Thread 18529594

/balding/ and /finasteride/ general - hair is love, hair is life!
Sticky: http://tuxbell.com/index.php/Balding

Reminder 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/Finasteride
Lotion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoxidil
Shampoo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketoconazole

Finasteride/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.

(continued on next post)

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: >>18518132

Fellow finbros what is your baldsona? I had long hair before I got on fin and it shed a lot as my new hair grew in, so I have a thick layer of short hair and a long, wispy layer I just keep slicked back until things are even enough I can get a good cut.

But what this means is I can guess how my balding pattern would have looked if I didn't take fin, and apparently I was headed right for "bald crown with a tuft at the front of the forehead territory", aka the ugly bastard phenotype.

>>18529599
Bald crown consuming everything outwards with an intact hairline. Like a rectangle shape instead of a big circular spot

>45 days on fin
>still non-existent sex drive
>can still perform and even enjoy it, but just never get the urge
>no change in erection hardness or ejaculate volume
This is on 0.5mg daily
I guess this is a good thing when you're alone anyway? Saving me a lot of time and energy.

>>18529599
If I didnt have bangs, Vegeta. Very strong crown.

Starting topical fin soon. Is .1% once a day too much? It's mixed with 6% min.

I'm losing hair due to hypothyroidism.

>>18529599
Mine is the classic horseshoe, most of my family has it and before I hopped on dut, my hair was thinning out all over the top, but the sides and back were thick, so I got zero doubts about it.

>>18529599
>Fellow finbros what is your baldsona?
Significant diffuse thinning all over the top. Frontal hairline is intact but thinned out. Temples are like NW2.5 on the left side and NW2 on the right. Left side of the mid scalp is significantly thinner than the right side also...I hear most guys have it worse on the right side but for me it's the opposite.

Been on fin since early last year which improved my situation a little. Switching to dut 0.5 MWF soon to see if it'll help further, although I doubt it. I'll be looking into transplantation options if not.

There's no way to come back from late norwood stages is there

Use spirolactone. Spirolactone is a diuretic which, in large doses, inhibits DHT.
It is regularly prescribed as an anti-estrogen for female to male HRT, and thus, comes with an astronomically lower risk of sexual side effects in men.

>>18530188
This is weak bait.

>>18530183
Generally no the exception being diffuse pattern loss. A hyper response to oral min may be able to yield good enough results if you're extremely lucky combined with fin to prevent further loss.

>>18530188
baiting people into ruining themselves for fun is something only a tranny could do
you are a diseased and sick human

Time to coom today (first of the day, 19:43). Finasteridebros, this is insane.

Girl at work asked for my hair routine, so glad I started taking finasteride

anyone else have anxiety about some little shit kid trying to touch their hair at the airport or on the flight after a transplant before the grafts really set in?

I know it's irrational but it makes me angry thinking about it, really hope it doesn't happen

>>18530300
welp, here's hoping hair cloning becomes a thing in the next 30 years

>>18530340
You have nothing to lose by trying at least. Remarkable comebacks do happen every once in a while.

>>18530343
any chance for gyno being side effect?

>>18530188
this is the most insecure outfit i've ever seen, covering your entire body outline despite already being rail thin

>>18530347
If your hormonal levels are already fucked then maybe

Level with me here, guys. Is oral minoxidil really that dangerous for one's cardiovascular health? I have long hair, and I don't really want to deal with the mess that comes with using topical minoxidil solutions. I'm considering 2.5mg oral minoxidil. Do you guys think that should suffice, or should I push my doctor to prescribe 5mg?

>>18530549
people take up to 40mg for treating cardiovascular issues 5mg is nothing. you can try taking topical min orally for the same result, info is in the OP

>>18529599
rectangle peninsula hairline. Probably going to stannismaxx at some point.

Some of us are just doomed from the beginning huh

I'm so jealous of baldies who say balding is the worst thing that happened to them. That must mean their lives are almost perfect if that's the worst thing, I'd gladly switch places with them

Almost 4 months on fin. If my blading stops right here, then I can live with that. But some regrowth would be kino.

>>18530748
Have you considered oral min?

>>18530627
This guy can definitely try Fin for a few months at least. Hairline is fucked but otherwise it's mostly miniaturised.

>>18530627
that was me when I was 18
combination of shit genes and family situtation made go to late norwood stages
I tried some random fin spray to rub into my head but it didn't do anything
If I could turn back time I would definetly try harder with more meds and things like shampoos and conditioners to keep my hair

>day 10 on oral min
>mustve shed at least 100 hairs when I took a shower this morning
>facial hair is growing noticeably faster, I have to shave every 2 days instead of 3 now

I've started dating an 8/10 18yo twink and I can now say with 100% certainty that dut hasn't messed with my libido a single bit

Asked about side effects and a lack of force a few days ago. On that same day, I nutted incredibly. Problem has vanished since then. No issues anymore. Just busted a few ropes to HUNT-441 and two other nuts earlier in the day with no problems. Month 3 of Finasteride right now

>>18530839
Faggot.

>>18530839
kill yourself disgusting homofaggot

Why SHOULDN'T you get a hair transplant?

>>18531125
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9euN8lf6O_0&ab_channel=InjertocapilarEspa%C3%B1a

There isn't any reason not to. Mucking about with meds past the age of 22 is pointless. If you don't get results, just stay on 1mg fin and get an HT. The results are insane if you get a good surgeon. Just 3k grafts completely transforms this guy's hair.

>still got a years worth of finasteride after switching to dut
fuck

Was going to hop on oral min in the next month but decided not to for the time being. Gonna give this a go:

https://minoxidilmax.com/product/dualgen-15-with-pg-15-minoxidil-for-regular-skin-type

15% Min for 6 months to see if it produces anything more than the 5% Rogaine I was using, mostly once a day during the 1.5 years I tried it.

Where can I find a comb over guide. Society treats this like it's illegal.

>>18531237
micro needling will improve topical results

Due to crippling depression I let my hair get to Norwood 5 or maybe even 6, before I dusted myself off and try to live life again.

There's nothing that I can really do about my horseshoe and I should look into transplants, right? Seems like a waste when most people get on fin+min at a way earlier stage than myself.

>>18531276
You will need to get on fin+min if you get a transplant anyways. Just get on fin min now and you will probably make up a lot of lost ground unless you're a already a scar tissue chrome dome.
Eventually getting an FUE transplant done by a reputable competent physician in turkey or elsewhere would be a good idea if/when there's money to do so. Pic related after about a year or so.

>>18531276
You will need to get on fin+min if you get a transplant anyways. Just get on fin min now and you will probably make up a lot of lost ground unless you're a already a scar tissue chrome dome. Pic related after about a year or so on fin+min of various types, first topical for a couple months then tablet fin and topical min for a couple more months, now tablet fin+min.
I think eventually getting an FUE transplant done by only the most reputable competent physician in turkey or elsewhere would be a good idea if/when there's money to do so.

>>18531265
tried, did nothing
microneedling studies are iffy as fuck

>>18531377
sounds like a non responder to topical then

>>18531433
to 5%, yes

>>18531464
You should just switch to oral as planned then. 15% isnt going to work either and is way above and beyond the safety guidelines. It's also really expensive

>>18531875
You have no idea what you're talking about lmao
on literally every point in that post

>>18531909
Post hair then

>>18531909
A topical concentration of 15% minoxidil (150mg per dose) in combination with micro needling would yield on average nearly 15mg of systemic absorption, 3x higher than the standard dosage of oral minoxidil for hair loss. Not exactly safe but we may have a difference of opinion.

Removing the micro needling would yield about ~2 mg of systemic absorption or less than half the standard dosage for treating hair loss.

Since he is not responding to a topical concentration of 5% combined with micro needling it's fair to say he is in fact lacking the SULT1A1 enzyme in his scalp making anything but systemic absorption a pointless exercise.

To summarize he would be paying $45 USD a month to either A) receive a half dose equivalent of oral minoxidil without micro needling or a monumental 15mg dose equivalent of oral in combination with micro needling. No matter how you spin it this is objectively worse than simply taking oral min in every aspect.

Microneedling has to be some voodoo type shit. I injure my scalp with a bunch of needles every week, then pray and somehow new hair grows out, even in spots where I never had hair before.

>>18531987
I'm convinced it doesn't work, people microneedle then smear in minoxidil, it's just making it go systemic, just take it orally

>>18531963
topical systemic absorption is not as fast as oral systemic absorption, otherwise even standard rogaine would produce the idiosyncratic sides that loniten does

you people are retarded & brown

>>18532047
rest of your post is equally retarded but I really don't feel like debunking more, 90% of this board is a bunch of miscegenated teenagers anyway

>>18532047
topical absorption from standard rogaine is half a mg per 1ml so obviously not you fool.

