TheLastHairbender's story

[TheLastHairbender]

Hi, I had posted before under a different name but had to reset things, so here is my story again with a 1 month update in the following post. This is originally from 5/25/2011.

Baseline Posting & Pictures
Date: 05/25/2011
Topics: The Story, Past Treatments, Pictures, Treatment Plan, The Regimen.


The Story

Having recently turned 26 I'm finally ready to do something about my hair loss. I'm an otherwise healthy male with male pattern baldness on both sides of the family. I've always had thin, fine light brown hair, and probably noticed it was first going at about age 20 with the thinning of the crown and formation of a dime-sized bald spot that hair just seemed to part itself away from. I didn't let it get to me and have enjoyed the past five years with my head held high, all the while powering through the Norwood scale at lightning speed. Looking back, I was a solid NW3 at 22 years old, an NW4 by 24, and now sit at what I believe is a NW5 since sometime during 25.

Things really accelerated when I entered a PhD program at 21 and spent the next four years just trying to keep up. It meant intense stress, inadequate exercise, and - probably worst - a horrible sleep schedule, usually only 3-4 hours per night and at least one night a week when I "double dip" and don't sleep at all for a night, going from, say, waking up Tuesday morning then working through Tuesday night and Wednesday, then sleeping 10-12 hours Wednesday night to catch up. It seems like the lack of sleep (or some other feature of the lifestyle) has contributed to accelerated hair loss. On the second day of an overnight powersession I tended to notice tons of shedding onto my papers and keyboard, often having to blow dozens of hairs off every half hour or so. The shedding has actually mostly subsided, as there's not much left on top to shed anymore! Unfortunately I'm so committed to finishing strong in this program that the resultant hair loss has been a necessary evil to ensure I don't fall behind. I have been hopeful that most or some of the hairloss is simply tellogen effluvium from a mentally and physically stressful lifestyle that will resolve once I'm done with this academic program, although noting the family history of male pattern baldness and the Norwood-style progression, this may be a fanciful dream.

Since I'm tall enough (6') and only ever see myself from the front I probably haven't noticed how bad it has gotten. Friends and family close to me have started to make small jokes or comments in passing which I don't really mind, I tend to look at it as endearing, but it does make me aware that it is a visible issue and there are probably people not as close to me who think it but just don't say it. And as I'm still single and honestly haven't even hit the dating market much due to my overcommitment to my studies, I'm growing concerned that I'm going to finish school and be set up for lifelong success, yet bear the appearance of a broken man. Like many people have reported, I feel like I've wasted what could have been the best years of my life buried in the books in hopes of providing a better life down the road which I may not be able to fully enjoy due to hair loss.


Past Treatments

Ok, enough storytelling, on to the goods: I haven't really done much to treat it to date, I had a roughly two month long run-in with minoxidil (as Rogaine foam) two years ago, at age 24. I used it semi-regularly but not regularly enough; the day-long appearance of a wet spot on the back of my head from the foam prevented me from wanting to use it in the morning, and it was just far down on the list of priorities so, sadly, application just fell between the cracks some days. About a year ago I started with the Nioxin 5 part system: shampoo, conditioner, 'scalp activating treatment', 'follicle booster', and some glorified multi-vitamin. The shampoo and conditioner aren't bad, but even the full system hasn't done anything to noticeably improve the situation or even stop the shedding, so I'll choose not to renew this costly system for another go around. I've been taking 320mg Saw Palmetto for the past six months or so, half in the morning and half at night. I've recently cut back to just 160mg in the morning and will be completely done with my supply by next week. It wasn't good or bad, but I'm no longer throwing time and money at anecdotes, instead opting only for the proven stuff or strongly promising stuff, as I'll explain in the Treatment Plan below.

I looked into finasteride about a year ago but propeciahelp scared me away. I didn't really think of hair loss as a big issue until recently, and deep-down I knew that the worst thing that could happen is the hair loss affect my behavior, so to that extent there was some value in denial. I remember explicitly thinking that the more I thought about hair loss, the more I'd worry and more hair I'd lose, so I did a good job blocking it out for a few years. I wouldn't mind continuing on that path, but it has become unavoidable. I am happy to say though that it still doesn't inhibit me much...it's clear that it's only as big a deal to others as I make it out to be, so I don't let it stop me from going out, being loud, talking to girls, and I just act like I don't know any better.

Even so, it would be nice to actually have some hair up there, or to know I'm stuck with only the Rob Corddry-esque tuft for good at which point I'd probably consider shaving it all. Before getting to the treatment plan let's lay down the baseline photos:


The Pictures

Two overhead shots with flash:

And two without flash:

One from above-front:

Here is a series of five from above, from behind to just forward of 12:00:

You know, I'm not sure if it matters, but I'm taking these with a camera with a 25mm equivalent wide-angle lens. I'm not sure if that distorts the perspective in these pictures, especially up close, but I do have a pretty big head anyway.

Geez I didn't even realize it was that bad until taking these pictures, because I usually only see it from the front, like this:

And it's really a shame because I have awesomely thick hair in the back and on the sides, it's just been total destruction of the hairline, crown, and top of the head. The lack of parity is really becoming striking. I'm not sure if this is indicative of anything or useful information, maybe it would lend itself to a hair transplant down the road, but that doesn't look like a road I'll be taking at this point. Here are two pics of the sides, they don't look as thick in the pictures due to a recent haircut, I'll get better ones sometime:

Finally, a few more candid shots in action, although it's dark and you can't see much. Obviously I can't take candid pictures of myself, and I think the friends who usually do take pics of me consciously try to avoid exposing the bad hair up top, so I don't really have any that highlight the hair:

Ok so that's where I'm starting from. Next:


Treatment Plan

As the first piece of practical advice I picked up here on HairLossTalk.com, I've been using Nizoral 2-4x per week for a month or two. Haven't really noticed anything but will continue to do so on the good advice of the people on this board.

I saw my GP last week for the first time in years, he took one look, confirmed Androgenetic Alopecia, and wrote a prescription for 5mg finasteride with the instructions to take 1/4 pill (1.25mg) for four days and skip the fifth day. I filled the 20-pill prescription (80 doses, ~3 months worth) for $19 at the University's pharmacy. He also ordered blood tests for some things I can't remember, and, as suggested on propeciahelp, I had him add LH, FSH, and free/total Testosterone. I also asked for estrogen, prolactin, and SHBG, but he started to balk, saying it's not necessary and would end up costing me a fortune out-of-pocket. I didn't push the issue. I'll be back in two weeks to discuss the results of those tests and will post them back here.

I dusted off my three remaining cans of Rogaine Foam from my stint two years ago, they just expired last month but, knowing that the expiration date is a minimum effective date, I feel comfortable using them up quickly over the next three months. I started taking the finasteride in the evening/nighttime and applying the Rogaine Foam twice a day, both on Tuesday, May 24, 2011. I have for a few years taken a daily Centrum multi-vitamin, half in the morning and half at night, each with a Fish Oil/Omega-3 supplement and 500mg Biotin, and plan to continue doing so with the new treatment plan.

