First I would like to thank the admins/mods. for this site. Very useful information. If I had seen this site four years back, I will be having a full head of hair now.
My story
Race: Asian Indian
Age: 29
Original hairline till 1997: NW0 (may be even Norwood-1).
male pattern baldness started in August 1998 (In 1998, I was crazy and was burning 2000 calories a day without taking enought food/vitamins/proteins).
Started 1ml rogaine 5% twice a day based on friend's suggestion in Feb 1999.
By Jan 2000, I had a full head of hair. Except the shiny bald spot in the crown where rogaine couldn't recruit. I grew my hair longer and combed over the bald spot. No one would notice that I had hair loss. But the temples were probably only NW1 or Norwood 1.5.
Got married in 2001, my wife wanted me to stop rogaine. She doesn't care even if I went completely bald. My shiny part got bigger with months and I stopped rogaine in May 2003 because of itching and scaling (big mistake). I believed in the stupid myth that more you shower, more hairs you lose. Big mistake. Also, I never heard of propecia/finasteride or nizoral.
I was in India for 2 months in summer 2003. I applied an Indian ayurvedic oil twice a day. Believe it or not, it recruited vellous hairs in the shiny bald spot (the spot which was shiny for 4 years or so) within 45 days. Also, hair fall completey stopped. First few days, when I massage, I will have so many hairs in the hand, after 30 days no hair fall. I thought that I hit the jackpot, bought many of those oils and got to USA.
Within one month, I lost all the new grown hair in USA. Oils I got froze and I had to microwave everytime before using it. The ayurvedic doctor said if it freezes then it loses its effectiveness. Though I have a PhD degree, and I am a professor, I went to the stores and got Nu hair believing that it will work (again words from friends' etc). It was stupid.
My hair got worser day by day, I couldn't hide my bald spots anymore. I lost a lot of hair in back of my head (just above the donor hairs). One of my family friend made a stupid comment about my hair and I convinced my wife about the hairloss treatments. Started on xandrox 5 twice a day from August 2004. Started generic finasteride on Sept 2004. Initially i had dizziness and mental fatigue from finasteride. I used 0.625 thrice a week. then 1.25 mg alternate days. Now I use it five-six times a week. The key to beat the side effects is to increase the dosage gradually IMO.
I started visiting HairLossTalk.com and other boards. Heard about xandrox 15 and applied it in the front. It has been good, but there are some negatives. I use some hair from right to comb over. This pretty much covers my entire midscalp. But xandrox 15 made me shed all the hair in the front and it has recruited new vellous hairs in the front and even some hairs in the temples and forehead (went from NW2 to NW1 or NW0) in the front. So I am hoping all the vellous hairs will grow and I can cut those long hairs I will be a happy man. Also, use of xandrox has recruited significant amount or hair in the back (below the shiny spot) and above the donor hair. Keep in my mind that when I was using rogaine I was always Norwood 2 to NW1.
I respect people like Bryan, Petermac etc for their knowledge. They probably deserve a PhD in hairloss studies. However, my concern with HairLossTalk.com is that almost everyone jumps on azelaic acid saying that it is a garbage, junk, scam etc. Probably Dr. Lee hurt his cause a lot by not being honest with Bryan in the first time. I am a living proof that azelaic acid works.
After reading Bryan's replies, I decided to test it. I applied minoxidil in the left half of my head and xandrox in the right half. Guess which side grew faster? Right side grew very fast and I was shedding more hair in the left. I did this for 2 months. Then occasionally I would think this is caused by something else. Let us try minoxidil some more. One week in a month I will use pure minoxidil instead of xandrox, that particular week, when I comb or wash my hair, I shed significant amount of hair.
I have tried almost all the products from Dr. Lee. I thought that no PPG is the only one I could use because of irritation. Turns out I can use his regular xandrox or minoxidil without irritation. My conclusion is that azelaic acid might work for people in preventing hair fall. It is upto you to use it and see its efficiency. I have two bottles of regular minoxidil from him that I won't even use.
After 9 months, I am happy to say that I have retained my hairline(even went from NW2 to NW1), gained hair in the back. the crown is still shiny. I have vellous hairs all over my head from front to vertex.
I find Dr. Lee to be honest. I was using 1ml xandrox twice a day in addition to xandrox 15 in the PM. He said it is redundant and I am wasting my money. Now my regimen is xandrox 5 in the morning, 15 in the evening. Retin-A twice a week (Dr. Lee adviced against retin-A). Started Nano shampoo thrice day (Dr. Proctor charges $7 for shipping, though the USPS label says $3). I give Dr. Lee no. 1 ranking for the shipping charges and speed.
Keep in mind that I even tried 1ml xandrox + 1ml regular minoxidil for the same application, even that doesn't work for me. Being in academic profession and with my loving wife, I won't care even if I went completely bald. During my school and college I probably had the thickest, longest hair that I could comb anyway I want.
Current regimen
2.5 mg generic finasteride M,W,F and Sunday.
1ml xandrox 5 in the AM and 1ml xandrox 15 in the PM (I wash my hair after 2 hours as Dr. Lee said it is ok. Not sure if one can do this with rogaine).
nizoral alternate days
nano alternate days
Retin A twice a week.
Folligen spray- mix with shampoo and apply thrice a day (Loreal Vive for men).
indian ayurvedic oil (on the shiny bald spot when in India).
