Success

[KeepTheHair]

My hair has been getting progressively better and better after the 1 month mark. It was getting worse and worse during the first month of use. After that however it has gotten a lot better.

Month 0->1 shedding and my hair looked a little worse than before treatment. It looked really bad overall. It was quite depressing. I think I shed about 50-100 then 100-200 then 250+ for a week..then it all suddenly stopped.
Month 1->2 Was an unreal transformation. What I am thinking is minoxidil helped all my hair on top of my scalp just grow better and stronger overall. My hair was definitely looking much better.
Month 2->3 Not as big improvement as month 1->2 but definitely some more improvement.

I have been on my regimen for ~3 months now. I really didn't expect results this soon. I read a bunch of minoxidil clinical trials and what I deduced was that if someone is going to get results from it it will most likely be within the first 3-4 months. Exactly what happened to be. Some users - though much, much less - get results after this period. But minoxidil keeps on working and helping those new hairs grow longer and stay so "results" technically can take up to a year if you ask me...since my shed hair is obviously much much shorter than my others. I have a lot of new growth in the front. The temples didn't really improve I think at all. But it is amazing to me how much thicker the top has gotten. I really don't need a norwood 1 or 0 to have great hair you just need a thick hair line...which I now have.

My regimen has worked great for the front. My vertex was only starting to get thinner in the last few months...although it was incredibly fast. I could see through the top of my scalp and that was when I was stunned and decided to take action...I could no longer lie to myself. This combined with my failed plan to just "grow it out" is what made me take action. My hair was actually getting shorter as opposed to longer as I kept growing it. DHT was really taking it's toll on my hair. But now my vertex has been fully restored to it's state prior to any balding.

The overall density of my hair has increased tremendously. I won't say it lowered my hairline or anything major like that. It definitely DID lower it somewhat though. But 90% of it was just more thickness in the other parts. I still have a receded hairline...but a thick one. So I can grow my hair out and there is no way of telling I have ever balded at all. I once posted on here about some friend refering to me as "baldy" a few months back...I am pretty sure my hair is thicker than his is at this point and he definitely doesn't have MPB.

Hair loss definitely sucks. My mental state is better now. I definitely don't have the hair I did when I was 16 or 17 but my hair looks good. I think I have the same hair as I did when I was 18 or so(I am 20). I am happy with my hair and really glad I educated myself about this! Some people put this off for much too long and then their regimen won't do them much good. I am glad I only put it off for less than 5 years.


Having said all that, my hair is still improving. And from what I have read about both ketoconazole and finasteride is that those 2 treatments have more long term results whereas minoxidil gives a much quicker result, usually within the first 2-3 months. So, I think that my hair will continue to get better. Not only that, but it will continue to get longer and longer. I am going to let it grow out.


I will post pictures in the future...I am still debating on it. I am just a little paranoid.

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Here is my regimen and what I believe works and what doesn't work and my opinions about things.

I use:

1mg Finasteride daily
Minoxidil 1-2 times daily either 2, 5 or 15 percent.
Dr. Lees Regrowth Shampoo once every 2 days.
Spironolactone 5% lotion.
Retin-A 0.025%



Yeah...so I basically use everything Dr. Lee sells. After 2 months of obsessive reading I only really believe in those things and I love that he happens to sell all of them. This really is the combination of the most responsible and effective treatments you can find. Spironolactone is 100% safe to use compared to many other topical antiandrogens. Finasteride is much safer than dutasteride. I think that copper peptides might have some effect on hair loss but the studies used wasn't on the products being sold. I don't believe in copper peptides and won't implement them into my regimen because I haven't seen or read about anyones success using them. There really is a ton of things that will work for hair loss. But I think my regimen can't really get any better. I think there is some benefit to taking biotin and MSM maybe...but I don't think it's worth it. All you will end up with is acne. After my literally my very first day of using Dr Lees regrowth shampoo my hair felt much better. I have said that many times before but it's really true. That annoying inflammatory itch or whatever it was...was gone. That itch was making me paranoid and driving me nuts.

