I found a doctor who specialises in hair loss, but also dispenses the drugs himself - a conflict of interest, so I'd appreciate neutral advice from you guys to balance the scales!
He prescribes a combo of: finasteride (or finpecia), minoxidil (I think 5%), a "serum" with ketoconazole and other stuff (his own concoction), and a shampoo (his own concoction). The serum and shampoo have every ingredient with even anecdotal benefit to decreasing Androgenetic Alopecia (he's just trying to cover all bases and charge more for questionable junk you'd typically find on the vitamin shelf in your local drugstore). This is really suspect, but he has loads of happy patients.
My questions:
- Can such a complicated combo cause more harm than good? Most doctors prescribe finasteride alone.
- You guys have actual long-term experience, so what combos are typically advised? finasteride+min or finasteride+shampoo or ...?
- NB NB NB I want to do baseline blood tests before starting treatment, as advised in these forums. What should I test? Free testosterone, DHT, what else?
Any advice would be really appreciated!
He prescribes a combo of: finasteride (or finpecia), minoxidil (I think 5%), a "serum" with ketoconazole and other stuff (his own concoction), and a shampoo (his own concoction). The serum and shampoo have every ingredient with even anecdotal benefit to decreasing Androgenetic Alopecia (he's just trying to cover all bases and charge more for questionable junk you'd typically find on the vitamin shelf in your local drugstore). This is really suspect, but he has loads of happy patients.
My questions:
- Can such a complicated combo cause more harm than good? Most doctors prescribe finasteride alone.
- You guys have actual long-term experience, so what combos are typically advised? finasteride+min or finasteride+shampoo or ...?
- NB NB NB I want to do baseline blood tests before starting treatment, as advised in these forums. What should I test? Free testosterone, DHT, what else?
Any advice would be really appreciated!