andersonlynch
Established Member
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your very young that you experience this hair loss.... well man good luck!
TheLastHairbender's story
- Thread starter TheLastHairbender
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TheLastHairbender
Established Member
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11 Month Update
Date: 05/07/2012
Topics: Shedding & Scalp Itch, Update on MSM, Update on AHK-Cu, Pictures, Updated Regimen
Ok, so I finally gave up on ever getting my digital camera back and just bought a new one so as not to keep you guys waiting. Pics to follow.
Shedding & Scalp Itch
As I mentioned last month, I’ve been going through the worst shed of my life since taking a short break from minoxidil in February. It slowed for a few days and I noticed some vellus hairs sprouting on the hairline and on the vertex and I thought everything was going to be fine.
My assessment may have been a bit premature, as the shedding ramped up again, this time taking tons of scalp skin with it. Up until this week I’ve been shedding as much skin as hair. I’ve never had dandruff before, and use 2% ketoconazole shampoo religiously twice a week, sometimes three, but for whatever reason skin is coming off in droves. I honestly felt like I had leprosy there for a few days, with the skin flaking off in large, pea-sized sheets, getting caught in the hair, and being nearly impossible to completely remove as more would dislodge with any attempt to remove the stranded pieces. You’ll see some little bits of it remaining in the pictures to follow.
I can think of a few possible reasons for this abrupt flaking:
Perhaps it’s some combination of these things. I welcome your insight. I’ve since stopped using the spironolactone/Retinoic Acid for the moment and also stopped the ketoconazole shampoo until things subside, as it feels like it dries the scalp out a bit afterward (although I know many people report keto shampoo helping with their flaking).
I was fortunate to have my annual checkup with the GP during this time so he took a look. He said not to worry and that it would pass, he examined my scalp and said that there wasn’t any scarring, so the flakes aren’t anything I need to worry about.
It has subsided a bit over the past week since I stopped the spironolactone/RA and keto. I’ll probably integrate one or the other back in gradually and monitor to see if I can pin down the cause. I’m still hopeful that the shedding abates and the new crop of hairs takes the place of its fallen brethren. I’m hoping that Captain Combover is right in that the temporary break from minoxidil precipitated these issues and has since been resolved. I’m a bit worried though that zb00st’s comment from back on page 5 might be coming to bear:
I’ll keep an eye on things at let you know in the next update at the end of the month.
Update on MSM
A quick word on the MSM: I am confident in saying that this stuff definitely makes my hair grow faster. I had also stopped the MSM for a month or two at the beginning of the year (man was I lazy!) and since starting again at 3g/day (1.5g morning and night) I have noticed much more rapid hair growth, on the order of 25% faster. I know that seems like a stretch, but my hair guy and I both agree that my hair is at its usual haircut length after only 3 weeks now whereas before it would take 4 weeks. Taken alone I’m not sure that’s a good thing, as I hate how the NW6 side-ring-region grows out so much faster than the top, but on the positive side, if the rumors are true that MSM shifts more follicles into the anagen growth stage then perhaps all the shedding has something to do with MSM priming my scalp for a new bout of growth. Only time will tell, I’ll keep you posted and updated with more pics at month-end, marking one year of treatment. In the meantime I’ll continue with the MSM based on low cost, other positive side effects (joint health), and the possibility that it favorably impacts the anagen/catagen ratio.
Update on AHK-Cu
Finally, as I had promised an update on my intended trial run of Tricomin and supplemental 2.5% AHK-Cu, I should note that I decided to hold off for now. In light of all the shedding, peeling, and vellus growth from the reintroduction of minoxidil, testing another treatment at the moment didn’t seem like the right approach. I have all the stuff I need though and the AHK is just chilling in the fridge, still in powder form. Once the shedding and new growth stabilizes to the point that I can evaluate the effectiveness of an additional treatment, then I’ll work in the AHK-Cu. Thinking about how long I hope to maintain, I’m trying to exercise some restraint and save a few tricks for later if the finasteride and/or minoxidil start to lose effectiveness down the road.
