What's YOUR situation?

[Marvin]

It might be interesting to have a single thread here where everybody can explain who they are and what their situation is.

 

I'm 23 years old, about to turn 24. I've been losing hair since freshman year of high school, albeit very slowly. Currently, I'm a late-stage NW2. My hairline is the classic NW2 hairline, though you can see miniaturization at the temples. There is noticeable miniaturization on my crown, but it has not yet coalesced into a proper bald spot. Rather, the back of my head looks as if there's a middle-part there.

 

My father is in his mid-50's and an advanced NW5, with NW6 knocking on the door. Based on pictures I've seen of him, I can tell that he was a NW2 when he graduated high school, and that he was a Norwood 3v or 4 in his early 30's. I have a picture of him playing tennis where you can see a prominent bald spot, but his hairline seems far more intact. My maternal grandfather, who is deceased and whom I only have vague memories of, appeared to be no more than a NW5 at the time of his death.

 

In my family, on both sides, pretty much all of the men have substantial hairloss. But they are all NW5's; there are no NW7's that I know of and the only NW6 married into the family and thus isn't related to me by blood. I often wonder whether having tons of NW5 genes mean that I am fated to be an NW5, or if they "compound" and will result in me becoming a NW7.

 

I've been taking Propecia since April 2009, so it has been almost a year. I'm not sure if it worked or not (I was losing hair rather slowly already) but I haven't had too many adverse side effects. Things haven't gotten noticeably worse.

 

Then again, I understand that for a lot of people, age 24-25 is when things really start to go bad. So maybe that will be the real test.

 

How about you?

[Telepinu]

Started balding probably around 17-18... not sure, I was 19 when one day I came out of the shower and my mom noticed that my hair was receding on my sides. She said it so nonchalantly yet that completely leveled me. I nearly cried that night (something that had not happened since I was like 13-4). Since then my front has continued to recede and now my top has thinned to a good extent... thankfully my height makes it rare for people to see my top... lol. At 22, goin 23 in a few months I must be between a NWII and NWIII. I just got on propecia last month after over a year of worrying about it. Im hoping it will restore some of my top, if only a little and keep my back for a future possible transplant.

 

As per my family, I have said it to others. At any family gathering, you can point out 80% or so of the men by pointing out the bald heads. My father, his father, and most other family members have extensive baldness. My grandfather on my mother's side is someone who went totally NW7 by his 50s while my dad is around a NW6 (he saved an extensive amount of loose hair on his top, its very weird). Many others also have extensive recessions up to NW5-6s.

 

Interestingly enough there are plenty of family members who began balding yet seemed to have petered off at a 2 (both uncles). Their hair looks thin but its not longer being lost. Unfortunately I cannot see that as my future.