Lot of reading here, first intro post. (28 years old)

[Benjammin]

Hi everyone,

First off, thanks to everyone for being so active here. I've been lurking these forums for similar experiences and it's helped a lot.

I'm almost 28 years old, I've been an NW1 my entire life (genetic widows peak hair line since I was a baby) and always had incredibly thick nice hair. In the last year I've found myself slipping to a Norwood 1.5/2 and very recently noticed my crown thinning a bit. About 4 months ago I began doing something about it--taking heavy amounts of biotin and rubbing Nexus Biotin Scalp cream around my hairline. I noticed my hairline not slipping anymore and tiny hairs growing on the hairline. After 4 months they never got thicker and around the same time I noticed my crown thinning.

2 weeks ago I made the plunge to do everything I can to stop it and to hopefully regrow some hair too. I'm on 1.25mg finasteride, 5% minoxidil 2x daily, s5 cream 2x daily, also the biotin cream still, the biotin tablets, also a high dose of horsetail shavegrass and saw palmetto.

So far I haven't noticed much difference. Only the hair on my hairline seems to be darkening and getting longer (s5?), I think my crown might be thickening slightly, and as of yesterday I started shedding pretty bad all over my head. Probably around 100 hairs just from running my hand through (somewhat compulsively) throughout the day. Today seems to be the same. They seem to be thick and thin hair, coming from all over my scalp. My hair doesn't seem to be getting thinner (yet) with the shedding, which gives me hope.

I eat very well, diet is little concern.

My biggest fear is my career. I work in the music industry and am on stage in front of thousands of people most nights. And also getting sweaty most nights on stage. In order for me to keep my job, I need to keep my hair.

I use toppik when out in public and it works wonders.

Any personal recommendations? Money isn't a huge concern outside of a hair transplant.

Pictures:
Hairline pre finasteride/minoxidil

Crown pre finasteride/minoxidil

How I wear my hair today:

Crown (with toppik)

Reference: 2010, 22 years old

----update-----

Hit 5 weeks on minoxidil and 4 weeks on finasteride. Pretty sure I just finished a two week shed. It's been two days since I've lost any noticable amount of hair.


Crown post minoxidil application, dry

Crown right before daily minoxidil application, dry

Crown, wet

Hairline:

Styled:

Can you guys tell if there's any loss or improvement?


Regiment:

1-4ml minoxidil target foam, 2x daily
1.25 mg finasteride, 1x daily
S5 cream around hairline and crown, 2x daily
Vitatress biotin scalp cream, 2x daily
~1000 mg saw palmetto, 1x daily
~1000 mg horsetail, 1x daily
15000 mcg biotin, 1x daily
100mg keratin, 1x daily
1500mg collagen, 1-2x daily (for skin/eye wrinkles)
Vitamin b complex (including 50mg niacin, 1x daily
Nizoral 1% 1x weekly

My hair feels strong. I enjoy that. It didn't feel as strong a month ago.

I also should mention I don't wash my hair often at all. I washed it with shampoo maybe 3 times between 2011-2015. Currently I'm using nizoral 1% 1x weekly but all other days I just use water and massage my scalp.

I have also used tea tree oil every once in a while in the shower.

Thoughts?

 

[CursedMen]

Honestly I think your hair looks better now than it did at age 22. Potentially, you could be experiencing a shed right now because you just got on treatments. The hairs have to fall out in order to grow back thicker. Gets worse before it starts getting better. Keep up with the treatments. Eventually it will start to get better.

 

[Benjammin]

Honestly I think your hair looks better now than it did at age 22. Potentially, you could be experiencing a shed right now because you just got on treatments. The hairs have to fall out in order to grow back thicker. Gets worse before it starts getting better. Keep up with the treatments. Eventually it will start to get better.

Thanks man. Vain as it is, a lot of how I judge it is the difference in amount of compliments I get on my hair from a few years ago to now. That and how it seems thinner when wet, but that could be just getting a bit more self-conscious with age, and seeing my bald father every so often.

 

[CliffLee]

I think your hair looks a little better now, but it's difficult to tell. Your haircut is definitely a lot better now then at 22, haha.

In the majority of cases, shedding is a good sign and is often mentioned as a requirement to making gains! In that case, look at it as a positive and stay consistent with the medication.

Good luck!

 

[DFWdesperado]

Welcome, your hair looks pretty good now, if youre able to stick with that regimen I think youll be satisfied with the results you will get. However, you can most definitely drop the saw palmetto and horsetail, unless youre using that for reasons other than your hair? Because that wont have any effect on your hair.

 

[Benjammin]

Thanks for the replies dudes. A couple days into the shed I seem to be shedding a bit less, and most hairs coming out seem to be generally thinner and weaker than the average strand on my head. Good sign, as far as I can tell. Also no change in how thick my hair appears.

 

[Benjammin]

3.5 weeks on finasteride/minoxidil/nizoral (1x/wk), mid shed, seems thin all over and losing ground on my hairline. Gotta cut my hair shorter. Really not happy right now.

 

[OH202]

I agree with the forum here - you're definitely in a good position to remedy or at least stop whatever loss you feel as though you've experienced. Just stay consistent with the medication and try not to obsess too much (while still keeping track of your progress!)

 

[Benjammin]

1 month update! Above in original post.

 

[Notcoolanymore]

I don't notice much of a difference, but you are still very early in the treatment process. Like I am sure you have read many times before, give it time.

 

[Captain Hook]

I agree with Notcoolanymore. It's only been a month, you should see results anywhere from the 6 months to 1 year mark.

Also I'd look into replacing your 1% Nizoral with 2%. Your regimen is strong and it may not have a marked effect but 2% Nizoral used 2-4x weekly has been shown to regrow as much hair as 2% minoxidil used twice daily. It can't hurt and can only help, you don't see people using the 2% version of minoxidil so why use the lesser concentration of Nizoral?

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9669136

"both the 1% and 2% dosages of ketoconazole shampoo have hair loss benefits; however, the more potent 2% formulation likely produces better results." as quoted verbatim from this study http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3262531/

 

[Benjammin]

I think I can classify this as a success story. Definitely stopped from getting any worse, thickened in front, noticeable growth in temples, crown is good, no Toppix for maybe 3 months now, get compliments on my hair daily.

Current regiment:
1.25 mg finasteride daily
minoxidil foam on crown, temples, front/center of hairline area anywhere from 0x - 3x daily, averaging 1.5x daily
nizoral 1% maybe 1x/week, no shampoo otherwise
biotin cream 3x/week, though more of a style product than anything

Pardon only half pics. Will get wet pics soon.

 

[michel sapin]

wow great result man !
minoxidil recover your crown? you didn't shed too much at the start ? you use the full dose each time ?
no sides?

 

[Benjammin]

I don't measure out how much minoxidil I use, I kind of ball park it, usually to where the hair in the area I apply is medium wet at the roots. I go through a standard 2.11oz bottle of foam every 2 weeks or so.

I shed a lot for the first couple months. A lot, over 100 hairs out in the shower, anytime I ran my hand through my hair at least 5-20 hairs would come out. It evened out and I haven't shed in over a year.

 

[Roberto_72]

Well done!

 

[spring15]

Nice one, still using s5 cream?