My Story: receding hairline at 16, NW3 at 19, Now 22 with Norwood 0.5/1

jgray201

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Hello all,

Quick story, i have a strong family history of baldness, both sides of the family. My older brother suffers quite badly with a thinness and receding so when at 16, my hairline started to recede I was very worried. I started using Regaine at about 17, used for about a year but it did not work: My hair loss was mostly at the temples and I was not tackling androgens. At 18 I noticed my crown had started to thin, this prompted me to go on Propecia, and tried this for a year and a half - Although my crown remained the same for that time my frontal hair loss seem to accelerate, and the dreaded horse shoe pattern emerged. At 19/20 I decided that propecia had not worked, so I then tried Dutasteride. This really ruined my hairline, not only did I have recession but also general thinning in my frontal areas, furthermore my crown began to worsen. From my own experience I believe that my follicles are very susceptible to all androgens, I was on Dutasteride for a whole year and only deteriorated. So at 20, almost 21, I was pretty desperate, I remained on Dutasteride (as i think a dht blocker must be in a regime); and added Oral spironolactone (200mg) and Oral Minoxidil (10mg). I have been on this regime since Jan 2011, and I have had good success, but be under no illusion progress has been very slow. My crown thickened up very quickly and my hair-line is improving all the time, I must conceed that after about 6 months i started to notice the beginnings of Gyno, so I added Genox (20mg) and this has completely subsided, I play lots of football and keep very fit so I'm sure this also helps. My current state Is pretty good, I would say I am a Norwood 0.5 (if that exists) and I would go as far to say I have no bald areas on my scalp, my juvenile hair line is visible and most of the vellus hairs that originally grew are half way to terminal. I am very happy with my hair in my current state, I do not shed many hairs at all either.

My current regime is ED Dutas (0.5mg), Oral spironolactone (100mg morn and 100mg eve), Oral Minoxidil (5mg (I dropped this down to 5mg 6 months ago with no problems)), Genox (20mg) and Alpecin in evenings (I feel this may be helping to stimulate follicles.).

I am adding 10% minoxidil foam, and Bimatoprost to my regime, which I will only use 1 a day and only on my hair line. I have to say although i know most people may not agree with this regime I am extremely grateful for these kinds of forums, people do not understand how traumatic male pattern baldness can be, especially at a young age. I would never tell anyone to adopt this regime, I just hope it informs, and i wanted to share my story because this site has given me lots of information and help. I can add photos from when i was on dutasteride (when my hair was at its worse), and my current state if anyone is interested.

Jack
 

antman

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congrats on reserving hair loss, man. how do u feel about the way you are now?
 

jgray201

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I'm very happy, but I know that at any time things can get worse - so even though im much more confident, as all hair loss sufferers know, even when you have success, you are always worried and obsessed about the state of your hair.
 

antman

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good stuff; it's nice to hear about a story with success on someone who has/had aggressive hair loss rates.
do u think that dutasteride/finasteride does/did anything for your hair loss?
 

jgray201

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I think it is fair to say that in my case, aggressive male pattern baldness, they could not help on their own, if at all. I think on finasteride i maintained my crown, however there was a increase in frontal hair loss + shedding. This was even worse on dutasteride, and i feel i'm in a good place to judge this as I gave both treatments a year or more on their own. My crown always stayed there or thereabouts but did start to worsen on dutasteride, also when I was on dutasteride alone i started to get very greasy skin and spots, which subsided when i added oral spironolactone.

- - - Updated - - -

Photos for all who would like to see.
 

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HairGuru22

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Thats a amazing regrowth, almost its seems science fiction lol. Looking at your regime you seem to be quite of a risk taker, have you experencied any side effects other than gyno? Thanx, for sharing your story by the way.
 

jgray201

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It is substantial regrowth yes, but I must stress it took a long time even on an aggressive regime, it is painstakingly hard watching vellus hairs slowly appear and regrow; it makes you so obsessed that you are constantly checking back and forth, but of course I am very happy. I have taken risks yes, but I did give conventional treatments some time, I feel i know my body reasonably well which helps. Gyno is the only side, and one that has ultimately subsided.
 

shadow

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It looks like you live in the UK, so how did you get finasteride or dutasteride did a GP give you a prescription or you just ordered it from online. Did your parent help you with getting theses stuff?

