Falling apart here

[JayM]

Fellas, I feel like I'm hitting rock bottom these days. My hair loss has really accelerated and it just looks shockingly bad. The patchy sort, thick on the sides, with a thin top and multiple bald spots around the crown. I want to shave it all off and just go with the skinhead look but I can't because of the huge donor scar in back. My head looks like shit and here I am in a career switch mode and having to go to job interviews in mid-town Manhattan and make a first impression on people.

 

It seemed up until a few months ago it was all manageable and looked alright. I had gotten an HT back in '02 for the very front part of my head. I knew the middle and crown would thin away, but it seemed to get really bad all at once. I used Minoxidil, but I guess not religous enough. Now I'm down to using concealers, but on top of what? Just some scraps up there. Even the transplant area looks kind of thin. I'm pondering more HTs and yeah, if I was made of money I would be in there in a flash. I need to start interviewing in the next week or so. Cue those violins man...This really sucks...It's falling apart up there.

[JayM]

Fellas, I feel like I'm hitting rock bottom these days. My hair loss has really accelerated and it just looks shockingly bad. The patchy sort, thick on the sides, with a thin top and multiple bald spots around the crown. I want to shave it all off and just go with the skinhead look but I can't because of the huge donor scar in back. My head looks like shit and here I am in a career switch mode and having to go to job interviews in mid-town Manhattan and make a first impression on people.

 

It seemed up until a few months ago it was all manageable and looked alright. I had gotten an HT back in '02 for the very front part of my head. I knew the middle and crown would thin away, but it seemed to get really bad all at once. I used Minoxidil, but I guess not religous enough. Now I'm down to using concealers, but on top of what? Just some scraps up there. Even the transplant area looks kind of thin. I'm pondering more HTs and yeah, if I was made of money I would be in there in a flash. I need to start interviewing in the next week or so. Cue those violins man...This really sucks...It's falling apart up there.

[Robert_]

JayM,

 

These are the ups and downs. First things first, we gotta get you out of this self-pity thing. It doesn't help the situation. The sooner you take an objective, no-nonsense approach to your hairloss, the better.

 

Second, how is your hair style? Is it short? Slightly long? Maybe it's time for a change. Sometimes all it takes is a new hairstyle to make you feel like a million bucks again. Don't go to your regular person, either. Splurge on this one. You need your confidence and appearance intact for these forthcoming interviews.

 

You say that you weren't diligent with the minox. Before you start up on it again, consider realistically how diligent you will be on it in the future. If you don't see yourself applying it consistently you will only be shooting yourself in the foot and setting yourself up for dissapointment.

 

Are you on finasteride? No doubt you have considered it.

 

Keep your head up. Thinning isn't the worst that can happen. What concealers are you using? Some work better than others and some are more efficient for different types of thinning types than others.

 

Good luck and dont let it get to you so bad. We've all been there and we all have our ways of dealing with it but you sound like you have bigger fish to fry with these interviews coming up. Don't let a little thing like thinning hair get in the way of you and your future.

 

-Robert

[mr invisible]

jaym, how many grafts did you have transplanted and how come you choose not to be on propecia??

[Kez]

I don't know how old you are mate, but it might be possible for you to follow the route I did. It takes some patience and acceptance, but it was OK for me.

 

When I started losing hair it upset me as much as it does most of us, but I accepted it, and simply cut my hair short, since I feel the worst thing is to be thin on top & hairy elsewhere - like these bald blokes with long hair/beards - ugh.

 

Time passed, and I got to the point where I was completely bald on top - what's called a "Norwood 5" on the scale of baldness.

At this point, I felt, since the top was now completely bald, it can't get worse, so I came here, did the research, and selected an HT physician, and had 3,500 grafts done.

In the year since, I've seen the grafts grow, and problem solved.

 

It takes patience and forebearance to wait until you're "really bald", but IMHO you can then do a big job "once and for all" rather than messing with partial solutions when you're less than "completely bald".

[JayM]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm guessing, to some extant and to some degree, all of us on this site have felt the way I do. I wouldn't mind so much if my MPB was in better pattern....I've used Toppik for a little while now and just got some Kerasome. My hair has thinned out on top so much, I don't really think these are even worth it. And this Kerasome stuff is pretty nasty.

 

Robert, your suggestion about hair style is a good one, but there's not really much I can do. The scar in back from my HT prevents anything really short. I had about 1600 grafts back in 92. I don't know, for a couple years there everything was good. I was happy with the HT and my thinning was alright. I got married and thankfully all my wedding photos look pretty good hairwise. I tried Propecia about five years ago, but felt some uncomfortable side effects. Maybe I should have stuck it out....

 

Kez, 3500 grafts would suit me well I suppose. But man, that's a lot of cash. I hear your point about holding out as well. We'll see I guess.

 

Thanks again guys.

[baldcasanova]

let me just add that i know what you are saying...

 

take a look at my pics from my surgery ..im stressin out too --no hair up top and using toppik to conceal. it looks like shit but im am holding out hope it will start growing back soon, although i know it will, eventually

[tymman]

Jaym-

 

Yes we have ALL felt that same way!! I'm in the same boat as CASS. I had an HT and it sucks waiting for the results, even kinda scary. But like Robert is saying - KEEP THE SHINNY SIDE UP If you use Porpecia and or Minoxidil, KEEP ON IT. It seems more hair falls when you stop, hence the warning on both products!!

 

You had an HT done a few years ago... Times and techniques have changed! Also I wasn't able to pay for my HT from my pocket - I got a loan with a co-signer!! But none the less I got my HT and use Propecia & Minoxidil every day!

 

Shinny Side Up

[arfy]

If you are one of the unlucky few who get side effects from Propecia, lots of guys say they go away after a little while. Sometimes you can ride it out.

 

Another option is to lower your dose... take a half Propecia every day, or take a whole one every other day. Or even a half, on every other day. Benfits from Propecia are still seen at lower doses, and there is some evidence that side effects are lower at lower doses.

 

Really the thing to do is talk about this with your doctor, but reducing the dose has reportedly worked for lots of guys who got side effects.