A word from one of our patients

Losing your hair in your 20’s or 30’s (or even 40’s+) leaves you with a fairly horrendous range of choices that I faced about 18 months ago.

I could live in denial, facing a future of cropping the top of my head in every Tinder pic or becoming “that weird hat” guy. I could accept it (and the massive Draw Four card life handed me). Or, I could do something about it – and given I lost a strand of confidence with each hair – and all hats look awful – on me, I knew this was the only way forward.

After a few false starts that I’m hoping you can avoid, I’m well on the way with The Hairy Pill – but the first thing I needed to swallow was my pride.

Nothing (more) to lose and everything to gain.

The huge issue with hair loss in both men and women is that it’s still such a mysterious topic surrounded in personal shame. I thought my only option was those weird $10,000 sci-fi hair implants (if they’re charging that much, they could’ve at least updated the ads once since VHS came out).

Being the eternal optimist – and tight-arse – I Googled cheap alternatives until the sheer spectrum of products and dud reviews left me with more questions than answers. So I booked an appointment with two GP’s – and here’s where a lot of people can go wrong. GP’s will almost always recommend Finasteride, but hair, its patterns and loss aren’t like tonsillitis – so one pill shouldn’t and likely won’t fix all.

Finasteride is used to treat men with benign prostate issues, but in smaller doses is also recommended for male pattern hair loss. Both doctors handed them out like Pez dispensers, but neither could tell me how or even if it works. And while it did eventually seem to slow or stop hair loss, that was only half the goal for me. In subsequent appointments I was recommended Regaine foam to up the ante – and while I saw some progress after 12 months, it wasn’t anywhere near where I wanted it to be.

That’s when I found The Hairy Pill.

I’d been targeted on social media because of my frantic Googling – and everything I read sounded promising. More than a thousand likes (including a few friends), some positive news stories and most importantly five-star reviews on their website, Google and Facebook. The initial price tag of $225 for three months was daunting, until I realised I was already spending that on foams and pills that weren’t doing the trick anyway. And let’s be real – that’s trading one big night of losing braincells for three months gaining hair cells? Sold – to the man at the back hiding shamefully under a fedora!

The Hairy Pill starts with the feel-good factor.

Losing your hair is scary. So getting a shrug from a GP when asked about how a pill will solve your problems isn’t exactly reassuring, unlike the detailed consultation I received when I applied for The Hairy Pill. The pharmacist called me to ask a series of questions about my hair loss pattern, family history and more, then went into great detail about the personalised elixir, as well as how and why it was going to work for me. I was continuing to take Finasteride with The Hairy Pill (and would benefit from 12-month headstart, but now had a few other ingredients that would generate growth).

It was also reassuring to have regular emails throughout my journey about what I should expect – and received a follow up call before the three-month mark to check up on my progress, as well as the option to up or lower my dosage. This was followed by an automatic refill which made things so easy, unless of course you want to cancel (you won’t).

A better pill to swallow.

The first few nights I had dreams that I had a full-blown afro…but it may have been the fact the pill was taking the pill last thing I did before going to sleep. Speaking of, having a single pill, with no foams or other measures, was a dream in itself.

As I was instructed, I didn’t see any major results in the first two-to-three months, and unless you’re lucky you probably won’t either. However, at almost six months, the difference is dramatic. I had quite a light patch at the front of the top of my head, which is filling out beautifully. (Ginger afro pending.)

Reactions from people have been very reassuring – but bear in mind I started my treatment a month before lockdown 1.0, so I’ve spent four of the last six months in hibernation…and totally not studying micro-progress in the mirror for an hour every morning. Not once.

What about side effects?

Limp dick right? Tell that to my partner, who apart from often telling me how much my hair has grown since we met, has been fending me off for the whole of lockdown.

Obviously it’s a massive concern for men, especially those already with fragile and hair-thinning egos, but it’s something the team at The Hairy Pill considers very seriously. They prescribe tried and tested medicine – and will start you on a dose you feel comfortable with that shouldn’t cause limp results (on any part of your body).

Though there is one serious side effect they forgot to mention…I had to start forking out for hair product again! Maybe I’ll start shaving my hair again. Hang on…I’ll get back to you on that, but it’s nice to have the option again.