Balding Bad

So just a new journal entry/update. I've now been on Fin for just a little over 2 weeks now and so far, so good. Haven't experienced any of the negative sides...or really any sides for that matter, but I guess it's still too early to tell. One thing I did notice today when I was showering was there seemed to be more hair in my hands after washing my hair. Perhaps I'm starting to shed? Although at 2 weeks I feel like maybe it's too soon? But who knows? The other thing (and maybe this is all in my mind) is I've noticed some tiny little hairs sprouting in the front of my hair line. Once again, I might just be thinking too much into it, but it's worth mentioning at least.

I agree with your assessment as well. I am suggesting a 2nd HT under the assumption that he is currently on Fin or DUT (but we don't know for sure, which is why I asked if he's on anything), however if he's not then, yes, it would be strongly encouraged for him to get on that before considering a 2nd procedure.

The transplant looked pretty solid, although I'm surprised to see that the transplanted hairs started to thin out. Did the doc harvest from your DHT resistant area or did you just not get a very large graft amount the first time around? If I were you I would def consider getting the 2nd HT sooner rather than later. You frontal hairline is clearly starting to thin out again. Also to echo Melvin, are you on Fin and/or Min?

The whole point of oral Min is to no longer be on topical Min and vice versa. I'm sure there are some members on here who are using both simultaneously, however to me that seems like overkill.

Just received my blood test results regarding my DHT, Testosterone, and Estradiol levels. These are my levels BEFORE getting on Fin. If anyone has thoughts or comments, feel free to share.

This post is more so a "journal entry" for myself since I'm using this thread to track my progress, but on December 4, 2021 I have finally begun using Nizoral, therefore making me officially on the BIG 3: Fin, Min, and Niz! 😎 EDIT: So after using Nizoral for the first time I gotta say I'm very impressed! I've used Neutrogena T/Gel pretty regularly in the past, but it never quite remedied the dandruff I would get as a result of Min. First time with Niz and my scalp is feeling great! No longer dry and no longer flakey! I guess I'll keep using it every Mon/Wed/Fri along with my Fin regiment!

I hear using Fin and saw palmetto simultaneously is a no no and a great way to inhibit negative sides.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm comfortable starting with 1mg for now. Should I experience any negatives I will consider bumping it down to 0.5mg. But yeah, I'm pumped to start this journey. I really do hope I'll be able to attain some epic results. 🤞🏻

Hey guys -- so just wanted to start a thread to keep track of my Finasteride journey/progress. I officially started taking it on December 1, 2021! I meant to start this thread on the 1st, but was too busy with work so that's why this thread is being started on the 2nd instead. 😛 Some quick basic stats about me: 34 years old, both my father (in his 70s) and brother (soon to be 40) are NW7. My brother's hair loss was much more aggressive than mine. I first started noticing my front (minor) thinning at 19 or 20. I pretty much did NOTHING until I was 28 years old when my friend convinced me to get on Minoxidil. I've been on Minoxidil (Kirkland brand) consistently for 6 years now (only apply once every evening). Only my front hairline has sustained the brunt of the hair loss/thinning/miniaturization. My crown is holding up quite well, but there seems to be signs of thinning. I've been able to conceal my frontal thinning without detection for over a decade now thanks to how I style my hair. Just want to quickly acknowledge and thank fellow forum member @Gatsby for convincing/motivating me to get on Fin. My plan is to take 1mg of Fin every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in order to preemptively avoid any potential negative sides. Also shout out to @giegnosiganoefor suggesting I get some lab work done (testosterone, estradiol, DHT) in order to establish a baseline before I get on Fin. I should be getting those results back within the next 2-3 days. I'll make sure to post it on here. I've taken some photos today, which I will post/update the thread later on with (once I edit my face out), but my main goal is to track my journey in real-time and to hopefully inspire others along the way (especially those who are hesitant of taking the drug due to the notoriety it seems to garner...I get it. I was the same way too!). Anyways, I plan on updating the thread on the 1st of every month. So you should be seeing my next update on the new year. If for any reason I begin to experience negative sides then this thread/journey will unfortunately be cut short, but I hope that's not the case and I do hope this thread will continue to prosper long into the future. So thanks in advance to those who decide to follow along on my Fin journey! 😎 EDIT: Photos from 12/01/21 have now been added.

