HairlossTalk's Story

[HairlossTalk]

History: Part of the newer generation of hair loss sufferers who are fighting to maintain what they were born with

Began thinning in the front middle 3 inches at age 25. Freaked out. Made a website about hair loss. Currently own HairlossTalk.com

Former Regimen: Immediately went on Saw Palmetto when hair first started thinning. Quickly realized that it has no evidence to stop hair loss, and wanted the 83% reassurance that Propecia provides, so switched to Propecia 1mg daily.

Goal: To maintain the thinning hair up front.

Logic behind Regimen: Figured if Propecia has an 83% chance of maintaining hair after 2 years of daily use, then I should be okay. Figured I could always use Minoxidil and any of the other treatments later if I needed to. So Propecia alone was my regimen.

Results: Nothing but shedding and worsened scalp condition, itching, inflammation for the first 4 months. Finally someone told me that I need to be using Nizoral shampoo as well. Nizoral fixed everything. By month 8 my hair was thickening back up. Went through several very bad sheds up front, but rode them out because I knew the science behind Propecia was real. Had literally 2.5 years of zero hair problems. Hair thickened up to normal right up front. Didn't think about hair loss again.

Until...

Reaction: Had some sort of hypersensitive reaction to Propecia at the 2.5 year mark. Not sure what the cause was. Estrogen levels were very high. Decided the wise thing to do would be to stop taking it.

Current Regimen: Unfortunately I was stupid and did not try to supplement my hair regimen when I dropped Propecia by using something else. For almost a year I let it go on its own, and I thinned again up front. So I started using Revivogen and 5% Topical spironolactone from Dr. Lee at minoxidil.com, entirely because I trust Bryan Sheltons education and this article he wrote on it (note last 2 paragraphs):
http://www.hairlosstalk.com/productrevi ... icle02.htm

Current Status: Things are a bit thin up front still, and I have lost my hairline at the temples, but I can cover that up with how I style my hair. I do consider myself lucky. Every bit of hair you see up front is thanks to Propecia, and a continued regimen of DHT inhibitors (Revivogen) and androgen receptor blockers (Topical spironolactone) and of course Nizoral. For some reason the rest of my hair has remained as thick as it always has been.

Four years ago - As you can see I had so much damn hair it was hard to even style. Back and top piled up a good 3-4 inches high

Today - As you can see ive lost a overall thickness on top, but mostly up front. Fortunately I can still style it so that its unnoticeable. I went from being way thicker than most guys to being slightly thin. Guess I had a head start.

I looked at some pictures of my grandfather and I think that I may just never lose it all. I may just be fighting to keep the front 3-4 inches. Consider myself fortunate for that.

Mostly Im happy that I have been able to help so many people become educated on what they can do for their hair loss. I have really been blessed with the success of this site, and I am thankful every day for all of you who come here and participate. Hope everyone will post their story in this section of the forums too!

HairLossTalk.com

 

[coffee]

beaut! that 4 year old shot brings tears to my eyes.

 

[elguapo]

Good post, thank you. And on behalf of us all, thank you for starting this site. The whole thing about Spencer Kobren is that he is making money doing what he does, where as this site is free, and very very very educational. I wish we could recruit everybody to this site, and have all their posts and opinions be legit. There is so much information out there, so much anecdotal and "experimental evidence". It just needs to be organized. But that ain't gonna happen. Oh well, this site is good enough as is.

I follow your same patter of hair loss- thin back about 3", right in the freekin middle. Man, your hair is thick, though. Hope I get the same results from propecia.

Don't like your comment about being hypersensitive to propecia at the 2.5 mark. Is this common? Can you elaborate? Don't think it will scare us, at lease not me, unnecessarily. I'm continuing with it regardless, to see what happens with ME.

Thanks again.

 

[Guest]

Good stuff. Thanks HairLossTalk.com!!

 

[gerard]

one important question to ask from all of us:

How well do you think Revivogen and spironolactone worked as a replacement of propecia? Say, how many % it was as effective as propecia, and do you recommend those of us in which propecia failed us?

 

[HairlossTalk]

Hi gerard -

It's really hard to tell. I was dumb and didn't immediately go on anything after dropping Propecia. I let it go because after a good 3 months nothing was changing. I had forgotten that it can take up to a year to lose everything you'd maintained. So by the time month 11 rolled around, I was hurting. (Note the 2nd pic).

I've pretty much maintained what you see there, but I have been really bad about sticking to my regimen. Horrible, considering I run this site huh? I think part of me is just skeptical they're doing any good. Another part of me is just lazy.... and it helps that my hair doesn't *seem* to be changing even in the absence of the treatments.

Mind you, I do have sheds... even though I dont use the treatments consistently. Its interesting because I will go a good 3 months with fairly thick looking front hair, and then for about 2 weeks it will look like hell up front. Ill see hairs falling out, etc. Just the normal ebb and flow of the hair cycles.

