+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Hi there

  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    4

    Default Hi there

    Hi,
    I've just joined this community so I thought I would say hi before starting posting.

    I am 38years old, male.

    Genetic: all my male relatives started balding at very young age, judging from the photos I've seen my dad at 28-29 was nw5-6.
    For some reason I started noticing a first very mild shedding only at 31-32.

    History: after a while I decided to take action on that and I initially wanted to stay away from drugs. I've been using a lasercomb for the last 4-5 years. I am not sure whether this has slowed down my hair loss, I don't have a control to compare this against.
    With time I added other mild things such as oral zinc, saw palmetto, vit B6, biotin etc.. but I ended up dropping them as I could not see any noticeable improvement, or at least it surely was not worth the hassle.
    A couple of years ago I have started experiencing a more significant shedding, so I added 5% generic minoxidil to the mix. After a month or so I started seeing some barely noticeable regrowth, but very soon the scalp itching and inflammation became totally unbearable and I had to stop using it. It took several months for my scalp to fully recover from that. Overall, my feeling is that this scalp inflammation considerably accelerated the process of hair loss.

    Recent development: I am probably on nw2-3 (self-assessed), "fortunately" the diameter of my hair is quite large, so I managed to hide the balding areas (temples only), by growing my hair a bit longer than normal and change my hairstyle.

    A month ago I started the following treatment:

    - ******* 15plus (15% min, 5% azelaic acid, 0.1% fin) in the evening
    - Dualgen-15 (15% min, 5% azelaic acid) in the morning (temples only Mon-Fri, everywhere Sat-Sun).

    Shampoo: rotate Nizoral 2% (every 3-4 days) and Biotin B-complex (avalon organics). I found the latter to be an excellent lauryl and laureth sulfate-free shampoo.
    I use T-Gel shampoo when my scalp becomes inflamed because of stress and not enough sleep. On average I use it once-twice a month. I am not too happy to use it for obvious reasons, I hope I can drop it sooner rather than later.

    Reasons to choose this regimen. These were my priorities:
    1) Use of propylene glycol-free formulations of minoxidil
    2) Add some inhibitors of 5α-reductase, possibly staying away from the sides provoked by high dosages of finasteride
    3) Sustainability: I was after the simplest possible treatment (for all mere practical reasons)

    Preliminary results: I understand one month is too early to draw any conclusion, but I thought I would add some comments anyway.
    I can definitely see some regrowth. Some thin dark hair is sprouting in the temple regions, I hope it continues this way for the next 5-6 months and that this small hair develops into proper hair. I found the fact that this hair is pigmented rather encouraging.

    Sides: In the first 1-2 weeks my scalp was a bit itchy, but in a different way than what I had experienced with minoxidil formulated with propylene glycol (hard to explain this, but the itchiness was definitely "different"). After that first couple of weeks I assume that my scalp adapted to the new regimen and now it is totally fine.
    Dizziness. I was sort of expecting this, fortunately after the first week everything became very bearable. I reckon my blood pressure could have dropped a bit.


    Apologies for the very long post, any suggestion/advice will obviously be very welcome.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Ohio
    Posts
    3,125

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by LesterB View Post
    any suggestion/advice will obviously be very welcome.
    Find yourself a competent and caring doctor who has experience treating hair loss.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tracy C View Post
    Find yourself a competent and caring doctor who has experience treating hair loss.
    This is a good advice.
    I did contact one of the most respectable hair loss clinics here in the UK, about a year ago.
    At the beginning I clearly stressed that I was intolerant to propylene glycol, then after I payed for a 12-month treatment and in site monitoring (~ 1000 usd) I found out that their treatment, propecia and a proprietary 12.5% minoxidil cream did contain propylene glycol. They apologised for their mistake and refunded the money I paid on the spot.

    I could have probably contacted someone else, but to be honest paying such extortionate prices for fina + minox seemed a bit silly to me, although I can see your point.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

» IAHRS

hair transplant surgeons

» The Bald Truth

» Recent Threads

1800 graft repair case results by Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Last Post By Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Navigating the German Job Market as a Kenyan Citizen
11-04-2023 06:31 AM
Last Post By Keegan212
Yesterday 03:51 AM
DR HAKAN DOGANAY/ 4500 GRAFTS / Implanter Pen+FUE
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
Last Post By Hakan Doganay, MD
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
The Mane Event for Thursday, June 15th, 2023
06-15-2023 02:59 PM
Last Post By gisecit34
03-26-2024 08:05 AM