My story
Race: Asian Indian
Age: 29
Original hairline till 1997: NW0 (may be even Norwood-1).
male pattern baldness started in August 1998 (In 1998, I was crazy and was burning 2000 calories a day without taking enought food/vitamins/proteins).
Started 1ml rogaine 5% twice a day based on friend's suggestion in Feb 1999.
By Jan 2000, I had a full head of hair. Except the shiny bald spot in the crown where rogaine couldn't recruit. I grew my hair longer and combed over the bald spot. No one would notice that I had hair loss. But the temples were probably only NW1 or Norwood 1.5.
Got married in 2001, my wife wanted me to stop rogaine. She doesn't care even if I went completely bald. My shiny part got bigger with months and I stopped rogaine in May 2003 because of itching and scaling (big mistake). I believed in the stupid myth that more you shower, more hairs you lose. Big mistake. Also, I never heard of propecia/finasteride or nizoral.
I was in India for 2 months in summer 2003. I applied an Indian ayurvedic oil twice a day. Believe it or not, it recruited vellous hairs in the shiny bald spot (the spot which was shiny for 4 years or so) within 45 days. Also, hair fall completey stopped. First few days, when I massage, I will have so many hairs in the hand, after 30 days no hair fall. I thought that I hit the jackpot, bought many of those oils and got to USA.
Within one month, I lost all the new grown hair in USA. Oils I got froze and I had to microwave everytime before using it. The ayurvedic doctor said if it freezes then it loses its effectiveness. Though I have a PhD degree, and I am a professor, I went to the stores and got Nu hair believing that it will work (again words from friends' etc). It was stupid.
My hair got worser day by day, I couldn't hide my bald spots anymore. I lost a lot of hair in back of my head (just above the donor hairs). One of my family friend made a stupid comment about my hair and I convinced my wife about the hairloss treatments. Started on xandrox 5 twice a day from August 2004. Started generic finasteride on Sept 2004. Initially i had dizziness and mental fatigue from finasteride. I used 0.625 thrice a week. then 1.25 mg alternate days. Now I use it five-six times a week. The key to beat the side effects is to increase the dosage gradually IMO.
I started visiting HairLossTalk.com and other boards. Heard about xandrox 15 and applied it in the front. It has been good, but there are some negatives. I use some hair from right to comb over. This pretty much covers my entire midscalp. But xandrox 15 made me shed all the hair in the front and it has recruited new vellous hairs in the front and even some hairs in the temples and forehead (went from NW2 to NW1 or NW0) in the front. So I am hoping all the vellous hairs will grow and I can cut those long hairs I will be a happy man. Also, use of xandrox has recruited significant amount or hair in the back (below the shiny spot) and above the donor hair. Keep in my mind that when I was using rogaine I was always Norwood 2 to NW1.
I respect people like Bryan, Petermac etc for their knowledge. They probably deserve a PhD in hairloss studies. However, my concern with HairLossTalk.com is that almost everyone jumps on azelaic acid saying that it is a garbage, junk, scam etc. Probably Dr. Lee hurt his cause a lot by not being honest with Bryan in the first time. I am a living proof that azelaic acid works.
After reading Bryan's replies, I decided to test it. I applied minoxidil in the left half of my head and xandrox in the right half. Guess which side grew faster? Right side grew very fast and I was shedding more hair in the left. I did this for 2 months. Then occasionally I would think this is caused by something else. Let us try minoxidil some more. One week in a month I will use pure minoxidil instead of xandrox, that particular week, when I comb or wash my hair, I shed significant amount of hair.
I have tried almost all the products from Dr. Lee. I thought that no PPG is the only one I could use because of irritation. Turns out I can use his regular xandrox or minoxidil without irritation. My conclusion is that azelaic acid might work for people in preventing hair fall. It is upto you to use it and see its efficiency. I have two bottles of regular minoxidil from him that I won't even use.
After 9 months, I am happy to say that I have retained my hairline(even went from NW2 to NW1), gained hair in the back. the crown is still shiny. I have vellous hairs all over my head from front to vertex.
I find Dr. Lee to be honest. I was using 1ml xandrox twice a day in addition to xandrox 15 in the PM. He said it is redundant and I am wasting my money. Now my regimen is xandrox 5 in the morning, 15 in the evening. Retin-A twice a week (Dr. Lee adviced against retin-A). Started Nano shampoo thrice day (Dr. Proctor charges $7 for shipping, though the USPS label says $3). I give Dr. Lee no. 1 ranking for the shipping charges and speed.
Keep in mind that I even tried 1ml xandrox + 1ml regular minoxidil for the same application, even that doesn't work for me. Being in academic profession and with my loving wife, I won't care even if I went completely bald. During my school and college I probably had the thickest, longest hair that I could comb anyway I want.
Current regimen
2.5 mg generic finasteride M,W,F and Sunday.
1ml xandrox 5 in the AM and 1ml xandrox 15 in the PM (I wash my hair after 2 hours as Dr. Lee said it is ok. Not sure if one can do this with rogaine).
nizoral alternate days
nano alternate days
Retin A twice a week.
Folligen spray- mix with shampoo and apply thrice a day (Loreal Vive for men).
indian ayurvedic oil (on the shiny bald spot when in India).
