MattCole's Story (29) - all happening so fast

mattcole

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I'm 29, with no history of hair loss in my family. I have two brothers (one older) who have straight hair and no signs of loss. My dad is nearly 60 and still has a VERY full head of hair. My grandfather who is over 80 and has a mostly full head of hair, it's thin but he is over 80. Probably like many if you, I never thought about it because I figured genetically I was safe especially as I'd made it to late 20s without any perceivable loss. Unlike my brothers, I have wavy hair that was always very thick and was one of my nicest features (of which I don't have many).

My hair may have been thinning for a while, but I only noticed anything about mid last year, and it was only at the crown. Since then my hair has thinned drastically on top, and also on the sides. The only place it is still thick and normal is the back of my head.

I tried to convince myself it wasn't happening for a while, but it just kept getting thinner (I guess it's described as "diffuse thinning"). Then about 3 months ago, it's started to receed at the temples too. It's probably no worse than most guys my age, but compared to a year ago it's a quite different and I don't like it at all. I don't even feel comfortable with a crew cut anymore now that it's starting to creep up at the sides. I know that some temple recession is normal and unavoidable unless you are very lucky, but it's more the overall thinning on top (and to a lesser degree, the sides) that I am worried about. It won't be long until it's basically see though under even low light.

I haven't dated much, and this feels like the final nail in the coffin in me ever finding someone. I guess this is something most guys say, but baldness just won't suit me. I barely have any facial hair (I'm half asian) and I just always had nice, thick wavy hair. That was just me.

Ironically not long ago I felt I was better off than those with more receded hairlines at my age (which is a lot of guys I know) until I notice the hair they've got left is still thicker than mine, so they're possible candidates for a hair transplant whereas my overall thinning on top (and I suspect to the sides) means this is probably not going to help much. I reckon I'll be balder, faster - god, it really feels like it's happened overnight.

So after trying everything natural (changing shampoos, diet etc.) I finally decided it was time to give finasteride a try, so I ordered it from overseas. If I could get it a little thicker and just hang on to what I have for another 5 years, at least I've given myself a shot.

So I've been on that about a month (normal 1mg dose), and just this week, I've been getting tingling nipples. It may be my imagination but there seem to be some harder lumps there, odds are they were there before but I just don't know. 1 in 200 seems pretty damn bad luck, if those are the real odds for gyno. I'm losing weight as part of an eating/fitness plan (long overdue) but I'm still carrying a fair bit of weight, so it's not really possible for me to tell yet whether my "breast size" has increased.

I just don't know what to do. I'm angry at losing my hair, and angry that my best hope for keeping it a bit longer could give me breasts especially considering the odds. To be honest, I could care less about loss of libido, but I don't want gyno - my worst fear being it doesn't go away even if I'm forced to stop, so that I'll still be balding and have permanent breasts for my trouble (perhaps balder than I'd otherwise be as my brief time on finasteride may bring on a heavy shed). I read that gyno is supposedly no more common than with placebo, which really makes me feel like I've got a big double dose of bad luck. Can't I get a break?

I guess my question for those with experience is, is this a sure sign of gyno? Is some nipple tenderness more common than 1 in 200 and what are the odds of it just going away? I plan to stick with it another month barring any more drastic changes and if it doesn't go away, I'll try 0.5mg as a last ditch effort. Do you think there is any hope for me?
 

kumarhk

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Hey matt I feel your pain and you're not alone. I'm 20 and have gone through a ridiculous amount of hair thinning in less than 1 year. I am only glad that I accepted it and chose to do something about it early rather than be in denial about it before I hit the point of no return. I started Propecia back in Dec 08 and have been taking one pill every night to this date. After 2-3 weeks I had some sensitive nipples but this only lasted 2-3 days. But I experience breast tenderness every few weeks or so, then it just disappears. I do not know what this means, I even had a very little growth that appeared for 1-2 days then disappeared (this growth was VERY sensitive). I can't figure out what any of this means, why do I feel tenderness every couple of weeks for a day or two then it just vanishes. I am very scared that this may be a precursor to gyno but I need to be sure it is before I get off Propecia. I am going to see my doctor in about two weeks and will let you know what he says. Good luck.
 
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