advice needed!

[ludacri$]

what up playas and playettes-

i need some advice. first, some background:

i am 25 years old and first noticed the beginnings of male pattern baldness back in june 2003 (9 mos. ago) as slight bi-temporal recession.

i contacted a dermatologist in july 2003 and went on 1mg propecia/daily.

in early november 2003 i began dr. lee's xandrox 5% day solution and 12.5% xandrox lotion, which i used twice and once per day, respectively (12.5% at night, 5% both morning and night).

i also began rotating nizoral 1% and t-gel shampoo/conditioner every other day.

upon ordering Xandrox15 in late december 2003, i discontinued the 12.5% lotion but continued to use 5% solution twice daily.

in january 2004, i upped the ante and ordered 5% spironolactone cream, which i applied twice daily.

i supplemented this with folligen spray and spironolactone 2% solution about three weeks later.

so here i am, with the following daily regimen and the present duration of each treatment:

1x 1mg propecia (8 mos)
2x 1mL 5% Xandrox (4.5 mos)
1x 1ml Xandrox15 (2.5 mos)
2x 0.5mL 2% spironolactone solution (2 mos)
1x a dab of 5% spironolactone cream (2.5 mos)
1x 5-8 sprays of folligen (2 mos)
1x t-gel or nizoral shampoo

so far, the bi-temporal recession has proceeded, albeit at what seems to be a slightly lower rate than back in the day when i first noticed my condition.

however, there has been visible diffuse thinning where i apply my products (3-4 inches behind the hairline and forward), not to the point where anyone could notice, just to where i notice a difference from 1 year ago, especially out the shower. to date, there has been no regrowth.

so here's my question: regardless of cost, what would you add to (or maybe take away from) my current regimen?

i am thinking of adding revivogen or crinagen to toss some fatty acids into the mix, but am unsure at this point.

holla at me and let me know!!!

perhaps i should wait some more before judging the results of my treatments to date?

help me out if you have any advice, as this slow progression toward no hair is killing me!!!!!!!!!!!

right now I am a Norwood 1.5-2, but can style my hair such that you would never know. there is no other thinning to mention.

 

[The Gardener]

Holy sh*t, if you added any more anti-DHT weapons to your regimen you'll start growing tits! Just kidding... you have a very thorough regimen and hopefully in time you might be able to wean off of some of those products, save yourself some money and hassle and still get results.

My initial feedback to you is that you have not been on any of these products long enough to make any kind of visual judgement as to whether or not they are working. The short-term increase in shedding is not surprising, Minoxidil tends to do that, tends to spur the scalp into ejecting hairs in a transition stage out of the scalp, and it is usually a good sign and a very very common observation. Not only that, but the nine month mark on Finasteride is, from what I have heard here, a very common time to get a finasteride shed.

Give your regimen more time. Stick with it a year and according to the FDA, the odds of being a happy man are very much in your favor. Be patient. Keep in mind that it takes three months for a hair to finish resting state and poke it's little head out of your scalp, and an additional few months for it to grow to any sort of significant length. But, before this even happens, it takes a few months for the chemicals in the treatments to build up in the follicles to even begin the transformations. So, way to early to tell.

If you were me, in the interests of being concise I would wean your stated regmen to the following:

1x 1mg propecia (8 mos)
2x 1mL 5% Xandrox (4.5 mos)
2x 0.5mL 2% spironolactone solution (2 mos)
1x 5-8 sprays of folligen (2 mos)
3-4 times a week t-gel or nizoral shampoo

Drop the 15% Xandrox. Save it for later. Just my two cents.

Good luck, brotha

 

[ludacri$]

thx for the advice my man, duly noted

i always appreciate when someone takes the time to carefully consider my request for advice and responds w/ words of wisdom

now, BUMP!!! anyone else?

-ludacri$

 

[The Gardener]

Hey Ludacri$, one other thing that I JUST noticed.

I would NOT use Nizoral or TGel 3-4 times a week. You NEED to use Nizoral and Nizoral alone three times a week. Nizoral is the bedrock of an male pattern baldness sufferer's shampoo regimen. On the other 4 off days, rotate the TGel and other non-medicated shampoos of your choice.

I say this because the active ingredient in Nizoral has been shown to have some male pattern baldness-fighting properties in addition to it's anti-flake properties. It is one of the 'Big Three' treatments for male pattern baldness for this reason.

 

[Brasileirao]

Nizoral?

I currently use Nizoral every 3 days, so Monday then Friday and so on and so forth. On the days off I use T-Gel only. Is this ok? Or do you mean that T-Gel should not be used in that frequency.

Thanks,
Tony

 

[BadHairDecade]

I agree with Gardener. Use Nizoral at least 3 times per week. Then, if you want, rotate T-gel with your normal shampoo on the other days. I tried T-gel and personally I really don't like the way it smells or how my hair feels after.

BHD

 

[The Gardener]

Re: Nizoral?

I currently use Nizoral every 3 days, so Monday then Friday and so on and so forth. On the days off I use T-Gel only. Is this ok? Or do you mean that T-Gel should not be used in that frequency.

That is okay.

I just noticed your name... are you a Brasileiro, Brasileirao?

 

[Brasileirao]

Brasileiro

Yeah, I'm a brasileiro....with hair loss. I m from Rio De Janeiro One of the most beautiful places in the world!!!!

Thanks for all the replies!!!
Tony

 

[Andrew]

supplement

you might wanna look into taking some green tea, Flax seed or MSM