good vitamins to take with finasteride?

[Dimebolt3000]

wuts up guys,

Been on finasteride for month now, along with Nizoral and centrum multivitamin. I was wondering what other vitamins or supplements i could benefit from?
Ive been reading about MSM and vitamin C, anyone else taking vitamins/supplements as part of their regimens? If so, which ones, results?

Thanx in advance team,

E

 

[HairlossTalk]

Been on finasteride for month now, along with Nizoral and centrum multivitamin.

This should cover your hair loss treatment regimen.

I was wondering what other vitamins or supplements i could benefit from?

Since Andro Genetic Alopecia (Andro = Hormones Genetic ... genetic) is not a condition that is caused by vitamin deficiencies, you likely will only benefit your overall health by taking vitamin supplements. Even in that case, you will really only benefit from such things if you're deficient.

However, some vitamin supplements *are* what hair is made up of, so taking them can possibly help with the health of existing hair, or the speed at which it grows, as in the case of MSM ... theoretically.

Click on the following words to get some insight into their roles in hair:

Biotin
MSM

Good luck, and welcome to the forums!

HairLossTalk.com

 

[Dimebolt3000]

thanx for the info HairLossTalk.com...Thanx for the company!
E

 

[smudge]

Isn't biotin part of a multivitamin? I'm pretty sure my vitamins have it.

 

[Bryan]

I'll add just a comment or two here:

Out of all the common nutritional supplements that are available, there are at least a couple for which there SEEMS to be a reasonable scientific rationale for their use against male pattern balding. Those would be biotin and vitamin B6.

The reason to include biotin would be that admittedly rather obscure study (it may have been from a Swiss medical journal) which claimed to find a benefit for hairloss from the rather hefty dose of 2.5 mg/day, which is considerably more than you're likely to find in any typical multivitamin. To get that dose yourself, you'd have to purchase a separate biotin supplement. I've used one brand myself that had that exact same amount (2.5 mg) in each capsule.

The reason to include vitamin B6 would be that fairly recent study which found that pyridoxine has the ability to modify (decrease) the cellular response to steroid hormones, including ANDROGENS, so the rationale is obvious. I suggest taking a good general B6 supplement, NOT a "megadose". Be reasonable about it!

Some extra biotin and B6 certainly won't hurt, and may actually help your hair a little, not to mention the other health benefits you'll get! :wink:

Bryan

 

[gonna_win]

im taking centrum and fish oil tablets(omega 3 i believe) not to help my hair grow back....i doubt it will, but to improve the quality of my hair.

 

[Red Rose]

Hair Loss Treatment: Arginine for Hair Loss

Drug Type: Amino Acid

Availability: Grocery and Health Stores.

Notes: This is another essential amino acid for proper hair growth. In addition, it is the metabolic precursor for Nitric Oxide, which is a messenger substance that stimulates hair growth by opening Potassium channels. Arginine in large doses (3g-12g) may also help release Growth Hormone which probably helps in hair loss (along with anti-aging and body development). Since arginine stimulates Nitric Oxide (take 1.5mg morning and evening for this), it also enhances sexual performance and may prevent adverse sexual side effects when taking antiandrogens.

Claimed Results: None.

Observed Results: Many people have said it helped their hair loss.

Clinical Results: Not tested directly for hair loss, but has been shown to indirectly help other substances which help in hair loss.

Testing: Extensively tested for things other than hair loss.

Safety/Side Effects: Known to be safe.

Gender: Either.

Typical Cost: Varies.

Where you can get it: Grocery and Health Stores.

 

[Thomas]

Isn't biotin part of a multivitamin? I'm pretty sure my vitamins have it.

Usually, however Centrum has a very low dose of Biotin.

 

[Guest]

Isn't biotin part of a multivitamin? I'm pretty sure my vitamins have it.

Usually, however Centrum has a very low dose of Biotin.

products like Centrum are of little benifit to your health, they have tiny amounts of nutrients, kept at very low levels to ensure there are no saftey issues.

Therapeutic doses of things like Vitamin C start at many many times what you typically find in products like Centrum. 60mg (as found in Centrum) is the amount required to keep scurvey at bay, it will give you none of the known benifits of the Therapeutic dose.

The Vitamin C contained in Centrum is Ascorbic Acid which is poorly uttilised by the body unlike Vitamin C in it's Ester form.

The Vitamin E is dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate type and not mixed tocopherols and the amount is tiny at 30 iu, considering that A, C and E are promoted as antioxidants, this tiny amount is probably not even enough to cancel out the free radical activity generated by the Ascorbic Acid.

Centrum contains more Yellow 6 Aluminum Lake (colour) than B6 and zinc!!

You are wasting your money buying these kind of multivitamins.

 

[marsbtchsx]

i dont kno about all that yellow stuff but my doctor told me to take centrum when i came to him for hair loss....ive been taking it for a month now i take 2 pills a day

 

[misterium]

Now for the grand question:


WHAT'S THE MULTIVITAMIN TO TAKE ?!

 

[not me!]

GNC Mega Men's are a safe bet.

 

[Bryan]

The Vitamin C contained in Centrum is Ascorbic Acid which is poorly uttilised by the body unlike Vitamin C in it's Ester form.

Tynan, I have to disagree with you on that. You seem to be referring to "Ester C", which seems to me to be probably just a scam product. My understanding is that it's not even vitamin C in an ester form at all, just an ascorbic acid salt with a few other minor chemicals added in for marketing purposes. In fact, I remember once a long time ago when Linus Pauling claimed that ascorbic acid is not even CAPABLE of forming esters!

Best to stick with the real deal, which is pure ascorbic acid (or one of its salts).

Bryan

 

[Guest]

Ester-C and Vit C ester are two different things!

 

[Bryan]

So what product are you referring to that claims to be an ester of vitamin C?

 

[Guest]

I am not referring to any particular product but to Ester C (Ascorbyl Palmitate) I always believed it was absorbed faster and was fat and water soluble, unlike ascorbic acid which will only operate in the watery centre of the cell and provide no protection to the lipid outer.

 

[Bryan]

Ascorbyl palmitate is only very slightly soluble in water. You should consider it as a fat-soluble form of the vitamin only.

BTW, several years ago I had a discussion with a professional chemist on the fate of orally ingested ascorbyl palmitate. He insisted that during normal digestion, the compound is broken-down into the water-soluble ascorbyl part and the fat-soluble palmitate part, and the two then go their separate ways. He said that swallowing ascorbyl palmitate was simply a much more expensive way to get ordinary vitamin C! I haven't seen anything since then that would contradict what that fellow said.

However, I think it's clear that at the very least, ascorbyl palmitate certainly has use as an EXTERNAL fat-soluble antioxidant, like in the preservation of stored fatty foods, drugs, cosmetics, etc. I doubt that it's useful as a dietary supplement.

Bryan

 

[Guest]

cheers for the info I will look into it.