So I used to use this forum more often, but haven't really needed a reason for it because honestly life still has to go on even if you're losing your hair young and this forum wasn't really providing me much benefit anymore as I have already learned about the effective hair loss treatments. I occasionally come back to look on the research section to see if anything new comes out, but seems like there still really isn't anything new. If I am wrong please correct me, as I am always open to try something else, within limits. I would love to have my hair back to what it once used to be.
So the stuff I have tried throughout these 5 years: minoxidil 5% foam and liquid; finasteride .5mg, 1mg, 2mg, 5mg; dutasteride .5mg every other day and every day; oral minoxidil 1mg (I think); derma rolling; random other stuff: castor oil, zinc, biotin, caffeine and biotin shampoos.
I am not going to get into my whole story and my journey throughout this but will just say my results on each. 25 years old btw. Started treatments at 20.
Miscellaneous treatments (castor oil, zinc, biotin, caffeine/biotin shampoos): Did nothing. These were useless to me from what I can tell. Castor oil may be mildly effective but I did not notice a benefit from any of these.
Derma Rolling: I only did this for around 4 months but noticed no results and quit. It was just too much of a hassle for me, and left red marks on my head and sometimes bleeding. I honestly thought it pulled some hairs out even and just was not a fan of it. It may work for some people, but it just wasn't for me.
Oral minoxidil: Didn't seem to do much of anything. Maybe it wasn't a high enough dosage. Took it for around 6 months. I would have continued taking it as I had no negative side effects from it but I moved and no longer see the doctor who prescribed it and don't feel like going through the hassle of finding one who will.
Topical minoxidil: Seemed to be a complete non-responder. Used it the first 2 years while on finasteride then gave up on it. Saw no difference in foam vs liquid.
Finasteride: I used 1mg and 2mg the longest (around 3-3.5 years total). I lost a lot of ground on these, especially the first year of treatment. My hair significantly thinned out. I never had a bald spot on my crown or noticeable thinning there, but was diffuse thinning and my hairline took a big hit, especially in the forelock area (center of the hairline). I didn't think it affected my sex drive or erection quality really, but looking back it may have. I definitely have a higher sex drive and erection quality now, and am having sex much more often now. Overall I was not happy with finasteride. Didn't seem to be helping my hair
Dutasteride (been about 1 year total, 10 months consistently on .5mg daily). My first trial with it was for around 2-3 months every otherday and then I quit. I felt like I was getting side effects. I had a few encounters with girls and I couldn't get an erection. At first my sex drive on it was crazy so I thought this was weird, but I quit and went back on finasteride. My second round on dutasteride started around March of last year (like 6 months after I last quit) and was taking it every day. I started back up because my hair was tanking (most notably at the nape area which I never had before) I had a more serious girlfriend at the time so I wasn't as likely to get ED from nervousness. I never had any ED, I honestly feel like it increased my sex drive and I felt like I needed to have sex atleast once a day for a while, and sometimes I legit felt like I need it a few times a day. It may have stabilized at this point, but my sex drive still feels higher than it was on finasteride, and I haven't had any ED issues except occasionally when hammered or nervous. For some reason the number one reason I get ED is when I am nervous about the situation. Like if it is someone new or if it is in a weird situation, like in the car in public or something. I feel like my hair has declined from when I started it back up but honestly really hard to say, but either way the loss seems to have slowed down. My nape area has thinned out (back of my head towards the neck) and general thickness has gone down a bit. My hairline is very thin in the forelock area as well, but has been for a while. I can't really complain though because I have no visible balding on the crown area, and I have friends who started losing hair around when I did and they are much worse off than I am. It could just be genetics though, as my older brother (27) isn't losing hair and neither is my younger brother (21). I can still make my hair look thick with hair products and how my hair is cut (keep it buzzed real short on sides and back and a couple inches on top; can't grow my hair long anymore, looks like sh*t), except for the forelock which is just too thin to possibly make look thick, but I am still happy with how I look and still get girls fine, especially given how more people my age are losing hair than when I was 20 and in college, so it is less of an issue. If I was completely bald or had a bald spot on my crown it would be a different case and I would probably be freaking out much more. I am currently just taking dutasteride, and recently added in topical minoxidil (liquid) again once at night because I feel like maybe it could work to regrow a little now that I am on dutasteride, and maybe it is doing more than finasteride to stop the loss, so minoxidil can work, but not hopeful for it.
