Iamnaked's Story - (21 / updated 20/09/2008)

[iamnaked]

Hi - I am 21 and come from the UK.

I've always had a bit of a big forehead, which i got a bit of stick for at school and stuff, but I never seriously contemplated the fact that I might start losing my hair so young, especially since my dad is 64 and he's got ludicrously thick hair (he often gets accused of wearing a wig!).

Round about 2 years ago I had to face reality, as I noticed that I was receding a bit, and my hair had markedly less volume (wretched maternal baldness genes). Understandably pissed off, I decided to do something about this:

So.... I'm currently about 3 weeks into a regimen of Nizoral, Minoxidil and Dutasteride; all generic apart from the Nizoral.

Now I don't want to jinx things, but I'm pretty happy with the way its going so far. I had a bit of a shed earlly on as is supposedly the norm with Dutasteride, but I've had no side effects of any kind, and I'm pretty certain that my hair has got thicker, although I can't notice any change in my hairline yet.

Things' I've found out that help, if you, like me, have a receding hairline: Don't yell at me if this is really obvious.
Haircut: Short back and sides with the hair brushed forward a bit works well.
Also - I know this will be an unpopular choice with loads of you, but I bleach my hair blonde - I have a suspicion this kind of helps too, on the principle of reducing contrast on the scalp. Yeah I know there's still a bit of a stigma with guys dying their hair, but I think I look good, and that's all that's important to me.

I'll update as and when I can, and hmm... I'll try and get some photos up too.

Good luck y'all!!!

 

[GoldenBear]

I had the exact same problem, always had a giant forehead, i used to say i could project a movie off it. Anyways I finaly realized my hair is thinning so i went on finasteride too early to tell whats going on, but im crossing my fingers, I loved my hair. Keep us updated on the dutasteride, im giving a finasteride a year, see how results are, and saving the big guns for when i really need it.

 

[iamnaked]

Update-

I think I've gone past the month mark, and I have to say that I am very happy. I didn't want to jinx things earlier by posting, especially as you can have good hair days and bad hair days, but I have just had like 2 weeks good hair days so I am a happy bunny (I know I am jinxing things). I took some photos of myself with a cameraphone and I basically look like I am not losing my hair. Fingers crossed...

 

[iamnaked]

spironolactone cream diy

Forgot to mention, got my spironolactone from when I ordered it impulsively on a bad day. I figure I might as well give it a go. I got tablets, and I have experimented mixing them with various media; vodka, glycerine and rosewater, minoxidil, and, bizarrely, cucumber . I must say that it is pretty stinky dissolved. It smelt of something which I wasn't quite sure of, til someone drunkenly pointed out that my head smelt of cannabis

Yup, drawback; minoxidil mixed with spironolactone tablets smells of grade A skunk! For the record, alcohol and the glycerine and rosewater were stinky too, albeit less. The perfect candidate (I think) is the cucumber moisturiser, although I'm sure any moisturiser would do. It doesn't smell barely at all, and it magically seemed able to dissolve the powdered tablet, despite my doubts.

My one caveat about using creams, is their potential ability to clog up follicles. (I don't know if they do, this is just supposition) This is why I might well go with the rosewater or vodka. I should point out that I think mixing minoxidil with spironolactone is a bad idea, and only for the plain lazy. It was not especially good at dissolving the tablets (probably because of the dissolved minoxidil), and I'm pretty sure it smelt the worst of all the ones I tried.

Hope this is helpful.

 

[amrod]

i can definetely see where your coming from

my dad is in his 50's and his hairline is about as good as mine if not slightly better

 

[iamnaked]

update

Just thought I'd register a wee update at my 3 month mark. I am pretty pleased with the success of my regimen so far. I went through a pretty nasty shed in which the front started to look fairly ropey, but that's over for the moment. The hairline has not changed appreciably, but I have noticed a very definite and very welcome increase in the overall quality of hair in that area. Of course this could just be because its spring and my hair has been growing faster. But I hope its the former.

Will keep y'all updated.

 

[iamnaked]

Pictures added:
http://photobucket.com/albums/y246/iamnaked/

The first two are fairly self explanatory. The third is a shot of my dad, who's 64, the jammy hairy berk!!!

They two of me are both pretreatment.

 

[Guest]

I think your hair looks OK actually.

 

[iamnaked]

You're very kind, but if it looks okay, that's only because of clever combing. If I comb it back there's some serious norwoodage going on...

