Cali's Story - (New Pics - It's Officially 5 Months)

[Avery]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Update Pics (Page 2)

Jesus christ... That is absolutely amazing.

Please, I'm begging you, continue updating this thread. I would love to see what you look like when you get to the point where most people start seeing results, let alone post one year.

 

[Cali]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Update Pics (Page 2)

holy crap!!!! And I was concerned that I may be starting late at 30....Cali, what is your exact regimen??? I'm on the big 3 currently. Just a month into finasteride/nizoral and 3 into minoxidil....

I'd love to say something ground-breaking, and although I've done some research into a variety of alternatives (as we all have), my goal for the entire first year back on meds was to go with the tried and trusted and be consistent about my regimine:

Mornings:
5% Xandrox (#600)
1/4 Tab (app. 1.25mg) Dr. Reddy's Finast
Multi-Vitamin Tab
850mg Omega 3 Capsule

Evenings:
5% Xandrox w/Retin-A (#601) or
15% Xandrox (#940) on alternate evenings

Nizoral 1% Shampoo followed with an aloe-based conditioner every other day or two
A decent aloe-based shampoo and conditioner on other days. I shampoo/condition once per day.

Other than that, I don't skip a minoxidil application or finasteride tab no matter what. minoxidil/finasteride in the mornings around 7:00-7:30 AM, minoxidil in the evening around 7:00-7:30 PM - times vary of course, but I mostly stick to this schedule.

Jesus christ... That is absolutely amazing.

Please, I'm begging you, continue updating this thread. I would love to see what you look like when you get to the point where most people start seeing results, let alone post one year.

I will continue to post updates in or around the one-month mark (give or take a few days either way depending on my schedule). unk:

Cheers!

 

[madhatter]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Update Pics (Page 2)

due you believe that the Xandrox products are significantly better to regular 5% minoxidil? I'm not sure if I can really afford to add those to my regimen...Also, how long has ago did you lose the hair in the areas that have regrown??? Your results for a 40 year old are insanely impressive.

 

[Cali]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Update Pics (Page 2)

I'm not qualified to speak as to the effectiveness of the specific Xandrox formulations versus other alternatives, but I can tell you that from both my research and my own experience that the inclusion of Retin-A, a stronger formula of minoxidil (in my case, the 15%) which is delivered to the scalp differently, and to a lesser (and not specifically proven) extent, Azelaic Acid are important additions to my minoxidil treatment. Regardless of the debate on Az-Acid, certainly Retin-A has proven to have not only a positive impact on hair by itself, but also as a tool to aid in absorption when combined with minoxidil. I could use Ret-A by itself, but prefer to only have one application, hence the Ret-A/minoxidil combo in Xandrox. I also feel that the addition of an alternate evening 15% minoxidil application has jump started growth in the front.

I'd recommend to anyone the addition of Ret-A and a 15% solution along with whatever 5% brand you choose.

As for my hair loss, I was loosing in the front as early as late high school - to a noticeable degree. Super mature hairline for a kid my age. It stabilized somewhat until my 30s (or I just got used to it), then got aggressive again and the crown started thinning as well. Certainly during the past five years there has been a progressive loss to the front and crown.

 

[Cali]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update 9/30/08

Just a quick update on the front/temple portion of my dome. My previously shiny temples started as fuzz after a month or two on meds, and now those areas are actually producing at least the start of noticeable hair from up close and taking the shine off of my temple regions. More importantly, where I had at least some waning strands of hair back in May (in the middle front), these new hairs have blended in with what little I had left and significantly "thickened" (if that's the right word) those areas - at least the front feels thicker to me and looks better. Sorry for the various pic sizes - it's difficult to be uniform and also show detail.

A reminder of condition at start of treatment in mid-May 2008:

As of September 30, 2008:

 

[fromchicago]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

your hair looks great

 

[amsch]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

Nice to see that!!

Can wee see pics of the top of your head as well?

Any sides?

 

[madhatter]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

That is just an unbelievable response in 4 months for a guy your age. Amazing!! How is the crown looking now? Also, how long does it take your vellus hairs to go terminal?

 

[madhatter]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

His temple is like a vellus hair farm....nuts..

 

[Cali]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

I really do appreciate the positive responses. It certainly makes me not only feel better about perhaps some sort of recovery from my disaster, but I also kick myself for not starting sooner. amsch and madhatter wanted a top pic, so I just took one out of the shower - the worst time for pics :nono:

I have no sides, and as to the vellus to terminal question, I need to research that.

And a few minutes later as the hair is starting to dry and the beer is flowing unk:

Both pics with flash. It looks a ton better without flash and/or in natural light - at least to me...

Grow b****s grow - :mrgreen:

 

[madhatter]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

looking great...your hair was in complete shambles just 4 months ago, you are lucky...

 

[Cali]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

looking great...your hair was in complete shambles just 4 months ago, you are lucky...

Complete shambles it was. Thanks for the nice comments. I just turned the lights off, stuck the camera a foot from my dome and took a pic with flash. It does not look this bad in everyday lighting, but this is as bad as it can possibly look with lighting and a camera and the angle and the rest, which is a heck of alot better than it was under the same condition a few months ago. It is much thicker and more presentable than it looks in these "naked, top down, one foot away, flash, lights off" pics...

 

[madhatter]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

didn't mean to offend with that comment, but my hair is currently in a bit of shambles...

 

[Petchsky]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

Your hair looks really healthy. Be great if you could fill in that frontal tuft a little more, but on the pic i can see vellus hair, hopefully that will go terminal

 

[Cali]

Re: Cali's Story - (40 / Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08)

Pic 10/14/08:

Just one note. I recently added American Crew Tea Tree Hair/Scalp Conditioner into the ED or EOD mix (which others have discussed before). Although I would not necessarily recommend it as a pre-"going out" kind of thing - as it makes my already thin hair really soft - I do believe that it has all of those cleansing properties for the scalp that allow your other meds to do their work. Certainly I see more vellus of late as well as others seemingly turning to terminal hair as a result. It is a slow process, but I can judge progress with hairs creeping down my frontal section based on where hair is in relation to sun spots and other identifying markings us old dudes get. And all of those new hairs mixed into those areas where I already had a few strands left have thickened up that front middle area a bit as well. It is difficult to take an accurate picture of the new growth, but essentially it runs to either side at about the point of the very front of my hair. In other words, in those pesky temple areas that were a virtual desert not long ago:

Close as I can get:

And the crown is still doing fine:

P.S. - I will be starting Xandrox 15% + (Plus Topical finasteride) within the week and will report back on that next month with both observations as well as pictures to back up either the positive or negative impact.

 

[madhatter]

Bro, you need to move this to the Success Stories section. It is truly inspirational for all the posters here, especially the older guys. How long ago did you lose the hair at your temples that is growing back?

 

[Cali]

I would move it if I could figure out how to do so. Guess I need to ask a mod?

 

[Petchsky]

Re: Cali's Story - Four Month Frontal Update Pics 9/30/08

Your hair looks really healthy. Be great if you could fill in that frontal tuft a little more, but on the pic i can see vellus hair, hopefully that will go terminal

Looks like your doing just that, looks better and thicker at the front :woot:

 

[cleverusername]

:woot: that peach fuzz on your temples gives me a lot of hope for mine.

Congrats on your success :bravo:

 

[madhatter]

any updates?