Many people who have seen my videos know me for my incredible hair regrowth journey. Here’s a comparison of me before and just three months after starting minoxidil and the derma roller.
Month 1 vs Month 3 results on Minoxidil and Derma Roller (before and after).
Pretty insane, right?
What most people don’t know is that before seeing these amazing results with minoxidil and the derma roller, I had been using another hair loss treatment on its own—finasteride. I was on finasteride way before starting minoxidil and derma rolling. So today, I want to share my story about how I first started balding at 20, how I began taking finasteride, and my month-by-month results from using ONLY finasteride. This way, if you're experiencing hair loss, or know someone who is, you'll have a good idea of what to expect.
Finasteride block the production of DHT, the hair loss hormone.
Hi, my name is Al Garrido, and welcome to another blog. I remember that when I first started to lose my hair at age 20, I was desperate to find a solution. I simply couldn’t allow myself to go bald so young. This is my personal opinion, but I feel like going bald makes you feel insecure, and robs you from a lot of opportunities that you would have otherwise had. I looked everywhere for videos and stories of people who managed to regrow their hair. That’s why I know that you will really appreciate this story if you are in a similar situation. Just take notes and comment below your questions and progress on any hair loss treatment.
Before starting finasteride (month 0):
Alright, so these are the first pictures of me before starting finasteride. As you can see, the situation was not good. In this picture in the middle, you can see how bad my temple area was looking, with a lot of hair gone by then. The same can be said about the crown area, which was clearly visible at that time. So all these are pictures of the month 0, when I started taking finasteride.
Month 0, pictures from temple and crown area.
Month 0, pictures from the crown area.
Month 1 and 2 results (slight improvement):
Going next to month 1, I’m not going to lie, there was a slight improvement, but not very much. You need to consider that finasteride can stop hair loss, but it’s a long process.
Month 1 results.
This is me on month 2 of taking finasteride. Here, believe it or not, I was starting to notice some new hair growth. It was very slight, but this before and after comparison should help you see the difference. The same can be said of the temple area, which was slowly but steadily showing some new baby hairs coming out.
Month 2 results (crown area).
Month 2 results (temple area).
Month 3 results (happy about the progress):
Month 3 was great! Whenever I compared the pictures with before, I was very happy because I knew I was making real progress.
Month 3 crown area results.
Month 3 temple area results.
As you can see, I was still having noticeable hair loss, but it was substantially better than before. And with Finasteride, 3 months is still the beginning of the potential results, as we will see later.
Month 4 results (THE SCARY HAIR SHEDDING):
Anyway, this hype soon vanished, because, at month 4, something terrible happened. I got a hair shedding. Hair shedding, for those who don’t know it, is when your hair starts to fall out faster and more often than normal.
The hair shedding can happen between month 1 and 4 of taking finasteride.
This usually happens with finasteride and is usually a good thing. It means that the weak and old follicles are being replaced by new and healthier ones.
The crown and temple area were significantly worse after the hair shedding.
However, as you can imagine, it’s still very shitty when it happens. The month 4 pictures still showed better results than from the beginning, but worse if you compare it to month 3.
Month 4 finasteride results on the temple area.
Month 5 results (the recovery):
Anyway, this is temporary, and at month 5, I already started to see sign of recovery. Here’s a before and after comparison of my crown area, which was visibly better at this point than compared to the beginning.
Month 5 crown area results on finasteride.
The same can be said of the temple area.
Month 5 temple area results on finasteride.
Month 6 (slow and steady):
Month 6 was also great. Again, my hair loss is at this point still visible, but the situation has improved already significantly.
Month 6 crown area results on finasteride.
Not only did I recover some of my hair, but the existing hair was also starting to get thicker.
Month 6 temple area results on finasteride.
Month 7 (NIGHTMARE Once Again) and SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS:
But, one month later, the worst thing happened again. I got a SECOND hair shedding. And I believe this one was worse than the first one. Before I show you the pictures my my second hair shedding, let me briefly mention the topic of SIDE EFFECTS. Many people are afraid of taking finasteride, because of its potential sexual side effects, such as erectile dysfunction. What I think about this, is that the internet, once more, has exaggerated things, and it’s not as bad as you think. I’m not a doctor, so what I’m going to say is only based on my own experience and on everything I’ve read. I’ve never experienced ANY side effects with Finasteride. For me, it was completely safe. But it's true that a small percentage of people taking finasteride, have experienced them. They normally go away if you stop the treatment, so that’s good news. Anyways, I don’t think it’s something that should scare you from trying. If you are interested in learning more about that, I will leave you a study here, which talks about the percentages of people who have experienced side effects. Anyways, back to the topic.
As I mentioned before, month 7 was without a doubt a terrible month, since I experienced my second shedding phase.
Month 7 (second shedding phase).
Month 7 (second shedding phase).
I know it looks bad now, but a little shedding may be a good thing since your hair will grow back stronger and thicker than before. Which is what happened.
Month 8 and 9 (the light at the end of the tunnel):
This is month 8, and the hair started to grow back.
Month 8 results on finasteride.
Month 9 was even better. This is a before-and-after comparison between the beginning and month 9.
Before and after finasteride results (9 months results).
Months 10, 11 and 12 (3 months of steady growth):
Month 10 was more or less the same. Here you can see the improved crown area in contrast to month 0.
Month 10 results on finasteride (crown area).
Here are now some pictures of months 11 and 12.
Month 11 results on finasteride.
Month 12 results on Finasteride.
Year 1.5 on Finasteride (an unexpected improvement):
Now, remember how I told you at the beginning that finasteride is a game of patience? The reason I say that is because, believe it or not, the best results from finasteride came after year 1. This is when the hair REALLY started to back as healthy and great as before. For example, this is me 1.5 years after starting finasteride.
1.5 years on Finasteride results.
I remember my family asking me what the heck was going on. Why was a young boy like me, who was previously going bald, suddenly getting all his hair back?
Year 2 (rocking the long hair):
So now we enter year 2. This is when I started growing my hair long. Which, admittedly, was always a dream for me to do. Here you will be able to compare results from month 0 with year 2.
Finasteride year 2 results.
Finasteride year 2 results.
Not only did I regrow that hair back, but I also managed to get a ton of new hair density. So yeah, finasteride is great, and any of this would not have been possible without finasteride.
The downfall of my hair (again):
That being said, finasteride is NOT a hair loss cure. The reason I say this is because 4 years after taking finasteride, I started to lose my hair again.
Losing ground on finasteride on year 4.
This can happen to very strong cases of hair loss, like mine. That’s when I started using minoxidil and the derma roller. With even GREATER results than when I was using only finasteride.
Minoxidil, finasteride and derma roller results (Before and 3 months after).
Until next time, I wish you a happy hair journey!
