Hi, I am a 32 year old, with substantial hairloss on my crown and even vertex. I had a bad habit of scratching my scalp all the time, as I had dandruff and that made things worse, but i didnt lose many hairs even if I did so, and didnt realize that I had MPB in my family. Now my dad tells me my graddad was pretty bald.

When I turned 27, suddenly my hair started falling out. I noticed all of a sudden it had become thinner and was coming out in huge amounts. My sides (Above the ear became bare).

At the time, I was going through a lot of stress was in college studying, plus trying to keep a long distance relationship going (it broke which added more to my depression) and then my family member was sick at the time and passed away. End result was i ignored my hair loss and health, if all this wasnt enough, I ended up having a nasty accident thanks to a car, a couple of years back myself. Almost lost my life.

Long story short, even as I went through all this, my hair loss really took off and my scratching probably worsened things, its just that I was so caught up in taking care of things, I really didnt notice. For me at the time, being alive was a big deal.

Today, I am at the stage I am as shown in the pics, which are actually a bit better than the reality. I have huge gaps in my front which I disguise with a comb-over, but worst part is there is only one thin layer of hair thats available to do that, and even that's shedding. My hair is pretty thin itself now.

I tried using Minox 5% on advice from the doc, but the shedding just wont stop, plus I always seemed tired, as it seemed to make my heart pound much faster than usual.

I have now shifted to Minox 2% (Gel form) and Nizoral 1%, no luck in even stopping the shedding yet. I seem to be literally going bald overnight, with a loss of some 50-100 hairs daily, with 30 in the shower every morning.

I am really scared to use Finasteride, as reading up about it on the net makes it appear to be a very dangerous medicine for many folks, and knowing that I have not exactly been very health concious over the past few years, it could add more troubles.

Being bald is pretty bad for me, as I am looking to get married, and in my culture and country, its considered a significant sign of old age and not a personal statement, and women dont really look at it as a style statement. It petrifies me that within a few years I will be totally bald.

I had one last hope that I could get a hair transplant, probably locally, even if I couldnt afford the top people like Hassan & Wong, if things got too bad, but it seems I have DPA, and even that is ruled out. Please tell me whether that assumption is true. I have attached my pics.

I am fairly depressed now, as it seems I just cant get a break from life. Any thoughts and any hope, solutions welcome. I really dont know what to do and whom to turn to. My mates dont care & my folks think it is a bit of a joke. They are much older than me & dont even identify with my concerns.

Thanks guys for hearing me out

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Have you been checked by a physician for Alopecia Areata? Seeing as you have big time stress in your life, that is my guess. Sometimes it will resolve on it's own.

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Finasteride 1.25 mg. daily
Avodart 0.5 mg. daily
Spironolactone 50 mg twice daily
5 mg. oral Minoxidil twice daily
Biotin 5000 mcg.
MSM 1500 mg. twice daily
Zinc 50 mg. daily

Damn, with all the stuff you put in your hair are you like a negative NW1?

It is had to tell with your pics....luckily you seem to have wuite a bit of hair to save...

START FINASTERIDE ASAP!!!

See a doctor and make sure that he diagnoses you with MPB...the balding just above the ear seems strange. Are you losing body hair from any other regions?

I have some very mild frontal minituration that most people say I am silly for starting fin, but I am doing it anyway to stay ahead of the game.

I ask myself if I am silly sometimes but have decided to keep taking it...hopefully I will keep my hair long enough for a cure to be found, medical science is great these days....

I have had no side effects and the it seems that you can contribute some of your side effects of BALDING to deppression, therefore, if the sides you get from fin are less then deppression, fin is prolly the answer.

I really do not think fin is as bad as everyone says as far as side effects go. Also, it seems that you are old enough that you prolly have pretty strong genes so I feel there is a good chance that you would respong to Fin.

I also think that they can still treat you with DPA, they would just adjust your master plan and treat you as if you were a NW7. That said it seems that you are stating that your sides are patchy as well which could create some donor issues.

Anyway, good luck to you and I hope you find inner peace.

Please consider starting Fin and seeing a hair specialist to map you head and give you a proper diagnosis.

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"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." -Eleanore Roosevelt

Thanks man...I tend to dig around before doing something...and I ended up going to Propeciahelp.com and seeing a bunch of youtube vids. People have so many horror stories about Finasteride, it really scared the bejeesus out of me...and I am already a bit desperate.