I think I had multiple placebo-like side effects. The only real side effects I had was minoxidil making me dizzy and lightheaded. But no way in hell I was going to stop using it because I was so desperate to try it at the time. I am glad I stuck with it...even though it was really bad at some stage. This was mostly due to me being an idiot and overusing it massively! Now I use it once or twice a day and it works great. Any shampoo like Dr.Lees regrowth shampoo or nizoral should not really be used more than once every 2 days in my opinion. If you use it more than that it really makes your hair much, much flatter and makes it look worse. Using minoxidil prior to showering(few hours) and spironolactone after showering helps the volume of your hair also. The spironolactone you applied after your previous shower helps I mean, not applying it after wards...if you know what I mean.


I leave the shampoo in my hair for as long as possible, and I make sure to get enough on my frontal area and have it absorb nicely. 1 Bottle lasts me well over a month and I use it frequently. Spironolactone will last a long long time also if you use it correctly and only on the front hair. I think since dutasteride works better than finasteride that adding spironolactone is definitely a good idea. It has no side effects and further stops DHT. I think that logically a finasteride + spironolactone regimen will definitely be better than a finsteride only regimen. Follicles at the front are much more sensitive to DHT so it's important to rid the area of it...in my opinion.


There has been well documented proof that retin-a has benefits in hair loss and grows hair, even on it's own. I don't use it with minox as I have a 15% solution with azelaic acid which aids absoption. So it will absorb really well anyways, also...spironolactone helps minox absorb too. I only recently started using retin-a once weekly. Using it more than this in the first month is probably not a good idea as it causes peeling/flaking and dries the skin. Also, don't use it after you used a ketoconazole shampoo. I use it after I used a milder shampoo and might even postpone my next use of keto.

I think most of my results are due to minoxidil. But I love the shampoo and how it makes my scalp feel. That combined with finasteride really does make your scalp feel inflammation and itch free again. I think Dr. Lee has some of the best products available.


I think his 15% *******-PLUS is extremely effective. I won't buy it again however. I find it much too sticky and annoying. When it dries it looks fine though. But I am going to rather buy his 12.5% version next time or his #500 product. Both dry really quickly and won't change the appearance of hair.















In conclusion I just want to say that I think that hair transplants really should be a last option. No hair transplant would have changed my like it did in the last 2 months. I didn't even know that I had diffuse "damage" until I got on my regimen(I only use minox on the front and vertex). But the hair all over my scalp is improving and getting thicker and more and I am shedding much much less. That is much better than just having a few more hairs in place if you ask me. You have to at least use finasteride and a ketoconazole shampoo if you ask me. If you have a few minutes and a few dollars everymonth then minoxidil is a really really good addition to that. There really are things that work for hair loss and it is more important when you start using them then anything else. I am glad I don't need a hairtransplant. I am hoping to get a little more improvement and then have it grown out really long in the next couple of months, then I might consider posting some pictures.






As I first started posting on these forums I was being extremely ignorant about everything and even on occasion gave bad advice. I believe in and recommend everything I use now but I must say that everyone should thoroughly educate themselves about the side effects and usage of everything prior to use.


Thanks to whomever read all that crap. Thanks to crashul for being a good friend on skype . Thanks to everyone for their good advice. Thank Fixedby35 for always keeping me entertained and being brutally honest. Thank you Spencer for taking the initiative many years back for a honest hair loss world that we can trust. Thanks Dr. Lee for his damn good products! And thank you everyone else..... I am really glad I found this community. Sorry everyone had to always put up with me spamming this forum, it made me feel better and that I was doing something about my hair loss. hehe


Glad I got to post a positive story.

[mlao]

Congratulations, it's nice to hear of someone doing well.

[crashul]

Yeah, it's really comforting to hear a success story. Well.... here you are KeeptheHair, 4 months and 723 posts later, with your hair improving, and one of the most educated users I've ever seen. I really hope a lot of people will read this post and learn from your roller coaster ride in the hair loss world.

Cheers and KeeptheHair and KeeptheHopes as well!