Hi everyone!
I've been a long time lurker of this site and I've posted my initial success story here: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/24631-Nice-temple-regrowth-(w-pics) . Started treatment with the big 3 (generic finasteride, kirkland minoxidil and nizoral) back in 2006 when I was 25. I'm 32 now and I've upgraded to a "Fab 5" (Big 3 plus s5 cream and saw palmetto). Throughout the 7 years I've dabbled with a few other things: tried dutasteride for a little over a year (made my hair thinner), rogaine foam (cost too much and not easy to apply), and folligen copper peptides (too much of a hassle to add to regimen plus it smelled and made me sweat green paint, so dropped it). This Fab 5 regimen has so far been working well for me so I plan to keep it going for a while.
PIC: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/attachment.php?attachmentid=19733&stc=1&d=1363719148
As you can see from the pic above, I started out in early 2006 with temple recession and some thinning in the front and crown. The doctor who prescribed me the finasteride at the time said it was just a matter of time before I'd be completely bald. Started the Big 3 right away and after just 6 months my temples filled in and it was showing some good promise. The year and a half mark was the peak of my hair success. I wish I had some pics to show, but I deleted all those pics from that time (long story). But it was super thick and healthy looking. After I noticed a slow decline that's when I started to dabble with those other experiments.
PIC#1: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/attachment.php?attachmentid=19734&stc=1&d=1363719148
PIC#2: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/attachment.php?attachmentid=19735&stc=1&d=1363719148
So now it's been roughly 7 years and as you can see from the pics above (taken in 2013), it looks like the treatments worked. It's grown out now, but you can see that at the very least, it didn't get any worse than what it was. The frontal thinning is less noticeable now and really hard to detect when I spike it up with hair product (the pic you see is with no hair product). That pic with the buzz cut was taken a few months ago right before I grew it out (sorry, that's the best pic I could find with good lighting).
And in case anyone is wondering about side effects, I did have issues with erectile dysfunctions after the two year mark. It actually got to a really bad point recently where I was ready to drop finasteride completely, but by chance I discovered the real cause for my ED: p**rn and fapping. Not sure if it's been discussed on these boards already but basically, the coming of high speed internet ushered in an era of p**rn addiction amongst young males and a direct side effect of it, amongst many other things, is ED. Since I dropped the p**rn/fapping, I've been back to normal
I've been a long time lurker of this site and I've posted my initial success story here: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/24631-Nice-temple-regrowth-(w-pics) . Started treatment with the big 3 (generic finasteride, kirkland minoxidil and nizoral) back in 2006 when I was 25. I'm 32 now and I've upgraded to a "Fab 5" (Big 3 plus s5 cream and saw palmetto). Throughout the 7 years I've dabbled with a few other things: tried dutasteride for a little over a year (made my hair thinner), rogaine foam (cost too much and not easy to apply), and folligen copper peptides (too much of a hassle to add to regimen plus it smelled and made me sweat green paint, so dropped it). This Fab 5 regimen has so far been working well for me so I plan to keep it going for a while.
PIC: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/attachment.php?attachmentid=19733&stc=1&d=1363719148
As you can see from the pic above, I started out in early 2006 with temple recession and some thinning in the front and crown. The doctor who prescribed me the finasteride at the time said it was just a matter of time before I'd be completely bald. Started the Big 3 right away and after just 6 months my temples filled in and it was showing some good promise. The year and a half mark was the peak of my hair success. I wish I had some pics to show, but I deleted all those pics from that time (long story). But it was super thick and healthy looking. After I noticed a slow decline that's when I started to dabble with those other experiments.
PIC#1: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/attachment.php?attachmentid=19734&stc=1&d=1363719148
PIC#2: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/attachment.php?attachmentid=19735&stc=1&d=1363719148
So now it's been roughly 7 years and as you can see from the pics above (taken in 2013), it looks like the treatments worked. It's grown out now, but you can see that at the very least, it didn't get any worse than what it was. The frontal thinning is less noticeable now and really hard to detect when I spike it up with hair product (the pic you see is with no hair product). That pic with the buzz cut was taken a few months ago right before I grew it out (sorry, that's the best pic I could find with good lighting).
And in case anyone is wondering about side effects, I did have issues with erectile dysfunctions after the two year mark. It actually got to a really bad point recently where I was ready to drop finasteride completely, but by chance I discovered the real cause for my ED: p**rn and fapping. Not sure if it's been discussed on these boards already but basically, the coming of high speed internet ushered in an era of p**rn addiction amongst young males and a direct side effect of it, amongst many other things, is ED. Since I dropped the p**rn/fapping, I've been back to normal