I also ordered the S5 5% spironalactone cream from this site for its topical anti-androgenetic properties, and will integrate that into the regimen 2x/day about 10 minutes after applying minoxidil, as indicated by Dr. Lee. It won't arrive til June at best, but I'm not sure when I want to integrate this in. I'd like to see if the finasteride and minoxidil have any impact first, but know that that could take a year or more. I'm still undecided on when to start using the spironolactone; my fear is that something works and I'll be locked into using them all permanently for lack of knowledge about what is actually doing what. I'm trading that off with the risk of less-than-effective treatment by leaving out some known solutions in the meantime. So the regimen is as follows:


The Regimen

Nizoral 1% Shampoo, 2-3x/week (began 4/01/2011)
Finasteride 1.25mg/day (began 5/25/2011)
Minoxidil 5% (Rogaine Foam) 2x/day (began 5/25/2011)
Spironolactone 5% with .025% Retin-A (S5) 1x/day (beginning 6/08/2011)

Daily Centrum multi, Omega-3s (600mg), Biotin (1mg)


Future Plans:
-Replace spironolactone with RU or CB, pending results and availability.
-Integrate ASC-J9, pending results and availability.
-Integrate a Copper Peptide/SOD spray, once there’s something better than Tricomin/Folligen (2.5% AHK-Cu, TEMPO/TEMPOL, and PBN).
-Include Aminexil treatment every 6 months starting in December.
-Replace Rogaine with Spectral DNC, if I get rich.

-Integrate more growth promoters:
Bimatoprost
Miconazole
Adenosine/Adenogen
HGH?



Other:
Nizoral Off-days:
TESTING: L'Oreal Pro-Vive Thickening vs.
Aveda Pure Abundance Shampoo + Clay Conditioner

Styling:
TESTING: different American Crew products, tend to favor Forming Cream.
Tresemme Hair Spray (sometimes)
Have a can of Toppik around I don’t really use.
TESTING: Couvre vs Dermmatch



Formerly:
Nioxin 5 part system - Shampoo, Conditioner, Follicle Booster, Scalp Activator, Vitamins (1 year, replaced with Nizoral)
Saw Palmetto 320mg/day (6 months, replaced with Finasteride)
Blind Faith (through 5/24/2011)




Thanks for reading my story. I really appreciate any comments, feedback, advice, or criticism. I'll post back regularly with updated pictures. I'll also keep you posted with the results of the blood tests due back from the doctor in two weeks. Thanks again!


Here is also a timeline for reference that I'll update with each new development. You can see my currently updated regimen using the button below my signature.

Updated Timeline:
5/24/2011: Started nizoral, finasteride & minoxidil (had been using nizoral for 2 months)
6/08/2011: +Spironolactone 5% with .025% Retin-A
7/02/2011: +MSM 3g daily

 

[Carlos27]

Re: 26yo NW5, Big 3 + spironolactone, 2 months

Best of luck to you. Anxious to see your updates.

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Re: 26yo NW5, Big 3 + spironolactone, 2 months

Thanks guys!

So although I’m almost two months in on my regimen now I wanted to post a roughly one-month update from 6/18/2011 since that’s when I took this next round of pictures. I’ll soon have a two-month update around 7/24.

One Month Update
Date: 06/18/2011
Topics: Spironolactone, Pictures

I had just gone back to my G.P. for a follow up and reported that I’d been taking the finasteride at 1.25mg for three weeks with no side effects or noticeable changes in anything (I didn’t mention that I’m not skipping the fifth day like he prescribed, instead I’m taking 1.25mg every day). My blood test results had come in and he said everything was normal except for Albumin levels were a bit above the range but it wasn’t anything to worry about. I’ll post the exact results later.

Spironolactone

Other than that I received my order of S5 5% spironolactone cream from the HairLossTalk.com store and began using it on 6/8/2011, two weeks into my finasteride and minoxidil regimen. I noticed that it also contains 1% caffeine and .025% Retin-A, which I was thinking about including anyway for its reported synergies with minoxidil. (In fact I’ve already ordered a tube of .05% Tretinoin from InHouse for $18 shipped, I’m going to experiment on a tiny patch of my rear hairline to see how I respond to Retin-A, as some report improved hair growth when used with minoxidil while others report hair loss when used to treat acne, so I’ll just see how I respond individually rather than speculate based on others’ experiences.)

I began by using the spironolactone twice a day, 10 minutes after applying Rogaine foam as I’ve seen Dr. Lee recommend this to others. It goes on white at first, coloring the scalp, and it really makes the scalp and hair that it touches greasy – a little bit goes a long way when spread out over the scalp and bases of hair shafts. The first ten minutes after application are pretty ugly though as it dries, so if you’re concerned about privacy you may want to block off about 15 minutes of private time after applying the spironolactone. It dries really clumpy in the hair so it takes a good ruffling to get things looking normal again without washing it out of your hair. And it stays really sticky too so you may end up with a few hairs on your hand or comb at first styling it once it dries. Styling the spiro’d hair without pulling any out is something of an art I’m now getting better at. Because of the PITA factor after one week I cut back to applying it only at night when I can just go to sleep when it’s dry.

I’m not looking for any miracles from spironolactone, it’s just another part of my routine and another angle to block DHT’s impact on gene expression. I was already applying minoxidil anyway so adding a cream afterward isn’t a big inconvenience and the cost isn’t bad at $32/tub shipped when you buy three – the tubs are tiny but each should last 2-3 months.

My last note is that I have considered mixing up RU58841/PSK3841 or CB-03-01 solutions to use as a topical anti-androgen instead of spironolactone, but decided that for convenience, cost, and based on our current better understanding of spiro’s side effects compared to those of the research chemicals, I’ll go with spironolactone for now. We at least know that side effects aren’t severe when used topically and it does have strong affinity for androgen receptors, 67/100 according to this study:

"The Use of Human Skin Fibroblasts to Obtain Potency Estimates of Drug Binding to Androgen Receptors", Eil and Edelson, 1984, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 59:51.

My mind is open to this though, and as RU and CB become better understood and reliable products delivered for convenient use, I will gladly revisit swapping out spironolactone in favor of a better topical anti-androgen.


