Philosoraptor's Story - 24 (Big 3 + miconazole)

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

January 9, 2010: Week 45

Hair still growing. No visible changes.

At this length it is hard to see any minor changes like I was able to before. But on the other hand it is getting easier to hide each week.

Short one this week, until next one.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

January 17, 2010: Week 46

Still growing out my hair.

Started using spironolactone less. Once every 2-3 days. I am doing this because I am tired of the smell and the way it makes my hair feel and it increases itching. Also, partly because I am running low and trying to conserve.

Vigorous rub tests with dry hair drop around 20 hairs. All really thin and short. I get pretty much nothing coming out in the shower.

Either my hair is getting better or the longer hair just makes it a hell of a lot easier to hide.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

January 23, 2010: Week 47

Not as much seems to come out from rubbing. Still what comes out though is really thin short hairs. Still growing my hair out.

Since I didn't add a picture at the beginning of this month I'll put one up now. I have been photographing my head far far less now.

Anyway, until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

January 31, 2010: Week 48

*11 MONTHS*

I've experienced a bit more shedding lately. Today was considerably less though. Most of it is thin and short. Some of the shedding is a little thicker now. The thicker hairs are about half the length of the rest of my hair. So they went into Telogen weeks ago. Also none of them are full grown full thickness. So that gives me confidence that I am maintaining at the very least. And even though I would much rather have a full head of hair, my current length allows me to hide it.

My one year is coming up. And will be about 90-100 days after my last big shed. So hopefully there will be some thicker growth to make my hair at least appear fuller. At this length though my hair basically looks the same every day. Some days I think it looks worse than others. Some days I think it looks better. It's hard to gauge progress.

2010 has been a great year to me so far. Everything is looking up. Regaining my loss would just put me on top of the world. Barring that at least I am maintaining for now.

As always, until next week.

 

[rotsen182]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

the front is filling up very nice...

keep posting

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

February 6, 2010: Week 49

Still going though a minor shed. Only thinner shorter hairs coming out. Haven't seen a single full thickness hair in my hand in many weeks.

I cut back minoxidil a little bit this week. It gave me such a terrible itch that I drew blood on the back of my head. I stopped application for a day and the itch was instantly gone. I might go back to just a nightly application. It got unbearable for a bit.

My hair on top is about as long as it has even been. Either my hair situation is getting better or the length makes it easier to hide.

I still think about my hair a lot, but now I don't feel like I need to wear a beanie or hat out. Unless it cold of course.

Until next week.

 

[rotsen182]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

you got a stubborn male pattern baldness up there man but finally that front looks more dense ....

congrats

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

February 14, 2010: Week 50

I trimmed the top of my hair down a little as it was getting kind of long. I used the biggest guard I had which I think was an inch.

I don't know if it was me cutting my hair, the way I style it, or that it is just filling up, but my hair looks and feels much better. And for the first time ever my right temple looks better than the left.

Shedding has decreased. I don't really notice it anymore. It also takes a lot less effort to style my hair to hide my loss.

I am really starting to think that I am beating this. The only way to tell for sure right now would be to buzz my head and compare to what I was used to. I'm reluctant to do that for 2 reasons. First I don't want to prove myself wrong in case it is just as bad as before. And also I like my hair a lot at this length. I haven't had it this long since I was in elementary school.

2010 has been an amazing year for me so far and I only see it getting better.
Until next time.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

February 20, 2010: Week 51

So I think I spoke too soon last week. I always seem to notice more shedding earlier in the week. Not exactly sure why. Anyway I am still shedding. But I don't know if it is a normal amount of shedding because I have never really had my hair this long.

I believe I am still maintaining despite shedding. The shedding is still mostly thinner and/or shorter hairs. I can now style it so it looks like I don't have any hair loss. It may be doing better or my hair is just longer giving me better coverage.

Next week is my one year. Until then.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

February 28, 2010: Week 52

*1 YEAR*

So today is the 365th day of my fighting hairloss.

I first noticed my hair loss during the late summer/early fall in 2007. It was just very minor thinning in the temples. It occupied my time for all of 2 minutes and I completely forgot about it. It never really changed much and I kept my hair short enough so I didn't even notice it or think about it. Then in the fall of 2008. I noticed it was getting worse. I started reading about treatments and what I could do to stop it. Every couple of months I would cut my hair shorter and shorter until I was on a 1/2 guard and I realized I should get treatment because I was only going to get worse.

I started treatment on March 1, 2009. 1.25mg of finasteride, kirkland minoxidil, and nizoral shampoo. Around the end of the first month my mom had visited me and she told me she could not tell visibly that I was losing my hair. Anyway I continued and initially thought I was doing well. Then in late May I started shedding. This shed lasted through August. I tried bic'ing my head once and I did not like it. I started shaving it it zero guard.

Nothing really seemed to change through October. I decided to change my regimen. I got spironolactone cream, foam minoxidil, and dutasteride. I did EOD with dutas and finasteride. Did minoxidil liquid with spironolactone at night, and foam in the morning. After a month of a slight shed I started noticing some thickening. And pictures proved it. I cut my hair down one last time at Thanksgiving and haven't shaved it since then.

Late December I ordered Densiti. It was free and it wasn't much more of a commitment. I got lazy with it for 3-4 weeks, but have been consistent with for about a week now and intend on staying on it.

Right now my hair is the longest it has been in my life. I trim the top down to 1" occasionally and go to the barber and get a fade for the sides. Before this I hadn't been to a barber since I was in middle school.

