23 Y/o Experiencing Hair Loss, Need Help With Regimen.

[zRa]

Hey guys,

So currently ive been experiencing hair loss like the most of us and I am trying to do whatever I can to slow it down as much as possible. When it gets really bad, i'll probably opt for a hair transplant but im currently trying to maintain whatever I have until it gets too bad and I opt for a transplant or hopefully when one of the newer treatments in the pipeline pan out.

Currently I am almost 23 years old and on the Norwood scale im around a NW2. However, my hair is thinning at the front and im guessing it wont last a very very long time without any other regiments. I was wondering if someone can help me with my regimen. I take all kinds of Vitamins daily (D3, B12, Biotin, C, Calcium, Multi Vitamins) and I use Nizoral once a week and I use coconut oil on my hair to strengthen it. I have no intentions to take finasteride as I am terrified of the side effects and for me it just does not make sense to take it. I have faith that in my lifetime, hopefully with tech and now funding male pattern baldness will be solved or they'll be more viable solutions but finasteride I am strictly staying away from.

I was considering using Rogaine, however I had some concerns with it I was hoping some of you can enlighten me on. If i start using rogaine, how severe is the hairloss when you stop using it. Is it just usually limited to the gain or does it accelerate male pattern baldness and you end up losing more. Furthermore, how effective is rogaine on younger individuals and how long can one usually use it for before the results begin to diminish?

I also wash my hair once a week when I use nizoral and I was wondering if this is enough or if I should do more and I rinse my hair just with water after exercising to get rid of the sweat off my head usually once twice a week or sometimes once.

I was thinking of also getting Regenepure kit or Tricomin and if anyone can comment their results with these products and if they have used S5 cream or not and its results.

I'm basically asking what regimen would you guys recommend I follow and what products can I use to inhibit DHT instead of taking propecia/finasteride

I appreciate all your help!

Thanks Guys!

 

[Jim lahey]

Go do some research. I have no clue why youre afraid of rogaine? and none of those vitamins are going to help. atleast start use nizoral as much as possible.

 

[zRa]

Go do some research. I have no clue why youre afraid of rogaine? and none of those vitamins are going to help. atleast start use nizoral as much as possible.

I have been using it once a week so far, do you recommend I use it more? and I believe me seeking advice from this forum would be considered as me researching my options. Trying to get some opinions from actual users rather than just webpages.

 

[CopeForLife]

I have no intentions to take finasteride as I am terrified of the side effects

Chose to be terrified of finasteride or cueball shining head for the rest of your life.

Pick one.

 

[Zoro]

I'm basically asking what regimen would you guys recommend I follow and what products can I use to inhibit DHT instead of taking propecia/finasteride

I appreciate all your help!

Thanks Guys!

Here we go again, you want something that lowers dht like finasteride but not the sides. Not gonna happen. You most likely will get no sides from finasteride anyways.

Your only real alternatives to finasteride at this time are dutasteride (stronger), topical finasteride (still goes systemic) or RU58841. Youre guaranteed to keep losing hair without an anti androgen, minoxidil wont save you.

 

[Agustin Araujo]

Don't bother with any treatment out there except for Finasteride, make getting on that treatment your #1 priority if you're really balding. Minoxidil may be added later on if Finasteride is maintaining your hair well, that is if there is potential for regrowth.

Please don't be afraid of trying Propecia. Side effects happen in a small percentage of men and if they do occur, they'll subside when you quit treatment. I've been on Dutasteride for nearly two years and I haven't suffered the slightest inconvenience from it. The point is, it's not going to hurt to at least try. Who knows, it can grow great for you.

 

[zRa]

I tried taking propecia and I dont know why i had some really bad side effects. Maybe most of it was mental but I was a really bad loss of libido and I just wasn't myself on it with my girlfriend. I don't want to get back on it for those sides. Im not afraid of being bald. I just dont want to be bald in my 20s. 30's,40s,50s and later i could honestly care less at that point but in my 20s would prefer not to be. Would it be a bad idea to start rogaine and no finasteride?

 

[sunchyme1]

"Please don't be afraid of trying Propecia. Side effects happen in a small percentage of men and if they do occur, they'll subside when you quit treatment."

Thousands of guys would disagree with that including me.

Op just using rogaine is totally fine. plenty of guys have maintained for a long time with just that. It depends on how aggressive your hair loss is.

