Wasting my $ or might this work? Pics & Plan

[kyley]

Hi All,
First post here. I'm about to turn 39, I'm newly single, and would like to improve my hair to look my best... I'm about to give some treatments a try - unless someone talks me out of it! It seems my hair has only gotten slightly worse over the last 10 years (sure hasn't gotten better tho!). Here are a couple pictures from today:



I'd love to get some / most of it back, but fear the most likely result is just keeping what I have? Anyway, I've done some reading and likely going to try the following products. I will NOT try Finasteride - not even going to take a chance on the sexual and other side-effects... Having hair isn't *that* important to me. So, this is what I'm considering:

1. Rogaine Foam 5%
2. Topical Spironolactone S5
3. Revivogen (plus shampoo)
- Revivogen + S5 to attempt finasteride benefits without side effects. How likely tho? And should I get both of these products (S5 & Revivo) or is one of the two sufficient?
4. Nizoral shampoo every 2-3 days (Revivogen shampoo on the other days) - I also considered RegenePure DR, but it's 1% keto...

It looks like this will total about $82 per month (using Kirkland Minoxidil foam, Nizoral from Amazon, and the other products from GourmetStyleWellness). Think I'm wasting my money with the S5 and/or Revivogen? Those are the two most expensive components of my regimen... Can I have some growth success with just minoxidil & Nizoral? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
--Kyle

 

[kyley]

So after thinking this through more, I'm going to skip Revivogen & shampoo and just do minoxidil foam, S5 cream, and nizoral shampoo. Any suggestions for (inexpensive) shampoos for the off-days of nizoral? Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[Tony10]

Bump

 

[The_Mentalist]

Since OP has ruled out adamantly the primary and most proven treatment. I would suggest this

I would keep minoxidil 5% for stimulating the follicles. There was a picture I saw of someone using minoxidil, even past his middle age with extensive loss all over, actually had very nice hair growth with full thick frontal hairline in the middle. The pictures looked real and nothing was fake. Plus, some derms even suggest that minoxidil definitely grows back 20% of lost hair including in frontal. Go for liquid, not Foam, another gimmick which is expensive and less efficient in actual work that it should do.

And since you have expansive loss, I would go for Nizoral 2%, not 1%, to tackle the inflammation of hair follicles.

I would completely avoid S5 for now. I have yet to hear real story of someone, who had used ONLY S5 cream and had some positive results to show us. You can always add this later after you see how minoxidil/nizoral work for you. If anyone can tell us any reviews on S5 cream?

Revivogen has mixed reviews, at best, that I have understood. The price is exorbitant. I would never go for such marketing gimmicks. The ingredients it has, such as SAw Palmetto, B6, Zinc etc., can be inexpensively bought. You may take them orally-most those ingredients are beneficial for general health anyway.

Also read one of my previous posts about making a solution of nizoral shampoo with Azelaic Acid, and possibly with spironolactone to get the Anti-Androgen benefit that Revivogen provides.

I don't use mass merchandised shampoos, so I could not tell you what less expensive shampoo is out there for just general hair benefits.

With above two treatments (minoxidil and nizoral/AA/spironolactone), you are applying somewhat multi-prong approach to Androgenetic Alopecia, by stimulating the follicles, and tackling the follicle inflammation part; (and possibly tackling the Androgen destruction with nizoral./AA/spironolactone solution).The idea is to keep your treatments simple. Not knowing what works and what not and to what degree is very frustrating on a long run.


Lastly, I would be very interested in seeing your progress. I think you should see some dramatic benefits with minoxidil.

 

[Anon587]

I had some advice from a relative who is bald (I have a receding hairline at 18 and my cousins etc are all NW7 bald by 25)

He told me "When your hair starts going at the back as well as the front, it's time to shave it".

I agree with him. Honestly, with propecia, minoxidil, keto, saw palmetto or any other "remedy", I seriously doubt your hair regrowth will be very significant.