>>18532050
and as a matter of fact even such a small dosage does produce idiosyncratic sides in many people using topicals. heart palpitations and fluid retention are quite common *rare* sides of topical min.

>>18530971
>>18531079
>t.dry-dicked balding incel

>>18532052
nta but 2x 5% on the hairline + beard is as high as I can tolerate, even 0.5mg oral gives me sick puffy raccoon eyes

>>18532052
>>18532050
contradicting yourself here, seethe harder bro
you are badly attuned to the literature

>>18532097
you have the reading comprehension of a sudanese villager

>>18532099
the side effect profile of rogaine is completely different from low dose oral min, this is for a reason despite the idiosyncratic nature of oral min's sides

ergo, you are retarded and wrong

>>18532230
they're the same active ingredient, if you take rogaine orally it'll have the same effect as loniten.

>>18532230
completely false. you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. stick to hollistic nazi medicine

Is it best to start with oral fin and topical min?

>>18532262
It's best to start with fin and add minoxidil later in the event you are a non responder to min and end up on it for life for no benefit.

for topical min that is, you can avoid this with oral

>>18529594 (OP)
fin and min is a fcuking scam, it worked well for me for 2 years then got side effects

doctore told me only about 15% of men take the medication for more than 5 years, the rest give up on it after a couple years due to side effects and reduced effectiveness.

dont take that shit. then again im 40 i dont care abymore

it's been a month since I switched to dut and added microneedling, the regrowth has definitely sped up
this is before/after meds (4.5 months), with the lighting being way harsher in the after pic

>>18532282
literally looks the same

>scientists can hack dna and delete the down syndrome gene
>still no cure for baldness
ok

>>18532295
You can bet there would be if MPB cases exploded in women and became an epidemic. See how long they hold out being told to "just shave it sis"

every /fa/ thread on the front page is about preventing balding

it's nice to see

>>18532311
menopausal women lose their hair too, they never bothered to find the cure because they just hide it with a wig

After some humming and hawwing I convinced my GP to give me oral min.
It is my very great pleasure to inform you that WAGMI.

>>18532323
What dosage did your doc prescribe?

>>18532329
5mg, but I can only get 10mg, so I have to cut them in half.

I'm 20 and it looks like I'm going through low dose chemotherapy

Shitty hair genes, started 1mg dut 2.5min not too long ago, hope it works out

>>18532284
you're fucking retarded

>>18532406
If after is on the right it looks like there's less hair if anything.

>>18532412
>with the lighting being way harsher in the after pic
are you both blind and illiterate? I'm standing under an overhead bathroom vanity light plus I literally outlined it for you

>>18532406
yeah bud, i don't know what to tell you, not even trying to be an asshole or anything but it genuinely looks the same, I don't see a lick of difference between either picture other then the fact that one is under some heavy lighting and the other one isn't.

>>18532484
I'll take a better photo tonight

>>18532406
It is thicker but the new hair is thinner than the original hairline giving the illusion of being worse. thats what I see anyway

The term minoxidil resistance refers to a situation where a person either doesn't respond to the treatment from the beginning or, after an initial period of success, the treatment seems to become less effective. This can be frustrating for people who rely on minoxidil to manage hair loss

This is a very interesting and important question about minoxidil. While the term "resistance" is often used, it's not quite the same as a tolerance that you might build to a drug like an antibiotic. Here's a breakdown of what's happening:

The "Resistance" Phenomenon:
The term minoxidil resistance refers to a situation where a person either doesn't respond to the treatment from the beginning or, after an initial period of success, the treatment seems to become less effective. This can be frustrating for people who rely on minoxidil to manage hair loss.

The key reason for this isn't necessarily that the body builds a tolerance to the drug itself. Instead, it often comes down to two main factors:

Enzyme Activity: Minoxidil is a "prodrug," which means it's not active on its own. It needs to be converted into its active form, minoxidil sulfate, by an enzyme called sulfotransferase (specifically, SULT1A1) that is present in the hair follicles. If a person has low levels of this enzyme, they may never see a significant response to minoxidil, regardless of how long they use it. This is considered a form of "resistance" from the start.


The Progression of Hair Loss: For people who initially respond to minoxidil, the feeling of "resistance" or a loss of efficacy can be due to the natural progression of their hair loss condition (androgenetic alopecia). The genetic and hormonal factors that cause hair loss can continue to advance over time, eventually outpacing the positive effects of the minoxidil. The drug may still be working, but the underlying condition is getting worse, making it seem like the treatment is failing

>>18533253
Which form of minoxidil does that information pertain to? Oral, topical, or both?

>>18529599
Shimmering slick bald crown with long constantly greasy (from excess DHT production) diffuse thinned hair on the top, with the sides visibly thicker than the top when standing in well lit areas. This would 100% be me right now if i didn't start fin 2 years ago.

Thoughts on topical fin? I don’t ever plan on taking the oral route.

>>18533266
Nta but topical and people who are not on a dht blocker for the most part

Went to see the doctor today and he prescribed 1mg of finasteride today :D I'm gonna make it brehs

>>18533338
more expensive and still has considerable systemic absorption. 70% serum dht reduction for topical 2ml vs 73% with 1mg oral. Better off with oral side effects will be exactly the same frequency which is near 0

>>18533345
In the states it says I can buy it from Target over the counter. It’s the HIMS brand. How’s that brand?

>>18533352
Its all the same

>>18533352
Also finasteride is not otc you need a prescription. Maybe you are looking at minoxidil

>>18533253
>sulfotransferase
apparently this can be found in broccoli extract which you can buy online, I wonder if taking this alongside min would maximize it's effects.

I need fin to save me from diffuse thinning. Restore my thickness and I’m fuckin golden. One time, for ya boy. Don’t let me down, fin.

>>18533385
I think it'd more likely just make you hairy all over

>>18532839
it's basically this plus my hair being damp, I decided I'll just wait another month and a half until it's been a 6 full months to make a proper before/after collage, I think that my temporal peaks are gonna get pigmented by then

btw I shopped my derm report and got dut prescribed by my GP
gotta love east EU

>>18529599
Bill Murray, in my early 20s my hair looked like his in ghostbusters, now that I'm 30 it looks more like what he had in mid to late 2010s. I'm starting to go gray and hope I can pull off the disheveled no fucks given look he has when I'm older but it mostly works for him because he's a famous millionaire celeb. At least Cailee Spaeny said he was her crush when she was younger jej

Literally just accepted I am balding, and now it is happening fast. I already use Minox on my head, but I am not religious about it.

>>18533925
You’re supposed to use the foam like mousse by blow drying it.

switching to dut

>>18533992
I have long hair so I can't use the foam as product, it makes my hair disgusting. I have to apply it and then wash it out. I did just buy a derm roller though to help it absorb.

>>18534067
I used it when I had long hair. Rogaine foam is basically a glorified mousse. You put it in then immediately use a blow dryer. After that you use a brush. It’s supposed to be kinda clay-like.

>>18533925
Why not just cut it shorter so you can apply min more effectively?

What do I do if I'm not balding but my hairline has always naturally been far back? Hair transplant?

>>18534166
Probably yeah, but you may need to get on fin anyway if you think you will also go bald in the future. Even if you get the transplant, if your hairline starts to recede, the old hairline will creep backwards so you'll have this fringe of transplanted hair and a slowly widening gap between that and your natural hairline

>>18534166
dht blocker + forehead reduction surgery

Is it normal to begin rapidly diffuse thinning in one go on both your head and armpits?

got tired of taking min/fin and not really keen on the idea of getting a transplant
any tips on getting around being bald, or is this thread just about hanging on to what little you still have?

I have a ketoconazole ointment that my cousin got to help with a rash. He gave me a tube of it to help with a rash I had last week. Would this work applied to the scalp for hair restoration?

Someone mentioned Nu-Stock hair growth cream for animals. Would it be bad for humans?

Also, what did you guys have to do to get a finasteride prescription? I asked my normal doctor yesterday when visiting for something else, and he blew me off saying that’s for prostate issues and has no idea about it being for hair restoration.

Diffuse thinning, by the way.

>>18534407
I went on amazon one medical and got a text consultation for $29, they auto grant a 1yr supply to the pharmacy of your choice, cost plus is the cheapest, don't bother getting it with a doctor if you're in the US

>>18534344
no if your armpits are actually thinning out then it's probably alopecia areata, vitamin deficiency, thyroid issue, etc.. see a doctor. you could also have male pattern baldness at the same time but it's definitely in combination with something else.

