The beginning of the end :(

[Pale_Rider]

Hello,

I am a new guy here... I am 24 years old and I am from Croatia, Europe... I?‚??ve found this site and lots of useful info. and advices...:top: Almost a year passed since I had thick hair and then it all went downhill few months ago, my hair started falling out and now I?‚??ve got really rare hair on my scalp... My grandfather(on my mothers side) had hair like Elvis all of his life, thick black hair, my other grandfather was bald but in his late sixties, my father lost a little hair in his fifties and I am losing my hair in early 20 really fast and progressive... I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, I am not using any supplements(protein shakes, creatine powders etc. nor steroids or something like that) but I am concerned if I caught any fungus infection in the showers or my hair fell off because I washed it too often, or it is just genetics... Here is mine scalp and hair(what?‚??s left of it)...

 

 

 

[Pale_Rider]

Hello,

I am a new guy here... I am 24 years old and I am from Croatia, Europe... I?‚??ve found this site and lots of useful info. and advices...:top: Almost a year passed since I had thick hair and then it all went downhill few months ago, my hair started falling out and now I?‚??ve got really rare hair on my scalp... My grandfather(on my mothers side) had hair like Elvis all of his life, thick black hair, my other grandfather was bald but in his late sixties, my father lost a little hair in his fifties and I am losing my hair in early 20 really fast and progressive... I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, I am not using any supplements(protein shakes, creatine powders etc. nor steroids or something like that) but I am concerned if I caught any fungus infection in the showers or my hair fell off because I washed it too often, or it is just genetics... Here is mine scalp and hair(what?‚??s left of it)...

 

 

 

[hoose]

it looks like you have Male Pattern Baldness; I think at your age and your diffuse pattern of hair loss, you would be an excellent candidate for Proscar and Minoxidil; the combination may regrow some hair and will at least stabalize/slow down your hair loss; if you can stabalize your hair loss, you could be a candidate for a hair transplant when you preferable get older

[thanatopsis_awry]

I concur; also, look into nanogen and/or dermmatch.

[Pale_Rider]

Originally posted by dhoose75:

it looks like you have Male Pattern Baldness; I think at your age and your diffuse pattern of hair loss, you would be an excellent candidate for Proscar and Minoxidil; the combination may regrow some hair and will at least stabalize/slow down your hair loss; if you can stabalize your hair loss, you could be a candidate for a hair transplant when you preferable get older

 

I?‚??ve calculated a lot about that... Finasteride dutasteride, minoxidil etc. and I am wondering about the longterm using side effects, some people said that finasteride affected their potency??? some said that it can cause cancer... I came here to hear what can users who use those products for a long time tell about side effects if they had any etc... The only way to save hair 100% is castration but that?‚??s extreme and pointless... Only thing that comforts me is gene therapy that looks promising, but I bet there is going to be years and years when it comes to practice, if I were in the USA I?‚??ve would have volunteered to those hair tests... http://science.howstuffworks.com/baldness-gene.htm

[Pale_Rider]

When it?‚??s a right age to transplant hair??? I am 24 now, my condition can be seen on the photos I posted at the beginning of the topic...

[hoose]

palerider,

 

There is no hard and fast answer on when the right time is; yes there are individuals on this site who had HT's in their early 20's; as a general rule though, that is not the ideal time; mainly, you want to make sure your hair loss has stabalized before you get a HT; at 24, chances are you are going to loss more hair in the future; IMO, I would get on finasteride and wait at a few years to see if it stabalizes your hair loss; with your diffuse pattern the finasteride/minoxidil combo may make a big differance; I have had no side effects with finasteride; for the most part the side effects are rare/miniscule;

[Pale_Rider]

Originally posted by dhoose75:

palerider,

 

There is no hard and fast answer on when the right time is; yes there are individuals on this site who had HT's in their early 20's; as a general rule though, that is not the ideal time; mainly, you want to make sure your hair loss has stabalized before you get a HT; at 24, chances are you are going to loss more hair in the future; IMO, I would get on finasteride and wait at a few years to see if it stabalizes your hair loss; with your diffuse pattern the finasteride/minoxidil combo may make a big differance; I have had no side effects with finasteride; for the most part the side effects are rare/miniscule;

 

I?‚??ll take finasteride and minoxidil combo and see if it will stabilize(keeping my fingers crossed) some iron and green tea supplements should be able to lower that DHT bastard I hope ... What Minoxidil is good to use 2% or 5%???

[Dr. Timothy Carman]

Pale_Rider;

Welcome to the HTN.

I concur with the comments above- at your age the most proactive behavior you could engage in to control your hair loss would be to

1.) Get on finasteride (less expensive to ask your HT surgeon for Proscar 5mg, and break that tab into 1/4's and take 1/4 tab (=1.25mg) per day;

2.) Begin minoxidil (Foam is less "greasy"), and I would recommend the 5%. If you experience redness and irritation, you could go down to the 2%, but that would be the exception (redness and irritation).

