Worried's Story

[worried]

20 years old (close to 20),6 feet, 155lbs, first noticed when i was 18 by thinning on crown, bought some minoxidil 5% and didn't use it very well (maybe once a day) for a month or two. It made my scalp very itchy and it was a hassle so I decided that maybe it was just the stress of getting ready to graduate and going off to college. Didn't think about it much for two years.

Starting my sophomore year of college, it got more noticable when the top of my head starting becoming visible. Again, I denied it and just put on a hat when it rained or was windy. Last summer, it starting getting worse quickly. When school started back this fall, I really began to notice my scalp a lot more. In early september, I fell across hairlosstalk.com and found out about my hairloss options. After a lot of bargaining, arguing, and compromising with my parents and my doctor, I got prescribed Propecia and took my first dose Sept. 20, 2004. The doctor still thinks I am going to give myself cancer with this but I doubt it.

I am currently at month 2 and 1/4. My libido dropped for the first month, then quickly returned to normal (I've never been an overly "giddy" guy anyway) and has actually increased a bit since then. After the first week, I also got some bad acne and some minor depression. The acne is gone but the depression remains (though I think its more from my actual hair, not the finasteride).

So, here I am...
Month 2 and 1/4...
Hair on top has gotten visibly more diffuse so I guess I am shedding, I never notice that many hairs in the shower. I keep telling myself that this is normal and it will get better. I have developed some chest fat so I have begun trying to eat better and get a little more exercise. I've jokingly mentioned it to my friends (none of which know I am on finasteride, and probably don't even know exist) and they say my chest looks no different and that I am still as skinny as a rail. I just got my hair cut and it looks like my diffuse areas have gotten worse but I am going to ride it out.

Thanks for the help everyone and all the support. I have baseline pics followed with monthly ones and will post them as soon as I get into this enough to feel justified to post them.

 

[jrg]

hang on there...it'll just get better.

I don't understand why people like to use the cancer scare. Prostate cancer is unlikely for people below the age of 40. And when we reach 40... alot more would have been known about prostate cancer.

u mentioned chest fat... I would watch that .... just in case its gyno..

 

[HairBeThere]

yes, definetly keep an eye on your chest area.. Mainly watch for bruicing..

Though it is rare and uncommon.. Glad to see you are proactive in you hairloss!!

Good luck, and definetly don't let it get you down!!!

 

[marksb11]

whats this about propecia and cancer? your doctor said it can cause it? is this true anyone? i get paranoid real easy, so thats the last thing i want to hear!

 

[jrg]

no

 

[pleasehelpme]

hang in there buddy! good luck

 

[worried]

It seems my chest fat has either grown a little bit or not grown any more. It is starting to worry me. About a month after starting propecia, I stopped working out so it might be partially due to that and I have also been eating junk lately but I know it is not entirely due to that because I have never had this much fat on my chest in my life. It also seems like I have put on a few extra pounds since starting but, again, it could just be due to my 2-month bad diet. I have no itchyness or bruising on my chest but every now and then when I touch my nipple, it feels a little more sensative but I might just be making that part up in my head. My nipples still are a bit more puffy and stick out a bit.
Man, I hope this stuff goes away. I am going to see my doctor in a week when I get back and get my hormones checked out. I also bought some green tea and flax oil to see if I can't try to regulate the estrogen a little better.

On a positive note, my sexual side effects have began going away rather suddenly lately so maybe this means my chest fat will start to go away soon as well, since these were my only two side effects.

If anyone can reccomend anything else, I'd be very appreciative.

 

[Cassin]

This is quite possibly one of the most uneducated and ludicrous statements I have ever read on one of these forums that Propecia causes cancer ,and that is a horrible list to be on.

I think you are to paranoid to be on treatments and you should just buy a toupee.

But then you might worry about cancer from the glue so I think you should just go bald. :roll:

 

[worried]

Small update:

My sexual side effects are almost 80% gone now (or in otherwords, I am almost back to normal) which is making me really happy and optimistic.

Also, my chest fat has began to shrink and my nipples are a lot less puffy and have lost the conical shape. There is a new problem now, though. About a month ago, I noticed that my nipples were slightly sensitive. Since then, I have been poking around at them a pretty good bit during the day. Today especially they have been hurting a lot. No lumps as of yet undernearth or around the nipple.

I am telling myself that the pain (and its not a lot, just a slight amount that I feel if I mess around with it pretty hard) is because it is changing from gaining fat to losing fat. Hopefully i'm not going to get gyno.

As I said in another post, I tried to get my GP to give me a write-up for bloodwork but they denied it saying it would be "a waste of time to check my hormone levels because they know my testosterone has already gone up" and are making me go to a derm. After I go to the derm and if the chest pain hasn't gone down, I'm going to go talk to my doctor about it.

 

[DarklyCharming]

Small update:

As I said in another post, I tried to get my GP to give me a write-up for bloodwork but they denied it saying it would be "a waste of time to check my hormone levels because they know my testosterone has already gone up" and are making me go to a derm. After I go to the derm and if the chest pain hasn't gone down, I'm going to go talk to my doctor about it.