>>18534407
telehealth. simply google your country name with finasteride prescription and pick the cheapest one

>>18534565
telehealth is peak post-capitalistic pharma society shit, I'm glad we don't have that here

>>18534570
Its a fairly libertarian process though. If what you're after doesn't grow on trees then you will always need to pay. Its a great way to avoid having to beg and plead with a doctor when you're probably more educated on the specific medication than they are.

Anyone with seborrhoeic dermatitis? How do you cope?

>>18530300
what is a good oral minoxidil? I can't find anything on amazon, just the liquid.

>>18533925
minox is supposed to be used religiously else it'll just accelerate by inducing a shed.

>>18534627
I used to have it on top of my scalp but not anymore for some reason, I think it's because there's less hair density, less places for the malassezia to fester
I do get a lot on the sides of my scalp, I use medicinal shampoo.
I won't lie though, it feels amazing to remove plaques of the stuff with your fingernails. It's bad as hell for you but satisfying

>>18534577
actually, I guess it's fine in the US since it's the health insurance companies (and not the taxpayer) who are going to cover expenses of treating people with adverse effects

>>18534695
Oh that is good to know. So I was making it worse. I used a derm stamp for the first time today and used minox twice, and will do it again before bed. I'll do twice a day from now on.

>>18534769
Today.

Just started topical minoxidil and 2% ketoconazole shampoo. Ordered a derma pen. Waiting for a doctor's appointment to get a finasteride prescription.

Wish me luck bros.

>>18534847
I hope finasteride works well for you, I had to settle for topical every other day otherwise my dick turns into a noodle

>>18534401
Yeah, keep your hair until it looks shit then BUZZ it, don't use a razor because it isn't about hiding your hairline at that point, everyone knows you're bald and a buzz always looks better.
Don't wear a hat, or at least take it off when you meet people so they aren't shocked when they find out you're bald.

>>18534769
don't dermastamp for 24h before min, you're legitimately risking adverse effects if you did your entire crown

Need the oral min to start working by December 27, I only started taking it like 2 days ago.
I'm on fin as well.

I have hypothyroidism, I don't know if I should just take the plunge and hop on min, because my hair loss has actually gotten worse when this whole time I thought it had least slowed down somewhat since I began taking my medication, but I stopped taking it because I was having bad side effects, genuinely feel like crying. Pic related is what it looks like now, I started moving my hair around and taking pics to check the damage and as expected, it hasn't slowed down one bit. I first started noticing how my hair has been slowly losing volume over the years, but I guess my body finally said fuck it and decided to just rip the band aid off and end it in one fell swoop. I don't know bros, I'm thinking I'm gonna go to Costco and buy the foam they sell there, because I know if I go to a derm they'll just tell me to get my thyroid under control as if I haven't been trying.

>>18535113
This pic is from 2023, obviously it's way thicker compared to the previous pic, just gonna take min, fuck it, I've waited long enough, may as well give it a go.

>>18535114
Forgot pic

you guys are insane for taking any of these supplements. i wouldn't fuck up my health like that.
any saver alternatives in the horizon? i heard about Pyrilutamide but that sounds too nice to be true

>>18535113
>>18535115
looks fine probably just mental illness

any updates on pp405?
been on 8 months of 2.5 mg dut and my hair's still falling off
i don't think it's making much difference

>>18535124
Start balding and see how good that is for your health retard

>>18535157
It's not "fine" I've lost a ton of hair, this is why doctors don't take me seriously, thyroid hair loss is usually diffuse and stealthily, hence why no one takes it seriously until bald spots begin to become more apparent. Pic related isn't normal.

I've been on oral fin for 3 days and my libido is kill. Does it improve bros?

>>18529594 (OP)
>lots of small new hairs sprouting at the hairline or crown is a sign of hair recession.
Huh? That makes no sense, how is new hairs coming in where there was previously none a sign of it getting worse?

I started Dut and my prescribing dermatologist was excited by the baby hairs and said the opposite, that it was working.

>>18535492
it should really say "baby hairs", if you're not shedding on meds, it means you had the hair fall out recently and it's growing back thinner

>>18532406
>>18532282
It doesn't even look like you've had hardly any hairloss to begin with

>>18535457
yeah it could also just be in your head

>>18535448
still looks fine, the way you're parting your hair is making it look worse than it is
I've always had thin and fine hair and it's very similar to yours, maybe even a bit thinner

I'm getting dense peach fuzz on the temples and sparse terminal hairs on the front of the hairline. Is that a normal pattern of regrowth on fin?

I have no crown loss, been using min on the hairline only, plus dut. Is that ok?

>>18529668
>bangs
I have seen zoomers pull back the broccoli bangs and some of them are even further back than mine, is this the secret for Norwood 3? Should I do that?

>>18535518
I've never had hair this thin, it used to be very thick and plentiful. Not to mention it had more volume, gonna go see a doctor to see if my thyroid levels are normal and see what the medication can do, if nothing works, I'll just hop on the fin and min band wagon.

>>18535519
Where are you expecting to grow?

Been maintaining on fin for several years but started to notice some diffuse thinning on the crown. Should I upgrade to dut or stay on fin and start oral minox? I’m reluctant to use topical because I have pets.

>>18535568
You’re not even remotely balding, stop reading Reddit and go outside

>>18535585
Forget it, i guess I need to have a visible bald spots for people to believe me.

>>18535519
I thought fin will only cause regrowth on the crown and even then it’s like 1% of responders or something

>>18535586
Just get on fin it’s really that simple

>>18535577
It's not about where I'm expecting it to grow, but rather that my patterns of regrowth on the temples and on the front of the hairline are completely different from each other. At the temples I'm only regrowing peach fuzz, but it's as dense as non-balding areas. At the front of the hairline I'm regrowing only terminal hairs, but they are very sparse.

>>18535587
66% of people had regrowth as per a 2 year trial. How much growth depends on several factors including luck.

>>18535592
Your temples probably miniaturized and receded earlier than your frontal hairline. Regrowth will be that process in reverse as those follicles are further miniaturized and need several more cycles to hopefully go terminal as well

>>18534401
>not really keen on the idea of getting a transplant
Why not? I also got sick of fin/min and was thinking of just getting a transplant to last me 10 years and whatever happens, happens.

>>18535519
yes

Currently on fin and not seeing any regrowth, should I add oral min or switch to dut instead?

>>18535855
How long have you been on it?

>>18535865
this. even 6 months isn't really enough. but the minox won't hurt.

Just got done my first microneedling session with the derminator 2

9 needles @ 0.75mm depth

Pretty much painless, scalp is a bit itchy though but apparently thats normal

>>18529594 (OP)
Any topical min bros here? What do you do if you have to board a flight? Do you just take the min bottle with you in a bag? Do they even allow it? I'm thinking of just buying a new one in my destination and throw it away barely used.
>>18529599
Pic related with an even worse hairline. I made a comeback once with liquid min but lost all my gains after lowering the dosage (I was too lazy to apply it twice a day and wait for it to dry) and eventually switching to foam which is shit.
Now I'm on oral fin 0.5mg and again got on topical min 1mg twice a day, let's see how this pans out. I'm not even bothering with applying it on my temples, I consider them a lost cause.
>>18530824
I will never do oral min, it is just dumb as hell. It's like taking a shower each time you piss instead of just washing your hands.
>>18534904
He is retarded, let him be.

>>18529599
Mao Zedong. My hair behind the hairline is perfect, it's just the hairline itself that's the problem.

>>18535865
>>18535888
About two years. Pic rel is where I am at currently, maintaining but no regrowth.

>Wake up
>brush my teeth
>use mouth rinse
>get some water
>2 pills 5g creatine
>2 pills 1g fish oil
>1 pill biotin + zinc + selenium
>2 pills vitamin D 5000ug
>1 pill oral minox 2.5mg
>1 pill finasteride 1mg
>coffee (gotta get that 200mg caffeine too!)

Think I'm starting to see progress with fin but still too early to tell. On month 3 right now.
At the hairdresser earlier in the week, I looked fucking stupid. After taking a shower, my hair looked kind of normal. Idk why. I think it might be the way my hair's been cut the past few times.

>>18536014
I think you obviously can pack a minox with you on the airplane. I don't think you'll suffer if you apply it a few hours later one time.

>>18536445
>Coffee
Bad for hair
>All those supplements
You don't need them unless you don't eat food.
If you're going this far to take care of yourself (which is good), focus on the things that mattered. Something that made a big difference for me was shampoo. Used to use L'oreal, switched to something natural (tea tree oil in my case) and my hair feels and looks a LOT better.

I am currently leaning towards the shampoo being the cause for my sudden hair loss at 34. I had exceptionally thick hair for the first 34 years of my life. Suddenly diffusely thinning at 34 is cause for concern. I suspected the shampoo when I learned that most big brands are being sued for causing hair loss and then selling treatments for it. Wildest thing

Lmk what shampoo bottle you have and maybe I could offer an efficacious tip. I posted about this in an older thread

>>18536657
Do you drink a lot of alcohol or go out to bars every weekend? That makes your hair dry and brittle.