But without something like propecia it won't last forever. But since you aren't too fussed about losing it when your older just using rogaine and nizoral alone can buy you a few years.

And maybe look into some alternative treatments like zix that don't effect dht levels. It won't be as effective propecis but it can definitely help and buy you some more time.

 

[g.i joey]

I tried taking propecia and I dont know why i had some really bad side effects. Maybe most of it was mental but I was a really bad loss of libido and I just wasn't myself on it with my girlfriend. I don't want to get back on it for those sides. Im not afraid of being bald. I just dont want to be bald in my 20s. 30's,40s,50s and later i could honestly care less at that point but in my 20s would prefer not to be. Would it be a bad idea to start rogaine and no finasteride?

Try taking lower doses, if you wanna make it through your 20s and your forelock is thinning already, all the min and nizoral will not save you... believe me man I was just like you, I didn't wanna touch propecia no matter what! Once I hit nw2.5 I realized it was my only option... no sides on my dose right now and I take about .5mg/ day

 

[zRa]

What is Zix can you direct me towards a link towards it? Have any of you guys tried using regenepure or some shampoo with copper in it?

 

[zRa]

I was takin 1mg daily for 3 months and it really hit me hard. Id rather be bald than depressed with lower sex drive. I'd probably opt for a FUE later on and the capital cost of it isnt my concern. My concern is just to maintain what I have now as naturally as possible. I was hoping i could take some topical treatments rather than a pill. Min is my next step to start on but is there any topical ways i can use to inhibit dht even if its not as effective. I heard regenepure was a good kit or a tricomin kit from a little research on the web. Does anyone also have any experience with the S5 cream or a topical version of propecia and if it has the same sides as oral?

Thanks guys!!

 

[zRa]

I also took on a lot of stress with work to the point I was losing my mind stressing and sleep. Ive been trying to avoid stressing now and reducing my levels of anxiety. Im hoping that can reverse some of the damage already done. Maintaining naturally what I have till it gets too bad and I can opt for a FUE/FUT or in time for future treatments. I'm not banking on the ones in the pipeline but id rather maintain as long as I can before a FUE/FUT transplant. Im guessing I have high levels of DHT since i have tons of body hair and sensitive hair. I also had a really shitty regimen as a kid growing up (washing hair every day and shampooing only once a week and never conditioning for as long as I can remember). Im hoping the new regimen im on can help and i use toppik to conceal it a little bit since its not so bad right now that makes it unbearable.

 

[zRa]

its diffuse and thinning around the temples which isn't super bad but more or so its diffused over the scalp and if im able to thicken the hair that i have with some natural treatments it'll greatly hide the problem for some time.

I appreciate everyones help so thank you for taking the time to talk to me about this.

 

[sunchyme1]

Look in the alternative section. There's a bunch of threads on zix there.

And have a look in there in general for other topicals you could use instead of propecia

 

[science_d]

I was takin 1mg daily for 3 months and it really hit me hard. Id rather be bald than depressed with lower sex drive. I'd probably opt for a FUE later on and the capital cost of it isnt my concern. My concern is just to maintain what I have now as naturally as possible. I was hoping i could take some topical treatments rather than a pill. Min is my next step to start on but is there any topical ways i can use to inhibit dht even if its not as effective. I heard regenepure was a good kit or a tricomin kit from a little research on the web. Does anyone also have any experience with the S5 cream or a topical version of propecia and if it has the same sides as oral?

Thanks guys!!

I understand where you're coming from, because I feel the same way about avoiding finasteride if possible. My strategy is to start out with the "natural" treatments and first see how well they work. If you want to start out with natural treatments that are actually effective, these are the ones you want to focus on:

-Minoxidil (twice a day)
-Ketoconazole (the active ingredient in Nizoral shampoo), 3-4 times per week. This ingredient DOES play a role in suppressing DHT in the scalp.

The ONLY shampoos that are demonstrated to be truly effective against male pattern baldness are ones with ketoconazole. It has also been found that the 2% concentration works better than the non-prescription (in the U.S.) 1% concentration (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9669136, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1467-2494.2002.00145.x/abstract). It doesn't matter what the brand name is, as long as the shampoo has keto in it, it can help. Regenepure has ketoconazole in it, but as I understand it, in 1% concentration, which is helpful but not as effective as the 2%.

