Day 90... big 3 plus - amazing results - I'm calling it KSR

[casperz]

I'm calling my regime KSR - Kitchen Sink Regime :woot:

This is an update from day 70, I know that it's only been 20 days but
the results that I'm getting are amazing. I really want to thank everyone
who posts here, I owe you guys a beer! You can see the results below.

The picture from day 90 don't really do the growth justice since it was taken
outside under bright sunlight. In the mirror from the back I can hardly tell
I had a bald spot. The center section is as thick as my sides were before I
started and my sides/back where I had not lost any hair are amazing. I think
the finasteride has done it's job there very well. To go from slick to this in 90 days
has totally blown me away. The big thing that I'm excited about is all the
small hairs all over that have turned black and are growing. The center frontal
area that was slick bald is covered in them and the center seems to be growing
out to meet the sides which are adding hairs as well.

To summarize I started 11/19/2007 with finasteride/mixox/retina and 50mg oral spironolactone. I dropped
the spironolactone around day 30. After seeing my results at day 70 and reading more here I
decided to add and change some items to the regime.

At day 70 I had just started using Tricomin. Prior to starting that my scalp was getting sores that
I assume was from the retin-a. You can see one in the day 70 picture. A couple of days after I posted I
read here that someone was using 1% hydrocortisone. I started using about 3 pea size amounts all over
the balding area at around day 75.

I'm not sure if the tricomin or the hydrocortisone did it but my scalp feels 1000 times better since
I started 20 days ago and all the sores have healed. After my scalp was feeling better I felt I could
up the amount of retin-a cream that I've been using. I now use about three pea size amounts nightly.

I started using nizoral daily. I apply it every time I shower to a dry scalp and leave it to rinse till last. I
would guess it's about 5 minutes.

I also added 4 100mg spironolactone tables to each bottle of minoxidil and I'm using about 1.5ml of minoxidil on the
crown and 1.5 on the frontal area. Also around day 70 I started nighted scalp massage, about 5 minutes
before I apply all the tropicals.

I also changed where I apply the minoxidil on the crown area. I discovered that I had been applying it too far
back, I think that is why it is thinner near the center but I have good growth farther back near
the rear of the crown.

Some of this may be snake oil and not needed but I'm not changing anything for about 30 days to see
where I stand.

I also did not mention in the day 70 thread that I started on day 0 a vitamin regime:
2 GNC MegaMen vitamins, 2 250mg l-carnitine, 2 1000mg vit-C and 2 250mg alpha-lipoic-acid daily.

Here is my day 70 thread:

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44177

Here is the hair today 02/19/2008 day 90:

Day 70:

11/19/2007 Day 0 :

 

[phish]

lookin good another 3 months on top and you can pass for a full head of hair up top

 

[SHORTHAIR]

so is the l-carnitine working good for you im thinking of taking some aminos myself like l methionine and l cysteine

 

[casperz]

I'd be ecstatic if I can have the back fill in completely. I was thinking I needed a hair transplant but maybe I can hold
out for HM to take care of the front. I never would have guessed I could go from practically bald
to this with current hairloss technology.

I have not idea if l-carnitine works but i read somewhere that alpha-liponic-acid and it have some type of synergy
together. Basically I'm taking everything that has worked for others and putting it on or in me.

I forgot to mention that I also take 1000mg salmon oil capsule daily with my vitamins.

 

[Nino]

I'm a bit confused, so could you list exactly what you're using at the moment?

 

[casperz]

Currently this is what I'm using and I'm welcome to suggestions if there is some
thing I'm missing:

1.25 finasteride daily (1/4 of a 5mg Proscar)
3ml mixox twice daily (1.5 front, 1.5 back)
minoxidil has 4 100mg proscar tablets added to each 60ml bottle (.15% solution?)
.05 retin-a cream rubbed in nightly (3 pea size globs)
Tricomin twice a day
1% hydrocortisone nightly
1% Nizoral daily on a dry scalp, leaving about 5 minutes
5 minute nightly scalp massage before topical's
Daily vitamins: 1 1000mg Salmon oil, 2 GNC MegaMen vitamins,
2 250mg l-carnitine, 2 1000mg vit-C and 2 250mg alpha-lipoic-acid daily.

The pictures are from day 90 and I have had zero side-effects except sore scalp initially from retin-a.

 

[Nino]

Holy crap, that's a lot of stuff.
I've been using finasteride and minoxidil for 3 years but maybe I'll add some of those to my regime since your results are very nice.
I've stopped my hairloss but it would be nice to get a bit thicker hair.

 

[rusty_y2k2]

You say you've added spironolactone to the minoxidil - Has that not reacted into one big smelly mess? As far as I was aware the two can't be mixed together in one solution due to the reaction between them.

Amazing results though man, you must be incredibly happy with that!

 

[casperz]

You say you've added spironolactone to the minoxidil - Has that not reacted into one big smelly mess?

I read that about spironolactone/mixox and gave it a shot anyway. There is no smell that I can detect but
I'm not real sensitive to smells. I know the spironolactone is real because I was taking it oral for the first month
but my BP dropped way too low.