On that note, and perhaps most importantly for this post: I’m only going to need 8g of AHK-Cu for my intended 6 month trial, according to my prior posts and this thread: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=74076. Which leaves me the other 20g of the 1oz (28g) I purchased in the infamous group buy from November available for someone else interested in giving it a shot. It’s been chilling, sealed in a dark package, in the fridge as directed by the synthesis company (Plantsman Chemical).
A few people had noted some interest but there has been no follow-through, so if anyone wants to try the stuff I have 20g available for $500. At 1.33g/month it’s enough to last a year and a quarter. If you’re a reputable poster on this site or another hair loss site we can do PayPal, but if you pop up with a new account and one post I’m not interested in PayPal. Anyone who’s sold on eBay knows the perils of accepting PayPal payments, the buyer only has to say that he wasn’t satisfied and PayPal will forcibly return the funds to the buyer, and they never follow up to make sure the item was returned. Insofar as I’m not funding anyone’s trial experiments with AHK, you’ll have to bear the risk that it does or doesn’t work for you. I’m just worried someone will buy it, try it, not see the results they’re hoping for, and have PayPal debit my account to get their $500 back. I can promise you I’m a hair loss sufferer too and I’ll be using the exact same AHK I’m sending you, whether or not AHK does anything positive for hair loss I don’t think any of us really know yet, but that’s the nature of the business on the cutting edge.
So send a PM if you’re interested in giving it a shot. I may be willing to separate into one or two smaller orders if you’re not interested in all 20g, but I’m not a dealer of this stuff or anything, just want to recover some of my investment and let another one or two male pattern baldness sufferers supplement their regimens with a new treatment that’s currently in short supply.
Pictures
Ok, now on to the goods. My apologies for the flakes, they are impossible to completely remove, you brush or comb some out and even more appear in the same place, it’s like splashing water on gremlins!
Over the top:
Temples, flash off:
Temples, flash on, macro mode:
Vertex:
Vertex on macro:
Updated Regimen
And here is my (simple) regimen as it currently stands:
Inflammation
Keto 2% Shampoo, 2-3x/week
*ON HOLD: Tricomin+AHK-Cu Trial, 2.5% 1mL 2x/day
DHT
Finasteride 1.25mg/day
Spironolactone 5% 1mL 2x/day
Growth
Minoxidil 5% 2mL 2x/day
*ON HOLD: Retin-A .05% ~250mg 1x/day
Supplements
Multi 1x/day
Omega-3s 1.5g/day 2:1 EPA
HA
Biotin 5mg/day
MSM 3g/day
Thanks for checking in. Please let me know if you want to take some of this AHK off my hands! See you at the end of the month for my one year update!!!
Date: 05/07/2012
Topics: Shedding & Scalp Itch, Update on MSM, Update on AHK-Cu, Pictures, Updated Regimen
Ok, so I finally gave up on ever getting my digital camera back and just bought a new one so as not to keep you guys waiting. Pics to follow.
Shedding & Scalp Itch
As I mentioned last month, I’ve been going through the worst shed of my life since taking a short break from minoxidil in February. It slowed for a few days and I noticed some vellus hairs sprouting on the hairline and on the vertex and I thought everything was going to be fine.
My assessment may have been a bit premature, as the shedding ramped up again, this time taking tons of scalp skin with it. Up until this week I’ve been shedding as much skin as hair. I’ve never had dandruff before, and use 2% ketoconazole shampoo religiously twice a week, sometimes three, but for whatever reason skin is coming off in droves. I honestly felt like I had leprosy there for a few days, with the skin flaking off in large, pea-sized sheets, getting caught in the hair, and being nearly impossible to completely remove as more would dislodge with any attempt to remove the stranded pieces. You’ll see some little bits of it remaining in the pictures to follow.
I can think of a few possible reasons for this abrupt flaking:
- It’s becoming summer in Arizona, with humidity typically in the 10-20% range, so it is always extremely dry. It could just be that the scalp is way too dry and flaking the outer layers as a result. It was so itchy and painful at one point I just had to rub a handful of body lotion into it for some relief, with no care for any possible comedogenic effects. I’ve lived in AZ for six years now, though, and I’ve never experienced flaking before.
- Returning to minoxidil after a month-long break may be drying my scalp out, although I started using it again, 2mL 2x/day, on March 1, but the scalp flaking didn’t start until the end of April / early May.
