Conflicting advice on hair loss- who to trust?!!

[blondguy]

So I just got back from my dermo (who is suppose to be one of the best in NYC) He is really nice, super supportive with me and takes time to answer all my questions. But when I asked him questions a lot of the answers seemed to conflict with what I heard here.

I was worried about rogaine and hearing about how if you have not had a DHT inhibitor effectively stop your hairloss it would result in periods of hair growth followed by 6 month breaks of massive sheds where you ultimately are still going bald but in a far more dramatic/stressful way. (and getting raccoon eyes!)

Doctor- Said rogaine is just another medication that STOPS hair loss, but is different in that it has been found to be far more effective in also stimulating hair growth. He also dismissed my worries on those big 6 month sheds. (well at least he tried)

After taking propecia and finding no side effects what-so-ever I started to wonder if this message board is sometimes fueled with fear rather then solid advice? Do people on here over blow the negatives of rogaine?


But maybe my doctor is not as informed as his reputation makes it seem. So its making me feel like everywhere I am getting hair loss advice is not an accurate source.

I want to trust the professional, and I want to trust the individuals going through this with me, but nothing seems exactly right. I don't know what sources to trust anymore. I just hate the thought I am loosing more hair then I would ever have to because I am plagued with fears.

 

[abcdefg]

The reason you get conflicting answers is because honestly no one knows exactly. Everyone just has their own unique experience trying these and everyone responds differently. The doctor has probably more experience with many people so I would just go by what he says but realize you might have difference experience.

 

[blondguy]

Well experience does not have anything to do with the classification and use of certain drugs. Its hard to plan a hair loss plan tactically when everyone is saying the tools to fight such a battle all do different things. But I do see what your saying.

 

[Benjamin36]

One thing you need to understand about forums like this one is that many of the people who are members here have had bad experiences with some of the medications and only came here to find out more about hair loss, while others who had success on treatments go on with their everyday lives, and haven't been on a hair loss forum in their life. I as an example, only came here because after starting finasteride I had a huge shed, and wanted to find out more about it. I can confidently say that if all went well while on finasteride, I wouldn't have come here at all.

 

[DoctorHouse]

Blondguy, you have to understand that every individual has a totally different genetic make up. Rogaine and Propecia have been proven to work successfully(especially when used at the same time) on the majority of the population. Your doctor is going to experience first hand these cases as this is his profession. From his experience maybe he has seen cases where Rogaine actually "stopped" someone from going bald. However, he is implying that this is a "cure". It is a universal well known fact that Rogaine is not a cure. Neither is Propecia. I told you in the other thread of yours that Rogaine is just a growth stimulator. Its not a cure. Its not a DHT blocker. As far as shedding, I just read on another site some very interesting perspective from a scientist. He said people with minor hair loss or balding will shed less than people with more aggressive balding or thinning when they introduce treatments like Rogaine or Propecia. So right there you know the general population is going to experience different amounts of shedding. For me, I never had a major shed ever. Why? Because I am fortunate to have minor hair loss or my male pattern baldness progression is at a snail's pace. When I had my sheds, it was always less than 100 hairs, so my sheds would all be considered normal sheds as most people shed 50 to 100 hairs per day anyway. There are no guarantees in life except death and taxes. You may do fine on Rogaine and have very little shedding. Not only that you may not have any sides. However, you are never going to know the outcome of any these factors unless you try Rogaine for yourself. Please keep us updated on your experience. I am curious to see how you do. If you live in fear, you will lose out on many opportunities in life. Life is all about risks. Just because a person has an 8 year college degree in the study of medicine, does not mean everything that comes out of their mouth is carved in stone. I have seen cases in the medical field that just go against the norm and almost make no sense but they happen.

Doctors can only speculate the outcome of every patient based on known facts and experience. There is no doctor in this world that can accurately predict the outcome of every patient's reaction to a medical treatment. Just like in life, medicine has its mysterious cases too. Medicine has its uncertainty too. If you want to find out if something works, you are just going to have to try it. If you fear the outcome, then don't bother taking the risk. The good thing about the human body is it will tell you when to quit treatments immediately as it will react negatively to them. However, some just keep taking them regardless of the sides simply because they feel the outcome outweighs the risks.

I have taken the risks so far even with experiencing fear while doing so. I like to run my own testing so I can experience the proof first hand and report back my experiences on here. If you don't want to believe me, that's fine but I report what I see. Your doctor's job is to educate you as much as he can but he can never predict your outcome. I really think you should give Rogaine a try and stop worrying about all the negative posts you read on here about Rogaine. I read plenty of them for years, and it never stopped me from using it. One day, I just decided to take a break from it and I noticed my hair did not change much without it and the best part was my skin looked better. My eye irritation went away, my face was less puffy, my bags under my eyes were less and my scalp was not as dry. I have been on and off Rogaine a few times to see if this might have been a coincidence. I got the same outcome every time. I think the 5 per cent is too strong for me as Proxiphen has about 2 per cent and I get no sides from it. It has no alcohol in it too so that might help me too.

 

[Quantum Cat]

wonder if this message board is sometimes fueled with fear rather then solid advice?

yep. especially where Finasteride is concerned

- - - Updated - - -

. Just because a person has an 8 year college degree in the study of medicine, does not mean everything that comes out of their mouth is carved in stone. .

so true - I never trusts doctors 100% because they can often vary so wildly on their knowledge and opinions. I've heard of guys wating to start on Propecia because they're experiencing male pattern baldness - they go to their GP who has never heard of Finasteride, the GP looks it up in their book, sees the part about possible sexual dysfunction, and rules out prescribing Propecia. So the guy goes away and his hair continues to fall out.

whereas if that same guy had gone to a different doctor who actually knew about male pattern baldness and the treatments, he would have been prescribed Propecia. Always get second opinions

 

[Kuit]

good thread. I read so many bad stories about finasteride. People with good experiences with finasteride will likely not post it here. I was taking alprazolam for a long time against axienty and DAMN that **** works really good!
But many people on forums are complaining about the side effects, i never had any. I never post how good alprazolam worked for me.

 

[john pearson]

why don't you ask your doctor why you're getting different sound tones from other people. He will remove those doubts from your head if they exist. Most doctors think that you didn't do your research before you ran to their office, so they treat you like a Mis-informed person. But when you tell them, "I've done some research and here is what I found, what do you think" Your doctor will most probably put himself in your shoes and respond appropriately.