The moment you first noticed you were balding....

[kalbo]

.... and I'm not talking about when you first suspected you were balding, I mean the time it actually hit you that you were FOR SURE balding.

Mine came at a very early age, around 16. Back then I usually parted my hair down the middle with gel but one day I noticed that the part looked wider in the front than it did elsewhere. So I lifted my bangs up a bit and realized that I was actually losing hair along the hairline. You can imagine how tough that was for a 16 year old to realize that he has a receding hairline. I remember crying and running off to this big medical book my dad had to do some research on baldness (I didn't have the internet back then, which would've helped a lot more).

I had noticed my hair was shedding a lot before that time but I thought nothing of it. But when that moment hit, it all just made sense and looking back at it, that was a defining moment in my life. I turned from a happy confident kid to a depressed kid who thought his "prime" years would be lost (I seriously thought I'd be lucky to have hair by the time I was 20) and consequently, spend the rest of his life alone.

Well I'm in my mid twenties now and surprisingly I still have a lot of hair. I wasn't imagining things when I was 16 though, my hairline was receding and my styling options were limited because you could notice the thin/bald spots on the hairline. But ever since that initial loss, it's been a very slow process and only about 2 years ago has it gotten from the point of receding to serious thinning. But looking back at things, I realized I wasted a chunk of my younger years just stressing over the fact that I'll probably be bald within the next 5 years.


Anyways, that was my story of the first time I realized I was balding. So how did all of you find out you were losing your hair and what was your reaction? Was it a huge turning point in your life too?

 

[DaSand]

I noticed the receding hairline when I was 16, my hair was uber-thick. It sucked, I thought a "your life will suck being bald" warrant was given to me. Luckily, my hair line is intact. I combed it in the middle to hide the hairline.

Now, it's thinning all around which sucks. But now I've noticed more dark hairs are growing around my hairline.

I still get jealous of all the kids younger and older that still have a good head of hair.

 

[Solo]

Back when I was 18 I noticed my hair was getting wider in the middle part. I had hair to my shoulders, it was the grunge era :lol:


I wear sometimes a pony tail, because long hair is sometimes mollesting. I thought it was the tension of the tail what was causing the thinning, so I cut my hair, combed it forward and move with things. I thought I was a super-hero, too big for baldness. Not worried.

When I was 20, my girlfriend at the moment signaled that I had a wide cowlick. I went onto a trip, and when I got back, she asked me to show her the crown, to see if it has progressed. How sensitive.

Then I started to go "Mmmmm...", to this day.

Yes, I stressed a lot during my early 20s. I couldn´t talk to anyone about it, I had panic attacks, depression (I was doing drugs at the time, as well, so I chained many mistakes). I thought my life was going to be over at 25, when I would look like Zinedine Zidane.

Now I see things the other way, but I´m still working on it. It´s hard to overcome a mind state. Much harder than to fight hair loss.

 

[IBM]

21.

 

[JayB]

1 month into senior year of college. woke up one morning to find hundreds of hairs all over the pillow. started looking at my hands in the shower from them on. started getting panic and anxiety attacks every night for hours from then on.

I wonder what it must feel like to bald naturally. i was in a car accident, lost hair 3 months later, and panicked my way into male pattern baldness.

 

[Aplunk1]

I was 19, rooming with a bunch of college friends at the time.

I got out of the shower, and used the medicine mirror to look at the back of my neck to see if I needed to trim the hair there.

Whoa!

I had a full-blown baldspot!

About the size of a quarter.

As a 19 year old, I was freaked out. I remember immediately going into what seemed like a convulsion. My hands were shaking, I was freaking out, and thought that it might be from the lack of nutrition I was having.

I tried the natural approach, which didn't do sh*t, then I tried Rogaine, but the irritation was so god-awful. I remember finding these forums, and everyone was talking about Propecia. So I went to my doctor about that. He noted that I had only temple thinning.

Well, now, 2 years later, if I go outside, the hair's there, but it's so much thinner.

I think I'm doomed.

 

[hairwegoagain]

I was 17 or 18. I remember I was taking a computer class in high school and I kept seeing hairs fall onto the white old-school IBM clicker keyboard. I had very thick hair and I really didn't pay much attention to it until I was towards the end of college.

 

[Primex]

When I was like 19, I got a hair cut on my birthday and I realized that the sides of my head were more prominent. I couldn't understand until it clicked...duh...I have a receding hairline. Of course I did the mature thing that most people do when they're faced in a serious situation like this. I panicked and started to freak out. I wantd to call my mom and start to cry to her.

 

[camobear777]

When I was 23, I was in my bathroom styling my hair after I got it cut and realized that I had a spot on my crown and the front was thinning. I had 10,000 emotions going though me all at once. It was almost paralyzing. I felt horrible for days and went to a Doctor immediately to get on Propeica. Every male family is bald and I knew it was a matter of time. But it is tough at any age. My struggle continues but I have accepted the fact that I will be bald. I feel much better now than I did when I was 23 at the first sign of my hair loss.