The Pictures

So here are the pics from my one month update, taken to mirror the baseline pics from my first post. Same bathroom, same camera, same lighting, same washed and air-dried hair for consistency. There’s really nothing to report yet, no vellus hairs or anything that I can notice, but I only apply the minoxidil to the bald spot on my crown and I can’t really see back there well enough to tell if anything is sprouting. (FYI I apply the spironolactone all over – to the temples, top center, and crown/vertex.) The pics:

Four overhead from back, flash off:

Two overhead from back, flash on:

One more showing how thick it still is on the sides in comparison to the top:

Three overhead from front, flash off:

Four overhead from front, “styledâ€, flash on:

One last particularly bad one from front, again super thick sides with a sharp cutoff to almost slick bald on top:

I wish I was like one of you NW2’s and could pull my hair back on top to show the temples, but there’s really nothing left to pull back or show anymore! You know it’s bad when you can draw another face on your forehead and even it looks like it has a receding hairline:

The temples and forelock (behind the frontal island) aren’t actually completely slick bald, there are still a few survivors hanging around – you can see them better in the pictures with flash on. I’ll get better close-ups all around with macro mode next time. Thanks for checking in!

 

[Nene]

Re: 26yo NW5, Big 3 + spironolactone, 2 months

Hey man, I have a couple of comments. First, your hair loss is very advanced. This means that treatment will make only a modest improvement at best, don't expect to go back to Norwood 2. Second, I think you should seriously consider buzzing your hair, I think it would look better and draw less attention to the amount of loss. Third, people your age typically aren't advised to have hair transplants because they don't know what their final balding pattern will be. However, you look to have reached your fiinal pattern. If you have the money and aren't completely turned off by the idea, I would consider it. Fourth, good luck!

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Re: 26yo NW5, Big 3 + spironolactone, 2 months

Hey thanks for sharing, I appreciate the comments.

I know; it's aggressive. It might not even be worth it at this point, as you're right it has kinda rounded out it's nearly final shape. I do admit that the shedding has almost stopped even months before I started any treatment. But what the heck, I'll give it a shot - at the very least I'll know what a pain treatment is, so I won't have any regrets about not trying. Well, only that I didn't try 2 years ago! I'll do a post soon about the one-year transition from NW2 to NW4-5 at 24-25 years old. I've been collecting pictures to provide an illustrated history.

But I'm willing to accept that maintenance is success. I'd be satisfied just keeping a little something on top to avoid the full-on shiny horseshoe before 30. Really I'm happy either way, my happiness isn't really tied to my hair, I just have things successfully squared away in my life and want to push for improvement there too. I won't expect any miracles and luckily I don't need any to be happy. The thing I'd like to improve most on is actually the crown too, an area where I may be able to have better success. I'm less concerned about the hairline, I just don't like to see this in pictures from behind me:

(Taken just after my 25th birthday, about one year ago.)

and don't want to have to use concealers either. A hair transplant is also not something I'm interested in given the current state of the art, but I believe I would be a classically good candidate too, with thick donor regions on the sides and rear and an already defined pattern, but it's really not that big of a deal to me to go that far, I would just as soon shave it off.

Which is also a good suggestion, I appreciate it. I really don't want to do that at the moment either, but it's definitely an option. I'm going on the academic job market this fall and will be interviewing with universities and other research institutions in October. I think a more conservative approach is a better idea specifically for this market, especially as a rookie phd with no pubs yet. There is no penalty in the academic market for even the shiniest of shiny horseshoes, but there may be a penalty for a "wild" look like a shaved head. I know it may seem trite, but the revealed preference among academics is 99 out of 100 for the horseshoe over an intentionally shaved or buzzed head, and given the importance of the initial placement for your entire career I'd rather not take any chances. Once I accept an offer I may take a few months to experiment with shaving or buzzing, but I'd also worry that would be the event the forelock could never recover from, and I might want to ease into NW6, not quite sure yet.

The final thought on that is that finishing this program and getting a job this fall will be the biggest sigh of relief of my life. I'm anticipating a massive, acute reduction of stress that could have a really positive impact on my mental and physical well-being, and some of the things that come along with that. To that extent, I do believe I lost a lot of hair due to stress-induced tellogen effluvium - my most massive sheds were during periods of high stress, poor diet, and sleep deprivation, and I noticed many hairs had the tell-tale Telogen Effluvium club on the end. Who knows, but at six months away it's satisfying to stay on a strict and sensible treatment plan while working towards these other goals in life.

Thanks again for your thoughts, I'm looking forward to keeping you updated in hopes that my experience may be able to help someone else looking for answers. Just remember: it's not that big of a deal!

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Re: 26yo NW5, Big 3 + spironolactone, 2 months

Baseline Blood Test Update
Date: drawn 5/24/2011
Topics: Albumin Levels, STD Tests?!

I had promised to share the results of the blood tests I had done by my G.P. during my initial office visit. He only needed one look to confirm Androgenetic Alopecia and prescribe finasteride, but ordered the standard bloodwork to rule out any other causes and yielded to my request to include Leutinizing Hormone (LH), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), and Total/Free Testosterone to the list. I also asked to know Estrogen, Prolactin, Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), and began to launch into the laundry list of other tests recommended by the less-fortunate at propeciahelp, but he started to shy away citing cost and limited usefulness of any additional tests. I did want a baseline reading on everything in case I ever experienced lasting side effects from the finasteride, but I admit the dozens of recommended tests become a bit impractical when requested a-la-carte. I think I got the big ones though. The good news is that all it cost with my student health insurance was $10 for the doctor’s visit and a flat $20 for all the lab work!

Results

Albumin Levels

The results were, thankfully, uninteresting. The doctor said everything was in the normal range except for Albumin, which tested at 5.1 g/dL, while the normal range is 3.3 - 4.9. The corresponding Albumin/Globulin ratio was therefore also high, at 2.4 compared to a normal range of 1.0-2.0. He said it could be from eating a lot of protein lately, which I wasn’t sure if I had been or not, but wasn’t anything to worry about either way. I spent my first 18 years living next door to my father’s butcher shop, so my protein intake was probably triple the average as I ate a quarter lb. of beef jerky and a steak or two daily up through high school. Yes it is as awesome as it sounds. But that hasn’t been the case for the past eight years so my diet has been much more balanced for some time. Either way I’ll just note it for now and move on.

STD Tests?!

The doctor also casually recommended getting tested for, lol, syphilis as he’d been seeing a number of cases lately and it’s actually known to cause hair loss – remember this is the campus doctor at Arizona State, so it’s probably not that surprising. Someone recommended I go pay cash at the local clinic so it’s not in my insurance history, so I went to the county health center and waited for two hours with a bunch of hookers in leather skirts at noon on a Tuesday at the free clinic to get my blood drawn. Great!

Naturally it all came back negative – HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia. I have never had nor do I ever plan to have an STD, but for $20 total it was nice to know, and it ruled out another non-Androgenetic Alopecia cause of hair loss.

So in conclusion I’ve been able to rule out some non-Androgenetic Alopecia causes for the rapid hair loss. It doesn’t appear to be any existing hormonal or chemical imbalance, although a slightly higher-than-normal blood protein level was found. I also have baseline numbers for some of the important hormones and metabolites from the day before I started taking finasteride. The total cost for all of the above was only fifty bucks; $10 for the office visit, $20 for the labs, and $20 for the std test, much less than I had anticipated and definitely worth the peace of mind.