Yes, we're encouraging you to get on Fin again...but AT A LOWER DOSE/FREQUENCY. I really do think it's worth a shot before swearing it off completely. Moreover, as some have suggested, it's quite possible the sides are psychosomatic. Perhaps if you go into it again every other day (3x a week) and have positive thoughts about your hair regrowing then you'll have a better experience. The reality is Fin is the only effective non-surgical treatment against the fight in hair loss. You should try altering your perspective and view Fin as an ally and not an enemy. The decision is ultimately yours, but please speak to your dermatologist about the idea of taking Fin at a lower dose/frequency given your prior experience and see what the derm has to say. Good luck brotha!

@Hairtroubles I think Curious25 has hit the nail on the head with his response. It's a bit blunt, but it's also the much needed truth. I think you're hoping someone will chime in with a response touting a miracle drug/procedure that will regrow 100% of your hair with absolutely no side effects or potential negative short/long-term effects and the reality is that simply isn't going to happen. You need to either accept that, medically, your only options are going to be Fin/Min or perhaps even Saw Palmetto (but even that has similar sides the Fin) and if you choose not to then it's almost a guarantee your hair loss/miniaturization will continue. Otherwise your only other option is a surgical procedure (HT), but even then there's no guarantee that in the long run it will hold up because as long as your hairs continue to miniaturize then this is equivalent to kicking the can down the road. The best you can really hope for is to delay your MPB for as long as you can. So long story short, this is your outlook: Take none of the proven preventative drugs and accept you will continue to bald OR get a hair transplant and accept you will continue to bald. I think the sooner you accept and embrace that baldness will be a part of your, the easier it will be for you psychologically and mentally. We're all in the same boat together, so best of luck.

I was moving full steam ahead with a HT procedure and was hoping to have it scheduled early 2022. During my consultation call the rep really pushed hard for medical intervention, which I was obviously resistant to. I reasoned that if anything I would start with Fin AFTER my HT. However the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it didn't quite make sense to get on medication AFTER surgery. Surgery should be the absolute last resort! Also when my friend questioned me about what I would do if my native hairs fell out, it made me realize that I'm eventually gonna need to be on Fin because hair loss IS PROGRESSIVE, so even though my hair will look nice with the newly transplanted hairs, eventually it'll start to look thin again when the native hairs fall out, so I'll be back at square one. So I decided you know what? It would make a lot more sense for me to overcome my fear of Fin first, take it BEFORE any potential surgery to see how I react...because who knows, I may potentially respond to it quite well with 0 sides and all the benefits! And if my hair can regrow then it might be possible I may require less grafts or NO GRAFTS at all because all my hair came back (this is wishful thinking)! That was my thought process. I've got the Fin right now, had it since last week, but I haven't taken it yet since I'd like to get some blood tests done first prior to starting. It's not necessary, but I feel like it'd be nice to have a baseline of my vitals before I start this medication.

I just went back to the first page to look over your photos. Your hair loss, while it's evident, it's not beyond saving with medical intervention. I would strongly suggest you reconsider Fin. I, myself, have abstained from Fin for the past 10 years due to the negative sides I would hear/read about, but had 0 firsthand experience with it. That being said, I intend on taking Fin only 3x a week as a precautionary way to avoid any potential negative sides. When you were on Fin, were you taking the full 1mg dosage every single day? If so, perhaps it's worth trying to get back on it but at a lower dosage/frequency. This way you can avoid any potential sides, such as the anxiety it caused. Also, why would your doctor say she doesn't recommend Fin or Min? I've never heard of any doctor flat out rejecting both forms of medication. They are the only 2 items that are proven to be effective against the fight in hair loss! I've been on Min for the past 6 years and while I don't think it's made a major difference, I don't have any major progression in my midscalp or crown either, so I do think it's at least help stabilize my hair loss. And yes, dermatologists are pretty common to see in regards to hair loss. It's quite possible you may be suffering from a skin condition and you may not actually be suffering from MPB, but based on your photos I would say that's probably not likely.

Hmm, interesting. Are you prone to panic attacks in general? I wasn't aware that Fin had the potential in provoke such things. At any rate, it seems that no amount of convincing or reasoning will get you to try Fin again, so we'll just leave it at that. In terms of a HT, whether or not it's worth it can't really be known until it's done, right? Because you may receive an awesome HT that looks great for a few years, however since balding is progressive we ultimately won't know if the HT will hold up in the long-term. So without medical intervention to help prevent or, at the very least, delay the onset of balding, it's really impossible to tell whether or not a transplant will be worth it. One of the main reasons I am considering Fin now is because a friend of mine posed a valid question: "what if you start losing your native hairs after the transplant???" I never really considered that and now that I've really thought about it, I was like: "damn, he's right!" If I continue to bald then that HT would almost be counterproductive because instead of being naturally bald, I now would have an unnatural grouping of hairs that still look thin! So if anything, I've essentially fucked myself up in the long run. Anyways, not trying to add more fear or doubt in your life, but these are things you really need to consider. So have an honest conversation with yourself about it and perhaps reassess the pros and cons of medical intervention versus surgical intervention. One is permanent, the other is not...