What I should be doing is continuing treatment throughout the cycles so that each time i go through a shed and a regrowth, they'll grow back thicker and stronger. I think ill go apply some now.

HairLossTalk.com

 

[Healthy Nick]

What do you use now?

 

[HairlossTalk]

Scroll up.

 

[avri]

HairLossTalk.com,


I'm impressed by the hair styling demonstrated in the second pic. What do you do?


avri

 

[Healthy Nick]

Scroll up.

"So I started using Revivogen and 5% Topical spironolactone". This is very interesting. How long have you been using these and are they any results? If so, then what?





What are your personal thoughts on minoxidil?

 

[HairlossTalk]

Avri - the second pic shows the hair at its worst.

I style it using Tigi Bed Head "Power Trip" gel, let that dry, then apply Paul Mitchell WaxWorks ... much thicker. Apply a thin film all over that. Light blowdrying, and the hair in front looks phenomenally thicker.

Nick, your question on minoxidil is too vague. Can you be specific pls?

HairLossTalk.com

 

[Healthy Nick]

Nick, your question on minoxidil is too vague. Can you be specific pls?

HairLossTalk.com

What are you personal reasons for not using minoxidil? I know you wanted to wait, but why didn't you take the plunge?

 

[HairlossTalk]

Reasons I didn't use minoxidil for maintenance:

1. Propecia showed 83% effectiveness all by itself for maintenance and minor regrowth. It made no logical sense to me to use both if I could try Propecia for a year and accomplish my goal 100%.

2. Its cheaper to use just one product.

3. I much preferred to just pop a pill and be done with it, than become what i felt at the time was a "slave to topicals".

4. Rogaine only had a 64% effectiveness rating.

5. I wanted to pace myself. If Propecia worked, had a much higher success rate than rogaine, and was easier to use, AND I accomplished my goals 100% with it alone, I could always have Rogaine there, 5 or 10 years down the line, to add if I needed to.

I figured Propecia for 5 to 10 yrs and then Rogaine and Propecia for another 5 to 10 yrs bought me more time (20 yrs?) ..... over all .... than using them both together up front, unnecessarily, more expensively, and more pain-in-the-buttedly... and having them both poop out on me in 5 to 10 years.

HairLossTalk.com

 

[ShedMaster]

HairLossTalk.com..Where can I get paul mitchell waxworks? I've looked in walgreens to no avail..

 

[ShedMaster]

Nevermind I found it at good ol' supercuts.

 

[zroca]

Reasons I didn't use minoxidil for maintenance:

1. Propecia showed 83% effectiveness all by itself for maintenance and minor regrowth. It made no logical sense to me to use both if I could try Propecia for a year and accomplish my goal 100%.

2. Its cheaper to use just one product.

3. I much preferred to just pop a pill and be done with it, than become what i felt at the time was a "slave to topicals".

4. Rogaine only had a 64% effectiveness rating.

5. I wanted to pace myself. If Propecia worked, had a much higher success rate than rogaine, and was easier to use, AND I accomplished my goals 100% with it alone, I could always have Rogaine there, 5 or 10 years down the line, to add if I needed to.

I figured Propecia for 5 to 10 yrs and then Rogaine and Propecia for another 5 to 10 yrs bought me more time (20 yrs?) ..... over all .... than using them both together up front, unnecessarily, more expensively, and more pain-in-the-buttedly... and having them both poop out on me in 5 to 10 years.

HairLossTalk.com

So after you stopped propecia whats your reason for not using minoxidil afterwards? or are you waiting until your current regimen poops on you?
Thanks
Zroca

 

[HairlossTalk]

I had good success on DHT inhibitor-only regimen (Propecia), so i wanted to keep the regimen as simple as possible, and attempt to duplicate Propecia in a topical form (Revivogen, Topical spironolactone 5% lotion).

HairLossTalk.com

 

[Guest]

hey hairlosstalk, i was wondering if you can update your pics and show how your temples are fairing. Did your thinning or receding temples come to a halt with the propecia only regiment? Also i was wondering what your hair looked like before treatment. Im talking about the day before you started propecia. Was it anywhere near as thin as the second picture?

 

[elguapo]

HairLossTalk.com,

I'm confused on your waiting to use minoxidil. I thought I read a post of yours in which you asked "why wait to use minoxidil, so that you can go bald first"?

Does rogaine lose its effectiveness after 2 years, and that's why you are waiting to start using it at a later date? Or does it simply lose its MAXIMUM effectiveness, meaning that it won't grow new hairs after the 2 yr mark?

I ask because I am using the big three, and had some regrowth. But I think it is due to the propecia alone. I am thinking of stopping rogaine and using it later, like you mentioned above.

Thanks.

 

[David77]

What makes you think it's down to the propecia and not the combo?

I only ask because looking at your pictures, your situation doesn't look too far away from where I'm at, only I'm just using finasteride and Nizoral. Have been for about 6 weeks. No miracles for me so far.

How good have your results been so far?