Another important factor to realize is that you need to stick with a treatment or regimen and use it consistently for 4 -6 months before you would see ANY results. If you see zero positive results after 6 months (a positive result = no further loss and/or actual regrowth), then that treatment or regimen is not enough for you. However, if you do see positive results, then you don't have to add anything to your regimen if you are content.

Another natural treatment that may be effective (according to some studies, e.g., http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dsu.12200/abstract) is low-level laser therapy. I plan to test this out on myself more thoroughly to see if it actually produces results, and hopefully I will be able to share my results here after 6 months. But I just wanted to make you aware of it as another possible treatment that is natural.

 

[zRa]

I understand where you're coming from, because I feel the same way about avoiding finasteride if possible. My strategy is to start out with the "natural" treatments and first see how well they work. If you want to start out with natural treatments that are actually effective, these are the ones you want to focus on:

-Minoxidil (twice a day)
-Ketoconazole (the active ingredient in Nizoral shampoo), 3-4 times per week. This ingredient DOES play a role in suppressing DHT in the scalp.

The ONLY shampoos that are demonstrated to be truly effective against male pattern baldness are ones with ketoconazole. It has also been found that the 2% concentration works better than the non-prescription (in the U.S.) 1% concentration (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9669136, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1467-2494.2002.00145.x/abstract). It doesn't matter what the brand name is, as long as the shampoo has keto in it, it can help. Regenepure has ketoconazole in it, but as I understand it, in 1% concentration, which is helpful but not as effective as the 2%.

Another important factor to realize is that you need to stick with a treatment or regimen and use it consistently for 4 -6 months before you would see ANY results. If you see zero positive results after 6 months (a positive result = no further loss and/or actual regrowth), then that treatment or regimen is not enough for you. However, if you do see positive results, then you don't have to add anything to your regimen if you are content.

Another natural treatment that may be effective (according to some studies, e.g., http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dsu.12200/abstract) is low-level laser therapy. I plan to test this out on myself more thoroughly to see if it actually produces results, and hopefully I will be able to share my results here after 6 months. But I just wanted to make you aware of it as another possible treatment that is natural.

Thank you for your help. I think i will add Rogaine to my regimen along with Nizoral and i currently use the 2% one. I have tried low laser therapy and It didnt do much for me but then again the clinic I went too had some photos of their clients before and after a few months and some had considerable differences and others didnt. Let me know how your venture goes with it and maybe ill consider trying it again. I did it twice a week for about 3 months and saw not even the slightest improvement in mine. Maybe i gave up on it too soon.

 

[spring15]

I had sides from finasteride after 1 month, stopped right away, sides wore off eventually. Though apparently sometimes they're permanent in some people. I'm glad I tried finasteride all the same, didn't want to die wondering!

 

[smyth01]

If you scared on finasteride sides just get your Test/DHT tested first. If they are in check chances are you wont get sides. Low Test or DHT/ high estrogen are all big no no's when it comes to finasteride/dutasteride.

 

[zRa]

If you scared on finasteride sides just get your Test/DHT tested first. If they are in check chances are you wont get sides. Low Test or DHT/ high estrogen are all big no no's when it comes to finasteride/dutasteride.

I will go to my doctor on monday and ask to get tested for my DHT levels. Once i have the result, then I can decide more appropriately.

I had sides from finasteride after 1 month, stopped right away, sides wore off eventually. Though apparently sometimes they're permanent in some people. I'm glad I tried finasteride all the same, didn't want to die wondering!

I was thinking the same but the permanent damage to me is what scares me the most. I'll probably try Smyth01's advice and see where to go from there. Id rather just get a hair transplant because I'm not so sensitive to the cost but rather worry about the permanent damage finasteride can do to me. Money I can earn again once its spent but permanent health damage is not so appealing to me especially because I am young and some people have reported cases of infertility even though there is not much legitimacy to it, it still scares me away. I'd rather not live my life in paranoia and fear of finasteride while on it.

 

[zRa]

I am also going to see a trichologist to see whether or not there may be other underlying issues thats causing my hairloss. My dad didnt lose his hair till he was like 40 and im only 23. I know it works differently as I have way more body hair all over my body than my dad so that might indicate really high levels of DHT compared to my dad who almost has minimal to none. My scalp is also really itchy and I do stress a lot due to work as I work in a very competitive environment and I am hoping that maybe this isnt linked to the DHT and maybe this is just temporary hair loss that I may be able to reverse. I was not so bad just 5 months ago and today it looks 100x worse. However, I did take on a lot more stress in the past year as a whole