 

Regarding finasteride and male sexual function:

You might experience sexual side effects (decreased libido, less stiff "stiffies", etc....) HOWEVER:

Libido is a funny thing- if a woman says the wrong thing it could be all over, you know? I tell my patients that if I give them a vitamin tablet, and tell them to take it, stating, "It might screw with your mojo" , that 50% of them will go home and experience sexual side effects! The male psyche and sexual performance are not a simple

result of hormones alone. That said, at your age, and in normal good health, I WOULD BE VERY SURPRISED IF YOU EXPERIENCED ANY SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS AT ALL.

That said, if you did, I would be very suspicious that it was physiologically based (due to decreasing DHT alone), and I would continue for another couple of weeks. If it was just your psyche messing with you, then once you take the med as a habit (kind of mindlessly taking the med as a part of your daily routine) you may find that all goes back to normal. At any rate, any physiologically based side effects would dissipate within two weeks of stopping the medication.

Finasteride does not cause cancer, actually just the opposite. Studies have shown that men taking 1 mg of finasteride/day have a DECREASED incidence of low and medium grade tumors of the prostate. Now THERE"S a side effect!!!!

To complete, you should wait at least one year to allow these meds to work before getting an eval to consider a hair restoration procedure.

Hope that helps-

Sincerely,

[Pale_Rider]

Originally posted by Dr. Timothy Carman:

Pale_Rider;

Welcome to the HTN.

I concur with the comments above- at your age the most proactive behavior you could engage in to control your hair loss would be to

1.) Get on finasteride (less expensive to ask your HT surgeon for Proscar 5mg, and break that tab into 1/4's and take 1/4 tab (=1.25mg) per day;

2.) Begin minoxidil (Foam is less "greasy"), and I would recommend the 5%. If you experience redness and irritation, you could go down to the 2%, but that would be the exception (redness and irritation).

 

Regarding finasteride and male sexual function:

You might experience sexual side effects (decreased libido, less stiff "stiffies", etc....) HOWEVER:

Libido is a funny thing- if a woman says the wrong thing it could be all over, you know? I tell my patients that if I give them a vitamin tablet, and tell them to take it, stating, "It might screw with your mojo" , that 50% of them will go home and experience sexual side effects! The male psyche and sexual performance are not a simple

result of hormones alone. That said, at your age, and in normal good health, I WOULD BE VERY SURPRISED IF YOU EXPERIENCED ANY SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS AT ALL.

That said, if you did, I would be very suspicious that it was physiologically based (due to decreasing DHT alone), and I would continue for another couple of weeks. If it was just your psyche messing with you, then once you take the med as a habit (kind of mindlessly taking the med as a part of your daily routine) you may find that all goes back to normal. At any rate, any physiologically based side effects would dissipate within two weeks of stopping the medication.

Finasteride does not cause cancer, actually just the opposite. Studies have shown that men taking 1 mg of finasteride/day have a DECREASED incidence of low and medium grade tumors of the prostate. Now THERE"S a side effect!!!!

To complete, you should wait at least one year to allow these meds to work before getting an eval to consider a hair restoration procedure.

Hope that helps-

Sincerely,

 

Thanks, Doctor Carman... I didn?‚??t know that finasteride works positive on prostate tumors, that?‚??s a great plus for taking finasteride... I?‚??ve got one more question... I felt a small lump on the top of my head, I have it for a longer period of time, I believe it is a fatty tissue or something, it doesn?‚??t hurt, it is hard on the touch... I am not obese, I am an active sportsman, I don?‚??t smoke, I don?‚??t drink alcohol and I eat healthy... Can this lump be removed??? Thank you...

[Dr. Timothy Carman]

Pale_Rider-

Most benign "fatty" tumors (called "lipomas") are soft or "mushy", "rubbery"- rather than "hard" to the touch. Exactly how long has it been there?

I would suggest that you get an up close and personal eval, just to be sure-

[Pale_Rider]

Originally posted by Dr. Timothy Carman:

Pale_Rider-

Most benign "fatty" tumors (called "lipomas") are soft or "mushy", "rubbery"- rather than "hard" to the touch. Exactly how long has it been there?

I would suggest that you get an up close and personal eval, just to be sure-

 

It?‚??s there for about 2 years, it has always been hard on the touch... The color of the lump it the same as the skin... It is very small, my general practice doctor told me not to worry but I am confused now because lipomas should be soft not hard, maybe I need some specialist opinion???

[Dr. Timothy Carman]

Pale_Rider:

Your GP should be able to differentiate what needs followup vs what doesn't-

It can never hurt to get a second opinion from derm MD-

[Dewayne]

Pale_Rider,

 

I can't add to the excellent advice you've been given, but I will give you my personal experience from getting a transplant at the age of 25......be careful.