- The S5 spironolactone with compounded .025% ‘Retinoic Acid’ included (it’s not clear if it is Retin-A, aka ‘All-Trans Retinoic Acid’, or some weaker analog) may be causing some dermal irritation. I had been, for the month of April, lathering the spironolactone/Retinoic Acid mixture on more than I had ever been, probably twice as heavy. I was attempting to meter out the use of one 60mL tub per month, so applying 1mL of 5% spironolactone / .025% Retinoic-Acid cream twice per day. Most people report using that amount over a two- or three-month period.
- Stress! I’ve been completely stressed over trying to finish grad school this semester. My dissertation progress has been lagging and I’m at risk of having to stay for a seventh year in the PhD program – not something I want to do. So I’m working 18 hours a day on the computer writing, pulling data, running analysis, etc., all the while obsessing over all the things I still have to do. This is when I notice the 10-20 hairs on my keyboard every hour that need to be blown off. It’s a miracle I can still see the floor near my desk through the layer of fallout.
Perhaps it’s some combination of these things. I welcome your insight. I’ve since stopped using the spironolactone/Retinoic Acid for the moment and also stopped the ketoconazole shampoo until things subside, as it feels like it dries the scalp out a bit afterward (although I know many people report keto shampoo helping with their flaking).
I was fortunate to have my annual checkup with the GP during this time so he took a look. He said not to worry and that it would pass, he examined my scalp and said that there wasn’t any scarring, so the flakes aren’t anything I need to worry about.
It has subsided a bit over the past week since I stopped the spironolactone/RA and keto. I’ll probably integrate one or the other back in gradually and monitor to see if I can pin down the cause. I’m still hopeful that the shedding abates and the new crop of hairs takes the place of its fallen brethren. I’m hoping that Captain Combover is right in that the temporary break from minoxidil precipitated these issues and has since been resolved. I’m a bit worried though that zb00st’s comment from back on page 5 might be coming to bear:
zb00st said:it's the minoxidil effect don't go too excited about it cuz u might ask after 9 months where all the dark colored hair went to. don't ask me where I know from
anyway keep the finasteride on.
I’ll keep an eye on things at let you know in the next update at the end of the month.
Update on MSM
A quick word on the MSM: I am confident in saying that this stuff definitely makes my hair grow faster. I had also stopped the MSM for a month or two at the beginning of the year (man was I lazy!) and since starting again at 3g/day (1.5g morning and night) I have noticed much more rapid hair growth, on the order of 25% faster. I know that seems like a stretch, but my hair guy and I both agree that my hair is at its usual haircut length after only 3 weeks now whereas before it would take 4 weeks. Taken alone I’m not sure that’s a good thing, as I hate how the NW6 side-ring-region grows out so much faster than the top, but on the positive side, if the rumors are true that MSM shifts more follicles into the anagen growth stage then perhaps all the shedding has something to do with MSM priming my scalp for a new bout of growth. Only time will tell, I’ll keep you posted and updated with more pics at month-end, marking one year of treatment. In the meantime I’ll continue with the MSM based on low cost, other positive side effects (joint health), and the possibility that it favorably impacts the anagen/catagen ratio.
Update on AHK-Cu
Finally, as I had promised an update on my intended trial run of Tricomin and supplemental 2.5% AHK-Cu, I should note that I decided to hold off for now. In light of all the shedding, peeling, and vellus growth from the reintroduction of minoxidil, testing another treatment at the moment didn’t seem like the right approach. I have all the stuff I need though and the AHK is just chilling in the fridge, still in powder form. Once the shedding and new growth stabilizes to the point that I can evaluate the effectiveness of an additional treatment, then I’ll work in the AHK-Cu. Thinking about how long I hope to maintain, I’m trying to exercise some restraint and save a few tricks for later if the finasteride and/or minoxidil start to lose effectiveness down the road.
On that note, and perhaps most importantly for this post: I’m only going to need 8g of AHK-Cu for my intended 6 month trial, according to my prior posts and this thread: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=74076. Which leaves me the other 20g of the 1oz (28g) I purchased in the infamous group buy from November available for someone else interested in giving it a shot. It’s been chilling, sealed in a dark package, in the fridge as directed by the synthesis company (Plantsman Chemical).
