Topical Cetrizine for Hair Loss instead of Finasteride (Propecia)

[boobyinspector]

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

Cool a study in 1989 with 10 subjects versus a comprehensive review of all medical literature. Keep on hanging on to your dreams. I know it gives you hope so I won't even bother dismissing it. And when you are disappointed in the end it will make you a stronger person. PGD2 is not even the underlying factor as some immune factor simply causes it to increase. And if stopping pgd2 does help, it will be a while before you actually see any pharmaceutical company put it out. They will make a strong drug and then test it to see if it actually works. In the meantime you will be wasting money on an allergy medicine. Here's one from 2001:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11591187 [h=4]RESULTS:[/h]Cetirizine significantly reduced immediate weal and flare reactions to allergen, codeine, and histamine. Injection of allergen, but not buffer controls, induced a significant release of histamine, tryptase, prostaglandin D(2), total protein, and eosinophilic cationic protein. No significant increase of leukotriene B(4) and myeloperoxidase was observed. Cetirizine inhibited early total protein extravasation by 40%, but this did not reach a significant level. None of the inflammatory mediators were significantly inhibited by cetirizine. Cetirizine significantly reduced the late-phase skin induration to allergen by approximately 30%.

This is what i'm talking about when I mention quackery. All these hair sites bring all their hope on 1 study that was done ages ago and think it will be their savior. Yes PGD2 may help hair, but certirizine won't.

 

[nograde]

@boobyinspector: This was exactly my train of thoughts when I heard the first success stories; Only one study, relatively old mentions a PGD2 reduction. After some research however I think Ceterizine may be effective:

The Hematopoietic PGD[SUB]2[/SUB] Synthase Pathway: Synchronizing the inflammatory response and its resolution: .... These actions dovetail with the pro-inflammatory activity resulting from CRTH2/DP[SUB]2[/SUB] stimulation, which has been shown to mediate chemotaxis of inflammatory cells, to enhance cytokine and cell adhesion molecule expression, and to increase Th2 lymphocyte and eosinophil cell accumulation.

Now guess what cetirizine does:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1908612/: Our findings indicate that cetirizine is able to inhibit eosinophil accumulation by acting locally

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16052848: Cetirizine induced a shift in the human Th1/Th2 cytokine balance toward a Th1 type response by increasing IFN-gamma production and augmenting suppressor cytokine release (IL-10).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11204513: The study also confirms the existence of a modulating effect of cetirizine in vivo on adhesion molecule expression.

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=236658: Cetirizine, a potent Hrantagonist, has been reported to inhibit eosinophil migration into human skin. We, therefore, further evaluated the effect of cetirizine on eosinophil function, including superoxide anion generation, chemotaxis, and eosinophil peroxidase (EP) release. ...These results suggest cetirizine has effects on eosinophils which can not be explained by H[SUB]1[/SUB]-blockade alone

http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Doi=235422: These data support the view that cetirizine may exert some of its anti-allergic effects by inhibiting the activation of human granulocytes and that it may also selectively inhibit PAF-induced eosinophil hyperadherence.

I will continue; Two weeks in and vellus sprouting. NOTHING in the last five years had this effect for me ...

 

[Ginkosama]

Yeah cause naysayers on finasteride achieved so much for the world of hair growth in the past decade.

 

[casperz]

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.

Of course!!! Why didn't I think of that! Obviously the minoxidil finally kicked in after 5 years and started turning my vellus hairs dark. Guess we should
just give up now guys, obviously it's not the Cet that's doing this.

 

[what]

Cool a study in 1989 with 10 subjects versus a comprehensive review of all medical literature. Keep on hanging on to your dreams. I know it gives you hope so I won't even bother dismissing it. And when you are disappointed in the end it will make you a stronger person. PGD2 is not even the underlying factor as some immune factor simply causes it to increase. And if stopping pgd2 does help, it will be a while before you actually see any pharmaceutical company put it out. They will make a strong drug and then test it to see if it actually works. In the meantime you will be wasting money on an allergy medicine. Here's one from 2001: This is what i'm talking about when I mention quackery. All these hair sites bring all their hope on 1 study that was done ages ago and think it will be their savior. Yes PGD2 may help hair, but certirizine won't.

Oh, I see. Because the study is from 1989 and only had ten patients it's not valid. And to show off your smarts and confirm that the study is no good, you link to a study from the future year of 1993 that had...wait for it............wait for it..... 10 subjects!

