Hair loss and drugs

[Boston Guy]

Guys:

 

My best friend is a great guy in his late 40s who's losing his hair. In the last year, it's starting to accelerate. Prior to that, it was just a small-ish circle at the top of his head that I could see when I was standing behind him. Now, the hair on the top of his head is noticeably thinning. It's hard to tell for sure, but I'd say he's lost somewhere between a third and a half of the hair on the top of his head, fairly uniformly. In other words, it isn't that his temple is really receding, it's that all of the hair on the top of his head is getting thin (but none at all on the sides and backs, as far as I can see).

 

It's easy to see that it's bugging him more than he's willing to admit. I've suggested that he consider using Rogaine, but he's not sure it's a good idea. Not knowing much about it myself, I did a Google search and discovered that there's also another drug called Propecia.

 

Since I come from a family that doesn't suffer from male-pattern baldness, I have nothing to offer him from personal experience. But I thought perhaps others here might be able to offer some advice.

 

So my questions are:

 

1. Have you tried using drugs for hair loss?

2. If yes, did they work and were you happy you did?

 

Thanks, guys, for any info you can offer.

 

BG

[Casteran]

Bald is beautiful !

[Samai139]

This may not help your friend, but for what it's worth:

I began to notice my hair line receding and the crown of my head getting bald also and this was in the days before Rogaine or Propecia. So what did I do? Foolishly went the hair-replacement, weave, toupee, rug----whatever you want to call it---route. After nearly 20 years of that S---, decided it just wasn't worth it. And now I am FREE of the time consuming crap that goes along with all that. No matter how much you spend, how meticulous, how professional, etc., etc. you constantly worry about the "non-detectable" piece you have on and all kinds of crazy possibilities!!!

Drugs: From what I've read, once you start with Rogaine, you can NEVER stop---and its chancey on how much it will help and it's expensive. No clue about Propecia, but again, I don't think the results are that great.

Bottom Line: Re-assure your friend that he has not become unattractive simply because he doesn't have a full head of hair. Get him to go to a stylist who cut and style his hair so that what he has flatters the shape of his head, etc. If he has a nicely shaped head and is athletic, and not extremely pale, he might look good with a shaved head--especially during the summer.

Hopefully he will adjust to reality, but it's tough. I know, been there.

[+ Lucky]

Here's my experience:

When I first got that balding look I immediately went for help. The doc prescribed Propecia. I tried it and after many weeks some light fuzz started to grow in the tundra area.

I stopped taking it shortly thereafter. Why? Because it COMPLETELY killed my sex drive. I love to look at cute guys on the street, but with Propecial, I had no interest at all. I'd rather be bald. Now, I keep my hair cut very short and do nothing to cover up the nude spots.

 

And, Propecia is a lifelong commitment. So is looking at guys!

[Guest Tampa Yankee]

>Since I come from a family that doesn't suffer from

>male-pattern baldness, I have nothing to offer him from

>personal experience.

 

I knew there had to be something about you I didn't like!!

 

>So my questions are:

>

>1. Have you tried using drugs for hair loss?

 

Yes, Rogaine.

 

>2. If yes, did they work and were you happy you did?

 

No it didn't work, but it had the side effect of thinning my wallet. x(

 

For 95% who try it they might as well flush money down the toilet or preferably take an escort to dinner. ;-) In the few instances that it does work, it only seems to restore the crown area at the back of the head.

 

After many years of gradual slipping and thinning I underwent rapid loss about three years ago. I was horrified and depressed and tried Rogaine for almost a year without success. Ultimately, I consulted Bosley for hair restoration and they asssured me that they could restore MUCH of it for a mere $17K spread over two transplant sessions. ;( A few more weeks of depression and then I went to the barber and had my hair concerns buzzed away.

 

Considered Propecia but doctor would not prescribe because I'm over 50 and it interferes with the PSA test. I don't know how effective it is but I do know that, at best, it would be a never ending regimen and expense. If I really had to deal with the issue I would go the transplant route. The result is likely to be much more satisifactory and the expense is a wash when viewed against the long term prescription cost over one, two or more decades.Then there is the +50 concern down the road too.

[Will]

I have inherited male-pattern baldness, and although I've never used either of the drugs you mention, I can at least tell you what happened to me. I can only hope that it will help you help your friend.

 

At lunch one spring day when I was 15, a waiter standing behind me made a crack about a bald spot on the crown of my head. (It was a boarding school, and the waiters were fellow students, and he was older than I, and so he could say what he wanted to say at the top of his voice, which he did.) I had sort of felt that spot when I was washing or combing my hair, but I didn't know it was visible. From that day forward, however, I did; and I burned in shame, as though my thin spot were somehow unmistakeable proof that I wasn't a Real Boy.

 

Time passed and the spot got bigger as well as thinner, though I still had enough hair to have to comb it and have it cut until I was in my late twenties. By then, however, I was in High Baldness Denial and allowed myself to believe that the way I looked in the mirror, with the careful over-drape, was the way I looked in three dimensions.

