Akash

Tugain is an Indian brand of Minox, made by Cipla Laboratories (a pretty ok large firm). Androanagen appears to be a mix of "natural" DHT blockers (Saw Palmetto and Green Tea), mixed with Apple extract and Biotin. Basically, its Finasteride in another way, since it blocks DHT. If you develop sides due to DHT reduction and 5AlphaR reduction on Fin, even this product may be too strong. But do, go with what the doctor says. She is the expert. Not I. Even so, be aware of the ingredients and monitor your progress carefully, take notes if possible.

Tugain is an Indian brand of Minox, made by Cipla Laboratories (a pretty ok large firm). Androanagen appears to be a mix of "natural" DHT blockers (Saw Palmetto and Green Tea), mixed with Apple extract and Biotin. Basically, its Finasteride in another way, since it blocks DHT. If you develop sides due to DHT reduction and 5AlphaR reduction on Fin, even this product may be too strong. On the other hand, go with what the doctor says. She is the expert. Not I.

Thanks Future HT Doc, I am thinking of giving these guys a call and then see what they make of my queries. Would you have something that I should ask? My queries -FDA approval timeline -Concern about protein injections, in particular whether they are not causing any signal effects for cancer etc - Whether proportion is the same as was originally in scalp - Any details about how many patients and how many years (more years and no complaints hopefully) - More details about results (one place they say 60-70% regrowth, another 80-90%, which is right) - What topicals do they speak of post treatment

Guys, the weblink for the Esthetic Clinic shows more pics. I am not associated with the clinic in any manner (commercially or personal) & this is purely for informative purposes, so I hope the link is ok. Hair - Latest Research | Hair Growth | Patent for Hair Growth | Hair Product | Goodbye to Baldness | Hair Loss | Hair Restoration | Hair Care Now, heres the thing, a few weeks back, the link had 4 patients in it & the pictures were all messed up. It was, to say the least, not convincing. These pics appear a bit more structured and logical. That is, each section of pics is different, and correspond to different people. I just got off the phone discussing this treatment with an expert in molecular biology. Thoughts: - Not FDA approved. FDA approval = some level of reliability regarding claims on safety - Injecting proteins. What happens to these proteins. They are ostensibly signallers for hair growth to resume. But what happens over the long term thanks to excess proteins in scalp, could they cause other effects? Just because similar/same proteins existed in scalp does not mean if you saturate scalp with different proportion of proteins, things will be the same - The proteins are not injected to bloodstream, so they dont enter blood. Actually, there are many tiny blood vessels in scalp, so one way or the other proteins will be absorbed systemically question, though is in what form and what will be the long term effects. - Proteins are very potent things, they have been linked to even cancer Basically, it appears high risk.... Has anyone tried this treatment out yet, or spoken/met the Doctors - Shome & Kapoor to note what their responses are? Could they please ask/clarify the above questions.

I really don't know what to say since I understand how much torment you must be in. But one thing is that build on your physique. Start gymming, lead a healthy life (no parties, late nights, alcohol & smoking) & pick up stuff like dancing etc. And shave your head, if you can. Or trim it close, with a stubble on your face/chin. A good physique and a shaved, close cropped head may make you stand out at first, but if you can pull it off, it'd be great. The great thing is you are 23. At that age, you can move mountains and you are, provided you keep a good perspective, literally do anything. :-) While these cant compensate entirely, they will do wonders for your self confidence as I have observed in a couple of friends & that itself makes a huge difference. I'd follow the same steps meself, except for an accident a couple of years back that makes strenuous physical exercise dangerous for me but am still exploring alternatives to get back in physical shape.

Venu, pls check your Private Message, I have PM'ed you. Thanks, Akash

Minoxidil works anyplace you have hair. The FDA legality thing may be why they cant claim anywhere apart from the top of the head (crown) but as far as I have seen and heard, it boosts hair growth every other place. Caveat, hair grows faster, and longer, it does not go thicker (it remains thin) and continues to shed and remains weak.