Let me clue you in to something here genius - the hair regrowth properties may or may not be related to PGD2. No one knows for sure, and everything on these forums is speculation. It is known that inflammation is part of the balding process and cetirizine plays a role in mediating it . So, there are very sound reasons to experiment with this. Not to mention very strong empirical results from do it yourselfers messing around at home.

But, you should just stay out of the thread since this is quackery. Nobody would want you wasting precious time that could be better spent pontificating on much bigger questions than hairloss..

 

[boobyinspector]

Of course!!! Why didn't I think of that! Obviously the minoxidil finally kicked in after 5 years and started turning my vellus hairs dark. Guess we should
just give up now guys, obviously it's not the Cet that's doing this.

Yes isn't it funny how you magically have discovered the balding cure on forums and scientists just were not able to figure it out. There's many explanations, it could even be as a result of you quitting finasteride and some sort of temporary rebound effect due to hormones (ie increased hgh/igf-1 production). Either way if you have male pattern baldness certirizine is not going to stop it, you will eventually go bald as the finasteride was the only thing stopping it. Everyone does eventually, it doesn't happen right away but then they regret their choice.

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Oh, I see. Because the study is from 1989 and only had ten patients it's not valid. And to show off your smarts and confirm that the study is no good, you link to a study from the future year of 1993 that had...wait for it............wait for it..... 10 subjects!

Let me clue you in to something here genius - the hair regrowth properties may or may not be related to PGD2. No one knows for sure, and everything on these forums is speculation. It is known that inflammation is part of the balding process and cetirizine plays a role in mediating it . So, there are very sound reasons to experiment with this. Not to mention very strong empirical results from do it yourselfers messing around at home.

But, you should just stay out of the thread since this is quackery. Nobody would want you wasting precious time that could be better spent pontificating on much bigger questions than hairloss..

Yep, just like beta-sitosterol was and they even had some forum user who was the poster child for it. Give me a break. Stick with proven methods and stop putting garbage on your heads.

 

[HairOutTheWazoo]

Yes isn't it funny how you magically have discovered the balding cure on forums and scientists just were not able to figure it out. There's many explanations, it could even be as a result of you quitting finasteride and some sort of temporary rebound effect due to hormones (ie increased hgh/igf-1 production). Either way if you have male pattern baldness certirizine is not going to stop it, you will eventually go bald as the finasteride was the only thing stopping it. Everyone does eventually, it doesn't happen right away but then they regret their choice.

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Yep, just like beta-sitosterol was and they even had some forum user who was the poster child for it. Give me a break. Stick with proven methods and stop putting garbage on your heads.

Now you are just trolling.

 

[boobyinspector]

Now you are just trolling.

Yep, I can't wait to see all the success stories, this is going to be big, CNN big.

 

[Diamond Dave]

Hello all. I am a long time lurker and infrequent poster but I wanted to chime in due to boobyinspector the thread troll. Just ignore him. His ignorance is obvious.I've been on Cet for one month now and SEEING is BELIEVING. No amount of trolling by Mr. Booby can challenge what I can see for myself. Cet has done more in one month than any other topical/internal has done no matter how long I was on them.I'm using 60 10mg tablets in 60ml of distilled water, which is about 2.5 ounces. I put the uncrushed tablets in the distilled water a shake it vigorously to dissolve the tablets and then let it sit over night. The following day I've been using a turkey baster to pull the Cet away from the filler and squeeze into my bottle but I really like Casperz idea of the funnel with a cotton ball in it to filter the filler out. Excellent idea Casperz and thanks for the tip.BTW...I use the generic Cet by Equate and have experienced zero side effects.

 

[azuri]

Please further elaborate on this?

 

[casperz]

Yes isn't it funny how you magically have discovered the balding cure on forums and scientists just were not able to figure it out. There's many explanations, it could even be as a result of you quitting finasteride and some sort of temporary rebound effect due to hormones (ie increased hgh/igf-1 production). Either way if you have male pattern baldness certirizine is not going to stop it, you will eventually go bald as the finasteride was the only thing stopping it. Everyone does eventually, it doesn't happen right away but then they regret their choice.

