Topical Cetrizine for Hair Loss instead of Finasteride (Propecia)

[casperz]

I've been here since 2007 and have documented the various things I've tried to regrow hair, some with good success. However
about two years ago I cut back to just Finasteride/minoxidil because I was not getting anywhere. I had a ton more hair than when I
started in 2007 but nothing close to a full head of hair. The daily reminder of using a complicated regime was just too much and I
decided just to go back to ignoring my hair and buzzed it off and decided to wait for something better.

Where I started 2007:

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/35120-Success-on-KSR-with-pics/page3

March 2009 was as good as it got on KSR a very complicated regime:

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/35120-Success-on-KSR-with-pics/page7

Here were some of my last pictures before stopping everything but finasteride/min in 2010:

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/showthread.php/35120-Success-on-KSR-with-pics/page11

The past two or three years I have not been myself physically or mentally and after hearing one too many news stories about
finasteride I stopped taking it in February of this year (after about 5 years) to see what kind of difference it made. All I can say is
WOW, I had no idea how finasteride was affecting me. I never had sexual problems but felt run down, old and tired all the time. Within
a month of stopping I had boundless energy, noticeable increase of stamina, rock hard erections every morning hours before
I woke up, and overall I felt like I was 20 again. I've gotten more done the past 6 months than the past 3 years combined. I will
never take finasteride again and I was of the guys that was saying finasteride side effects were all imagined. They are real.

So needless to say my hair had regressed quite a bit the past two years. Stopping finasteride did not seem to make much of a
difference my hair looked like crap anyway. I think most of my gains came from the synergy of all the things I was doing
not just finasteride/min.

You have all heard by now about PGD2 blockers so thought i would give it a try. I read some promising things on a German
website where guys were using cetirizine to attempt to block PGD2. I used their directions and mixed up a batch
(60 10mg pills/60ml water). I started 19 days ago and was not expecting to see much till about month 4 since that's
when most of my other experiments have kicked in. But I was surprised to see the vellus hair has come to attention and
there are 3 or 4 vellus hairs that have gone into hyper growth mode and are much longer than the rest. Still all non terminal but
maybe by month 4 I'll see some real growth and darkening. I'll be back by then (or sooner) to let everyone know the results.

- - - Updated - - -

The German guys have picked up this thread already, welcome guys! I've been reading your comments as well, hope
we can come up with something that works together!

Here is the link to the German website where they are talking about cetirizine:

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hair loss=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&twu=1&u=http://www.alopezie.de/fud/index.php/mv/msg/21648/0/240/&usg=ALkJrhgE5MifEbnXnbblGFCCWhCe-66U9Q


Those German's are trying all kinds of stuff if anyone is interested:

http://translate.googleusercontent....p/f/4/&usg=ALkJrhijH3MdPQfLsBOTYTy5SkaMy927Hw

Someone asked about my mixture and it is different. I'm using 60 10mg pills in 60ml of distilled water. I think the German guys
are using various things including vodka. You can browse the links above using Google translate and find all the specifics.

I'll give it a couple of weeks and then try to get some real close up macro shots of my scalp so you can see the baby hairs
if anyone is interested.

This pic below is from last week, my hair has looked like this for the last 18 months using only finasteride/minoxidil and then only minoxidil for the past six month:

 

[tysa]

Hey casperz,

i am member of the german forum and lurking around here since about a year.
how did you come across alopezie.de?

i wish you good luck!
added cetirizin to my regime today, too!

regards
tysa

 

[brandnew88]

so what pills are these and where do you get them?

 

[tysa]

yes, i am from germany.

the price range here is very wide. depending on where you buy it (100 tablets; 10mg/tablet) and if you buy generics, it ranges from 8 to 30 €.
but 100 tablets should be enough for 100 ml of topical, lasting (in my case) for about 2 months.

