What to do at the start??

[htownballa]

Hey guys, I just recently noticed how thinned out the frontal part of my hair has become. I can now see scalp an inch into my head when I style my hair or come out of the shower.

Anyways, I started Propecia yesterday, but I am unsure if I should start Rogaine simultaneously. I heard that when you first start treating hairloss it is better to start off with propecia for 8-12 months, then if not satisfied move to Rogaine (minoxidil) in combination. If a person wanted to keep/re-grow as much hair as possible wouldn't this be a mistake as the Rogaine would cease to be as effective as it would've been if used in the very beginning? I understand the point of figuring out which treatment works best and sticking to one, but if you truly wanted as much hair as possible wouldn't you try as many treatments as possible ASAP even though you know you would be stuck doing this forever?

 

[CCS]

I've been arguing with several people on this site about this for some time. Some people here think that if rogaine regrows hair, propecia can't maintain it. I disagree. I think the weakest hairs may need both, but at least 1/2 of the hairs grown that propecia alone would not have regrown will stay even with propecia alone. At least half the people here disagree with me.

You are right to start stuff early. Once hair loss progresses enough, even castration will not stop it, at least not for some of the hairs that are somewhat minaturized. Most people here know that.

Besides making hair longer, which goes away upon stoping, minoxidil also repairs and prevents damage to blood vessels and acts as a synthetic nitric oxide, according to Dr Proctor. Therefore, once propecia stops DHT from signalling the immune system to do further damage (immune suppressant drugs regrow more hair than all other methods combined including castration), the minoxidil can revive more hairs than propecia alone can. Once they are revived (and not just lengthened), propecia can keep them alive. It will not keep their growth cycle accelorated, so some hairs will shorten a bit after you stop using rogaine, but they will not die.

Besides minoxidil, I recommend you also add SOD's, which you can read about on DrProctor.com. They can be found in folligen (cheap) and tricomin and prox-N and american crew spray and other sources.

Since your hairline just started, you may not need topical anti-androgens like I do with my peach fuzz. However, I think spironolactone cream for 6 months will give your propecia the effect of dutasteride 2x per week. It does little by itself, which is the main reason most people don't like it.

Get generic proscar at a US pharmacy and cut it in 4ths. Get generic 5% minoxidil. If you want something stronger, try dutas or something, but at least take 1/8 proscar each day as a back up incase the dutasteride is fake, and don't take more than one dutas every other day.

 

[:Lestat:]

I think you should use propecia & minoxidil together if you want to regrow as much hair as possible, thats what i'm doing.

 

[bubka]

i would just stick with the propecia because most likely it will stop your hairloss or have some regrowth, and i could not imagine putting on minoxidil daily, let alone 2x a day for maybe some fuzz

 

[Follically Challenged]

The more the better, imo. It was 1.5 years before I was seeing good results from Propecia. After 2 years I added minoxidil and i saw a very noticable improvement in just a few months.

My thoughts regarding male pattern baldness are you are going to have to add a bunch of treatments sooner or later because over time some or all of the results you see with finasteride will disappear, and you may wind up with less hair then when you started. Right now I am using spironolactone 5% on the hairline, Folligen, Propecia, Minoxidil, and Ketoconazole 2% and 1% shampoos. In time I will add spironolactone 2% for the rest of my head (and when i grow my hair out drop the 5% from the temples and use 2% there also) and also add the hair serum from skinactives.com which includes Keratinocyte Growth Factor and I will also use topical vitamin D3. It's alot of stuff to use, but i'd rather be safe then sorry.

 

[CCS]

you should ask your girl friend to give you a massage, only instead of rubbing oil on your body, she can rub spironolactone and other stuff on your head!

I'm single so I have to do all that myself.

 

[ANDREW_J_I]

I've been arguing with several people on this site about this for some time. Some people here think that if rogaine regrows hair, propecia can't maintain it. I disagree. I think the weakest hairs may need both, but at least 1/2 of the hairs grown that propecia alone would not have regrown will stay even with propecia alone. At least half the people here disagree with me.

You are right to start stuff early. Once hair loss progresses enough, even castration will not stop it, at least not for some of the hairs that are somewhat minaturized. Most people here know that.

Besides making hair longer, which goes away upon stoping, minoxidil also repairs and prevents damage to blood vessels and acts as a synthetic nitric oxide, according to Dr Proctor. Therefore, once propecia stops DHT from signalling the immune system to do further damage (immune suppressant drugs regrow more hair than all other methods combined including castration), the minoxidil can revive more hairs than propecia alone can. Once they are revived (and not just lengthened), propecia can keep them alive. It will not keep their growth cycle accelorated, so some hairs will shorten a bit after you stop using rogaine, but they will not die.

Besides minoxidil, I recommend you also add SOD's, which you can read about on DrProctor.com. They can be found in folligen (cheap) and tricomin and prox-N and american crew spray and other sources.

Since your hairline just started, you may not need topical anti-androgens like I do with my peach fuzz. However, I think spironolactone cream for 6 months will give your propecia the effect of dutasteride 2x per week. It does little by itself, which is the main reason most people don't like it.

Get generic proscar at a US pharmacy and cut it in 4ths. Get generic 5% minoxidil. If you want something stronger, try dutas or something, but at least take 1/8 proscar each day as a back up incase the dutasteride is fake, and don't take more than one dutas every other day.

i really enjoy reading ur posts. we appreciate the time u take mate. keep it up