Weepysad's Story - ( 21 / & questions)

[weepysad]

Hello everyone!

I'm a 21-year-young man from Northern Europe. I really want someone to hear my story, and perhaps find some time to help and support me. Once you enter the world of hair loss, things are never really the same way. It's terrible.

About 5 months ago there was a huge turning point in my life. I realised after getting a hair cut that some things have changed and are not the way they used to be. My hairline, which had always had a somewhat odd shape, had become even more bizarre. My temples seemed to be wider and higher.

It hit me so hard. I started googling, desperately trying to find help. Everyone seemed to have their own stories how to cure something that can not be cured. For the next few months, I rubbed every day something on my head. I had stuff on my head that now makes me laugh and cry at the same time. Sometimes people just get so desperate that they'd do absolutely anything. Obviously nothing worked, although some days I did feel better about my hair than the others. Overall, things seem to be worse now than they were 5 months ago.

I don't think I have had times as tough as this one ever in my life. The psychological side of hair-loss can be so devastating. Thinking about your hair days and nights. Going outside watching other people's hair, thinking "oh boy, there isn't anything I would not do for this head of hair", or "if I had his head shape, I wouldn't stress at all". It becomes an obession. What makes it even worse is being so young. The thoughts of being alone for the rest of the life because of not having hair. Some people just are not meant to be without hair.

I can still run my fingers through my hair. The feeling is golden. I have never valued something like that before as much as I do now. I just can not imagine the gloomy future without my hair. Hair is what I am. :shakehead:

----

I'm still in denial. I just can not understand how can this be happening to me and so early. However, I think I need to start reacting to the problem. It's better now than later.

I have read a lot about other people's experience. So far, it seems that the combination of Nizoral 2%, Propecia, and Minoxidil seems to be the most efficient.

I have already bought Nizoral 2%, and I like how it makes my hair feel. But I don't think it can grow my hair back, or even halt the hair loss. I'm not considering Propecia at this point. I don't want to manipulate with my hormonal levels, or face psychological side effects that it may cause. I currently feel that minoxidil (Regaine) might be the way to go. However, I've read so much negative stories about it. I don't want to make it much worse than it already is.

So guys, I would really like to know, what is your experience with minoxidil? Can it halt the process and regrow the hair? How often does it happen to people that it makes everything much worse? Also, does using minoxidil mean that I will be dependent of it for the rest of my life?

I would also like to know if there's anything else you can recommend me. I don't have much experience. I also don't have much money, I'm a student. But I'm willing to spend as much as I have to have my hair still growing.

Please bear my English. Comment and help me if you can. I'd very much appreciate it. You are the only people I have. My family isn't exactly supportive. They are laughing and saying "you've become wiser". For some reason they think that receding hairline is a sign of wisdom. To me it's nothing to do with wisdom, it's the most horrible thing.

Thank you.

 

[infamous]

Welcome to the HairLossTalk.com forums.

A regimen without a DHT blocker(like propecia) is temporary. DHT will mercilessly take what you have gained so far.

By the way, i'm in the %98 percent of finasteride users who have "zero" side effects from it. And i'm taking it for 2 months.

 

[weepysad]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

Yes, I've been reading about propecia for the bigger part of today. And I'm slowly starting to think that I should at least try it. Does propecia help aside from halting the process of hair loss also with the regrowth? I realise everyone recommends propecia+minoxidil+nizoral, but my budget is really limited. Propecia alone would be a really big hit for my 'savings'.

Also, how should I take propecia? Do most people take 1 mg, or do they take more/less?

 

[sadscalp]

Hey, thanks for your reply.

Yes, I've been reading about propecia for the bigger part of today. And I'm slowly starting to think that I should at least try it. Does propecia help aside from halting the process of hair loss also with the regrowth? I realise everyone recommends propecia+minoxidil+nizoral, but my budget is really limited. Propecia alone would be a really big hit for my 'savings'.

Also, how should I take propecia? Do most people take 1 mg, or do they take more/less?

Get your Doctor to prescribe Proscar to you instead of Propecia. It's basically the same thing but in 5mg pills instead of 1mg (which means you have to split them into 5 (or 4 like most people do, that adds up to 1.25mg per pill which most people are fine with, no more than that though)). It's much cheaper than Propecia.

If you're really determined to keep/regain your hair, finasteride (the active ingredient in Propecia/Proscar) is a must, quite simply.

 

[mr man]

does genric propecia from these online pharmacy work as well as the real thing? can you point out a good online pharmacy for me? thanks.

 

[weepysad]

Get your Doctor to prescribe Proscar to you instead of Propecia. It's basically the same thing but in 5mg pills instead of 1mg (which means you have to split them into 5 (or 4 like most people do, that adds up to 1.25mg per pill which most people are fine with, no more than that though)). It's much cheaper than Propecia.

If you're really determined to keep/regain your hair, finasteride (the active ingredient in Propecia/Proscar) is a must, quite simply.

I considered doing so but I'm afraid Proscar won't be an option for me. It doesn't seem to be available in this part of world.

 

[weepysad]

Hey guys.

So I have been reading a lot about finasteride lately, and people's experience with Propecia. While it seems that very many people are content of the drug, there seems to be a contingent of people who aren't. Namely, I stumbled upon this site 'propeciahelp', of which I'm sure some of you have heard. There are some serious horror stories of how people wound up with serious mental issues and erectile problems. The scariest part of it is that for many of them, stopping the drug didn't help either.

