Mt regimen is actually in flux, as now I am adding finasteride.
...but for my age, I started noticing thinning just a little over a year ago, surprisingly. I have always been a "late bloomer" as it were. So last year I started using the Nioxin system. Did wonders for the overall look, feel, and cleanliness of my scalp and hair, but my hair kept thinning in slow motion of course. I still only seem to lose around 6-10 visible hairs in the shower (I'm sure more than that I lose). It's just that I didn't even lose that much, say 2 years ago (yes, believe it or not). So, over this last year, I can see that the shafts of my hair are actually much thinner, there is less hair on my hairline, and part as well (I part down the middle). I can actually see my scalp. Many of my hairs are just wisps hanging on for dear life.
So, my rate of loss is still slightly exceeding my rate of growth. But just that over the last year and a half, I can now see the hand writing on the wall. I have read and agree that the time to act is now, not five years from now. I have been very accustomed to having think luscious bangs for sooo long, that now I am in a panic.
Anyways, during this last year, I had tried but did not like the Minoxidil, as it really smelled, and I was concerned about losing the good long strands of hair next to the ones turning into little wisps on fuzz on my head. I was concerned that I would have the dreaded shed, but that the replaced hair would turn out to be peach fuzz. So I stopped my Rogaine only after a month or so.
I have also been using Nioxin Follicle booster, as it is plentiful, can get it at most salon places, and which packs a lot of great ingredients in it, and seems to stimulate the scalp with the cayenne pepper (or capscsim?) ingredients (other ingredients: caffeine, many B vitamins, Hops, Carnitine, Arginine, SOD, an many more). But don't know how well it get's absorbed. Nevertheless, I like this product and intend to continue using it (although I am thinking of mixing and creating my own topical).
I believe at my age, the issue may not only be DHT, but also circulation as well. The skin on my head also looks thinner (as well as the skin everywhere on my body-- I can now see the outlines of my veins on my arms). So I am looking at ingredients that can assist in circulation of the small capillaries as well, or things that are anti-oxidants as well.
Currently, I am trying the Spectral-RS product, along with their Revita shampoo. The problem for me with their shampoo (and this goes for Nizoral as well), is that they are very drying, and I *don't* have an oily scalp to begin with. So what happens is that after I use Nizoral or Revita, I still need to add a conditioner on after-wards, or I will end up pulling out some hair just when I brush it or dry it with a towel. Heck, even adding some conditioner after use of one or the other product still pulls out some of my hair out. That is why I can't use Revita every day like they say you should. My scalp is already on the normal to dry side, so I *need* Nioxin shampoos and conditioners just to keep my scalp and hair moist.
As far as Spectral-RS is concerned, I am very impressed with their ingredients, but think it still falls short. They needed to add certain ingredients from their Spectral-DNC-L product into the RS (non-minoxidil) version. They needed to put in the Olive Oil/Saw Palmetto/Flaxseed oil mixture, as part of their nanosome encapsulation vehicle. They also needed to include the L-Arginine into their RS product, as far as I am concerned. I don't see much Anti-DHT stuff in their RS product either. Just another reason to create my own topical, as I have an idea of what I need, I just can't the products I want to have them.
Anyways, this has been a long posting...
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