It's been two years - Young and balding, what is my next move?

RD03

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Hey everyone,

So to put it short and simple, I started balding when I was 16/17. My hairline kept receding and I went to a dermatologist at the age of 19 and started Finasteride, Minoxidil and Nizoral.

After 1.5 years I quit Minoxidil and Nizoral because I did not benefit from it. I've used it for periods since but I am not going to continue either because of the lack ofresults from it.

Anyways, I am now 21-years-old and have been on finasteride for 2 years. My results have not been very impressive. I have continued to receed albeit not much. It seems like I have lost what was already thining but beyond that I have not seen further recession. I started as a NW1, with a thinning NW2.5 pattern and I am now around a NW2.5.

So I got the idea of trying Dutasteride to see if it could get me back to a solid NW2. Last summer I ordered some Dutasteride and began tapping into it slowly, however I ran out and I felt like my hairline thinned on it, so I didn't order more. Fastforward till Christmas I gave it a second go, but I now feel like it's thinning my hairline again.

My dilemma is; should I stick to Dutasteride ED 0.5mg for a solid year and judgde by then? (I will be taking Finasteride meanwhile). Or just get back on Finasteride and try to ride Dutasteride out of my system completely and see if I recover the slight amount it has thinned?
 

kmm179

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I mean if finasteride is working I would stick with it. I highly doubt dutasteride is going to regrow bare temple recession sorry.
 

RD03

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I mean if finasteride is working I would stick with it. I highly doubt dutasteride is going to regrow bare temple recession sorry.

I still have hair in the NW2 area, which was what I was hoping dutasteride could thicken. That is why I started adding dutasteride to my finasteride routine. However, dutasteride worsened my situation I felt like and then I quit dutasteride, but I doubt I gave dutasteride enough time. That's my dillemma! Usually things get worse before they get better in terms of hair loss prevention and regrowth.

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the worst thing you can do is take break from treatments

I've never been on a break from treatments. I have always been on finasteride However, the succesrate for minoxidil in front is very low and Nizoral is really a bogus treatment with a weak study made by its own manufactor.
 

Fall

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Just stick with finasteride if it helps you. It seems like there is no reason to try dutasteride once again. minoxidil and Nirazol are also tested... that's great! No need to invest any more money in these. Try something new and more experimental. You could easily start with RU when you are located in Europe. You can also try something less pronising like some supplements. There are a few minerals and vitamins that help with hair growth... may be worth trying these as well
 

diehunnen123

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I still have hair in the NW2 area, which was what I was hoping dutasteride could thicken. That is why I started adding dutasteride to my finasteride routine. However, dutasteride worsened my situation I felt like and then I quit dutasteride, but I doubt I gave dutasteride enough time. That's my dillemma! Usually things get worse before they get better in terms of hair loss prevention and regrowth.

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I've never been on a break from treatments. I have always been on finasteride However, the succesrate for minoxidil in front is very low and Nizoral is really a bogus treatment with a weak study made by its own manufactor.
dont blieve this crap about nizoral, and doesnt so anything for hairloss. i have been using rogwin foam though only on the hairline for thr past 4-5 months and have actually gotten great results so far
 

firstpost

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You next option is RU. If that fails, then pg protocol. If pg protocol fails, then there is nothing else left.
 

Bad

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You next option is RU. If that fails, then pg protocol. If pg protocol fails, then there is nothing else left.

How do you start the pg protocol? Isnt the only way to get it throught group buys?

RU or dutasteride first?
 

sylvelity009

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How Long does Mercury Teeth Filling cause hair lost??

Hi everyone.
Am a victim of Mercury Teeth Filling., I dont have any trace of hair loss or even my family, but last year February i did tooth filling.. and toward the end of the year.. i started notice hair lost on the middle of my head.. and the hair lost is growing worst by the day

I want to ask.. if it is likely the Mercury Teeth fillng that could have cause it..? and if Yes.. How long does it take to show it effect.

and also if i remove the Mercury filling from my teeth.., will my hair grow again.

Thanks
 

RD03

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Just stick with finasteride if it helps you. It seems like there is no reason to try dutasteride once again. minoxidil and Nirazol are also tested... that's great! No need to invest any more money in these. Try something new and more experimental. You could easily start with RU when you are located in Europe. You can also try something less pronising like some supplements. There are a few minerals and vitamins that help with hair growth... may be worth trying these as well

RU is not gonna be an option. I refuse to rely on a shady supplier and what is mostly anecdotal evidence that it works. I know it has been studied on humans and compared effectiveness of that of Finasteride, but narh.

I am already 3 months into Dutasteride again, and that's why I am not sure if I should drop it now, or give it a solid year. Usually a year is a decent timeframe.

I have tried minerals, shampoos and all the kind of stuff, but it has no benefit. Even Neogenic I felt was bogus too.

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You next option is RU. If that fails, then pg protocol. If pg protocol fails, then there is nothing else left.

