Philosoraptor's Story - 24 (Big 3 + miconazole)

[cuebald]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (23/Big 3)

Looking a little thicker than before, still quite thin though, definite horseshoe impression.

I think you might be able to thicken it up a bit more with the minoxidil. At least it's good that you are maintaining rather than losing more. Nobody would call you a "bald man".

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (23/Big 3)

October 17, 2009: week 33

A day or so ago I noticed my scalp had a really thick layer of sebum on it. I want to start taking something to control this. I looked into generic versions of accutane for a low dosing, but wasn't able to find a source. Is there anything else I could take to reduce sebum?

After buzzing my head on a 0 I found that I had thinned more. I didn't notice a shed by visibly seeing hairs on my hand, but density looks lower. Because of this I decided to change my regime.

I ordered dutasteride, spironolactone, and minoxidil foam. I have only received the spironolactone so far. Applied last night and this morning. After going out today I will never put spironolactone on in the morning again. I smelled like a skunk

So when I receive everything my regime will be:
dutasteride 0.5mg EOD
finasteride 1.25mg EOD (alternating with dutasteride)
Rogaine foam every morning
minoxidil lquid + spironolactone every night
nizoral when I feel necessary

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (23/Big 3)

October 24, 2009: Week 34

Received everything. Started spironolactone and minoxidil foam early this week and dutasteride yesterday.

Foam is so much better than liquid. Smells better, dries quicker, and easier to apply to short hair. I've read people complain about it melting quick which confuses me. I apply it immediately after a hot shower where the room is warm, the can is warm and my hands are warm. I can put it on my hand and then on my head and it still doesn't melt until I rub it in.

I'm using the S5 cream for spironolactone. Stuff smells awful. Especially with minoxidil. Smells almost exactly like a skunk. No exaggeration. I only apply this at night. Easy to apply and I don't have to apply much to get good coverage so it should last me awhile.

First dose of dutasteride yesterday. Doing EOD with finasteride. Much easier than having to split pills. Not much else to say about it.

I don't know if it is because the addition of spironolactone or if it was bound to happen with my previous regime, but I have had very very little shedding this week.

My hair is about as long as my pre haircut pic from a few weeks back. Took a couple of pictures. Mostly looks exactly the same. Crown looks like it may be a tad thicker, but I can't really tell. I'll take some new ones next week for my monthly pic.

A little longer than usual this week. Next week I will have pics. Until then.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

October 31, 2009: Week 35

*8 MONTHS*

8 months of treatments now.

Current regimen. dutasteride 0.5mg EOD, finasteride 1.25mg EOD. Minoxliquid/spironolactone every night, minoxidil foam every morning. nizoral sparingly.

Nothing to report on the dutasteride. spironolactone still stinks. Foam still much less of a hassle than liquid.

Visually things look pretty much the same week to week for awhile now. I have had very little shedding. The few amount of shed hairs are thin and always the same length no matter how long my hair currently is.

Crown spot may be widening. Not sure. Hairs that grew in beneath my right temple (making my hairline straighter) are a little thicker. That is the only thing I can say for sure of everything about my hair right now.

Hair up front feels denser. Hard to really tell though.

At the very least I am maintaining. And from some angles in the pictures I take (that I don't post) it looks as if I have no hair loss. It's nice to know that I am currently not progressing with a pattern, but at the same time I am still very young and want thickening as well.

As for my personal life I have a great deal of stress. Could be a factor, but I doubt it. Figured I would mention it for anyone curious.

Pictures are the usual angle and then a picture of an area of my scalp with no signs of hair loss for comparison.

As always, until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

November 7, 2009: Week 36

Short update this week.

Cut my hair again down to a 1/2. Visually to me it looks worse, but it is probably the same. The hair feels stiffer though. The temples feel more dense.

Regimen the same. Still zero recession with diffuse thinning across the top.

Until next week.

 

[WorldofWarcraft]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

to me your hair looks better now than it did at the start. At least you are regrowing and not losing...

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

November 14, 2009: Week 37

Noticed a few more hairs being shed while applying spironolactone this week. Always thin hairs at a short length though. And it is never that many.

Grew out my hair again this week. And it feels thicker. Also, individual strands look thicker. But at the same time density seems low. I had a little bit of accelerated shedding a few weeks back. So I'm hoping by the end of the year that will fill back in.

Overall I am feeling a lot better about everything.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

November 22, 2009: Week 38

A little late with the update this week.

Cut my hair down to a 1/2 again. Looks and feels pretty much the same as when I cut it down this short a few weeks ago. Maybe it looks a little better?

At the longer length though it definitely looked and felt thicker than the last time I grew it out. From straight on in a room with diffused light you couldn't tell I had hairloss. I looked like me again. But of course from the top there was definitely still an issue. The pictures I took pretty much look exactly the same from the last time I grew it out.

Is it progress? I don't know. I'm glad I haven't seemed to progress any further in the last 4 or so months.

Also I've noticed increased shedding, but this seems to be the norm for a few days after shaving my hair down.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

November 28, 2009: Week 39

*9 MONTHS*
Had a pretty significant shed at the end of last weekend through about Tuesday. I saw maybe 3 thicker hairs the entire time. Mostly just thin ones. I kind of expected this shed. It has been about 5 weeks since changing my regimen pretty significantly (adding foam, dutasteride, and spironolactone cream) Since about Tuesday shedding has been very very minimal. After vigorous rubbing I get maybe 2-3 really shitty hairs on my fingers. Still no side effects

From the front I don't think most people would notice I am losing in inside lighting. At least at this length which is about the same as my last picture. A lot of the time I think it looks better but feels worse or vice versa.