A few people had noted some interest but there has been no follow-through, so if anyone wants to try the stuff I have 20g available for $500. At 1.33g/month it’s enough to last a year and a quarter. If you’re a reputable poster on this site or another hair loss site we can do PayPal, but if you pop up with a new account and one post I’m not interested in PayPal. Anyone who’s sold on eBay knows the perils of accepting PayPal payments, the buyer only has to say that he wasn’t satisfied and PayPal will forcibly return the funds to the buyer, and they never follow up to make sure the item was returned. Insofar as I’m not funding anyone’s trial experiments with AHK, you’ll have to bear the risk that it does or doesn’t work for you. I’m just worried someone will buy it, try it, not see the results they’re hoping for, and have PayPal debit my account to get their $500 back. I can promise you I’m a hair loss sufferer too and I’ll be using the exact same AHK I’m sending you, whether or not AHK does anything positive for hair loss I don’t think any of us really know yet, but that’s the nature of the business on the cutting edge.
So send a PM if you’re interested in giving it a shot. I may be willing to separate into one or two smaller orders if you’re not interested in all 20g, but I’m not a dealer of this stuff or anything, just want to recover some of my investment and let another one or two male pattern baldness sufferers supplement their regimens with a new treatment that’s currently in short supply.
Pictures
Ok, now on to the goods. My apologies for the flakes, they are impossible to completely remove, you brush or comb some out and even more appear in the same place, it’s like splashing water on gremlins!
Over the top:
Temples, flash off:
Temples, flash on, macro mode:
Vertex:
Vertex on macro:
Updated Regimen
And here is my (simple) regimen as it currently stands:
Inflammation
Keto 2% Shampoo, 2-3x/week
*ON HOLD: Tricomin+AHK-Cu Trial, 2.5% 1mL 2x/day
DHT
Finasteride 1.25mg/day
Spironolactone 5% 1mL 2x/day
Growth
Minoxidil 5% 2mL 2x/day
*ON HOLD: Retin-A .05% ~250mg 1x/day
Supplements
Multi 1x/day
Omega-3s 1.5g/day 2:1 EPA
HABiotin 5mg/day
MSM 3g/day
Thanks for checking in. Please let me know if you want to take some of this AHK off my hands! See you at the end of the month for my one year update!!!
rwhairlosstalk
Experienced Member
- Reaction score
- 13
Hey that last pic on the vertex is really coming along nicely. Good job!
Hey how beneficial would you call the topical spironolactone for shedding? How about regrowth?
I'm thinking about buy and because i have diffused thinning AND my hair is long, I'll have to buy a heck of alot. That's why I'm wondering if it's worth it.
Hey how beneficial would you call the topical spironolactone for shedding? How about regrowth?
I'm thinking about buy and because i have diffused thinning AND my hair is long, I'll have to buy a heck of alot. That's why I'm wondering if it's worth it.
rwhairlosstalk
Experienced Member
- Reaction score
- 13
israelite said:
@Israelite
Sigh.
Thanks man. Really appreciate the honesty and quick reply.
Have you found something that has helped??? I can't use Min. Almost gives me a heart attack.
rwhairlosstalk
Experienced Member
- Reaction score
- 13
Thanks I might try that.israelite said:
You say you'd only rec topical spironolactone for the hairline, does this mean that it does work?
rwhairlosstalk said:
with hard work u can restore your hairline as long as the hair ollice is not dead! if u see little peach hairs fuzz along the hairline then it can be restored.
my regimen: ,dutasteride,finn,proxiphen,myistate rum,CB-03-01 , AHK-Cu peptide-copper complex, rogaine foam, revita shampoo, regenepure dr.,n2 shampoo ,SBM Indra Neeli Hair Oil , SBM Pure Leaf Juice Shampoo(Thiruthaali,apple cider,swanson hair revitaling formula,msm garlic pills, N-AcetylCysteine, L arginine & Lornithine, Silica complex, glutathione, blck caster oil,garlic pills, aloe vera, almond oil, parachute ayur vedic hair oil, neosh101
hairline treatments in my regimen :latisse,CRTH2 antagonis,ascj9, AHK-Cu peptide-copper complex, rogaine foam,myistate rum,CB-03-01, neosh101! u cann my progress viewtopic.php?f=28&t=69438&start=80
rwhairlosstalk
Experienced Member
- Reaction score
- 13
israelite said:
LOL is that all?
hammer2012
Member
- Reaction score
- 0
great progress but i think short even hair cut would look much better than your current thick sides and thinning top look.
