The scalp inflammation/itchy/burning/tingling thread

[Dench57]

From what I've heard CB is basically a side-free RU. Crazy expensive right now and no stable vehicle for it I don't think. Even if those new treatments do make it, and are better than anything now, we still won't have them for at least a few years. At the rate my hair is deteriorating now, I dread to think what I'll be even a year from now. So bitter that I could've just left my hair and it would've been fine for a few years. Now it is SO aggressive. With new treatments and transplants getting better/more affordable, every year you can prolong the loss is precious.

The only thing giving me the slightest hope is just telling myself I can get a hair transplant in the future. 6 months ago that hadn't even crossed my mind, it was a last resort. Now I've accepted I have no choice, NO medication or topical is going to work for me. So even if I do get a transplant I'll still be losing hair and have to get more. I'd never really looked into transplants much before...but I have today and apparently you can never get anywhere near the natural density back. It's just not possible. My hair has always been really thick and curly and nothing will ever bring that back, which makes every day with this itching pain and receding even more unbearable. I also didn't realise how much it costs. Been using some of the calculators and it's quoting me anywhere between £3,000-£10,000. That's just for filling in above temples and a bit of the hairline. With some hair that will look thin and unnatural anyway. Its really not the guaranteed, complete recovery solution I was hoping it was. There's also people who just aren't viable candidates for it, which I may be one of (even though I will always have shitloads of thick hair at back and sides if I'm like my dad and grandad)

Anyway, sorry for the rant, this isn't really the place for that, we're all going through a shitty time. Just gotta blow off steam cos you guys are going through similar stuff! Shedding and thinning for 7 months on Fin Ziggy that sounds awful. Have you thought about stopping it for a while just to see what happens? It can't be worse than what's already happening? Like you said, there are stories of people who come off and are actually better off.

[mic28]

Hey Dench, I was thinking of maybe trying vitamin B5 to see if that clears the itch. Have you heard much about this?

[Ziggyz123]

Yeah dench, I also never thought about a transplant until I became bad with finasteride. And yeah I thought quitting, but my brother does have a receding hairline and I know I'm headed down that route so finasteride ( even though I'm not doing well on it ) gives me a slight peace of mind.

I don't know what the further holds for my and your hair hair. I do know for certain that this must have been hyperandrogenitcity because I did get the increased sex drive at the time of this shed and inflammation. Also, as crazy as this is going to sound, when I got the increased sex drive I swear to you my d*** got fatter and I was like, what the hell? This must be finasteride causing a hormonal imbalance.

[Dench57]

Hey Dench, I was thinking of maybe trying vitamin B5 to see if that clears the itch. Have you heard much about this?

I take Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) daily because it "regulates hormonal activity" and I read in a hairloss thread that it has mild anti-androgen properties. Doesn't seem to be doing anything. I doubt it's anywhere near strong enough for how severe my scalp pain is.

Never heard of Vitamin B5 for hairloss...just googled it and it's mostly threads of people thinking it caused hairloss.

[Ziggyz123]

Hey dench, any update on how you're doing? I rarely really have the pain I had, but I get this slight itch where I'm thinning. I'm not lying when I say I lost 60% of my hair on this. It's actually such a weird loss that my part has changed on my head and I can't brush my hair over how I used to. It just falls to the side of my head and shows my thinning. I'm at a loss man. Even for me, I wanted to get a transplant to fix my hairline, but my thinning is like all over the place behind my hairline. I wish I never touched fin. I'm going to my primary doc tomorrow to request hormone blood work for t and dht because I feel like fin isn't even having a slight effect on me anymore.

[Dench57]

Hey Ziggy.

I would say I'm at rock bottom but things are only gonna get worse. Everyday the pain and itching is constant and unbearable. Even though it's been about 7 months, the magnitude of what's happening to me still hasn't really sunk in. What started as a relatively harmless (I thought) attempt to slow down my NW0.5 has turned into a living nightmare. I feel like it's a bad dream that I'm going to wake up from tomorrow. I fantasize about my life before taking that pill, how carefree and happy I was.

I hear what you're saying about not being able to hide the recession like you used to. Thats happened to me in the last few weeks - I used to be able to cover my temple recession completely so any normal person wouldn't know I was receding. In the space of 3 months that whole area is now completely see-through and looks awful. When you look in the mirror and see how much of an impact hairloss has on your appearance, and knowing it will never improve, only get worse - thats when it hits home and despair just takes over.

I've even made a post on the infamous propeciahelp.com to see if anyone's had similar persistent sides. Man that site is the most depressing shit I've ever read and makes me regret taking Propecia even more. One guy with reflex-hyper said his endocrine system "crashed" about 6 months after stopping Fin and he got PFS. I can't even allow myself to think thats gonna happen, its too scary. One other guy on Regrowth.com had reflex-hyper for over 5 months just from 2 weeks on Propecia. I took it for 3 months! Everybody is different though...I just have to try and stay positive and hope that I'll be a lucky one who recovers in a few months.

