Sunsire's Story (some sucess, now downhill fast!)

[sunsire]

Hello, Ive been looking at loads of forums and help websites over the past few months and I have decided to post something myself which i hope will enable me to look at my situation more objectively and perhaps help me or others going through the same thing.

I must have started loosing my hair around 18/19 years of age, to a point at which i noticed it at 20 and thought, I must do something. I started using Regain Extra Strength 5% in August of 2008. After about 3 months I started noticing a difference, hair was fuller, thicker, and was better around the temples. 1 year on all going ok, but i perhaps saw a decline and so i decided to use nanoguard b, from nanogen.

Hmm well using that and regain i have noticed a little bit of itching in random places every now and then. I recently had my hair cut quite short and it has never looked worse. I have decided to stop using the nanoguard has since using it for about 5 months Ive noticed no improvement contrary to their claims.

I am now looking at getting one of the many 15% minoxidil solutions, i have been reading all the info on them and while inconclusive i think its cant be worse than the 5% I'm currently on. I have also read that the benefits from regain peak at about a year, whether it then becomes useless i am not sure but after nearly 2 years on it i can defiantly say the 1st year was the best. I really don't want to take propecia tablets firstly because of all the dodgy looking websites that sell them and I wouldn't know where to start getting them for me here in the uk, plus all the side effects sound quite serious, plus im not very good at swallowing tablets. I have of course toyed with the idea but i haven't been convinced or desperate (yet) enough to order some. I have also toyed with the idea of shaving it all off! but I really don't want to do that

It massively affects my confidence and am spending ages looking, photographing, researching my noggin. Ive brought volumizing mousses and shampoos, and have grown my hair longer which has covered it up in the past perhaps so much that I couldn't see the constant hair falling out. Now that its so short there is no escape and I hate it, but I don't need to tell you guys how bad it is... Any observations, comments, tips, questions, anything would be greatly appreciated.

In the photos i started using regain after the first picture...

 

[Sebastien]

Re: My Story (some sucess, now downhill fast!)

I'm no expert but without a DHT blocker your hair wil continue to miniaturize and using topicals with only minoxidil in it will not really help your alopecia.

Also I was/am afraid of using finasteride aswell as you but I decided to go for it and if I experience any sides at all, I'll just get off the drug.

 

[hairrific]

You needed a DHT inhibitor, (finasteride) not a growth stimulator, (Minoxidil). You have almost missed the boat my friend like many others, maybe to late. Since you are young you might have a chance at growing some of it back. What a waste because it might have been prevented. But of coarse you skipped the finasteride because you got baby scared and the facts just went out the window and you went for the Minoxidil and this is what happens because Min does not protect your hair from falling out. Only finasteride will protect your scalp hair from DHT damaging the follicles.

Does the Minoxidil say "will not halt hair loss" on the label? I get pissed at Minoxidil for not explaining it even more clear on the label, as many get tricked into this false assumption that they are doing something good for there scalp hair.

 

[sunsire]

Thanks for the replies.

The Nanoguard B is apparently a topical DHT inhibitor, but doesn't include finasteride. I may have missed the boat :sobbing: , baby scared might be a little harsh. I wasnt aware of tablets until nearly a year into my regain. 1 year ago the loss was at a stage that i could live with! not now. Maybe my last 3-4months of loss was some shedding from the nanoguard kicking in...yeeaaa? (i doubt it)

Doing some more research I believe i might start on finasteride, last chance solution, with possibly higher strength minoxidil (as im nearly out of my 5%). Just a couple more of questions...

Plan of action, the big 3 nothing else to lose, plus im a bit of a money saver so lets push the boat out for a year, see what happens

Im gonna order some

Regain 5% (chemist direct)
Nizoral 100ml (Ketoconazole 20mg/g) (chemist direct)
Finpecia 1mg i'm a skinny guy so 0.5mg should be ok.(Inhousepharmacy)

Thanks so much for your input, its good to have someone to chat to about this!

 

[hairrific]

Yes your right, sorry to be so brash. Get on finasteride now because these scalp hairs might not grow back if you wait longer and more will be lost the more you wait. You might be a great responder to finasteride so try it out. Stay on it long enough to give it a fair chance, a year maybe, time for your body to adjust and your hair to respond and then you will know if it is a help or not.

The Nanoguard B is apparently a topical DHT inhibitor, but doesn't include finasteride.

I don't see anything here.
Ingredients
Aqua (Water), Hydrolyzed Lupine Protein, Magnesium Chloride, Methylisothiazolinone, Benzyl Alcohol, Magnesium Nitrate, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben, Isobutylparaben.


They say:
Regulates the hormonal balance
Nanoguard-B restores the hormonal balance by inhibiting the activity of 5a-reductase II, an enzyme in androgenetic alopecia.

They don't say how! That's because it can't! Wow they should be sued for false advertising.

