22yrs old, losing hair, not taking finasteride, considering HT

[RedDevil89]

Hi all,

 

I'm hoping you all can weigh in on my dilemma here...

 

I'm 22 years old and first noticed my hairline receding when I was 17 years old. I've been using Rogaine for the past four years or so (1x daily, at night, occasionally in the AM). I tried finasteride a month or two ago for a week but began noticing side effects (reduced sex drive, reduced/watery semen) so I stopped using it. The prospect of permanent side effects also scare the crap out of me and I'm not sure how much credence I give the recently released study claiming there are no permanent side effects. I'm beginning to reconsider finasteride as many people have had excellent results with it but I remain cautious.

 

My current hair is pretty similar to my father and uncle, both of whom are in their late 50s. Based on the pics I've seen of him as a young man, my father had a similar hairline to how mine is now (high w/ recession at temples). His hair has only really begun thinning further in the past few years, but is still a 3V. My head shape and natural hairline have always resulted in a fairly large forehead but the recession/thinning at the temples combined with the thinning at the front have become noticeable. My hair loss has really played games with my confidence and self-esteem these past few years and I find myself constantly thinking about it, jealous of men with full heads of hair and bitter about my own situation.

 

So here is my dilemma... do I roll the dice on my genetics and go for ~1800 grafts up front? I would be going for a "mature" headline, basically filling in the frontal areas that are thinning now. I am prepared for a future HT(s) to cover up additional loss. I'm okay with where my crown is now (it looks fine as long as keep my hair trimmed) and I have the skin coloar and hair color/type/texture etc that lends itself to coverage.

 

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Man I know that propecia scares the crap out of some people...if I could go back to 22 I would take it for the next 50 years. No questions asked! But, I certainly understand your dilemma. Basically in my opinion you have two choices..1. Get on finasteride for a while and make sure your hair loss is stabilized..or 2..Wait 5,7,or even 10 years before you have a transplant and stay off the meds..

Either way, I think you are too young to have a transplant with no finasteride in your future!

[richie48]

Hi bud

 

From your pics I would say you are suffering from male pattern baldness , more so at the front . I also worry you are trying to convince yourself this will not happen , buddy will have all tried to do the exact same thing , it's called denial and I don't blame you at all , I did it and so has every other balding guy in the universe .

 

Also you have to understand that our hair is finite , so it transplantable follicals will run out if we don't plan this from day one , your crown looks ok now , but you can never ever tell the future .....

 

Newhairplease is spot on with his post , you have to try finasteride again and assess it over atleast a year , it's no good doing it for a few months , there could be anxiety and pshycological issues about using the med that have caused your sexual problems .

 

Give it time for you to become relaxed about using it and really be honest with yourself whether it is physical or phsycological , whether you are just starting a relationship , finishing or even during a period of feeling down after a break up these can often cause men sexual difficulties and many have grand ideas of hts and meds to win back the girls , due to this we always put stress on ourselves , I know you have made no reference to any of the above but most sexual disfunction is due to anxiety , and not the meds .

 

Give it atleast 12 months of trial , reduce dosage , change how often you take it , exhaust all this first because having hair transplantation surgery is risky without being on meds due to future loss , looking at family members is all we have in terms of determining where our hair loss will or could go , but even this is far from accurate .

 

Get on finasteride , assess if you can continue to use it , then spend the the next year researching about the limitations of hair surgery , then ,and only if you can continue with the meds look into having a hair transplant in the future , atleast till you are mid to late 20s .

 

22 is too young and many of the top , most ethical surgeons will advice you to wait , I have put a link to a thread I posted on recently about meds and hts , please take a look and check out all the links , it will help you with your research .

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/163780-fut-fue-uk.html

 

Good luck

richie

[RedDevil89]

Thanks for the responses richie & newhairplease. You have a good point with the propecia side effects being potentially psychological... same with the grand ideas. I think I will continue monitoring for another year or two to see where my hair loss goes. Also considering talking to a therapist because it is definitely not realistic to expect a HT to solve all anxiety problems concerning appearance, girls, etc. Thanks again.

[richie48]

RedDevil

 

Thankyou for you vey honest reply , guys all too often come on here and ask advice , if that advice is not what they want to hear then the option is to ignore and dismiss .

 

Many of the veteran posters on HTN offer advice from knowing all the pitfalls and highs of HTs and hair loss .

 

It was refreshing to hear your honest reply and re-affirmed my faith at passing on my experience , many thanks .

 

I really do hope you find what you are looking for in life bud , good luck

 

richie

[beardywierdy]

Red Devil

 

Sorry to hear about your plight, mate. Hair loss is devasting at any age but it seems all that more acute in younger guys. I started losing at around 24 but slowly and I had a HT at 38, so you never know, all is not lost. As the guys said, you will need to be on meds if you are to consider a HT in the future - it's a sad fact and I know that it is daunting, thinking about medication for what is effectively the rest of your life. I have been on finisteride since 2002 and had no noticable sides and fathered a baby girl, but you have to weigh up the cost/benefits for yourself

 

I know that some guys have FUE to restore the hairline and front 1/3 and then keep it very, very short so you almost have the illusion of a full head of hair, albeit very short - that might be an option in the future - Think Jason Statham but a bit more hair.

