Come look at my balding head and give me advice :)

[Dan26]

@BigThinker

Here is a quote from the document he gave me about da meats.

Nitrites and Sulphites
Nitrites are found in cured meats and should be avoided. Nitrites have been implicated in cancer of the esophagus, stomach, and pancreas. Dr. Goertz believes they also damage hair follicles. Avoidance of smoked foods and red wine is also encouraged. Nitrite free meats can be purchased at organic food stores and even Costco and other grocery chains are are starting to carry nitrite free meats such as hot dogs and sausage. Remember there is nothing fresh in the deli! Sulphite are found in many dried fruits and is a reductant. It has been associated with health problems and should be avoided as well.

Hope this helps!

Best diet for hair would be something that reduces all inflammatory markers we well as insulin. It would exclude dairy, have low red meat, and include a lot of raw fruits, veggies, nuts, fish etc

[theDawckta]

Update again

I stopped at a rite aid on the way home from the appointment and asked how much it would be to fill the perscription, they quoted $220. I remember Dr Goertz saying costco was the place to go so I called up a buddy with a costco card and headed out, boy am i glad i did.

Costco charged me $23 for 100 5 mg tablets. Cut into 4's, that's 400 doses. Couldn't believe the price difference. Does everyone on this forum go to costco to fill their scripts cause this seems to be an insanely low price?

[theDawckta]

Little update, im 5 days into taking the fin and I am seeing no sides in my crotchal area. Am I in the clear?

I am experiencing a little brain fog. I might try taking it at night to see if I can sleep through that as it seems to only effect me in the morning and wanes as the day goes on.

I also need to go through a good 2 weeks of no drinking. Hard to tell if the brain fog is actually caused by the fin or a company Christmas party with free cabs on Friday followed by the Seahawks destroying the Cardinals on Sunday, (drinks flowed freely on these 2 occasions.)

I might even try lowering the dose to see if that helps, would be hard to cut the little pills into fifths accuratley, but maybe worth a try.

Going through what feels like a pretty massive shed right now from the rogaine i think. When i put it on and look at my hands afterwards I start to think I started this little endevour to late.

All in all pretty happy I have not seen much in the way of terrible sides from the fin, I just really hope it helps. Would love to jump in a time machine and see if after a year there is any improvement.

[theDawckta]

Thought I would update this again...

Well my hair has pretty much completely stopped falling out. I am so happy about my results from rogaine and finasteride (zero sides). Hair seems much fuller now, spots that were noticeably getting bad before are starting to feel like a normal head of hair to my fingers again. I am seeing a bunch of new hairs sprouting along my hairline now as well. This could be new growth or just replacements from the massive shed I had when starting the 2 products, either way it's pretty exciting. There is peach fuzz in my temples of long lost hairs from my youth, I seriously doubt that these would turn in to real hair but a person can dream right.

I am so happy that I didn't worry about the finasteride sides and went for it, one of the best decision I ever made in my life. I can tell you if I did not start treatment when I did I would be in pretty bad shape right now. Now my hair just keeps getting better, so awesome. I am going to update again with pictures at the 6 month mark so I can show you a good side by side of my befores and afters. I can tell the difference now but 6 month mark is going to be night and day i think.

Thanks to the people who helped me out on this thread, you helped me down the path to saving my hair, I wish you well.

[BigThinker]

Glad this got bumped because I never saw your response.

I drink a ton of whole milk and eat red meat every other day. I wonder how much diet actually plays a role in hairloss, but if it's significant, I'm definitely not doing myself any favors.

Awesome to hear you're doing well. I'm 5 days into fin right now. I'll be 0.625mg every day starting tomorrow.

[theDawckta]

I have not changed my diet at all really BigThinker and I am still seeing really good results. I usually eat pretty well though, a lot of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low fat meat.

I could not follow the advice of Goertz as far as deli meats go. I just love Jimmy John's and Subway to much.

Why the low dose on the fin? Are you starting small and ramping up? I am on 1.25mg every day and don't notice any sides.

[BigThinker]

Why the low dose on the fin? Are you starting small and ramping up? I am on 1.25mg every day and don't notice any sides.

Yeah, for the same reason I was originally every other day instead of every day - I wanted to taper on to see if I was going to get sides.

The internet is a toxic place when it comes to finasteride. I'm afraid I let it trick me into thinking fin as going 50/50 ruin my life.

Anyways, at 0.625 mg, I should expect comparable efficacy to 1.25 mg (based on what I've read). I'm already thinking I just ramp it up to 1.25mg/day though.