Finpecia 1mg i'm a skinny guy so 0.5mg should be ok.(Inhousepharmacy)

What? Why do that, see what I mean, are you scared? Every one is different but Merk clinical studies found that the 1mg dosage was ideal. If your system is healthy, in a short time you will adjust nicely to 1mg.

 

[sunsire]

Just a quick update.

Been on finpecia for about 1 month so far, taking 0.5mg with 5% minoxidil, am planning to up to 1mg in a month or 2.

No Sides
No Change

My hair has grown longer and can be styled to hide glaring holes at first glance

 

[hairrific]

Stay strong and keep us posted of your progress. When you up the finasteride to 1mg then you will be using the big guns for more sure results. Don't forget the keto shampoo.

 

[sunsire]

6 months in on 1mg finpecia and honeslty...

no sides

no improvement

I'm not sure what else to say. Here is a picture of my before and after taking the finasteride. I suppose it is possible that it has slowed down the loss, but that is impossible to detect I think I'm clutching at straws. I use nizoral once maybe 2 times a week, no mass shed just continued fall out and a slightly itchy scalp. Gaps are more noticeable. I fear that from here, there is no return

 

[sunsire]

Im thinking of stopping the finasteride. After 6 months noticing no hair improvement, im thinking why keep taking something which is doing no good and possible long term damage! plus I'd save some pennies!?

 

[voidoid]

i would say give the finasteride 6 more months. alot of people report the best results after a year.

 

[sunsire]

I suppose 6 more months on finasteride would be a good test.

Ive been on Regain 5% for over 2 years now, I think that its effectiveness ran out many months ago. I am considering opting for some higher strength minoxidil? I had a looked at dr lees and i see there is 12.5% avaliable and 5% with retin-a. Since my hair responded well (visibly well) to minoxidil in the first year, (all those benifits have almost dissapeared). I would hope for a similar growth boost by upping the minoxidil? thanks

 

[sunsire]

Hello, so here's my first update since January. And unfortunately its worse than ever. Its funny looking back now 2 years to how much I was worried then, now i would kill to have that hair!!!

Anyway, quick recap, 3 years in on 5% Regaine, currently using foam in morning liquid at night after a brief 4 months on foam am and pm. Liquid seemed easier to apply to longer hair. Although the liquid does give me a itchy scalp
1 year on 1mg Finipeicia Inhousepharmacy, no noticable sides
Very ocassional use of nizoral shampoo too.

So my hair is looking the worst it has, i recently had i cut and it just highlighted the issues, there was no way to even comb over "so to speak" the gaps. There is now a definite area with less hair as well as all over thinning and more noticeable thinness on the crown. I have also noticed some shininess which doesn't help. I grow my hair to cover up the thinness but soon (if it doesn't already) it will become impossible and obvious.

From the pictures you can see the year 1 success and how it was downhill from there, The 6month overhead shot doesn't look vastly worse but i think its a flattering photo.

So the big question now is... Its not working any more now what? I'm reluctant to start experimenting with various exciting and potentially harmful tablets, I never thought id try finasteride. And considering that hasn't worked my confidence has been knocked.

Something drastic? I have a window of opportunity coming up soon where I am moving to somewhere new and I know almost no one 10-15 max.

Shave it all off... It breaks my heart just thinking about doing it, but then so does being this obviously balding emaciated little kid with a patchy head.
Wig (hair replacement) something like advance hair studio?

Here's some pictures





I've come to a crossroads I don't know what to do.

Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for reading this.

 

[deadlocks]

You could try Dutasteride, and see how that works? Or combine Duta (or finasteride) with spironolactone, maybe that will give it a halt and give your hair the chance to regrow? For now, you could also try and use a topical to hide the loss for a bit, but make sure you don't get dependant on it...

 

[sunsire]

Hello, thanks for your tips. I am seriously considering stopping finasteride, nothing is worth possible permanent side effects, Im taking a pill a day from india with god knows what in it, i just think of myself telling a stranger that and it just sounds wrong.

i've lived 24 years with hair, staying on finasteride and minoxidil for another 50 years doesn't fly, thats £10,000 of regain £2700 or finasteride I could see the world with that, or i could have wispy damaged patchy hair (but at the current rate ill be bald in 2 years max anyway). So a topical DHT with no sides spironolactone cream maybe a the last experiment I try.

I don't want to be bald, i will look awful but the hardest part is letting go, the worse part at the moment is obsessing over it, I really don't want to go bald.

But i don't like the idea of ruining the most important thing, my physical and mental health, nothing is more important. I don't know what the finasteride is really doing. Now I sound like a hypocrite but I have ordered a brochure from Advanced Hair Studio just to see what "strand by strand" aka wig is all about, cost etc, If that works and makes me happy and i dont have to self medicate 5 times a day or whatever then its a good thing, if not well i shall move on, it will be hard.