 

[casperz]

This is what I used, it's Kirklands brand Zyrtec and it's dirt cheap:

http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Sign...ie=UTF8&qid=1348362565&sr=8-2&keywords=zyrtec

- - - Updated - - -

Hey casperz,

i am member of the german forum and lurking around here since about a year.
how did you come across alopezie.de?

i wish you good luck!
added cetirizin to my regime today, too!

regards
tysa

Hi tysa, I saw it on one of the other US hair loss forums, not sure which one. Maybe baldingtruth.com?

- - - Updated - - -

Antihistamine tablets. You can buy generic ones 7 or 14 in a packet for a Pound or less in the UK.

casperz and tysa, are either of you German (or from German speaking countries)?

Not me, I'm in the US.

 

[casperz]

I'm 5 weeks in and I'm fairly optimistic cetirizin is doing something. I've completely stopped shedding as a start and all the vellus hairs in the frontal hairline are looking much thicker and longer. There are at least 5 or 6 vellus hairs that have turned dark in areas that have been bald for years.

It's impossible to get any kind of picture of these vellus hairs at this point but they are definitely changing. I'll report more as things develop.

 

[ohmanohno]

Good luck i hope you get results. Would taking this orally be of any benefit for hair?

 

[Sparky4444]

I've been sneezing like a banshee lately...fall time allergies kicking in, I guess...gonna start up Aleve or whatever and see what happens, orally..

 

[casperz]

Good luck i hope you get results. Would taking this orally be of any benefit for hair?

Thanks, a lot of people take Zyrtec and if taking it orally would work I think we would have heard by now.

 

[ohmanohno]

Im thinking about trying this as well. Im by no means a chemist so i may just throw a bunch of these pills into a bottle of liquid minoxidil.

 

[tysa]

cet isnt soluble in alcohol. further all the bulking agents will be floating around in the liquid and will give your head a nice white color.

 

[yasser]

i have read recent studies that confirm citrizine topically can treat male pattern baldness ? what do u think about it ?

 

[Sparky4444]

cet isnt soluble in alcohol. further all the bulking agents will be floating around in the liquid and will give your head a nice white color.

soluble in water?? I was thinking of putting some crushed tabs in Tricomin

 

[tysa]

i have read recent studies that confirm citrizine topically can treat male pattern baldness

Do you know the name of the study? I am pretty suprised about the fact that there is a study about cet and male pattern baldness.

soluble in water?? I was thinking of putting some crushed tabs in Tricomin

yes, it´s soluble in water.

 

[nohawk]

How's the progress.. is there supposed to be shedding with this? Any side effects at all?

 

[nohawk]

any of you still alive? :unsure:

 

[Sparky4444]

I put 60 10mg tablets into 60mg of Tricomin/Water...gonna apply once a day before bed and see what happens...

 

[casperz]

I went though a shed from about weeks 2 to 4 but since then it's stopped completely. I don't have the random hairs
in the sink each morning and during the shed I'd have a dozen or more.

Here is a pic I took a couple of days ago and there are clearly dark terminal hairs growing in the bald areas. :shock: The total area of the pic is about 1 square centimeter. I've never seen hairs like this spring up from past treatments so quickly. There are very small, there are 5 full size hairs in the picture for comparison but we are also only 5 or so weeks in.

I count 15 new hairs in this picture and this is in an area at the front of my hairline that has been bald for years. If these
hairs survive we could be on to something.

The second picture shows several hairs that appear very light and thin on the ends like they were vellus and are now producing pigment and have gotten much beefier.

 

[Sparky4444]

..this is very interesting...good job Casperz! Looks promising for maintaining, at the very least -- some hope for new growth....I have a ****load of those fine, blond hairs that are getting ready to bail, but if I could turn those around, things would be a lot different..

...so basically, you're just going water and cet??

 

[casperz]

Yes, I'm using what the original user on the German forum suggested, except I used 600mg cet in 60ml water. I was reading last week and I think some guys on the German forum are using Propylene Glycol after they dissolve the Citirizine and some are using Vodka. Not sure what the thinking is on the Vodka.