My moms a doc, and she's been giving me hell for taking Minox itself...and when I asked about Fin. she positive flipped out. Told me I was being vain...like I said, she totally doesnt get my worries.

Yeah, it could be the stress but when I went to a doc he said MPB and just gave me Minox 5%, he was least bothered, and was absolutely bald himself. Yeah, when you are 50 and bald with a well settled environment, its a tad different than where I am at.

Last 5 years have been the craziest in my life...and it just does not end...everyday I wake up thinking, what I did to deserve this, but no answers there...so you take what comes. Been focused on my career for some 3 years but began with an intensively hard environment, and my hair loss is just going on and on and on..

I have pretty much given up on life itself..and feel dang low now, as this was the final straw..

:-(

Guys, any idea of saw palmetto extracts??

Just spoke to a guy who went to a local dermatologist and they prescribe saw palmetto, which is supposed to some sort of mini DHT blocker but not as dangerous as Fin. Is it any good, has anyone had any success with it, without more shedding or sides??

Please help. I know some people used it in the past, but have they had any luck over time?

Here are two more pics of my hair loss. I had a haircut and I was paranoid each time the barber snipped some hair off. Earlier, I used to be arm deep in hair and wouldnt even care. :-(

The pics were taken after I put 2% Minox foam on the scalp, so the hair sort of slicked together and it doesnt look so bad, but in any white light, there are huge gaps in the hair which are only disguised by a comb over.

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Akash,

Can you share what you've heard about finasteride and the sources? It's my understanding that the side effects only occur in about 3% of people and almost universally reverse when and if you stop taking the drug?? It's a very well reviewed and utilized product here in the states.

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Blake (Future_HT_Doc)

Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum

All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice.

Akash,

In my opinion, saw palmetto is very unlikely to have a significant impact on your hair loss. You can read about here on our Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

You've already received some excellent advice. See a dermatologist if you haven't yet done so and think very seriously about starting finasteride. At this point in time, finasteride and minoxidil are the only two clinically proven treatments for genetic male balding. Only 2% of men experience sexual side effects from finasteride and, in the vast majority of those, the side effects will disappear upon discontinuation of the drug.

Shedding is a normal part of treating hair loss. You need to stay on minoxidil and finasteride for up to a year before evaluating their effects and you may look worse before you look better.

Best of luck to you!

__________________
David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant

I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice.

View my Hair Loss Website

Dude, you are thinking way too much about it. You are 32 years old and have some thinning hair. Did you somehow think you would never lose any hair until you were 80? There are a lot of people 10 years younger than you who have less hair than you have. Consider yourself lucky to make it through your twenties without any major hair problems.

You are not getting it.

My problem is that this has happened on top of all the stuff I went through, and it came out of nowhere. Its been hard for me to cope. If it had happened 10 years back, well that would have been that. Right now, I am looking to get hitched, and baldness equals "be alone" in my culture and society.

So no, I didnt expect to have hair till 80 and I didnt exactly make it through my 20's without any major hair problems. My hair problems started when I was 27, its just that with all the stuff at the time, dealing with family issues, career choices, breakup etc, I stopped thinking of myself and forgot that a thing such as a mirror existed.
Call it five years of absolute and total brain fog, when every day is a chore by itself. So you only think about the next day.

Now I am 32, I thought things were looking up, but..

The biggest problem I have currently is the rate of balding. Its like a tsunami.

Every day, whether I am showering or even on touching my hair, my hand comes away covered with hair strands.

If my hair remained at the level it was for some years, that would be one thing. I am panicking because it seems like in six months I will have huge see through patches in my vertex (front) which I cannot disguise. In a year, I may be bald.

Its not doing any wonders to my self confidence or stress, either. In the US, I could go Vin Diesel if I was in the US, but I am not there and where I am from, there are no debates whether "bald is s***y or not", not at my age anyway.

Trust I explained myself better.

HT Doc, I'll try and dig up what I found. It was basically from surfing a lot of threads on forums such as propeciahelp and others, where a fairly statistically significant number of people seemed to be complaining about erectile dysfunction and a lot of severe health problems. Also had the chance to speak to a doc, (family friend), who was very non committal about fin. - arguably he is not an expert, but I dont know he was not "sold" on it. For the record though, my dermatologist whom I went to, said Fin. was ok, and only affected 2% of the people. But like I mentioned initially, he seemed to be reciting stuff off a box, and didnt have much to offer on the topic, bar "take Minox, bye bye, see you".