Hopefully for those of you finding this saga via the search function I’ve been able to shed light on some important topics. I know I wanted more information on spironolactone, blood tests, etc. and appreciated detailed write-ups like these. If it helps in any way or you have any kind words or advice, please click Add Reply and leave a comment! Hearing from people strengthens my resolve and can help sharpen my treatment plan, so register if you need to (it only takes 3 minutes!) and leave a comment for me and others who come across this page! Next update (2 full months in) coming soon!

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Hi Capt. Combover, it's great to hear from you as I've been following your story as well.

I've been applying minoxidil only to the crown as that's the only place it has had clinically demonstrated efficacy. There is also a practical reason in that being a diffuse thinner across the NW5 region, spreading minoxidil completely over the top of my head 'feels' excessive and makes for a sloppy mess on top, especially in the mornings as I have to go to work within an hour or two of application.

Seeing that many people on here have had success in the temple region with minoxidil, however, I'm willing to rethink this strategy. And given that today marks exactly two months of use, I think it's an appropriate time to expand the use of minoxidil to include the temples and possibly the top-dead-center region.

From your experience, where would you recommend applying the minoxidil? I've been applying it to only the "A" region below, but from what I've seen some people have had success using it in the "B" region as well. Do you recommend expanding to include both the "B" and "C" regions, basically anywhere that there is thinning? I definitely want to do everything I can to restore as much density as possible, it's just worth noting (for others) that Rogaine's directions state only to use on the vertex and that it is not intended to treat frontal baldness or a receding hairline, so many peoples' success in the temple area would be considered using the product "off-label". (I just want to include that language because I've been structuring my story as a fully informative description for the searching newbie without taking existing knowledge of Androgenetic Alopecia and treatment topics as given, thanks for understanding - I don't mean to patronize you Capt. as clearly you know all of this already).

Thanks again for bringing that up. I will expand my use of Rogaine beginning today, exactly two months in to my treatment plan, and will provide an update with pics in the next day or two.

 

[Ttal914]

Have you started ru? If so and where o you plan on getting it? I dont know how to gt it. I just started spironolactone and tricomin. Gonna see how that goes. Good luck.

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Really? You saw your best results in the B and C areas? That's interesting. I definitely need help there too so I'll take it anywhere I can get it. It's clear from the pictures I'm about to post that there is bad loss in the temples but all hope is not lost as there are still a number of miniaturized fly-away hairs that could benefit if my experience with finasteride and minoxidil are similar to yours. I'm not exactly sure how long I've been losing it in the crown and temples because I've just never had thick hair. Even at my best, probably age 16, it was still thin and wispy, and the hair loss has been gradual since then so I really didn't stop and say "wow I have aggressive hair loss" until I was solid NW4, at about age 24. At first I thought the worried NW1 and early NW2 guys on here had BDD or something because I didn't even consider NW2 to be hair loss until I learned more about male pattern baldness. Now I wish I was on here four years ago freaking out over NW1. Anyway it's hard to think the miniaturization has been taking place for more than ten years, so hopefully there's still enough left to

So I will take your advice to use minoxidil all over the crown, vertex, and temples. Now, after my fourth all-over application, I've been starting with the big circle in the back, making a line from front to back and spreading it out, then hitting the temples, like an upside-down Y with a circle at the top, like this:

Thanks for the tip on the coloring, it does sound like a reasonable idea. Those few survivors in the temples are a noticeably lighter color on further inspection, and would probably be more visible if darkened up. I don't really want to start treating my hair with other chemicals though, at the risk of damaging the hair and jeopardizing my treatment plan. Maybe I could try something like Just for Men that I could apply precisely to those areas and blend into the darker brown color in the thicker hair on the sides and the island. This is something I don't really want to mess with until I either start to show results or determine that I'm not going to have any results, probably a year from now, but I will definitely keep it in mind.

That also ties in to the topic of concealers. I've tried a little Toppik, I have a small can with the hairline comb and spray cap but haven't really tried it outside of the bathroom. I wanted to pick some up and see what it did after hearing so many people rage about it. The fact is that it's too good. If I put a healthy dose on, my roommates would know as soon as I walked out of the bathroom. Nobody grows a thick head of hair like that in 5 minutes. I will admit, though, maybe 20 shakes of Toppik and my hair looks thicker than it has ever been in my life. Maybe, if I was alone out-of-town where nobody knew me and I wanted to go rock out for one night, I'd Toppik up and just go nuts, have that rockstar night I always dreamed of - but I definitely don't want to be known around work, school, and friends as someone who actively works to conceal his hair loss. The goal of my treatment plan is to improve my hair loss, not to conceal it. I've also bought Dermmatch and Couvre, to darken in the bald spot in the back so at least it's not as noticeable when I go out to clubs and parties where it's typically pretty dark but my bald spot sticks out like a homing beacon (I've seen it in photogs' pictures and youtube videos and stuff - it hurts). But that too I haven't worn out of the bathroom, but here moreso because I can't get it to look natural. We have really hard water here which allegedly makes it less effective, so I'm going to try to do a better job with distilled water and give it ample time to dry, but I still don't think I'd be comfortable using either of these around friends. I'm not a magician so they'd probably think twice about the disappearing bald spot trick, and I never talk about hair loss or make a big deal about it around family or friends and don't want to start now.

I did want to do a post about the concealers though, with styled before and after pictures. Since I've already bought the big ones I'll take a chance to do that in the near future, I'll just need to find the time alone so I can wash, dry, apply, rinse, and repeat. What I can say so far is that Toppik is absolutely amazing at giving density and volume, although there still appear to be some hairline issues which may be able to be improved upon with the hairline-maker comb and spray applicator, more on this to come. Couvre goes on smoothly but seemed to dry cakey in my initial trials, and Dermmatch needs to be kind-of rubbed in relative to Couvre and it seems hard to color evenly across the scalp. I haven't done enough practice and trials to pass judgment on these guys yet, though, so stay tuned for a detailed review of the popular concealers.

Finally, I totally agree with the shorter length looking better with hair like this. The pictures in my posts have all shown hair on the longer end of the haircut cycle. I'd like to buzz it a little closer but am being overly conservative right now for professional reasons. I've noted before I'm on the market for professor jobs in economics with a newly minted doctorate and no publication history, so I'd rather take a conservative route until I secure a job offer. It is clear there is no penalty for proudly wearing a bald spot and receding hairline, and my professional goals are paramount to my vanity goals at the moment so I'm not going to try anything out-of-the-box just yet. And yes, buzzing your head is waaay out-of-the-box among econ professors. Another concern with buzzing the front is that I'm not confident that anything on the temples would even grow back. I have nightmares about trying out a buzz and growing back an NW6. It sounds silly but I do like even the little bit of hair I still have around there...this has all happened so fast, I'm just not ready for NW6 yet. A year ago I was a budding college graduate ready to take on the world; now post-realization I sometimes think I need to just get it over with and get my permanent one bedroom apartment and wait for social security to kick in. But your point about the length is well taken Captain, I'm going to urge my guy to go as short as he can in the back and around the bald spot while still maintaining a scholarly look.

