What was your "Oh S**t" moment?

[KO21]

Wondering what everyone's turning point was when they decided to get on treatment?

For me I really noticed the receding about a year and a half ago. Didn't think too much of it. Looking back on pictures from 2-3 years ago now, I see it began back then and I didn't even notice.

But then one day about 5 months ago a picture was taken of me where I was standing with my back towards a big mirror..... I saw the picture and noticed my thin crown in the mirror!

Got on the Internet, found this site, researched treatments and have been on finasteride about 3.5 months now.

 

[hellouser]

About 2 months after my 27th birthday. Life was GRAND up until that day. Ignorance is bliss.

 

[shookwun]

About 2 months after my 27th birthday. Life was GRAND up until that day. Ignorance is bliss.

Privileged






Sixteen years old. After a shower I looked in the mirror under flourescent lights with my hair slicked back, and I didn't want to believe it at first. I convinced myself a nw2 was normal, and rid it out until about 17 half-18. took herbal treatment, which quickly transitioned to finasteride at about 19-20


Denial stage lasted about half a year. Had older people reminding that I had a receding hairline yet I didn't believe it myself. Lived under a hat until about 21, then became a comb over artist until 23.


At 23 I had my first transplant. Changed my life for the better, but like anything I developed hair greed. Had another transplant at 25 to address my temples again, and fully construct temple points.

 

[parisienne]

21. woke up to find half of my hair on my pillow

 

[buckthorn]

Every day for the last two years has been my oh **** moment. Had good hair, got a transplant because I wanted more... then it was as if the hair Gods slowly started torturing me for my greed and vanity. Telogen Effluvium, followed by Telogen Effluvium followed by Telogen Effluvium with a dash of aggressive male pattern baldness. 31 years of thick hair eaten away to resemble a birds nest in one year. Still in denial. Comb over artist like Shookwun stated. Maybe finasteride will bring some of it back? made it WAY worst. Now, maybe RU will bring some of it back? I am definitely privileged to have lived my 20's without even thinking about my hair. Very lucky. I wish I had locked down one of the girls I dated. I don't know how people survive this bullsh*t in their twenties. It feels like I am living in purgatory. Unless there is a miracle, I will have to go completely bald this summer, because hiding these transplants will not fly for another f*cking summer.

 

[TD500]

21. woke up to find half of my hair on my pillow

Similar except in the shower

 

[shookwun]

Every day for the last two years has been my oh **** moment. Had good hair, got a transplant because I wanted more... then it was as if the hair Gods slowly started torturing me for my greed and vanity. Telogen Effluvium, followed by Telogen Effluvium followed by Telogen Effluvium with a dash of aggressive male pattern baldness. 31 years of thick hair eaten away to resemble a birds nest in one year. Still in denial. Comb over artist like Shookwun stated. Maybe finasteride will bring some of it back? made it WAY worst. Now, maybe RU will bring some of it back? I am definitely privileged to have lived my 20's without even thinking about my hair. Very lucky. I wish I had locked down one of the girls I dated. I don't know how people survive this bullsh*t in their twenties. It feels like I am living in purgatory. Unless there is a miracle, I will have to go completely bald this summer, because hiding these transplants will not fly for another f*cking summer.

A lot of us just live life through the motions, drifting by. I see young balding guys at my gym, and I can almost feel their pain. As my grandpa says about his era of those who are weak, and dieing: 'we are the forgotten'. Women don't notice them, and most men don't even acknowledge them

We are like you say surviving not rely living life to the fullest. Not cherishing all the fruits that life has to offer us, because we live life on a crutch.



Like ghosts, only we feel pain.


This doesn't apply to young norwoods, but more or less to those NW4+

 

[davesmith420]

I started to notice that one side of my hair didn't look as "full" as it used to and I started finding a lot of hair in the shower. I jumped on Finasteride literally a month later. Although recently I've been debating if I even have male pattern baldness (yet) and maybe I was just going through a seasonal shed... as I basically get laughed at on hair loss forums and called "mentally ill" when I post pictures of my hair.

 

[bobby26]

A bald colleague at work pointed it out to me and said "Welcome to our club!"

 

[shookwun]

Seasonal shed is a myth. I don't believe in it.


Your gut instincts are typically right in a lot of cases.

 

[davesmith420]

Seasonal shed is a myth. I don't believe in it.


Your gut instincts are typically right in a lot of cases.

Yeah losing like 40-50 hairs in the shower didn't seem right to me. I think I just caught it as early as I possibly could have. Still staying on finasteride for the sake of maintaining/thickening my weaker temple.

