nyoroko's story - (19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade)

[nyoroko]

I'm currently 19, turning 20 this month. People started pointing out my thin hair since I was 13. And now that I am quite obviously balding, it's begun to get to me. I wear hats fairly often. At first, I just wore the hats b/c I liked the way they looked, but now I wear them increasingly often b/c of my lack of hair. I'm not too worried about my hairline, just the top of my scalp mostly. I just came here looking to find where to get started. I have a 4 month supply of Rogaine foam, but according to the directions it won't work for me? I'm considering a hair transplant, but only as a last resort. Propecia seems like it'd be good for me, but is it expensive?





Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Norsk]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

That's some heavy diffuse thinning for your age. Propecia/Proscar is probably your best bet. You can save money by buying Proscar (5 mg finasteride) instead of Propecia (1 mg finasteride) and cutting the pills into 4. Don't even think about a transplant before you have been on treatments for a few years. With such aggressive loss, a transplant is risky, anyway, because you're likely to end up with too little hair to give decent coverage. If you really hate the idea of buzzing your hair shorter, you might want to try out some concealers, like toppik/nanogen, prothik or dermmatch.

 

[Obsidian]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

Like Norsk said, Propecia would be your best bet right now.

 

[nyoroko]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

I figured Propecia would be my best option right now, and I really don't like the idea of undergoing any kind of surgery. How do I go about getting the Propecia/Proscar?

 

[Norsk]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

It can be bought from online pharmacies, but I'd recommend getting a prescription and buying it at your local pharmacy.

 

[nyoroko]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

Are there any side-effects? Nausea, etc? I think I've heard of there being mostly sexual side-effects?

Oh, and can I just go to any doctor and get a prescription? or does it have to be a specific kind of doctor?

 

[Obsidian]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

You need to go to a dermatologist (sic) to get the prescription for it. Most of the side effects claimed on here are sexual dysfunction but that is less than 5% of people.

 

[Norsk]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

You can get it from a general practitioner. It doesn't have to be a specific kind of doctor. If your GP refuses, you might try a dermatologist. Many different side effects are reported. Sexual ones the most common. Officially I think only 2 per cent get side effects. I personally think that's bullshit, though, more like 20-30. If you get any side effects that are big enough to bother you, you can try to wait a few weeks and see if they go away. I wouldn't wait more than that, because some people, like me, get side effects that didn't go away even after quitting the drug. I recommend reading up on the side effects forum and making up your own mind.

 

[Fanjeera]

Re: 19 yr old male, balding since 8th grade

Are there any side-effects? Nausea, etc? I think I've heard of there being mostly sexual side-effects?

Oh, and can I just go to any doctor and get a prescription? or does it have to be a specific kind of doctor?

Brain fog and manboobs.