For my current update for this week. I shed a lot. More than I have ever seen. It was depressing. It slowed down towards the end of the week, but it is still more than I had seen before. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad. But at least for now I can't see any visible changes.

Am I better than baseline? Honestly I don't know. The extra length helps it so I can style it where no loss is visible. The only way to tell for sure would be to shave it down. Which is something I don't want to do. I like my hair at this length. I am in a much better state of mind now than I was at this point last year.

Seeing the improvement in November-December from my initial large shed makes me hopeful. I figured it took me 1.5-2 years to do something about my hairloss, and it will probably take that long if not longer to reverse it. But I am confident that I am at least stopping it for now.

I continue to have zero sides from my treatments. Initially I would get headaches from minoxidil, but that subsided in the first month or two. I had a crazy high libido for a few weeks after starting finasteride, but that subsided and I am back to my normal high libido. Sperm quality is normal, rock hard erections. No tits. No brain fog.

I'm no success story, but I hope to be there after this next year of treatment. Sooner would be nice though!

Pictures as promised Taken 3/3/10
All pictures are with my hair still wet because I didn't want to wait.

 

[litcII]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments

Thanks for the update; I hope the shedding stops

 

[hairandthere]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments

Congrats on sticking on treatments.

It seems like too many may give up early and don't commit to evaluating after two years of treatment. It's hard to give a definite date to people to expect results. I think if you let all of your hair cycle once on reduced dht levels, you know for sure. If 10% of your hair is shedding and regrowing every few months, it would be 3x10 = 30 months = 2.5 years.

Anyways, good luck...hope the hair starts rolling in during your second year of treatment.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

Pics added in my above 1 year post.

 

[blink]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

wow, your 10sec style pic looks great.... i wouldve never imagine how much coverage youd have if i looked at your shaven pictures. looks good man, keep us updated.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

March 7, 2010: Week 53

Shedding slowed down during the week. Sometimes I think because the nature of my hair that the hair I shed gets trapped between other hairs because I never see hairs on my desk or pillow. Only when I rub my hands through my hair. So maybe I am shedding a normal amount?

Some of the hairs are thicker some are thinner. None of them are really the thickest hairs on my head. And they all seem to be shorter than my current length. So they went into catagen/telogen awhile ago. Hair still looks mostly the same. Just longer.

Ordered some new meds. Switching from generic proscar to generic finasteride 1mg. Because I don't want to cut up pills in the morning anymore. Going EOD with dutas and finasteride I have a 6 month supply. Everything else is unchanged. Sometimes I skip a topical application when I go out at night, because I don't want my hair looking/smelling like crap. But I've been very consistent with the internals.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

March 13, 2010: Week 54

Still shedding more than I am used to, but it still looks/feels the same for the most part. My right side may have gotten a little worse than the left. Not exactly sure. I can still hide the loss so for now I'm not too concerned.

Not much else to report as nothing really changes much week to week.
Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

March 20, 2010: Week 55

Still shedding a lot. I think it looks worse than it might actually be because my shed hair gets caught between my healthy hair and doesn't fall out until I comb it. So I 3-4 brushes I get 75-100 hairs come out instantly, and then nothing. Some days are worse than others.

My hair is starting to feel less dense. But the hair that is left is strong hair. I'm hoping this shed will end in a few weeks time and I get some good regrowth leading into the summer months.

Still growing my hair out. Even though it now feels less dense, the length enables me to hide my loss

As always, until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

March 27, 2010: Week 56

Still shedding a lot. There was one day this week where shedding had dropped off quite a bit. To where it was about 1/4 of what normally came out and I thought, "Finally!". And then the next day back to normal larger sheds.

I can still hide it and don't really think about it through out the day, but when I am in the bathroom over the sink it kind of gets me down.

Thinking of replacing spironolactone with copper peptides. I am so tired of the smell. Also going to get some emu oil, because my scalp has been pretty irritated lately. The rest of my regimen will remain unchanged.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

April 3, 2010: Week 57

Still shedding, but it has slowed down this week. I can only assume because there is less to shed. Density is far less than a month ago. But I can still style it so pretty much only I would notice it.

My scalp has been in bad condition. Was looking at the thread about miconazole. I'm more interested in it possibly stopping my itch, but I wouldn't complain about faster hair growth as my hair grows really slowly. Seems like a cheap thing to add to my regime.

The silver lining is that even though I have been shedding large amounts near constantly, I have thick healthy hairs in the temples. Where 6-8 months ago all I had were really thin hairs. So hopefully all I am experiencing now is only a shed and by summer I will have some thickening.

As always, until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - 24 - 1 year of treatments *Pics 3/3

April 10, 2010: Week 58

Bought some miranel this week. It's an antifungal for nails, but it has miconazloe nitrate in it and it comes in a rather large tube so it should last awhile. I apply it at night before using liquid minoxidil. After just a couple of days on it my dandruff is completely gone and itch has almost completely disappeared. The overall condition of my scalp is much improved.

Shedding has reduce quite a bit too. I went from 100-300 hairs per day coming out when combing my hair at night to 20-50.

One downside to the miconazole I bought is that it is pasty and leaves my hair pretty stiff and because it is curly I get a lot of breakage. Also it smells like cough drops. Not sure if this is good or bad yet, but the smell is gone by morning.

I am quite happy to have started on miconazole. Even if it does nothing to regrow my hair it has greatly improved the condition of my scalp were nizoral has done nothing (though I still use it 2-3 times a week for the anti-androgenic properties).

Until next week.