I have heard people freak out about finasteride and dutasteride turning you into a women and wasting away your muscles and stuff. I can say this is not the case at all for me. I don't know if dutasteride is helping my weight lifting but I am in the best shape I've been in. I weigh 165lbs at 5'10, can bench 315, squat 385, can do weighted pullups with 90lbs for 8 reps. I have no issues with muscles and I get compliments on my body all the time. Weight lifting while losing my hair has done wonders for me. I've lifted weights since I was 15, but am more serious about it now, because I realized I have to improve other areas of my life. It has definitely helped keep my confidence, and I recommend it to everyone.
Also I don't know if this is a real thing or just my genetics, but I feel like AR-inhibitors have kept me looking younger. Like I haven't really aged much in my face in 5 years, and honestly I kind of really like it. Most people if they guessed my age would be 21, and I've had people think I was like only 18 or 19. This could just be genetics and I have a young looking face, but who knows. It may have prevented me from growing facial hair as well, but that could just be genetics as well. I can grow some facial hair, but I cannot grow a beard or mustache whatsoever. I grow the facial hair of a teenager lol. Probably just genetics, but who knows. People like Ashton Kutcher took dutasteride for over 10 years, and look how long that dude stayed looking young. Its probs just genetics but idk.
My overall conclusion on treatments is they work wonders for some and do close to nothing for others, and can cause side effects for some while not for others. Your only way to know whether they will work is to just try them, and if they don't work then you have no choice but to move on in life.
My plan going forward: I have a prescription for dutasteride from my doctor so don't plan on quitting. I will continue to take .5mg daily. I added liquid topical minoxidil nightly recently because I recently dumped my girlfriend and don't mind putting this sh*t on my scalp at night (I didn't want to do this when she was living here with me). If there is any non-invasive treatments that come out in the future I will try them if they're shown to be effective and safe.
One thing I've learned over these years. Yes hair is important, and it is huge in your social/dating life, but either way life goes on. I've had a lot of sh*t happen in my life over these 5 years unrelated to hair loss, and sh*t more serious to me than this. Looks/appearance are still very important to me and so is my hair, but stuff will happen to you in life that will make you completely forget about your hair for a while. The thing with hair loss is it stays with you and continues to get worse over time, while these traumatic events can be much worse at first, but things get better over time. With the hair loss or anything else traumatic that happens to you in life tho, you got to take what you're given and decide what you want and move forward. If your hair is important to you, take treatments, they can work wonders for you and then move on with life and stop thinking about it, whether it is working or not.
If you guys have any questions over anything just let me know.
So the stuff I have tried throughout these 5 years: minoxidil 5% foam and liquid; finasteride .5mg, 1mg, 2mg, 5mg; dutasteride .5mg every other day and every day; oral minoxidil 1mg (I think); derma rolling; random other stuff: castor oil, zinc, biotin, caffeine and biotin shampoos.
I am not going to get into my whole story and my journey throughout this but will just say my results on each. 25 years old btw. Started treatments at 20.
Miscellaneous treatments (castor oil, zinc, biotin, caffeine/biotin shampoos): Did nothing. These were useless to me from what I can tell. Castor oil may be mildly effective but I did not notice a benefit from any of these.
Derma Rolling: I only did this for around 4 months but noticed no results and quit. It was just too much of a hassle for me, and left red marks on my head and sometimes bleeding. I honestly thought it pulled some hairs out even and just was not a fan of it. It may work for some people, but it just wasn't for me.
Oral minoxidil: Didn't seem to do much of anything. Maybe it wasn't a high enough dosage. Took it for around 6 months. I would have continued taking it as I had no negative side effects from it but I moved and no longer see the doctor who prescribed it and don't feel like going through the hassle of finding one who will.
Topical minoxidil: Seemed to be a complete non-responder. Used it the first 2 years while on finasteride then gave up on it. Saw no difference in foam vs liquid.
