I am really wary of Indian versions of popular drugs. I tried going on Finpecia (Indian propecia) and it didn't work too well for me..my hair thinned from 1st week and I got random headaches and watery semen issues so I immediately stopped. A friend of mine used some locally made version of minoxidil liquid and lost everything as well.

You can leave the hair fibers aside if you're happy with your hair now but I have been using Nanogen or Roots for over 6 months now to conceal because it makes your existing hair look so good that you just can't go commando anymore. I have an addiction to hair fibers lol.

 

[nikhil]

I find the price for Rogain acceptable at $55 for 3 months. If Tugain's cheaper which I hope it is, then I don't see a harm in trying it out although I am really wary of Indian versions of popular drugs. I tried going on Finpecia (Indian propecia) and it didn't work too well for me..my hair thinned from 1st week and I got random headaches and watery semen issues so I immediately stopped. A friend of mine used some locally made version of minoxidil liquid and lost everything as well.

You can leave the hair fibers aside if you're happy with your hair now but I have been using Nanogen or Roots for over 6 months now to conceal because it makes your existing hair look so good that you just can't go commando anymore. I have an addiction to hair fibers lol.

Tugain is much cheapers costs around 2800 for 3 months.(foam based)
I dont think finpecia is indian propecia..lol.. i ve seen a lot of other UK guys using it... and ive been using the same.. and its working well for me!

 

[deadbeat777]

Did I say Finpecia..my bad lol. I meant Finax by Dr. Reddy's.

 

[nikhil]

Close to 2 months on finasteride.
I no longer visit any hair loss forums
i no longer watch my hair...
i no longer take photos of my head( almost have millions of em)
not at all worried about it these days
im really really happy with my results.