Thanks for the great comments. My apologies for the long-winded reply but storing text online is cheap while the benefits of better information for others can be great, so I'm happy to spend time adding some color around the black-and-white "use nizoral, finasteride, and minoxidil and wait". Thanks again!

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Have you started ru? If so and where o you plan on getting it? I dont know how to gt it. I just started spironolactone and tricomin. Gonna see how that goes. Good luck.

Ttal I have not started RU. I am using nizoral, finasteride, minoxidil, and spironolactone with biotin and MSM supplements. I have thought about using RU, CB, ASC J9, but I want to wait to see how I respond to the more conventional treatments. RU has mixed reviews, is difficult and expensive to obtain, and impractical to use. (It depends what country you're in, but I know people in the US are ordering it from China's Faith Eagle labs, but I can't personally advocate for that strategy). Make sure you've searched a ton, read up, and know what you're doing. You'll need to get pure RU in powder form and mix it yourself with a delivery vehicle like propylene glycol or isopropyl alcohol. You'll need a lot more information than that though, I would read this thread thoroughly, there is already 190 pages of discussion about the use of RU: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=63049&hilit=ru58841

Also I've found RU is not the hot new miracle it has been made out to be. The initial praise from superstar Will Brink came in 1996, and we have only handfuls of message board anecdotes in the fifteen years since. Plus, it's still an anti-androgen, so at best it will only do what finasteride is supposed to be doing anyway. I'll think about these experimental things after I've given finasteride, spironolactone, and minoxidil a solid year or more. I will, however, think about including additional growth promoters during this time, so I'm looking more into bimatoprost, adenosine, miconazole, even HGH, and will integrate things slowly as I find reliable and convenient sources for them.

Is Tricomin (spray or shampoo/conditioner) and spironolactone (topically I hope) all you're going to be using? Why not take the first step almost everyone here has done and start using a 1% or 2% ketoconazole shampoo, like Nizoral, 2-3 times per week. It's standard fare for any treatment plan, and you can rotate in the Tricomin or other mild shampoo of your choice on the off-days, plus it's great for controlling dandruff from dry skin due to the use of topicals.

Also I think both spironolactone and Tricomin make a great #4 and #5 element for a treatment plan. If you know about RU then you already know what #2 and #3 are. While topical spironolactone is a good anti-androgen, there is a lot more evidence that oral finasteride is superior in terms of effectiveness, and I'm judging by your willingness to try RU that the risk of side effects is secondary to you. I'm using both finasteride and spironolactone and haven't had any problems. Nizoral, Tricomin, and spironolactone or Finasteride should be a good regimen for maintaining your hair. With RU it would be even stronger. But it doesn't include anything that's known to regrow more hair than you have right now: for that it seems you'll need to commit to minoxidil. I'm happy to talk further about your treatment plan and help share what I know, but I'm not sure of your level of hair loss or experience with any of the treatments, so send me a message and we can talk. But my suggestion is to start using Nizoral, talk to your doctor about finasteride and minoxidil, and then continue with topical spironolactone and tricomin if you'd like. At that point you'd already be doing the max with the Big 5!

Thanks for the kind wishes and best of luck to you as well, make sure you post your story and keep us updated with results. You can post back and link to your story here too if you'd like.

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys, I honestly really appreciate all of your comments.

Two Month Update
Date: 07/25/2011
Topics: Frontal Rogaine Use, MSM, Pictures, Updated Regimen

I apologize if my posts are a bit long-winded, but this is my story and I want to make it as complete and useful as possible for people who are in the same situation. I know I used to read HairLossTalk.com for hours and hours, searching and clicking, sometimes from 10PM til 4AM, and I was always grateful for people giving tons of details, so I want to do the same to provide maximum value to anyone who gets here by searching for any of the things I’ve done so far. Which this month goes on to include:

Frontal Rogaine Use

For the past two months, I’ve been religiously applying Rogaine to my crown/vertex area in hopes of generating some regrowth on my bald spot, the spot I’d most like to see treatment work. It’s obvious from the pictures that I have diffuse thinning all over the NW5 area, including the hairline/temples and the area directly on top behind the forelock, so I could definitely use some help there too. For those new to minoxidil, Rogaine’s directions explicitly state to use it only on the crown/vertex and that it isn’t made for frontal thinning or a receding hairline. That being said, many people on the hairloss forums have had good experience regrowing in the temples and hairline region from using minoxidil there. So the question is whether to apply minoxidil strictly to the crown or to expand to the hairline area.

An asset to the HairLossTalk.com forums, Captain Combover, questioned my use of minoxidil strictly on the crown which cause me to reevaluate this strategy as well. Noting the many positive stories of peoples’ hairline regrowth with minoxidil and the minimal cost and risk associated with trying it out there, I’ve decided to expand my Rogaine applications to include the left and right temples as well. So on 7/25/2011, exactly two months into my treatment plan, I’ve begun to apply Rogaine to this region as well. I’ll post hairline and temple pics now along with my regular updates to demonstrate the effectiveness minoxidil may or may not have for me in this region.

To the newbies out there, it’s worth mentioning that this is considered an “off-label†use of Rogaine – to treat a region of hair loss for which it hasn’t been explicitly approved. I perceive minimal risks associated with doing so, which most likely include:

-increased incidence of side effects due to broader absorption and increased amount of minoxidil being used.
-a shed from which the hair does not recover if regrowth isn’t as effective in this region but minoxidil still has the effect of causing a shedding of existing hair.
-a more costly treatment plan since I may be almost doubling the amount of Rogaine used.

Given that I don’t have much more hair to lose in this region and I’m probably heading for a buzzed head anyway if the treatments don’t work, I find the risk of increased side effects to be worth the possibility of some hairline / temple regrowth. I’ll stay active in updating this thread monthly to let readers know how this decision has fared for me.

MSM

So I had read in several different places that Methylsufonylmethane (MSM) is known to make hair grow longer more quickly, just ask the girls at blackhairmedia forums. I’m not interested in growing long hair, in fact that just increases my haircut expenses, but it may also affect the hair’s growth cycle in a favorable way. I know I said I’m only going with the proven stuff, but for a 60 day supply at 3g/day for $20 at GNC, I assume it can’t hurt. Plus it’s marketed as a supplement for joint health and it might be nice to take something with a potentially positive side effect for once!

