macdruid's Story

[macdruid]

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie to the boards but after a few months of denial about my thinning hair I'm here reading up and doing research. I'm looking for a little advice and have a couple restrictive issues that I think may effect any treatments plans.

I'm 34 years old now. Up until about 1999 or so I had a really good head of hair. It seemed to be the same at 29 as it did at 18 so I never really worried about thinning. From 1999-2003 I slowly got the traditional thinning spot in the back but everywhere else remained nice and thick, again with no change so I didn't really worry much about it. I figured "hey, I'm in my 30's there's bound to be a little bit vanish by now".

This year, however, has been different. Over the last 6-8 months the hair at the front and top of my head (heading back towards my previously small, thinning spot) has gotten quite a bit thinner, to the point that you can see my scalp fairly easy if I don't style it "just right". Even then it is plainly quite a bit thinner than last year at this time. I guess it sort of snuck up on me because I didn't notice any unusual shedding. There's very little to no hair on my pillow in the morning and maybe a dozen or so in the tub after a bath but that's it. I'm sure I've lost some but it seems that the diameter of the hair itself has gotten thinner rather than loosing a lot to shedding. I can run my hand through my hair at any given time and maybe come up with one or two loose hairs at most.

Also, earlier this Spring, before I noticed how thin it was getting, my scalp started getting very irritated. Lots of dandruff and itchiness, plus my hair seemed to be oily. I could wash it in the morning and it would be extremely itchy and oily by that evening. I'd heard Nizoral was good to handle that sort of thing so I picked that up and have been using it off and on since then as needed.

Now, I'm wanting to do something about the thinning. I know about the "big 3" that everyone talks about but I have a few issues here and would like some advice.

a) I'd prefer to avoid Propecia, if at all possible. I have Recurrent Respiratory Papilloma. This is due to a virus that causes wart like growths along my vocal chords and I've had numerous surgeries for it to remove them as needed. I've finally got this under control and haven't had a surgery for around 2 1/2 years. Here's the thing, it's been established that RRP can flare up or go dormant in some cases due to hormone issues related to estrogen/testosterone/etc... so considering how Propecia works and effects some people I get a very bad feeling about it. I'd prefer not to pop that pill and find out 3 months from now that I need to start having throat surgeries again.

b) I have a very hectic schedule these days and I don't honestly believe that I could work Rogaine/minoxodil into my schedule very reliably. I tried it briefly and gave up as it was as it just seemed to make my hair even more oily and my scalp burn. Normally, I just wash my hair and run. On top of that I'm not incredibly fond of the whole idea that I'd be stuck using it for life or end up loosing all that I'd gained once I stopped (although, I'm unclear here and maybe this is the case for most of the treatments.. if so, all the better to find something easy to stick to at this point.)

So, given the above, I guess I'm looking for decent alternatives. I understand Nizoral is a good, minor start but where to go from here given the above info?

Sorry for rambling on so long.

Thanks,
John

 

[Cassin]

Hey there and welcome to the forum.

A.Yes I agree Finasteride may be something you need to avoid if a doctor says so. Do yourself a favor and ask a doctor though. Assumption may backfire for you here given how easy it is to maintain your hair on 1 pill a day.

B.Yes Rogaine is horrible. BUT what if you could have the benefits of Rogaine and it dried in 15 to 30 minutes? Rogaine has something called PPG. 50% of this crap is found in Rogaine and is what makes Rogaine so greasy. Have a look at a site http://www.minoxidil.com and look at ITEM # 503. This is what I use. It dries so fast and is less irritating. This should make the problem you had bearable IF you decide Finasteride is not for you.

Ok lets say Propecia and Minoxidil is not for you.........

Look into spironolactone (can be found at that link I gave you)

AND

Revivogen.

Look at HAIRLOSSTALKSSTORY on this page you wrote your story. He is on a very successful Finasteride and Minoxidil free regimen. Lets us know what you do and good luck!

 

[asolof]

macdruid,

A medline search from 1960 to present failed to find any relationship between finasteride and papillomavirus. It also failed to find any relationship between testosterone and papillomavirus.

There is a relationship between either or both progesterone and glucocorticoids with papillomavirus. The relationship appears to be one of increasing the probability that the papillomavirus will induce cancer, not that you will get more warts.

There is a relationship between finasteride and progesterone. Finasteride appears to interfere with the metabolism of and metabolism of progesterone. So, although there are no studies on this, there is the posibility that finasteride might decrease the probability that progesterone would stimulate the papillomavirus to induce a cancer. Since you are not a woman with high levels of endogenous progesterone and you presumably are not taking progesterone, this is probably all irrelevant to you.

The propecia package insert says that it has no estrogenic, antiestrogenic, or progestational effect. Its' effect is just the inhibition of Type II 5-alpha reductase therefore inhibiting the conversion of testosterone to DHT.

On the other hand I can understand why you would feel a bit paranoid about doing anything that could conceivably exacerbate the problem with the warts.

 

[macdruid]

B.Yes Rogaine is horrible. BUT what if you could have the benefits of Rogaine and it dried in 15 to 30 minutes? Rogaine has something called PPG. 50% of this crap is found in Rogaine and is what makes Rogaine so greasy. Have a look at a site http://www.minoxidil.com and look at ITEM # 503. This is what I use. It dries so fast and is less irritating. This should make the problem you had bearable IF you decide Finasteride is not for you.

Thanks, this month I've decided to try the monoxidil again. I'm using up the Rogaine I have left at 1x a day for now to avoid the greasiness in the morning and am going to order the item you mention above. However, maybe I'm blind, I don't see #503 listed on the order page. I see #500 and #501. Could you perhaps provide a direct link?

 

[macdruid]

Just making a small note for myself in this thread so I don't loose track of what I started and when.

I started Finasteride on Dec 3rd. Given the studies that show dosages as low as .2 and .5mg are virtually just as effective as 1mg, I'm splitting my 5mg pill into .6mg chunks. So far so good.