Kenaz73

I decided to quit Avodart last month after about 1 year because of the recent research on the possible long term effect. That and my libido seemed to finally be affected by it.

Since I wasn't too thrilled of just leaning on Regain for damage control on my hairline, which hadn't been dazzling anyway so far, I decided to pursue my experiment with topicals. I dropped the one I was on - Vit C serum- because it was a pain to apply being oil-based.

My goal was still to look for active ingredients that stimulate the skin's biochemistry hoping it would somehow make my scalp healthier and maybe wake up those lazy miniaturized follicles. I also wanted a topical anti-androgen to make up for the discontinued oral treatment.

After poring over skin-related research, I went for two components that fit my criteria. 2.5 weeks into the new regimen, I'd say my hairloss has decreased by 40-50% to something like a max of 30-40 hairs a day. My hair also looks a lot less oily after a couple of days without being washed, which was a major hassle for me.

The other improvement is I'm now making a water-based lotion. It lets me use a pipette to go through the hair then I just let it run down my scalp without creating collateral mess.

I don't want to be too excited about it yet because for all I know at least part of the improvement could have been caused be me getting off Avodart. I'm going to keep at it at least 1 1/2 month to see if things fizzles. There are a couple more ingredients I'm also planning on adding based on their skin cell pampering properties.

I'll keep you updated.

Fat cells in the skin have been identified as the source of chemicals needed to make hair grow, according to researchers in the US.

 

 

Experiments on mice, reported in the journal Cell, suggested hair stem cells were controlled by fat.

 

 

Injecting a type of fat cell stimulated hair growth in mice which otherwise struggled to grow hair.

 

 

The Yale University team says it may be possible to use the findings to one day restart hair growth to reverse balding.

Follicles

 

They said there was a four-fold increase in the number of "precursor" fat cells in the skin around a hair follicle when it started to grow.

They looked at defective mice which could not produce these fat cells. Hair normally grows in cycles, but in the defective mice - the follicles had become trapped in the dormant phase of the cycle.

Scientists injected fat cells from healthy mice into the defective mice. Two weeks later, hair follicles had started to grow.

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14746365#story_continues_2][/url]

 

They showed that precursor fat cells were producing a chemical - a platelet-derived growth factor - at 100 times the level of surrounding cells.

Injecting the growth factor into the skin of defective mice could kick-start growth in 86% of follicles.

 

 

The study proposed: "That [fat] precursor cells secrete platelet-derived growth factor to promote hair growth."

 

 

The US team is continuing to look for other chemicals which may be involved.

However, it is not known if the same chemical processes take place in humans.

Previous studies in men have shown that bald parts of the scalp had the same number of hair stem cells as hairy areas.

 

 

Prof Valerie Horsley, from Yale University, said: "If we can get these fat cells in the skin to talk to the dormant stem cells at the base of hair follicles, we might be able to get hair to grow again."

 

 

The study suggested the fat cells could have other functions involving stem cells such as tumour formation or healing wounds.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14746365

I believe the technique is legit. What I'm concerned about is the technicians' skill. also that only 70-80% of the donor area may regrow. I'm wondering if they ever do a second op for the donor area.

Since you've done the research and I'm too lazy to dig it again. Where does the decimal in 2.6 hair yielded / hair plucked come from? I assume 2 is the hair plucked + the one regrowing.

How long did it start to have a visible effect? and how often do you apply it?

I recently ordered 1 bottle for $15 for testing purposes. I've used 1 drop at a time, 3 times a few days apart. Nothing to report but wasn't expecting results yet with so little used.

It would seem like shedding is more common with foam so you may want to start with lotion. If you go with regular one and end up having irritation or seborrhoea dermatis, switch to a propylene glycol free version. Wait a few months, and if results aren't satisfying you can give foam a shot.

If you're afraid of how it may look first, apply it on a test area.

I've switched to Foam in the morning about 3 weeks ago. I'm on PG free minox in the evening because I was afraid of shedding if going all Foam. I seem to be getting regrowth in the frontal area but I want to see how far it goes before getting too excited about it.

I think Foam gets absorbed better than lotion btw.

1) Should I stay on this program and keep paying him?

What would you answer to this question if it had been asked by one of your friends who went through this instead of you?

If I were you, I'd make an appointment with a doc to try propecia. Then maybe let your scalp rest a few weeks, and switch to minox without propylene glycol. It's what irritated your scalp. Either get a lotion with glycerin instead or foam. And last but not least, learn to relax because stress may play a big part in your hair not growing anymore.

What's in your pills?

Quick note on poor nutrition. Sometimes too much good stuff can be detrimental to hair. Many brands of supplements have zinc and vitamin A that are well known for making hair fall out when in excess. Some people using a form of vitamin A topically also reported problems due to whatever paltry amount of systemic absorption.

There also was a case of selenium poisoning that had the same effect...

Vitamin Supplement Causes 200 to Lose Hair, Fingernails - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News - FOXNews.com

I have no emotional attachment to Dr Gho and don't care either if transplants have been aesthetically successful because either he or his assistants have less than optimal skills. My point is is it possible the formula he came up with be effective? And I think it is.

