/balding/ and /finasteride/ general - hair is love, hair is life!Sticky: http://tuxbell.com/index.php/BaldingReminder that if you can clearly see down to your scalp when your hair is wet, your hair is thinning, lots of small new hairs sprouting at the hairline or crown is a sign of hair recession.Holy trinity:Tabs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FinasterideLotion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MinoxidilShampoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KetoconazoleFinasteride/Dutasteride are 5-alpha reductase inhibitors that prevent free T from being converted to DHT, a byproduct of testosterone that serves no purpose after puberty but to choke out your hair follicles and make them thin out and die in a few short years, a condition known as androgenic alopecia.5ar inhibitors prevent your hair from getting any worse, mild regrowth is expected, rapid onset diffuse thinners see a significant recovery on fin alone. Can be taken orally or topically.5ARIs are not dosage dependent, taking as little as as 0.2mg daily fin can reduce serum DHT by 68%, while 5mg reduces by 72%.0.5mg daily dut reduces serum DHT by 95%, but is considered a second line treatment, and can be more expensive and harder to get prescribed. Start with fin.Fin has been used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) for 30+ years, it's very well studied and is tolerated well in almost all men, however, there's a 1-2% risk of erectile issues in controlled studies.These can be avoided by reducing dosage, spacing out dosage, or stopping the drug. Fin takes days to fully bio-accumulate, the half life of fin is about 8 hours, adverse effects occuring within minutes of starting fin or persisting long after stopping fin are not real and have no basis in reality. Please note that dut has a much higher half-life of 5 weeks, if you're prone to fin sides, dut may cause them for far longer.Refer to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3481923/ before responding to PFS trolls.
Minoxidil (liquid and tabs) is a vasodialator that opens potassium channels and widens blood vessels bringing nutrients to your hair follicles, stimulating them into thickening, accelerating growth and elongating the growth phase. Min is taken with fin to restore your hair to it's original hairline, thickness and vigor when hair loss is caught early enough, (pre-NW2). Can be taken orally or topically.Topical min does not work in 1/3 of men because they lack the required enzymes in their scalp, all men have this enzyme in their liver so the oral route is a good fallback.The FDA formulation for 5% liquid minoxidil is food safe (vape juice, ethanol and water) and can be safely taken orally if oral min tabs are expensive or rarely prescribed where you live. As a general rule, ~4 drops (0.1ml) = 5mg minoxidil.There's a 1-2% risk of fluid retention with higher oral dosages, start with the lowest dosage possible and work your way up when you're sure it's well tolerated.Ketoconazole is an anti-androgen and antifungal that inhibits DHT on the scalp and used to treat fungal infections of the scalp that may be making your hair loss worse such as seborrheic dermatitis, a condition where you exhibit severe greasy, flaky large dandruff flakes with dried yellow crystals (blood plasma) embedded in the scalp. Some people may only have traction alopecia (hair loss from scratching or friction), but it will not cure androgenic alopecia on it's own. Can only be taken topically.Do not use spirolactone. Spirolactone is a diuretic which, in large doses, inhibits testosterone and, by extension, DHT.It is regularly prescribed as an anti-androgen for male to female HRT, and thus, comes with an astronomically higher risk of sexual side effects in men including ED, gynecomastia, and can cause potassium toxicity.Previous thread: >>18666568
Greeting and salutations brothers. May we all have thick and healthy hair.
Is 2.5mg Dutasteride a meme? I’ve seen the study from 2006 and although 2.5 has the initial edge vs 0.5mg at the 12 week mark, it seems to even out at 24 weeks.
>>18680428Definitely overkill with a high risk of sides
>>18680428idk but apparently blocks more scalp dht
>>18680447Could achieve the same by just stacking topical fin
Thoughts on PEMF hats?Seen people gain growth on it.
>>18680465It might help a little bit but I would say snake oil more or less. You're gonna go bald no matter what without a DHT blocker.
About 5 months into finasteride, I went through a massive shed in my hairline and the top of the scalp around 3 months in that seems to have stopped but now I'm experiencing an even bigger shed on the back of my head, what would typically be the donor area for the transplant. I thought hair from that area was DHT resistant and wouldn't be affected by treatment? Anyone else had an experience like this? Anyways, my phone camera is broken so I can't take progress pictures but compared to pic related, I'm happy to announce my crown area actually started covering up nicely, but post shed my hairline and the widow's peak in particular look thinner than ever so I'm just waiting for the new layer of hairs to come in. Anyone got an idea how long that should take?
>>18680477The donor area isn't immune, just typically. Personally I think there should be up to a Norwood ~7. A couple weeks post shed you should see increased hair count but it will take a couple months for it to be more apparent.
>>18680477As the other anon shows, the true “donor” area is much smaller than you think. I’m a diffuse thinner and you can see how my density is compromised in every area on my scalp besides that band of hair a NW7 man has.