You need a new general practitioner then man. If you request bloodwork because you are worried about your hormonal levels and their interaction with a drug, then you should be able to get one done. Frankly, any doctor I know would fill the sheet out so that you could have peace of mind. Getting bloodwork done never hurts anything.

 

[macdruid]

I am telling myself that the pain (and its not a lot, just a slight amount that I feel if I mess around with it pretty hard) is because it is changing from gaining fat to losing fat. Hopefully i'm not going to get gyno.

The pain is probably from checking them out so much.

I sort of obsessively was checking out my nips and the surrounding area the first week of taking my first finasteride so that I would be able to better notice a change if one came up later. I ended up making the left one sore for several days. Which made me realize I was just being a spaz about the whole thing. :lol:

Leave your nipples alone for a week... don't even look at them. I'll bet you that the soreness will be gone by then and You won't be worrying so much. Just remember there are thousands of men out there taking Propecia and they aren't getting all worked up about gyno, etc (they probably don't even know there's a chance of it) and, supposedly, only 0.4% ever even have the problem. Of course, you wouldn't know it from hanging around this forum - it seems to crop up every day.

 

[worried]

Macdruid,

I took your advice (which was well timed as I got my wisdom teeth out a few days ago, that is one way to forget about hairloss). I basically laid in bed for three or four days and watched TV not even thinking about my chest fat or hairloss. Today I finally got around to taking a shower and I poked around my chest fat...

No pain at all.

It was all in my head and/or from squeezing my chest too much.

Thanks :hairy:

 

[macdruid]

No pain at all.

It was all in my head and/or from squeezing my chest too much.

Thanks :hairy:

No problem! Glad to hear things are going well. It's bad enough we have male pattern baldness to worry about, let alone all these possible side effects to treatments. :-x

 

[worried]

Update - Hair is looking thinner on top of head and hairline has gone back some more since starting treatments. I am 3.5 months into Nizoral and Propecia.

I suppose I am going through a shed though i am not seeing more hair fallout than normal. This worries me that my treatments are not working and my male pattern baldness is just progessing as it normally would.

On the positive side, all of my side effects have subsided. Around month 2.5, they went away but came back around month 3. They have pretty much gone away again.

Gunna keep with it.

 

[worried]

Was screwing around with my hair with a comb and noticed a lot of short thin white hairs. I suppose these are the "vellous hairs" people talk about a lot. I suppose this means either hair that was not growing is now starting to grow or hair that had fallen out a few months ago was starting to grow and then was interupted by the Propecia.

Not sure if I am shedding. Hair is longer than it has been in a while and actually looks sorta alright some days. Approaching 4 months next weekend.

 

[worried]

Update: 20 years old, thinning since 17, diffuse thinning towards a Norwood5V but still have enough to sort of hide it, month 4.5 on Propecia 1mg/daily and Nizoral 3x/week.

Hadn't gotten a haircut since the end of november and my hair was about 4 or 5 inches long but I have curly hair so it was sorta curlin up instead of growing long. It had started to look good so I was nervous that if I cut it short, the loss of length would destroy how well it was covering the top of my head. I have to say that I am very happy with it so far. I look slightly better than my baseline. Individual hairs in thinning areas appear slightly thicker and denser - but only a little. Its enough to make me happy though.

On the down side, hairline is still receeding as if I was not taking any meds. Lately I have been experiencing some sexual side effects and a sudden burst of acne.

At the moment, if I can keep what I have now for a few more years, I'll be happy. I am also considering adding minoxidil just to my hairline to try and restore some of it.

Thanks again HairLossTalk.com and all the posters.

 

[worried]

Just finished month 6.

Diffused hair areas are slightly above baseline.

Sexual side effects have completely gone away.

Hairline has continued to recede a little.

I'm not as considered about my hairline. I want to fix the diffuse areas on the top of my head and it seems like they are slowly getting better. I have little tiny white hairs falling out in my comb a lot. I'm not sure if these are regrown hairs starting to work their way up or thinning hairs working their way down. Guess i'll find out in a few more months.

 

[fred]

Worried: Have you better hair now than you had at month 2.5/3.5? I am exactly at month 2.5 with the same regimen as yours and my hairline has receideed a bit and my hair is more diffuse than when I first started treatment, I am hoping it to grow back. Did your hair got better since then?

 

[worried]

Well, I just got a haircut today and I have to say that I'm a little disappointed. The "run-way" pattern (hairline going back at the temples and thinning down the middle line) has gotten a little worse than what I remember. It might just be a bad day though. I'll tell you tomorrow after I get a chance to style it properly.

As of now, I am considering going on minoxidil. I've been hoping I could avoid it but if I am going to keep thinning I am going to have to and better early than late.

 

[worried]

Well, the time has come for me to write my "crap, my hair is looking awful" post. I looked in the mirror and the left side of my hairline looks bad. Really bad. My hairline has continued to receed and i think that my diffuse thinning on top has gotten slightly worse. I'm hoping this is a shed even though I haven't really seen any more hair than normal fall out, but I try not to focus on it.

I really hope things start picking up.