I'm still sticking to my previous opinion. The point of a clinic isn't to offer the best services possible, it's to make money. If a clinic with skilled surgeons has its hands full with the current technique, I don't see what's their incentive to invest in training and research. Plucking is also much slower so they'd have to either hire more staff or raise the price tag per client to keep the same profit margin. Or like FinHairLoss hinted make their techies fastforward the job.

You could put a little more thoughts in your spams. For example, why ask your order be processed asap? It's something that would only make sense if contacting the seller of said product.

that's not what I was alluding to...

 

Gho or his surgeons aren't really renowned for their skills at implanting. Feller and some other doctors approved on this site are.

 

My question is... why isn't a hair restoration coalition member not performing this procedure if it works.

 

Why would they want to go through the hassle of learning a new technique, figuring out their own version of Gho's proprietary formula, test it out over x months if their hands are already full with clients? The operation itself is also a lot more time consuming and the profit margin likely shrinks from it.

Be careful with zinc. Not enough of it can cause hairloss but so does too much. I think it ends up inhibiting another mechanism of the growth process.

Thank you. Looks very promising. I just wish they had included pics of the recipient area.

I didn't mean to sound negative. It's still a big breakthrough compared to old-school HT in that you don't get the trauma of having your scalp sliced through. And they say it somehow creates an average of 2.5 follicle/follicle plucked. Was the hair plucked in a strip or here and there to make it less conspicuous?

Sounds interesting. It's not Hair multiplication but "Hair Stem Cell Transplantation", though, plucking hair in the donor area, which is supposed to regrow. They say the results for HM aren't satisfactory yet.

Thank you for posting, kristijan. Here's to hoping.

Well, there's no way HT can recreate the same density as the one we originally had, so even if some follicles get damaged by new ones, that's going to be a sheer replacement and I don't see why those dormant in between the grafts wouldn't be reactivated by Histogen if their magick actually works.

A few comments...

Stress is a well known cause of hairloss. You can take any dht blockers, and your hair will still fall out if you're overloaded with stress induced hormones. So look up relaxation methods.

Even if it's not been officially studied, I suspect dermatis and anything stressing out our scalp is contributing to hair loss. Minoxidil had the nasty side effect for you because of the propylene glycol in it. Switch to minox with glycerin instead The flaking will disappear at once. If you've been using Nizoral 2%, switch to 1%, and no more often than every 3 days. No matter what, if your hair is dependent on Minox, stopping it will make it fall out.

Also, do some research on the supplements you're taking in. If you're already eating healthy, too much of a good thing can have an adverse effect. Like zinc or Vit A excess can actually cause hairloss. It's not uncommon multi-vitamins cover 100% of daily needs right off.

I won't judge this hair pro guy without having given him a chance to let us know about his program. It would be a great idea to invite him to take part in the discussion. I'm very curious about the products he sells and how they add up to a few $K. After all the money he got from you, he should be willing to plead his case for a few min. If he gives you an excuse not to, draw your own conclusion.

That's the worse news I could think of for me. Dr Lee was one of the very few to make minox without propylene which absolutely ruins my scalp. I also liked the azaleic acid in it but I could get it separately from a cream.

I used Spectral DNC for 3 months and was disappointed. No improvement compared to Minox.

And yes, there's the fact they keep tinkering with their formula. I started with the old one one month and got the new clear one when I reordered. So I don't know for sure if it's just me not being responsive to Spectral. Since I'm tight on cash at the moment, I switched back to kirkland.

If anyone's interested in checking it out for half the price, I have 2 unused bottles left. They were bought 3 months ago.

There really is no point in taking both. Dutasteride is awfully overpowering already. I read some people had good results taking it every couple of days.

And are there any problems with switching brands?

 

I know the active ingredient might be the same, but surely the formulation differs in some ways...?

The most common brands contain Alcohol, propylene glycol and purified water. I think the proportions differ slightly. From what I've read the component that causes flaking -not sure about irritation- is propylene glycol. So if you have a reaction to it, you can look for less known brands that replace it with something like glycerin. I've just ordered some after switching back to minox because the flaking is a big issue for me. I need to try it out to confirm it fixes the side effect.

It does seem from your posts you have an anxious nature. It's important you learn to relax because stress can make hairloss a lot worse.

Finax is for treating hair loss (feel free to google for extensive info).

Start with Propecia (or generic like Finax) and minoxidil. All of the other treatments, except avodart, haven't proven they have a positive long term effect in controlling hairloss. Avodart is a lot stronger than Propecia so you should forget about it for now because of the increased risks of side effects. Ketoconazole is an antifungus which is mostly used in shampoo form. That can help if you have dandruff.

It's hard saying for sure how close to the brand products generics are but i haven't yet heard anyone complaining about Cipla's and Dr Reddy's finax which is also produced in India. You can go to either of their website and contact them for a list of trustworthy retailers.

It's 1mg a day.

Hi FG

A safe start would be Finasteride + Minoxidil. Finasteride will partially block the effect of DHT and Minoxidil will help hair (re)grow to an extent. If you're beginning the treatement in the early stage of your hairloss, you're likely to have good results. Wait at least 3 months to assess if it's working or not for you. You may also get some shedding for a while. Don't stop the treatment, it's a sign it's working.

Decrease in libido is a side effect that occurs in a minority of those taking the drug. Less than 5%