Imlosinit's Story (WITH PICS!)

[imlosinit]

Hey guys,

I am turning 39 y/o soon and in the past year my hair has shed very fast. I had all my hair until I hit 35, then it started to vanish bit by bit, and as it happened, I took small measures to conceal the loss.

Four years ago I started on minoxidil which made my face fat and didnt seem effective. I ended up getting off it after 18 mths. I went on proscar 1mg per day and after about a few months of that I experienced sides (nipple swelling, slight pain). After that my Doctor recommended I get off it. I got off it this summer and the hair started shedding fast. The pics below show my hair wet.

My Doctor noted that my hair loss was in an odd pattern. I have no idea if that's true but it's been changing fast and I think even he'll be surprised by the rapid changes. By strategic combing, I can conceal some of the baldness because the front is still in tact (for the most part). Right now I"m starting back on 1mg proscar despite the sides and hope someone can give me some feedback on the extent of the problem (norwood) and any solutions.

ps. i use nizoral 2% 3x /wk

 

[hairrific]

Re: Imlosinit's Story

You should have got on finasteride and Nizoral long long ago before all this started because it is easy to keep your hair on finasteride than trying to regrow it. You should of never stopped finasteride unless of coarse you think your body desperately needs all that DHT. "(nipple swelling, slight pain)" is not reason enough to stop but doctors will always play it safe. If you told him your big toe is itching he would tell you to stop finasteride!

I would get blood test, and try to stabilize with finasteride and Nizoral, then take it from there.

 

[imlosinit]

Re: Imlosinit's Story

Thanks for the feedback, hairrific. I deferred to my doctor's instructions. I wouldn't have had I known what was coming.... :shakehead:

p.s. am i a candidate for minoxidil?

 

[oarf11]

Re: Imlosinit's Story

Get a blood test for what? To make sure it's not something other than male pattern baldness?

I might get a script for finasteride this week. Dear God I hope I don't experience sides. I'm too young to be losing my hair!

Good luck losinit!

 

[hairrific]

Re: Imlosinit's Story

Well you could do a basic blood test to see that thyroid, iron and everything is okay. Something people should do anyway.

I never had enough loss to warrant minoxidil so I don't have any experience with it.

I do know that finasteride will protect your hair from DHT , and minoxidil offers no protection against DHT, the main cause of male pattern baldness in men.

One thing for sure, get on the finasteride and worry about minoxidil down the road, as you can stimulate hair growth with it later if needed. Right now you need to stabilize the scalp hair and follicular inflammation with finasteride and Nizoral or there won't be anything left for minoxidil to stimulate.

 

[h82bebald]

Re: Imlosinit's Story

did proscar help you out at all while you were on it?

 

[imlosinit]

Re: Imlosinit's Story

did proscar help you out at all while you were on it?

No new hair growth, but in retrospect, I guess it was helping me keep what I had. [Either that or I was destined to be bald!]

I started on minoxidil today and will use olive oil on the surface from time to time.

 

[imlosinit]

Re: Imlosinit's Story

Sorry to bump this but I was wondering what my Norwood score is :dunno:

 

[imlosinit]

Just reporting 1 3/4 years later. I stopped finasteride in Sept 2010 due to persistent sexual sides (so I cant go back to it).

I've probably lost another 10% of hair and some from front hairline since the above pics were taken.

At this point I'm taking nothing other than MSM and BIOTIN (daily) and Nizoral (1x a week... too little?)

Any suggestions or is it too late now?

Im considering minoxidil....again, too late?

 

[Lloyd Braun]

If you're sex drive is more important to you than your hair you are lucky. You seem like the kind of guy who will be able to handle this hair loss. Perhaps look into using RU or topical spironolactone along with minoxidil to get some regrowth. Good luck.

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Yes I think that's a good suggestion...if you've determined that finasteride isn't a good idea for you then topical spironolactone, RU, or CB is probably the next best defense against the effects of DHT (unless you're also willing to try a low dose of dutasteride). You may also want to look into ASC-J9. Finasteride is not your only option, it's just the most practical for most people. Topical spironolactone is probably the next most practical and well-accepted - just make sure to do your research first. I know there are some people out there taking spironolactone orally for hair loss but I would probably stay away from it - it's a well-accepted treatment for male feminization, i.e. M->F transsexuals usually take a 100-300mg dose of spironolactone daily to reduce the expression of male characteristics generated by DHT. There is good topical spironolactone readily available and it has been generally well-tolerated by those using it on the scalp for male pattern baldness - there are a number of cases on here.

Some final alternatives are fluridil/eucapil and flutamide. Fluridil has been used by many alongside finasteride and dutasteride, the main complaint is that it's expensive. You can get it from the EU without a prescription as it's technically a cosmetic product and not a treatment, try www.menspharma.com. Flutamide is a weaker anti-androgen, and is known to have some pretty bad side effects. It seems like you aren't too troubled by hair loss to go to the length of trying flutamide...I never would either. Some may also say Alfatradiol, but on balance I've heard more bad things than good.