I would provide slicked back photos, but my digital camera is currently bust, which is a bit of a bind...

 

[iamnaked]

tha next episizzle

Word up my bizzles,

Very exciting times. Religious application of minoxidil and homemade spironolactone sh*t and gobbling dutasteride seems to have done somthing for me. My hairline has changed for the better very slightly, but in general, the hair looks much better in that area. And even more weirdly and exitingly, I thought I was losing ground fast for a bit, because my front started to thin out, but I couldn't see the scalp. Feeling the scalp area, I could definitely feel small spiky hairs much shorter than the overall length. No side effects so far touch wood!

 

[iamnaked]

PHOTOS!

Thought a bit of an update was in order. I recently got a new camera and laptop so posting photos no longer a problem for me.

These photos are taken with flash, which is a very brutal medium, intentionally so. I don't want none of this hiding behind grainy shots or dark light. The point is to show your hair in its true light, after all.

Apologies for not having taken earlier photos. It's not really that obvious just from comparing the ones of a year ago that there has been improvement, but you'll have to take my word for this.

FRONT
http://i4.tinypic.com/zwaudu.jpg

LEFT SIDE
http://i4.tinypic.com/zwaxcx.jpg

RIGHT SIDE
http://i4.tinypic.com/zwaxvk.jpg

PULLED BACK

FRONT
http://i4.tinypic.com/zwayhd.jpg

LEFT SIDE
http://i4.tinypic.com/zwb0ia.jpg

RIGHT SIDE
http://i4.tinypic.com/zwb0wj.jpg

In case anyone's wondering why bits of my scalp are green, that's the folligen, not some flesh eating swamp disease

 

[Aplunk1]

Damn-- does the Folligen come out easily when you shower?

Have you tried diluting your Folligen in water?

Anyhow, congrats on the success.

Where has dutasteride worked best for you? The crown, top?

 

[iamnaked]

Damn-- does the Folligen come out easily when you shower?

Have you tried diluting your Folligen in water?

Anyhow, congrats on the success.

Where has dutasteride worked best for you? The crown, top?

Thanks!!!

The folligen I use is already diluted
It's not at all noticeable in public, and it does come out, yes.

This piccy demonstrates where I reckon I've gained most:
http://i4.tinypic.com/zwdq8l.jpg

Probly about 1cm at the sides, 0.7 at the front, and 0.5 everywhere else. The distribution isn't ideal - (I'd rather have more hair on the top than the sides, thankyou,) but as I've always said, the real gains from the regimen have been the improvement in the general quality of the hair. My hairline is cosmetically similar, but my hair looks much better now because the individual hairs are thicker.

My crown is fine, btw. My only enemy is recession.

 

[hairhaircomeagain]

Big forhead and kindaa receding..but overall you have great thick hair and plus the treatent is working for you...Going in a good direction I must say

 

[Goingat20]

Nice work iamnaked. Would never tell your losing hair if i saw you walking down the street. Goodstuff

 

[Primex]

Wow good stuff dude! You don't look like you're balding at all.

 

[StoptheMadness]

iamnaked,
The treatments have worked really well. I am curious if you have any instances of gyno? The combination of dutasteride and spironolactone is a good jump start to getting gyno. How would you say your pectoralis looks?

btw....how did you get your dutasteride?

 

[Felk]

iamnaked,
The treatments have worked really well. I am curious if you have any instances of gyno? The combination of dutasteride and spironolactone is a good jump start to getting gyno. How would you say your pectoralis looks?

btw....how did you get your dutasteride?

He uses topical spironolactone. That isnt systematically absorbed, so i cant see how it could contribute to gyno...

 

[hairhaircomeagain]

I have always thought that long hair makes your hairloss more conspicuous. But seems like in this case its helping. I wonder if I should make my hair grow long too in order to cover the hairline. Can you guys look at my snaps in the link on my sig and throw your opinions. Greatly appreciated.

 

[iamnaked]

iamnaked,
The treatments have worked really well. I am curious if you have any instances of gyno? The combination of dutasteride and spironolactone is a good jump start to getting gyno. How would you say your pectoralis looks?

btw....how did you get your dutasteride?

My pecs are rock-hard, RAH!

Basically what felk said - no systemic on topical spironolactone.

I use duprost from Cipla, which I buy from http://www.unitedpharmacies.com: 1$ per 0.5mg pill when you buy over 100!!!