Lopfraze's Story

[Lopfraze]

Came across this site last week and I've got to say, that its opened my eyes to hair loss. It seems like a great community, and it feels really good to hear about other people's experiences with hair loss.

My Story

Here's my story. Since I was about 18/19 I've had very mild hair loss. It was so small that it wasn't even noticable, by me or anyone else. I used regaine a for two periods of about a month each, but it was such a hassle, & my hair loss was so small that I never persevered with it. To be honest I doubted that I even really had hair loss, and only panicked a few times - otherwise it didn't bother me.

Anyway, a few months before I turned 23 (about 8 months ago now) my hair loss seemed to increase quite a lot. At the time I had started to grow my hair longer for the first time in my life, so I'm not sure if this apparent increased hair loss was genuine, or that it just seemed like I was loosing more hair because the hairs that were falling out were longer.

I started to worry, & did a little research on the internet. I didn't want to use regaine because it was too much hassle, & I didn't think that it would really help me. But while researching, I found out about propecia. I finally plucked up the courage to see my doctor about it, and mentionned this specific product (i.e. propecia/finasteride): but she hadn't even heard of it & was absolutely no help at all, and basically said that 'if its going to happen, its going to happen, & there's nothing you can do about it'. So I kind of gave up.

As the months went on, the hair loss continued, and I talked to my dad about it (he is fully bald, and had been through all this himself), and he tried to get a procepia prescription from his doctor, or at least see if it was possible to get one, but the response he got was that they just weren't interested. I tried getting it from relatives living abroad, but no luck.

So last week I bit the bullet, overcame my fears of ordering online (I'm worried the pills might not be real), and ordered from http://www.inhousepharmacy.co.uk/ 2 boxes of Propecia (not the generic stuff). Its a little expensive, but I figure its worth it for the peace of mind.

Well, it arrived in the post today, and a few hours ago I just took my first tablet (WOOHOO!). A few days ago I also started to use Nizoral, and intend to use it 2x a week.


My Family History

Dad & dad's side of the family: lots of hair loss. I seem to be following the same pattern as my dad - he was completely bald by at least 40, with serious thinning by 30.

Males on my mum's side have very good hair, though my mum herself has weak hair, and has slight diffuse thinning.


My Hair Loss

Becasue I have very long hair (think Shaggy, from Scooby Doo), my hair loss isn't really very noticeable, and I can cover the little slivers of scalp visible with my long hair fixed with hair clips.

I think I'm a diffuse thinner: a little loss around the crown, but generally thinning at the top & front. Doesn't seem to be much recession of the hair line at all though.

If I can keep what I have, and maybe thicken it up a little bit, then that would be great. More than anything, the thought that you're 'decaying' when you're only 23 is horrible. But now I've picked up my weapons, & I'm ready to go into battle with Mr. male pattern baldness.



Anyway, I just wanted to document all of that, & officially join the community. I'll try and update, & generally use this thread to vent. Any comments would be appreciated. Also, can anyone tell me whether Propecia can help with frontal hair loss?

 

[j25]

First of all, good decision you made, because the hair loss you've experienced lately is most probably the first sign of male pattern baldness, taking into account your family history of hair loss.
The odds are quite good for you, since you've picked it up so early. finasteride will help you best with diffuse top/ vertex thinning. For most people it works less in the frontal areas.
During the first couple of months, or even a year, you may see your hair decaying a little further, and possibly the frontal area will be hit. If this happens: don't worry. The hair was destined to go anyway, and you may have chances that it was a shedding and that it will regrow.
After a year or so, you should be able to see that your hair has stabilized. So don't expect any short term miracles and remain patient! Good luck.

 

[Lopfraze]

cheers j25

yep, i'm going to stick with it for at least a year, if not longer.

but damn, you can definately see the thinning of my hair in a couple of parts, if i don't use hair clips to fix my hair in place. i guess its because my hair is so long, that the difference is therefore noticeable. i really hope the propecia works.