The order in which I'd try alternative DHT blockers are:

• 
  -low dose of Dutasteride (usually same side effects as finasteride, but you can take a much lower dose, like .25-.5mg for the same effects, so it may be worth a try)
  -spironolactone 5% cream
  -"The experimentals": RU58841, CB-03-01, ASC-J9
  - fluridil/eucapil
  [list:1gfvvlxh]
  

Stay away unless you're really desperate and kinda crazy:
- flutamide
- alfatradiol
[/list:u:1gfvvlxh]

Hope that helps. I know the user 'el_dut' has been on most of the above at some point, including dustasteride, fluridil, and flutamide, and there's a lot of good information here on each of them too. Stay tough!

 

[Lloyd Braun]

Yes thelasthairbender, that is a perfectly sane suggestion! When you buy your finasteride, RU, spironolactone, or dutasteride just don't use a twenty dollar bill with lipstick on the president.

 

[HairMe]

here is my thought imlosinit, I think it's a bit too late for you at this stage. Looking at your pictures, you seem to have progressed very far in the Norwood scale. However, there is no harm in trying out minoxidil again! There is nothing much to lose anyway. Unless, you're hit by the sides again.

All the best mate! cheers

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Yes thelasthairbender, that is a perfectly sane suggestion! When you buy your finasteride, RU, spironolactone, or dutasteride just don't use a twenty dollar bill with lipstick on the president.

We're not trying to relieve eye strain here Lloyd. Growing hair is srs business.

 

[Lloyd Braun]

Yes thelasthairbender, that is a perfectly sane suggestion! When you buy your finasteride, RU, spironolactone, or dutasteride just don't use a twenty dollar bill with lipstick on the president.

We're not trying to relieve eye strain here Lloyd. Growing hair is srs business.

It is also very hard, especially on the hairline. But maybe oral spironolactone can do the trick. If that fails, I hear Chinese gum can work wonders....

 

[hairrific]

To late for hair. You have stated you can not even tolerate finasteride so at least you have your androgens and your sex drive intact. I would not even do a hair transplant without finasteride, the results would be half *** of what could be possible.

 

[TheLastHairbender]

[quote="Lloyd Braun":wn3kek7g]Yes thelasthairbender, that is a perfectly sane suggestion! When you buy your finasteride, RU, spironolactone, or dutasteride just don't use a twenty dollar bill with lipstick on the president.

We're not trying to relieve eye strain here Lloyd. Growing hair is srs business.

It is also very hard, especially on the hairline. But maybe oral spironolactone can do the trick. If that fails, I hear Chinese gum can work wonders....[/quote:wn3kek7g]


Please do not take oral spironolactone Imlosinit. Topical spironolactone has been found to be tolerable and some evidence suggests it might do something. I mean if you can't tolerate finasteride then topical spironolactone is your next best line of defense.

If you're willing to take oral spironolactone (and many hair loss sufferers are, admittedly) then you may want to re-evaluate the role your hair plays in your life. I think most people would rather remain definitively male than stop their hair loss (and that's all oral spironolactone would do - not likely to have any regrowth). From our conversations it sounds like your head is in the right place, so I'm not worried about you going off the deep end with oral spironolactone.

Thanks to the other guys for helping out this worthy recipient of HairLossTalk.com's best advice! Keep at it bud!

 

[imlosinit]

Thanks for all your suggestions and support. I will be sticking to a regimen of topical spironolactone (once it can be shipped again by this site) and nizoral (3x/wk). I tried to minoxidil and it caused more shed. It had that effect several years ago too when I tried it. I may limit it to the front hairline if anything.

I know my hairloss is very advanced and options/outcomes are limited. But with strategic combing and help of toppik, i can still appear to have hair for another year or two, i believe. After that, I will have to look into hair systems or hair transplant. Or maybe they'll have a cure by then (lol).

 

[wessneijder]

I'm baffled by your viewpoint. You seem to think of your hair so nonchalantly. You stopped finasteride, the only treatment besides dutasteride that can really help you, because of sexual sides.

There is only two ways you know about these sexual sides. 1) You are having sex regularly with a gf/partner or 2) you are masturbating

If it's the first one what are you worried about your hair for your girl obviously likes you enough to have sex with you.

If it's the second one why not stay back on finasteride and quit when you actually find a girl to settle down with?

 

[imlosinit]

I'm baffled by your viewpoint. You seem to think of your hair so nonchalantly. You stopped finasteride, the only treatment besides dutasteride that can really help you, because of sexual sides.

If you've experienced what I've experienced on finasteride, you'd understand. To call them sexual sides is an under-statement. Taking finasteride was a life altering decision for me. It made me hypogonadal and decimated my entire life, not just my sex life. You see, androgens are a critical component in one's mojo, the impelling force which makes men hunters, seekers, doers, artists, you name it. With that lifeforce gone, one's joie de vivre fades too.

When my doctor said that the only way you can recover from this is to drop finasteride, I did it. If he said I could recover by drinking a glass of your piss every morning, I'd be at your house with a thermos every night.

If I sound non-chalant, it's because I've been dealing with the fallout from finasteride for the past year, and I'd rather not bring all that negativity onto this forum, where I'm sure it's not welcome anyway.

I hope this puts my comments in context.