Trent
Experienced Member
- Reaction score
- 6
The Short Version:
regimen ==> propecia 1X daily, nizoral once in a while.
sheds ==> at week 3, lasted a few weeks, another around month 3, another around month 6-7.5
noticed hair shedding ==> age 20
noticed hair looking different ==> age 23.
started treatments ==> late august of 2004.
hair loss ==> about a norwood 1.5, with some general diffuse thinning, mostly in the front.
family hair loss ==> very little.
The Story:
At the age of 20 i was studying for an exam in college, when i noticed a lot of hairs on my book. I brushed them aside, and continued my studies. Minutes later, there were more that had replaced them. I became slightly worried about this, but confident nothing was wrong. I mean, no one in my family loses their hair! When it continued, I began asking friends/relatives about it and looking for answers. I tried some rogaine for a bit, stopped using so much gel, and hoped things would settle down. They did, the shedding seemed to stop, and with getting drunk in college, and hooking up on my mind, i eventually forgot about hair loss all together, except for once in a great while when I would check out my hair in the mirror and say, "well, still looks the same, i was imagining it." 3 years later, in august of 2004, I looked in the mirror and saw scalp where no scalp had previously been. I took a second mirror to look at the back, where i was sure there was not problem. I small spot in the back glared at me. I'm not exaggerating, I actually dropped to the floor of my apartment and had what I guess one might call, a mental breakdown. All the joy and hope I had just totally f*****g vanished, and any sense of it that remained I believed I didn't even deserve. I felt i needed to tell SOMEONE, I mean my life had just ended. In desperation, I called my parents, who didn't believe me (there's a novel idea) at first, but eventually I convinced them. I made an appointment at my GP and got on propecia within a few weeks.
The Regimen and the First Three Months:
The first three months were very touch and go. I shed a ton after three weeks, then slowed some, then again, then slowed down. I was constantly wondering, was this making my hair worse? Wait, no, it looks a lot better? right? no, no, its definitely worse. On and on, i treaded through each day, dragging my feet through even minute, completely overtaken and overwhelmed by this stupid thing that was robbing me of my life. I never went out. I began to stop talking, and making jokes, caring about whether or not i lived or died- basically a self-hating lifeless waste of human being took shape where a previously optimistic, easy-going and comedic figure once stood. But, through all the inner monologue "pick me up" lectures that I gave myself, I decided i should have faith in the probability and science of propecia, so I hung in there.
UPDATES:
month 4: hair seems fuller, more hairs coming in. wearing my hair down. Feeling a little more confident. Starting to be about 1/4 of myself rather than a 1/16. still too early though.
month 6: had some major ups and downs between months 4-6, but for the past week, about to end month five and start month 6 my hair is starting to look pretty good. i think i have receeded some, maybe. but, overall thickeness seems to be much better. i think about my hairloss a lot less these days, and i'm starting to live my life semi-normal again, which is a huge success for me. I still have been wearing my hair down, which isn't to my liking, but anything to try and feel normal again.
month 7.5: well, i had a huge relapse around months 6.5-7. I seemed to be shedding a ton, and the hairline was starting to look worse. very depressed. at this point i am still shedding some, and definitely not "completely happy" with my hair, however, I think a lot of my anguish about my hair is based on forgetfulness. I think i actually forget just how bad my hair used to be- in other words, my frame of reference for "sh*t hair" is different than it was seven months ago.
Reasons I feel i have improved:
1) I remember waking up in the morning, with bed head, and just looking like absolute sh*t, and feeling like no one could EVER see me like this. now i wake up and it looks totally fine, unless i go really close up to the mirror, right in front of the light.
2) I have three mirrors in my house, they have degrees of making my hair look the worst to the best. At the start of treatment, even in the best mirror, things looked bad unless i had my hair down. And things looked terrible in the other two. today, I look like i have a totally full head of hair in the "best" one, in my second best mirror, i look like i also have a full head unless I go up super super close and bring the light right over my head, and lately, if i style it right, i look totally normal even in my "worst" mirror in the bathroom.
3) I have new hairs coming in all along my hairline, and I style it like i used to before i had hairloss (spiked up and messy). Why? because it just looks money. My only enemy now, is honestly the direct sunlight on super sunny days, and really bright overhead lights. If i could conquer these in the last 4.5 months of my treatment, i would be completely content with my treatments.
all in all. it takes time gentlemen. It really really does take time. I think you can gather from my story that treatments arefull of huge ups and downs. and you should expect that. The treatments work though, my hair is improving every day, and if you haven't started a regimen, find one that works for you, and just f*****g do it. You'll feel better as soon as you do, know that probability is on your side with both rogaine and propecia. stay positive.
