[Shirazmn]

I talked about this a little in my other thread, but since it has nothing to do with boobs I'll make a new post here.

I have been balding since I was 16 and now I have a large bald patch on top of my head. Alopecia aerata.
I noticed that PM helps regrowing some hair. A friend has suggested I use Minoxidil 10% and finesteride. Finasteride is hard o find in the UK because apparently you need a doctor's prescription, and on top of that a couple of people suggested I avoid it entirely as it has some side effects on the mood. So I bought Saw Palmetto that seems to stop the conversion of Testosterone into DHT.

My current regime is
1 450mg Saw Palmetto in the morning
1 450mg Saw Palmetto at lunch time
1 500mg Ainterol Pueraria Mirifica before dinner

My logic is that SP should do something about the higher testosterone in the morning, and PM should then be free to work at night. (SP also seems to block estrogens in some way).

Any experience, resuls, ideas?
I started Minoxidil about 1 month ago along with PM (500 / 1000 mg/day inconsistently) and I think I see some peach fuzz growing where there was nothing before. Worringly, at the same time I think I see a thinning of the hair on top of my forehead. Weird. I had to slow down with PM because it's making my boobs grow a bit too quickly right now.
I only added SP yesterday so it's early for me to tell if this regime works or not, but I'll update this thread as soon as I can see a difference, be it positive or negative.

[PaulaJ]

I've had pretty good results doing something similar with PM and SP and have been using minoxidyl for about a year.

I also try to have a cup of spearmint tea in the evening to lower overall T levels, though I'm not as good at remembering to do that.

I also have been washing my hair with Ketoconazole shampoo, Nizoral brand. It supposedly reduces DHT at the scalp level. Really it just dries out the natural oil almost completely, it's mainly marketed as a dandruff shampoo, but I guess the natural oil has DHT in it. You are going to want to use a lot of conditioner if you try it.

[Shirazmn]

Thank you Paula.
I'm going to look into that shampoo.


Good to know that this regime could lead somewhere.
Can I ask you how much PM and SP you were taking?

[Dianna1395]

Hello, Shirazm,


I went straight to Good Looking Loser's site, since he had good articles on shampoo for hair loss.
Seems the search won't work...
So, here's what I COULD get:

• A few I recall about in no particular order, RegenpureDR, Lipogaine Big 3, DS Laboratories Revita AntiDHT Shampoo, Toppik, Nizoral, Shampoo, Strong Hair Pro hair loss shampoo
  

GLL forum entry

Alternative option, Reishi Mushroom is supposedly as good as Finasteride. However, there are two forms of DHT, and Finasteride blocks only one of them. I needed to use Dutasteride to block the other form - but that has the same side effects as Finasteride, which can make sex very unfulfilling, from the Penetration side. (Giving or getting, it affects the prostate and the head.)
Reishi doesn't SEEM to cause the second effect.

But these approaches did not work for me at all. Estrogen works, loosens up the scalp allowing more blood flow, which is also what Nizoral and Minoxidil do. You could also use topical Niacin, the flush kind (nicotinnic acid) will also cause massive blood vessel dilation (dependent on dose), and that would help as well. You'll have to endure a flush like a sunburn. It will also help with cholesterol, so consider the overall picture. You'd want to start at like 500 mg and go up. For cholesterol cleansing, it was work up to 8 grams/day. I think i'd pop, I wouldn't recommend going over 2 grams. If you're on anticoagulants, don't do it. If on heart medicines, talk to a doctor, and probably don't do it.
Note the "extended release" form of niacin, niacinimide, won't have any useful effects for this.

You could also consider topical creams and ointments, or making your own tinctures. Jojoba oil for penetration; coconut oil for nutrients and fats; sandalwod oil for possible hair regrowth. (No effect for me).
Also heard of onion juice for hair growth. Had good effects, but hair growth wasn't one of them.

Lastly, drink spearmint and green tea. Especially if you're trying to get skinny, there are diets built on drinking tea. (White, Green, and a calming tea at night. For us, Fennel would be good. It was like 4-6 cups/day. I find white to be excellent, green is tolerable, fennel is good, and you can blend them, too. White stops fat gain, green helps you lose it. White does, too, but it's almost tasteless.) You could also use Mother's Milk or Female tea (custom blend we have in Salem, Mass) or distill tea from the herbs. Maybe use White Willow. Don't bother combining white peony and spearmint, spearmint removes free testosterone from the blood stream, and white peony is an aromatase enhancer, so they're at cross purposes. I'd suggest considering Zen tea (Tazo, I think), which has spearmint, green tea, and lemongrass, which is also a phytoestrogen. Or, blend your own - I have a 40 oz mug I try to use three times a day.

