Topical Cetrizine for Hair Loss instead of Finasteride (Propecia)

[theoldsole]

Whoops! forgot the link to the study about topical delivery in rabbits: http://www.aapsj.org/view.asp?art=aapsj060318

I agree that the youtube video is probably not talking about a topical application, that was just the first thing I saw in a quick search trying to see if DIY liopsomal encapsulation was possible. The study mentions the following a method of topical delivery of cetirizine, but has no info on their manufacture that I can see.

Cetirizine was incorporated into small unilamellar vesicles (SUV) and multilamellar vesicles (MLV) prepared using L-α-phosphatidylcholine hydrogenated (HPC), and into Glaxal Base (GB) as the control.

So it seems that topical delivery is superior (in rabbits anyway) by encapsulating the cetirizine in HPC (which is an egg lechtin) I see available here http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/SIGMA/P4139?lang=en&region=US. They also say they mix it with Glaxal Base which is here for pretty cheap as well http://www.drugstore.com/glaxal-base-moisturizing-cream/qxp220701.

Glaxal base was less effective in suppressing histamine response (which i'm going to assume correlates the effectiveness of delivery) compared to HPC but it's alot cheaper. I think i'm going to buy some and mix it with cetirizine solute to see if it works. Anybody want to help me investigate how to prepare some cetirizine encapsulated in L-α-phosphatidylcholine hydrogenate? I'm alot more inclined to buy some and experiment if I had any idea how to prepare it. Thoughts?

 

[theoldsole]

Some highlights from the study from those not wanting to read it all: http://www.aapsj.org/view.asp?art=aapsj060318

In recent studies, various medications have been incorporated into liposomes for topical delivery...Cetirizine, a potent second-generation H1-antihistamine, is effective for the treatment of allergic skin disorders but is minimally sedating when given orally. It was hypothesized that by administering cetirizine in liposome formulations to the skin, the peripheral H1-antihistaminic activity would be retained, while absorption into the systemic circulation would be reduced

The MLV liposome formulations yielded relatively low consistent plasma cetirizine concentrations in conjunction with rapid onset and duration of significant peripheral antihistaminic effects, as monitored by suppression of the histamine-induced wheals, compared with both HPC-SUV and GB.

 

[verbs]

Might as well come out of lurk mode and contribute. Started CET yesterday and am doing it along side of minoxidil which I re-started about 7 months ago. Also using nizoral and prox-n. I took some pics and will update within the next few weeks.

 

[zeroes]

I've picked up the Cet. I've dumped a little over a 100 caps into 100ml of distilled water. I will let it sit overnight. I tried to crush them but it just wouldn't work.

I will try to extract the water sometime tomorrow and dump into the oven at 190C. Anyone with any ideas how long it will take the water to completely evaporate?

If I can get the powder I will dump it in some emu oil if I can't ... nfi.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

I am a bit confused ...why don't you use zyrtec solution instead of pills?

 

[maher]

I am a bit confused ...why don't you use zyrtec solution instead of pills?

Because solution is smelly, sticky and contains preservatives which may irritate the skin.

 

[what]

Now into the start of my third week on cetirizine. Shedding seems to have slowed a bit; however, i'm not ready to say it stopped. I don't see any signs of vellus hairs yet. Overall, i think my hair is at an all time low in terms of how it looks; the frontal third is just very thin right now. I sure hope this treatment works for me the way it is for others, if not i'm going to be in world of bald pain in a year or two.

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I've picked up the Cet. I've dumped a little over a 100 caps into 100ml of distilled water. I will let it sit overnight. I tried to crush them but it just wouldn't work.

I will try to extract the water sometime tomorrow and dump into the oven at 190C. Anyone with any ideas how long it will take the water to completely evaporate?

If I can get the powder I will dump it in some emu oil if I can't ... nfi.

I wouldn't advise heating the solution, especially to those temps. The heat could be detrimental the structural integrity of the molecule and have negative impact on it's efficacy. Also, your solution will have some residual filler material in it from the pills, you'll end up cooking that. I would imagine it turning into a gooey mess.

 

[zeroes]

form reckons it should be fine: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interac...pping-Finasteride/page2?p=1105517#post1105517

 

[kamikaze2803]

its been over a week for for me of using this stuff, my hair feels much better...I can see a lot of vellus hairs that werent there before...theyre becoming a lot more noticeable when i look closely in the mirror...the biggest change i noticed now is when i use my concealer, my hair looks a little better than before i started using cetirizine. I've been off minoxidil and topical spironolactone since the beginning of this month...I'm just hoping for the best and I'll keep you guys updated with my progess

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I dont know if this has helped me, but I've also been on MSM and vitamin C since october

 

[casperz]

I mixed up my new batch last night and I came up with an easy procedure to filter off the Cet from the fillers. I crushed the tablets the night before, added
30ml distilled water shook it for about 5 minutes, and let it stand. Yesterday I placed a cotton ball in the bottom of a funnel and placed the funnel in an old minoxidil bottle. This morning all the Cet liquid had drained into the bottle and I discarded the fillers left in the funnel. I have a little over 28ml of liquid and it looks fairly clear. I think I'm going to mix this with 30ml of 5% minoxidil rather than adding PG/alcohol since that will eliminate a separate application of the minoxidil.