Haha... but no. PGD2 was discovered to play a role in male pattern baldness, we are just applying what has already been discovered in the form of Cetrizine which is known
to block/reduce PGD2. The fact you don't know that speaks volumes about previous(and any further comments). I've been off finasteride for 7 months
so I think that rules out any rebound effect, not that it could happen in the first place.

I will never regret stopping finasteride, I would gladly be cue ball bald than feel like I did on finasteride. The thing is, I did not realize how bad
it was until I was off finasteride and it was a HUGE difference. And if you look back at my posting history from several years ago I was critical
of people who complained about side effects because I did not have any(so I thought) but the side effects sneak up on you
slowly over years and you don't realize it.

We are all hoping this is at least better than finasteride/minoxidil, and judging by the lack of shedding I think it may be. But the fact that I'm
seeing vellus hairs turning dark and sprouting in previously bald areas (clearly seen in my pictures) I think it may be much more
than that. If it fails to grow hair or even keep existing hair so be it and I'll admit failure. I'm not married to any treatment.

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Hello all. I am a long time lurker and infrequent poster but I wanted to chime in due to boobyinspector the thread troll. Just ignore him. His ignorance is obvious.

Agreed.

 

[baldnesssadness]

Yep, I can't wait to see all the success stories, this is going to be big, CNN big.

yes those hairs were there before i applied the minoxidil... they were there because i used the cetirizine topic. The only thing minoxidil did was to increase the pge i guess which made the small hairs grow even more visible. I dont understand the guys who doubt the pgd2... there are many people expriencing growth with this formula, there is nothing say againt this.. the only thing you can do is to either try it or gtfo and btw how did minoxidil ruin your face? did you pour it in your face or something ? first time i read that somewhere. My regimen now will be 1 ml minoxidil in the morning and 1 ml cet blocker in the evening.

 

[boobyinspector]

Haha... but no. PGD2 was discovered to play a role in male pattern baldness, we are just applying what has already been discovered in the form of Cetrizine which is known
to block/reduce PGD2. The fact you don't know that speaks volumes about previous(and any further comments). I've been off finasteride for 7 months
so I think that rules out any rebound effect, not that it could happen in the first place.

I will never regret stopping finasteride, I would gladly be cue ball bald than feel like I did on finasteride. The thing is, I did not realize how bad
it was until I was off finasteride and it was a HUGE difference. And if you look back at my posting history from several years ago I was critical
of people who complained about side effects because I did not have any(so I thought) but the side effects sneak up on you
slowly over years and you don't realize it.

We are all hoping this is at least better than finasteride/minoxidil, and judging by the lack of shedding I think it may be. But the fact that I'm
seeing vellus hairs turning dark and sprouting in previously bald areas (clearly seen in my pictures) I think it may be much more
than that. If it fails to grow hair or even keep existing hair so be it and I'll admit failure. I'm not married to any treatment.

Well I have posted 2 studies that show it doesn't inhibit PGD2. There's way more showing it doesn't inhibit it. So Maybe it's just causing melanin to enter the hair shaft through some other mechanism. They are still not terminal just vellus with color. A lot of people have found luck doing something similar with Just for men. I'm pretty open minded but only if there's science to back it off. I am finding way too many studies showing that certirizine doesn't touch PGD2. So whatever mechanism it's working by may be even as simple as histamine antagonism. If it is histamine you could get Remeron, one of the most powerful histamine binding drugs out there. Maybe the bald spot is constantly being attacked by histamine as if there was an allergy reaction. Anyways, my skepiticism comes from being around the net long enough to see these trends come and go. http://hairregrowth.blogspot.ca/2005/06/beta-sitosterol-and-9-months-of-grunge.html This guy named "windowspeaks" who was going on forums raving about beta-sitosterol so everyone started buying it, and it did nothing as expected. He had these picture that were questionable too. Something as simple as an angle and different shading can make hair look better.

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yes those hairs were there before i applied the minoxidil... they were there because i used the cetirizine topic. The only thing minoxidil did was to increase the pge i guess which made the small hairs grow even more visible. I dont understand the guys who doubt the pgd2... there are many people expriencing growth with this formula, there is nothing say againt this.. the only thing you can do is to either try it or gtfo and btw how did minoxidil ruin your face? did you pour it in your face or something ? first time i read that somewhere. My regimen now will be 1 ml minoxidil in the morning and 1 ml cet blocker in the evening.

