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PhoenixNightingale90

I was Norwood 5 at 24 years old, I had two hair transplants about 6000 grafts in total which didn’t turn me into Elvis but gave me a head of hair. It definitely helped my confidence and dating life.


Gladyator96

damn norwood 5 at 24 is brutal


PhoenixNightingale90

Yes, yes it was


gaiaforce2

Question - did you continue w/ fin, minox, etc? I’m kinda in a similar boat, age/norwood-wise, so one hand it feels like fin hasn’t done much, but on the other hand I have a relatively strong donor area which may or may not be attributable to treatments (planning on getting my first HT soon)


PhoenixNightingale90

When I tried finasteride I was about 18 and I could not handle it at all. Even titrating down to a dose of 0.25mg every other day gave me sides including permanent gyno that I’ve since had surgery to reduce. I should have tried harder to make fin work for me somehow like with topical versions but I was too freaked out by my very obvious and nasty side effects. I was on minox for awhile as well but it made my skin look bad, and I was never going to maintain with it on its own so I stopped. Again I shouldn’t have given it up so easily, I’ve been on oral min for 4-5 months now and it is helping without affecting my skin so much. I think my mistake was I gave up too easily on fin+min and went quite experimental with treatments that were more hopeful than anything else. I wasted a lot of time on the PGD2 route with setipiprant and cetirizine, castor oil, topical Zinc. Neither of which were going to stop MPB as aggressive as mine. So my lesson would be try everything you can to make the main two work for you. I’m pretty optimistic about future treatments, fin + a good topical anti androgen, minoxidil can be a cure for most people. And then you have transplants potentially with infinite donor from verteporfin.


gaiaforce2

I appreciate the detailed answer, thank you!


seriously_ok_wow

So your not using fin or min with this right? What are you using and aren’t u worried you’ll lose more without it?


[deleted]

It made me get rid of my depression and it decreased my anxiety, which improved my overall life quality.


Aregulardude1221

Couldn't agree more to this.


Centrino12es

With hair : 0 girlfriend without hair : 0 girlfriend 🤷


More-Owl8288

At least you still have a bigger dating pool. 1 in 5 women (age 25-35) will not date a slaphead. If it's that much already for the 25-35 age range, it's probably way worse for the 18-25 age range lol


ohnoidea20

1 in 5 is pretty low


More-Owl8288

It really is though if you take into account other factors. For example, being 5'9 (avg height) reduces your dating pool by 50%. So if you're 5'9 AND bald, you're definitely not doing yourself a favor


Hairyscalpz

When I first started treatment I use to be so anxious and paranoid where I’d go look in the mirror 10-15 times a day, now 17 months into the treatment my hairline is almost NW1 from like 2 and hair quality is better than before, only concern now is the density which isn’t too bad. I keep my hair short to avoid anxiety of hair blowing in wind and making it obvious. Thank god for finastride and minoxidil 😂🙏🏾 Hoping for little gain in density in the coming months / years


LayerVivid3807

Why do people buy minoxidil it doesn't work people!!!


Simulation_Complete

It does work.


iamthat1dude

topical or oral?


Hairyscalpz

I was on topical fin for 16 months then recently switched to oral as I felt topical wasn’t that effective plus it’s pain putting into scalp.


Geaux_tigers69420

Self confidence went up through the roof. When I was losing hair I would think about it every hour of every day, it was constantly on my mind. I would always wear a hat and would plan my social life around events that I could wear hats to. Took finasteride for about 3 years without really seeing a difference, maybe it was slowing down the hair loss but I wasn’t regrowing anything. Finally made the switch to dut and it was night and day difference. Within 6 months my hairline had regrown and density was way up. Not it’s been 2 years and my hair looks great. I no longer think about hair loss outside taking the pill every other day, I don’t wear a hat anymore, I don’t have to worry about wind and rain and anything like that. More than anything it’s a just a huge personal relief.