Finasteride: I used 1mg and 2mg the longest (around 3-3.5 years total). I lost a lot of ground on these, especially the first year of treatment. My hair significantly thinned out. I never had a bald spot on my crown or noticeable thinning there, but was diffuse thinning and my hairline took a big hit, especially in the forelock area (center of the hairline). I didn't think it affected my sex drive or erection quality really, but looking back it may have. I definitely have a higher sex drive and erection quality now, and am having sex much more often now. Overall I was not happy with finasteride. Didn't seem to be helping my hair
Dutasteride (been about 1 year total, 10 months consistently on .5mg daily). My first trial with it was for around 2-3 months every otherday and then I quit. I felt like I was getting side effects. I had a few encounters with girls and I couldn't get an erection. At first my sex drive on it was crazy so I thought this was weird, but I quit and went back on finasteride. My second round on dutasteride started around March of last year (like 6 months after I last quit) and was taking it every day. I started back up because my hair was tanking (most notably at the nape area which I never had before) I had a more serious girlfriend at the time so I wasn't as likely to get ED from nervousness. I never had any ED, I honestly feel like it increased my sex drive and I felt like I needed to have sex atleast once a day for a while, and sometimes I legit felt like I need it a few times a day. It may have stabilized at this point, but my sex drive still feels higher than it was on finasteride, and I haven't had any ED issues except occasionally when hammered or nervous. For some reason the number one reason I get ED is when I am nervous about the situation. Like if it is someone new or if it is in a weird situation, like in the car in public or something. I feel like my hair has declined from when I started it back up but honestly really hard to say, but either way the loss seems to have slowed down. My nape area has thinned out (back of my head towards the neck) and general thickness has gone down a bit. My hairline is very thin in the forelock area as well, but has been for a while. I can't really complain though because I have no visible balding on the crown area, and I have friends who started losing hair around when I did and they are much worse off than I am. It could just be genetics though, as my older brother (27) isn't losing hair and neither is my younger brother (21). I can still make my hair look thick with hair products and how my hair is cut (keep it buzzed real short on sides and back and a couple inches on top; can't grow my hair long anymore, looks like sh*t), except for the forelock which is just too thin to possibly make look thick, but I am still happy with how I look and still get girls fine, especially given how more people my age are losing hair than when I was 20 and in college, so it is less of an issue. If I was completely bald or had a bald spot on my crown it would be a different case and I would probably be freaking out much more. I am currently just taking dutasteride, and recently added in topical minoxidil (liquid) again once at night because I feel like maybe it could work to regrow a little now that I am on dutasteride, and maybe it is doing more than finasteride to stop the loss, so minoxidil can work, but not hopeful for it.
I have heard people freak out about finasteride and dutasteride turning you into a women and wasting away your muscles and stuff. I can say this is not the case at all for me. I don't know if dutasteride is helping my weight lifting but I am in the best shape I've been in. I weigh 165lbs at 5'10, can bench 315, squat 385, can do weighted pullups with 90lbs for 8 reps. I have no issues with muscles and I get compliments on my body all the time. Weight lifting while losing my hair has done wonders for me. I've lifted weights since I was 15, but am more serious about it now, because I realized I have to improve other areas of my life. It has definitely helped keep my confidence, and I recommend it to everyone.
Also I don't know if this is a real thing or just my genetics, but I feel like AR-inhibitors have kept me looking younger. Like I haven't really aged much in my face in 5 years, and honestly I kind of really like it. Most people if they guessed my age would be 21, and I've had people think I was like only 18 or 19. This could just be genetics and I have a young looking face, but who knows. It may have prevented me from growing facial hair as well, but that could just be genetics as well. I can grow some facial hair, but I cannot grow a beard or mustache whatsoever. I grow the facial hair of a teenager lol. Probably just genetics, but who knows. People like Ashton Kutcher took dutasteride for over 10 years, and look how long that dude stayed looking young. Its probs just genetics but idk.
My overall conclusion on treatments is they work wonders for some and do close to nothing for others, and can cause side effects for some while not for others. Your only way to know whether they will work is to just try them, and if they don't work then you have no choice but to move on in life.
My plan going forward: I have a prescription for dutasteride from my doctor so don't plan on quitting. I will continue to take .5mg daily. I added liquid topical minoxidil nightly recently because I recently dumped my girlfriend and don't mind putting this sh*t on my scalp at night (I didn't want to do this when she was living here with me). If there is any non-invasive treatments that come out in the future I will try them if they're shown to be effective and safe.
One thing I've learned over these years. Yes hair is important, and it is huge in your social/dating life, but either way life goes on. I've had a lot of sh*t happen in my life over these 5 years unrelated to hair loss, and sh*t more serious to me than this. Looks/appearance are still very important to me and so is my hair, but stuff will happen to you in life that will make you completely forget about your hair for a while. The thing with hair loss is it stays with you and continues to get worse over time, while these traumatic events can be much worse at first, but things get better over time. With the hair loss or anything else traumatic that happens to you in life tho, you got to take what you're given and decide what you want and move forward. If your hair is important to you, take treatments, they can work wonders for you and then move on with life and stop thinking about it, whether it is working or not.
If you guys have any questions over anything just let me know.
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