Ryan's Story

[ryan_nathaniel]

Well, I've lurked here for quite awhile and now I feel like coming out of the shadows.

I'm turning 23 this weekend. The thinning started, I believe, in June. One day I noticed that I had clogged the shower drain and was absolutely stunned. I started to pay attention to my shedding and noticed the hair on my hands when I shampooed, the hair in the sink, etc. etc. It was (and is) devastating.

I did not see this coming at all. I have always had REALLY nice hair. Hairdressers would compliment it and girls would tell me they admired it. In every social circle I've been in since high school, someone has eventually admitted to admiring my hair. It's always been my favorite physical quality about myself.

When I first noticed the shed, I looked for anything else to explain it. There really isn't a precedent for this in my immediate family, as far as I know. My Dad started thinning in his late forties, but he STILL has a pretty good head of hair and he's almost sixty. All the rest of the men on his side of the family have hair. As for my mother's side, my grandfather had a full head of hair until he died in his late 80s. Both of her brothers are around sixty and have thick heads of hair. I thought I would have thick hair for life.

Not so, says the dermatologist. She took one look at my scalp and said matter-of-factly, "Hereditary hairloss." I was absolutely devastated.

I have to admit that, even as a heterosexual guy, I've always had a weird thing for hair. As a kid I used to watch movies and television shows and notice other guys' hair. I still do. Two years ago I watched Johnny Depp in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and decided to grow my hair out like his. I did, and I was pretty successful, but then the shedding began.

Anyway, I cut my long hair off about a month ago and I got on Propecia shortly after the dermatologist confirmed my fears. I've been on the Propecia for 1.5 months and haven't noticed any sides, although my shedding has continued. I'm pretty sure I lose about 250-300 hairs every time I shampoo and style my hair, and this has been going on since June.

The good news is, at this point, people still can't tell. I'm pretty open about the fact that I'm losing it and whenever I tell people what's going on they always think I'm kidding. I KNOW that my hair is thinner than it used to be, and the quality of it is not the same as it was a couple months ago. Thankfully, though, the average person can't tell.

What scares me, though, is I know there's a finite amount of hair on my head. This crazy shedding can only go on for so much longer. If it continues, a day will come when my hair loss becomes obvious. I live in constant fear of that day.

I have a three-month supply of Rogaine sitting in my room but I really don't want to start using it. Yes, I want to save my hair, and I'm willing to do what it takes, but I want to know if Propecia will do the job on it's own. I hate to commit to putting a messy topical on my head every day for the rest of my life when I might not need it. Any advice here...?

Any advice at all...?

I think I might put up pictures later. Anyway, I just needed to vent. These boards have been an encouragement for me.

 

[Follically Challenged]

Use a topical like green tea extract, just put it in some water and rub it into your hair when you got some downtime. Consume GTE too provided you don't think the thermogenic effects of it will lead to you getting dark circles under your eyes.

Take AAKG to boost nitric oxide.

Use Nano shampoo.

That would be my advice.

 

[bubka]

stick with the propeica, maybe add nizoral shampoo, doing the right thing, you should see a slowdown around month 3 in loss and regrowth or hair stop falling out around 4... if typical

good luck man!

 

[Guest]

Bro,

How do you know that you're shedding 250-300 hairs a day? That is an incredibly high amount. And anyway what you should be concerned with is whether the hairs are growing back or not. I have a feeling that they will for you because of the Propecia.

And wait on the minoxidil or else you won't know whether it's the minoxidil or finasteride doing the trick for you and like you said minoxidil is a big hassle and committing to it before you can differentiate the drug effects is a bad idea. minoxidil doesn't stop the balding process like finasteride does so just being on finasteride for now is fine. minoxidil will be just as effective for you in a year. That is what I'm doing actually, holding off on minoxidil to see if I actually need it.

Post some pics of your hairloss if you can. Wet your hair and comb it all the way back so we can see your hairline, and also take pics of the top of your head and the crown if you can.

As for your genetic situation, you said your dad thinned noticeably in his forties, well it's possible that you got a bad balding gene from farther back in your family and your dad passed it onto you. It can come from either side. Or it could have come from a few generations back on your mom's side. But you definitely inherited one. It could have been from 3+ generations back but you did. Chances are you had a few balding relatives along the line.