RU is not an optoin. I would rather do dutasteride. I'm not sure if my head is fooling with me. Newest studies on Dutasteride shows an insane successrate after 4 years. Basically a bulletproof solution to hair loss.

I'll try to do a blood sample of my DHT this summer to see where it's at. And then try to hold on until i'm 25 and maybe get a transplant in the front.
 

Saurabhaj

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U should further interrogate your family history..

is your father or any close relative bald,when they started balding,hairloss age..
there may be coincidence that this two events are at same time period..


Rather,i will say start treatments and forget the causal factors because don't play with TEETH..

It is more dangerous to play with it..
you can live without Hairs but Teeth..

you have to protect it,preserve it till end years of life.
It should not decay..

I have one close relative who suffers from teeth decay as they are in 50's..
gold caps and all that,root canals are too bad and painful.
 

RD03

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Bump - anyone else?
It's pretty devastating that even dutasteride fails to completely stop my hair loss nor give me any regrowth...
 

shookwun

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Embrace, and own the look is the next step.

Whatever you do avoid a comb forward/over. Looks pathetic.


Most people dellude themselves into thinking it looks good. I was one of these former types. Believe me, it looks like doodoo.
 

science_d

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After 1.5 years I quit Minoxidil and Nizoral because I did not benefit from it.

I wouldn't expect Nizoral to work, as it is typically 1% concentration of ketoconazole, which has been shown to stop shedding, but NOT to increase hair density on men experiencing male pattern baldness (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1467-2494.2002.00145.x/abstract). However, the 2% ketoconazole shampoo has also been tested and showed measurable results on counteracting hair loss (see my blog at https://attackplan.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/helpful/). You might want to try the 2% shampoo if you haven't already.

My dilemma is; should I stick to Dutasteride ED 0.5mg for a solid year and judgde by then? (I will be taking Finasteride meanwhile). Or just get back on Finasteride and try to ride Dutasteride out of my system completely and see if I recover the slight amount it has thinned?

I notice that each time you have only used ONE treatment at a time, and then mentioned that it didn't have any effects. Perhaps you should try using at least two at a time, because using more than one treatment is thought to multiply the effect. For example, you mentioned that minoxidil alone didn't have any effect, and that finasteride alone didn't have a very strong effect, but have you tried using minoxidil + finasteride at the same time? Studies have shown that using finasteride and minoxidil at the same time had the most powerful effect on counteracting hair loss (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12227482).

If you are using finasteride, there is no need to also use dutasteride, as they are both DHT blockers. In fact, I wouldn't recommend using two DHT blockers at the same time. Try both finasteride (once a day) and minoxidil (twice a day) consistently for 6 months to a year and see if there is any positive effect. If not, you can reevaluate.
 

ICUman

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Newest studies on Dutasteride shows an insane successrate after 4 years. Basically a bulletproof solution to hair loss.

Can you back any of this up? How is it better than finasteride? Do you have a link
 

science_d

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You next option is RU. If that fails, then pg protocol. If pg protocol fails, then there is nothing else left.

It is simply not true that RU and pg protocol are the only other options and that there is "nothing else left." There are other scientifically supported options, such as low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and 2% ketoconazole shampoo (not Nizoral). Both have been shown to have a positive effect on hair growth in men experiencing male pattern baldness (https://attackplan.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/maintain/).
 

RD03

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Can you back any of this up? How is it better than finasteride? Do you have a link

Sure.

http://www.gsk-clinicalstudyregister.com/files2/9aa74623-1d92-4a80-8634-5a3231c37d45

99.4% were above or at baseline after four years. That's significantly better than finasteride. Dutasteride outperforms finasteride without a doubt, and is close to a bulletproof solution for hair loss.

However, that's not to be said that finasteride may be enough for the vast majority of individuals.

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I wouldn't expect Nizoral to work, as it is typically 1% concentration of ketoconazole, which has been shown to stop shedding, but NOT to increase hair density on men experiencing male pattern baldness (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1467-2494.2002.00145.x/abstract). However, the 2% ketoconazole shampoo has also been tested and showed measurable results on counteracting hair loss (see my blog at https://attackplan.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/helpful/). You might want to try the 2% shampoo if you haven't already.



I notice that each time you have only used ONE treatment at a time, and then mentioned that it didn't have any effects. Perhaps you should try using at least two at a time, because using more than one treatment is thought to multiply the effect. For example, you mentioned that minoxidil alone didn't have any effect, and that finasteride alone didn't have a very strong effect, but have you tried using minoxidil + finasteride at the same time? Studies have shown that using finasteride and minoxidil at the same time had the most powerful effect on counteracting hair loss (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12227482).

If you are using finasteride, there is no need to also use dutasteride, as they are both DHT blockers. In fact, I wouldn't recommend using two DHT blockers at the same time. Try both finasteride (once a day) and minoxidil (twice a day) consistently for 6 months to a year and see if there is any positive effect. If not, you can reevaluate.

I had a prescription for Nizoral wiht 2% ketoconazole and I used Finasteride, 5% minxodil and Nizoral simultaneously for two full years.