>>18536670
I don't. I used to drink 8-12 shots of espresso a day and eat very little

>>18536672
Sounds like your health deteriorated thus causing hair loss. I remember in the old /fa/ days when everyone tried to look like a heroin addict. I was like emo twink skinny and clinically underweight. That caused damages by the time I hit 30. Malnourishment is no joke.

I suggest eating more fruit and whatever meat that works with your blood type. Also, sleep at night.

>>18536680
I've been malnourished growing up. I never suffered hair loss. It came suddenly and rapidly after a stressful event at 33. I suffered insane OCD from that event and my hair changed quickly.

I first assumed hormones when my hair began becoming curly. By fall, I suspected telogen effluvium when my hair was visibly much less dense. By winter, I started seeing my scalp and realized something was wrong. Around that time, I realized how bad my diet was. Since 2023 until winter 2024, I was eating maybe 30-40g protein a day, at best. I was also drinking 8-12 shots of espresso a day. 40g protein is deficiency (an adult male needs twice that for function, and hair is basically all keratin, this is why vegans often suffer hair loss because they do not compensate for the protein loss)

I fixed my diet by January 2025 but the hairloss continued
Saw several doctors during this time and finally hopped on Fin on June 2025
Realized coffee could be a problem, so cut down from 10-12 shots of espresso to a maximum of 6.

Stepped out of the shower one day around late June and was absolutely floored by the state of my hair, after using that shampoo, which I had just bought a few days before. Coincidentally, I read about the shampoo civil law suit, so I began researching the ingredients. Cheap big brand shampoos are literally toxic for your hair. Swapped to natural shampoo and my hair health was different, night and day

I had used this shampoo brand since early 2024, so it coincides with my hair loss.

Now, it's been:
>3,5 months of Finasteride, and going
>9 months of fixed diet
>3 months of less coffee
>2 months of fixed shampoo
My hair is still thin but its health is much better. It no longer is dry and brittle. I do see small hairs at the hairline, but I do not know if that is miniaturization or regrowth.
I used to see my scalp but earlier this week, at the hairstylist, we could not.

The thing that made the quickest difference was the shampoo and I swear by this now.

>>18536696
I’m 36. Around 34 I also had the sudden shedding causing a visual scalp. I have had a receding hairline to some extent but that stopped by 25. Everything was fine and dandy until 33/34 literally overnight. The thinning was also more noticeable on my left side like a weird thinning patch. Kinda like how cats thin in front of their ears. Like I said, just like you, it happened out of nowhere and I also suffered from extreme stress and depression. I had to take an extreme detox from basically every vice from computer usage, electronics, porn, alcohol, tobacco, coffee, sleeping late, etc. I had to unplug from the modern world. Caffeine in itself doesn’t cause hair loss but how your body handles the stress. Even if you’re not mentally nervous, your brain still registers “trauma.”

>Shampoo lawsuit
What brand? Was it T-Gel? What’s your alternative?

>>18530794
Question for you or anybody else in here, can topical fin+min restore miniaturized follicles? I’m not talking about slick bald areas, but I’ve got two solid patches of little downy baby hairs where my temples used to be. If they could turn back into real hairs, it might be worth giving it another shot.
Been on and off fin since 27, doc wouldn’t prescribe it when I was younger, and I was already a NW2.5, now I’m more like a 3.5, although it’s just thinning at the crown rather than noticeable balding.
Longest run of oral fin was like 10 months, 0.5mg EOD, and even that gave me watery cum, possible emotional depression sides, etc.
it’s hard to tell, because I’m intermittently depressed anyway.
Hoping topical is better, and also considering RU55841
Are there any topicals without minox? I’d rather go the oral route on min, since I’ve heard it’s dangerous for animals. But I suppose I could just wear a cap after it’s been applied.

>>18536730
yeah stop taking breaks and straying from the universally accepted dosage of 1mg/day. if you cant remain consistent for whatever reason then don't bother. you are just destined to be bald if you have a problem with anything just said

>>18536734
>the universally accepted 1 mg/day
Literally every source I looked at suggested that lower doses or EOD dosing had similar benefit profiles and lower/no sides.
But I still had sides, and other than temporarily pausing further loss, I can’t tell if I was getting benefits.
I wasn’t taking breaks for shits and giggles, it’s because I’d get depressed with cumming nothing but clear liquid and having weak erections.

On the EOD dosage, I never had morning wood the morning after a dose, but I usually would the morning after a non-dose night. Idk what that implies, if anything.
Also seen some freaky stuff about possible birth defects if you father kids after taking fin long term, sperm damage, etc. I’m not trying to be a whiny pussy, I’m saying that I don’t get how you guys are all just smooth sailing on this stuff.

What’s weird is that I don’t have the DHT phenotype. I have a low-normal amount of body hair, unbelievably dry scalp and hair, facial hair grows at the usual rate, etc. none of the men in my mom’s family are bald, and neither is my dad although all of his brothers and his dad are

>>18536707
> Caffeine in itself doesn’t cause hair loss but how your body handles the stress.
Yeah. I was simply addicted to coffee and didn't feel much effect from it, which is how I could drink so many shots every day, but the body obviously responds to the caffeine and that response is a stress response. Stress causes telogen effluvium.

I think all big brands. I was coincidentally watching Ian Carrol's video on that stuff, can't find the exact video but it was old. Don't know if it was this short, too lazy to verify, but it could be: https://x.com/IanCarrollShow/status/1746307919526928471

Basically, I learned that all big brand shampoos are going through a lawsuit, and in his video he showed that it was an entire isle in Walmart, all in court for causing hair loss
I checked the shampoo I was using and it was notorious, especially on Reddit. I was using the bottle from above, which was L'Oreal. "Hyarulon" or whatever had many threads wondering about hair loss. For me, it was a real life example. I stepped out of the shower and my hair felt like a foreign object on my head. My hair was thin, the strands were stiff and hard, there was no oil, it felt like I had barbed wire on my head.
That same day I coincidentally saw Ian's video and went down the rabbit hole. Had I not, I probably wouldn't have swapped the shampoos.

I looked at "natural alternatives" and bought a tea tree shampoo. I'm from Sweden, so I don't know if you can find the same shampoo, but you could probably find other tea tree alternatives. Pic rel was the one I bought.
Since swapping, my hair health is night and day different. My hair feels like hair again and it looks normal again. I could show pics of how it looks before and after, you'd be shocked.

If I had to attribute hair loss to anything right now, I would say it was the shampoo, but it's still too early to tell. Maybe it is just rapid onset AGA, from out of nowhere, at 34.

>>18536730
Fin didn't give you depression at 27 mate. All placebo. Possibly watery cum but it's reversible.
Reading these diffuse side effects always gives me nausea

>>18536746
Here’s my more fucked up temple for reference, you can’t see it in this light, but a big chunk of that “notch” and the all through the thin area there are all little downy vellus hairs still growing.
Tbh, I could live with the jacked up hairline if I could just get the density back, I’ve had a NW2 since I was like 7, that’s part of why I didn’t take the loss seriously until way too late.
Also didn’t help that I had stupidly thick hair as a young guy, so it didn’t show as visibly thin for years and years.
But yeah, I’m at most two shedding cycles away from Woody Harrelson in Natural Born Killers and I hate it. Wish oral fin had gone more smoothly, would’ve made a lot of things easier.

If topical fin also goes systemic, how is the risk profile for RU? And does it matter where you source it from? I’ve been seeing normie-looking companies advertising it on IG

>>18535855
>>18536144
Bumping for guidance

>>18536764
I hear a lot of horror stories about dut
I would add oral min before doing anything else
If you're not losing ground, Fin is doing its job. Min is the stimulant you want. Switching to dut would be replacing something that already works for something stronger in hopes of achieving what Min is actually intended to do

>>18536751
So you had diffuse thinning, right? Same here. There’s a hairline, but the scalp is thin. And you said that any shampoo made your hair feel dry, devoid of life, and feel weightless limp? That’s the same for me since I was a teenager. Ironically, I’m half Swede. Seems there’s a clue for us. I’ll try tea tree tonight.

>>18536746
Finasteride has a half life of 6 hours and taking it EOD is not sufficient in building up the medication in cellular tissue. Even a 1mg dose EOD would be completely absent from the body within 24 hours. Best case scenario you have a DHT reduction of about 20% when you next dose opposed to a baseline of 73% when taken daily for about a month.