Thanks man, I am very happy with what I've got so far. I was planning on at least 6 months
to see any results at all. Now it seems my hair is getting better each day. I was skeptical that any
of this would work since I used minoxidil alone about 10 years ago and was very disappointed and
stopped after about 6 months of almost no results... well a lot of very fine hair but nothing else.

Holy crap, that's a lot of stuff.

Yea, no sh*t, it takes me about 15 minutes twice a day. That does not sound like a lot but before I
spent 0 minutes on my hair LOL. There is no way I could or would keep it up if I was not seeing these results.

 

[chancer]

Casperz...

that’s amazing results and the good news is its probably going to get better still

can i ask how old you are?

im 31 and been loosing it for the last 4 years... hence why i was dubious that the success stories always seem to be young lads who though loosing it quickly are able to reverse the process because the follicles haven’t had time to die and their bodies are young enough to accelerate growth...

so your results are music to my ears...

im just waiting for my first batch of minoxidil foam... but im sweating over taking the finasteride tablets... ive read horror stories that’s not done my bottle any good... you have no side effects whatsoever?

 

[casperz]

I've been losing since about age 25 (now 43). I have the same hairline that you see
here since about age 35. I realized about 6 months ago how much I had lost on the crown
of my head. I knew was losing back there but had not paid much attention. I know the
crown has been thinning for at least 10 years and my wife pointed out it has been bald about
4 or 5 years. Who knew... I can't see up there and have worn my hair very short.

I've had some side-effects that I'm not sure are related to anything I'm
doing with my regime. I've had a lot of itching of my legs and I normally
get dry skin in the winter so that may be all it is. My scalp goes from
really bad to OK depending on the amount of retin-a/nizoral I'm using. It
seems to be a delicate balancing act. I'm from the "more is better" school so
I could cut back on the topical's and my scalp would be a lot less sore. I have
grown some vellus hair on my cheeks and forehead that's no big deal. I also
have to shave every day whereas before I could go two or three days.

No loss of libido, or any sexual side effects at all. I do plan to cut back the finasteride
at some point since a lower dose seems to be about 80% as effective. Maybe
avoid all the side-effects.

I highly recommend trying at least the big-3, my regime has far exceeded my expectations but
I think that most of it is the big-3.

And if I were 31 again... damn... some of the things I'd do... but for sure I would not wait till
my hair got worse because it will and you may not even realize it.

Good luck!

I took a picture yesterday after a #2 cut. With my hair so short you can see my scalp very well but compared
to how it looked just 3 months ago it's great. I still cannot believe I have hair growing in the crown area.

Here is the thread:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=44765

 

[Sean68]

i always wonder whether people like this are just really good minoxidil responders and whether the other stuff is actually doing anything or not. well done though mate dont change it its working.

 

[casperz]

Well... I tried minoxidil when I was around 35 and after 6 months had little or no results on the crown
or hairline. I had just started thinning in the crown area then.

So when I started this about 4 months ago I was fairly skeptical that I would not see any results. To have the
growth I had after only 3 months says it's the combination of treatments that is working, not just the minoxidil
but I guess I'll never know since I'm reluctant to remove things from the regime at this point.

I did start using a mix of l-carnitine/vit-C/niacin topical on the front last week based on a patent paper I ran across.

 

[tembo]

Well minoxidil with Retin A would be better than minoxidil many years ago without Retin A. Maybe foam versus liquid makes a difference too, or if you had 2% back then versus 5 % now?

I am convinced minoxidil is causing your great results as I got great benefits for two years with minoxidil, but results are not so good right now. I also get forehead hair, longer eyelash and eyebrow hair and faster beard growth while on minoxidil.

Anyway, congratulations.

FYI -- Dr. Monahan (sp?) supposedly got great regrowth on Avodart on a slick bald area of his scalp, but he never showed pics and seems to have disappeared after advertising Avodart so much along with Dr. Sawaya before the drug came out. Makes me wonder if the two of them were honest.

 

[bornthisway]

I did start using a mix of l-carnitine/vit-C/niacin topical on the front last week based on a patent paper I ran across.

Can you stick to that (closely to the patent frequency etc) and let us know of results (or lack of) in 2 months along the hair line/front?

 

[BARCA]

so u apply nizoral before getting into the shower?...and do u think using it daily would help?

 

[casperz]

Can you stick to that (closely to the patent frequency etc) and let us know of results (or lack of) in 2 months along the hair line/front?

Man, I tried for about a two weeks and I just could not do it. I had to let all the other crap dry and
it was just taking too long. I may pick it up in the future because the front still looks like crap but
is slowly responding. The stuff is sticky too... pretty big mess to apply. LOL.

I step into the shower and put the nizoral on my head dry, then I shave, wash, etc. By the time I'm done
with all that (about 5 minutes) I rinse the nizoral out. I had to back off the nizoral 2% daily. But I alternate
between nizoral 1% each day and 2%. I've been getting these sores about the size of a dime, they heal
quickly but I figure I'm over doing it.

 

[ginger-uk]

Thats impressive. It looks like you could fill in all those gaps. Nice.

 

[goata007]

casperz, can you post your latest pics? Looking at your progress the latest ones should have you with a head full of hair!

 

[ginger-uk]

I have just spotted that you used minoxidil before with little results. What do you think you have added along side minoxidil this time that has contributed to your regrowth?