i know how you feel im only 17 and my hair looks like the picture 2 that you have uploaded. just ordered finasteride, regaine did nothing for me

also did your side thin out or just the top of the scalp.
 

chicknlittle

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Bold treatment... Any sexual side effects with oral spironolactone? As it decreases and blocks testosterone (pre-op transexuals use it) I have always hoped to get results by reducing DHT alone without touching testosterone itself.
 

jgray201

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Shadow, Yeah i'm in the UK, when i started finasteride i got it through my GP - funny thing was he had no idea what it was and i pretty much told him to give me the prescription, eventually I went back and asked him to look at dutasteride and he was having none of it, so since then I've used online sites. If you look like pic 2 at 17 you're pretty similar to what i was at that stage, potentially a bit better off, good luck with your treatments anyway.

Chick, Sometimes i do think that maybe my sex drive is a bit lower than it used to be, but i'm not sure, but no i don't have any side effects, I have a long term GF and have never once had any problems, I appreciate i'm probably very lucky with this regime. In an ideal world i would love to get results just from DHT blockers and growth stimulants, but I feel with my level of male pattern baldness its a very difficult task.
 

chicknlittle

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I actually think you did well to realize that strong family history/ early onset/ aggressive hairloss might require more than the usual treatment... Are you around weight lifters or atheletes that commonly use androgenic steroids for muscle? Reading internet posts I can see that they have a fearless approach to hormone manipulation. Was that what gave you the courage to do the spironolactone/Genox combo? And, do you feel the spironolactone is decreasing your strength/endurance/muscle mass?
 

jgray201

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Thanks, I agree.
I'm not around those types of people really no, I guess the courage came a bit from desperation to be honest, my hair was pretty awful after 2 years of conventional treatments and It was affecting my confidence. I'm pretty athletic and I play loads of sports - I wouldn't really know about muscle mass because I don't work out, I play Football (what you call soccer) to a very good standard and about 3 times a week, and my fitness is the best its ever been, I recently completed a half marathon too so it is safe to say that strength and endurance hasn't suffered. From what i understand high testosterone is not a necessary condition of male pattern baldness, it is the susceptibility to androgens that does the damage however perhaps I have a naturally high level of testosterone, and that is why I do not suffer any bad side effects from spironolactone? Pure speculation of course, but does not sound implausible.
 

chicknlittle

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That's what im wondering (and wondering if I could tolerate it : ) ) I really wish that I could get improved results with oral meds rather than topicals. Good luck with maintenance & avoiding side effects; thanks for posting. Lots to think about...
 

jgray201

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I feel the same way, topicals are a pain and even though I have started to use bimatoprost I think there is an obvious appeal and ease with oral meds, furthermore they are more effective and you do not have to worry about absorbtion, vehice used etc etc. All I can say is it is your choice - and it seems like whatever you choose it will be an informed one. I would just add that my brother is simply on dutas, topical flutamide and 5mg oral minoxidil EOD with good results also. He is older and has a less aggressive male pattern baldness only at the hairline with some thinning. Good Luck anyway and thanks for the support.
 

chicknlittle

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http://www.hairestorationetwork.com/eve/156941-any-experience-oral-minoxidil-2.html

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=10&threadid=95692

Current research and proven meds really don't have a solution for the minority that progress despite treatment, simply accepting that a minority will continue to progress. Screw that.

Thanks again
 

shadow

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so you started finasteride at 18, did your body still developed while on finasteride or stopped. while on finasteride did you notice any ball ache or any other sexual side effect apart from tender breast
 

jgray201

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No i have had no development issues. I think when i started finasteride i occasionally got ball ache but that subsided. No other sides from finasteride, tender breast was on spironolactone. No sexual side effects.
 

shadow

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Thanks for answering. Experiencing some ball ache on finasteride as well. Just asked my doctor and said it should go away.
 

ChrisW1980uk

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Very impressive regrowth fella! I'm thankful I'm not in the same position as I don't think I'd fancy taking spironolactone, but all power to ya, a major improvement :)
 

jgray201

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Thanks, I guess i'm both unlucky I had to resort to such measures but also very lucky it worked with little sides.
 
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