 

Luckily, my doc put the hairline about one-inch above where my then hairline was. But at 35+ my old hairline of course disappeared and the plugs started looking bad. I jumped into the transplant at 25 without consulting with anyone like my dad, brother-in-laws, etc. where I could get some solid advice.

 

Now, I don't know about the rest of you but at 25 I was still just a kid with the only difference being I had to earn my beer drinking money. Had I waited a few years I believe I would've made a better and different decision. Luckily for you the technology is much better if you go to the right doctor.

[Pale_Rider]

Originally posted by Dr. Timothy Carman:

Pale_Rider:

Your GP should be able to differentiate what needs followup vs what doesn't-

It can never hurt to get a second opinion from derm MD-

 

I thought so, some doctors aren?‚??t taking you serious until it?‚??s life threatening situation... Not to mention cosmetics, if it isn?‚??t seborrhea or something, "don?‚??t worry you look fine"...

[Pale_Rider]

Originally posted by Dewayne:

Pale_Rider,

 

I can't add to the excellent advice you've been given, but I will give you my personal experience from getting a transplant at the age of 25......be careful.

 

Luckily, my doc put the hairline about one-inch above where my then hairline was. But at 35+ my old hairline of course disappeared and the plugs started looking bad. I jumped into the transplant at 25 without consulting with anyone like my dad, brother-in-laws, etc. where I could get some solid advice.

 

Now, I don't know about the rest of you but at 25 I was still just a kid with the only difference being I had to earn my beer drinking money. Had I waited a few years I believe I would've made a better and different decision. Luckily for you the technology is much better if you go to the right doctor.

 

Thank you mr. Dewayne for sharing some of your life XP... So the best age for hair transplant would be around 30???

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by Pale_Rider:

Originally posted by Dewayne:

.

 

Thank you mr. Dewayne for sharing some of your life XP... So the best age for hair transplant would be around 30???

 

Well, I'd say at least 25 - 30. However, the internet has really revolutionized this field so you have a leg up on where I was in 1991. I'll say this, though, if you go with one of these you will get excellent advice, surgeries, etc. I'm sure there are more names, but I've found these drs. in my research here to be tops, in no particular order:

 

Cooley - North Carolina

Feller - New York

Shapiro - Minnesota

Charles - Florida

Alexander - Arizona

Carmen - California

Lindsey - Virginia

H&W - Canada

Nakitsue (sp?) - Canada

Rahal - Canada

Vogal - Maryland

Epstein - NY and Florida

 

I've left some great ones off, but those above are ones I'm most familiar with. I don't work in this industry, but I'm a financial advisor and pretty smart as far as common sense goes - if that's worth anything to you.

 

Because you are so young, make sure you are deliberate about choosing a surgeon.

[Pale_Rider]

I went to my doctor, he ordered a blood test to determine if my thyroid gland is working properly, and it came out that TSH hormone is higher 0.4??“4.5mU/L is normal(mine is 6.94)... Can this cause hairloss???? Other hormones were fine...

[Bill - Seemiller]

Pale_Rider,

 

Abnormal thyroid hormone levels can contribute to or cause hair loss. However, your loss looks a lot more like male pattern baldness.

 

What role if any your thyroid is playing in your hair loss, isn't something that can be determined on a hair loss forum - but the possibility exists.

 

Be sure to speak to your doctor in more detail about this, and considering seeing a specialist like a dermatologist or hair restoration specialist.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Amit Jain]

hi pale rider, I am facing same hair loss problem, if you found the right treatment please suggest me to

[Dr. Timothy Carman]

Pale-Rider-

TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is actually a hormone produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the thyroid to produce thyroid hormone.

If your TSH is "high", this means that it is working overtime to get your thyroid to produce, and this could indicate that you have Hypothyroidism, or are on the road to develop it in the future. Hairloss can occur secondary to hypothyroidism. Does it run in your family?

What are your T3 and T4 levels?

[Chuckisduck]

Hypothyroidism runs in the Croatian side of my family. Wonder if its common for Croatians have problems with it?

[Dr. Timothy Carman]

I don't know about the Croatian predisposition, but you should follow up with your MD to continue the workup-

[Pale_Rider]

No one in my family had problems with thyroid... I train physically very hard every day for the past 6 years, and I had tough exams when I did those tests, I was extremely nervous so maybe it affected my thyroid... My detailed thyroid test result:

 

TSH - 6.94 mIJ/L(normal: 0.3-5.0)

 

FT4 - 17.05 pmol/L(normal: 10.0-25.0)

 

FT3 - 5.1 pmol/L(normal: 2.2-6.8)

 

I also had trichogramma test here are results...

 

Anagen: 21%

 

Catagen: 55%

 

Telogen: Early stage: 10%

Late stage: 14%

[Pale_Rider]

Originally posted by Amit Jain:

hi pale rider, I am facing same hair loss problem, if you found the right treatment please suggest me to

 

Heh... Not at the moment, I am waiting for the cure like the rest of the mortals. Maybe one day I choose HT. When did you started loosing hair???