I started taking 3g MSM/day on 7/2/2011 via one 1500mg pill in the morning, with 1.25mg finasteride, half of a Centrum multivitamin, 300mg Omega-3s, and 1mg biotin. Then another 1500mg pill at night with the other half of the Centrum multi and another 300mg Omega-3s and 1mg biotin. Basically it’s a multi, 3g MSM, 2mg biotin, and 600mg Omega-3s spaced out evenly between morning and night with 1.25mg finasteride which I now take in the morning. I don’t want to over-do it with supplements, and I think this strikes a healthy balance.

You may also notice I doubled my biotin intake from 1mg/day to 2mg/day…even the bottle recommends up to 5mg/day, so I may even bump it up from here over time, updating this thread to include that information, of course.

Pictures

Here are two-month updated pictures: same camera, bathroom, lighting, and freshly washed air-dried hair. It looks worse than usual because I’m in need of a haircut. I’m getting one this week and will probably upload post-haircut pics as well. Hair length is one thing that’s hard to make consistent for each monthly photo session. I’ll probably start scheduling a monthly haircut for a few days before picture time from now on.

Some pictures make it look like things have improved very slightly, but some make it look much worse. I don’t think I’m doing myself any favors with the bright lighting, but at least the pictures are objective and consistent.

Four from the back, flash off:

Two from the front, flash off:

Two from the back, flash on:

Three from the front, flash on:

Two of my right temple:

Two of my left temple:

Really not much to say just yet. I’ve been taking my 1.25mg finasteride daily for two months and using minoxidil on the crown for the same time. I can’t see well enough to tell if there are any of the baby vellus hairs sprouting there yet, but I just started yesterday using minoxidil on the temples so the pictures here should be more of a baseline photo for that reason. Can’t wait to provide updates in another month!

Updated Regimen

Nizoral 1% Shampoo, 2-3x/week (began 4/01/2011)
Finasteride 1.25mg/day (began 5/25/2011)
Minoxidil 5% (Rogaine Foam) 2x/day (began 5/25/2011)
Spironolactone 5% with .025% Retin-A (S5) 1x/day (began 6/08/2011)

Daily Centrum multi, Omega-3s (600mg), Biotin (2mg), MSM (3g)

I’m still looking for a 2.5% AHK-Cu copper peptide spray, preferably with tempol and pbn. Tricomin and Folligen just don’t seem to be satisfying alternatives as they don’t provide the concentrations of any of their ingredients. If I could find something along these lines, I’d be happy to integrate it into my simple regimen.

I also plan to start Aminexil treatment in December, for six weeks every six months. Its side effects seem known and minimal and it’s good for perifollicular fibrosis if it exists. I think that would round out a solid treatment plan, using only things that are at least known to be safe.

Thanks for checking in. If you’re a guest just browsing, take the first step to regrowth and click here (http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/ucp.php?mode=register) to register right now, then leave me a comment! If you’re an experienced HLTer then please leave a comment too; I’d really appreciate it if you could point me towards a good daily Copper Peptide/SOD spray, or voice your opposition to that idea, as I agree there haven’t been many reports of people having success using them. Thanks again and see ya next month, #3!

 

[TheLastHairbender]

As some have noted here and on my previous post, this is definitely aggressive male pattern baldness. Since I’m sharing everything else in this detailed log format, I thought I’d demonstrate as best I can the rapid jump from an NW2.5 to NW4.5 within the course of a year, from age 24 to 25. It really sucks to have come on this early, but at least I can get ahead of the curve by dealing with it now. By the time I’m in my 40s I’m going to be wearing a bald head like a leather jacket.

Aggressive, Early-Onset male pattern baldness
Age: 24.5 – 25.5
Topics: Norwood Progression

I couldn’t dig up many clear shots of my hair during this period, but I’ve collected what I could in a timeline. First, it’s not surprising I was eventually destined for a bald dome. While my maternal grandfather has decent hair, 2 of my 3 uncles on that side are all buzzed NW5/6s in their early 50s and had been that way for some time. The third got away with thick, long, lustrous hair his whole life, just like my younger brother’s. My paternal grandfather, father, and uncle on that side are all NW7s, the latter two in their early 60s. My dad was full-on NW6 at 35 which is as early a photograph I've seen of him. He goes for a slick shaven look which really works well for him because even at 62 he still has that wrestler Goldberg’s size and look, without ever even working out. I do have to be grateful for the other 99% of my dad’s sides genes, the whole family is super healthy despite not actively pursuing fitness, and the men are naturally broad-shouldered and thick-chested, so I’ve always been able to keep a lot of muscle on and stay in great shape even though I haven't exercised regularly in years. I used to have a really good scale and I usually hung around 175 lbs and 10% body fat (at 6’ tall) with virtually no exercise, so I’m very fortunate for good genetics in that department.

But my hair has always been very fine since I was a kid. This was me at 5, still very fine hair but look at that density!!!

But to me it just feels like my hair has always been Androgenetic Alopecia-prone, I’ve never had really thick, dense hair in my life. Maybe it’s TMI, but if it’s relevant I’m really not a hairy person overall. I never grew chest hair, there are maybe a dozen on there now, no back or shoulder hair thank God, my leg and arm hair is very thin and blonde, hardly even any underarm hair. I’m not albino or anything, just never was really hairy and I actually appreciate it, relative to some hairy friends who feel like they’re wearing a sweater everywhere. Not sure if there’s a connection to male pattern baldness, but I’d have to cite growing hair as one of my general weaknesses (might use that one lightheartedly in a job interview someday).

Flash forward to February 2010. Although the first signs had sprung up since maybe age 18, about a year and a half ago and I was midway through age 24 with a small but growing spot on my vertex and mild temple recession and thinning, between an NW2 and 3 (sorry for the tiny pics, it’s the best I have of these):

Three months later, May 2010, on my 25th birthday weekend, temples coming up a bit higher, widow’s peak becoming more defined, bald spot on crown growing:

A direct hit of the already-massive bald spot two months later, July 2010, age 25y2m:

You can see one month later I was still maintaining hair on the top and around the temples, it’s a dark pic but styled properly it didn’t look that bad, August 2010, age 25y3m:

By October 2010 there was significant thinning taking place around the temples, which had by now receded really far, leaving a definite widow’s peak on its way to being a lonely island, October 2010, age 25y5m:

The temples had further receded up and the forelock had thinned substantially, by this time, 9 months since the first pic, I was knocking on NW5’s door. November 2010, age 25y6m:

(Under very generous lighting)

And it has continued pretty much as rapidly in the eight months since, to the current:

and

Solid NW5, currently at 26y2m. It just all happened so fast. At the beginning of 2010 I had definite signs of male pattern baldness but I still had hair. By mid 2011 it’s almost completely gone on top! Pre-NW3 to late stage-NW5 in a year and half. It really shows you the risk of going untreated when you know something’s going on, which I did

FYI The earlier pictures weren’t hand selected to make my hair look good before by any means, they are honestly the only pictures I could find where you can see any real part of my hair…I wasn’t thinking about tracking progress down the road and was actually doing my best to tilt my head away from pictures at the time. From here on out I’ll have a better log of changes from month-to-month, but this is where I’m coming from. I do believe the loss has decelerated, even prior to my starting any treatments, and hopefully my efforts can stop further loss and reverse some miniaturization in the follicles that still have a breath of life left. Thanks for checking in, please let me know what you think, I’m open to any suggestions, comments, or criticisms, so say something!