I am not doubting PGD2, I'm doubting that Certirizine has any action on PGD2 given that MANY MANY studies show it doesn't. So there would have to be something else that it's doing. And regarding wrecking my face. It absorbs quite substantially in people with large pores which I happen to have. Typically big sebum secretors. It made my under eye's super dark and gave me wrinkles around my eyes and smile lines. It gave me weird rough bumps near my temples. I quit it and have recovered since but it took a freaking year.

 

[Aks20]

Well I have posted 2 studies that show it doesn't inhibit PGD2. There's way more showing it doesn't inhibit it. So Maybe it's just causing melanin to enter the hair shaft through some other mechanism. They are still not terminal just vellus with color. A lot of people have found luck doing something similar with Just for men. I'm pretty open minded but only if there's science to back it off. I am finding way too many studies showing that certirizine doesn't touch PGD2. So whatever mechanism it's working by may be even as simple as histamine antagonism. If it is histamine you could get Remeron, one of the most powerful histamine binding drugs out there. Maybe the bald spot is constantly being attacked by histamine as if there was an allergy reaction. Anyways, my skepiticism comes from being around the net long enough to see these trends come and go. http://hairregrowth.blogspot.ca/2005/06/beta-sitosterol-and-9-months-of-grunge.html This guy named "windowspeaks" who was going on forums raving about beta-sitosterol so everyone started buying it, and it did nothing as expected. He had these picture that were questionable too. Something as simple as an angle and different shading can make hair look better.

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I am not doubting PGD2, I'm doubting that Certirizine has any action on PGD2 given that MANY MANY studies show it doesn't. So there would have to be something else that it's doing. And regarding wrecking my face. It absorbs quite substantially in people with large pores which I happen to have. Typically big sebum secretors. It made my under eye's super dark and gave me wrinkles around my eyes and smile lines. It gave me weird rough bumps near my temples. I quit it and have recovered since but it took a freaking year.

The problem in your claims is that Beta Sisterol works. I am currently using a Beta Sisterol based product, and it works.
I don't want to overuse it because its mechanism of action is estimated (per public lit) to be similar to finasteride but work it does. I have seen significantly less shedding.

Next, agree with minoxidil sides. I too had them.

Last - the 10 member study does say Cet did decrease PGD2 by 50%. You cant just wish it away.

Point is if people are saying it works, give it a chance. These same people will be intelligent enough to drop it if it doesnt.

I tried it, but it doesnt go well with another topical I am using & increases my itch. That it does so, rapidly, indicates it does have an effect on the scalp. Putting plain water does not give me that itch

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Hello all. I am a long time lurker and infrequent poster but I wanted to chime in due to boobyinspector the thread troll. Just ignore him. His ignorance is obvious.I've been on Cet for one month now and SEEING is BELIEVING. No amount of trolling by Mr. Booby can challenge what I can see for myself. Cet has done more in one month than any other topical/internal has done no matter how long I was on them.I'm using 60 10mg tablets in 60ml of distilled water, which is about 2.5 ounces. I put the uncrushed tablets in the distilled water a shake it vigorously to dissolve the tablets and then let it sit over night. The following day I've been using a turkey baster to pull the Cet away from the filler and squeeze into my bottle but I really like Casperz idea of the funnel with a cotton ball in it to filter the filler out. Excellent idea Casperz and thanks for the tip.BTW...I use the generic Cet by Equate and have experienced zero side effects.

Can you tell us about your results?

 

[boobyinspector]

The problem in your claims is that Beta Sisterol works. I am currently using a Beta Sisterol based product, and it works.
I don't want to overuse it because its mechanism of action is estimated (per public lit) to be similar to finasteride but work it does. I have seen significantly less shedding.

Next, agree with minoxidil sides. I too had them.

Last - the 10 member study does say Cet did decrease PGD2 by 50%. You cant just wish it away.

Point is if people are saying it works, give it a chance. These same people will be intelligent enough to drop it if it doesnt.

