If you were to add just one more treatment in addition to minoxidil, finasteride/spironolactone, and keto

[labellavita1985]

Hey guys, as stated in the subject of this thread which treatment would you add, if you only wanted one more, to the Big 3? I just started minoxidil and have been on spironolactone for over 6 months, and I use an OTC shampoo that contains ketoconazole, so I think my treatment regimen now is pretty comparable to the Big 3 (I am a female and not too many doctors want to prescribe finestaride to women of child bearing age.) I also take castor oil orally, but I want to basically give the best fight I can, so I'm wondering what you can recommend. I currently own a bottle of Folligen, the Loreal Stemoxydine treatment, and miconazole cream, though I am not using any of those. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback.

I am also on a combined oral contraceptive that contains ethinyl estradiol and drospirenone (which is a progestin that is supposed to be almost identical to spironolactone.)

 

[transam]

You're on spironolactone?...like oral spironolactone?
if you are, you'd need nothing else other than finasteride...

 

[labellavita1985]

Yes I am on oral spironolactone, 100 mg, but I am at the doctor now to ask for an increase. I want to get up to 200 mg, slowly. About the finasteride, like I said, none of the dermatologists I have seen want to give it to me. Do you really think adding finasteride on top of spironolactone is necessary?

 

[labellavita1985]

Well I did have very low iron readings, including deficient ferritin, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and total iron levels. I've been supplementing iron on and off since July, and I did get my levels up, but the excessive shedding persists. I had a biopsy a few months ago and it found evidence of both chronic telogen effluvium AND Androgenetic Alopecia. I have a slightly higher number of hairs that are miniaturized. I started minoxidil 2.5 weeks ago in a last ditch attempt to regulate my hair cycles and reverse or stop miniaturization for a while. Of course now I'm shedding more than ever. I think overall I've lost 40% of my hair. It happened over the course of one year.

Mert, are you in Turkey?

 

[labellavita1985]

Thyroid is within the normal range, but my TSH is kinda on the lower end (0.62.) The range is 0.3 to 5.0 u/mL. So I'm closer to being hyperactive than hypoactive, but still in range I guess. T3 and T4 in range too. Haven't had my thyroid antibodies tested, though.

 

[labellavita1985]

I've had a couple of vitamin D labs done, on the first one I was so deficient my doctor gave me 50,000 IU prescription vitamin D supplements. My other doctor who saw the labs said my levels were low, even by Midwest standards. This was in July 2015. I think my vitamin D was in the range in November when I had labs done again.