 

[GoldenBear]

Yeah me too man, im 22 and just went on it. The hardest part is waiting for results, I just want them now. I also noticed now that I realized im going bald I cant stop looking at it in the mirror. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

 

[Lopfraze]

you're right goldenbear, waiting for results ain't easy, but at least, now that i know that i'm doing something, i feel a lot better. good luck with your regimen.



as for myself, i decided to see how many hairs i was loosing. as my hair is quite long, my hairs don't really all fall out in one go in the shower/in bed/ etc., becasue even if one of my hairs falls out, it stays on my head, held in amongst my other hairs. therefore i get hairs falling out at random points in the day/when i shake my head/etc.

so i thought i'd make a test. 1st thing after i got up this morning, i shook my head quite vigourously for about 30-60 seconds over a white sheet of paper. then i counted how many hairs fell out. here's what i found:

long (& very healthy) hairs: 21
medium length hairs: 13
short, "vellusy" hairs: 16

Total: 50

i didn't have many hairs on my pillow when i woke up this morning, so i guess this is a pretty fair figure of how many hairs i'm loosing a day.

i hope the propecia will stop & reverse the miniturisation process.

 

[Lopfraze]

arrrggghhhh.. shedding!!!

ok, so i've been on propecia for 2 weeks 5 days, and i think i'm shedding.

i hadn't washed my hair in about 3 days (because i've been ill), and i washed my hair this morning, and at least 50 hairs came out in the shower. then this afternoon, a few hours later, i started to gently tug at my hair, and with little or no effort, I must have pulled out 30 hairs. i had to stop, it freaked me out so much. all these hairs are long, healthy hairs. i was loosing hair before, but things definately seem to have accelerated.

without styling, my centre front is now visibly thinning/balding and when wet, on top i am visibly thinning too. i know you have to expect shedding on propecia, but less than 3 weeks in? anyone else had this?

my carpet is covered with my hair.

having said all that, the top of my forehead seems to be covered in tiny little vellus hairs (which are barely visible). these hairs go down all the way to my eyebrows. are these hairs:

1) new hairs on the long road to being terminal?
2) just facial hair (i'm a hairy guy)?
3) part of the miniturisation process (i.e. the smaller version of the healthy hairs that used to be there)?

i don't know what is going on. whatever happens, i'm sticking this out for at least 12 months, but this really looks like its going to be one hell of a rollercoaster ride.

 

[Baldie]

I've been on minoxidil for 6 months now and finasteride for 1 month.

About a week after I started finasteride i started shedding a LOT. The hair that falls out is mainly light coloured or no coloured and perhaps one terminal hair every third "pull".

I'm still shedding......but I'm determined to ride it out!

 

[Lopfraze]

Well, I'm into my fifth week on the propecia, and my hair loss seems to have slowed over the last few days. Maybe I'm just imagining it, but i'm hoping things might stabilize now. We'll see...

 

[pompador]

Hello eveyone anyone tried the book HAIR LOSS NO MORE or no anyone that had I just ordered it I've been on minoxidil & propcia for about 9 months but still get a lot of hairs falling out ?????

 

[Lopfraze]

Hello eveyone anyone tried the book HAIR LOSS NO MORE or no anyone that had I just ordered it I've been on minoxidil & propcia for about 9 months but still get a lot of hairs falling out ?????

The "Hair Loss No More" thing is a scam, and I suspect that you are a spammer.

If you're genuine, then search the boards for advice and give a more detailed description of your situation.

If you're a spammer then I hope you burn in hell for all eternity, while your limbs are torn apart by bloodthirsty dogs. How dare you defile my thread with spam.

 

[Boru]

Hi
Thanks for the tip about the spam, it must be annoying.
Boru

 

[Lopfraze]

Well its been a while since my last post on this thread, mainly because I've been pretty busy recently with university exams.

So what's happened in the last month. Well, my procepia supply ran out.

I used http://www.inhousepharmacy.co.uk for my first supply, and they were great - very quick & not very expensive. So I obviously reordered from them with full confidence. But things did not go smoothly this time.

