31 years old now, first noticed hairloss about 3 years ago, can't remember... it was about six months before I joined this board. To begin with I just noticed hairloss on one temple, but when I mentioned this to others they seemed to think my only problem was diffuse thinning! (something I hadn't noticed at all).
Over the coming months though, my diffuse thinning became quite obvious even to me, and then this eventually made me more anxious, sickened and depressed than the temple loss. I dithered for a further year, trying things like Nourkrin (which by the way, I think actually DID help some of the diffuse thinning actually)... but it wasn't until Jan 2007 that I jumped on Propecia and minoxidil. I couldn't seem to keep up with the minoxidil, too much hassle, so I eventually gave this up after a maybe six months. I expected to see a terrible shed, as I was led to believe would happen from stopping minoxidil, but didn't lose any hair at all. I stayed on Propecia the whole time, ocasionally running out and sometimes missing four or five days, but I think the key thing seems to be consistency.
So, from January 2007 until now, the progress has been incredibly slow, slow, slow... there have been ups and downs for sure, although my hair has never really been any worse than my starting point. Every time I wash my hair, I still lose some 5-10 hairs, some thin, some thick. At times I've thought "this seems to be working", and at other times I've thought "nothing is happening, this is rubbish". I have spent way too much time over the past 21 months looking into the mirror at my scalp showing through my hair... and feeling helpless and a touch depressed. As little as two months ago, I would have said my progress in general had been very modest, very minor. At the 18-month mark I was still frustrated but I had come to accept my hair would never be perfect again.
However, in the past few months, and especially the past two weeks (just had my hair cut), I've noticed that my diffuse thinning is COMPLETELY gone. My scalp cannot be seen from any angle except where the hair parts naturally. Hair is looking really healthy, silky smooth and strong. I definitely wasn't anticipating gains this late in the day at all. So, suddenly it seems like I have all my hair back. I would now rate my success as OBVIOUS as opposed to modest. Hopefully it's encouraging to think that obvious gains can be noticed at 21 months and maybe even later.
Good luck to you all!
Over the coming months though, my diffuse thinning became quite obvious even to me, and then this eventually made me more anxious, sickened and depressed than the temple loss. I dithered for a further year, trying things like Nourkrin (which by the way, I think actually DID help some of the diffuse thinning actually)... but it wasn't until Jan 2007 that I jumped on Propecia and minoxidil. I couldn't seem to keep up with the minoxidil, too much hassle, so I eventually gave this up after a maybe six months. I expected to see a terrible shed, as I was led to believe would happen from stopping minoxidil, but didn't lose any hair at all. I stayed on Propecia the whole time, ocasionally running out and sometimes missing four or five days, but I think the key thing seems to be consistency.
So, from January 2007 until now, the progress has been incredibly slow, slow, slow... there have been ups and downs for sure, although my hair has never really been any worse than my starting point. Every time I wash my hair, I still lose some 5-10 hairs, some thin, some thick. At times I've thought "this seems to be working", and at other times I've thought "nothing is happening, this is rubbish". I have spent way too much time over the past 21 months looking into the mirror at my scalp showing through my hair... and feeling helpless and a touch depressed. As little as two months ago, I would have said my progress in general had been very modest, very minor. At the 18-month mark I was still frustrated but I had come to accept my hair would never be perfect again.
However, in the past few months, and especially the past two weeks (just had my hair cut), I've noticed that my diffuse thinning is COMPLETELY gone. My scalp cannot be seen from any angle except where the hair parts naturally. Hair is looking really healthy, silky smooth and strong. I definitely wasn't anticipating gains this late in the day at all. So, suddenly it seems like I have all my hair back. I would now rate my success as OBVIOUS as opposed to modest. Hopefully it's encouraging to think that obvious gains can be noticed at 21 months and maybe even later.
Good luck to you all!
