The scalp inflammation/itchy/burning/tingling thread

[jamesst11]

I hope to God fin doesn't start having the same effects on me man... God, this hair loss thing sucks. In short, we are all just f*cked. Might as well just give up and go live in a cave.

[Ziggyz123]

Ziggy, you think the sides or oral minoxidil are worth it and dutasteride is not? I don't know man, those are some nasty, nasty sides. I would be really afraid to mess around with my cardiovascular health.

The sides of oral minox at 5mg are not seen as risky. I'm pretty sure you don't even need a diuretic at that does according to dr. pathomvanich. He prescribes his patients who aren't candidates for a transplant this and has seen good regrowth. The reason for dutasteride not being good is simply because some people seem to experience what we do because of a sensitivity to hormonal differences in the body. Who knows what pathways our hormones try and take while on these meds.

[mic28]

Hey Ziggy it cost $75 for 100x 0.5mg capsules. Reason it is so expensive is because I had to get it made in a compound pharmacy here in Australia. I know now you can get it on inhousepharmacy so il get it there from now on and cut it up.
Did you stop taking finasteride? If so, how long ago?

[Ziggyz123]

Hey mic, na I still take it. I'm not sure if what I had going on was due to an infection or finasteride still. It's just weird that my hairline feels bruised underneath the skin on the one side. This random hairloss and pain only affected one side of my head... I don't know if I had shingles or something crazy lol. I don't know what I'm going to do right yet, but it does seem that finasteride has/had no effect on me.

[mic28]

I'm still in 2 minds on whether to quit or not. I'm down to 1.25mg every 2.5 days but don't notice much difference. Might try stay off it for a week see if I notice any good/bad sides then make more of a call

[Dench57]

Went to see the endocrinologist, she sent me back to my GP to get a further blood test done with more obscure stuff (DHT, SHBG, DHEAS, TGF-1 etc). My GP said these may not even show up on the NHS blood test because they're so obscure, and the endo said it would cost £700 to have this done privately, which I don't have. I have also been referred to a private dermatologist in Harley Street who specialises in androgenetic alopecia. Harley Street is world renowned for specialists in private healthcare, so if they can't help me, nobody can.

Can't even put into words how bad things have gotten recently. The Amitryptyline has helped to mask the most severe burning pain sensation, even though I still feel it somewhat, but the whole front of my scalp is still so tingly and itchy to the point where I'm having trouble sleeping, and have been having to take time off work. All the hair behind my temple on the right side, where the burning has been constant for 8 months now, has completely miniaturized and is now see-through patch that looks really weird. This was completely 100% thick before I took Propecia. The fact that this has spread to the left side of my head (used to just be the right) means that rather than getting better, this thing is progressively getting worse. Giving up hope that it will ever resolve itself. The 1-year travelling trip I have been planning with my best friend for years is close to getting called off because of how bad my condition is getting and how much of my savings I've spent trying to treat this.

On the almost-brightside you can be glad a hair transplant sounds like a viable option for you. If you only recede from the front with no crown loss then sounds like a HT would fix your problem forever.
I'm seemingly diffuse thinning, and potentially losing all over the top. On days I use regenepure, which leaves my hair a little flat and lifeless, hiding scalp can be troublesom. I'd say I'm still a Norwood 1 with a bit of crown loss (hidden the way I style my hair) but the density behind my hairline is destroyed, in bright lights or sunlight if I have my fringe up you can see the damage.
But yeah, sounds like you're the perfect candidate for a HT at least.

I would have been a perfect candidate for a HT (purely receding temple but complete thickness otherwise) but this burning patch has miniaturized a whole massive chunk of my scalp and is now spreading to the left side, so I'll have no hair at all in those areas in a few years. So this now means a shietload more grafts and a shietload more money, and I'll never be able to achieve the same density.

Just recently tried dermaroller, emu oil, T-gel sensitive to no effect whatsoever. Anyway, I hope you guys are doing better than me because it can't get much worse than this.

[Dench57]

My Ramatroban arrived from Iron Dragon today.
Also just bought the stuff to make topical cetirizine.
And have enquired about the group buy for Seti.

Let's hope to god this PGD2-based stuff helps.

[Ziggyz123]

Hey dench, where did you hear about that seti group buy? And is it topical?

[jamesst11]

Man, I feel horrible for you guys, this sucks. The uncertainty and lack of control is killing me as well. I went through EXACTLY what you're going through about a year ago. Itching burning, pin point stabbing and pressure sensations, shedding... it was miserable. For me it was just TE and I hope you guys are able to come to some kind of conclusion soon. I eventually realized that the more I f*cked around with things, the worst it got. The only "solution" that actually worked, and it took about a month, was to stop trying all this different stuff. I would just shampoo with 1% keto with HOT water, scrub it in with my fingernails, let it sit for like 5 minutes and rinse it. Afterwards I used that purador conditioner, let that sit for like 5-10 minutes and then got out of the shower and rinsed it with FREEZING cold water and left my hear under it for like 2 minutes. I just read this somewhere and it stopped the itching dead in it's tracks. I don't know how. Maybe it was just the hot and then cold, maybe the keto, who knows.
Anyway, that's what I do now. It makes my hair look thicker too. I then just style it to cover my thinning spots, fluff it up, put in hairspray and try to forget about it for the day. All these treatments you are looking to try seem to have minimal research behind them, are expensive, hard to properly formulate and putting more crap on your head right now, personally, I think is not a good idea. The body has a way to correct itself. The one thing I realized EVENTUALLY (after like a year and a half) is that with hair, it just takes a long friggin time.

[Not giving up]

My Ramatroban arrived from Iron Dragon today.
Also just bought the stuff to make topical cetirizine.
And have enquired about the group buy for Seti.

Let's hope to god this PGD2-based stuff helps.

Keep us posted how it goes please Dench, The PGD2 route will probably be my next option if this doesn't resolve itself soon.