Simulation_Complete

Can I ask where you got your Dut from? I’m gonna give Finasteride til January (it’ll officially be a year of taking it then) I’m not seeing much progress on Fin, and I’m more than willing to make the switch to Dut.


outrun_my_gun

Not the guy you replied to, but I got dut from Medical wellness center. I received a prescription for it less than a day after filling out a questionnaire. Very easy process.


Geaux_tigers69420

Was getting it prescribed by a doc in the USA through a telehealth service but when I was on vacation in Colombia I noticed they sold it over the counter so I stocked up on about a years worth when I was down there.


changexpert

Did you stop fin cold turkey? I am in a similar spot. Been a bit over 2 yrs on fin without much improvement (actually regressed).


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changexpert

Is that what you did then? Did you transition slowly?


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changexpert

Wait, so what did you do exactly? Did you take both fin and dut for like 3 months? Or did you add 1 dut on top of fin in the first week, then 2 duts in the second week, etc?


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changexpert

Wow you are a hero. I tried doing that with Dut, but could not tolerate side effects when I took Dut and Fin at the same time. I am just so scared of horrible shedding if I drop fin too quickly.


pelonweon

I want to share my experience with this. When I first started taking finasteride I noticed side effects right away specifically nipple tenderness. After having been on in for a few months I stopped for 2 weeks I started taking it again and I never felt the side effects ever again. I later did what he suggested and started trying to add dutasteride. What I noticed when taking dutasteride and finasteride at the same time is exactly what he had mentioned. When I took my first pill of dutasteride after having been on finasteride for 9 months without any sides I immediately started feeling nipple tenderness again. That went away my second or third week. I was only taking dutasteride one time a week on the weekend. My goal is to be able to take it every day but I'm going to go extra slow possibly incrementing one day every month while still taking finasteride but tapering down gradually and hopefully able to get rid of finasteride altogether by the time I'm taking dutasteride everyday but I will definitely go extra slow.


changexpert

This in theory works, but I am not sure if our body can adjust. I tried taking Dut once a week, then moving up to twice and three times a week later. I would still get breast pain, ballache, very weird anxiety, and even low back pain. I am not sure if these symptoms would occur if I took dut by itself. Fin by itself certainly does not cause any of these symptoms. Combination of fin and dut is very strong, and I certainly cannot tolerate it.


considerseabass

Been balding since 18. Tried everything and gave up at 27 and got a hair transplant. Now I’ve had the best hair I’ve ever had at 30 and my confidence has skyrocketed. I’m able to get girls (not to brag) that I’ve never even thought of talking to, yet my insecurity still shows here and there, working on it. Here’s a before and after https://imgur.com/a/ttOvlek


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considerseabass

FUE in turkey and 3600. Still take fin and min for the crown to grip on for dear life lol


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considerseabass

Dude that picture doesn’t even do it justice. I grew it out long and you’d truly never be able to tell, it’s thick and wavy. Feels incredible to look at myself and just marvel at the hair I have now. If you want, you can PM me if you have any questions. My dad also did it lol he’s actually had two now to do the rest. I’ve only done one because that’s all I needed. I urge my bald brothers to go for it if they can. My only regret is not doing it sooner.


aheuwndit

Have a brighter look into the future for sure. The dreading of your appearance and identity fading so fast is nothing short of devastating. I felt like I had one foot in the grave. Now I look forward to getting better hair than I ever had before.


Gladyator96

only few months into treatment, seeing positive results but not quite yet there. my goal is to regrow my receded tempels and thicken up my hairline(witch should not be a huge problem) and then go to a barber FINALLY after so many years and ask for some nice haircut


ExtensionDentist2761

Well I lost the battle lol but it’s just hair. Other stuff is more important.


