My Success Story (finasteride, Minoxidil And Ketoconazole)

tenisman

New Member
My Regimen
Reaction score
1
Hi everyone!

I decided to post my story here because this site has given me so much information when I needed it the most. But the thing I noticed is, that many people don't come back when they succeed in their fight against balding and I promised myself that I won't be one of them.

I am currently 23 years old, and I noticed that I shed a lot 14 months ago. Then it just got worse, my hair was everywhere. When I read a book, there was a new hair on it every few minutes, when I lightly styled my hair I had more than 20 hairs on my palms ... I was freaked out and decided to do something about it. I went to a dermatologist who said that he thinks I might have telogen effluvium and since I still have a lot of hair (it was difficult to tell that I am balding back then) I should just start using liquid Minoxidil twice a day. After 3 months I started noticing fewer hairs on my pillow and in the shower and I was really happy. But I had a lot of problems with my scalp, it was inflamed all the time, I had so much dandruff it was crazy. Because of that, I decided to stop the treatment (I thought that it was just telogen effluvium back then). The first 2 months were good, but then hairs started to appear everywhere again. One month later I was back to shedding, panic mode and confidence was low. I decided to go to a new dermatologist. She said that she is sure that I have male pattern baldness (it also runs in my family) and that she recommends me to try Finasteride. I listened to her advice and started taking it every day. I have to tell right now that I didn't notice any side effects and I'm taking 1 mg per day, I have the original Propecia (quite pricey, it cost me about 55 USD per month). I thought that I will have results in a matter of weeks, but the reality is that at least in my case it was a long journey. After 4 months I noticed reduced hair fall, but still way more than normal. I decided to add Ketoconazole (twice a week for 6 minutes - also great if you have dandruff) and Minoxidil (only once a day that time and in foam version). No difference in the first few weeks and even more shedding till about three months of using that combination together.

But right now, 8 months since starting Finasteride and 4 months after starting Minoxidil and Keto, I lose hairs like a normal person again and I even think that my hair is thicker (but it is hard to tell in my case because I caught hair loss quickly).

My tips for all of you:
- I found it helpful to at least estimate how much hair you are loosing. For that, I developed my own method. Once a week (the second night after I showered my hair) I changed my bedsheet (so there was no hair on it) and went to sleep for 8 hours. When I woke up I counted the number of hairs lost. When I was shedding the most I found more than 40 hairs on the pillow and around it, then it slowly dropped week after week. Last night I found 6 hairs :D
- Find treatment for yourself as soon as possible. Thinks won't get better on their own ... Either accept it or fight it.
- Treatments take a loooong time before you see results. Some people say they notice results in the first months, some only after a year. Trust in the process and don't give up.
- I know how hard it is to truly accept that, but it is only hair ... You shouldn't be completely miserable because of your hair loss, do what you can to fight it (of course if that is what you want) and then forget about it and live life.

If you have any question I would be happy to answer. If I will have an update, you will get one. Stay strong on your journeys!
 
Top