Exploring The Hormonal Route. Hair=life.

[baba_yaga]

No my hair loss has stabilized on dutasteride, i started it in november. I just now compared pics between January to today and i have had alot of regrowth from my current regimen, especially since i started spironolactone nearly a few months back. I didn't think it was possible for such a big change in nearly three months but it's happening, i have been been pretty strict on my regimen. My hair still looks like crap when wet but dry there is a big improvement.

dutasteride 0.5mg daily
20ish mg of oral minoxidil
topical minoxidil at night with dermarolling at 1.5mm
spironolactone 200mg(yeah i decided not to come off it or lower it after all lol)

i'll upload pics in a couple of weeks.

Did you get a prescription for spironolactone? Is it easier to get one compared to a prescription for bica?

 

[Derelict]

Did you get a prescription for spironolactone? Is it easier to get one compared to a prescription for bica?

No i buy the spironolactone online, i'd imagine it's easier to get spironolactone than bica, i can't be sure. Im sure ikarus got spironolactone prescribed to him, dunno how easy or hard it was.

 

[I'mme]

No my hair loss has stabilized on dutasteride, i started it in november. I just now compared pics between January to today and i have had alot of regrowth from my current regimen, especially since i started spironolactone nearly a few months back. I didn't think it was possible for such a big change in nearly three months but it's happening, i have been been pretty strict on my regimen. My hair still looks like crap when wet but dry there is a big improvement.

dutasteride 0.5mg daily
20ish mg of oral minoxidil
topical minoxidil at night with dermarolling at 1.5mm
spironolactone 200mg(yeah i decided not to come off it or lower it after all lol)

i'll upload pics in a couple of weeks.

Waiting man. Our regimen is exactly same except I take only 10mg oral minoxidil and finasteride.

 

[Derelict]

Waiting man. Our regimen is exactly same except I take only 10mg oral minoxidil and finasteride.

How severe is your hair loss, do you have any pics? Mine isn't as bad as some on here, plus it's mostly the crown, my hairline isn't too bad. Here is a pic from january. https://imgur.com/QCTlwap

Could be worse but it's enough to worry me daily. In hindsight i probably should have taken a picture before starting spironolactone, but this one from january is the only clear one i have.

 

[hopeforhappiness]

It takes 7-8 months to see result. spironolactone works if you have at least 40% of your original hair left.

Is it more effective to split the dose into 100 in the am and 100 in the pm ? I’ve just been taking .5 dutasteride, 200 spironolactone, and rogaine foam all at once before bed.

 

[Derelict]

Is it more effective to split the dose into 100 in the am and 100 in the pm ? I’ve just been taking .5 dutasteride, 200 spironolactone, and rogaine foam all at once before bed.

I take it morning and night but the active metabolites have a half life of roughly half a day or so so i think taking it once a day or night you should be fine.

 

[Yar]

0.035 mg of ethinyl estradiol and 2 mg of cyproterone acetate (EE35-CPA), for hormonal and clinical parameters of 66 patients with polycystic ovary. syndrome (PCOS). While taking the pill, there was a significant decrease in the ratio of LH / FSH and androgens of the adrenal glands and ovaries, as well as a significant increase in sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). A progressive decrease in total androgenic activity explains the clinical results that were obtained: on the 36th cycle of therapy, acne disappeared in 100% of cases, seborrhea in 76.4% and hirsutism in 75%. Our results highlight the need for continuous administration without interrupting the administration of pills with CPA in patients with clinical hyperandrogenic symptoms.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/2150631/

 

[Yar]

shbg is very important, it binds sex hormones. Diane 35 can be added to the main mode!

 

[Yar]

As already mentioned, most androgens are also synthesized in the skin from inactive adrenal precursors, including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S) and androstenedione (Fig. 1). In addition to the sebaceous glands, other androgen-sensitive skin components are hair follicles, sweat glands, epidermis, and dermis. These structures contain enzymes important for converting DHEA, DHEA-S and androstenedione to potent androgen dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone. 10 DHT and testosterone are the main androgens that interact with the androgen receptors of the sebaceous glands, and DHT is 5-10 times stronger than testosterone. 8, 19 This conversion of inactive adrenal precursors into a powerful androgen occurs in the sebaceous glands in the presence of several key steroidogenic enzymes: 3Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3B-HSD), 17Beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (17B-HSD) and 5α-reductase. 6, 10
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2923944/

 

[Ikarus]

Both of my parents are arabic, but I have some non-arabic ancestors, because I am white. (most arabs are dark-skinned).
My hair looks similar to yours. Maybe a little bit thicker. What worries me is the hair strand tappering off towards the root. Half the strand is thick and the other half towards the root it gets progressively thinner. (see pic)

Me too. I am South Asian, and my particular ethnicity has the same hair as those who are East Asian, except we have horrible genetics when it comes to balding. I am white-skinned, and look similar to those who are European.

I do believe you are balding, and those hairs somewhat prove that. However, your ethnicity further proves that since it seems to be common within our ethnicities, especially if you begin getting facial/body hair within your early-teens. You should definitely start using some sort of a hair loss medication...

 

[Ikarus]

Did you get a prescription for spironolactone? Is it easier to get one compared to a prescription for bica?

