Incredible recovery from NW5: the power of super aggressive regimens!

[recedingyt]

Hey guys, just wanted to let you all know that I'm integrating Xandrox's 15% Minoxidil (also contains Azelaic acid, Retinol, and Caffeine) into my regimen. Only gonna be using it on my hairline because it's kind of expensive ($50 for a 2 Oz bottle) and that's really the only area I'm not 100% happy with. When my financial situation gets a little more stable I'm going to also integrate Stemoxydine & Valproic acid into my regimen as well. Hoping all of this will be the final push my hairline needs to be fully recovered.

That being said I think dermarolling with Lithium Chloride has helped significantly, at least in terms of vellus hairs on the hairline. Many of them are actually pretty long and starting to get some pigment to them, so they're actually (somewhat...) cosmetically significant at this point. My hair loss is very hard for people not familiar with Androgenetic Alopecia to identify now, which makes me feel pretty great/much more confident in my appearance.

 

[Ruby]

Thank you for this thread @recedingyt (Madison), and big congrats on your success!

I am transgender too, in my early 50s, my hair is at NW5a and I am just now beginning my HRT. (finasteride, spironolactone, E).
I had to wait until getting close to my retirement to begin transition since if I lost my job, I'd likely end up homeless on the street.

I have no delusions about getting the kind of results you have since I am so much older and have been losing my hair since about age 30, but your story is still one hell of an inspiration to me. Most of my loss (~NW3 to NW5a) has been in the past 3 years, coinciding with my hair rapidly turning gray too.

I've been using minoxidil 5% and Nizoral for almost 2 months now and have gotten a surprising amount of vellus regrowth in, and hoping that the HRT will be able to kickstart the vellus hairs into becoming terminal.

I've also got some bimatoprost (Latisse) on the way, and will be experimenting with that on my hairline to see if it does any good. If not, my eyelashes will definitely benefit from it. Have you tried bimatoprost yet?

 

[recedingyt]

Thank you for this thread @recedingyt (Madison), and big congrats on your success!

I am transgender too, in my early 50s, my hair is at NW5a and I am just now beginning my HRT. (finasteride, spironolactone, E).
I had to wait until getting close to my retirement to begin transition since if I lost my job, I'd likely end up homeless on the street.

I have no delusions about getting the kind of results you have since I am so much older and have been losing my hair since about age 30, but your story is still one hell of an inspiration to me. Most of my loss (~NW3 to NW5a) has been in the past 3 years, coinciding with my hair rapidly turning gray too.

I've been using minoxidil 5% and Nizoral for almost 2 months now and have gotten a surprising amount of vellus regrowth in, and hoping that the HRT will be able to kickstart the vellus hairs into becoming terminal.

I've also got some bimatoprost (Latisse) on the way, and will be experimenting with that on my hairline to see if it does any good. If not, my eyelashes will definitely benefit from it. Have you tried bimatoprost yet?

Hey, always happy to hear from other trans people that this thread has been helpful in some way best of luck with your transition/regimen!

I haven't tried it yet. The few sources of it I've seen has seemed kind of price prohibitive for the purposes of hair loss. Alldaychemist has a 3mL bottle of bimatoprost (0.03%) for like $12, but to get full coverage on my hairline I usually need at least 1mL of whatever I'm using, so it doesn't seem practical unless there's a cheaper source I'm unaware of. I have been thinking about buying a bottle or two for my eyelashes though (particularly the bottom lashes, which are virtually nonexistent lol), along with some tretinoin cream for some forehead wrinkles I'd like to improve (and prevent from getting worse).

 

[recedingyt]

Haven't posted an update in quite a while so here's some new pics. I don't think they do justice to exactly how many vellus hairs are really there, but it's decent enough. I really hope these hairs will all eventually thicken up and go full terminal. I'd be 100% happy with my hair at that point, especially if it ever starts growing faster. Speaking of which I was wondering if anyone here knows if my new hairs will ever grow to the length/at the speed they did prior to hair loss? I feel like my hairline as a whole just grows at a snails pace - it's been growing without being cut since about August 2015 and they're still only 3-4 inches long at the longest points, and some are only 2-2.5 inches long. As of right now it's looking like growing my hair out to a reasonably feminine length is going to take 2-3 more years, assuming they even can get that long, and that really saddens me.

 

[davesmith420]

Your hair looks great! I would say that you're basically a Norwood 0 now.

 

[transam]

Haven't posted an update in quite a while so here's some new pics. I don't think they do justice to exactly how many vellus hairs are really there, but it's decent enough. I really hope these hairs will all eventually thicken up and go full terminal. I'd be 100% happy with my hair at that point, especially if it ever starts growing faster. Speaking of which I was wondering if anyone here knows if my new hairs will ever grow to the length/at the speed they did prior to hair loss? I feel like my hairline as a whole just grows at a snails pace - it's been growing without being cut since about August 2015 and they're still only 3-4 inches long at the longest points, and some are only 2-2.5 inches long. As of right now it's looking like growing my hair out to a reasonably feminine length is going to take 2-3 more years, assuming they even can get that long, and that really saddens me.