Whats your guy's experience with brainfog and does it clear up?Took my first 0.5mg dut capusle yesterday and got pretty immediate brain fog. Feels like my inner monologue is obfuscated and I can't think as clearly. I'd describe it as low-mid level brainfog. Made me feel somewhat ''heady'' as well and zoomed in. Nothing too extreme but enough to be moderately noticeable and a bit upsetting.It's not a placebo/nocebo as I had no idea before taking it that these effects could come about. Has anybody had any experience with this?Happy to hear about experiences on fin as well with brainfog.
>>18680540it is a placebo retard
>>18680540>Took my first 0.5mg dut capusle yesterday and got pretty immediate brain fogDut does not go into your brain + you need a week to build up enough dut for it to even be effective at blocking 5ar, you psyopped yourself into getting side effects.
>>18680541>>18680542its a known side effect and it does enter the brain. maybe it is placebo for him tho
>>18680540I'm sure you had at least some idea about side effects existing, just not the specifics. It's probably a product of the initial anxiety of starting a new medication and you started ruminating on that mild reaction to being nervous whether you were aware or not. The problem is that you've now gone all OCD and have convinced yourself of a negative reaction loop. It's tough to overcome you just need to stop thinking about it and move on with your life, no more worries about hair.
>>18680541>>18680542I wasn't aware of it as an effect before I took the pill and had been feeling it for a while before finding that out, i don't see how it could of been a placeboOne pill does effect your chemistry still, and can cause the neurosteroid deffiencies that lead to brainfog.
>>18680563the fact that you’re one day in mentioning neurosterioids and got started on dut instead of fin like 99% of people makes what you’re saying extremely sus
>>18680563>>18680549One pill is not enough to cause any side effects, you guys have no idea what you're talking about. It can take up to a month for you to build up enough dut in your system for it to actually start blocking 5ar, it's why you still need to take finasteride every other day for a while if you switch to dut otherwise your DHT spikes after a week and you go through a shed.
>>18680564I did a tonne of research (well reddit and grok expert mode LMAO) and found out that dutasteride provides better protection against balding and more regrowth to a substantial degree than finasteride, with the same percentile of side effects.I've found out about the neurosteroids after researching the brain fog I felt. I feel the brain fog is too substantial to be imagined, or placebo. My plan is to try the dut again once the brain fog subsides, and if it doesn't work that time lose more weight before going on it again (being fat can cause defiencies in allopregnanolone)Other than that if they don't work out i'll try fin. But this brainfog is genuinely quite substantial.
it's gonna be wild how I'll have been bald almost my entire life and then far into the future I'll be an 80 year old with a full head of hair kek
>>18680534damn, i have the same thing as you.is this really hair loss?i only have this spot when the hair is around a couple cm's long.long hair and and really short hair, it looks normal
>>18681045>is this really hair loss?yesand its the worst kind bc you risk losing your donor area and not being able to get a transplant. could be caused by stress, inflammation, etc.
>>18681045I used an extreme scenario (short hair + flash + dark room) but yes, that’s diffuse thinning AKA hair loss. You can see my crown in daylight here, it’s see-through but the thinning isn’t as apparent. And with medium to long hair styles my crown looks normal. My stack was fin daily and now I’m dut daily; I don’t do topicals. It has gotten a little better on dut but I likely need 5+ years of treatment to get my scalp hair looking anything like the DHT-resistant horseshoe hair under harsh lighting.
I've been on 0.25mg/day fin for over a week and so far no sides. Will progress to 0.5mg/day and probably hold that dose as long as I can tolerate it. I just need stability until GT20029 comes out.
>>18681379I told myself that I’d “wait” while cruising on fin too, but here I am, on Dutasteride 0.5mg and 2.5mg oral Minoxidil daily and I had a nuclear stack with topicals before. The only way you’ll be satisfied with low-dose Finasteride is if that is enough to get back your pre-recession hairline, to be honest, since it seems that is the goal you’ve ostensibly set in your mind with a future treatment. What drives you crazy is waiting to see if these drugs are doing anything, since it takes months for visible results (and topical minoxidil needs to be used with a retinoid or else you might end up being a non-responder). We only have to go through this because our past selves were too foolish to not start popping Finasteride the second our hairs started miniaturizing and enjoy our NW1 forever.
>>18681389I am only NW2 with diffuse thinning but it started almost three years ago and has progressed very slowly. Getting my 25 year old hair back would be great, but failing that i'll accept stability. I'm not desperate to see gains but i'm hopeful for future treatments. Hopefully my hairs haven't permanently miniaturised.
>crushing up finasteride pills and mixing into minoxidil and applying to the scalpHas anyone tried this? AI is telling me that the finasteride should dissolve and it should work. I figure this is much safer than taking the pill systemically and I could get by using .1 mg per day so its going to save money as well. Thoughts?
