Let The Journey Begin (long Term Documentation)

baba_yaga

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Long time lurker, first time poster. I really hoped I would never post on such forums. Anyway, this is how it all began:

I am 17 now, but as long as I can remember, I always shed alot of hair, I guess since about 13-14, although no thinning or receeding, until 10 months ago. 20 August 2018 to be exact. I noticed my temples have thinned quite a bit. No slick bald recession, only thinning. I immediately visited a derm (a bad derm, I'll explain later) and prescribed me minoxidil 5% and biotin pills. Started minoxidil at 18 September 2018.

Family history:
-dad's family: no one bald, no one even past NW1, and I'm not even joking. My paternal grandfather is exactly 80 years old and he still has a juvenile hairline but he has some thinning at the top, but nothing major at all, especially for his age. Every time I see him I get depressed. My dad is in the same tracks definitely. As for paternal cousins, only one is balding and his mother relates to my mother. He is 24 and has had a transplant a few years ago.
-mom's family: all bald, all uncles and maternal grandfather are chrome domes NW7, although all of my uncles have retained a full head of hair till 37-40 years old, then lost it, dont know how, I didnt ask them but I have photos of their luscious locks when they were near 40 years old. As for maternal cousins, one was bald at 18, no joke. However his mom's family side are all bald as well as his father's side, so he got fucked. The other one was a NW3 at 22-24, but had to shave at 26-27.

Back to me:

I applied minoxidil twice daily religiously for 4.5 months, only one night I forgot putting it on my head. During these months, hair loss wasnt progressing. I dont know if thats because of minoxidil or not. After that period, I visited the same derm again, and she made me quit minoxidil for one month due to dandruff. (I always had dandruff and I dont give a f*** about it) (she did prescribe me shampoos and creams for dandruff) .One month after I stopped applying minoxidil, she told to start applying minoxidil 3 times only per week for another month. At the end of that month, I felt my left temple being thinner than before, and my right temple started following the left one in terms of thinning. I always knew minoxidil is a life time commitment and I knew the derm was wrong, but I still went with her and did what she thought was right. And oh boy she was delusional as f***. The last time I visited her, she told me that she put her patients on a 3 MONTHS BREAK from minoxidil every 6 months. I was like: WHAT THE ACTUAL f***! She even avoids finasteride like a plague. That was my last visit to her, I found another derm who is much more informed than her.

Enough rant about dumb derms. As previously mentioned, I felt like my temples have thinned during the break, but they didnt, at least according to the 100s of photos I captured since the start. (as for the middle of my hairline, it was always like this)

But that isnt my biggest problem. My biggest fucked up problem is diffuse thinning. I dont know if this is thinning or if my hair was like this all the time, but the last thing I want is to be in denial. Even though I was and still very obsessed with my hair and afraid of hair loss, I never noticed the diffuse thinning (or thinner hair) of the vertex and mid scalp. It crept on me. I even took picture of my scalp in October 2018 and with apparent thinning but didnt notice it, how the f*** did that happen? But comparing now and October 2018 (8 months), they are still the same, or at least they appear to.

What confuses me is my thinning pattern: it is thinner at the vertex and mid scalp, but I have 5-7 cm of thick hair from the hairline (see pictures for clarification), they are double the thickness of mid scalp and vertex. During all my time of seeing diffuse thinners, I've never seen someone like me. Also my paternal cousin gives me hope: his density at the top is nearly the same as me, but he doesnt have that 6 cm of thick hair from the hairline, and he is 15 so in no way he is balding. So maybe this hair density gene does run in my family, but I must not be in denial and start taking treatments. When I part my hair, the part is small for about 6-7 cm from the hairline, then it suddenly becomes wider and stays at the same "wideness" till the crown. (see pictures below)

So, today marks exactly one month since starting applying minoxidil to my vertex and mid scalp. Between the 3rd and 4th week I experienced some shedding, but now has subsided. As for temples, its been 2 months since restarting minoxidil. I apply 1 ml to the temples and to the middle at the hairline, and 1.2 ml at the vertex, crown and mid scalp. I have no itch/pain whatsoever, although the first two times I applied minoxidil at the top, I had some itch (nothing major) which went away after two days. The temples, mid scalp, vertex and crown are all the same from at least 9 months.

I read a lot that minoxidil at its own cant maintain, but I cant get on finasteride until I become 18 in 6 months, as my parents are against the drug for obvious reasons.

So, my plan is keep using minoxidil for the upcoming 6 months, then consider taking finasteride. I will update this thread every 6 months starting from June 2019. I will, trust me ;)

I dont know if someone has read all this wall of text, but personnally, I've read much larger posts (yes, hair can make you do a lot of things haha). I have a few questions:

1) the only thing that scares about finasteride is reflex hyperandrogenicity. I dont care about libido, sex drive, morning woods, penis penetration pressure ratio, all that sh*t. What I care about is keeping my hair. So, how much is the chance of finasteride making things worse? I guess its more rare than the known side effects, but Im really scared of finasteride making my hair worse, so until I confirm my hair loss is progressing fast, I wont be sure from taking finasteride.