Have you considered trying RU? Thats the only real alternative to Fin/Dut/Minox I can see and has a different mechanism to 5AR inhibitors. Bottom line is androgens in my scalp are decimating my hair follicles - surely RU would help to stop that. But there's the problem - surely its just gonna cause your body to produce the same reflex-hyper reaction? It's such a gamble. Despite mixed reviews I'd definitely be trying it if it weren't for the fact I'm going travelling for over a year in November. There's no point in using it just for a few months. Then again if I'm still dealing with this by November I won't be able to go travelling.

Anyways, I'm seeing a private dermatologist next Wednesday (£300 just for a consultation) and will post an update then. I'm not particularly hopeful.

[Ziggyz123]

Dench, sorry to hear you're still having all of that inflammation . I did read some things about RU and how people have quit finasteride and maintained/regrew with RU. When this all started for me, the inflammation was sooooo terrible man. The weirder thing is, I developed like itchy bumps and then my hair like exploded out of this one area. The thing that really bothers me is that my left temple and hairline is so thinned out that my part somehow changed. Hairs that used to be brushed across my scalp now fall to the sides because there isn't enough hair to hold them up anymore.

I would try RU, but I can't use propylene glycol as a vehicle I don't think. When this shed happened and inflammation, I was still using minox, but had to quit because it was irritating me even worse. I just don't know what to do anymore either man! I really need a hormone panel, but then again what is that even going to prove? If they say, "oh you need something stronger" than I get dut and have an even stronger reflex down the road.

Another odd thing is I keep shedding hair and some have like dried sebum on it??? Strange.. Do you know if there are any remade RU solutions available? And let me know what the dermatologist thinks man because mine had no clue.

[Dench57]

Same thing with me man, started with inflammation in one spot in particular, above my "parting" on right temple, has thinned out more than anywhere else. But like I said, there was no redness, flakiness, yellowy sebum buildup, bumpiness. No physicals signs of inflammation whatsoever. If you're getting bumps/dried sebum it sounds like a more straightforward inflammation, possibly seborrheic dermatitis, demodex, fungal infection or something else. Which should be treatable with medicated shampoo (coal tar, zinc, piroctone olamine, the list is endless) or hydrocortisone or something. Would definitely see a dermatologist if you are seeing signs of inflammation though, I'm no expert. I wish I was seeing physical signs of inflammation, ANYTHING would be better than just DHT straight up raping my follicles.

Yeah you can buy it premixed. I'm sure there are other vehicles available apart from PG but you'd have to ask in the big RU thread. I'm seriously tempted to try it because it looks like it works, and in theory should stop DHT binding to my receptors and thus stop the scalp itch/pain. But there's just way too many threads of people reporting all kinds of side effects, from the usual Fin-like sides, to bloodshot eyes, muscle spasms, heart palpitations etc which is just really scary considering it is an experimental drug not approved for human use. Though it's only topical it obviously still gets absorbed systemically. As with everything though I would probably be willing to try as long as there is no persistent/permanent sides...something people told me would never happen with Fin, and look how I ended up.

I just hate sitting here feeling so powerless to stop it. Topical spiro/fluridil/keto shampoo are doing nothing to reduce the scalp itch/pain after 6 weeks.

I don't know what your hormone levels will show, I reckon they will all be normal. Dutasteride is DEFINITELY not what you want, its just a stronger version of Fin and will cause an even stronger adverse effect.

[Dench57]

Maybe this going for broke 2.5mg a day is wrong but I'm clutching at straws here

I really wouldn't advise taking higher doses of Finasteride. As far as I'm aware you're just increasing your chances of sides without any extra effect on your hair. Because of the "flat" dose-response curve of Finasteride 0.25mg about 90% as effective as 1.25mg a day, but with less severity of sides of course. There's loads of information/studies about this online.

I just read this quote from the RU thread which hit home pretty hard for me :

"you do have more to loose though. RU is without doubt, like finasteride, a long term commitment. all the literature suggests you can maintain on RU, even re-grow but that once you stop androgen receptors multiply in the scalp/follicle and become more sensitive.

ive seen this first hand. a friend used RU for 2 months - thought it wasnt working came off and bang his hairloss accelerated way quicker than it was because he'd been applying an AA to his scalp that played around with the mapping etc of the receptors in his scalp

its like fin - you've got to be on it full time and be prepared that if it doesn't work for you its going to really f things up and accelerate HL"

Using Fin permanently accelerated my MPB. If I don't use RU permanently it will just do the same. I'm at my wit's end here to be honest. Been spending so much time on hairloss forums the past year and the brutal truth is if Fin or Dut don't work for you, you are screwed. Even the extreme cost, time and hassle of a hair transplant, even if it is successful, will never restore anywhere near natural density and look. How is this lack of treatment possible in 2015?!

[mic28]

Hey Dench,

So after upping my dose to 2.5mg daily for just over 2 weeks, I noticed a very oily scalp throughout the day. After reading up a bit more, I decided to drop down to 1.25mg EOD, therefore trying the opposite effect and trying to taper off slowly.
It's been a week or so of 1.25mg EOD and I've noticed a reduction in oil, however getting a lot of flakes off my scalp. Still very itchy at the mo but il keep this dose for the next month or so see how it pans out.