 

Good luck!

[MyNameIsRich]

Your hairloss is some what apparent, I'll admit but if what you're saying about your fathers side of the family is true - It's very likely that in the big picture, you'll still be a dude with a 'head of hair' and not the text book bald guy.

How is male pattern baldness on your mothers side of the tree?

 

My advice is to stay on Rogaine, you can get 3 month supplies cheap if you use online sources, even if its just ebay...and give Finasteride another shot. I've recently started taking Finpecia (Generic propecia) and they advice you to start with just one pill in the first week, upping your dosage over 7 weeks before you are on a daily dosage of 1mg (one pill) a day.

I'm on my 4th week now and have had no side effects what so ever, and after a lot of research and questioning people who are on the drugs; I really don't think theres much to worry about. Side effects ARE rare, they aren't permanent and there are people out there on the net who will speak negatively about things because they are either uninformed, or just trying to scare people.

 

 

Try the drugs and see how it goes over the next year or so... before you know it, you'll be in your late 20s, no doubt there will be advances in hair restoration, drugs and transplantations and you will be able to make a much more informed decision.

[mahhong]

If I'm totally honest I would say, given your relatively minimal level of loss at the moment, a hair transplant at 22 is inadvisable with or without medication. I would also not necessarily agree that you HAVE to be on finasteride to consider a transplant - but there are some major considerations to think about if you're not.

 

I think for men in their 20s (especially early 20s) hair transplantation should only really be considered in exceptional circumstances and as part of a major long term plan. Even on medication, it's practically impossible to imagine a man in his 20s will only need one HT in his lifetime. To my eyes your current hairloss pattern is very difficult to establish; you could be nearly finished balding (unlikely but possible), or you could be heading for a NW7 (again, unlikely). In truth you'll probably be somewhere in the middle of those two. Although your family history suggests the possibility you may not advance much further, this is something that simply cannot be known and only time can tell.

 

I haven't had a HT but I too tried finasteride and also had side effects to the point where I wasn't comfortable taking the medication - certainly not for the rest of my life. I gave finasteride two trials (one around 3 months, the other around 6 weeks) and messed with the dosage a bit, but ultimately couldn't get rid of the side effects whilst taking the drug and decided to stop. Whether these effects were psychosomatic or caused by other factors I'll never know I guess - but I'm 28 now and if I'm fortunate to have another 60 or even 70 years ahead of me I don't want to be taking finasteride for all or even most of them!

 

You can have a HT without finasteride, but as other posters have mentioned, the risks are higher and the commitment to multiple procedures and using most if not all your donor hair is much greater. In addition, if you are going to have a HT without finasteride, doing it in your 20s is almost certainly not a good idea. You need to have a much clearer idea of the extent and pattern of your loss and what you can realistically expect to achieve with your available donor. Let's not forget, though, finasteride is a drug that slows down hairloss - it isn't going to stop it permanently and it's likely that in a decade or a few decade's time even on finasteride you'd likely see further loss and the possibility of multiple procedures. I don't say this to be anti-finasteride - clearly it's the best drug we have against hairloss, but I just wanted to give the other side of the equation and say it isn't impossible to have a HT without drugs, just a bigger commitment and a greater risk that requires a more brutal and frank understanding of what you can expect, what you will need to do and the results you can hope for.

 

In answer to your question though, tempting as it may be I would not go for the 1800 up front right now. It's just too much of a risk in my opinion. Frustrating as it may be you may just end up chasing your hairloss for the rest of your 20s and still losing the battle. Hairloss in young men is always difficult to approach because it could so easily progress and progress and often does. I was about 25/26 when I first started to notice my hair going and I'm 28 now and even that's probably still too young to be seriously considering a HT in my current state (especially without drugs). Maybe in a few year's time I'll be at a point where I can start to really see what I'm up against and make a proper decision on the next phase going forward.

 

That having been said it still might not hurt to speak to a hair restoration doctor (a good one) and get an opinion. It's pro-active and they'll know more about your options short term and long term. I would feel a hypocrite telling you to get back on the meds not being on them myself but if you're happy to, I would give them another go. Side effects do sometimes disappear after a few weeks/months. It's obviously a lifetime commitment though, so I do understand the dilemma.

 

Hope you find a suitable way through it all!

[dalabera]

Your definitely better that other guys out there. Ej. I know someone that at your age was almost bold and decided to shave his head.

Based on your family history you need to take care of your hair. Use minoxidil, use special shampoo to wash your hair frequently, drink your vitamins and give another try to your options.

It's too early to do a HT, but again is your call. Good luck