You crown growth looks great-better than many get and I would not worry about normal shedding. I had it on and off the whole time I used Minx+finasteride and I was having good results so don't worry. I can't use finasteride anymore do to sides- which sucks as I still need it!!TheLastHairbender said:
Now when you went off minoxidil you got what dr's call catchup loss. It is showing you where you would be without treatment. I went off minoxidil for 3 months late last year and lost tons of hair and my crown grew quite a bit. But you should see your growth return but it will take time for things to come back to normal.
Just don't let it worry you too much....as it's something most good responders go through.
TheLastHairbender
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 5
1 Year Update
Date: 06/12/2012
Topics: Pictures, Updated Regimen
So here is my update after one full year of treatment, which I celebrated on 5/24/2012 but haven’t had a chance to elaborate on until today. If you’ve been following along, I had great success over the first five months or so, going from NW5 to a modest NW3, until my usage of minoxidil lapsed in January after about eight or nine months of treatment. The temporary stoppage wreaked all sorts of havoc on my scalp, giving up ground on most of the new growth I had achieved during the first five months and leading to a ton of itching, peeling, and shedding when I restarted the minoxidil in March. Fortunately, I can say today that I’m just about back to full strength, three months after restarting minoxidil. The shedding has, for the most part, subsided, although I have been suffering from an unusually dry scalp that is constantly peeling and flaking off. I’ve even discontinued the use of spironolactone since my last update to see if it was to blame. Noting a continuation of the flaking for the past six weeks, I don’t believe it was caused by the use of spironolactone so I’ll therefore return to its use as of my posting today.
Another thing I wanted to comment on was the AHK-Cu and Tricomin use I had proposed…I still have not integrated this into my regimen due to the questionable scalp conditions and the transitional phase I’ve been in since restarting minoxidil. Now that things seem to have stabilized and the budding new growth has turned to terminal hairs, I’ll feel more comfortable starting the Tricomin and AHK-Cu at the beginning of July.
So the lesson learned from my interruption of minoxidil use:
More important than getting more and better treatments is: DISCIPLINE! It’s the same unfortunate conclusion you’d reach regarding working out and fitness supplements, but truly not that unfortunate because the application of treatments for hair loss is way easy. But that would be my recommendation to anyone interested in undertaking treatment for hair loss: the most important thing you can do is stay disciplined about your regimen.
Without further ado, and since I don’t have much new to talk about this month, I’ll present some updated photos, taken just today, two days after a new haircut.
Pictures
As usual, I can never convince my haircut guy to go short enough at the point where the top meets the sides, and this area looks especially bushy in these photos. I’m always asking him to make it as short as possible right there, because it’s always the first area to grow out and dictate when I need another haircut…maybe that’s why he insists on leaving it long there...?!? When I dress it in the morning I can usually make it look better by pushing that area up and forward, using a bit of American Crew Forming Cream, and it lends to a decent look from the sides. Thank goodness not many people are tall enough to look directly down on my head, and from the front and sides I think it usually comes out pretty well. When I take the pics for the next update I’ll take some with my hair styled as usual…I would have done it today but I was home and ready to apply some topicals and didn’t want to adulter things with styling products.
