HAIR LOSS: unreasonable to expect my doc to prescribe me something?

Tedious Bore

noticed over the last year or so my hairline receding at the temples. Done a bit of internetting on it all and figured this is the classic beginnings of male-pattern baldness. Not shocked, - all my uncles on both sides are balding. I'm 28, and decided I'd like to do what I can now if possible to hang on to what I have, or at least postpone the inevitable at the least maybe.

Researched things a bit before going to my GP, and expected he might tell me my options to start with would be Rogaine (minoxidil) or Propecia (finasteride), - these appeared to be the two start-out options with any half decent track record.

I've been seeing our familly doctor all my life and always found him fine, if somewhat abrupt maybe. I'm sure he knows his stuff, but it often feels like he's come to his conclusion before I'm finished describing my problem.
Anyway, he just kept repeating that it was "classic male pattern baldness", and how it's "perfectly natural". (I know that, but I'd still like to combat nature with some drugs please.)

He told me that there wasn't anything he'd tend to prescribe. Didn't wanna sound like I was knocking his knowledge, but I pushed it a bit by mentioning some of the drugs I'd been reading up on. I mentioned finasteride as that was the one I'd have prescribed myself if everything I read on the interweb was true. He was kinda dismissive and said there were potential side effects. I told him I'd read that these were typically affecting only a small percentage of people and that problems corrected themselves in most takers within weeks.

in the end, he referred me to a dermatologist (to placate me I felt).

am I alone in thinking it's never too early to try? I'd rather look into it now than be chasing something desperately some time down the road?

has anyone here been prescribed stuff by their GP in their twenties?

Tom Dunne

Moved from BGRH.

You will get a non-pisstake answer here.

Hopefully.

Khannie

Rogaine (minoxidil) is available over the counter, right? I'd just head along to the dermatologist. Sounds to me like your GP didn't really know what the craic was. I suppose they can only know so much about so many things.

I've been receeding for ages. Embracing it is much more fun than trying to fight it. Blade zero baby!!!!

funkey_monkey

Propecia/Proscar can be bought online. It does help with receding hair but not really with loss on temples. There are side effects though so read up on it first.

Wolfe Tone

I know what you feel like OP. I am still in my teens and am beginning to bald at the crown of my head, exactly like my father, and the grandad. It sucks. Do not want to go the number one route really.

Was considering going to the GP but don't want to waste 70 quid for that type of response.

BumbleB

I'm with Khannie on this one 100% .I for years was battling with all that going bald stuff went to hair clinics charging a lot of money for rubbish that doesn't work and also people were telling me to shave it off.

I didn't really take any notice until a swedish girl I was seeing actually persuaded me to get a blade one. She thought it was really hot as but I hated it was alien to me at the time .

I didn't really like it until, one night .I bumped into a girl I had been forever trying to woo but since had given up as a lost cause. The first thing she said was you look sexy (I blushed) and she was all over me. That was the last moment I ever cared about losing my hair.

Medicines are great but you have to realise you are willingly putting poison into your body and the effects may not manifest themselves for years to come.I know about side effects because I was on antibiotics 4 times in one year. The side effect I have ,(which is a condition which was perfectly manageable but was aggravated by drugs) is harder to get rid (and may never) than the actual flu.Once you have this clear in your mind work away.Also do very thorough research before you take this option. Also google thalidomide and effects ,this was once thought to be a wonderdrug.

You are far better off to accept things as they are and try to go with the shave head option. Today it is acceptable ,at 28 youre not on your own as regards MPB.Try it as its the safer ,easier and cheaper option. think of all the shampoo you'll save .Peace.:)

source

I'd agree with Khannie and BumbleB. I've a receding hairline for the last 5 years, and have embraced it, i cut my hair tight but not completely shaved, usually about a 2 or 3 blade.

I really can't understand why people want to try to cover up MPB, Just promise me you wont ever try a comb over op.

sam34

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Propecia/Proscar can be bought online. It does help with receding hair but not really with loss on temples. There are side effects though so read up on it first.

it may be available online but its illegal in this country to buy prescription meds online

plus, buying any meds online is really dodgy,often you have no real guarantee that what you get is actually what you want

Tedious Bore

thanks for all your replies.

I'm not depressed about it or dreading facing up to things. I appreciate the positive attitude advice, but I'm not really at that juncture just yet. Aside from some noticeable receding around my hair line/temples, I've a very full head of hair, and while a buzz cut might be the answer in 5 years time, it's not something I'll be needing to ponder any time soon.

Also I'd like to add, ...while a shaved head might work for lots of guys, a shaved head can look worse than a thinning fro for others. Head-shape is the determining factor. I've shaved my head many times before. I know what it looks like on me, and I know I look better with hair.

anyways, my original reason for posting was to ask if anyone has been prescibed it by their doc at a similarly young age (28)?
I've done plenty of reading on it all, and I decided that I want to research and try whatever I can now if it might help. There are lots of storie of brothers, twins even, where one tried and succeeded postponing things for years with little daily effort and the one who didn't lost their hair. I'd like the option.

so, if anyone has any further helpful info on it all, I will much appreciate.
thanks again for your thoughts.

BumbleB

OP been through it all. It could take 10 years to even become slightly noticeable and by then you might not care. Everybody goes through the bs down crap .Even Connery used to hang himself upside down to preserve whatever he had left.

speedboatchase

Tedious Bore wrote: »

thanks for all your replies.

I'm not depressed about it or dreading facing up to things. I appreciate the positive attitude advice, but I'm not really at that juncture just yet. Aside from some noticeable receding around my hair line/temples, I've a very full head of hair, and while a buzz cut might be the answer in 5 years time, it's not something I'll be needing to ponder any time soon.