 

[buckthorn]

Long have you fought the good fight, my brother. The spider nest that you call your hair, it is a testament of your bravery, how ravaged you have been by the fiend we all face. It is sadness that I feel, that one of our veterans must finally put aside his hair, and lay down to rest. RIP in peace. Is there a heaven for Norwood Men? I don't know. But, may you find hair in the next life.

damn you beautiful poetic bastard!! haha..

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Yeah losing like 40-50 hairs in the shower didn't seem right to me. I think I just caught it as early as I possibly could have. Still staying on finasteride for the sake of maintaining/thickening my weaker temple.

Yeah, I remember my derm recommending the pull test. one day, I stood over my sink and lightly tugged in different regions and dropped all them into the sink. the sink was covered, and in an obsessively compulsive rage, I started to separate and count all of them... 300 f*cking hairs!! That was a f*cked up summer. I stopped working, would wake up and immediately drive to the forest and hike for hours with my dog. Come home, drink whiskey, pass out and do it again... The psychological toll this has on you is immense. The feeling of aging coupled with some sort of sickness or something.

 

[all]

i didnt panick until i was going into nw3 category, at 20 years old btw. theres was patch of thining hair in a norwood 3 pattern on my left temple. just went from there realy and got on the big three. currently a norwood 2 and looking like i may even get upto a norwood 1 to 1.5. crossing my fingers!

 

[davesmith420]

damn you beautiful poetic bastard!! haha..

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Yeah, I remember my derm recommending the pull test. one day, I stood over my sink and lightly tugged in different regions and dropped all them into the sink. the sink was covered, and in an obsessively compulsive rage, I started to separate and count all of them... 300 f*cking hairs!! That was a f*cked up summer. I stopped working, would wake up and immediately drive to the forest and hike for hours with my dog. Come home, drink whiskey, pass out and do it again... The psychological toll this has on you is immense. The feeling of aging coupled with some sort of sickness or something.

300 hairs damn man. It was never that bad for me, but I would say I was totally losing over the normal amount of hairs a day (probably like 150-170ish).

 

[buckthorn]

300 hairs damn man. It was never that bad for me, but I would say I was totally losing over the normal amount of hairs a day (probably like 150-170ish).

Yeah, it astounded me that I never went completely bald, just horribly diffused. I mean do the math. I was LITERALLY losing between 200-300 hairs a day for six months straight (and this has happened multiple times to me). that's about 6,000-9,000 hairs a month!! Depressing as hell. In theory, I should have been slick bald in 4-5 months. I am about 30% density now... just diffused thin every where. I still comb my hair in the morning and there is at least 40-50 hairs just from that.

 

[firstpost]

Yeah, it astounded me that I never went completely bald, just horribly diffused. I mean do the math. I was LITERALLY losing between 200-300 hairs a day for six months straight (and this has happened multiple times to me). that's about 6,000-9,000 hairs a month!! Depressing as hell. In theory, I should have been slick bald in 4-5 months. I am about 30% density now... just diffused thin every where. I still comb my hair in the morning and there is at least 40-50 hairs just from that.

Looking at your current stack, pg protocol is your only option now.

 

[transam]

Long have you fought the good fight, my brother. The spider nest that you call your hair, it is a testament of your bravery, how ravaged you have been by the fiend we all face. It is sadness that I feel, that one of our veterans must finally put aside his hair, and lay down to rest. RIP in peace. Is there a heaven for Norwood Men? I don't know. But, may you find hair in the next life.

This comment made me "LOL"
i died laughing. I can't even handle this.

 

[buckthorn]

Looking at your current stack, pg protocol is your only option now.

You think? Well, it's only been about 5 weeks on RU and about 2 months on 15% minoxidil. I dropped the dutasteride like a rock. I have been on 5% minoxidil for 4-5 years. I am hoping that the 15% will jump start some follicles, lol. What about OC, firstpost? I want to try that.

 

[shookwun]

Long have you fought the good fight, my brother. The spider nest that you call your hair, it is a testament of your bravery, how ravaged you have been by the fiend we all face. It is sadness that I feel, that one of our veterans must finally put aside his hair, and lay down to rest. RIP in peace. Is there a heaven for Norwood Men? I don't know. But, may you find hair in the next life.

 

[MoBishop]

Right after I turned 24. Started seeing too much scalp for my liking when I was spiking my hair. Hair also suddenly became thinner in quality