MissMyLongHair

On 8/8/2022 at 3:37 PM, AlexMeister21 said:

For anyone curious of Jimcraig's final results, he posted it here on Reddit. Doesn't look too good.

 

Why was the link to the final result on reddit removed? OP ended up with a very unnatural looking hairline.

OP has better hair at 35 than I did at 15. Surgery should be last resort, I wouldn't do it in your case.

Sorry if this isn't immediately relevant, but do you take 2 pills of Dutasteride a day or get it compounded, and did a doc prescribe that?

0.5mg Dutasteride daily if you truly believe Finasteride isn't halting the loss. 2.5-5mg oral minoxidil will help too.

You are too young OP, I am 21 so I know your pain. I have been on Fin/Dut for 4 years collectively, and I think you need to strongly consider hopping on Finasteride ASAP if you want to maintain your hair. I've done a lot of research on transplants myself and I'm still not sure whether I'd get one even at 25, surgery should always be last resort. There is a lot to consider and research. Surgery is always a gamble. That's why you need to maximise your chances of success in every way possible, meds, elite doc etc.

Take a look at this video, you do not want to end up like this:

29 minutes ago, thebullyeagle said:

ye but my parents are pretty stubborn and they wont budge until they see me go like 99% bald.

That's rough, it will definitely be too late by then. If you have the money you could just buy it from the local drug store as it is OTC medication. When I was 17 I was doing online surveys to pay for my monthly Finasteride lol. My parents weren't supportive at all, in fact they still aren't however I am 21 now and have a greater degree of financial independence fortunately.

1 hour ago, thebullyeagle said:

cuz its not tested for people under 18 so my parents dont want me using it 

"Data on the use of minoxidil topical solution in
adolescents with AGA was assessed retrospectively
in the survey of 84 clinicians described earlier in
this report (Table 2). 20 Mean age at treatment ini-
tiation in this population of 448 boys and girls was
15.6 years (Table 3). At the time of the survey,
minoxidil topical solution had been used for approx-
imately 18 months. Overall, of the 373 patients
whose response to treatment was known, 95%
responded to treatment; more than 50% had
improvement in scalp coverage, and more than
40% had slowing of further hair thinning. Approx-
imately 5% of the 373 patients did not respond to
minoxidil therapy. Minoxidil topical solution was
well tolerated, with adverse reactions consisting primarily of itching and mild scalp irritation. Based
on these findings, minoxidil topical solution
appears to be an effective and well-tolerated treat-
ment for adolescents with AGA."

Page 119

https://cdn.mdedge.com/files/s3fs-public/Document/September-2017/071020115.pdf

Topical minoxidil is your best bet until you are old enough to take Finasteride.

Oral minoxidil 5mg may be worth considering

Nope.

Sorry, but as far as I am aware there is no "natural" method to halt or significantly slow down androgenic alopecia. You'll find no shortage of snake oil peddlers willing to tell you otherwise though. Topical minoxidil and microneedling are your best options right now. Diet only matters insofar as whether you are malnourished or not. Eating healthy is always good, however it won't prevent male pattern baldness if you are genetically predisposed to it.

I started receding at 15, meaning I probably started losing at 13-14 too. Hopped on Finasteride at 17 and it might well have saved my life. Now 21 and hair is still maintaining. Just sharing my experience.

I think once you are 18 or fully grown OP, you should hop on Finasteride ASAP, provided this is in fact AGA. Hopefully topical or oral minoxidil can hold the line in the mean time.

Can I ask how long you have been on Dutasteride for @Vann?

4 hours ago, 5BetaReductase said:

I’ll echo most of what the other posters have said. I’ll add that most reputable surgeons will not consider you a candidate at your age.

 

for my example, I began losing my hair young too. My hair was definitely different at 30 vs 23 even though I was on treatments.

Can I ask how it changed over those 7 years? You were on Finasteride I presume?

Thanks for the responses everyone, I will avoid surgery till I'm 25+.

On 6/8/2022 at 5:44 PM, Eugenix Hair Sciences said:

Can you share some pictures of your scalp here? We would give you a detailed evaluation thereafter.

https://imgur.com/a/cEsyH5x

1 hour ago, Etownone said:

If you don't mind me asking.

Are you taking topical or oral dutasteride,   and how much? 

Thanks. 