 

Finally, when I was thirty, I said To Hell With It, shaved my head, and let the hair grow back as it would. I have noticed that my natural tonsure has gotten a little closer to my ears as time has passed, but it hit its widest mark in my early forties and stayed there.

 

The only bald men I know who like being bald are young and hot and shave their heads down to the skin, whether they're actually balding or not. But I really do think that it was early conditioning that made baldness so hard to take, and particularly because male-pattern baldness begins in adolescence, with the onset of puberty.

 

My mother's father (it's a sex-linked characteristic) was in his twenties, he was already far, far balder than I am even now. My brother does not have it, nor do either of my male first cousins. I honestly believe that if you've got it, you've had it. I don't think that either Rogaine or Propecia is effective against heritable male-pattern baldness. But it may be effective against other forms.

 

Only a dermatologist can tell your friend the facts. For me, it's been a matter of learning to live with it, beginning with finding a good hair-cutter (you'd be surprised at how much sheer undisguised contempt you get from self-identifying "hip" barbers when you sit down in their chair, and how sloppy the huge majority of ordinary barbers are with bald men, even when they seem to notice or care).

 

Finally, it's my hunch that your friend would be grateful if you, his best friend, were to bring it up. Oddly enough, baldness can create such a sense of shame that a balding man can hardly bring himself to speak about it. Funny how much sexuality we attach to head-hair. But we seem to be hard-wired that way, as every known culture has a sort of fetish about men's hair.

[Guest flibbits]

Why would someone want to spend money on drugs to keep hair so they could spend more time and money grooming hair? The myth that hair gives confidence etc. was created and is perpetrated by the hair care industry. I have little hair, and sometimes I wake up from nightmares about once again having hair. I wouldn't want hair now for all the world.

[Rick Munroe]

>Since I come from a family that doesn't suffer from

>male-pattern baldness

 

Suffer? Balding guys are fucking sexy! I love holding on to a balding head and guiding it down onto my cock. Then again, I also love grabbing a handful of hair & doing the same thing. I guess my point is that I just want some good head right now (I had fucking great head the last 2 days & now I'm spoiled). Oops...did I bring it all back to me & my dick again?

[Guest Hijnx]

I used to have tons of thick, curly dark brown hair. I wore it like a lion and thought I'd have it forever. Then I noticed all this hair in the drain of the shower and got pissed off at my boyfriend for it. This went on for a number of months, and still, he wouldn't clean out his hair. Then I went to Florida on a vacation, spent the day out in the sun tanning (burning, actually). Went in to shower off the lotion, and when the hot water hit the top of my head, I screamed loud enough for them to hear it in Cuba. Impossible, I thought. But it was me, no doubt.

I immediately went to the barber and got my first buzz cut. And I loved it. I went immediately from nelly girl friend to butch daddy. Got rid of all my "products" brushes and combs, blow driers and pomades. I love being bald. No shame, no worry, no more exhorbitant money to a barber. And there ain't nothing like a hot load being dumped on my dome.

[Rick Munroe]

>when the hot water hit the top of my head, I

>screamed loud enough for them to hear it in Cuba.

 

>And there ain't

>nothing like a hot load being dumped on my dome.

 

Doesn't anything cool ever hit the top of your head?

[Guest BenAJ]

I knew someone with the same problems...when he was young nice hair and then it started thinning in his early 20s:

 

He tried propecia but it was expensive...not covered by insurance although you can buy proscar which is covered and cut it with pill cutter to get lower dosage. The side effect as others have stated is possible reduction in sex drive/ejaculate.

 

My friend didn't notice that it helps so he stopped.

 

He is trying Rogaine now and will see. Rogaine is a life long committment because once you stop, it will stop growing too. It used to be expensive when it was by prescription only but it can now be sold over the counter so you can get generic for cheap. It usually comes in 3 month supply for about $20 or less. Which isn't too bad. You have to apply it twice a day. You can try rogaine and see if it helps if not does stop using it.

 

No harm no foul. But if you r not good at maintenance it might be easier just to shave it ....it will make it so much easier.. Besides, the shaved look is so hot!

[+ Lucky]

"Besides, the shaved look is so hot!"

 

Yeah, I've heard that too.

[Rick Munroe]

>Besides, the shaved look is so hot!

 

On top of the head, yes. On the body, no.

[Guest Love Bubble Butt]

I think guys who comb their hair in ways to try and cover bald spots look silly. Especially the guys who comb all their hair from one side over the top of their bald head to the other side. It's like, "who do they honestly think they're fooling?" It's really kinda sad.

 

In my opinion, receding hair lines not only show character, but can actually be sexy and masculine. If your friend is really losing a lot of his hair, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that he just go get a really short crew cut ... and I mean really short! Don't try to fake it, cover it, weave it, etc., just get rid of it. This will look TEN TIMES BETTER than having bald spots surrounded by longer hair.

 

If your friend gets a crew cut or shaves it, he should realize that how he carries himself (i.e., exuding confidence) will have a greater positive impact on how he is perceived than his lack of hair.

[Boston Guy]

Thanks for the info to all who posted. I'll pass it on to my friend.

 

Thanks again.

BG