My expHAIRiment...

[yecats]

Hi All,

As I am New to Signing up to This Site & forum, I thought I'd do the right Thing & tell You about My Hair Goals.

As of January this Year (2012) I have started to Grow My Hair,
after 12 Years of Shaving My Head with the Goal of not Cutting it til' January 2013.

The decision to do This came from Turning 40 & really missing having long Hair as I did when I was in My 20's,
but didn't like where My hair was heading eg. back. I slowly over Time, I shaved off little by little.
Starting with an under cut & wearing it every now & then in a high ponytail,
til' I ended up shaving the front back to meet the ponytail.
I believe it's called a 'Manchu'.
Eventually, I stared shaving My Whole Head & had been for over 12 Years...
Til' NOW!!!

December 2011, I had decided to make My First Time Ever,
New Years Resolution...
To NOT get My Hair cut, til' 2013 & I must say I am enjoying Growing It
& experimenting with what I've got & trying to see if I can thicken or regrow Hair to thinning, balding spots.

I have a Level III Vertex on the Norwood Chart.

At the moment I am experimenting with taking Mens Multi-Vitamins,
Fish Oil Tabs, Biotin, Vitamin C, Chromium Picolinate, Saw Palmetto &
Hair, Skin & Nail Tablets with Zinc.

Whist Washing My Hair 3 Times per Week with Ketoconazole Shampoo
& rubbing Daily a Anti-Fungal Cream (Miconazole Nitrate - Monistat 2%) into My Scalp, whilst using a 0.5mm Derma-Roller 2x a Week & in conjunction with a 4 Laser Raymax LLLT Wand.

Wow, What a Mouth full!!

Plus, Today I Received 3x 60ml Bottles of 5% Minoxidil Extra Strength
& a USB 200x Digital Microscope to record & document My Lil' Experiment.

I'm AM a little hesitant to start using the Minoxidil I ordered,
as I have noticed thickening of the Hair in My Problem Areas
& have starting to get fine little clear Hairs starting to grow where there were none before in My Bald Areas!

Anyhoo, That's enough about Me & My lil' Experiment...

Ciao4noW

[yecats]

Wow, After Reading through a load of various Posts on Here regarding Minoxidil.
I reckon I have come to the conclusion that Minoxidil is a Pain in the Ass & Sounds like a proverbial Prison Sentence!!

From having to apply It Everyday FOREVER til' You Die, to also have it make Your Hair Greasy and feel Horrible once a Day with a Stronger Percentage OR applying the 5% Solution TWICE A DAY, Everyday, Every Week, Every Month, Every Year!!!
I don't understand the reasons behind wanting to go through THIS Routine for a lovely 'maybe' full Head off Greasy, Horrible feeling Hair for the rest of YOUR LIFE?!?

Also, don't Stop if You Start, else the newly Grown Hair will fall out!
WHAT?!? All that Hair & Money down the Drain!!
But, WAIT... If You decide to give It another go.
The Hair that fell out will NOT return?!?

My Question now is, Why use Minoxidil?
It just doesn't seem worth going through all THAT Everyday Forever.

I sincerly apologise if I have offended any One with My two cent rant.

[clandestine]

My Question now is, Why use Minoxidil?
It just doesn't seem worth going through all THAT Everyday Forever.

Good question mate.

[chrisis]

I've been using minoxidil for a few weeks and it's not that big of a deal.

I make sure the area I need it for (receded areas) is wet before applying it, massage it in, and then let it dry. At night I do this while brushing my teeth. In the morning I get up, shower and apply it right after. I let it dry for about an hour while eating breakfast, surfing the net etc. and then I blow dry, straighten and style.

I'm thinking if I manage to grow any hair back I'll cut down the dose to once a day before bed, and continue taking finasteride.

[rupe]

minoxidil is extremely irritating and very inconvenient and makes your hair looks worse than it is after putting it in. but if it works its worth it.

[chrisis]

rupe I don't understand how it can make hair look worse? Granted I haven't tried the foam, but with the liquid I simply have a shower, part my hair out the way, use a pipette to medicate the area and rub it in. Then I just let my hair and scalp dry. Also I've not tried it on my crown because I don't have any balding there. Maybe that's the problem?

[rupe]

rupe I don't understand how it can make hair look worse? Granted I haven't tried the foam, but with the liquid I simply have a shower, part my hair out the way, use a pipette to medicate the area and rub it in. Then I just let my hair and scalp dry. Also I've not tried it on my crown because I don't have any balding there. Maybe that's the problem?

Maybe you have a shorter hair style than me. I use the same way as you but the liquid makes my strands all bunch together and gives it a wet look that does not go away and hence makes it look thiner.