Finally I’ll apologize again for the bits of flaking evident in some of the pictures…it’s so widespread that it’s almost impossible to completely remove. When you try to wipe it out it dislodges more and more in a cycle that you ultimately just give up on. It’s weird because I’ve never had dandruff or flaking at all before, and I’m still using 2% Ketoconazole shampoo regularly which is prescribed typically as an anti-dandruff agent. If anyone has any insight on why this is happening or what I can do about it please let me know. Here we go:
Six from back to front, plus two of temples, FLASH ON:
Six from back to front, plus two of temples, FLASH OFF:
Updated Regimen
Inflammation
Keto 2% Shampoo, 2-3x/week
*ON HOLD: Tricomin+AHK-Cu Trial, 2.5% 1mL 2x/day
DHT
Finasteride 1.25mg/day
*ON HOLD: Spironolactone 5% 1mL 2x/day* Restarting now
Growth
Minoxidil 5% 2mL 2x/day
*ON HOLD: Retin-A .05% ~250mg 1x/day
Supplements
Multi 1x/day
Omega-3s 1.5g/day 2:1 EPA-DHA
Biotin 5mg/day
MSM 3g/day
Plans:
-Reintegrate 5% spironolactone cream immediately
-Conduct trial of Tricomin and supplementary 2.5% AHK-Cu for 6 months, expecting to start July 1
-After that: RU? CB? ASC? Fluridil? 15% minoxidil? Miconazole Nitrate 4%? Bimatoprost? OC000459? We’ll see!
Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any thoughts about the persistent scalp flaking I’m dealing with. Best wishes in your regrowth!
Date: 06/12/2012
Topics: Pictures, Updated Regimen
So here is my update after one full year of treatment, which I celebrated on 5/24/2012 but haven’t had a chance to elaborate on until today. If you’ve been following along, I had great success over the first five months or so, going from NW5 to a modest NW3, until my usage of minoxidil lapsed in January after about eight or nine months of treatment. The temporary stoppage wreaked all sorts of havoc on my scalp, giving up ground on most of the new growth I had achieved during the first five months and leading to a ton of itching, peeling, and shedding when I restarted the minoxidil in March. Fortunately, I can say today that I’m just about back to full strength, three months after restarting minoxidil. The shedding has, for the most part, subsided, although I have been suffering from an unusually dry scalp that is constantly peeling and flaking off. I’ve even discontinued the use of spironolactone since my last update to see if it was to blame. Noting a continuation of the flaking for the past six weeks, I don’t believe it was caused by the use of spironolactone so I’ll therefore return to its use as of my posting today.
Another thing I wanted to comment on was the AHK-Cu and Tricomin use I had proposed…I still have not integrated this into my regimen due to the questionable scalp conditions and the transitional phase I’ve been in since restarting minoxidil. Now that things seem to have stabilized and the budding new growth has turned to terminal hairs, I’ll feel more comfortable starting the Tricomin and AHK-Cu at the beginning of July.
So the lesson learned from my interruption of minoxidil use:
More important than getting more and better treatments is: DISCIPLINE! It’s the same unfortunate conclusion you’d reach regarding working out and fitness supplements, but truly not that unfortunate because the application of treatments for hair loss is way easy. But that would be my recommendation to anyone interested in undertaking treatment for hair loss: the most important thing you can do is stay disciplined about your regimen.
Without further ado, and since I don’t have much new to talk about this month, I’ll present some updated photos, taken just today, two days after a new haircut.
Pictures
As usual, I can never convince my haircut guy to go short enough at the point where the top meets the sides, and this area looks especially bushy in these photos. I’m always asking him to make it as short as possible right there, because it’s always the first area to grow out and dictate when I need another haircut…maybe that’s why he insists on leaving it long there...?!? When I dress it in the morning I can usually make it look better by pushing that area up and forward, using a bit of American Crew Forming Cream, and it lends to a decent look from the sides. Thank goodness not many people are tall enough to look directly down on my head, and from the front and sides I think it usually comes out pretty well. When I take the pics for the next update I’ll take some with my hair styled as usual…I would have done it today but I was home and ready to apply some topicals and didn’t want to adulter things with styling products.