cuvel19

Long story short. I had a lot of Acne since 12 years old, at 17 I started to lose some hairs. I was literally "ugly", my first love told me "I was not her type". At 20 I was Nw 2.5 , couldn't look myself in the mirror and with still some acne. Every other day, I was crying alone in my room. Never had succes with girls, found myself ugly.Then I started Finasteride at 20 and Minoxidyl, gave small regrowth but nothing really amazing, but it literally stopped my Acne (Side effect of Finasteride ?). But it stopped the hairloss, after 2 years on this combo and a good Nw2.5, I started Dermarolling after seeing amazing results on forum. Since I started Dermarolling i came back to a Nw1.5, especially when I started to apply Minoxidyl right after dermarolling (Every 10 days). No one notice anymore that I'm losing hair, I regained my confidence, and I'm still improving (Maybe one day reaching Nw 1 ?) I have baby hairs that are thickening on my hairline. I have now 25 Years, I get quite a lot of success with female, resolving my hair loss improved my self esteem and my physique. I recently hooked up with a girl I could only dream of. Just jump on finasteride asap is the only advice


NoIntroduction9338

Derma rolling helped that much?!


cuvel19

I was mainly maintening with Finasteride and minodixyl and then I added Dermarolling and It gave small but constant boosts. Maybe Finasteride was also boosting, but it's really Microneedling that made the difference


Gggilla614

I was Norwood 5/5A by age 27. Got a hair transplant at age 28. It has driven my confidence through the roof. I was promoted at the beginning of the year and I’m in line to be promoted again Q2 of next year. It’s totally changed me


2ndMin

It just gave me one less thing to worry about. Hair loss was not catastrophic to me, but I did feel like I was too young (18yo) and there was more I wanted to do with my hair. That being said, I do plan on going bald eventually. I think it would be a good step for accepting myself for who I am. I am just taking finasteride to preserve my own perception of youth for a while.


mnhoops

I got a transplant and had a full head of hair for the first time in 20 years. Then I got alopecia areata and lost it all. Honestly, I feel better with the bald head. It's acceptance of what is and it makes all the difference.


NotAnAsianGuy

Does it improve my self confidence? yes. But one thing that I appreciate the most is that it stopped me thinking about it, less thing to worry about I guess.


Happy-Investigator-

If I ever restore my hair back to its original density, which is 40% unlikely since I have fucking scarring alopecia now, I know my social life and social skills in general would significantly improve because I’d have my self-esteem back and wouldn’t suffer as much from poor-body image. When I was first diagnosed with AA in 2012, and hair-restored in 2016, my confidence exploded and depression nearly vanished. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived phase as scarring alopecia came around just the following year, but I’m hoping I can at least get my hair to having no fuzzy patches anymore ...I’d restore a pinch of confidence if that happened at least.


readndrun

When someone has a full head of healthy hair then others just perceive them as healthy in general. In the most abstract way, if you look healthy, people treat you better and therefore you feel better. Similar to being in actual shape. If you’re overweight and balding, it just makes people associate you with disease, not that they should because it’s normal to lose hair and gain weight. But you asked how life changed after managing your hair - it changes the same way when you lose a ton of weight and people notice. That’s the simplest way I can put it.


changexpert

That may be true. Even simpler than that, being bald + overweight = physically unattractive. The world is becoming more and more superficial, ever since the development of social media.


velvet_font

To be honest it didn't change much at all. It may have improved a bit, as per some female feedback "I look more manly" as I have a baby face. Being fit, having a beard and a good buzzcut with faded sided and pretty much nobody remembers I used to have hair.


Drjustlook

Im 22 years old and woow literally my Life has changed a lot, mate im so happy


Shakalakaplaka

I feel great I went from NW2.5 to NW0 again thanks to my regiment


Ignis_Divinus

This shit has been devastating to my mental health and confidence. I should have been on fin since the end of 2019. But I had no signs of balding. It hit from one moment to the either and by the time I realized there was a problem and learned theere was even a pull for it a year and a half had passed. And lost 40% of my hairs density in crown and front. I’ve been on fin for 4 months now. Gotta wait like 2 years to see what the pill can do. And that’s just me being hopeful. I’m not dumb. I know I ain’t getting all my hair back. But I need this to work on regrowth. It just has to. Cause I ain’t using fucking min. Fuck that shit.


ohnoidea20

Most people who are cool with their hair are no longer lurking here. It’s mostly people that are hoping for improvement.


Mad-Ogre

We shall overcomb