Edit: since seeing your hair, it looks pretty much the same length as mine... what is your secret? Does the liquid not effect your hair at all?

[chrisis]

Here's exactly what I do:

I shower or dampen the scalp.

After showering I dry my a hair a little, but I want the scalp itself to be wet so that the solution soaks and dries easier. If I don't shower, I just wet my scalp by splashing some water.

Then I try to part my hair out of the way so I can get to work on the scalp without my hair getting covered in the solution. We want the medication to get to work in the skin after all.

I draw 1ml minoxidil in a pipette and carefully apply it to my hairline while rubbing it in gently so that it doesn't drip down my face.

When I'm done I leave it to dry for about 5-10 mins. Before my hair dries awkwardly so that I can't style it easily, I place my hair back in place so that it's ready to blow dry and straighten. It might soak up a little bit of the liquid but hopefully not too much, and it's a fair compromise if the application has been done well enough.

Then I leave it as long as possible before I style it, which depends on what I'm doing on a particular day. It might be as little as 30 mins, it may be several hours and 50% of the time it's before bed so I don't need to worry.

Extra points to note:

I naturally have quite thick, rebellious hair (of what's left) so maybe that makes a difference.

I also use products in the Samy Fat Hair range from Superdrug. I especially like the thickening creme which I rub in my hair pretty much straight after showering to towel-dried hair.

I've heard the Bumble and bumble stuff is good so may try that next.

[rupe]

Thanks, I think you must have thicker hair on top than me and that is what makes the difference.

[yecats]

My ExpHAIRiment Update

Hey All,

I thought I'd Post a Little Update in regards to what has been happening.

A small number of Friends & Family have noticed that My Hair appears to be thicker & My Crown appears to be getting smaller. I'm really unsure if it is because I see It Everyday.
Some Days It certainly looks fuller, then I find other Days I feel it looks rubbish, I get Pissed off with It & think of Shaving It off.

But, because I have given Myself One Year to ExpHAIRiment & see if I can thicken & or regrow Hair. I need to stick to My Guns.

So, as of the 14th of This Month, around the first quarter, I have given in & decided to start using the 5% Minoxidil Extra Strength...

My new Routine now consists of...
Washing My Hair every Other Day with a Deep Cleansing Shampoo to remove Sebus Build up, followed by a Remoisturising Conditioner.
2 to 3 Times a Week I'll use the Ketoconazole Anti-D shampoo.
Leaving on for 5 to 15 Minutes before Washing out.

I'm also using the .02mm Derma-Roller, 1 to 2 times a Week before applying the Minoxidl. which I'm applying from once to twice a Day. After My Shower & in the Evening.

I'm also using a little 2% Miconazole Nitrate Cream on the Reseeding Hair-line & Crown before I go to Bed.

Along with My variety of Multi-Vitamins including 1,600mg twice a Day of Saw Palmetto & 5mg of Biotin. I've added Evening Primrose, Spirulina & Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) for speeding up Hair growth & improving the thickness & Slowing of DHT.

All This whilst using a 21 defused point LLLT Hand Held every 2nd Day for 10 to 15 minutes.

The Problem I'm having now IS...
If My Hair is thickening or I've slowed down the shedding.
How do I find out of what is working out of ALL that I take & Or Use?!?

Ok, well that's what I'm up to at the moment...

Ciao4noW

Stacey

[fab]

I'm thinking if I manage to grow any hair back I'll cut down the dose to once a day before bed, and continue taking finasteride.

I saw another post of you saying that you started taking finasteride in November and stopped at the end of January and still suffering side effects.

Are you still taking Fin?

[chrisis]

I saw another post of you saying that you started taking finasteride in November and stopped at the end of January and still suffering side effects.

Are you still taking Fin?

I stopped taking finasteride in January when side effects overwhelmed me. I haven't touched it since despite still having a couple months' supply in my drawer. I did plan to go back onto it at a lower dose when side effects abated, but I'm still waiting. Because of this I now regard finasteride as toxic, at least to me, and will not go near it ever again.

[fab]

I'm also dealing with this mate. Have you tried any kind of treatments?

[chrisis]

Not yet. Someone in the chatroom of baldtruthtalk on Sunday mentioned something that may help. I asked him to email me more info but haven't heard anything yet. I think he was called gary. I think trying to detox might be an idea and getting healthy and fit - give the body a chance at getting back to normal.

I should probably see a doctor but I fear they'll be of little help.

[chrisis]

What was your experience exactly by the way?

I thought my sides were disappearing a few weeks ago but I've deteriorated again since. I just hope things will go back to normal in time, but it's been over 3 months now.