"either get busy living, or get busy dying."
regimen ==> propecia 1X daily, nizoral once in a while.
sheds ==> at week 3, lasted a few weeks, another around month 3, another around month 6-7.5
noticed hair shedding ==> age 20
noticed hair looking different ==> age 23.
started treatments ==> late august of 2004.
hair loss ==> about a norwood 1.5, with some general diffuse thinning, mostly in the front.
family hair loss ==> very little.
The Story:
At the age of 20 i was studying for an exam in college, when i noticed a lot of hairs on my book. I brushed them aside, and continued my studies. Minutes later, there were more that had replaced them. I became slightly worried about this, but confident nothing was wrong. I mean, no one in my family loses their hair! When it continued, I began asking friends/relatives about it and looking for answers. I tried some rogaine for a bit, stopped using so much gel, and hoped things would settle down. They did, the shedding seemed to stop, and with getting drunk in college, and hooking up on my mind, i eventually forgot about hair loss all together, except for once in a great while when I would check out my hair in the mirror and say, "well, still looks the same, i was imagining it." 3 years later, in august of 2004, I looked in the mirror and saw scalp where no scalp had previously been. I took a second mirror to look at the back, where i was sure there was not problem. I small spot in the back glared at me. I'm not exaggerating, I actually dropped to the floor of my apartment and had what I guess one might call, a mental breakdown. All the joy and hope I had just totally f*****g vanished, and any sense of it that remained I believed I didn't even deserve. I felt i needed to tell SOMEONE, I mean my life had just ended. In desperation, I called my parents, who didn't believe me (there's a novel idea) at first, but eventually I convinced them. I made an appointment at my GP and got on propecia within a few weeks.
The Regimen and the First Three Months:
The first three months were very touch and go. I shed a ton after three weeks, then slowed some, then again, then slowed down. I was constantly wondering, was this making my hair worse? Wait, no, it looks a lot better? right? no, no, its definitely worse. On and on, i treaded through each day, dragging my feet through even minute, completely overtaken and overwhelmed by this stupid thing that was robbing me of my life. I never went out. I began to stop talking, and making jokes, caring about whether or not i lived or died- basically a self-hating lifeless waste of human being took shape where a previously optimistic, easy-going and comedic figure once stood. But, through all the inner monologue "pick me up" lectures that I gave myself, I decided i should have faith in the probability and science of propecia, so I hung in there.
UPDATES:
month 4: hair seems fuller, more hairs coming in. wearing my hair down. Feeling a little more confident. Starting to be about 1/4 of myself rather than a 1/16. still too early though.
month 6: had some major ups and downs between months 4-6, but for the past week, about to end month five and start month 6 my hair is starting to look pretty good. i think i have receeded some, maybe. but, overall thickeness seems to be much better. i think about my hairloss a lot less these days, and i'm starting to live my life semi-normal again, which is a huge success for me. I still have been wearing my hair down, which isn't to my liking, but anything to try and feel normal again.
month 7.5: well, i had a huge relapse around months 6.5-7. I seemed to be shedding a ton, and the hairline was starting to look worse. very depressed. at this point i am still shedding some, and definitely not "completely happy" with my hair, however, I think a lot of my anguish about my hair is based on forgetfulness. I think i actually forget just how bad my hair used to be- in other words, my frame of reference for "sh*t hair" is different than it was seven months ago.
Reasons I feel i have improved:
1) I remember waking up in the morning, with bed head, and just looking like absolute sh*t, and feeling like no one could EVER see me like this. now i wake up and it looks totally fine, unless i go really close up to the mirror, right in front of the light.
2) I have three mirrors in my house, they have degrees of making my hair look the worst to the best. At the start of treatment, even in the best mirror, things looked bad unless i had my hair down. And things looked terrible in the other two. today, I look like i have a totally full head of hair in the "best" one, in my second best mirror, i look like i also have a full head unless I go up super super close and bring the light right over my head, and lately, if i style it right, i look totally normal even in my "worst" mirror in the bathroom.
3) I have new hairs coming in all along my hairline, and I style it like i used to before i had hairloss (spiked up and messy). Why? because it just looks money. My only enemy now, is honestly the direct sunlight on super sunny days, and really bright overhead lights. If i could conquer these in the last 4.5 months of my treatment, i would be completely content with my treatments.
all in all. it takes time gentlemen. It really really does take time. I think you can gather from my story that treatments arefull of huge ups and downs. and you should expect that. The treatments work though, my hair is improving every day, and if you haven't started a regimen, find one that works for you, and just f*****g do it. You'll feel better as soon as you do, know that probability is on your side with both rogaine and propecia. stay positive.
"either get busy living, or get busy dying."
