Am I a lost cause?

[Kieran2020]

Hi everyone,

 

I'll make this short and easy to read as this is my first post - I've been diffuse thinning since 18 years old, and decided to take finasteride 1mg from around 19 (I am now 24 turning 25 shortly).

 

I have attached images to the post so you can see the progress of my hair loss, the first image that has 4 pictures is back when I was 18 years old (sorry for the awful quality) and the other two are from present day. My worries are that firstly I am too young to look into a hair transplant (I've been looking at getting a consultation with Dr Bisanga & Dr Reddy once lockdown is over for advice) and secondly, because I am diffuse thinning - I'm probably not the best candidate for a hair transplant.

 

Hair-loss has really effected me confidence wise unfortunately, so any advice is welcome and I appreciate you taking the time to read. 😄

Edited January 8, 2021 by Kieran2020

[Britanium]

No your not a lost cause. Keep getting decent consultations. You have mentioned 2 really good clinics. 
You could also consider HDC @Doron Harati. And I’m sure @UnbaldEaglecan chip in being a diffuse thinner foo. 
 

[Kieran2020]

Hi John,

 

Thanks for the reply - my aim is to get a long term goal from a few surgeons and then make a decision on whether I should wait longer till my hair loss is more predictable (however I feel being on finasteride for this period of time my hair loss has slowed down). 
 

I will take a look at HDC also!

[Britanium]

That’s a sensible plan. Yes consult with as many clinics as possible. You seem to have a good idea on who’s decent. 
I’m assuming you mean Dr Reddy ? Are you uk based ? 

[Kieran2020]

Apologies for the typo! Yes I mean Dr Reddy, and I am UK based however I don’t mind if I have to travel.

[Melvin- Admin]

You’re not a lost cause, if you’re a lost cause, I wouldn’t be here. I was 100x worse off. Check out this video.

 

[Britanium]

3 minutes ago, Kieran2020 said:

Apologies for the typo! Yes I mean Dr Reddy, and I am UK based however I don’t mind if I have to travel.

No worries. I’m also Uk based. You could check our Dr Arshad, Dr Edward Ball who are also putting out quality Uk work ! 

[Britanium]

I’m going to mention @DrTBarghouthiVertex clinic who is very good and very active on the forum. 

[Kieran2020]

13 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

You’re not a lost cause, if you’re a lost cause, I wouldn’t be here. I was 100x worse off. Check out this video.

 

Thank you for the video Melvin, very well explained and honest. Is it possible I could DM and have a quick chat?

[Kieran2020]

Thanks for the suggestions John, I’ll make sure to reach out to these surgeons also!

[Doron Harati]

@Kieran2020 I am the consultant center for HDC clinic you PM for free consultation, you are very young and need to be cautious what solutions for hairloss you are choosing. 

[Melvin- Admin]

3 minutes ago, Kieran2020 said:

Thank you for the video Melvin, very well explained and honest. Is it possible I could DM and have a quick chat?

Sure, send me a dm.

[Future Hair Doc]

You're definitely not a lost cause. Are you on minoxidil? If not, hop on it right away. I personally use a topical solution of finasteride/minoxidil and it's worked wonders on my hair. I've gotten 2 FUTs as well. 

[Kieran2020]

14 minutes ago, Dr. Suhail Khokhar said:

You're definitely not a lost cause. Are you on minoxidil? If not, hop on it right away. I personally use a topical solution of finasteride/minoxidil and it's worked wonders on my hair. I've gotten 2 FUTs as well. 

Hi, thanks for the reply. 
 

I’m not on minoxidil at the moment due to reading a few posts saying it wasn’t very effective and could cause shedding when starting - although I may start in the near future seeing as fin has slowed down my hair loss.

[gillenator]

I agree...definitely not a lost cause!

[ciaus]

1 hour ago, Kieran2020 said:

I’m not on minoxidil at the moment due to reading a few posts saying it wasn’t very effective and could cause shedding when starting - although I may start in the near future seeing as fin has slowed down my hair loss.

One of the ways minoxidil works to give you the fuller head of hair look is by extending your hair growth cycles so more of them are growing at the same time. The shedding is just some of your hairs cycling out getting ready for the new longer cycles.

If you're going to do finasteride to keep your hair follicles around as long as possible, minoxidil is a great addition to enhance them while you have them. But if you have trouble sticking to the regimen of applying it each day it might not be something worth trying. But then there's also oral minoxidil, I use it, popping a pill like you do with finasteride. There's a topic here where you can read more about it:

 

 

[DrTBarghouthi]

It’s always better to spot the issue early and that will help you a lot. Don’t worry, you’re miles ahead of others within your age who are not taking things seriously in terms of maintenance. 
You seem well aware of the problem and your options and taking a good medication to slow things down. 

[MarkLui]

Genetics plays important role, as you know. How is the situation with your father, uncle/s. It will give you an idea if it's worth trying in order to achieve a long-term result.