@PelazoVenAMi I just read your entire thread and I gotta say this is some incredible and inspirational stuff I'm seeing! I, myself, am about to embark on my own Finasteride journey after about a decade of ruling it out. So seeing how much progress you've made in under a year is extremely encouraging to me! Hopefully I will be able to document/chronicle a successful Finasteride journey myself! Congrats my friend! 😎

@rgm82 sorry to hear about the negative sides. May I ask what your dosage was and how frequently you were taking it? Perhaps all it takes is a simple tweak of one or both and your body may be able to tolerate Fin better without the sides. I say this because there are clearly millions of men out there who are taking Fin without those pesky sides. Everyone is different so no two people will respond exactly the same to the drug. So maybe in your case you just need a lower amount. Just some food for thought. Also, to answer your question. I've been on Minoxidil only for the past 6 years and my front hair line has continued to progressively thin out whereas my mid scalp and crown have held up quite well. I obviously have no basis of comparison, but I genuinely do feel that without Minoxidil my mid scalp and crown would probably be thinner. So while not a game changer, it has helped me maintain what I do have or at the very least slowed down the miniaturization process. I would still continue Minoxidil if I were you. Anything helps!

I haven't started my Fin journey yet, I'm waiting on getting on blood test done first (which I'm hoping will happen by next week). But for you, I would recommend staying on the same dosage for the next 2 months, so this way at the half year mark (6 months) you can do a proper assessment. Also in the next 2 months perhaps your hair growth cycle will have kicked in and you'll recover those hairs you have shed. May I ask why your dosage is only 0.5mg as opposed to the recommended 1mg? Are you cutting your pills in half or were you prescribed the half dosage?

I've got my own hesitations about Fin as well. We all do and it's totally normal. In order to quell my fears I've decided I'm only going to take it 3x a week as opposed to every single day. But for you to outright say you already KNOW you would get sides seems a bit overdramatic. The only thing we know for certain is if left medically untreated you WILL continue to lose hair. Even with a transplant there's no guarantee you won't continue to lose your native hairs, which is why a drug like Finasteride is so crucial to your battle with hair loss. Ultimately it's your choice to make, but just keep in mind hair loss is progressive and will continue regardless if you do or don't take Fin.

I was originally going to go down the NO FIN route too and just get the HT done. However a friend warned me that a friend of his who received a HT a year ago is in a dire situation because his native hairs in the recipient area is now miniaturizing and falling out so his hair is back to looking thin again. He doesn't have exact details, but based on what's happening to him I'd venture to say he probably isn't on Fin. That being said, after hearing this I knew Fin would eventually be in my life sooner or later. So with that, I've decided to start it BEFORE my HT to see how I respond to it. Because at the very least I could have a very pleasant surprise and regrow some hair and thus require less grafts later on. Hopefully no sides! 🤞

Compared to what your hair was like before, it's quite an improvement. But yes, I would have to agree with you that the density is not great considering the amount of grafts you received in the front hair line. Unfortunately you may want to consider going in for additional grafts, but perhaps with a different doctor.

Okay, great. Thanks! I've got pretty good insurance too so hopefully it won't cost me too much.

Hey @giegnosiganoe, just to follow up, did your insurance cover the cost for these tests? Or did you have to pay a hefty out-of-pocket price tag for it? Just wanna get a rough idea of how much something like this would cost before I pull the trigger on it. Thanks!

That's interesting to hear you suffered from insomnia and not some sexual side effect. I wasn't even aware insomnia could be a potential side effect. Anyways, I have no personal experience with topical Fin, however from what I've been consistently seeing in my research is that the topical version doesn't seem to have any of those pesky negative sides. Granted these are only anecdotal and not backed by science, but the general consensus is that it's free of sides.

I nearly started a topic myself with the same question so I'm glad I did a search, but I am a bit discouraged to see no one answered this question. Part of me is hoping I would be spared of any potential shedding since I've already gone through that with Minoxidil, however would I theoretically experience shedding on Finasteride since it's a different element I'm introducing to my body? I'm inclined to say yes, but for those who are Fin pros, what say you?

Hey @hairlossPA just been following your journey and was hoping if you might be able to provide a 1 year update? We're all rooting for ya bud! 😎