psychopomp1

I've been using Regaine/Rogaine 5% foam and 1mg Finasteride for a while and generally happy with the results. However a few months ago I started to see extra grey hairs appear so perhaps foolishly started using a colouring shampoo -GX Control Shampoo. Initially i was using this daily for 2 weeks and then 2-3 times a week. But I'm now getting massive shedding, basically if i tug on my hair, i see plenty of hairs falling out. So I'm guessing it was a bad idea to use this shampoo? I've now stopped using this shampoo but is it worth using a regular colouring dye (eg Rusty's in UK) which you only apply once every 3-6 weeks and is Ammonia free? Or is ALL hair dye potentially bad for hair, ammonia free or not? Many thanks!

Hold on, why would switching from Aindeem to Propecia improve things? They both contain 1mg Finasteride so if Aindeem gave you bad sides, you can be sure as hell that so will Propecia...

A heads up: ukmeds.co.uk (genuine online UK pharmacy) are offering 30% off all medication with black friday discount code CYBER30. For generic 1mg Finasteride, this works out at £42 for a 6 month supply, which IMHO is a great price. Though its a shame they're out of stock for Propecia

Hi I started using Panthrix which contains Redensyl (bought from Amazon UK but shipped from Germany) around 5-6 months ago. I didn't see any growth for the first 2-3 months but from month 4, have started to see very small wispy hairs starting to appear so for me it seems to be doing something. I'm also taking 1mg Finasteride & It Really Works Vitamins (glorified biotin tablets) daily. I stopped using 5% Minoxidil foam last year due to the dark eye patches I was getting....my wife used to call me Minoxidil Eyes lol

@jonnyalex Sorry to hear that mate, really strange why any of your GPs would refuse to prescribe Fin for hair loss on a private prescription without good reason. Finasteride isn't a poison or such, all it does is block DHT in your body. I'm in Scotland and never had my GPs refuse to prescribe Fin. They always say "stop taking it if you experience unpleasant side effects" when writing out the prescription which you would expect them to....

OP, Propecia is just the brand name of Finasteride 1mg, other brands containing the same ingredient (ie 1mg Finasteride) would be equally as effective.

Huh? Most - if not all - UK GPs will happily prescribe Finasteride for hair loss on a private prescription, providing you see your GP in person & they're satisfied its safe for you to take Fin. Unless you meant that no UK GP will prescribe Fin (for hair loss) on a NHS prescription, ie potentially free? In which case I agree with you. OP, Go and see your GP in person, he/she will almost certainly prescribe it for you on a private prescription. You may end up paying for the service (a private prescription can sometimes cost £10-£20) but the savings you make by purchasing Fin with a private prescription far outweigh the private prescription cost. For example, genuine Propecia costs £1.07 per tablet from Lloyds online Pharmacy, it will cost around double that if you don't have a prescription. Even generic Fin works out far cheaper with a private prescription

@Friedman The fact that I have already obtained the refund of $297 (hassle free may I add) means its a genuine money back guarantee. The only thing i have lost is slightly more hair 😱. I have decided to go back to Finasteride & Regaine 5% foam as they are the only clinically proven treatmenst to re-grow hair. Whether they will work again for me, remains to be seen. Perhaps just as important, i will sort out my diet as well - will try to cut out more crap such as processed carbs, fizzy/sugary drinks and cholesterol laden foods.

Not really surprised that they refunded me without any hassle because Gus - one of the founders of GrowBand - has been brilliant via email communication and he made it very clear at the beginning that i could get a refund if i didn't see any results after a few months. Consumer laws are very tough here in the UK (where the company is based) and Trading Standards would be all over them if they failed to honour what they promised on their website. I had to pay for return shipping costs myself but that was easily covered by the refund amount as i slightly received more in GBP due to the currency fluctuations from USD>GBP. Strangely they charge in USD despite being UK based (I am also in UK).

Ok an update after nearly 4 months. Unfortunatley, my hair loss seems to have gotten worse so I have returned the Growband and they refunded me the full $297 without any issues. Other users on their Facebook group (closed) have reported the same. I'm not too disappointed because my expectations weren't high to begin with. I'm now thinking of re-starting Propecia & Regaine Foam because I may be able to reverse the damage as there are still visible hair follicles in the thinning area. Its a shame the Growband didn't work out but I have no regrets - I would rather try & fail than not try at all. These are the photos taken this morning and you can clearly see the thinning on my crown has increased:

An update, after just over 3 weeks of using the Growband & also the Scalp Elixir. Wasn't expecting results so soon but started seeing (& feeling) very small/wispy hairs beginning to grow back on my crown. This is after using the Growband daily for around 20 mins (not missed a day yet) and also applying the Scalp Elixir nightly before going to bed. I massage the lotion on the scalp for a good 2-3 mins as per the instructions. I also use 2% Nizoral (keto) shampoo once per week, primaily to keep dandruff free but I believe this helps with the DHT as well. I'm not sure if the small growth is down to the Growband or the Elixir or a mixture of both (I suspect the latter). This is the photo of my scalp before starting the treatment: Photo today, after just over 3 weeks of treatment: Anyway I'm not going to get too carried away just yet but early results look promising. I will continue to use both the Growband & Elixir and post more photos in a month or two. One downside, the plastic handle on the hand pump cracked yesterday. Growband can still be used but for a device costing $300, was expecting better quality materials. Anyway emailed Hairguard this morning (Sun) and within 30 mins they replied, apologising and sending me the replacement pump onm Tuesday so impressed with the support so far. They also have a closed Facebook group which you can share Growband tips & advice with others. Hope this helps!

Yeah I will update my progress in the thread. Only thing I'm slightly disappointed with is that its quite fiddly applying the Elixir, would prefer a screw-on type dropper on the bottle instead of a separate dropper/syringe.

@Melvin-Moderator After putting on the growband, you press the hand pump (see earlier photos) a few times to inflate to the highest pressure you can tolerate, keep the band at that pressure for 2-5 seconds and then release pressure by pressing the red button. Repeat procedure for 10-15 mins. Its very easy to do but a very mundane activity so I recommend doing it whilst watching TV or similar. Some photos Elixir ingredients:

Ok received my Growband yesterday after waiting nearly 4 weeks. Used it a couple of times already and indeed it applies pressure to your scalp. From the start I can reach 160-180 mmHg pressures comfortably, despite the instructions saying you may only reach 40 mmHg. Maximum recommended is 200 mmHg. Anyway I will use it for 5-6 months and see how I get on. I remain sceptical however I'm willing to give it a chance. Oh and they also included a free bottle of Elixir as an apology for the order delay. Some photos:

+1 Daily/regular cardio exercise & sensible diet are probably the 2 best things you can do to get your body's hormonal levels back to normal.