[UnbaldEagle]

@Kieran2020, my hair loss is very similar to yours and weirdly enough I posted the same question (verbatim these words) in a thread I made about diffuse thinning some while ago.  Since then I've been assured we're not a lost cause and anecdotally speaking, I'm a decade older than you, diffuse thinning badly since 19 and I still have some hair left. My only regret is not taking meds earlier. But I can 100% understand where you're coming from and quite often DPA certainly feels worse than regular patterned alopecia, simply because we feel like there's NOT A LOT left to lose and we're losing it evenly everywhere. 

Stay on meds and choose a good clinic, reconstruct the front regardless what happens behind it because that's what most people see, and do smaller procedures instead rather than risking shocking out the natives with a one and done. That's my advice but of course try to get as many 2nd opinions from top clinics on what should be done.

P.S. I'm also in the UK and in the end it was a tie between Dr. Edward Ball and Dr. Maras at HDC. I choose the latter.

Edited January 9, 2021 by UnbaldEagle
typo

[Gareth]

On 1/8/2021 at 10:16 PM, Kieran2020 said:

Hi everyone,

 

I'll make this short and easy to read as this is my first post - I've been diffuse thinning since 18 years old, and decided to take finasteride 1mg from around 19 (I am now 24 turning 25 shortly).

 

I have attached images to the post so you can see the progress of my hair loss, the first image that has 4 pictures is back when I was 18 years old (sorry for the awful quality) and the other two are from present day. My worries are that firstly I am too young to look into a hair transplant (I've been looking at getting a consultation with Dr Bisanga & Dr Reddy once lockdown is over for advice) and secondly, because I am diffuse thinning - I'm probably not the best candidate for a hair transplant.

 

Hair-loss has really effected me confidence wise unfortunately, so any advice is welcome and I appreciate you taking the time to read. 😄

A lost cause? You've lost a tiny bit of hair, if that!! No worries!

Just remember that the options are available if you ever need them. And they're getting better all the time. 

[Kieran2020]

21 hours ago, ciaus said:

One of the ways minoxidil works to give you the fuller head of hair look is by extending your hair growth cycles so more of them are growing at the same time. The shedding is just some of your hairs cycling out getting ready for the new longer cycles.

If you're going to do finasteride to keep your hair follicles around as long as possible, minoxidil is a great addition to enhance them while you have them. But if you have trouble sticking to the regimen of applying it each day it might not be something worth trying. But then there's also oral minoxidil, I use it, popping a pill like you do with finasteride. There's a topic here where you can read more about it:

 

 

Thank you for directing me to this article, this is definitely something to consider taking also. I’d like to read a few different reviews but can’t seem to find many unfortunately. 

[Kieran2020]

6 hours ago, UnbaldEagle said:

@Kieran2020, my hair loss is very similar to yours and weirdly enough I posted the same question (verbatim these words) in a thread I made about diffuse thinning some while ago.  Since then I've been assured we're not a lost cause and anecdotally speaking, I'm a decade older than you, diffuse thinning badly since 19 and I still have some hair left. My only regret is not taking meds earlier. But I can 100% understand where you're coming from and quite often DPA certainly feels worse than regular patterned alopecia, simply because we feel like there's NOT A LOT left to lose and we're losing it evenly everywhere. 

Stay on meds and choose a good clinic, reconstruct the front regardless what happens behind it because that's what most people see, and do smaller procedures instead rather than risking shocking out the natives with a one and done. That's my advice but of course try to get as many 2nd opinions from top clinics on what should be done.

P.S. I'm also in the UK and in the end it was a tie between Dr. Edward Ball and Dr. Maras at HDC. I choose the latter.

Thank you for the message, it really does help knowing people like yourself have been through a similar pattern of hair loss and have managed to maintain. Could I drop you a DM if possible?

[Britanium]

@Kieran2020hope your feeling more hopeful now ? If you tag @UnbaldEaglelike I have just done I’m sure he will appear 🤩

[Kieran2020]

18 hours ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

It’s always better to spot the issue early and that will help you a lot. Don’t worry, you’re miles ahead of others within your age who are not taking things seriously in terms of maintenance. 
You seem well aware of the problem and your options and taking a good medication to slow things down. 

I agree, sometimes I wish I took it earlier even though I started taking fin at 19! I feel like I’ve read enough stories to be realistic, my hair will never be the same as I was when I was 16 - I just want to maintain and maybe improve in the future with a hair transplant, however I will continue with consultations for now and get a few suggestions. (Also thanks for replying 😁)

[Kieran2020]

17 minutes ago, Gareth said:

A lost cause? You've lost a tiny bit of hair, if that!! No worries!

Just remember that the options are available if you ever need them. And they're getting better all the time. 

Haha thank you for the kind words Gareth - maybe it seems worse to myself, I feel like it’s extremely noticeable and maybe people are being polite? Who knows! I agree with your last statement, hopefully exciting times are approaching in the near future.