Confused about available treatments

[DontWannaGrowUp]

Hi everyone,
I'm new here, so I guess this is kind of an introduction as well. I'm 24 (well, 25 next month) and first noticed I was losing hair 1-2 years ago. I've had a pretty hard time of it, since I used to have really thick, curly hair, and I lost a lot of confidence around the same time I first noticed due to personal circumstances (I wonder if this can be related?). So at first I didn't think there was much I could do except ignore the problem or feel sorry for myself, but then I decided to try minoxidil for a while, but I didn't like that it made my hair kind of greasy and was really hard to get it to stay on my head. So now I've been using propecia for a month or so. I didnt notice any positive effects from the minoxodil or the propecia yet though.

I have heard about all kinds of treatments, and was wondering what works? It's just hard to know what to use: caffeine, zinc, magnesium, zero-carb diets, meat diets, vege diets, Saw Palmetto, Beta Sitosterol, ketoconazole....

I figure I should probably get some kind of shampoo, but which one? Can I use minoxidil and propecia at the same time? Is there a way to avoid greasy hair with minoxidil? Should I change my diet? Take diet supplements? I've been making sure to wash my hair every night, as I heard that grease/sebum makes things worse.

Lastly, has anyone been highly successful in actually getting hair back? I've lost a lot at the front but it's thinning everywhere. Fortunately I don't yet have a bald patch at the back. Do I have any chance of winning back any ground on my forehead? It'd be good to hear what combinations work.

Thanks in advance

 

[DontWannaGrowUp]

So I did some more reading and it seems like getting some nizoral and nioxin and starting back on the minoxodil would be a good idea?

Is it easy to get proscar instead of propecia as it is a _lot_ cheaper?

Can anyone suggest hair thickening shampoos or other things that I can use?

Thanks again

 

[cuebald]

I've never much liked Minoxidil, it's nasty, irritates my skin, and caused me more shedding than it's worth (I'm sure it would have started coming in, but the shed I experienced scared me off of it.)
I liken minoxidil to a fancy Toppik: the hair you gain on it only lasts while you apply the stuff.
I also didn't like applying the stuff every night. How can you do that at a "cute someone"'s house? (not that that happens much for me any more)

I use finasteride 5mg (Proscar) instead of 1mg tablets because it's cheaper; I'll think you will find that very few doctors will be willing to prescribe you Proscar instead of Propecia because at least Propecia is indicated for the treatment of male pattern baldness (even though they are still the same drug). I get mine off of the net.

Nizoral (Ketoconazole) is great stuff, a worthy addition to any regimen.

I think all of the other stuff gives a negligable gain (except maybe spironolactone, Flut, etc. Copper Peptides maybe.) You'll see quacks on this board posting over-excitedly over every little thing they read on the net - it's all snake oil, apart from the above.