Also I'd like to add, ...while a shaved head might work for lots of guys, a shaved head can look worse than a thinning fro for others. Head-shape is the determining factor. I've shaved my head many times before. I know what it looks like on me, and I know I look better with hair.

anyways, my original reason for posting was to ask if anyone has been prescibed it by their doc at a similarly young age (28)?
I've done plenty of reading on it all, and I decided that I want to research and try whatever I can now if it might help. There are lots of storie of brothers, twins even, where one tried and succeeded postponing things for years with little daily effort and the one who didn't lost their hair. I'd like the option.

so, if anyone has any further helpful info on it all, I will much appreciate.
thanks again for your thoughts.

Hey Tedious, been in a losing battle for around 4 years and I'm only 25 - I completely see where you're coming from and although everyone would just say 'shave it', you never really want to be the first bald guy of all your mates or the only bald guy in the nightclub if you lose hair from an early age. The three things which I used/in some cases still use all had different benefits:

Minoxidil - or Rogaine basically, is there to basically grow new hair, whilst Propeca (finasteride) is there to preserve what you have. Rogaine comes in liquid or foam, personally I found the liquid easier to manage and style your hair with. Apply 1ml each morning and night, if the area is getting flaky you're using too much. I use the generic brand Kirkland Minoxidil as it's about half the price of Rogaine http://www.minoxidil-direct.co.uk/?gclid=CLvNndK-i6MCFRM_lAod_kMgZQ

Finasteride - Propecia is the big-name brand in Finasteride, but Proscar does the same job. Get a pill-splitter and split each Proscar tablet into fifths, and take 1/5 every day. Like minoxidil, you lose whatever gains you had once you stop using it. I gave up on finasteride as the very unlikely side-effects started to occur to me (moobs, loss of libido). They're are definitely the worse form of side-effects you can imagine if you're losing confidence! Proscar might work for you though so don't count it out.

Toppik - Can't believe I only came across this about a year ago - it's really a live-saver if you're in your twenties and don't want to take the plunge yet. Toppik is more of a concealer than anything, and won't regrow your hair - however used properly it makes a massive difference. If you've long-ish hair, apply toppik to the receding parts (crown, temples), hairspray it into place and just do your hair normally, as long as you're not covering a place where there is zero hair on or brushed over an area, it's seamless. Just buy a small box of Toppik the first time you use it, as you want to make sure you can match your natural hair colour

Anyways, those are pretty much your three main choices unless you have the sheckles to get a hair transplant (which, since you're in your twenties will need to be re-done a few years afterwards).

Tedious Bore

speedboatchase wrote: »

Hey Tedious, been in a losing battle for around 4 years and I'm only 25 - I completely see where you're coming from and although everyone would just say 'shave it', you never really want to be the first bald guy of all your mates or the only bald guy in the nightclub if you lose hair from an early age. The three things which I used/in some cases still use all had different benefits:

Minoxidil - or Rogaine basically, is there to basically grow new hair, whilst Propeca (finasteride) is there to preserve what you have. Rogaine comes in liquid or foam, personally I found the liquid easier to manage and style your hair with. Apply 1ml each morning and night, if the area is getting flaky you're using too much. I use the generic brand Kirkland Minoxidil as it's about half the price of Rogaine http://www.minoxidil-direct.co.uk/?gclid=CLvNndK-i6MCFRM_lAod_kMgZQ

Finasteride - Propecia is the big-name brand in Finasteride, but Proscar does the same job. Get a pill-splitter and split each Proscar tablet into fifths, and take 1/5 every day. Like minoxidil, you lose whatever gains you had once you stop using it. I gave up on finasteride as the very unlikely side-effects started to occur to me (moobs, loss of libido). They're are definitely the worse form of side-effects you can imagine if you're losing confidence! Proscar might work for you though so don't count it out.

Toppik - Can't believe I only came across this about a year ago - it's really a live-saver if you're in your twenties and don't want to take the plunge yet. Toppik is more of a concealer than anything, and won't regrow your hair - however used properly it makes a massive difference. If you've long-ish hair, apply toppik to the receding parts (crown, temples), hairspray it into place and just do your hair normally, as long as you're not covering a place where there is zero hair on or brushed over an area, it's seamless. Just buy a small box of Toppik the first time you use it, as you want to make sure you can match your natural hair colour

Anyways, those are pretty much your three main choices unless you have the sheckles to get a hair transplant (which, since you're in your twenties will need to be re-done a few years afterwards).

informative, helpful, .....thanks.

PauloMN

Just a guess, but maybe your GP is reluctant to prescribe drugs for something that is not really (in his/her view) an illness or something that needs to be treated. I would imagine that most GPs would have the attitude (correctly in my opinion) that drugs should only be prescribed where necessary, and not for cases where they are not essential.

As for baldness "remedies", your choice but I reckon they are a complete waste of money.

Seems to me that these days there's like 1 in every 3 blokes has a shaved head, bald or not, so most people don't bat an eyelid if they encounter a bloke with no hair. If they do, they're probably not worth bothering with anyway!

the_syco

Khannie wrote: »

I've been receeding for ages. Embracing it is much more fun than trying to fight it. Blade zero baby!!!!

Mach3 ftw!

=-=

OP, if you're in, or live near Dublin, goto the "BALD" shop in the laneway opposite the George, on Georges Street. They'll be able to advise you on the different drugs to get, and will usually have a better knowledge than your doc on the subject.