Wuffer's Story - (28 / Proscar & nizoral)

[Wuffer]

Hey all. I have been posting on this forum and getting into the whole obsession-about-my-hairloss thing lately, but I have decided to stop frequenting this forum and just come back to post monthly updates of my progress. I feel there is some good advice here, but also a lot of negativity. It has also led me to checking my hairline daily, and obsessing about something that I know I shouldn't be obsessing about. Hairloss really sucks, but i've been through worse in my life and always came through stronger in the end.

My story - I am 28 and have been noticing hair loss for a good 5 years now, starting with typical temple recession and now thinning at the crown. I think I am maybe a NW2 or early 3 at the moment. My moms side has no hair loss, my dads side is all NW5+. My dad started losing his hair at 18, and was NW6 by the time he was 30. I had thick hair my entire life, and never thought I would lose it, but here we are unfortunately.

I first noticed things were getting really bad a few months ago when my girlfriend told me about my thinning crown. Taking a look in the mirror revealed how bad it was, and it was a huge shock. I was pretty devastated (still am) but after some searching online, I gained a ton of great information about treatments. I am in pretty early stages of hair loss, and still have some good density throughout most of my head.

I started on Proscar 1.25mg a few days ago, and the most I am hoping for is maintenance. If I can get some thickening on my crown, that would be great, but i'm not getting my hopes up. I have also been using Nizoral 2% for the last 3 months. No results from that, but it has helped a lot with the itching and i'm hopeful that both treatments will compliment eachother.

On top of this treatment, I have decided to embark on transforming my body. A few years of sloth-like behavior have not been particularly kind to my physique. I am by no means obese, but I could stand to lose 20-30 pounds or so. I have decided to start working out regularly, and watching what I eat. I feel this is a good way to take my mind off the hair loss, and if treatments don't work, shaving the oll noggin should look better on me if i'm in good shape.

Here are some baseline pictures. I haven't had a haircut in about a month, so I am pretty shaggy. I will probably take new pictures when I get a haircut so that I get a better baseline picture. Wish me luck, and i'll be back every month with new pictures!

 

[Wuffer]

Re: Wuffer's Story - (28) Proscar / nizoral

Just an update if anyone is interested.

I've been on finasteride for just about a month now. I haven't experienced any side effects whatsoever, which is great. I wasn't expecting to have any, but that worry was always there.

I obviously haven't noticed any growth from the finasteride yet, but I have noticed that my scalp itch is almost completely gone. This was particularly annoying when I started losing my hair, but it's a huge relief now that it has finally stopped. Even if it doesn't regrow my hair, it would be worth staying on the stuff just to stop that damn itch!

I haven't really been obsessing over my hair loss anymore, and I am hopeful I will see positive results. I have also kept up hitting the gym 3 times a week, lost about 10 pounds and feel a hell of a lot better. I am also cutting down on drinking and trying to reduce my stress.. All good and necessary things! In spite of my hair loss, life is looking really good!

I won't bother posting any pictures this month, since my hair looks exactly the same. If I am obsurdly lucky enough to see results at 2 months, I will post, but definitely 3 months regardless!

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Hopefully you'll see some regrowth/thickening!

My favorite thing was the end of the scalp itch, too, it was such a relief.

 

[Wuffer]

Just providing a slight update on my finasteride experience.

Its been about a month and a half now, and I have noticed ever so slightly that my hair may be thickening at the crown. It doesn't 'look' like it is, but it feels less whispy and it doesn't stick up as much as it used to. Of course, without pictures to prove this, it could definitely be in my head, but i'm hopeful that this is a positive sign.

Also, as a person who has had experience in the past with psychosomatic side effects (from anxiety) I have trained myself very well to know when i'm feeling something thats caused by my thoughts instead of reality.. A few weeks ago I had an episode of the testicle aching that seems to be pretty regularly reported here, and I am absolutely sure it was caused by finasteride.

