I am currently Norwood 2.5 and heading towards NW3. My hairline recession seems to have especially accelerated in the past year. I don't want to take finasteride due to adverse reaction. What else is available apart from minoxidil? I bought multi vitamins today. I know they are not proven to do anything for hair but I am grasping at straws here. Any suggestion will be appreciated.
Options besides finasteride??
- Thread starter pjhair
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diehunnen123
Banned
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nothing that will have any major effects. and that sir, is the harsh truth
MoBishop
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Other than a ketoconazole shampoo, like Nizoral or Regenepure DR, or vitamins, such as Biotin, I don't have many suggestions. Unfortunately, the shampoo alone isn't enough to clear out the DHT wreaking havoc on your hair. It's effectiveness comes with minoxidil or finasteride. Biotin helps with hair thickness, but does nothing to combat DHT.
Sad to say bro, the Big Three are your options. (minoxidil, finasteride, ketoconazole shampoo) If you don't mind me asking, what was your adverse reaction to finasteride?? Maybe try a smaller dose (say, 0.5mg daily). My only other recommendation is dutaseride, but if you didn't react well to finasteride I think dutasteride would also give you trouble.
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spironolacetone works great! But it will turn you into a transexual.
finasteride, dutasteride or spironolacetone are your only options to prevent male pattern baldness, ranked in order of effectiveness and danger (least to most).
ketokonazole won't do **** for you.
finasteride, dutasteride or spironolacetone are your only options to prevent male pattern baldness, ranked in order of effectiveness and danger (least to most).
ketokonazole won't do **** for you.
Thanks for your response. I don't want to take finasteride because it triggered hair loss in me. I didn't have hair loss at all but foolishly started taking finasteride as a preventive measure. I had no clue that finasteride affects hormones that can have unintended side effects. I believed that finasteride can never cause hair loss. But as soon as I started taking it, I experienced massive shed and my hair went from Norwood 0 to Norwood 2 within 3 months. Additional, my density everywhere went from extremely dense to moderately dense. I have been losing hair ever since and now I stand at norwood 2.5. Anyway, I will try Biotin supplements. I will also look into minoxidil.
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I can't take finasteride and dutasteride. spironolactone is unthinkable. I want to stay a man, even if bald lol.
MoBishop
Established Member
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The shedding on finasteride is normal though. It clears out weaker hairs at about the 4 month period. Did those hairs come back after you stopped? I know you said you're now a 2.5, but no regrowth at all? What prompted you to take finasteride? Did you just order some or did a derm recommend it?
If you really don't have hair loss then Biotin may be enough for you.
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Never heard of spironolactone. Now tempted to Google it lol
If you really don't have hair loss then Biotin may be enough for you.
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Never heard of spironolactone. Now tempted to Google it lol
I order finasteride on my own. I just saw my friends balding and that made me paranoid about it too. I thought may be I should take finasteride as a preventive measure in case I bald in future. That was really stupid of me. The hair that I lost on finasteride never came back. Now I am scared to try even minoxidil. I am going to schedule an appointment with a competent and honest hair transplant doctor and have him look at my hair. If after doing miniaturization mapping if he recommends I should be on minoxidil, I will do so. I will lose my hair anyway, so why not put up a fight.
I am pretty sure it was finasteride. I was 27 when I started taking finasteride. I had absolutely no hair loss and had hair like young Brad Pitt. Within a week of starting finasteride I start to shed hair massively, got pimples around my scalp and my hair became oily. I never had oily hair in my life. In fact my hair used to be so dry that even when I put oil in it, my scalp used to soak it up within a few days and will be dry again. All that changed within a week of starting finasteride and within 3 months I went from Norwood 0 to Norwood 2. I know my body very well. There were clear hormonal changes within my body. I will have to be intellectually blind not to see it. I am also surprised when people on this forum tell me that finasteride can't cause hair loss when "reflex hyperandrogenicity" is an established phenomena that some times occurs with finasteride. There are many others that have gone through it. Please look it up.
MoBishop
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S*it bro, now you have me nervous. I was prescribed finasteride by a derm, but the appointment lasted all of 2 minutes. I don't think my thinning is obvious, so now you've got me wondering if I should be taking finasteride and if it will make my hair worse.
If you don't mind, let me know which hair transplant doctor you go to. I'm also in the Dallas area, so I may schedule an appointment too.
If you are REALLY losing hair then taking finasteride is a good idea. But make sure that you are losing hair. Starting finasteride when you don't even need it is a bad idea. It's a powerful drug and not a supplement like multi vitamin that people can just take without worrying too much. I will say that get your hair mapped for miniaturization and if it is present then start finasteride. Get your hair looked at by a competent, ethical and honest hair transplant surgeon and ask for advise. There is a Dr. Bernardino Arocha in Houston. He also has a clinic in Dallas and Austin. I have heard he is good. But I was actually thinking about flying to Chicago and seeing Dr. Raymond Konior. From what I have read, he seems to be a really good and ethical hair transplant doctor. I want him to have a really good look at my hair, map my hair for miniaturization and give me an honest opinion on the treatment plan I should pursue. I will probably go see him within a month or two.
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Don't take finasteride then. Take your chances with DHT/PGE2 instead, let us know how that works out for you!
Of course I am not going to take finasteride. If I wanted to take my chances with "DHT/PGE2", I would not have created this thread in the first place. I want find out what other options are available out there besides finasteride. Believe it or not, finasteride is not an option for many for various reasons.
MoBishop
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Thanks for the referral man. I see that Arocha offers a free initial consultation here in Dallas. Definitely good for me, since I'm in grad school and pretty broke haha
http://www.arochahairrestoration.com/consultation/
Good luck with your appointment man!
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The only way to beat DHT/PGE2 is with drugs that either prevent DHT formation (finasteride, fut) or drugs that compete with finasteride at hair follicle receptor sites (RU or spironolacetone). Not sure what mechanism setipipterant works by. You have to deal with that DHT somehow and these are your only options.
I hope you're wrong in your regimen and use 1.25 Proscar a day, not 2.5...