My topical only regimen

[Apoc]

I use:

Tricomin in the morning
minoxidil 5% no PPG in the afternoon
Revivogen before bed.

I wash hair every day. 3x times a week using Nizoral and 4x times a week Revivogen shampoo. I take 1000mg MSM twice a day.

Was using propecia for 2 years and my hair went to sh*t anyway. Lost a ton while on it. I also tried flutamide but it gave me terrible stomach ache and limp dick so I had to quit.

So are there any suggestions to my regimen?

 

[Goingat20]

add another minoxidil application during the day, you could put it on 10 minutes before tricomin, or at night before revivogen. I think 2x application a day will definattely help.

 

[Felk]

minoxidil applications to twice a day. Use lee's in the morning, and wash it off after a shower. If this is really out of the question, trying using some retin a as well as minoxidil, a few times a week perhaps. Theres one study showing that minoxidil with retin-a once a day is somewhat equivalent to minoxidil twice a day.

Prox-n would be an excellent addition. Also doesnt mess up your hair, spreads really well, and if you use only the recommended 8-10 drops each bottle should last 6 months instead of 2.

An antiandrogen perhaps. Spironolactone is very cheap if you make your own. Fluridil is apparently a form of flutamide which cannot be systematically absorbed. Expensive though.

 

[Felk]

Oh, and do you think melanotan has had any effect on your hair? If it can effect hair colour, etc, surely it could have some effect... have you heard anything about it being beneficial or detrimental for hair loss?

 

[Apoc]

Melanotan turned my hair and facial hair black. Don't know if it affects hair to grow any better or worse yet. I'm buzzing my hair to 1/4 inch anyway and I started with this regimen about 1 month ago so it's too early to tell if any hair count increase/reduction has occured. I had a nasty shedd with minoxidil about 2 months ago but it completely stoped later.

I can't use minoxidil twice a day because my face get's swollen if I do that. If I use it once a day I get no sides at all. Also the non PPG version is greasy as hell and never fully dries.

 

[CCS]

you can take some arginine too.

 

[Red Rose]

Hows about:

Morning

1. Spectral RS (http://www.divineskin.com/spectralRS/default.asp)

2. Tricomin

Evening

3. Minoxidil

4. 5% spironolactone

6. Emu oil

p.s. drop the revivogen

 

[CCS]

i don't think emu oil does anything. read what i said about oils in the herbal section. use emu oil as part of a cream if you make your own spironolactone, but I think it is expensive and unnecessary and that flax and borage would be better for reducing irritation from minoxidil and other dryness.

 

[Red Rose]

I use emu oil as part of the spironolactone vehicle and unless I am mistaken, emu oil is a superior vehicle to borage and flax.

Dr Lee's opinion on Emu oil (http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/mess ... SGDBTABLE=):-

> Hello Doctor,
>
> I was wondering what your opinion is on emu oil and
> aloe vera (used seperately) as adjunctive treatments.
> (I use your xandrox day and night formulas) Are they
> good at fighting male pattern baldness directly since they are
> anti-inflammatories,

When DHT attaches to the androgen receptor sites at the hair
follicle, it triggers a very complicated chain of events
that results in the miniaturization of the follicles. When
the pathologist refers to inflammation, it's a different
concept than you probably have for an inflammation
associated with infection or with scalp irritation. There
is an autoimmune component to male pattern baldness that is also called
inflammation, but a detailed discussion is beyond the scope
of this forum.

Let's get back to your question regarding adjunctive
treatments. Although the composition of emu oil can vary and
is not commercially standardized, emu oil typically contains
myristic, palmitic, stearic, oleic, linoleic, and linolenic
fatty acids. Some of these fatty acids have been shown to
inhibit the synthesis of DHT in vitro, so there are
potential positive effects for treating male pattern baldness with emu oil.

The stratum corneum of the epidermis is the primary barrier
to absorption of topical medications. Emu oil was found to
have a high concentration of non-polar monounsaturated fatty
acids, which may explain its ability to penetrate easily
through the stratum corneum. Emu oil is almost 100%
triglyceride lipid. Triglycerides are abundant in human skin
lipids, so that the composition of fatty acids in human skin
is similar to that of emu oil, which makes the absorption of
emu oil into human skin faster and easier

Unfortunately, one of the major drawbacks of using any
non-FDA approved or regulated medications is the lack of
reliable information in regards to its efficacy and safety.
As for 'any herb or natural product for male pattern baldness', we have a
Catch-22 situation. It costs in the hundreds of millions of
dollars to obtain an FDA approval for a new drug and the FDA
will not grant an exclusive patent for 'herbs and natural
products'. Since the pharmaceutical company cannot
recapture the cost of any research and development of emu
oil as a treatment for male pattern baldness, we will never have well-designed
studies to prove its value or to establish the optimal doses
for emu oil as a treatment for male pattern baldness.

For an excellent and exhaustive treatise on emu oil, access
http://www.agsci.ubc.ca/ubcquail/Research/
emu_report_final_dec3.pdf

The aloe vera idea is a good one. There was a 'buzz' about
the ability of aloe vera to lower the DHT in the scalp, but
it didn't prove correct. In any case, it has wonderful
soothing and healing substances in it.


> do they increase minoxidil
> absorption, etc?

If you apply minoxidil or Xandrox and let it dry or
partially dry and then apply aloe vera or emu oil, they
would act as an occlusive cover and may give a slight
improvement in the absorption of minoxidil.

Best wishes,

Richard Lee, M.D.

 

[Felk]

Hmmm that's interesting. I thought Bryan said that there were no free fatty acids in emu oil, however...

 

[Apoc]

Red Rose: Why should I drop Revivogen? Is it that ineffective.