Another route to consider is, go vegan, or at least: NO red meat. Red meat has cholesterol, dietary cholesterol helps in creation of testosterone. However, the body can make its own cholesterol...  So YMMV. We've been doing Purple Carrot, which is vegan meals. It's pretty good, surprisingly filling, and it will kill the testosterone, based on my experience.

A few notes, though: I've got receded hairline. Thinning on top. Got that at about 21. I can feel the thickened tissues of the scalp, and even drinking gallons of water (up to 3) in a day had no effect.
But pharma estrogen always does...
Spearmint helps a little, PM helps a little.

But I haven't regrown hair from any of these methods... I think the most I've gotten is better circulation, leading to healthier hair.

Regrowth is a problem, and until we either build nanotech to move hair follicles from arms & legs to head... I think we're pretty much screwed by mother nature. She's a stone cold bitch sometimes.  ;-)  :-(

Wish you the best. See what you can do, keep trying things, because without knowing the cause, you'll be guessing at a fix.

-Dianna

(I noticed you're drinking Spearmint tea, but I left that part in, it just made sense as written. ;-) )

Edit: Poking around GLL's forums, I found this "https://www.goodlookingloser.com/forums/hair-loss-prevention/134762-ru58841-overview"
And they're talking about an unknown substance, but I wanted to edit this in quickly. RU58841 seems to only affect the scalp? Unsure but I'll keep digging.

[Shirazmn]

Hi Dianna, thanks a lot for that!
It will take me a while to digest the amount of information and check all the sources. Thank you very much.

On some of the ponts: I love my read meat. I know that it's supposed to be bad for hair, but I have a vegetarian colleague with a vegan girlfriend and he too is losing his hair so.... I'll stick to the steak for now
Also, when I take PM I drink loads of milk and eat as much cheese as I can (for science, obviously) so veganism is really not for me.

Green tea is doable. I am not a big fan, but I have some at work and I could start drinking it more frequently. I don't drink spearmint tea. I don't like the taste of mint in any form, so that's really beyond me.

I'll have a look soon at all the other advices.
For the moment, thanks a lot again!

[PaulaJ]

Shirazmn, I usually just take 500mg PM and 300mg SP.

I've went through a few months of taking 1000mg PM, but that was more for breast growth. My hair regrowth pretty much got me back to where I was about 4 years ago. That's about as much as one is likely to get, from everything I read.

It's still a little thin, but it usually looks OK as long as it's dry.

[Shirazmn]

Hi Paula, thank you.
I understand that sparse and thin is as good as it can be. I have no illusion of a full head of thick long hair, unfortunately.

It may be wishful thinking but since I started Minoxidil with PM a month ago I can feel a peach fuzz on my head. The Minoxidil box says that this is how regrowth starts but it will take months to get thicker and dark. Let's wait...
In the meantime the SP added to the little PM I am taking is doing a number and my breasts are swelling like crazy. Go figure....

[Dianna1395]

One more option, progesterone cream blocks DHT. Not sure if it washes the receptors for estrogen, too - Maybe Lotus can confirm?
But some on the scalp might help.



Also found info on RU58841, https://moreplatesmoredates.com/ru58841/

You'd have to do your own research, I havent' tried it.

-Dianna

[CM213]

For regrowth, unfortunately the only solution is fair follicle transplant. 

If you have slight receded hairline and some thinning I think the methods here could help make the hair you have thicker again. But once the follicle is dead and gone thats it. 

I fall in the later category. My hair line has receded, and the top has thinned quite alot, it doesn't help that the color is lighter on top while the sides are darker. I looked into hair follicle transplant and the cheapest I've found is in Eastern Europe. Nothing I have tried really reversed the thinning what so ever. I used the Rogan systems, I've used the shampoos and conditioners like that claim to treat hair loss, even the expensive ones from sophora like nioxin. Non worked. 

Only thing I can say was that the short time I used nbe and pm specifically my hair did get darker all around. Couldn't tell about thickness but it did get darker. So I wonder what affects  legitimate HRT would have.