I don't know what to think of all of this. Hair is extremely important to me. But I don't think it outweighs mental stability and healthy sex life. I know that in the end it's all my own decision, but can you guys say something to help to make up my mind. I do want to believe that it's just a very, very small bunch of unfortunate Propecia users on that site.

 

[UstbHappy]

I feel the same way as you, Weepysad. Although I don't feel that my hair is my life, but I don't wanna loose it. I'm not ready for it at the moment. I can't think anything else at the moment....too many years and a lot of cash I've spent into this crap. Sometimes it makes you hate you genes, but gladly I don't have anything more serious condition or health problem.

Makes you jealous for people who can spend their money in something else, use their hours for something else...but life goes on, got to fight. Everyone of us has problems...keep up your head!!!

I've used finasteride for 6 years. If you get side effects, they usually are mild. I'm still a bit concerned about this fatigue I'm dealing with...does finasteride has anything to do with it, because testo is a important hormone for keeping your "engine" going on.... It can have affect also on your sexual functions and that can be quite a depressing. If it happens it is usually temporary, but can affect you psychologically.

 

[Jersey]

My Advice to you is to try Finasteride and Minoxidil together for a few months and see what happens. As for the horror stories on that other website, since I'm not a Dr., I can't say for sure that NO ONE has side effects from these medicines. However, I can tell you that some people, such as myself, do not. Just think about this: Are you willing to turn away from something that could potentially change your life for the better just because some people that you have never met tell you that bad things might happen??? Best of luck to you my friend.

 

[weepysad]

Hey guys and thanks a lot to all of you who have bothered to reply and help me.

As I mentioned, my budget is really tight. So I've been thinking a lot about how to maximise the results with as small budget as possible. I'm planning to get Proscar from abroad to replace Propecia. It will become a lot cheaper for me. My question is, however, can I expect the same results? I know they are both tablets with different dosage of finasteride. Does it mean that one Propecia pill should give me the same results as 1/5 of Proscar tablet?

I'd very much appreciate your experience. I want to save money, but I don't want the effectiveness to be the cost of it all.

 

[weepysad]

Hey again my fellow sufferers.

I want to make a little update and I would also like to ask a question.

To begin with, right after my last post, I shaved my head for the first time in my life. It wasn't too horrible, however, I still felt that hair's one of the defining parts of my appearance. Anyway, 2 weeks later, after hair had grown to about 0.5 cm length, an extremely devastating surprise revealed itself. I noticed that not only was my forehead ruined with ugly temple receding, but I also seemed to have diffuse thinning all over my head. You could easily see that the sides and the back of my head had all nice and thick hair, while the whole top of my head was clearly lacking of the same density.

This was the last straw, and the final call for me to get on Propecia. So I've been for 5 months on Nizoral 2% (2x a week) and for 1.5 months on .5mg finasteride (Propecia). I also take vitamines, omega 3+ fish oil capsules, zinc, and work out 4x a week. I'm not sure if it's too early to celebrate, but I can see tiny blonde hair all over my hairline. They seem to be almost filling the whole temple area - and my temples are pretty badly receded. I'm pretty sure it's mostly Propecia that's doing the job. They say that you shouldn't expect any results before 3 months - is this true, or am I delusional?

I haven't noticed any side effects. However, there is one change that I have observed about myself. Namely, I never had any problem with my sweat smelling bad. I could go hiking, sweat, and not have a shower for days, but it still wouldn't smell bad. Now it seems that I'm sweating more and it smells like sweat. I rarely used any anti-perspirant deodorant gels, but now every time I'm going out in the morning, I make sure to use it. It's not anything too serious, but I'm just curious if anyone has noticed anything similar?

 

[weepysad]

6 years have passed. Quite incredible how quickly time runs past us.

I haven't been a frequent visitor on these forums because I know how devastating it is to focus solely on your hair in your daily life. However, I have kept my eyes on recent updates. It seems not much has changed during these years. Still new companies keep popping up, with shady before and after pictures. They almost exclusively die within a few years time, with the doctors and managers quietly running away. Still promising scientists and small innovative research enterprises come up with seemingly compelling evidence to bring us new hair, however, they also die as their share price shrinks to penny stocks. Nothing new.

As for me, 6 years ago, I had a receding hairline with overall diffusion. During these years, I have tried Propecia, Nizoral and Minoxidil. Nizoral might have done something, but I didn't really see enough benefit to keep going with it after one year of use. Minoxidil was a terrible news for me. Walking around with dirty hair was an annoyance, my hair kept falling out and changing quality to worse, and my skin began to dry and wrinkle. I was on Minoxidil for a year, but I honestly can't see how it can help anyone long term. I am still on Propecia and I suppose this has been of great help, although I will never know, as I can't compare to what would have been. Nevertheless, compared to my original state, the overall diffusion has lessened and the density has quite a bit increased. However, the temples keep slowly but steadily receding - seems to be the inevitable.

What else? Just try to live my life. Not too stressed about my hair anymore, however, if things keep getting worse, I can imagine myself getting bummed again. Walking around with a McDonald's hairline which is slowly turning into somethign worse would not be exactly my dream scenario. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much hope for a miracle cure in the upcoming years. So, I keep debating to myself, whether I should just let it go, or consider some new hair system, hair transplant or another option in the future to come.

 

[kmm179]

Thanks for update. So fun is helping you maintain?

 

[weepysad]

I'd like to think so. finasteride is helping, however, the temples are still slowly receding.