Strife's Story

[Strife]

I been visiting this website for a long time, and I know what all of you are going through. I know what its like to lose interest in everything you found joy in, I also know what its like to feel unworthy of love, our pain is worse because we are silent sufferers..Nobody seems to understand how we feel till it happens to them..Whats worse about this illness is its the type that people laugh at.
My story ain't probably much different than yours.

I guess I was about 25 or so when I first noticed my hair was more managable, I didn't seem to mind this at first, because I had alot of hair.
but a few more months would only confirm that I was thinning, I was recovering from the worse breakup of my life..so I pinned it on stress.
The thought of male pattern baldness crossed my mind, so I decided to go see a dermatologist..It was probably one of the worse days of my life.
The doctor looked at my hair for about 2 minutes and told me I was in the early stages of male pattern baldness.
My heart sunk, it felt like I got kicked in the gut, I was completely devastated, he wrote me up a slip for Propecia, and left the room.
Just like that?...I thought the doctor was crazy and I crumbled up the slip and threw it in his basket, How could he come to that conclusion after only 2 minutes of lookin at me...so I left in complete denial.

Months later I finally had to come to terms that maybe the doctor was right after all. So I called him and asked if he could write me up a slip again. The doctor was understanding.
My first trip to the pharmacy was the worse, I waited about 30 minutes before I grew enough cheek to ask what was takin so long, She asked me for my name, and what I was on, and she asked the huge staff in the back if there was any PROPECIA in the back...I was so embarrassed, there was alot of hott girls there and alot of people in the waiting area. I wanted to punch that lady right in the face, who was she to say what I was on so openly?...I mean these things are so suppose to be kept quiet right?...I remembered I wanted to just die at that very moment She was askin her staff as if I was ordering a Big Mac or somethin.

I got home and took the first pill...I remember it made me quite ill.
it might of been the anxiety, who knows?

But in a nutshell I have been on Propecia/Proscar for 2 years and 2 months...and I have been on Nizoral for maybe a year

its been a rollercoaster ride, I don't have noticable hairloss, but my hairline receded, well just one damm side, so it makes me look really dumb, well atleast to myself.
I been thinkin of Rogaine, but I dunno with all the horror strories I keep hearin. ahwell I hope theres some medical breakthrough..for everyones sake

Thanks for letting me rant
~Strife

 

[itsjustaphase]

hey dude,

sorry to hear about your experience. if it makes you feel any better, at least you started at 25. i am 20 and losing ground extremely fast, and i would give anything to have gained these 5 carefree years. but anyway 25 is still hella young and i feel for you.

i was wondering if maybe you could share your experiences with finasteride. you say you don;t have noticeable hairloss after 2 years. what was the process like? did you ever stop losing hairs in the shower etc, or did the re-growth simply compensate for the loss? i am at month 3.5 and still losing about the same amount of hair in the shower and during the day as when i started using finasteride. i also have lost alot of density and receded. my question for you is what are some of the early signs you noticed that made u feel like finasteride was working? was it the ceasing of hairloss, new hairs coming out, thickening of existing hairs?

thanks alot for your help, i really want to have some sense of how to evaluate my progress over the next few months.

best of luck with the rest of your treatment.

 

[Strife]

Well as far as my experience with finasteride, I got all the side effects you can possibly imagine, from depression to sexual side effects to weight gain

Now I am not certain about the depression and the weight gain, as there is no scientific evidence to back up that claim, But I just feel it has something to do with it.

Now onto your questions, When I began taking finasteride, I didn't notice any change for a while, I guess it has maintained what I have now. , as I don't see any hairs on my pillow or in the shower. I guess the only signs is that the hairloss came to a halt, I didn't really experience any hair thickening or new hairs growing...Just basically a halt.
I also didn't get that initial big shed either when I started.

In the 2 years and 2 months I have been on finasteride, I have only experienced 1 shed, and it was when I gave up Propecia and started Proscar, I thought for a while that the Proscar maybe had different properities than the propecia, but it was pure spectualtion, I was freaking out, and I just wanted an answer, sheds are pretty scary. I think it was maybe the transition of the seasons, it was sorta the middle of fall, and the temp was getting cold fast..but again I don't know, all I know is that the shed stopped eventually.

I have to say the Propecia/Proscar has done basically what I think is the extent, and thats stop it or slow down the hairloss.
I think maybe around Month 7 is when the finasteride kicked in..Your on month 3.5 so be a little more patient, and stick with it till your year anniversary.

Again its tough for me to evaluate my hairloss, even till this day, i can't tell if I'm losing more hair or what, I did however notice that my body chemistry is changing, I have Pin straight hair now, and its also Fine, and my hair is so managable that I completely hate it...a few years ago, I would of killed to have hair like this, I have had my hair thinned out before by hair stylists and chemically straightened.
And to me its so weird to run my hands through my hair and feel almost nothing there, its surprising to me that I don't have any noticable hairloss yet ( knock on wood).
But I know thats around the corner, and the thought of that puts me in complete despair..and it hurts alot.
I have shunned love from my life because of it, It has made me unsure of myself, and I feel complete shame, I also noticed that I have alienated alot of my good friends. I keep hoping I get over this ordeal.
I am more concerned these days of my mental health.
Well I hope I have given you maybe a little insight. but then again our experiences with these drugs are all different

regards ~Strife