I have been taking 0.5mg oral dutasteride daily, no side effects. I do not like topicals, as they are a hassle. I was actually going to quote you on the thread about meds when I saw your message here, lol. Can I ask why Dr Mwamba put you on 10mg oral min daily? Is it because you are also using it for hypertension and thus killing two birds with one stone? Tempted to go higher than 5mg daily myself, but I'm only 63kg so may not be the brightest idea.

6 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Your hair looks perfectly normal. Are you on any medication to prevent hair loss?

Hi Melvin, yes I started Finasteride at 17 and switched to Dutasteride 16 months ago for peace of mind. I am also on Oral Minoxidil 5mg daily. I am nearly 21 now and the meds halted my loss.

I want a ponytail though and my right temple makes me look 35. I suppose I could try tying it back in a way which covers the recession until I am old enough for a transplant.

Because I've been watching Dr. Lorenzo's YouTube videos and he seems to be willing to operate on this demographic with great results. I know most surgeons won't operate on someone under 25, but if a reputable surgeon such as Lorenzo is willing to take on these cases, would it really be that poor of an idea to get my hairline and right temple refined in a few years (e.g. at 23), considering I am stabilised on Dutasteride? 

I've linked three cases below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6KrRqyJWAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkKNR0cKaDw

https://imgur.com/a/oDHqtbf

I want to grow out my hair and be able to wear an alice band without feeling self conscious. Let me know if it currently looks horrendous though, in which case I may consider cutting it.

Thank you

Looking at your pattern, I believe you could benefit greatly from Oral Minoxidil 2.5 or 5mg daily.

33 minutes ago, Mike10 said:

I do not see any loss. Did any Dr diagnose hair loss? Or are you self diagnosing and medicating? 

I diagnosed it.

13 minutes ago, Mike10 said:

You do not even have hair loss ! Are you self medicating or have you been properly diagnosed with MPB by a doctor?  

There's definitely loss, although I suppose the average age of users here is a bit older so perhaps they don't consider it quite as noticeable. In all honesty, I did lie about my age in order to get my hands on Finasteride at 17. I had no income at the time and was earning peanuts doing online surveys just to pay for my monthly supply, stressful times haha.

The Dutasteride is prescribed from a legitimate online pharmacy here in the UK, the Oral Min I purchase from a grey market pharmacy. Not ideal, however I cannot afford the consultation and prescription costs from legitimate dermatologists/transplant surgeons.

4 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

Keep taking the meds and hopefully retaining and then reassess in a few years. The Clinics/Drs are giving you the right advice here. Any ht will not match your original density as your probably aware, and you would also have the shock loss risk factor. Most ethical clinics will not do any work until your at least around 25, this does allow enough time to see if you keep maintaining on meds and will give a idea of where your heading if not. 

Thanks, I am indeed aware transplants don't replicate native density (admittedly I wasn't aiming for that with the temple, just some coverage for a youthful appearance), however the potential for shock loss slipped my mind. I'll just wait it out as everyone has advised, though if things stay the same I reckon I may not even want a transplant in the future. I've had this recession since 15 and it has remained the exact same since then thanks to medication, however I've also become more comfortable with it - some times I don't even bother with the mini-combover. Provided it doesn't progress perhaps I'll become more content with it as I age.

I am 20 years old, took Finasteride for 2.5 years, from ages 17-19. Switched to Dutasteride 0.5 mg daily 14 months ago for stronger prevention. Added Oral Min 2.5mg daily 2 months ago. Hair has maintained well, no significant regrowth however.

I've consulted with a few surgeons and been told by all who replied (Farjo, Konior, Bloxham, Bisanga) that surgery would be an unwise decision as it is impossible to know how much I will lose in the future and because in my message to them I wrote I do not want to have more than 1-2 transplants in my life. I also believe without Dutasteride I'd be destined for a Norwood 6-7 by age 30 if not younger, looking at my male relatives and considering the fact I started receding at 15.

However, if I were willing to commit to more than just 1-2 surgeries in my life, would it still be a bad idea to transplant around 500 grafts to the right temple? Would it be unreasonable to expect I'd only need one surgery a decade if further loss occurred? I'm not sure I could emotionally and financially deal with a new surgery every 3-4 years. I also plan to increase my Dutasteride dosage up to 2.5mg as I get older if necessary to ensure I don't lose any more native hair.

My goal is to be able to grow my hair to shoulder length again without this unpleasant right temple recession (for a 20 year old). I've taken a brief look at frontal hairpieces too, however I wouldn't feel comfortable wearing one.

Thanks for your help.