 

[beaner]

My junior year in high school.....just got a haircut....the class wiseass decided to point out that he thought my hair was receding. I was paranoid from that moment forward, although it probably didn't become truly noticeable to anyone else for a few years

 

[jambri]

Camobear, why did you stop propecia and all treatments in Feb this year?

 

[CCS]

Started when I was 15ish or so.

My eight grade history teacher was the first to point it out. He said I'd be bald by age 20. I don't remember how high it was then. My parents just told me I had a high forehead, not a receding hairline. It got worse in high school. Actually, I think I remember trying to comb over a corner in 6th grade, or that was acne I was trying to hide. I don't remember which. After high school my coworkers joked about it alot, saying I better invent something because with my high hairline I have no other perpose here. They were kidding, though, trying to lighten me up. I heard about propecia and rogaine and others, but did not know the strength of each or have money. I remember seeing the first bosley comercials in high school or junior high and wondering how much the procedure costs. At age 22, I was a full NW3A. Then my brother told me he had lost almost all his hair in 6 months without realizing it. He and I then tried Nisism and other snake oil, not knowing what stuff worked or did not. Then I got "generic" propecia in 2003. Finally two years ago I got proscar, and then a year ago I started minoxidil, though inconsistently. Seems to have stablized. It is hard to see how much it receded because I got a total of 4000 grafts and can't tell them appart from my other hair until the grafts thicken up. I think my hair is the reason I never had a girlfriend. I ask out many women. I asked one woman if hair matters, and she said, "no, it does not matter what you look like."

 

[recboi]

I was 18 and in denial. Had started wearing hats, and one day my freshman year, looking in my mirror I took off my hat and could totally see how my hairline was receeding. sucked.

.... and I'm not talking about when you first suspected you were balding, I mean the time it actually hit you that you were FOR SURE balding.

Mine came at a very early age, around 16. Back then I usually parted my hair down the middle with gel but one day I noticed that the part looked wider in the front than it did elsewhere. So I lifted my bangs up a bit and realized that I was actually losing hair along the hairline. You can imagine how tough that was for a 16 year old to realize that he has a receding hairline. I remember crying and running off to this big medical book my dad had to do some research on baldness (I didn't have the internet back then, which would've helped a lot more).

I had noticed my hair was shedding a lot before that time but I thought nothing of it. But when that moment hit, it all just made sense and looking back at it, that was a defining moment in my life. I turned from a happy confident kid to a depressed kid who thought his "prime" years would be lost (I seriously thought I'd be lucky to have hair by the time I was 20) and consequently, spend the rest of his life alone.

Well I'm in my mid twenties now and surprisingly I still have a lot of hair. I wasn't imagining things when I was 16 though, my hairline was receding and my styling options were limited because you could notice the thin/bald spots on the hairline. But ever since that initial loss, it's been a very slow process and only about 2 years ago has it gotten from the point of receding to serious thinning. But looking back at things, I realized I wasted a chunk of my younger years just stressing over the fact that I'll probably be bald within the next 5 years.


Anyways, that was my story of the first time I realized I was balding. So how did all of you find out you were losing your hair and what was your reaction? Was it a huge turning point in your life too?

 

[Hawaii male]

Hit me the hardest about 6 months ago. My world came to a end. Got on finasteride right away. thought about my hairloss everyday. talked about it everyday. obsessed about it everyday. Im just glad im still not worrying about it as much anymore.

 

[Goingat20]

i was 18, just got a hair cut before my summer holidays, i saw that my scalp was a fraztion visible, but i thought nothing off it, a couple of months later a friend pointed it out to me, then that day i was on propecia, and from then began my hair loss journey. Four years later things arent looking too good, next world cup i will be Norwood 7

 

[alan]

first time noticing i was going bald

Similar circumstances for me so we are all not alone! Got told at a job interview when i was 23 that i would have problems when i was older with my hairline, at the time hadnt really noticed toom much or didnt bother me. I had a fair amount of hair still at the fron and the temples. I laughed it off with him.
A year later a girlfrind cut my haor quite short especially at the front and i found myself doing a cover up, arranging the hair to cover the best way.
10 years on and i have thinning at the temples and can see the distinctive shape of thick hair on the sides to the top. I found some info herehttp://www.cure-alopecia.com recently and have started using monixidil and going to try the chinese herbs, did anyone see the TV programme expirement using chinese herbs which successfully regrew a guys hair!

 

[Primex]

I think I just noticed on my own when I was getting a haircut at how far back my temples had gone. God it sucked.

 

[dchae]

My parents told me less than a year ago that they felt less hair on my crown and it looked like it. Now that it's progressed more, it almost seems like my mom's in denial saying that I don't need to get thickening shampoo or Propecia.

 

[Guest]

I noticed it last month when I ran my hands through my hair and noticed how thin it felt, even though i hadn't had a haircut in over 3 months. The real kicker though was lifting up my hair on the front and top over the past weekend and seeing a lot of scalp. :cry:

 

[Guest]

College, you stated that you tried to hide acne in high school by combing your hair over it?! Damn, what kind of society do you live in if acne at that age was gonna give you a hard time? Almost every dude had acne of some level when I was in high school, me included. No one ever said a thing about anyone's acne.