I tried it, but it doesnt go well with another topical I am using & increases my itch. That it does so, rapidly, indicates it does have an effect on the scalp. Putting plain water does not give me that itch

Yah I tried it back in the days as well, and in insanely high amounts, it didn't do anything. And I get it they are trying something in hope, but a lot of people prey on bald people with shady products. I don't like the preying part. I realize certirizine is not one of those products but it's just easy to irritate your scalp and I like to give mine rest. I wash my hair once a week. Anyways, from what I've read beta-sitosterol only decreases dht in prostate tissue and has no selectivity for which reductase it binds to. Testosterone can still enter scalp tissues and combine with 5-ar2 to create DHT. But it's believed it's the chemical reaction of combining testosterone with 5-ar-2 that causes inflammatory signals. That's why normal men with hair still have dht in their scalps but no inflammation markers. If you have circulating DHT and it enters scalp that shouldn't be the problem. Granted it's all just theories being thrown around because we know very little about this process. Anyways, I apologize for the aggression, but I've just seen so many fads over the years and these fads kept me from using finasteride which is the only thing that actually worked for me. Anyways, if it works out for you guys then I'm happy for you.

 

[CoolBreeze]

I am not doubting PGD2, I'm doubting that Certirizine has any action on PGD2 given that MANY MANY studies show it doesn't. So there would have to be something else that it's doing. And regarding wrecking my face. It absorbs quite substantially in people with large pores which I happen to have. Typically big sebum secretors. It made my under eye's super dark and gave me wrinkles around my eyes and smile lines. It gave me weird rough bumps near my temples. I quit it and have recovered since but it took a freaking year.

I will be the judge then! I have not used any hair treatment products in the past, EVER. I started this Cetirizine treatment last week and I will keep everyone updated. I am just using Cets/distilled water/eyedropper to apply. I have been applying the treatment to forehead and crown area which have significant hair loss. Haven't seen much improvement in just one week of treatment. Also Haven't experienced much shedding yet just a little bit. But I feel totally confident that this treatment will help. Now with male pattern baldness I believe genetics plays a big part and not sure if there will be a full growth cure but I think we are on to something with blocking PGD2 and I like what I have heard with results. Treatments take time! I'm glad to stumble on to this forum post and Im thankful for everyones feedback on this post. THE FUTURE IS PROMISING!

 

[shivers20]

I'm going to start using Cetirizine (Zyrtec liquid gels) once a day. I punctured a tiny hole in the gel cap and rubbed the liquid all over my right temple. I am not on any hair loss meds or vitamins. I will keep everyone updated.

 

[monkey4004]

I'm going to start using Cetirizine (Zyrtec liquid gels) once a day. I punctured a tiny hole in the gel cap and rubbed the liquid all over my right temple. I am not on any hair loss meds or vitamins. I will keep everyone updated.

I was wondering what the contents of the liquid were... If it was better to use crushed zyrtec or liquid form. In other words which has more gunk? Or we have to filter out the liquid for the cert?

 

[casperz]

Anyways, I apologize for the aggression, but I've just seen so many fads over the years and these fads kept me from using finasteride which is the only thing that actually worked for me. Anyways, if it works out for you guys then I'm happy for you.

No worries, I'm as skeptical and cynical as anyone here and I know what it's taken in the past to regrow hair. And I know my response to various products and I've never seen anything like Cet. Now we can argue that it's not PGD2 being
blocked that's causing the regrowth but you can't deny that people are seeing regrowth. If I get to 6 months and pictures don't show it doing anything I'll admit it right here and say you were right.


In the center of the picture below there is a hair, it's about 1/2" in front of my hairline. You can see how dark and thick the base is and how light and small the end is, Certrizine is clearly doing something to cause that. There were no hairs
in front of my hairline when I started Cet.

 

[what]

No worries, I'm as skeptical and cynical as anyone here and I know what it's taken in the past to regrow hair. And I know my response to various products and I've never seen anything like Cet. Now we can argue that it's not PGD2 being
blocked that's causing the regrowth but you can't deny that people are seeing regrowth. If I get to 6 months and pictures don't show it doing anything I'll admit it right here and say you were right.



In the center of the picture below there is a hair, it's about 1/2" in front of my hairline. You can see how dark and thick the base is and how light and small the end is, Certrizine is clearly doing something to cause that. There were no hairs
in front of my hairline when I started Cet.

Casperz what kind of camera are you using? That's a really magnified shot! I've tried taking some of my own but can't get nearly that quality. In fact all my pics suck -can't see anything on there! I just have one of those Nikon Cool pix 550 cameras.

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When you noticed the vellus hairs starting to show up, was it all at once? Like one day you looked in the mirror there was nothing and then the next day, bam! they show up? Or was it more gradual?