Am I Doing This Right? (pics Of Hairline Inside)

[MaybeTomorrow]

Hi everyone,

I found this forum after getting inspired by a podcast I heard by Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Alan Bauman.

Link here: https://peterattiamd.com/alanbauman/

I am a regular listener of Dr. Attia, but had never heard of Dr. Bauman. I learned that there are non intrusive (medication) treatments for maintaining whatever hair we have and that they have been proven to be effective. With that in mind I read through the forum’s “Start here” thread and I wanted to confirm if I’ve got the basics covered.

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/hair-loss-treatments/


I am 35 years old, I always thought I’d go bald because my dad started losing his hair when he was young and my grandfather on my mother’s side was completely bald since I can remember. I had accepted that I would go bald and chalked it up as something I will have to live with and moved on. With that said I may have been lucky as the balding process has been slow to start. I feel my hairline has receded a little bit over the years, my wife thinks it looks the same.

Regardless, since this podcast I figured I might as well try and do my hair a favour and try to keep in tact.


Based on my reading my 3 products are:

1. Anti Inflammatory shampoo: for this I am leaning towards Nizoral as it’s what’s readily available and affordable.

2. Androgen blocker/DHT Inhibitor: I am confused here, I see a product like Revivogen which seems to do all three in one or am I miss interpreting this?

I want to avoid taking any sort of medication indefinitely for hair loss, but I am open to topicals that can help with androgen blocking/DHT inhibitor, I am confused on what product(s) are right for me. Can someone make a suggestion?

 

[Ikarus]

I guess you could take finasteride to maintain...? It's a tricky situation since you stated that you want to avoid medications 'indefinitely for hair loss', but if you're genetically doomed to go bald then it is the best option to take some sort of medication.

 

[MaybeTomorrow]

Is medication the only effective solution to retain what I have?

 

[Ikarus]

Is medication the only effective solution to retain what I have?

Since there is a possibility of you going bald, medication is a reasonable option. I'm not sure why you would want to avoid these medications though...

 

[MaybeTomorrow]

Because I don't know enough about them and my spidey sense suspects there will be side effects.

Not really looking to go on a tangent, but aside from medication what are the other "reasonable" options?

 

[Ikarus]

Because I don't know enough about them and my spidey sense suspects there will be side effects.

Not really looking to go on a tangent, but aside from medication what are the other "reasonable" options?

You may or may not experience side effects on medications such as finasteride. You have to realise that we don't live in a perfect world; sometimes you have to lose something to gain something. There are men who have regimens which are generally used for transgender women - these men potentially can restore an entire head of hair and have insane regrowth. Along with that, they also have better skin and a more youthful appearance. But they have the risk of developing breasts, infertility and a lack of sexual desire. It just depends on what your priorities are, my personal priority is my hair and skin so I would go on the MtF regimen in a heartbeat.

There is minoxidil, although that only creates dependant hairs. At least try something, don't be so worried about side effects - it's not the end of the world...

 

[GreekGod_of_Aesthetics]

I found this forum after getting inspired by a podcast I heard by Dr. Peter Attia and Dr. Alan Bauman.

Nice, man. I'm just listening to the podcast right now (also a Peter Attia fan).
For your age and genetic background, it seems like you're holding off really well, anyway and can take that as an achievement.
What take-outs for prevention have you gotten from the podcast episode?

EDIT: I just remembered, in the podcast episode, Alan Bauman said there's ways to work around the side effects on finasteride, and that applying it topically (vs a pill) might have advantages in that respect.

 

[MaybeTomorrow]

I did some more research and here is the summary that I am sure most of the forum already knows.

My first step was getting a better shampoo than the Head & Shoulders i was using, the idea here is to lower inflammation.

Shampoo:

After looking at various brands like Nizoral, etc I ended up splurging and going for the Hair Restoration Labs shampoo and conditioner mostly for the ingredients they use and for supposedly not stripping your hair of all essential oils.

Minoxidil:

I am also tempted to go down the Hair Restoration Labs route for the minoxidil at 5%, but I might hold off on that.

After looking at a couple of small sample studies on the efficacy of minoxidil it seem that that it works is just over 50% of people in terms of preserving your existing hair. The stats don't break out whether or not the other 50% were expecting regrowth and didn't get it but still maintained? This seems like the next step for me to maintain what I have.


Finasteride:

Based on some of the same sample size studies, efficacy of this is close to 80%, which explains why the forum is so bullish on this. I think the fear for me in remains with all the side effects that are pretty prevalent in most people and they aren't something I can ignore. There are also somewhat worrysome studies for its links to cancer. There is evidence going both ways to argue causation vs. correlation, but it's a bit scary to be the guinea pig.