2) can hair be naturally thinner at mid scalp and vertex than front and back? The back and the front are at least twice as thick as the top.

3) I've read that finasteride has a 83% of maitaining hair for 10 years, does this percentage apply to teenagers, or is it lower?

Thanks for reading and giving a damn f*** about my depression, have a good day!
 

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baba_yaga

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Thanks for the replies fams, really appreciate it!

Hairs45, I do have BDD, but I think I have some thinning going on and the pictures show it clearly I guess.

Calikid, I agree. I guess the crown is thinning, but I'd like to know what do you think about the mid scalp. The hair feels thinner and the part is wider than the front. About finasteride, I am only scared of reflex hyperandrogenicity. Do you think its real?
 

baba_yaga

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Maybe its just the crown, but please take a look at this photo and notice how the hairs on the hairline are densly packed, as opposed to the hairs behind them. The hair on the mid scalp appears and feels MUCH thinner.

As to finasteride shedding, I've seen people start shedding after starting finasteride, even some loosing ground faster, but after that they maintain for a long time. Keep on eye on what's on your head more than what falls, at least that was what I was told haha.
 

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baba_yaga

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Yes exactly. My hair looks pretty much the same and just about all the hairs are growing back. However. I think they are growing back thinner each time they shed unfortunately

Mind can play powerful tricks on you. I thought I thinned alot on my left temple during the break from minoxidil, but I didnt. I thought I did.

Now, what do you think about the new pic that I posted? If you dont mind me asking.
 

baba_yaga

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First update: Day 1 finasteride

I took the first pill as of today. I got proscar and cut the pill in quarters to get a dose of 1.25 mg. The reason I started finasteride is that, although from my last post in this thread till now my hair looks nearly the same, the strands that are shed are still miniaturizing. So, I pulled the plug on finasteride. No point in waiting.

I dont think minoxidil was the cause of the apparent maintenance, as I dont think it did something substantial. I would say however that minoxidil may have helped in reducing the number of hair shed as I have a hard time pulling hair from the regions where I put minoxidil. But that would be due to me having less hair in those areas already. Nonetheless, I will continue minoxidil alongside finasteride.

Here are some baseline photos for future comparisons.
 

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baba_yaga

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Thats the problem with diffuse thinning. It is hard to spot it in photos.
Notice in this photo how the split is much wider at the top compared to behind the hair line.

The density difference is easily felt, but does not appear in photos.
 

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shoegazing

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Thats the problem with diffuse thinning. It is hard to spot it in photos.
Notice in this photo how the split is much wider at the top compared to behind the hair line.

The density difference is easily felt, but does not appear in photos.
Mine is like that too, and so is my brother's (14). I don't think it means you're thinning/balding.
 

baba_yaga

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Mine is like that too, and so is my brother's (14). I don't think it means you're thinning/balding.
Does your hair strands get progressively thinner towards the roots? Do you have a lot of very small (<1cm), colorless hairs all over your head?

i actually went to three derms, and all of them confirmed diffuse hair loss. Heck, I asked the second one to do a scan of my head to check the miniaturized hair. He denied my request, saying that its too obvious that there is hair loss.

The matter is, you need to catch it early, as most treatments are preventative.
 

RockChalk

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Too many Norwooders confusing this kid because his hairline is in tact. This is clearly the beginning stages of DPA. Yes, it’s early on but in my opinion should probably be treated. I’ve gone through the same thing and it’s been pretty aggressive... and my hairlines still in tact!
 

baba_yaga

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Too many Norwooders confusing this kid because his hairline is in tact. This is clearly the beginning stages of DPA. Yes, it’s early on but in my opinion should probably be treated. I’ve gone through the same thing and it’s been pretty aggressive... and my hairlines still in tact!
I am certain that I have diffuse thinning. Density difference is easily felt.
I've attached 2 photos that clearly show that there is less hair at the top. Notice that there is much more scalp showing next to the red line compared to next of the white line. This is also evident in the second photo, which also shows that I have a lot of miniaturized hairs (examples circled in red).
 

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shoegazing

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I am certain that I have diffuse thinning. Density difference is easily felt.
I've attached 2 photos that clearly show that there is less hair at the top. Notice that there is much more scalp showing next to the red line compared to next of the white line. This is also evident in the second photo, which also shows that I have a lot of miniaturized hairs (examples circled in red).
Just out of curiosity, was the first picture taken with a smartphone camera?
 

baba_yaga

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1 month update

It has been 1 month exactly since starting finasteride at 1.25 mg ED. In the first 3 days, I felt my libido has decreased, but afterwards it went back to normal. (could be placebo) I can get my dick up and running whenever I want, with everything the same as before. No ball aching, no brain fog, nothing at all actually.
I did not experience any sheds whatsoever. My hair feels thicker and healthier, no longer have problems styling it. Jk it still is the SAME. It has only been a f*****g month.
Though I did drop my minoxidil usage to once/day after 1.8 years of no significant results.

Will keep on updating the thread.
 
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