Long curly haired man - And so it begins....

[INT]

Long curly hair- And so it begins *Added photos in OP*

Hi everyone,


My hair history and family history

I am a 25 year old male with thick long curly hair. Except for some minor recesion I would not say that I am balding aggresively (yet) but take a look at my family:

Dad: Norwood 2,5 at the age of 25. Now 56 with a Norwood 5,5

Paternal grandfather: Norwood 1,5 at the age of 25. Norwood 2,5 at the age of 50 which he kept tell his passing at the age of 78.

Maternal grandfather Norwood 2 at the age of 25. Norwood 4 at the age of 50. Norwood 5 when he died at the age of 92.

:shakehead:

I have been aware of the genetics behind male pattern baldness for quite some time now and have been extremely afraid to lose my hair ever since. I always had a hairline that kind of looks like a receiding hairline since the day I started caring about hair (which was around the age of 12-13). I would say that one side is a Norwood 2 and the other is a Norwood 1,5 and again, it has been like that since I can remember. Fortunately I am blessed with thick curly hair which I keep long (just below the shoulders most of the time) so I can cover up my hairline quite well. I love long hair and I really do NOT want to lose it...

NOW
It seems like the last months I experienced a little bit of miniaturization along my hairline. I also noticed that the hair in the front of my scalp seems a bit dryer compared to the rest of my hair. Probably not visible for anyone else but I feel like it is time for me to take action against male pattern baldness since I want to
catch it is early as possible.

Last week I went to a dermatologist who immediately gave me a prescription for finasteride. He told me it worked well for him and that he had been using it for the past for the past 15 years now.


Mindset
It feels quite weird to be afraid of something for so long now (I have been checking my hairline for almost 10 years) and now finally the moment is here where I will actually do something against it. One side of me feels sad because the thing that I am afraid for for so long has finally started but the other side of me is happy that I am starting with the only good weapen available to fight against it. Just got my first finasteride pills but still didn't take any. Is is better to start with 1,25 right away or start with a lower dose first (or start with taking it each other day instead of each day)?

Thanks guys, I will keep you guys updated on my journey! I will also post a few pictures of my current hair state later this weekend.




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- - - Updated - - -

Added photos of my hairline. In the first two my hair is not 100% dry yet. As you can see, I would say my right side is a NW2 now and my Left side a NW1,5. It has been like this for almost 10 years, it is the miniaturization in the front and the increased dryness of the hair in the front that worries me.

- - - Updated - - -

Does anyone know how to change the topic titel btw?

 

[LongWayHome]

Your hair seems great to me, but I see what you mean, your hairline looks exactly like mine 7 years ago when it started
happening to me.
Still, let's see what other people think.
If, in fact, you are balding, there couldn't be a better time for you to start a treatment like finasteride.

Just one more thing, you wrote about your dermatologist
"He told me it worked well for him and that he had been using it for the past for the past 15 years now",
so I have to ask you this:
What's his hair condition? I mean 15 years it's pretty heavy, so I wonder how is his hair.

 

[INT]

Your hair seems great to me, but I see what you mean, your hairline looks exactly like mine 7 years ago when it started
happening to me.
Still, let's see what other people think.
If, in fact, you are balding, there couldn't be a better time for you to start a treatment like finasteride.

Just one more thing, you wrote about your dermatologist
"He told me it worked well for him and that he had been using it for the past for the past 15 years now",
so I have to ask you this:
What's his hair condition? I mean 15 years it's pretty heavy, so I wonder how is his hair.

Thank you for your response. His hair seemed ok. A NW2 hairline with some tinning on top. I thought he would be somewhere in his late 40's but apparantly he was already 56 do I don't think his male pattern baldness was very severe since he started using it when he was about 40.

 

[INT]

Just popped my first pill! Really need to get a pill cutter because I think I almost took half a Proscar pill. Good start hehe.

 

[Armando Jose]

Most people in the forum dream with the hair you have.
If not absolutely necessary is better not to play with hormones.
Good luck

 

[INT]

Most people in the forum dream with the hair you have.
If not absolutely necessary is better not to play with hormones.
Good luck

Thank you for your response and the kind words.
Yes I am quite happy with the hair I still have. I also don't need regrowth or anything I just want to keep what I have and by looking at my family history (see OP) it is very unlikely that I will do so without any treatment...

 

[Alan1988]

Did your doctor do any kind of test?

 

[INT]

Did your doctor do any kind of test?

Like what?

- - - Updated - - -

On finasteride for one week now. No sides as in the often reported watery semen, erection problems or decreased libido. If anything, I would say that my libido actually increased which seems odd...

 

[INT]

Update:

UPDATE: 2,5 months on finasteride

A few days after my first update I started noticing my first side effects:
- Decrease in ecajulatory volume
- Watery semen
- Less firm erections
- No more morning wood
- Decrease in libido
- Brain frog

Luckily the brain fog subsides after 3 days, man that was some scary ****... It felt like my IQ dropped 20 points overnight... I decided to strongly reduce my dosage from 1 mg ED to 0.625 EOD. This did not help much in the first weeks and I got really anxious. Where I used to masturbate every day I now had to 'force myself' into doing it.

I started to get more and more paranoid. The idea that I would be one of the few people who could not use finasteride made me so terribly depressed... I spent hours each day on Telogen Effluvium internet researching about sides (see also this topic: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interac...iving-me-insane-need-help-from-rational-users).

I decided to just stay on this dosage till I hit the 3 month mark and then slowly tapper off if the sides where still there.
So far I haven't seen any regrowth but since I only had some minor thining around the hairline I can live with that. The only thing I noticed besides the earlier described sides are smoother skin, some minor hair I had on my shoulders look thinner and I find less hair in the shower drain.

Now back to the sides: I don't want to cheer too early but it seems like my sides are slowly subsiding. I had some morning wood again and my erections are getting better and better, especially in the last few days. I hope that this is not because I missed one dosage or whatever but that is probably unlikely.

I am still not back at 100% but the sides are now so minor that I could probably live with it if they would stay like this. I can get it up when I need to and if I could choose between keeping my hair for 5-10 years and having morning wood every day... Well, that is not a difficult decision for me.

 

[Armando Jose]

Brain fog..... decreased libido,...., minor sides?

bTW You have a good hair, stop this nonsense

 

[INT]

Brain fog..... decreased libido,...., minor sides?

bTW You have a good hair, stop this nonsense

In the first weeks they were definitely not minor. Now they are, since the only thing I am still experiencing at the moment is less morning wood.

Thank you for the compliment, I know that most people who see me would never say I am balding but I definitely have some recession in my temples and given family background I am 100% sure that this will only get worse if I don't take any action.

 

[shookwun]

Go sly buddy, I promise you will love it.