 

[imlosinit]

Thanks for the detailed history. Your point is well made. I hope you can gain a few yards in the war against baldness. Good luck!

 

[HairMe]

The best of luck mate!

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Thanks for the comments Imlosinit. I've replied on your story as well and want to continue urging you to find an alternative anti-androgen that you can tolerate better than finasteride or dutasteride. There are other classes of anti-androgens besides 5a-reductase inhibitors, I'd look at ones like the topicals Fluridil, RU, CB, and ASC-J9; they act more locally at the site of application and are thought to have fewer unrelated side effects due to their lower propensity for systemic absorption. It's just a thought, but saving your hair is definitely worth a bit more research. Good luck!

Hairme - thanks for the support! It looks like you've been around for a long time so I appreciate having you on the team. Since you've used minoxidil long-term do you have any ideas about how to maximize the gains?

BIG SHOUT OUT TODAY to Sequenceme...this awesome guy just sent me 3 months + of Rogaine for free!!! I commented on his post a while ago about his desire to give up Rogaine. We chatted for a little bit and he offered to send me the rest of his supply, 3 brand new bottles of real Rogaine foam and a bottle of 5% liquid minoxidil so I could try that out too. Thanks so much bud, I really appreciate it. This opens up my hair loss budget for the next three months to try out a copper peptide / SOD spray, or save toward semi-annual Aminexil treatment which I plan to start in December.

On that note: still hoping someone can direct me toward an SOD treatment that at the least shows some promise. I've been reading up on nitric oxide and superoxide dismutase and I'd like to try fighting the problem from this angle as well. I'm open to any ideas except for making it myself right now, and I'd appreciate any feedback on peoples' opinions of Tricomin.

Other than that I'm planning to start using Aminexil every six months and am looking into Fluridil as an add-on androgen fighter to complement finasteride since the mechanism of action is different between the two. I'm currently experimenting with using Retin-A/Tretinoin alongside the minoxidil and topical spironolactone. I'll give more information about that at my 3 month update later this month.

Thanks again to everyone for reading and posting, and major thanks to sequenceme, you rule!

 

[Rawtashk]

This story is EXACTLY why people should start on proven treatments instead of messing around and saying "well, I'll try something else first. I can always to finasteride if this other stuff doesn't work." Of course you CAN, but it doesn't mean that your hair is going to wait around for you.

My family has a history of aggressive baldness, so I jumped on finasteride as soon as someone mentioned that I had a thin spot on top. My younger brother is 23, and there has been a noticeable loss of density for him in just the past year. My older brother was NW5 by the time he was 23. I'm the only male on either side of my family to be better than NW3 by the age of 26, and it's because I started with proven treatments as soon as I noticed something.

Good luck to you and your fight. Like you said, you have advanced loss, so it might not do much, but I applaud you for trying, and for keeping such a detailed journal.

 

[abhi]

Hi TheLastHairbender,

I am also facing the exact kind of hair fall and similar balding pattern as you. I am 26yr old now, and at the same situation as you.

In the past i have only tried revivogen. But after reading your detailed report and the methodical approach that you have taken, i was also inspired to give it a go. So, i have just ordered rogaine foam, finasteride and nizoral shampoo.

In your post, one major thing i have noticed is that you have not shed a lot of hair after starting on Big3 (when i compare it with other stories on Big3). Is it because of the other stuff that you have added to your regimen ?

Please keep me posted about your regimen and progress, and also let me know if adding something to the regimen in first few months will help.

-Abhi

 

[TheLastHairbender]

Hoi Abhi!

I'm sorry to hear about your hair loss but very glad that you're deciding to do something about it, and that my story can be of some help! This is exactly why I have chronicled things so precisely. It sucks that at 25/26 you'd have to worry about this kind of thing, but there's no point in lamenting that fact now. As Rawtashk has pointed out, it can come on really, really early. There are even 17 year olds on here with noticeable hair loss. Fortunately they are the lucky ones, as there are many people out there losing hair like us that believe that Biotin supplements and Tea Tree Oil shampoo are going to save their hair. My own mother had even taken notice and gave me some Aveda cinnamon bark oil which she heard was supposed to help hair loss. I had to chuckle a little inside, as my medicine cabinet was already full of finasteride, minoxidil, spironolactone, ketoconazole, etc., but I accepted her gift gracefully and gave it to a friend.

I was of the belief for a few years prior that there were many possible hair loss treatments on the market. After much research, I have come to conclude that finasteride, minoxidil, and nizoral are really the only way. You're doing the right thing by getting started on that regimen. The other things I've added are only because they are easy to use and may improve the results of the big 3 incrementally. Let me talk about each of them briefly:

• - Biotin supplements: There's been some evidence that Biotin can, at the least, improve the health of existing hair, and there aren't many side effects to note, especially if you take Biotin in tandem with a B-complex supplement to make sure your B vitamins remained balanced. I have heard of slight acne breakouts as being the only major side effects to Biotin supplementation. I'm fortunate to have good skin and wash regularly with a Glycolic & Salicilic acid facewash, and use the St. Ives Apricot exfoliating scrub and 10% benzoyl peroxide facewash if I feel particularly greasy or breakout-prone. Biotin is inexpensive and widely available, so supplementing with Biotin is something simple to do with a good risk/reward tradeoff. I've seen 5mg biotin repeatedly suggested as the optimal dose, although I've heard many doctors in Europe recommend 15mg per day along with a B-complex vitamin to balance things out.
  
  - MSM: Methylsufonylmethane is said to make existing hair grow faster, which may have some benefit for getting more hairs out of their dormant (telogen) phase and into the growth (anagen) phase. It's cheap enough, widely available, and I haven't heard of any side effects from a reasonable dose. It's also reportedly good for your joints, so enjoy something with a positive side effect! Three grams per day is widely believed to be the right dose.
  
  - Omega-3/Fish Oil supplements: The Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are known to have positive effects widely throughout the body, related mostly to improving the balance of HDL/LDL cholesterol and heart function in the body. It is also said to reduce inflammation throughout the body by tempering its autoimmune response, so if that effect makes it up to the hair follicles then there could be positive effects there. Again, it's cheap, available, and doesn't carry major side effects. In fact, I was taking fish oil for its other benefits before I even got on a hair loss regimen. I now take 900mg of Omega-3s per day (which equals 3g of fish oil).
  
