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This is just a story of how I've come to the point I am in life in dealing with my own battle with the norwood reaper and the best way I can live with it.
I've been diffuse thinning since I was 16 and despite this, still managed to attract girls and have a relatively active sex life until my early 20's when my hairline started receding.
By my mid 20's it was getting pretty bad and I had become a shell of the person I once was, the confident, funny and outgoing side of me had gone and the weird, quiet and socially awkward me had taken over. I started using Toppik which did a job but when your hairline is the problem it becomes difficult to pull off, I started styling it in ways to cover thinning areas which just looks worse than not doing anything. At this point, friends started getting married and settling down and posting their lives on social media whereas I shut off from the world, came off facebook and stopped socialising altogether.
I started Propecia 3 years ago when I was 27 after getting over my fears of side effects and it has slowed things down to a crawl but haven't noticed any regrowth. I went to a couple of clinics who said I was a NW4-5 diffuse thinner with below average donor (2-3000 grafts maybe) with retrograde so a transplant wouldn't make much difference. I tried a system during lockdown but that just made me more paranoid than I am already and I'm also someone who really doesn't have a face for a head shave.
So roll forward to about a week ago, I was on a packed train and there was an attractive couple (early 30s at a guess and the guy had a good head of hair) standing next to me. They were clearly in the honeymoon period of their relationship and were all over eachother, kissing and talking about their plans for the future full of hope and optimism. It was like a sick 'what you could've won' moment for me. This played on my mind for days after and I knew I had to change my attitude to life if I am ever to be happy again.
Now as I turn 30 today, I have decided to just focus on things that I enjoy. I've lost so much over the years to my obsession with this shitty condition that I refuse to let it take over the rest of my life. I have decided to give up on dating or finding a partner as that whole process these days with apps just seems legitimately soul destroying and instead go places and do things that do make me happy, even if that means doing it by myself. I have a decent, steady job and some savings which allow me to live fairly comfortably (I'm not rich though by any means).
At this point I'm just frustrated with myself for letting this change me and push some wonderful people out of my life, including potential girlfriends or wives. These are things I can't change, but I will always be greatful for the moments I had and memories I made because I know many others don't even have that.
Take from that what you will norwood brothers, it feels good to vent and I hope things get better for all of us.
I've been diffuse thinning since I was 16 and despite this, still managed to attract girls and have a relatively active sex life until my early 20's when my hairline started receding.
By my mid 20's it was getting pretty bad and I had become a shell of the person I once was, the confident, funny and outgoing side of me had gone and the weird, quiet and socially awkward me had taken over. I started using Toppik which did a job but when your hairline is the problem it becomes difficult to pull off, I started styling it in ways to cover thinning areas which just looks worse than not doing anything. At this point, friends started getting married and settling down and posting their lives on social media whereas I shut off from the world, came off facebook and stopped socialising altogether.
I started Propecia 3 years ago when I was 27 after getting over my fears of side effects and it has slowed things down to a crawl but haven't noticed any regrowth. I went to a couple of clinics who said I was a NW4-5 diffuse thinner with below average donor (2-3000 grafts maybe) with retrograde so a transplant wouldn't make much difference. I tried a system during lockdown but that just made me more paranoid than I am already and I'm also someone who really doesn't have a face for a head shave.
So roll forward to about a week ago, I was on a packed train and there was an attractive couple (early 30s at a guess and the guy had a good head of hair) standing next to me. They were clearly in the honeymoon period of their relationship and were all over eachother, kissing and talking about their plans for the future full of hope and optimism. It was like a sick 'what you could've won' moment for me. This played on my mind for days after and I knew I had to change my attitude to life if I am ever to be happy again.
Now as I turn 30 today, I have decided to just focus on things that I enjoy. I've lost so much over the years to my obsession with this shitty condition that I refuse to let it take over the rest of my life. I have decided to give up on dating or finding a partner as that whole process these days with apps just seems legitimately soul destroying and instead go places and do things that do make me happy, even if that means doing it by myself. I have a decent, steady job and some savings which allow me to live fairly comfortably (I'm not rich though by any means).
At this point I'm just frustrated with myself for letting this change me and push some wonderful people out of my life, including potential girlfriends or wives. These are things I can't change, but I will always be greatful for the moments I had and memories I made because I know many others don't even have that.
Take from that what you will norwood brothers, it feels good to vent and I hope things get better for all of us.
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