divinemissj
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Hi everyone,
I am a 39 year-old female. I first noticed thinning on the top-front of my head in 2005, along with intensive itching and scalp breakouts. At first I just thought it was stress after my divorce and went to one of those 'hair clinics', they diagnosed seborrhea and sold me all kinds of expensive shampoos and fancy treatments. The shampoos helped the itching but did nothing for the hair loss which was slowly getting worse. After lots of research I decided to go on the Pill in 2006 (Yasmin, the one with drospirenone which is an anti-androgen) Yasmin was successful at halting the massive shedding and most of the itching and I did get a bit of regrowth after a few months but not much.
Several visits to my GP and a derm were useless, they just said it was stress and prescribed Clobetasol and Nizoral for the scalp itching (works well) they did all kinds of blood tests, my thyroid was a bit low but they did nothing as it bounced around from low to normal every time I went for a follow-up test. My ferritin was low so I took iron supplements and brought it back up to normal, but still no regrowth.
I self-diagnosed FPB - my father had advanced male pattern baldness and tons of hair loss on both sides of the family, and all my female cousins on my father's side all have thinning hair as does my aunt. It's hard for a woman to accept FPB but at this point I had no other reasonable explanation. When you start looking around it's amazing how many other women are dealing with this problem as well.
So!! now I had to try and grow my hair back. I was using Toppik fibers and a deep side part to hide the thinning on top. I had used Rogaine solution and foam, and Spectral DNC previously but never with any consistency b/c of side effects so I decided to give it a year of consistent use and re-evaluate, at this point I didn't have a ton of options.
I started with the Safeway minoxidil liquid 5% 1X a day before bed (2X a day makes my face puffy and I get facial hair growth), used up 3 bottles of that (6 months). Powered through the dread shed, noticed regrowth sprouts after 3-4 months. Unfortunately, my scalp was really itchy and tender from the PPG. I switched to Dr. Lee's PPG-free Xandrox (with 5% azelaic acid) and no itchies! Went through 3 bottles. My nightly application regimen became automatic. The PPG-free minoxidil has a glycerin base and it is greasier so I cut my hair to make daily shampooing and drying faster. Well after 12 more months of Dr. Lee's my part is back to normal and I have nice terminal hairs on the top of my head, and still growing new sprouts. I've never had very dense hair on the top to start with, so I wasn't expecting better than what I had before the hair loss, and right now I am back to where I was before, with maybe a bit thinner on the very top, but really not noticeable. I don't need to use Toppik anymore. :hump:
At the moment I am using Dr. Lee's PPG-free minoxidil 5%, still once a day. Once a day application worked for me, and I don't have the side effects I did with 2X a day application. I just use a mild shampoo for color-treated hair, I don't use a fancy hair loss shampoo, and I take a multi-vitamin with a hair vitamin supplement. I also use Dr. Pickart's Hair Signals cream on the thinner parts in hopes of giving the follicles an extra boost. Hair signals also has several anti-DHT ingredients.
Hopefully my story can help other ladies dealing with hair loss, really the secret is to be consistent with your regimen and don't give up.
I am a 39 year-old female. I first noticed thinning on the top-front of my head in 2005, along with intensive itching and scalp breakouts. At first I just thought it was stress after my divorce and went to one of those 'hair clinics', they diagnosed seborrhea and sold me all kinds of expensive shampoos and fancy treatments. The shampoos helped the itching but did nothing for the hair loss which was slowly getting worse. After lots of research I decided to go on the Pill in 2006 (Yasmin, the one with drospirenone which is an anti-androgen) Yasmin was successful at halting the massive shedding and most of the itching and I did get a bit of regrowth after a few months but not much.
Several visits to my GP and a derm were useless, they just said it was stress and prescribed Clobetasol and Nizoral for the scalp itching (works well) they did all kinds of blood tests, my thyroid was a bit low but they did nothing as it bounced around from low to normal every time I went for a follow-up test. My ferritin was low so I took iron supplements and brought it back up to normal, but still no regrowth.
I self-diagnosed FPB - my father had advanced male pattern baldness and tons of hair loss on both sides of the family, and all my female cousins on my father's side all have thinning hair as does my aunt. It's hard for a woman to accept FPB but at this point I had no other reasonable explanation. When you start looking around it's amazing how many other women are dealing with this problem as well.
So!! now I had to try and grow my hair back. I was using Toppik fibers and a deep side part to hide the thinning on top. I had used Rogaine solution and foam, and Spectral DNC previously but never with any consistency b/c of side effects so I decided to give it a year of consistent use and re-evaluate, at this point I didn't have a ton of options.
I started with the Safeway minoxidil liquid 5% 1X a day before bed (2X a day makes my face puffy and I get facial hair growth), used up 3 bottles of that (6 months). Powered through the dread shed, noticed regrowth sprouts after 3-4 months. Unfortunately, my scalp was really itchy and tender from the PPG. I switched to Dr. Lee's PPG-free Xandrox (with 5% azelaic acid) and no itchies! Went through 3 bottles. My nightly application regimen became automatic. The PPG-free minoxidil has a glycerin base and it is greasier so I cut my hair to make daily shampooing and drying faster. Well after 12 more months of Dr. Lee's my part is back to normal and I have nice terminal hairs on the top of my head, and still growing new sprouts. I've never had very dense hair on the top to start with, so I wasn't expecting better than what I had before the hair loss, and right now I am back to where I was before, with maybe a bit thinner on the very top, but really not noticeable. I don't need to use Toppik anymore. :hump:
At the moment I am using Dr. Lee's PPG-free minoxidil 5%, still once a day. Once a day application worked for me, and I don't have the side effects I did with 2X a day application. I just use a mild shampoo for color-treated hair, I don't use a fancy hair loss shampoo, and I take a multi-vitamin with a hair vitamin supplement. I also use Dr. Pickart's Hair Signals cream on the thinner parts in hopes of giving the follicles an extra boost. Hair signals also has several anti-DHT ingredients.
Hopefully my story can help other ladies dealing with hair loss, really the secret is to be consistent with your regimen and don't give up.