>>18681429Yeah but you're going to be applying a thick off-white paste to your scalp by the time you break enough pills down. I remember calculating yearly scripts wouldn't offer enough fin needed to create a proper strength topical.
>>18681417I was also NW2 before treatment and am like 1.5 now. Hair greed is a real thing, and in truth your face and its proportions (facial thirds) will never look right with anything that wasn’t your original head of hair. Sad but true.
perfect hairline is overrated unless you're like 20just grow that shit out it hardly matters man nw2 is fully serviceable this is why I'm gonna opt for minimal hairline touch up and focus on density up top
>>18681721Growing it out (to cover your NW2 hairline) or getting a cope fringe/curtains isn’t viable for all of us, most men look best with short or medium length hair. This guy would look a lot better with the original width of his forehead instead of the current receded one. It looks like his forehead is wider than his cheekbones/jaw even though his original hairline probably wasn’t. But the grass is always greener, NW4+ dudes wish they had that hairline.
>>18681721It matters if you’re not married.
>>18680534>>18681045>>18681062>>18681071I have this. This pic is from 5 months ago. Not sure if you guys have gone to a doctor or a dermatologist to get yourselves checked out or not, but in my case, I have hypothyroidism, which causes diffuse thinning across the entire scalp, that includes the back, the sides, and the top, so it's uniformly sparse rather than the typical pattern you see in AGA. I've also lost a ton of body hair and some eyebrow hair, I can't even walk without my thighs and that middle section between your balls and ass rubbing against each other and causing discomfort. Anyways, along with the hair loss, also came some form of Seborrheic Dermatitis. My scalp itches like fucking crazy, I have red pimples on my scalp and nizoral and dermarest didn't help, in fact, nizoral made it burn so I stopped using it, so at this point I think I'm going to try and see if something like aloe vera might help to hydrate my scalp since hypothyroidism causes skin problems. Anyways when my hair loss first started back in 2023, it came with this white gunk on my crown that I could scrape off with my nails and it smelled awful, somehow it went away on it's own, but the hair loss continued. To finish this off, you guys should go see a doctor to rule anything out.
And here's the side, also thinning.
And finally, here's a good close up of that cowlick section underneath the bathroom light, recently got a haircut but somehow it didn't turn out this bad, maybe because I asked for a 4 rather then a 3 on the sides, regardless, get yourselves checked out. I'm currently in the process of switching medications since levothyroxine was causing some really bad side effects.
>>18681739>>18681741>>18681743I have no experience with your scenario, but have you tried other medicated shampoos besides niz (ketoconazole)? there’s like zinc pyrithione, selenium sulfide, piroctone olamine, climbazole, etc? and to be honest from the front it looks like your hairline is receding anyways, i’d say it’s worth trying fin either topical or oral since at least then you can rule out AGA and focus on your other causes of hair loss
>>18681746No, but I've heard of them so I will be checking those out. And no, my hairline hasn't receded, it's always been like that since I was a kid to a teen and to now, an adult, already made the comparisons using older pictures and already had a dermatologist look at my scalp a year ago, AGA has been ruled out.
>>18681748I’m going from the side view so that could be the case, idk if you care enough to show a hairline comparison. But the only way to beat AGA is to beat to the punch, which is to start treatment before you visibly lose ground
>>18681749As I said, I already visited a dermatologist, and he told me the hair loss is being caused by the hypothyroidism, not AGA. My doctor also found out I was deficient in vitamin D3, calcium, and magnesium which is also contributing to the issue. I'm planning on switching from levothyroxine to either tirosint or levoxyl since those are the better options for thyroid issues, and of course the supplements, as far as minoxidil is concerned, I might use it to speed up the regrowth once my TSH levels and everything else is in check. Since my hair loss isn't being caused by AGA I don't see any point in using finasteride or dutasteride.
>>18681751I’m just saying, you’re already going through hair loss, it happening again later due to AGA would be devastating, no? I guess you’d be vigilant enough to start treatment for AGA whenever that happens, so I get it. In any case, hope you find a treatment that works soon anon
>>18681752Nah I'm good, I don't think AGA should be a problem considering my dad and both grandfathers have hair, one thing my family from both sides does have though is thyroid disorders. Thanks though.
ive always had a big ass forehead but im 27 and these pictures worry me. also i don't have good photos to compare so i don't even know how bad it actually is
i also haven't ever had my thyroid hormone levels checked or anything i dont have a young healthier reference if my levels are fucked
>>18681787>>18681788>>18681791>>18681792Dude…do you have to ask? You’re Norwood 2/2A and progressing…
What do we think of Bimatoprost for hairloss?
>crown gets a bit itchy sometimes