I'm taking finasteride and dutasteride because I do not get my dutasteride from my doctor but an online pharmacy, which means it could potentially be fake and therefore am using finasteride to avoid such an issue.

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Your fillings are not making your hair fall out, genetics is.

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Anti-androgens rarely grow hair. The only thing that regularly grows hair is minoxodil. Anti-androgens also rarely stop hair loss completely, they only slow it down. If finasteride was working for you, and dutasteride caused you to lose ground, stick to finasteride.

But look at the dutasteride studies it should be a bulletproof solution, I don't get it. I should have stuck with Finasteride, but I think I should also give Dutasteride a full year to work. It takes time to hit plateu (around 110 days with 0,5mg daily) and it takes even longer for it to start have a visual effect.
 

science_d

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I had a prescription for Nizoral wiht 2% ketoconazole and I used Finasteride, 5% minxodil and Nizoral simultaneously for two full years.

I'm taking finasteride and dutasteride because I do not get my dutasteride from my doctor but an online pharmacy, which means it could potentially be fake and therefore am using finasteride to avoid such an issue.

I don't understand, I thought you said in your first post that you used minoxidil and Nizoral for 1.5 years, then quit because you didn't "see benefit from it." If you were using all three, how do you know that those two were the ones that had "no benefit"?

If you used all three simultaneously for two years, that is good, and I am surprised that you didn't see a strong effect. Did you use 1 mg finasteride daily, minoxidil twice daily, and the shampoo three times a week?

If you did use all of those consistently, then either the treatments are having no effect (which is unlikely) or your hair loss is just aggressive, and the treatments are "trying" to slow it down but can't stop it completely. These are my suggestions, for what it's worth:

1. Keep taking at least one of the DHT blockers (finasteride or dutasteride), as long as you aren't experiencing any side effects.

2. The DHT blockers are good, because they target the cause of hair loss. However, you need something else to give your hair growth a "kick" at the same time. So I recommend you continue to use at least one "stimulator" (minoxidil, low-level laser therapy, etc.) in combination with it.

3. If you have the money, consider trying low-level laser therapy (LLLT), which has some science supporting it (https://attackplan.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/maintain/). I used the 272-diode Capillus Laser Cap in combination with minoxidil for six months, and that had a noticeable effect for me.

4. Stop using dutasteride from the online pharmacy, and obtain an actual prescription if you want to try it out.

5. Consider trying Alpecin Caffeine Shampoo (http://www.alpecin.de/en/). It won't necessarily stop hair loss, but it does noticeably and visibly thicken hair, in my experience and according to the generally positive reviews (http://www.amazon.com/Alpecin-Caffe...85697&sr=8-3&keywords=alpecin#customerReviews).

Use that 3-pronged regimen (finasteride or dutasteride, minoxidil, and low-level laser) for 6 - 9 months, and see if you notice any improvement. Currently, those are the best and most effective tools on the market, and using them together might have some effect.

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But look at the dutasteride studies it should be a bulletproof solution, I don't get it. I should have stuck with Finasteride, but I think I should also give Dutasteride a full year to work. It takes time to hit plateu (around 110 days with 0,5mg daily) and it takes even longer for it to start have a visual effect.

I agree you should use dutasteride consistently for a year before you can make a proper judgment on its effectiveness. It just might be wiser to obtain an actual prescription from a doctor.
 

RD03

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Thank you for your reply.

I was prescribed Nizoral 2%(I used this three times a week) and minoxidil 5%(I used it two times daily) in March 2014 and in April 2014 I was prescribed Finasteride and 1,25mg daily. I quit Nizoral and Minoxidil in November, as I ran out of both and I hadn't seen much of an effect. So give or take around 1,5 years I was using all treatments consistently.

I think I will retstart Nizoral, Minoxidil and try Dutasteride for a year, and see how it goes from there. I will then get a blood sample done this summer to see how my DHT levels are. However, I will resume to take Finasteride and I am not noticing any side effects.

I tried to get a prescription for Dutasteride but it's not possible in my country. Hair transplant doctors can't prescribe medications and all of our healthcare system is public so it's very controlled. I am however getting my Dutasteride from Oxford Online Pharmacy, which is regulated and registered pharmacy in UK and has been mentioned in several newspapers etc. You basically answer some questions and have a doctor looking at your answer before they prescribe you the medications. So I think it's pretty legit.

So I think I will try the following for a year:
Dutasteride 0,5mg daily (and not quit when I see my hair thin, it might just be getting better after a year)
Finasteride 1,25mg daily
Minoxidil 5% two times daily, maybe upgrade to a higher %?
Nizoral 2% three times a week.

I think it's bogus that Dutasteride should thin the frontal section of the hair, there is a study showing its increasing hair counts in the front (it's posted on here somewhere) but I might have been biased from reading al the horror storries.

But maybe I should just fall back on Finasteride, and ride Dutasteride out and see if my hair gets back to its old state after a year?
 
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