We have trials comparing 1mg compared to 0.5mg. The finasteride phase II dose ranging studies by Merck show significantly greater regrowth and overall density in hair from 1mg compared to other popular lower doses including 0.5mg. These are statistically proven results, not an internet chart showcasing lower doses as just as effective with zero real world trials besides the ones I have mentioned, proving it false.

Everybody complaining about losing ground and lackluster results on fin is doing exactly as you are and I tell them the same thing every time. If you can't handle it then don't take it, there are no shortcuts and you need to commit to it fully.

>>18536761
No offense but you come across as neurotic and anxious. I can assure you those traits are most likely responsible for your side effects. Unless you have a severe estrogen excess from a specialized diet like improperly done veganism or are a steroid user then the chances of side effects are incredibly low. There is no connection to DHT levels and any of the supposed side effects. They are universally the result of an increase to an already abnormally high estrogen baseline. This happens when test converts to estrogen instead of DHT because we are inhibiting it's conversion. Conversely this also results in higher levels of free flowing test which balances this increase in estrogen in 99.9% of people.

>>18536767
Haha. Yes to everything except the weightless limp. I think I know what hair type you're talking about. If it is since you've been a teenager, that might just be genetics. My hair has been exceptionally thick all my life, so what the shampoo made it feel like was hard, stiff and with zero moisture, and given it was thin and diffusely miniaturized as well, I could feel individual strands and patches of thick/thin, and it didn't feel like hair anymore. The way I described it at the time was like barbed wire.
Here is a picture of what it looked like after drying. This was two months before I connected the dots. I just looked in the mirror on this day and thought my god...
Two months later, stepped out of the shower and I felt how utterly unhealthy it felt. Same day, saw the video on a coincidence and that's when I connected it to the shampoo.

>>18536783
Hey, thank you for actually explaining what you were getting at. Don’t often see people on here providing in-depth useful info. All I’d ever seen was the charts about comparative serum DHT levels, hadn’t known about the study showing greater growth at 1mg vs. other dosages.
Guess you’re also not a fan of topical delivery?
Quick question, since you seem knowledgeable, but how long should I give it for side effects to subside? I’m perfectly willing to believe that it was all in my head, but the cum consistency thing is just weird and can’t possibly be psychological.

>>18536802
No offense taken, I am neurotic as fuck, and still pretty anxious, although it’s better than it was. Been wrangling with the nurse practitioner to let me try Intuniv again, it’s supposed to help with anxiety and some adhd symptoms too. Been on and off Wellbutrin, it seems to help the adhd and depression, but makes the anxiety worse. Buspar is great, but it knocks me asleep at any dose above 5mg lmao

The only Fin side I ever experienced that doesn’t seem psychological was watery cum, though I also got that from Saw Palmetto, which is supposed to be mild.
The other stuff, I’m willing to believe that it was related to anxiety, especially since some of the sexual issues went away after I dropped fin and then came back again months later for no obvious reason. Might just be tied to something else.

No roids, no veganism, I get my magnesium and my vitamin d and fish oil and all that good stuff.

Only thing that still eludes me is how I ended up with the bald genes from my paternal grandpa?

>>18536802
>neurotic and anxious
That would've made every woman bald and every monk full of hair

>>18536811
A month is enough for most people to get over it. It's more so about forgetting to think about the side effects for them to go away, ideally not knowing at all is the golden standard which is how millions of men use fin across the world. That could be fin as there is a "break-in" period for some people as their body adjusts to the initial spike of elevated hormonal levels. it could also be something else entirely which coincided with your use, a small and temporary price to pay to keep your hair regardless. I don't see the point in topical besides some niche use cases which are not proven science as of right now. The systemic absorption makes it nearly the same as just taking it orally, albeit more expensive simply for the illusion of no systemic activity. When side effects are largely physiological that does probably help a lot for particularly worried people.

All it takes is one person at any point in time throughout your genetic lineage for you to get unlucky and inherit it. The only populations safe from it are uncontacted tribes and native americans and similar types without european admixture.

>>18532008
>it's just making it go systemic
I've already been on oral min for around 1.5 year prior to this, so there's got to be something to it.

>>18536825
Increasing blood flow (which is carrying the minoxidil) to the scalp

>>18536821
Good call, I’ll try to get the general anxiety under control and give it one more shot.
How long is the recommended period to determine if it’s actually making progress or if I should just hang it up and buzz my hair? 6-12 months, I assume.
As far as the break in period goes, can definitely confirm that I was ravenously horny for like 7-10 days after starting, before the elevated test levels from no DHT leveled off. Wish it could’ve stayed that way, that part was fun as hell. Got a similar spike of horny then sub-normal libido running an herbal anti-DHT blend as well, Saw Palmetto+Pumpkin Seed+etc

Any truth to the stuff about epigenetic change or sperm problems? It’s one of those things where it feels like fearmongering, but I’d hate to risk the chance that I’d father kids with birth defects.

>>18536865
You could see initial regrowth at around the 3-6 month mark though it will probably be too gradual to notice a huge difference. Many people continue to see improvements several years in advance. For that reason you will want to photograph the problem areas every so often to document the changes and have reference material. For faster results you definitely want minoxidil, ideally oral if not for the sheer simplicity of it compared to topical. Totally optional depending on your goals, unlike a DHT blocker. Increased libido does indicate that you were still in testosterone dominance following the hormonal shift. This means it would very unlikely to experience any estrogenic related effects later on with your current and post fin hormonal balance (Unless you adopt a severely improper diet, steroid drug use, HRT, etc.. though still would not primarily be the fault of fin).

I'm not a doctor so I won't advise you in regards to what to do or believe in relation to having children and finasteride. I would encourage you to seek out a professional opinion. That being said through my own research there are plenty of healthy children born to fathers taking finasteride. Some will choose to pause the medication during conception and resume afterwards. The only verifiable concern in my opinion is a potential reduction in sperm count which may make conception more difficult but not lead to any complications with the child or the birth. Again completely my opinion, don't base your choice off of it.

>>18536657
>Suddenly diffusely thinning at 34 is cause for concern
a normal person would have gotten their labs, not switch shampoos.

I'm somehow not visibly balding yet at 28 and my dad has an amazing hairline at 70, but I'm afraid because everyone is telling me that my hairline will definitely start rapidly receding when I hit 30, is it too early to try Finasteride? Are there side effects?

>>18536765
ty brother, just ordered 100 5mg pills. why do people say you have to keep taking min forever? surely once you’ve attained max regrowth you can stop and continue maintaining with fin?

>>18536954
It might recede it might not. In all likelihood it will change at some point unless you are totally blessed like a very small minority of people. You can use fin to halt it where it is indefinitely or leave it up to fate and hope you are one of those people. As long as you are somewhat healthy you don't need to worry about sides.

>>18537004
Nta but the answer is generally no you won't keep them and that's what you should expect. There isn't any data avaliable measuring the relationship of long term fin use and a cessation of minoxidil. Based on anecdotal reports some have claimed to keep enough gains to remain above baseline and more after long term use combined with finasteride. The narrative about minoxidil gains being independent of finasteride in long term cases needs to be reconsidered to a degree in my opinion. So a big maybe?

>>18537009
This applies to hairs that have gone terminal with the help of minoxidil. The only study we have measured this with a 3 month trial of minoxidil and finasteride and found no gains kept. In terms of the results from years of use we don't know.

I had a nightmare that the front of my hair was diffusing really bad and I was literally holding my hand on the top of my head while fast-walking home and every person I passed was staring at me with a look of disgust. anyone had this dream?

>>18536954
it was age 35 for me. I grew my hair out for about 8 months and when I got a short haircut, my temples had rapidly receded to norwood 3. it's crazy how fast it sneaks up on you. hopped on fin+min immediately and been taking it for 6 months.

my advice to you, start taking fin now because your hair is obviously important to you. I bought a years supply online and have had no die effects. just do it, because once it's too late, you'll wish you had done it sooner and be telling a guy younger than you to do the same thing. good luck, hope your hair genes hold true.

>>18536657
>Used to use L'oreal, switched to something natural (tea tree oil in my case) and my hair feels and looks a LOT better.
Like literally only tea tree oil or do you mean shampoo with tea tree oil in it?

>>18537015
Dream?

>>18537009
>>18537020
Thanks lads, it's cheap and worth a try, balding would be absolutely terrible for my looks because my hair is my one saving grace

Okay.So I got a pretty strong patch of vellus hair arpund my m-shaped crown after 5 months of dermal stamping and minoxidil.

In your experience, how much of that typically converts into full blown hair

>>18537004
Minoxidil relaxes blood vessels which stimulates blood flow to the follicles.
More blood to follicles = growth

The moment you stop, your blood vessels return to normal and blood flow stops, you shed all that you gained and you return to baseline. If you haven't taken Fin while you were on Min, your follicles will have deteriorated further during that time and your baseline will be even worse.