Receding, I thought you said you stopped minoxidil for a while; which made you go back to baseline....um, you look like a NW0 in these pics

 

[recedingyt]

Receding, I thought you said you stopped minoxidil for a while; which made you go back to baseline....um, you look like a NW0 in these pics

I quit minoxidil back in March 2015. I was back to baseline (slightly above tbh) by the end of June 2015. I started using minoxidil once a day starting in July 2015 and I still use it to this day.

 

[buckthorn]

Haven't posted an update in quite a while so here's some new pics. I don't think they do justice to exactly how many vellus hairs are really there, but it's decent enough. I really hope these hairs will all eventually thicken up and go full terminal. I'd be 100% happy with my hair at that point, especially if it ever starts growing faster. Speaking of which I was wondering if anyone here knows if my new hairs will ever grow to the length/at the speed they did prior to hair loss? I feel like my hairline as a whole just grows at a snails pace - it's been growing without being cut since about August 2015 and they're still only 3-4 inches long at the longest points, and some are only 2-2.5 inches long. As of right now it's looking like growing my hair out to a reasonably feminine length is going to take 2-3 more years, assuming they even can get that long, and that really saddens me.

I would say the best way to monitor hair growth and thicken up vellus hairs is to dye it. you will be able to see what rate it grows per month, new hairs, and if any vellus hair is turning terminal.

 

[michel sapin]

Hey you didnt got body or face hypertrichosis because of the minoxidil ?

 

[recedingyt]

@recedingyt Very good, keep it up. Regrowth isn't impossible, but you will wait long time.

Thank you anty. The wait is really killing me but I committed to this back when I started treating my Androgenetic Alopecia in December of 2014 and I'm really determined to beat it and reach my hair goals, even if it ends up being like a 3-5 year process when all is said and done.

I would say the best way to monitor hair growth and thicken up vellus hairs is to dye it. you will be able to see what rate it grows per month, new hairs, and if any vellus hair is turning terminal.

That's actually a pretty good idea. Will do this soon for sure!

Hey you didnt got body or face hypertrichosis because of the minoxidil ?

No, the only hair I've grown has been on my head. In fact if anything my body hair has greatly diminished due to being on HRT for about 16-17 months now.

 

[michel sapin]

minoxidil didnt give you unwanted hair on hand?

 

[jgray201]

Great results and a useful demonstration of the process of hair regrowth, particularly at the temples. From my experience i cannot place enough emphasis on the need for consistency and time in a regimen. Even small changes to treatments can cause setbacks or shedding - the difficultly is keeping your nerve whilst never 100% knowing if you may be losing ground or simply responding to a change in treatment.

 

[recedingyt]

minoxidil didnt give you unwanted hair on hand?

No. I only put minoxidil on my scalp and I wash my hands thoroughly after ever application. I also try my best not to touch my hair while it's still got minoxidil in it. The ONLY hair I have grown has been on my head, where it was intended to grow.

 

[wemustchange]

Your June 7th 2015 hairline picture compared to the June 30th 2015 overhead shot - why is that such a stark difference. Something doesn't look right. Minoxidil shed in 3 weeks brought you from a NW2 to a NW6?

 

[recedingyt]

Your June 7th 2015 hairline picture compared to the June 30th 2015 overhead shot - why is that such a stark difference. Something doesn't look right. Minoxidil shed in 3 weeks brought you from a NW2 to a NW6?

I had been shedding since early May 2015. It became much worse around the time I took the pic on June 7 2015, and well you see the difference in the June 30 2015 shot. I'm not pulling any funny business, just sharing my story. You can choose to believe my pics/my story or not, I don't really care. Everything I post is 100% true to life.

 

[Folliman]

looking at the pictures I'd consider you cured.

 

[EdwardNoBald]

Looks great. Keep us updated.

 

[Peaks]

That hairline regrowth is insane especially when considering what your baseline was.

 

[Singularity2045]

You have clearly spent a lot of time trying to find ways to justify your feelings. I don't really care what you do or want to be, but it's all in your head. Transgenderism is psychological not physiological. No amount of pseudoscience is going to convince me otherwise. There's a huge push right now to make fake research in the name of tolerance to get people to accept transgendereds. You don't have to accept a lie to be tolerant though.

What the hell is wrong with you? You've simply ignored the science presented in this thread and called it "pseudoscience". Well, they are peer reviewed, and complex studies in trans people which confirm what transgender people feel. You're just being intellectually lazy and ignorant. It's fine if people don't agree with it or question it when they don't know better, but not so much when they just ignore the evidence.

Calling it "fake research" - Right? So please do tell, what is fake about it? You're so closed minded to facts, you ought to consider your own issues boy.

 

[DHTpolice]

recedingyt, how old are you and how long were you bald before HRT?
How is your hair right now? Will you post new photos?