Finally I’ll apologize again for the bits of flaking evident in some of the pictures…it’s so widespread that it’s almost impossible to completely remove. When you try to wipe it out it dislodges more and more in a cycle that you ultimately just give up on. It’s weird because I’ve never had dandruff or flaking at all before, and I’m still using 2% Ketoconazole shampoo regularly which is prescribed typically as an anti-dandruff agent. If anyone has any insight on why this is happening or what I can do about it please let me know. Here we go:
Six from back to front, plus two of temples, FLASH ON:
Six from back to front, plus two of temples, FLASH OFF:
Updated Regimen
Inflammation
Keto 2% Shampoo, 2-3x/week
*ON HOLD: Tricomin+AHK-Cu Trial, 2.5% 1mL 2x/day
DHT
Finasteride 1.25mg/day
*ON HOLD: Spironolactone 5% 1mL 2x/day* Restarting now
Growth
Minoxidil 5% 2mL 2x/day
*ON HOLD: Retin-A .05% ~250mg 1x/day
Supplements
Multi 1x/day
Omega-3s 1.5g/day 2:1 EPA-DHA
Biotin 5mg/day
MSM 3g/day
Plans:
-Reintegrate 5% spironolactone cream immediately
-Conduct trial of Tricomin and supplementary 2.5% AHK-Cu for 6 months, expecting to start July 1
-After that: RU? CB? ASC? Fluridil? 15% minoxidil? Miconazole Nitrate 4%? Bimatoprost? OC000459? We’ll see!
Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any thoughts about the persistent scalp flaking I’m dealing with. Best wishes in your regrowth!
rwhairlosstalk
Experienced Member
- Reaction score
- 13
Your regi sounds like mines. Or what I intend to do.
Try the topical spironolactone alone. And after the dust has settled from the other treatments. Then and only then will u know if it works or not.
Were you able to tell a difference with the omega 3? (or did you not isolate it from the effects of the other stuff? I usually wait til the benefits from the other stuff has stabilized)
Try the topical spironolactone alone. And after the dust has settled from the other treatments. Then and only then will u know if it works or not.
Were you able to tell a difference with the omega 3? (or did you not isolate it from the effects of the other stuff? I usually wait til the benefits from the other stuff has stabilized)
TheLastHairbender
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 5
Yeah that's what I'm trying to do with the AHK-Cu, wait til the effects from the other treatments have stabilized so I can attempt to distinguish the direct effect of the addition of AHK. Regarding the Omega-3s I made no effort to identify their direct impact. In fact I had been taking them for years before I even started treating the hair loss, so they've been part of my regular regimen for longer than anything. I guess all that I can say is that they weren't enough to prevent male pattern baldness from striking in the first place!
Regarding the spironolactone I'm not saying whether or not it works, just that I was concerned it could have been the reason for my dry scalp and persistent flaking and skin-shedding, and since it was the most non-essential part of my regimen I took a break for almost two months to see if the flaking would subside, which it has not. So I make no claim about its effectiveness based on that observation, in fact I do like it very much as a supplementary treatment to the big 3, but I found it not to be responsible for the flaking which has persisted in spite of discontinuation of the spironolactone, therefore I'll start using it again right away. I hope that was explained clearly enough for some of you whose first language isn't English, just let me know if I should explain again more clearly. Thanks RW!
Regarding the spironolactone I'm not saying whether or not it works, just that I was concerned it could have been the reason for my dry scalp and persistent flaking and skin-shedding, and since it was the most non-essential part of my regimen I took a break for almost two months to see if the flaking would subside, which it has not. So I make no claim about its effectiveness based on that observation, in fact I do like it very much as a supplementary treatment to the big 3, but I found it not to be responsible for the flaking which has persisted in spite of discontinuation of the spironolactone, therefore I'll start using it again right away. I hope that was explained clearly enough for some of you whose first language isn't English, just let me know if I should explain again more clearly. Thanks RW!
TheLastHairbender
Established Member
- Reaction score
- 5
13 Month Update
Date: 07/09/2012
Topics: Pictures, Updated Regimen
Hey guys, I wanted to check in with a 13-month update. Things are looking better than ever. The scalp flaking has largely subsided, and having restarted the minoxidil at the beginning of March has grown a thick coat of terminal hairs all over my head now. I’ve been applying spironolactone for the past month but less regularly, maybe once every other day, but I plan to apply 1mL per day in two applications more rigorously going forward. I also still haven’t started the AHK-Cu. Things have been going so well on just finasteride and minoxidil that I really don’t have any reason to keep throwing things on to the regimen…I’ll save the additional firepower in case my current treatments start to show diminishing returns. The only other note is that I’m moving from 5mg biotin to 10mg biotin per day, only because the 10mg tablets were on sale this time.