I do feel like I am in a better situation now than I was during my initial shed during the summer. I don't even remember what baseline looked like. But I am definitely wearing my hair longer than I was then. Possibly becoming more comfortable with it? I don't think I am back to baseline yet though.

Took a pic a couple of days ago. Looks exactly the same as last month so I'm not going to bother to post it.

Hoping to see results of the new regimen in the coming months.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

December 6, 2009: Week 40

Pretty much zero shedding. Can't even rip the hairs out of my scalp. Body hair seems to come out rather easily though. I don't know if this is a side effect or if it's just because body hair is thinner and weaker. I don't really mind though as I am a decently hairy guy.

Hair definitely feels and looks thicker. From straight on it looks pretty good. But of course if viewed from the top it's still obvious there is a problem. At the length I'm at now I doubt most people would notice it.

Density is still the issue. I have coverage all over. And what is there has thickened up. I hope the shed I had a few weeks back turns out to be good. At the very least I seem to have maintained/slightly improved over the past months. I regret not doing something when I first noticed a problem just over 2 years ago.

And now some pictures because I neglected to post any last week. One is from Sept and one is from Today. The angles are a little different, but I think improvement is clear. I also included a shot of my crown.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

December 12, 2009: Week 41

Hair is quite a bit longer than I ever really had it before I noticed any hair loss. It hasn't been this long since 2006 and I was growing out a fro then. I am mainly growing it out to make the loss less noticeable.

Shedding has been pretty much non-existent. Ripping hairs out proves to be difficult. Just right now I did a very vigorous rub test for a good 30 seconds. Got about 3 short really thin hairs fall and 1 normal hair which appears to have been breakage.

This week I have had noticeably more itching. It's not unbearable by any means, but previously I had maybe one small itch every few days. I pretty much stopped nizoral when I ran out weeks ago. Going to get some more and see if that fixes the itching.

No recession. Hair I have is thick and healthy. Just lower density in the balding areas. Hoping for thickening of shed hairs from a few weeks back. Hoping for a success story by my one year in a couple of months. In the mean time I will continue on my regimen and continue growing out my hair.

Until next time.

 

[rotsen182]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

it took some time but i really think u start to winning this battle.. do u think its due to the dudas?...

congrats,,..

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

Honestly, I have no clue. I don't feel any different than normal. For all I know I would have gotten to this point with my old regimen. I feel though that if I do start to reverse my loss that my new regimen will maintain those results for longer.

Thanks for your kind words though.

 

[bladio]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

About secondary effects. Never noticed anything?

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

About side effects.

When I first started minoxidil back in March I would get headaches. Hasn't occurred again since that first month.

I notice more body hair falling out (which I don't actually mind), but haven't noticed a visual decrease in body hair density.

A month or two after starting I had an increased libido. Subsided after a couple of weeks.

Libido is normal. Erections are normal. Everything is normal.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

December 19, 2009: Week 42

Hair is a week longer. Maybe it looks thicker, but I'm not sure. At this length though you can barely tell my crown is thinning. My temples are still pretty bad, but if I brush my hair a certain way it becomes a lot less noticeable.

Sometimes I want to cut my hair to compare and see if it is any better than what I got used to. But if it ends up being the same/worse I don't want to wait another 4 weeks to grow it out again. I actually like the look I have at this length.

Back on Nizoral. Doing 2-3 times per week. Itch has subsided greatly, but I still experience it from time to time.

Did a couple of rub tests over the sink this week. Each time I got about 10 hairs fall out. But it's the same story. All of them shorter than the current length of my hair and most of them thinner than my body hair.

I haven't seen a single full length hair fall out of my head since growing it out. This leads me to believe that I am maintaining if not improving. Of course I would like to improve, but I have only been on my new regimen for about 7 weeks now. I am hoping to see results by my one year.

Until next week.

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

December 26, 2009: Week 43

Hair is, yet again, a week longer. And no immediate changes.

As far as I can see there is still no shedding. Nothing comes out in the shower. Nothing comes out in rub tests. And nothing doesn't mean 1 or 2. It means zero hairs in my hand. I'm at least maintaining for now.

Brushing my hair a specific way I can hide most of the problem in most lights.

Some people have not seen noticeable results until a year or more. And considering I am maintaining well now and that I have no slick bald areas, I am hoping I am one of these people and can regain a fair amount of what I had.

Until next week.

 

[litcII]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

December 26, 2009: Week 43

Hair is, yet again, a week longer. And no immediate changes.

As far as I can see there is still no shedding. Nothing comes out in the shower. Nothing comes out in rub tests. And nothing doesn't mean 1 or 2. It means zero hairs in my hand. I'm at least maintaining for now.

Brushing my hair a specific way I can hide most of the problem in most lights.

Some people have not seen noticeable results until a year or more. And considering I am maintaining well now and that I have no slick bald areas, I am hoping I am one of these people and can regain a fair amount of what I had.

Until next week.

Nice! Thats good to hear. Thanks for the update

 

[philosoraptor]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

January 3, 2010: Week 44

*10 MONTHS*

This is going to be short relative to the other month updates. And no pictures this week.

No changes to regimen. No noticeable change to hair. Changes are much harder to see as my hair is much longer than I have had it in years. It only makes it harder to apply topicals.

Rub tests only get me short thin hairs. I lose maybe 4-5 normal hairs in the shower from vigorous rubbing.

I am losing large amounts of body hair. In the shower I can pull out what seems to be at least 100 hairs from my chest and stomach (I'm a decently hairy dude) with ease. I'm starting to see a visual decrese in body hair. If this is a side effect I am very ok with it. I've always kind of hated my body hair anyway.

Not much else to report. Now that I can kind of hide it, I think far less about it.

Until next week.

 

[rotsen182]

Re: Philosoraptor's Story - (24/Big 3)

keep posting... keep up the good work