It lasted about 3 days straight, and could only be described as a mild case of blue balls. It was on and off, but for the most part constant. It rated maybe 2/10 on the pain scale, and was more annoying than anything. I felt it mostly in my right testicle. After 3 days, it disappeared and has not returned since. Other than that, I haven't had any sides whatsoever.. So as a person that thought finasteride sides were all in peoples heads, I have learned first hand that this isn't the case. However, this side is gone now and I haven't noticed anything else. From what I read, this side effect usually occurs in the first month for a couple days, then never comes back.

I have not experienced any sexual side effects. In fact, I have felt even more of a sexual drive now than before, and my girlfreind has happily commented on that! I would probably more attribute that to hitting up the gym though.

I'll be sure to take pictures at my 3 month mark, but i'm hopeful that I will be a responder! After styling my hair, the fact that i am balding is barely apparent to the untrained eye, so if I can at least keep the hair I have for the next 10 years, I will be immensely happy. Slight thickening is really the best I am hoping for, so i'm not going to try minoxidil until I know how well finasteride works after a year or two.

 

[Wuffer]

I wasn't going to post until 3 months, but my GF recently mentioned that my hair was looking a lot thicker all over and was wondering if I was using roaine.. lol. She doesn't know I’m using finasteride.

I took a few pictures, and I can’t believe it but I’m definitely seeing it thicken up quite a bit already. My hair is at pretty much exactly the same length as it was in my first pictures, but I can really see it filling in nicely, and feels a whole lot better all over.

My recession from the front is pretty much exactly the same, but it's hard to tell when my hair is long like this. I'm going to get a cut next week and start taking better pictures so that I can gauge my growth more effectively.

I'm happy that I caught things early enough so that I could effectively reverse the process, hopefully to the point of having a nice full NW2 for the next 5 or so years.

Also, I went through a brief scare of finasteride side effects, which was undoubtedly caused by hanging around the 'side effects' section and propeciahelp.com.. A couple days of this, and I was experiencing A-Z of these sides and contemplated quitting several times.

After 2 days of refusing to visit those sources of information, all of the 'sides' I convinced myself I was having (brain fog, ed, gyno, fatigue, etc.) have completely gone away. I think it's important for people taking this drug (especially people prone to obsession: all of us) to stay away from these extremely biased sources of information, and determine how the drug affects YOU, and not what other people tell you how it affects you. It’s incredible how powerful the brain is, and that spending even a few days constantly worrying like this can cause psychosomatic symptoms to appear. This happened to me; look up “nocebo†and “cyberchondria†for more information.

I’ll be sure to post again in a couple months or whenever I feel that I’ve made more progress. Go propecia! Oh and FYI, I have lost about 20 pounds, and am feeling great. Go getting healthy!

 

[jasinfla]

I'm glad to hear that you are having good results & I hope that you continue. Totally off the subject but have a question about hair...with using your photo of your crown area as an example, the hair that's on the outside of the scalp area and kind of shines a bit, would that be classified as miniaturized, thinning or just regular healthy hair? This would be like on the right side of the photo looking down right by the crown showing scalp? Reason I'm asking is that I am seeing that by my split & it's kind of concerning me...could be just my BDD also. I hope I'm not confusing.

Thanks & again, great results and wish you continue great results!!

 

[Wuffer]

Hi there; i'm sorry, i'm not exactly sure what you are talking about. Possibly someone a little more versed in hair loss would be able to help out! All I know is that everyone has similar hair loss patterns, but no two men lose their hair in the exact same way. Possibly if you could post a picture, it would help.

Also, I understand a bit about BDD; if you see anything slightly 'off' it can be cause for concern in your eyes. I'm sure you understand this, but it's easier said than done sometimes, am I right?

 

[jasinfla]

Wuffer, I totally agree with you and sometimes my mind and mirrors are horrible combos. But again, I'm happy for your results and it's looking really good!!!

 

[Wuffer]

Thanks for your comments!

I just got a haircut today, and the results are even more apparent now. I'm seriously blown away that i've already seen results after 2.5 months.. It just goes to show you; get on finasteride as fast as you can, and don't delay. The earlier you do, the better chance you have at keeping your mop.

I haven't really seen any results in the front, but the results in the crown are apparent. My GF commented yet again after my cut that my hair is looking great, and she swears its thicker now than when we started dating a year ago.