This is why people take them together, they work differently. Fin stops the balding process and Min brings more blood to the follicles.

>>18537202
I had people telling me "never" but ive gotten some back. It honestly looks like you have hardly any loss at all, you're gonna be fine either way.

A little over 3 months on min and fin. I think the hair loss has ceased.

>>18536878
Hey, not sure if you’re still in the thread, but thanks for the level-headed info.
All I usually see is crunchy woo-woo guys who are super cautious around anything perceived as an anti-androgen, and on the other side copers arguing that DHT has zero value for adults and nobody has ever had sides.
For me, idk how to feel about it. Some of the sides I’ve had are things I had on and off before fin, others seem related. I see long term studies where it seems safe, and then I see studies in rat models where they’re finding smooth muscle damage in the penis, or concerns in humans that reductions in nighttime erections could have bad effects on penis function.

As far as libido sides - I’ve taken low dose fin for 3 months in a row a couple of times, and once at the low EOD dose for almost 8 months. Also taken Saw Palmetto for 8-12 weeks on a couple of occasions.
A couple of the times, I experience a sudden surge of horniness for about a week before falling to baseline or below, along with what felt like subpar erection quality. We’d already talked about that, but it’s nice to know that it might indicate a favorable hormone environment even with fin, and the detrimental effect was just psychological. What’s weird is this - a few of the other times, I experienced fairly rapid onset of worsening depressive symptoms. Like, going from feeling a little down to emotionally sensitive, no motivation, numbness, etc, after no more than 3-4 doses. Sometimes it seemed like this leveled off, once a few years ago it lasted maybe 6 weeks and I just let everything ride for close to a year.

What does this mean, if anything?

What’s also weird is that the time last summer I stopped using it, I swear my sense of mental vigor and wellbeing came back in no more than a 2-3 days. If nothing else, I’ve never experienced what might be construed as long-term sides after cessation.

As for the fatherhood stuff, thanks for the info.

>>18536878
I’d definitely consult with doctors before I had kids. Quite frankly, it’s unlikely that that’s in the cards for me any time soon anyway, it’s more anxiety that long term usage might permanently alter something about my sperm quality.

The real feedback question is if this is even worth it. I’ve basically got the Woody Harrelson Natural Born Killers hairline, or I’m no more than one shed away, and it’s starting to feel like it’d make more sense to just buzz it or wear a “system” - it’s a wig you doofuses.
Idk, if I’d started when I still had full density and just a receded hairline it’d be one thing, but now I’m past NW3, idk man. I don’t have any baldness on the crown, but it’s getting thinner up top in general, looks like absolute shit wet, and there’s two noticeable thin patches on either side of the front “island”.
The only serious positive point is that I still grow solidly dense vellus hair in those areas, my temples, and in front of my hairline where it used to be. If the follicles could just flip back, I’d be golden, there’s not like crazy terrible slick bald spots.

Idk, just frustrating, is all. I also don’t know why I care this much, I’m realistically past my sleeping around with 22 year olds years, and idk how much 28+ year old women care about hair and looks vs. your income and social network and so on.

Pic attached is the worst possible angle of my front hairline in the shittiest lighting. When my hair is dry and curling it kinda fluffs out over those bald/thin corners, but I 100% am starting to look like a pervert lmao.
I’m gonna miss my long hair though, one of the things I got the most compliments on from women, even still do today, at least before this most recent shed.

>barely any hairline recession
>big ol' bald spot on crown
it's over

>>18537508
Convert to Judaism

>>18537511
that's even uglier

Is a Trichoscopy worth it?

>>18537504
Everyone cares about hair and looks, we live in a vicious world where any little flaw can and will be used against you. Self confidence is probably the single most important attribute a man can have without it you are just a husk. If you think being bald would be an improvement then go for it but you better make sure its truly the right call because there is no going back once you enter deep norwood territory. There's nothing to lose by keeping your hair, no risk or regrets. Imagine having to have the talk where you come clean about your wig, pure nightmare fuel.

>>18537513
I meant so you can wear the lil hat

Def don’t grow out the side gizmos

>>18529594 (OP)
This was my hair before using minoxidil. I am 23 years old and every man in my family starts balding at around 21. This was my hair about four months ago. Pretty large bald spot right?

>>18537579
This is my hair now after 4 months of minoxidil use. I have lots of hairs growing in where my bald spot is. I am very happy with my progress so far! Hopefully it should be just about full in another three months or so.

>>18537581
not bad for 4 months, keep it up anon, have you ever considered adding rosemary oil or horsetail to your shower regiment?

>>18537534
>jokingly tell some girls I know that I think I would look good bald (I've been slowly diffuse thinning since i was 18, 27 now) to gauge their reactions
>they immediately say no and say I would look horrible bald
I have no visible bald spots yet but my hair loses more volume every single year, gonna need to use min at this point, definitely can't go bald.

>>18537588
Thanks! I’m quite pleased. For now, I am just using minoxidil alone. I want to keep it up for a full six months of use like the directions say just to see how much grows in. If I still desire more hair, I would definitely try rosemary along with continuing minoxidil. My mother in law said she would make a concoction for me since she is an amateur herbalist, so I will take her up on that when the time comes.

>>18537015
No, but I've had nightmares where I have a full head of hair, and then I wake up and realize I'm bald.

How your balding friend looks at you when you recommend them finasteride + minoxidil instead of rosemary lavender peppermint argan oil fused with baboon butt juice elixir mixed in caffeinated onion tonic and emulsified raw donkey smegma gel

>>18537650
My favorite argument is to point out that if a natural remedy to balding existed we would have found it by the time of the bronze age. Consider how badly we wanted contraceptives and herbs to stimulate abortion. We put every single root and venom right into our mouths for it and the Romans famously drove a plant (silphium to extinction once they found it out it could reliably act as a contraceptive. We have had since the literal dawn of time to figure out a natural cure for balding and we have not found one. You are not gonna be the one to crack the code. Give up or embrace the pharmapill.

Why are baldies so insecure? I have two balding coworkers, both in the 18-21 range and they absolutely hate me for still having hair at 28, they talk bad about me behind my back, try to humiliate me in front of female customers and coworkers (never works because I'm not thin skinned and am a pretty decent shit talker), and it's all because I have hair and they don't, one of them in particular lost his cool with me the other day and was talking so much shit, I mean he just went off talking shots at me, my family, etc. kept repeating tiktok insults which was hilarious (you're 30 go start a family bro x10), the minute I made fun of him for balding at 19 he absolutely lost it. Anyways I reported him for the verbal abuse and also for drinking on the job so I doubt he'll be working there much longer. And I know it's because of the hair because there are two other 18 year old dudes working there and I have never gotten any crap from them because they both still have hair. The worse part was I was always trying to instill some form of self confidence into them by being nice, telling them girls don't care too much about hair and if they do they're shallow, to hop on fin and min, etc. but ultimately, their insecurity and fragile egos got the better of them. Balding should be considered a mental health crisis at this point, sheesh.

>>18537672
Never had a pleasant interaction with a young male coworker, bald or not.
Office workplaces are known battlegrounds for male alpha dominance sizing up bullshit, especially if there's flirty qt foid coworkers around.
It's not exactly gorilla chest thumping contests, but more subtle like snarky remarks and demeaning jokes, on extreme levels setting up one another for failure and subsequent humiliation or even termination. Older 40+ male coworkers are chill though, they've dealt with so much bullshit in their lives all they're thinking about is that pension.

I don't subscribe to the just JUST SHAVE IT BRO IM SHOOOOVING school of thought, but damn how did Jason Statham pull this off. She is absolutely dribbling wet

>>18537654
It's amazing what young men are willing to tolerate if it means not running into a 1.5-3% chance of having erectile dysfunction, and even that being reversible with stopping the drug.
We are such a gooner race that we're willing to lose what makes us unique and frames our face best, just because "muhh dik."
I'd understand this rationale in the past back when men just didn't give a fuck and pumped out 5 kids by the time they turned 21 and could still afford a mansion on a 5 figure salary, but we live in a different reality today

>>18537686
He's handsome and has nice stubble, he gives off "daddy" vibes which a lot of girls find attractive. It's like when a woman gives off "milf" vibes, same thing.

>>18537686
The main thing is that he's Jason Statham. He also genuinely looks better bald than he did with hair and despite what this thread would have you believe there are some women who like guys with shaved heads. Usually girls with bald dads.

>>18537686
He’s rich and famous, without either of those things as a bald 5’7” manlet he’d be an incel

>>18537672
Going bald at 18-21 is the biggest L life can throw at a man besides making him impotent. It destroys their minds, social life and any prospects of finding a date/wife. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemies.