What he said +1

What Rogaines done for me is give me the occasional headache and other occasional scares, and make the odd hair really weird and long. But since I dont have any other options I am still using it. Hairloss continues. I have been really trying hard to find out any long term numbers for its use apart from controlled medical trials, nearest I have come is consumer research website report which says most found it not effective. :-(

Hi, So I started Finasteride & moment I did, I got sides, pretty painful and aggravating. Went to a doc, who basically had me run a bunch of tests & asked me to lay off the drug till things figure out. So, I am out of options & came across this thing called Revivogen. My queries, has somebody used the Revivogen solution in recent days, or consistently? Is it useful? I am on the way to a Norwood 7 and would like to hold it off for a while, at least slow down my hair fall. Reading on the net, seems to bring out all sorts of stuff about Revivogen - from "crap" to "stops hairfall", so could the forum members who have used the product chip in? There are some topics on the forum which mention it, but mostly querying as I have, from quite some time back. So did anyone try it out? Did it at least stop/retard your hair loss, even if it was not as effective as propecia in (partly) reversing it. Does it help to use it along with Minox (Rogaine foam). Please advise. Thanks!! Akash

Hi Spanker, No not currently active. The burning is pretty bad, cant sleep, though I have been trying to, for the past four hours. Plus, I am getting pain in my p***is. I am actually doing what my doctor told me. I told him I was afraid of sides, and asked him whether I could reduce my dosage, he said it was upto me, but would reduce the efficacy as well. He also made it clear that he saw nothing wrong with varying dosage amounts to find the amount best for me. He had originally prescribed finpecia (1mg, finasteride) for six months. Yeah, could be a UT infection, but started just within a day of me starting finpecia. Like I said, the problem with my hair loss is the rate, I can live with what I have, provided I dont lose it all within the next six months.

Put a soft paper napkin on a firm surface, so that the pill does'nt fly around, but at the same time, is fixed at a spot, take a small pocketknife, penknife and cut into 4 parts. I did that with a propecia tablet and the waste was minimal at most ~10% of the overall tablet.That too, because I was worried the pill would go flying - it didnt.

US is out man...i have folks and relatives here who are sort of counting on me.. I really dont know what to say about QR678, they dont have many pics up, the stats on their site are very open ended or not specific enough, I guess if this Fin thing is not for me, thats the last option. I have been using Minox 2% and even 5% for several months now, its not stopped any of my shedding, all its done, is that the existing hairs grow longer, and then fall off as easily as the others. I really need to stop my hair loss, but seem to be -again - at wits end.?!! Dang, burning sensation..

So I started Fin..being cautious, I started with 0.25 mg & for the past 3-4 days now, am having a burning sensation down there, & having a frequent urge to go to the rest room to take a leak. I did some search on this but dang, all the links are to the usual sites, prophelp.com and even reading a single thread there makes one wonder what the heck is going on, so thought I'd ask here. A bit surprised though, as I had thought I'd start off with 0.25 mg, nothing would happen and work my way upwards. :-( This is something weird, has anybody else experienced this side effect? Its definitely not all in my brain, but an irritating problem.

Hi Taking the Plunge, Did using the foam make any difference for you in terms of headaches or dizziness and was it easier to apply and use?

Cool! Best of luck!

Anyhow, I have never noticed any loss in libido.. I really think it's in some people's head... Just my opinion though... stick with it! I wake with a boner EVERY day and I think the older I get the more I am trying to knock down the ladies.. :D He He I just thought of "knocking down the ladies with a boner" and I cant stop grinning at that thought.. LOL!!

Thanks taking the plunge and Daniel Kiwi. Taking the Plunge, thats a really detailed breakout and many thanks, exactly the kind of info, that makes sense and allows me to understand the pros and cons. Did you get any hair growth with the Fin? DanielKiwi, Hey you are an expat. Cool. Glad to know you understood my concerns. I totally agree with you that the US is awesome for more liberalism when it comes to going "sly" or whatever they call it. Here, no snarkiness intended but even well read, educated people make stupid comments on the most genuine of issues. A few years back, a friend shaved off his head because of alopecia, to be honest, I was in my own stresstrap at the point and didnt understand what he meant when he said alopecia ...now, I have another balding acquaintance a couple of days back, mocking that individual for his choice. I would have said "looked at your self anytime, mister?" but then whats the point, people are so caught up and conditioned by what society and generally peer pressure expects them to be, that they are unable to understand how they behave and why. Sorry, a bit of a rant, but needed to get it off my chest. In the US though, I did see a lot of guys with "buzz cuts" or totally shaved off, which appeared to be pretty common. Over here, till date, I have only seen a handful of folks with close haircuts, and only one who shaved his head.

Thanks but if I really wanted to experience having a worse condition, I wouldnt be asking these questions would I.. BTW, you also chose not to use fin because of sides, right? Were they severe? Or recoverable. I think the consensus is that they occur far more than Merck claims, but are not permanent for the most part. Your thoughts? Thanks but I thought about this, concealers are pretty expensive and also, they are a pain...I seriously cant imagine everyday getting up and spending time before the mirror powdering my hair, setting it in place and hoping that I dont happen to bend down or the concealer doesnt fall off...or a colleague doesnt keep staring at my face.. IMO, I dont have a choice but to try fin...its just that i aim to minimize the side effect issue as much as i can. My dermatologist was 100% confident it has NO sides and what not...but i really am not that blase..