Final Thoughts:

I am leaning towards keeping things the same with possibly introducing minoxidil in the mix over time. The cost of this is pretty significant if you are doing it indefinitely so that's also a consideration. Longer term, I feel finasteride is worth skipping for its questionable side effects especially long term and if hair restoration is a must I'd lean towards transplants over medication.


Would appreciate some feedback.

 

[MaybeTomorrow]

Nice, man. I'm just listening to the podcast right now (also a Peter Attia fan).
For your age and genetic background, it seems like you're holding off really well, anyway and can take that as an achievement.
What take-outs for prevention have you gotten from the podcast episode?

EDIT: I just remembered, in the podcast episode, Alan Bauman said there's ways to work around the side effects on finasteride, and that applying it topically (vs a pill) might have advantages in that respect.

My biggest take away from the podcast is that hair can be transplanted to grow anywhere there is blood flow, like your palm. That somewhat blew my mind. The other take away is that hair transplants are not what they used to be and have evolved dramatically over the last decade, there is no scarring anymore and it can be done without any visible evidence. To me this is the biggest breakthrough and what I am most optimistic about if I ever decide to go down that route.

 

[Ikarus]

I did some more research and here is the summary that I am sure most of the forum already knows.

My first step was getting a better shampoo than the Head & Shoulders i was using, the idea here is to lower inflammation.

Shampoo:

After looking at various brands like Nizoral, etc I ended up splurging and going for the Hair Restoration Labs shampoo and conditioner mostly for the ingredients they use and for supposedly not stripping your hair of all essential oils.

Minoxidil:

I am also tempted to go down the Hair Restoration Labs route for the minoxidil at 5%, but I might hold off on that.

After looking at a couple of small sample studies on the efficacy of minoxidil it seem that that it works is just over 50% of people in terms of preserving your existing hair. The stats don't break out whether or not the other 50% were expecting regrowth and didn't get it but still maintained? This seems like the next step for me to maintain what I have.


Finasteride:

Based on some of the same sample size studies, efficacy of this is close to 80%, which explains why the forum is so bullish on this. I think the fear for me in remains with all the side effects that are pretty prevalent in most people and they aren't something I can ignore. There are also somewhat worrysome studies for its links to cancer. There is evidence going both ways to argue causation vs. correlation, but it's a bit scary to be the guinea pig.


Final Thoughts:

I am leaning towards keeping things the same with possibly introducing minoxidil in the mix over time. The cost of this is pretty significant if you are doing it indefinitely so that's also a consideration. Longer term, I feel finasteride is worth skipping for its questionable side effects especially long term and if hair restoration is a must I'd lean towards transplants over medication.


Would appreciate some feedback.

So, you're doing 'The Big 3'? It may work for you, it has shown results for people but I honestly question the regrowth with the combination...

Finasteride has the potential to stop further hair loss, so that is the most important out of the three. And, it's the easiest to use as it's a consumable. Statistically, only three cases of male breast cancer has been reported with the use of 1MG of Finasteride which makes the possibility of developing it almost non-existent (the statistic was presented in late 2009; the medication was approved for medical use in 1992).

Flopxidil statistically has shown some sort of regrowth with approximately 15% of people, whilst 50% experience a delay in hair loss and 35% continue to lose hair. With these statistics, I can't even recommend it since it's also costly and an annoyance to use. Even this 'solution' has side effects, which can be acne and unwanted facial hair growth.

Ultimately, you just need to stop worrying about the potential side effects of Finasteride / Dutasteride and just use it. If you get prescriptions for free, that's another benefit to these medications.

 

[MaybeTomorrow]

So

Ultimately, you just need to stop worrying about the potential side effects of Finasteride / Dutasteride and just use it.

I couldn't disagree more.

Better understanding is absolutely necessary of the side effects especially when they can be life altering. I don't think saving hair is worth the adverse quality of life in other areas. That said, if hair is that important that we can turn a blind eye to the medication's side effects then just go down the transplant route.

I am not against finasteride, I am for better understanding of the drug and its implications. My knowledge on it is limited so if there are studies/resources that you can share, please do.

 

[Ikarus]

I couldn't disagree more.

Better understanding is absolutely necessary of the side effects especially when they can be life altering. I don't think saving hair is worth the adverse quality of life in other areas. That said, if hair is that important that we can turn a blind eye to the medication's side effects then just go down the transplant route.

I am not against finasteride, I am for better understanding of the drug and its implications. My knowledge on it is limited so if there are studies/resources that you can share, please do.

You don't even know what side effects you're going to get; you could possibly have no side effects at all. Plus, the potential side effects of finasteride aren't going to be 'life altering' or will cause an 'adverse quality of life', that's a clear exaggeration. Every medication has possible side effects and it differs from person to person. E.g. one of my friends was on 20MG of Accutane and experienced no side effects, on the other hand my liver enzyme levels were abnormal (too high) and I had to stop the medication after just one month and I'm still suffering with the abnormal liver issue after over two months of not taking it.