Other than that there isn’t much to comment on at the moment, things are going great. The only issue is that I still seem to be flaking skin (or it may be dried product flaking out) whereas I never had this problem before, not even during my first 9 months of treatment. It isn’t as bad as it was several months ago, but little clearish-white flakes are getting trapped in my hair pretty regularly. I’m not sure what it is or what I can do about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and feel free to ask any questions as well. With that, here are the pictures, and best wishes in your own regrowth as well:
Pictures
You may notice a change of venue for this series of pics, I moved out of my old place so that bathroom is no more. These are in a hotel bathroom I’m sharing with the gf.
Series with flash on:
Series with flash off: (Sorry for the flakes in the hair, it's been a really persistent problem lately, not as bad now but has seemed impossible to completely resolve).
Updated Regimen
Inflammation
Keto 2% Shampoo, 2-3x/week
*ON HOLD: Tricomin+AHK-Cu Trial, 2.5% 1mL 2x/day
DHT
Finasteride 1.25mg/day
Spironolactone 5% .5mL 2x/day (aspirationally)
Growth
Minoxidil 5% 2mL 2x/day
*ON HOLD: Retin-A .05% ~250mg 1x/day
Supplements
Multi 1x/day
Omega-3s 1.5g/day 2:1 EPA-DHA
Biotin 10mg/day
MSM 3g/day
Also been taking .5g Acetyl-L-Carnitine every morning as part of workout regimen and 1.6g Piracetam daily just because (to help with studying I guess).
Date: 07/09/2012
Topics: Pictures, Updated Regimen
Hey guys, I wanted to check in with a 13-month update. Things are looking better than ever. The scalp flaking has largely subsided, and having restarted the minoxidil at the beginning of March has grown a thick coat of terminal hairs all over my head now. I’ve been applying spironolactone for the past month but less regularly, maybe once every other day, but I plan to apply 1mL per day in two applications more rigorously going forward. I also still haven’t started the AHK-Cu. Things have been going so well on just finasteride and minoxidil that I really don’t have any reason to keep throwing things on to the regimen…I’ll save the additional firepower in case my current treatments start to show diminishing returns. The only other note is that I’m moving from 5mg biotin to 10mg biotin per day, only because the 10mg tablets were on sale this time.
Other than that there isn’t much to comment on at the moment, things are going great. The only issue is that I still seem to be flaking skin (or it may be dried product flaking out) whereas I never had this problem before, not even during my first 9 months of treatment. It isn’t as bad as it was several months ago, but little clearish-white flakes are getting trapped in my hair pretty regularly. I’m not sure what it is or what I can do about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and feel free to ask any questions as well. With that, here are the pictures, and best wishes in your own regrowth as well:
Pictures
You may notice a change of venue for this series of pics, I moved out of my old place so that bathroom is no more. These are in a hotel bathroom I’m sharing with the gf.
Series with flash on:
Series with flash off: (Sorry for the flakes in the hair, it's been a really persistent problem lately, not as bad now but has seemed impossible to completely resolve).
Updated Regimen
Inflammation
Keto 2% Shampoo, 2-3x/week
*ON HOLD: Tricomin+AHK-Cu Trial, 2.5% 1mL 2x/day
DHT
Finasteride 1.25mg/day
Spironolactone 5% .5mL 2x/day (aspirationally)
Growth
Minoxidil 5% 2mL 2x/day
*ON HOLD: Retin-A .05% ~250mg 1x/day
Supplements
Multi 1x/day
Omega-3s 1.5g/day 2:1 EPA-DHA
Biotin 10mg/day
MSM 3g/day
Also been taking .5g Acetyl-L-Carnitine every morning as part of workout regimen and 1.6g Piracetam daily just because (to help with studying I guess).
wow, :freaked: you are going towards a full head of hair,
you're going to be the best success story in the world, from Norwood **** to NW1
for better monitoring of your hair density I suggest to split your hair apart when you take a photo
sorry for my english
you're going to be the best success story in the world, from Norwood **** to NW1
for better monitoring of your hair density I suggest to split your hair apart when you take a photo
sorry for my english