Spironolactone is somewhat 'easy' to get on prescription by a dermatologist. I got it prescribed by a dermatologist, at a dose of 200mg/day.

 

[Father_of_Shiseido]

Is it more effective to split the dose into 100 in the am and 100 in the pm ? I’ve just been taking .5 dutasteride, 200 spironolactone, and rogaine foam all at once before bed.

spironolactone has a short half-life time, so yes, you should split the dose. Did you notice any improvement?

 

[I'mme]

How severe is your hair loss, do you have any pics? Mine isn't as bad as some on here, plus it's mostly the crown, my hairline isn't too bad. Here is a pic from january. https://imgur.com/QCTlwap

Could be worse but it's enough to worry me daily. In hindsight i probably should have taken a picture before starting spironolactone, but this one from january is the only clear one i have.

It is very hard to say how severe it is. I say this because I have been losing hair since I was 14; at that time hair would simply fall on my registers/notebooks and books, therefore I knew I was losing. (There started the journey with snake oils haha.)
But I still have about 50/60% of hair density left, so I don't know whether I can call it severe or not.

Due to DUPA(= not pattern), I can with sufficient efforts fake full head, but deep down I know the reality.

How have been your results with oral spironolactone and spironolactone in specific? I mean to ask how much importance would u give to these two drugs in an regimen? Do you have before and after pics that show regrowth?

 

[I'mme]

Spironolactone is somewhat 'easy' to get on prescription by a dermatologist. I got it prescribed by a dermatologist, at a dose of 200mg/day.

A doctor working with a pharmacy app called me very early in the morning. I was not expecting that and as such was not prepared with responses. It then occurred to my mind and told him that I've placed the order for spironolactone as I want to take it for acne. He seemed to agree and then told me that I'm taking a really high dose for acne and should ergo be seeing that doctor again. Whatever, I got the pills. So yeaa

 

[hopeforhappiness]

spironolactone has a short half-life time, so yes, you should split the dose. Did you notice any improvement?

No I have yet to see any changes. Honestly I don’t really get any acne but sometimes I notice like the start of it ? Then it will go away. My face still gets oily , and I’ve never really been an extreme case of this either.

I’d like to think I have a solid 60 maybe 65% of my original hair but I haven’t seen any changes since I started.

Lastly what’s the word on drinking while on spironolactone ? Will it change the efficacy or even still work ? I’m trying to cut down but I’m a bartender and an alcoholic.

 

[Father_of_Shiseido]

No I have yet to see any changes. Honestly I don’t really get any acne but sometimes I notice like the start of it ? Then it will go away. My face still gets oily , and I’ve never really been an extreme case of this either.

I’d like to think I have a solid 60 maybe 65% of my original hair but I haven’t seen any changes since I started.

Lastly what’s the word on drinking while on spironolactone ? Will it change the efficacy or even still work ? I’m trying to cut down but I’m a bartender and an alcoholic.

I take a beer every Saturday, didn't do any harm to me. Scalp itch and oily skin went away after a few months on spironolactone. It's working for me but sexual sides are real, at least for me. I am planning to add bicalutamide while reducing my spironolactone dose.

 

[Itsnoahkennedy]

I’ve been on Finasteride since March last year and my hair loss has continued to progress although I didn’t really notice until recently. I don’t think it made it *worse* but it did feel like a waste of time so I’ve hopped on duta to try and preserve more until bica arrives. In most cases it won’t hurt to go on it although results seem to vary greatly between individuals.

Yeah i too wasted 2 years with finasteride/ 0.5 mg dutasteride and my hair loss was relentless and remained unaffected by those drugs (i was able to maintain with dutasteride) maybe if i had taken like, 2mg dutasteride / day i would have seen a result but i couldn't afford to buy that much dutasteride lol, i hear good things about dutasteride especially 2mg and because it blocks both types of 5a-reductase SRD5A1 and SRD5A2 and blocks 98% of DHT Leading to better results than finasteride in the majority of users.

 

[Itsnoahkennedy]

I would like to ask about something that has been bothering me for a while.
My hair looks the same since 10 months, but each strand of hair I shed from the top is 50% thick and 50% thinner towards the root, while the strands I shed from the back are all the same thickness.
Does this indicate occuring miniaturization?

Yes it does, it will continue to thin out towards the root if you don't do something immediately to stop the genocide of your hair follicles lol, mine did the same even on finasteride, dutasteride i think helped maintain the thickness of my hair strands because over the next 6 months of being on dutasteride i couldn't see it getting thinner at the root.

 

[baba_yaga]

Yes it does, it will continue to thin out towards the root if you don't do something immediately to stop the genocide of your hair follicles lol, mine did the same even on finasteride, dutasteride i think helped maintain the thickness of my hair strands because over the next 6 months of being on dutasteride i couldn't see it getting thinner at the root.

Why did you stop duta?

 

[Itsnoahkennedy]

Why did you stop duta?

I stopped because it was unavailable to buy online for like 3 months after i ran out of my first supply and i guess i just never went back to it because i felt hopeless for a while, but this is like 1.5 years ago and im on Bicaludamide now which blocks both T and DHT from bindings so i dont need dutasteride with it.