  Supplements in general: I take 1/2 of a centrum multivitamin in the morning, along with 1.5mg Biotin, 1.5g MSM, and 300mg Omega-3s. Then mid-day I take another 2mg biotin, a B-complex vitamin, and 300mg Omega-3s. And finally at night the other 1/2 of the multivitamin, 1.5mg biotin, 1.5g MSM, and 300mg Omega-3s, for a daily total of: 1 multivitamin, 5mg biotin, a B-complex, 3g MSM, and 900mg Omega-3s. Once you get it down to a regular system it's really not as much work as it seems. I don't count on it for stimulating any regrowth, but is a nice, easy way to ensure broader health throughout the body.
  
  - Spironolactone: You know that Finasteride stops some of the conversion of Testosterone to DHT. spironolactone has anti-androgenic properties in another way, by preventing any remaining DHT's ability to bind to androgen receptors in your hair follicle. It's applied topically along with Rogaine, so I've seen it as an additional tool in the fight against DHT. The S5 spironolactone on this site also contains a sensible amount of Retin-A (.025%), so you get that effect for free. Buying the 3-pack comes out to $85.85 for me, and each tub lasts 3 months, so at less than $10/month it's not breaking the bank and isn't much more trouble than using minoxidil alone. I use it only at night though, 10-30 minutes after applying Rogaine foam, because it's messier than Rogaine and because you don't want to over-do it with the Retin-A which could cause inflammation ultimately hurting your results.

I'm planning to integrate a few more things over time which I'll write about when the time is right. Those include: copper peptides/spin-traps, Fluridil, Aminexil, Bimatoprost, Adenosine, and Miconazole. Don't get overwhelmed like I did at first. Get on the Big 3. Take regular pictures. Then plan to integrate things one-at-a-time over a series of months so that you have a regimen that's financially feasible and practically sustainable. Some argue against this method, saying that if one thing does start working, you'll never know exactly which one and you'll be stuck using them all forever. That's fine for me. I've only integrated things that I am comfortable using forever. My first priority is regrowing hair. Doing so using only the things that work is way down the list. And noting that time is not on our side, I'm willing to throw the kitchen sink at it (in a structured way). I do enjoy the experimentation aspect, but not at the cost of sub-optimal regrowth.


Finally, you're right, I haven't noticed any shedding since starting treatment about 2 1/2 months ago. I shed really bad for about a year or two before getting on treatment, but had noticed that it tapered off about six months before I started my regimen, so I'm not sure if I had already shed the majority of my dying hairs or what. I can't really attribute the lack of shedding to any product, as I've heard about all of them: minoxidil, finasteride, and spironolactone all producing sheds over the first month or two. I really can't say anything about it definitively. The good news is that I'm quite certain I'm already growing hair, or at least improving the existing hair, in the region between the bald spot on the vertex and the island in the front. Nothing noticeable in the bald spot or at the temples yet, but the middle region has a perceptable improvement in density. I think it's unlikely to be new hair grown out already, but it may be thickening of formerly miniaturized hair. I doubt it's merely attributable to the L'Oreal Pro Vive For Men Thickening shampoo I've been using in between Nizoral shampooings. You'll just have to wait until 8/25 for my 3 month update for pics.

Stay in touch and make sure you post your story...HairLossTalk.com makes a great accountability partner, and posting my own story I've found to help me keep structure and perspective on my own treatment plan. And it may help other people looking for answers like yourself!

Dank je wel, tot ziens!



Marfiuss - Stick with the finasteride and minoxidil and you won't have to look like me in 4 years! And I totally agree, self-confidence has a much, much stronger effect than good hair when it comes to women, so I always keep my chin up no matter what (plus, keeping my chin literally up tends to hide the hair loss on top too, woohoo!).


And Rawtashk - thank you for keeping up and for the kind words! It may work, and it may not, but nobody's going to tell me I didn't try. I'm glad you're coming away with the best head of hair among your brothers. Although it may be a bit competitive among you three, make sure you spread the gospel of HairLossTalk.com and the Big 3. I have just one younger brother, 2 years younger than I. I had noticeable loss over the NW5 area at his age. The little bastard doesn't have a single hair out of place.

 

[TheLastHairbender]

I wanted to provide an update with post-haircut pictures showing my hair loss pattern with slightly shorter hair, but in doing so I’ve come to realize that something appears to be actually working!!! Compared to even just the last set of pictures, it looks like the bald spot on the vertex is shrinking a bit from the outsides, and the vertical strip connecting the bald spot to the forelock seems to be thickening up a bit too! Since it’s far too early for the minoxidil to have regrown terminal hairs to contribute to the look, I would assume any benefit has come from 2 ½ months of finasteride and 2 months of daily spironolactone inhibiting DHT and reversing some recent miniaturization. Recall that I haven’t been ‘missing’ a lot of hair for very long…the visible scalp on the top and temples has only become visible within the past year, so I’m holding out hope that some of the recent hair loss can be reversed. The bald spot has been visible for 2-3 years and is probably the main thing I’d like to improve, let’s hope it responds well too.

I worry I’ve been writing too much lately so I’ll keep this one short and sweet. Here are a few pics at the 2 ½ month mark into my treatment plan:

This post was supposed to be about the haircut I got two weeks ago but I didn’t get to snap pictures until it had grown back out a bit…I don’t recall my hair growing back out so quickly, perhaps the MSM does actually make it grow out faster. I think everyone would agree it looks much better kept short but you can’t really tell in these pictures. I do like to keep it shorter than in my former pics but really don’t want to go much shorter right now, towards a buzzed look, for professional reasons as I’ve explained before. The major benefit of shorter hair has been much easier and cleaner application of Rogaine foam and spironolactone.

FYI a good friend who’s a hair stylist comes to my house and cuts me up once a month. He really takes his time and does a great job, usually spending an hour to an hour-and-a-half and focusing on my trouble spot around the ring of the impending ‘horse shoe’ where it gets thick and bushy and highlights the contrast between the balding region and the safe zone. He does a great job shaving that region down to give my head a perfectly oval shape from the front, rather than the slight light-bulb shape that develops from a thickening of the hair at the very top of the sides.

If you’re in the Phoenix area I’d be happy to put you in touch with him, he’s an awesome guy, a great artist, and really does a great job on a balding head. Strangely, I’ve never had any conversation with him about my hair loss. I think it’s just mutually understood that it sucks and he does everything he can to help me look as good as possible given the circumstances.

See you for the 3 month update in a few weeks. Thanks again for checking in!

 

[abhi]

First of all Congrats dude !!!!!!!! and thanks for your reply..
that's certainly a very visible improvement ..I am very happy to see that .Keep it up bro and i guess once the minoxidil kicks in then it will be even better.

It looks like you are getting the crown hair back, that is a very positive sign. It feels so horrible to loose crown hair .

Keep it up bro, i will soon post my story and would be nice if you can provide your views.

-Abhi