>Dad's bald
>Mom's got thin hair
>I got the best of both worlds
>started using minoxidil a few years ago, didn't notice anything but kept using it, kept balding slowly
>2 years in started using finasteride too, didn't notice results either, maybe it slowed down if anything
>now, several years later I stopped for the first time because of frustration for like 2 months now
Not sure if I should retake it or just give it a year and start over (maybe the scalp will respond better after a break). Fucking hell.

>>18537684
>especially if there's flirty qt foid coworkers around.
Women who work in office jobs aren't worth it anyway. By working in a corporate hierarchy they turn into competitive masculine dykes because a corporation is literally based on military organizational structure and operation. You're essentially fighting over a dude with tits and vagina, and that's really gay. Find yourself a woman who works in more feminine jobs like running a flower shop, pastry store, tailoring/seamstress, hairdresser, interior designer, teacher, librarian, art chick, or better yet, no job at all and make her a house wife.

>>18537782
This is very true. People seem to only notice that women in office jobs are simply more attractive looking than a woman working at Dollar General. Once that illusion is gone, you can the filter out women at the homely jobs and find out which one is cute.

Same with healthcare. You’ll notice a lot of the nurses are pretty blondes.

>>18529594 (OP)
Why would you ever start with oral finasteride and not topical?

Systemic dht isn’t the problem, scalp dht synthesis is.

the results are in
dut 0.5mg daily
DHT levels in 2 weeks as they need to ship my sample to Germany

>>18537805
also my iron levels are pretty low, 9 mmol/L (ref 11-32), gonna start supplementing that shit

>>18537534
I guess my thing is that I already kinda feel like I’m in deep Norwood territory, even if I don’t get people looking at me in disgust yet or anything like that. I’m also tall and not fat, so that helps.
But yeah, concerningly close to Jason Statham with hair in the top post on her lmao, although I just have the Selleck mustache instead of the horseshoe.

Hairline pics I posted in the thread are here
>>18537504
>>18536761
Tbh, the only reason I’m remotely getting away with it is that I wear a lot of hats, or a bandana at the gym, and I’m tall enough that women don’t ever see my head from that angle lol
I really feel like fin gives me depression symptoms and low motivation, and it sucks. Being balding like this also gives me depression symptoms, so it’s kind of a mixed bag. Tbh, the time I just fully shaved my head 3 years ago, everyone liked it, or at least gave me compliments, but I missed those hair compliments from strangers haha

>>18536760
What do you mean by diffuse side effects?
The libido stuff I can definitely believe was placebo, but I’d never heard that it could make you depressed, so that seemed more likely to be a legit side effect.
I’ve been on it a few times for 3-4 months, and each time I feel like it’s making my depression distinctly worse. Usually goes back to normal a few days after stopping, maybe a week

>>18537672
You just can't bring up balding, god forbid treating it around anyone in the real world.

>>18537686

He's been always into sports and the baldness is ok for him.
He's also wealthy and well known.
I bet if he had a full head of hair and a buzzcut he would still get more women than he currently does but at his level it's not that important anymore.

>>18537924
He’s like 5’6” maybe 5’7” at most, hair or no hair he is absolutely not getting women because of his looks

>>18537931
If you think he's not getting women because of his looks, you're a terminally online blackpilled fag. Most women don't care about height all that much as long as you're taller than them, and you have a good face, a fit body, and charisma. Just being a lanklet doesn't help either. You still need a good face, a fit body and most of all, be charming. Or else you'll come off as a creepy weirdo no matter how tall you are.

>>18537781
I mean, if you've not had any results in 7 years, it just becomes a waste of money. save for a transplant instead.

>>18529594 (OP)
illegal hairloss hack: drinking topical minoxidil. a couple drops of the topical solution in water (not the foam version) and you get oral minoxidil at a fraction of the price. also perfect if you live in Europe or a different country where oral minoxidil is hard to get.

>>18537946
Cope. If he didn’t have fame and fortune no woman would look at him twice. They want a 6’2” slim pretty boy with good hair and smooth skin, not a turbo manlet with the frame of a troll and unkempt stubble all over his face to cope with his slaphead.

>>18530627
I'm 18 and my hairline started rapidly receding when I was 17. Thank God for this board or I would've fallen for the "it makes your dick fall off" meme and been bald by 20.

>>18536014
They let me carry the topical min with me because the bottle contained less than 100ml (3.4oz) of liquid in it. It's a comically small amount of liquid but it might be worth it.

>>18538143
I got 6’4 and slim covered, should I give fin one more shot or just buzz it off?

>>18538139
it's also more dangerous than oral minoxidil in pill form, but you do you

>>18538194
It's literally in the OP text, and certainly not some weird thing.

I'm somewhere between a 3v and a 4
Could fin+min actually save me? Hoe much could it impact my hair? What can I grow it back to?

This is just my speculation but
I think to pull off the shaved look you need a rugged face. Meaning you actually need your face to age a bit. If you've got a good facial routine and your skin is good I feel like it actually hinders you, because it makes you look younger in the face but the bald scalp makes you look older so theres dissonance.

>>18537672
>taunting the norwood reaper
I'd be more careful if I were you, not saying they didn't deserve it, but at 28 you're definitely not in the clear yet

>>18538366
I am most definitely NOT taunting him, just annoyed that balding zoomers keep hating on me out of jealousy.

How do I stop my hair from having this dry strawy texture?
If I don't shampoo it often it gets super greasy and smelly, but at the expense of its natural moisture and texture. I even tried conditioning but it does fuck all.
Should I just give up and keep it short?
I'm scared of it looking thinner if I cut it short because even on finasteride it's still not as thick as I'd like it to be with that diffuse patchy mess I've been cursed with

>>18534344
Nigga out here looking like megamind

>>18538371
better conditioner
>>18538363
I'd just cruise on test if I went full bald, I got very youthful skin and shit but what does it matter without hair?

>>18538360
regrow the crown while maintaining the hairline is realistic. If you are a hyper-responder maybe more but it's a stretch.

>>18538363
you also need a massive jaw to offset the lack of facial framing up top while having small features like eyes and nose to put more emphasis on the jaw. you are fucked if you don't have that hunter/warrior phenotype

>>18538645
Fuck
So I actually need a transplant to make my hair look any kind of decent

alright, tomorrow i'm going to shave it clean. i'm so fucking sick of paranoia about my aggressive balding now. i'm cursing god for giving this BRUTAL fucking hair. straight as an arrow hairline with two gnarly bald patches reaching back like a michigan wolverines helmet decal

How much hair transplant can I get with $5k and where should I go to get it done.

1cm lower and it would be perfect.

>>18537781
DUTASTERIDE I AM BEGGING YOU, GO ON DUTASTERIDE its the ONLY a thing that has done anything, fin did a slight slowing, its Dut or nothing.

>>18538360
I went from a 3 to a 2 with dut and min. Its worth it. Get a transplant and youre set.

I CANNOT FUCKING STOP PULLING .Y HAIR AND RUNNING MY FINGERS THROUGH IT, SHEDDING MY SHIT FASTER PLEASE HELP ME STOP

AAAAAAAA

>>18537882
>>18537504
>>18537882
What the fuck? You have hair. "Deep in norwood territory"? Im actually confused, youre barely on the scare, that's thick and full, maybe Norwood 2.

>>18538871
As long as it's thick enough a receded hairline is miles and miles better than slick bald and that's a fact.

>>18537504
>Nearly full head of hair
>"ooooo woe is meeeee I am completely bald, its over, guess im one of you guys now"
Shut up.

>>18538935
This is me, keep losing a ton of hair in the shower, the other day I counted at least 90+, yes I counted.

>>18538950
>>18538939
NTA but he's slightly receding, maybe not as bad right now, but give it a year or three and he'll be there

>>18538939
>>18538950
body dysmorphia + attention seeking and fishing for compliments is a hell of a drug

>>18538930
I have a whole box of fin left, shall I chuck it and switch to dut now or finish the fin off first before switching?

>>18539106
That's why I said nearly, no woman on earth would notice unless he was performative about it, my sister has a hairline barely better than his.

>>18539108
It is. I want to

>>18539109
Ask a doc but I would try to get on dut and not worry about chucking anything till you've tried it, its prescribed too I think, that's how I get it

>>18537504
>Woody Harrelson Natural Born Killers
Heres the compliment you were fishing for you hair having fuck.

>>18538944
will fin+min also restore a thinning frontal region?
If I could restore the crown and the frontal region I could live with my temples being pretty bare.