I reordered 14 days before I was due to run out of my supply. However I recieved my new tablets 24 days later - so I was without Propecia for 10 days. I'm not too happy with this, but there wasn't much I could do.

What happened? Apparently my package was held up in customs for over a week and I also had to pay a release charge of £20 ($40) to get my package. In http://www.inhousepharmacy.co.uk's defence when I wrote to find out why my package hadn't arrived they replied the next day with a pretty comprehensive reply explaining what exactly had happened. I just wish they had wrote to me earlier so that I could order tablets from somewhere else while I was waiting, so I wouldn't have to go without.

I'm hoping that I might be able to claim some of the release charge from http://www.inhousepharmacy.co.uk, but I doubt it. I'm back on the Procepia now, so hopefully the effects of the skipped doses won't be too serious.




Anyway, will update again soon, if anyone actually reads this. I've been feeling pretty down over the last few days as my hair doesn't look so great right now. Its strange because I don't seem to be loosing as much hair as I used to, but my hair on top looks damn thin. I'm having to use a primitive "comb over" technique to hide my thinning hair. God, this is sh*t. Anyway, more soon.

 

[PJ]

Hey Lopfraze,

I'm noticing those new barely noticable vellus hairs on my forehead too.
Thing is I don't know if they've been there all along and I'm now only just been studying my hair line to much or if they are signs of new growth. I'm on finasteride 3 months now. No noticable shed but my hair has gone to sh*t, really thinned out. Fingers crossed I'll see some improvement soon!.
Good luck.

 

[Lopfraze]

Hey Lopfraze,

I'm noticing those new barely noticable vellus hairs on my forehead too.
Thing is I don't know if they've been there all along and I'm now only just been studying my hair line to much or if they are signs of new growth. I'm on finasteride 3 months now. No noticable shed but my hair has gone to $#iT, really thinned out. Fingers crossed I'll see some improvement soon!.
Good luck.

Yeah, now my hair seems to be going to sh*t too. Really thinning out on top. Doesn't seem like a shed - seems natural. Dammit.

I do seem to have new hairs growing at the front of my hairline - but I don't know if they're miniturised hairs or not. I suspect they are.

 

[j25]

Exactly the same is happening to me Lopfraze. Have been for a year on propecia with not really satisfying results, but at least the thinning on top seemed to have stopped. Then i jumped to 1/4 proscar two months ago, and i have never lost so much hair as i am doing right now. Horrible, 100 or more when shampooing and combing my hair. I also have the tiny hairs in the temples, but it's the sweeping thinning on top that's really buggin' me. I am not inclined to fool myself with shedding explanations anymore, but i really wonder what's going on.

 

[Lopfraze]

Well, time for another UPDATE methinks.

Its been 6 months & 18 days since I started the Propecia treatment. I have also been using Nizoral (& T-Gel), but not religously. Also I take multivitamins, though again, not religously.

Good news

My hairloss seems to have slowed down considerably.
When I started the tretment I was loosing hair throughout the day and my carpet was covered with my hair. Now my carpet is pretty clear of hair, and I barely drop a hair all day.

Bad News

I still loose hairs in the shower. About 10 if I shower everyday, about 30 (maybe more) if I have a shower after about 3 days. It seems my hair is VERY weak after showering, and breaks/falls out easily whilst combing after a shower - I don't know if anyone else has experienced this (I've heard it mentionned before).

Also I did loose a fair amount of hair before the hair loss slowed, and so I am still quite thin on top. I can cover it up quite well, but its not ideal. I'm hoping that the Propecia will help fill in my crown, and maybe thicken things up a little in the middle [and front, though I know this is unlikely].

Also, in the past month or so I seem to have been getting a few pimples on my face. I usually never, or very rarely get them on my face, but now I have about 4 or 5. I don't know if this related to Propecia or just bad diet (I am a student), but its something I'm bearing in mind. Also I'm putting a bit of weight on around my chest. I'm a little worried this is some kind of gyno, but more likely it is bad diet again. Again something to bear in mind.