Thanks Dan, appreciate your forthright answer. Was the pain severe or debilitating? What was your dosage? Was it 1 mg daily? BTW I totally understand what you are saying about the sides, and how hard it is to determine whats happening. I am using Minox, and some days I feel I have a reaction, on others, I feel ok, somewhat. I have cut down to 2% for the very reason, but still. I guess I'll give finpecia a shot at low dosages and see how it goes. Thanks again, for your answer & I'll be in touch, to tell you how it goes. Feels great to be talking about this, rather than be afraid wondering what goes on and whats true and whats not. I hope everyday we get some of these miracle drugs out of the door which claim to get the hair back thanks to some stemcell or whatever stuff, the hard drugs like propecia etc are no fun at all. :-(

Which doctor and city are you going to? And how long will you be here? For travel related queries, the best site is www.indiamike.com They have threads/archived posts on pretty much everything india travel related. Mind you though, if you are just coming for the HT, 90% of their stuff wont matter, as its meant for the dedicated traveller, out camping, travelling city to city and what not. In your case, depending on which hospital/doc, you may have just a few days in a relatively clean environment and you'd be back, if those are your plans.

Guys, Went to a dermatologist and he said Finpecia. He prescribed 1 Mg a day for six months and said "dont worry, the net is overpowering, dont buy into the fin scare stories"...well, ok. Now my question is, since I really cant afford sides.. Is 0.25mg an ok choice daily? Or say 5 Days a week? Or even alternate days? I have read all sorts of comments over the net, over what is "enough" versus "best" and would appreciate your insights. Some state alternate days are best, even at low dosages, others say its bad for the system. I am basically seeking a lesser choice than my derms "nuke'em from orbit" approach at 1 Mg daily for 6 months. :-) EpilepticSkeptic, Taking the Plunge, j1j9j85, what dosages do you use? Anyone with their experiences, please feel free to chip in. I am not exactly in the best of shape right now & aim to minimize the impact of Fin. on my system while getting at least as much, if not all of its benefits, while trying to minimize any sides.

I mailed them with follow on questions, lets see if they respond.

Well I mailed them and what I heard back was they did an accidental discovery 4 years back where they discovered "growth factors" could influence hair loss. One of the authors blog states that the Growth factors are proteins which bind to receptors on target cells, influence hair growth and are present locally (am paraphrasing somewhat, this is not my field). So using some detective work they came up with some 5 growth factors, combined them, and did a bunch of studies where they made a bunch of mix and match proportions and tested it on 25 people. Of them one group of five showed results. So they then did a double blind study on 750 people which was successful. Blind experiment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Results are more than 80% growth for 90% patients. Another report suggests this has something do to stem cell therapy, and the authors state that this "miracle drug" referred to as a molecule contains the five growth factors. 10 ml injections as "mesotherapy" every 3 weeks, some 8 times. The authors claim that since all growth factors occur locally in the human body, it is safe. Now, my issues are- please note I am NOT an expert on all this or even as informed as most of you guys are. If I am wrong someplace, please inform me, I will appreciate it.Future HT Doc also pointed out a couple of valid points. 1. Growth has not really been broken out in what proportion where and how. Surely some would have seen a lot of success, some less. What exactly do they mean by 80% for more than 90%? What is that 80% growth...it could mean somebody just had 2 hairs pop up and that was "growth" and the rest remained as is? 2. If this involves stem cell therapy, isnt that dangerous, injecting somebody elses cells/organic material under your own skin? 3.Is mesotherapy even safe? Is their logic, its what the body has/used to have, so giving it back is ok? Would suck to wake up five years later and see all sorts of stuff on your head, dangerous stuff that is or have any other long term health issues 4.No pics beyond what is their on their website, only 3 pairs. Surely if there are so many success stories there are more pics? 5. When exactly is their patent due? They say they are working on approvals in different countries including the US, is it possible to check up the validity? The doctors/inventors names are Dr Debraj Shome and Dr Rinky Agarwal (lady) Guys, if you can help me out with the above or come up with a list of qeustions I can attempt to dig out some answers. This looks promising but... Their PA says, if this didnt work why would people visit from abroad, well there is a logic to that, but then again, to a drowning man, every string looks like a rope, as they say, so people going for it is not an answer by itself. So your insight is appreciated. If this works out, it could be helpful. Thanks