I crushed the Zyrtec tablets using a morter and pestle similar to this one: (http://www.amazon.com/Stone-Granite...3N6G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1352593361&sr=8-3) . It takes about 2 minutes and makes it easy. I got mine locally at Walgreens a few years ago.

 

[antman]

oddly enough i can confirm that the morter and pestle works very well - it turns cet into a fine powder

 

[zeroes]

Do we really need to crush it though? Isn't the water going to dissolve the Cet from the filler anyway?

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I tried to dissolve the water in the oven, it didn't work. When I used tin foil the Cet became yellow in color. I had the oven on at 190C. Image attached.

I think I will go with a pure distilled water based solution, 100 x 10mg Cet, 100ml water.

I will apply total of 0.5ml morning and night to temples only.

 

[HairOutTheWazoo]

You guys are using a lot of Cet. I'm only using 140 mg in 6 oz. water/vodka mixture. I'm seeing improvement but maybe I should up the dose. What is the general consensus of the amount to use?

 

[Sparky4444]

10mg/1ml of water ratio, the solution gets reeeeeally milky....I have been mixing 40 x10mg tabs at 40ml of water...

 

[doke]

Hi i wonder why you do not mix the crushed pills to the alchohol first as i was told by el du this disolves ru58841 powder instead of distilled water and add that after? although you may still have some small bits to strain out still.

 

[Sparky4444]

Hi i wonder why you do not mix the crushed pills to the alchohol first as i was told by el du this disolves ru58841 powder instead of distilled water and add that after? although you may still have some small bits to strain out still.

I wondered this to...either way, I added about 1/4 vodka and I didn't have any irritation at all...Grey Goose, actually..now only if I could get a buzz this would be perfect!!

 

[boobyinspector]

Vellus hair always grows faster than regular hair. It just reaches a limit. And vellus hairs always look dark with a flash on the camera and they still contain melanin just in scattered amounts and less than regular hair, some areas may have higher deposits. This just seems like another fad.

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i have been using the pgd2 topic for allmost 6 weeks..and currently for this two weeks ive been using minoxidil mixed with vodka... since the minoxidil really irritates my skin, These are the results after allmost 2 months... im sorry i dont have a before pic.. but couldnt manage to take pictures that time.. ny next update will be in a month from now.

This looks like minoxidil growth. I hope those tiny bumps on your temples were there before minoxidil. That's how it started with me and ended up destroying my face. I quit a year ago and have almost fully recovered.

 

[HairOutTheWazoo]

Vellus hair always grows faster than regular hair. It just reaches a limit. And vellus hairs always look dark with a flash on the camera and they still contain melanin just in scattered amounts and less than regular hair, some areas may have higher deposits. This just seems like another fad.

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This looks like minoxidil growth. I hope those tiny bumps on your temples were there before minoxidil. That's how it started with me and ended up destroying my face. I quit a year ago and have almost fully recovered.

minoxidil can't give you that kind of regrowth in two weeks.

 

[boobyinspector]

minoxidil can't give you that kind of regrowth in two weeks.

Sure it can. I've used it in the past. As long as your hair is in anagen phase vellus hair grows literally overnight in some people. Anyways, you will be disappointed. You're probably causing more issues by stressing about your hair. I gave up minoxidil a year ago, I don't even use nizoral and I'm getting some awesome hair growth occurring. I'm just using finasteride and not worrying about my hair. I keep it shaved down. It actually took 16 months to start noticing the growth with finasteride. I'll post what I posted in another thread in here too: More Quackery. Remember back when Beta-sitosterol was the big thing and there was science behind it and guys were posting pics of their hair growing. Well it was all a quackery as usual.

Terfenadine also reduced vascular permeability as reflected in decreased albumin levels. In this model, cetirizine reduced sneezing, TAME-esterase activity, and albumin levels, whereas histamine release and PGD2 levels remained unaffected.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7690526

 

[what]

Sure it can. I've used it in the past. As long as your hair is in anagen phase vellus hair grows literally overnight in some people. Anyways, you will be disappointed. You're probably causing more issues by stressing about your hair. I gave up minoxidil a year ago, I don't even use nizoral and I'm getting some awesome hair growth occurring. I'm just using finasteride and not worrying about my hair. I keep it shaved down. It actually took 16 months to start noticing the growth with finasteride. I'll post what I posted in another thread in here too: More Quackery. Remember back when Beta-sitosterol was the big thing and there was science behind it and guys were posting pics of their hair growing. Well it was all a quackery as usual. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7690526

This is for a specific experimental model - the nasal antigen challenge. Other studies have demonstrated that cetirizine will decrease pgd2 levels by 50% http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2469708