Summary

So in summary, I'm quite happy. At least the loss has slowed. I don't worry about my hair so much anymore.

Though getting the right part to cover up loss at the crown is a b**ch, and knowing some hairstyles are impossible to me because my hair is too thin on top, is a little annoying. However my hair is so long now (over 12 inches) that I can cover up my thinner than average top quite well.

Anyway, I hope those people starting out see my story and will take some positives from this. Things may seem sh*t now, but there are medical treatments that can improve things. Results won't be instant, and they won't give you a perfect head of hair, though they'll do a good job more often than not.

Peace out.

 

[Lopfraze]

Exactly the same is happening to me Lopfraze. Have been for a year on propecia with not really satisfying results, but at least the thinning on top seemed to have stopped. Then i jumped to 1/4 proscar two months ago, and i have never lost so much hair as i am doing right now. Horrible, 100 or more when shampooing and combing my hair. I also have the tiny hairs in the temples, but it's the sweeping thinning on top that's really buggin' me. I am not inclined to fool myself with shedding explanations anymore, but i really wonder what's going on.

Hey man (you were the frst poster on this thread - with good words of advice),

Sorry to hear things aren't going so well for you on the hair loss front. Why did you switch to 1/4 proscar - money? I've been thinking of doing the same, or at least switching to Cipla generic, but I'm scared that the all the good effects will stop. Thankfully, my online poker earnings mean that I can afford to use merck (extravagant, I know).

To be honest, even with my recent improvement I still think our situations are quite similar - thinning on top, and with lots of loss in the shower (see my last update), just mine seems to be on a lesser scale than yours. As a piece of random advice, I would suggest trying to get back on the Propecia/finasteride, and dumping the proscar.

Good Luck

 

[Spidoris]

I like your story Lopfraze. We are about the same age and same kinda hairloss. Plus someone else has longer hair on this forum.

 

[jeffsss]

During the first couple of months, or even a year, you may see your hair decaying a little further, and possibly the frontal area will be hit. If this happens: don't worry. The hair was destined to go anyway, and you may have chances that it was a shedding and that it will regrow. .

this isnt the first time i've heard this...

it really really sucks that propecia causes acceleated hair loss in the front.. that's where mine is the worst.

I wish my dermatologist or merck would have made a warning..

" you will lose your hair very fast then it will stabalize " dont worry you would have lost that hair anyway????????

how bout.. maybe not for a year or so!?

 

[Lopfraze]

It's been a while since I last posted. Well a lot has changed since then.

I mentionned earlier that I was having a problem with acne caused by the propecia. Well that acne was leaving marks - scarring. I tried BP cream. I tried retin-a. Though those creams helped a little, they didn't help enough. I was still scarring. So, as of 14th March 2006, I have come off Propecia.

So I was on for about 10.5 months, and though my hair didn't get worse, I'm not sure if it got much better. I know that 10.5 moths is not long enough to judge, and I wanted to continue for 2 years, but unfortunately, I don't have that luxury.

As much as I want to keep my hair, I don't want to scar up my face. It's only mild scarring, but it wasn't stopping. I'm now going to try to see a derm and repair the mild damage that has been done.


If you read my posts in this thread, you'll see that I started with a very positive attitude towards Propecia. Well, that has now gone. To anyone starting out with this - think carefully before you do. It may have a 81% success rate, but it has a lot of possible side effects.

I mean, Merck don't even list acne as a side effect, so I wasn't all that worried about it when I started out. But of course, it turns out that almost everyone who takes the drug will have a permanent problem with acne (for as long as they take it).

I'm kind of resigning myself to being bald in about 10 years, now. It's not so bad really.

However I am thinking of new possible regimens. I'm not moving to dutasteride. I'm thinking of a topical regimen. I'm currently using T-Gel and Nizoral shampoos. Do people think that Revivogen or spironolactone would be good options?

I could do with some help/advice/encouragement right now.

Peace out.