>>18539212
It will restore thinning areas in most cases. Beyond that you will need a transplant if you want to lower the hairline

>>18535113
>>18535115
>>18535448
Well for starters, you need to get the thyroid condition under control, without that, your hair isn't going to stop shedding.

Finasteride wouldn't work for you because your hair loss is related to a thyroid disorder (TSH, T4, & T3) and fin only targets DHT, so no on the fin.

Now minoxidil on the other hand could definitely help, but, just like with genetic related hair loss, you need to target the underlying condition, in your case, that would be your thyroid levels.

Get your labs done, and your doc will prescribe you some meds based on what they think you need. And generally speaking, people with thyroid disorders usually have vitamin deficiencies as well, so you should ask for a vitamin panel, if they refuse, ask for another doctor until they give you one, or, if they just keep refusing to give you one, you can always order one from lab corps but it will cost a hundred something dollars.

Why aren't we talking about bicalutamide when it blocks DHT but keeps your dick working unlike finastride and estradiol

>>18539108
classic mental illness

>>18539287
kys

>>18538939
>>18538950
>>18539108
>>18539329
Yeah, I’m clinically depressed, and I probably have legitimately diagnosable body image problems lmao. Wasn’t fishing for compliments, glad that people I can trust to not blow smoke to make me feel good see this as salvageable.

>>18539188
Trust me, it doesn’t feel like fishing for a compliment when I look at the big fucking notches where my temples used to be
But it’s true that I’m not a Larry David
Everybody is so anal retentive about hairlines nowadays that I feel like I should shave it all off even at this level, but it still gets good reactions at times.

>>18539106
I’ll get things addressed now, and we’ll see what we can make happen.
Thanks guys.

Anybody here got a transplant? How expensive was it, is it holding, was it worth it?

Thoughts on prp injections?

Why does everyone with a hair transplant have the same haircut? Are transplants really limited in terms of what styling looks alright?

>>18539287
Bica is an exceptionally strong anti-androgen, if you nuke your T without replacing it with extrogenous estrogen (aka HRT), you're gonna give yourself every possible symptom of low T plus osteoporosis after your body raids your bones for calcium.

>>18533925
Based.

Same here, I am 25 and balding. Just accept it, guys, that's part of life and maturing.
You can be bald and confident about yourself, you will look good and get chicks.

>>18539658
And what kind of girls do you get while bald? How old?

>>18539661
My gf is 21 right now, rather cute.
Having a personality helps.

Anybody tried RU55841?
It’s been a thing on the gym forums for a minute, and I’m starting to see people talking about it on IG as well

>>18539738
Since it's a failed research chemical, how do you know you're not getting sold fakes when you get it from your illicit gear marketplaces?

>>18539571
it doesn't give you osteoporosis because the t aromtizes into estrogen

>>18539562
You have to shave for it so everyone ends up having similar lengths when showing progress

>>18539739
There are people who aren’t selling it who have before and after shots showing regrowth.
But yeah, quality control is a concern for sure.

I’ve been on fin almost 4 months. I’ll cut to the point: I feel like my nipples are a little bit spongy. I haven’t felt any painful sensation or mass under there. But I don’t know, when I look really close, it seems likely maybe there’s some puffiness there. Maybe there was before though? I’m not sure, I have gained about 5 pounds, so maybe that’s it?

Am I just psyching myself out? I really don’t want fucking gyno. My boners and whatnot are fully normal. They were a little weak for the first month but then that went away. Might have been a nocebo. I have no idea.

>>18539922
You're skinnyfat, if you had breast growth there you'd be able to feel a hard definite growth behind the nipples instead of nothing.

>>18539927
I hope you’re right. But I’m not really skinnyfat. I’ve been hitting the gym 5 days a week for over 4 years. I weigh 155lbs. I don’t have a lot of fat on me. I guess maybe I’m underestimating the amount of fat I’m carrying. But I’ll take the fact that there’s no hard mass as good news.

can fin and min save this? my hairline is sort of matured but I'm not really worried about it
(I'm aware my hair looks like shit, just got back from work/gym)

>>18539922
just look at old pictures. gyno isnt puffiness its a small growth that eventually gets big like a boob. i've had a very minor amount since puberty and it feels like a disc behind the nipple

>>18540000
Yes, this is the ideal case, even.
What's really hard to undo is years of a receding hairline, going past NW3 basically requires a transplant.

Made a collage of my progress, 3~ months
>21m
>1mg dut + 2.5mg min & ketoconozole, added microneedling last week

Not exactly sure if I can see any regrowth.

>>18540009
that's a relief, thanks anon

>>18540004
I don’t have any old shirtless pics that I could find. But I can’t really feel anything like a disc. Just a little bit squishy. I guess it’s probably just fat.

>>18540022
It would be a separate thing you could move around so yeah just fat

>>18540012
I have a hairline issue and im afraid of microneedling. Dut and min stopped it and even flattened my arches, but even as a little kid I had a 5 head. I DEFINITELY have some loss, and some regrowth. Do you recommend adding microneedling?

>>18540055
>>18540012
Also that's very, very impressive

>>18540055
I only started it last week so I can't say it has helped yet, but from what I've read it is a good growth stimulator.

Just make sure to read up on it, don't use a derma roller cause they've been shown to create V like gashes rather than pin holes which can turn into scar tissue, which will kill the follicle.

What I got was the derminator 2 from some czech company, people say it's better than the handheld pens but I'm not sure.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26120151/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29194786/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28761259/

>>18540012
>>18540063
This was before the shave, I think it looks thicker now but I'm not sure if that's cause it's shorter, but I believe I'm making some progress.

>>18540080
have you gotten any labs done to rule out anything else that may be causing your hair loss?

>>18540012
looks the same to me just longer hair

bros my nips are harder than usual and sometimes they ache a bit (maybe nocebo) since I switched to dut
anyone do dut+arimidex here?

>>18540133
My blood tests always come back normal but I live in Canada and dermatologists here don't consider hair loss as a medical problem so it's been hell trying to get a scalp biopsy.

Pretty sure it's just aggressive AGA though, my dad is bald but he only started thinning late 20's, guess I got the short end of the stick.

>>18540148
I think it looks fuller than the other 2 times I've shaved my head but it has been less than 3 months, the meds take 6 to actually work right?
Might just be copium

>have been on 1mg fin 2.5mg min for 2 months now
>have shed pretty badly, i think im starting to recover though
>today, was walking past a group of boys about 15 years old or so
>they started shouting "HAIRLINE" at me and talking loudly about my balding
Should I up my min dosage to 5mg?

>>18540275
Yes 2.5mg is an introductory dose

>>18540275
post pic it's just your hair nobody will doxx u.

>3 weeks on oral min
>shedding won't stop

>>18540367
Completely normal

>>18540420
i can't tell if that's a joke

>>18540367
The shedding can last up to a month but you bounce back quick, you're just shedding hair that was gonna fall out anyway, only much faster.

Can coffee be the cause for my hair loss? Came suddenly at age 33. I drink 4-6 shots of espresso a day.

>>18540618
That's a lot of caffeine, i drink coffee all day and it hasn't affected hair loss or regrowth one it, though I do keep it below 200mg caffeine.

>>18540618
Uhhh no, you're just coping.

Is haircafe a shill?

>>18540759
biased but at least gives you the studies and makes reasonable points rather than anecdotes.

>>18540330
Not him but im terrified to, ive been here too long to be thinking its safe to post any part of me on 4chan.

>>18540618
I'm thinking about this too. I actually over consumed the fuck out of caffeine pills earlier and it's the first time my hair looks like it's in early thinning stages. That and excessive alcohol on weekends. Going to chill tf out a bit

DHT levels finally in too
good shit

>>18541152
Nothing but increasing your DHT or being severely malnourished makes you go bald faster. Autoimmune disorders can sometimes make you lose hair. Besides this and physically damaging your follicles there is a 0% chance you are going bald because of caffeine and alcohol.

I fucking hate muttmerica. Finally getting the bills for all the doctor / derma appointments I've had over the last 3 months just to get prescribed oral min.
>yearly checkup + bloodwork - $5
>followup on the checkup - $25
>additional bloodwork because my doctor was worried about shit - $110
>followup for the additional bloodwork, at this point my doctor gives me a RECOMMENDATION (not a prescription) to a derma to get either fin / min - $75
>derma appointment - $150 (at this point I got oral min)
>additional bloodwork for the derma - $25
>cost of all of the bloodwork (billed to me by a third party company actually doing the analysis) - $85
I have united healthcare btw. So in total just under $500 and 3 months of waiting to get prescribed oral min, and the derma wouldn't give me fin. If my hairline continues to worsen I'm just going to do some amazon telehealth bullshit for fin.

>>18541516
bro you're in the US just get your dut from dr.b/cost plus and drink OTC topical min