Ferrari-or-hair?

No offense intended, but this is the funniest thing I've read all day. Made me laugh and feel better. Wonder if there's a marker in my shade of brown?

Still taking it once a day. Not helping my hair. Ingrown hairs continue to come up in my receiding hair line area, and my hair has been receiding a lot this year. Not too happy about it. On the bright side, the MSM has done wonders for my knees and ankles, as they don't pop or hurt nearly as much as they did in the past.

Saw Palmetto and Biotin both give me horrible bad breath that comes from my stomach, not mouth. I only take it when I don't plan on breathing on anyone up close.

Looks like I'm getting a better deal than all of you at Sam's Club. 4 for the price of 3.

I've continued to take 1000 mg a day. I went to my dermatologist and she said the bumps were ingrown hairs and gave me some samples of an acne cream called Duac. Only 3 days later, and the bumps are going away. I don't have any results showing that MSM has helped me, and I don't have any results to say that the bumps were hair growing in, or ready to die and fall out. Maybe I'll know in a few weeks.

Wow, there sure is some crazy sounding stuff in this topic. You can find a root stimulator spray with olive oil in it in the ethnic hair care section of Target. I tried it. Didn't like it. It smells funny, made me greasy, and made my hair look thinner than usual (because the stuff won't dry on your hair, it remains greasy). You might as well pour italian salad dressing in your hair.

I get my rogaine foam at SAM'S Club and it's a 4 bottle package rather than 3 bottle package like CVS has. It's the exact same price too. What that price is... I don't remember... because I bought two packages at once last time, so it's been awhile since I've needed it. I think it was only $45 or $49. If you're like me, you're going to lose a massive amount of hair when you start using rogaine until it starts growing back. I would likely not be classified as someone rogaine works particularly well for though... I think I'm part of the percentage it doesn't do much for. I would recommend taking propecia a few months before starting rogaine. See if the propecia helps you enough that you don't need rogaine. Rogaine is annoying to use and apply, while propecia is as simple as swallowing a tiny pill. Propecia is expensive, I just paid $230 for my 90 day supply earlier this week at the local grocery store pharmacy. I've never taken proscar, so I don't know how the price compares.

That's an odd reaction. I just remember being irritated by the annoying smell of it.

Went to my dermatologist, she said my hairs were coming in as ingrown hairs, and that was the bumps. She gave me some samples for Duac gel (for acne) and it has almost solved the problem in a matter of days. Is it going to help my hair loss in that location? No idea, but it sure is getting rid of the bumps.

I'd take the full tablet. I don't have health insurance, so I agree that it's expensive. I take the name brand kind. I get it at my grocery store's pharmacy, get a 3 month supply of 90 pills, and pay somewhere between $150-200. If you have insurance, Proscar is sometimes covered and you won't have to pay as much.

Libido is fine, it doesn't bother me anymore. It bothered me the first 6 to 12 months though. I take a lot of vitamins, and know there are vitamins/supplements out there to increase libido, so if it really bothered me, I would have started taking something for it. I'll probably stay on propecia and use rogaine for the rest of the foreseeable future. Male baldness runs in my family, and I don't want to start looking like my uncles any time soon. No plans for a HT, when my hair isn't wet, I don't look like I'm missing much hair. I still apply it.

I don't recall having any additional shedding with propecia.

I already take propecia, you need to reread what I've said.

Male pattern baldness runs in both sides of my family. For whatever reason, the majority of my baldness is an I shape that is slowly turning into an L shape. When I was in the 8th grade, I would spike my hair, and even back then, the I shape of baldness was forming. My dermatologist hasn't ever said much about it. I haven't considered a hair transplant because my hairloss isn't great enough to merit it, and I wouldn't be able to afford it at this time. When I first started using Rogaine, which was probably 4 to 12 months before I started using Propecia, it caused my hair to massively fall out where I was applying it (my crown on the left side) and the surrounding areas. I don't have any "before" shots, but my showers would be horrifying to me, because my hands would end up full of hairs for the first 2 or 3 months. I would speculate that my hair loss got 4 times worse for those first 3 or 4 months. I continue to use Rogaine to prevent further loss, but I do not believe it regrew anything for me at all. As you can see in the first picture... I was pretty bad off for a 22 year old. I was very pissed off that it made my hair come out like that. When I went to my dermatologist to get my first prescription for propecia, she recommended I continue the rogaine, so I have. I don't remember any scalp inflammation. I remember it being a little itchy, but I wouldn't scratch it. I don't believe it was permanently lost because it looks as if some has come back. I don't believe I ever shed while using propecia. When I first started it, I remember a lack of hair results for the first few months and a lot of sexual side effects. My ability to get erections was at times really annoying, and at other times, would be normal. My urge for sex would go up and down. Currently, I don't detect any harmful side effects, but I would honestly say that my ability to initiate erections whenever I wanted to has probably gone down 10 to 20%. I don't really think that's such a big deal though... some percentage of that may be due to a less active lifestyle and age.

I don't want to leave you hanging, so here's the top of my head's internet world debut... I always take these right after I get out of the shower and I leave my hair soaking wet. I look more bald when I need a haircut, so I couldn't just simplify and upload 2 pics, we're stuck with a variety of hair lengths. I also used to comb with a comb with teeth further apart in the first few months, so this is hardly scientific. The texture of my hair changed from wavy to straight as well for some reason... Here's a comparison of April, 2008 (after 1 month of propecia) May, 2008 (after 2 months) August, 2008 (after 5 months) December, 2008 (after 9 months) April, 2009 (after 13 months) July, 2009 (after 16 months) September, 2009 (after 18 months) January, 2010 (after 22 months) I guess looking at these again, propecia really helped me grow back some of the destruction I blame rogaine for in the crown, but it really helped a lot in that area towards the front of my head. My temples have remained bad though, it's a constant decline. Is it worth the 100s of dollars each year? Yeah. Is it giving me the amount of hair I want? Not really. The lack of hair in my temples makes me self conscious because it's difficult styling my hair to hide that. Although it may not look like it, I had a lot more hair in that particular area 2 years ago than I have now.

I take a picture every month of the top of my head, but I've never uploaded them. I started propecia when I was about 22 years old to hopefully undo the destruction rogaine caused to my crown area when I started it when I guess I was 21. Rogaine made a ton of my hair fall out back there. I've continued to use both products and I'm 24 now. Comparing my photos, the area that rogaine caused the most destruction to (left side of my crown)has filled out to a very slight degree. Only problem is, the right side is slowly thinning. I wish I never used rogaine so my story/pictures would actually benefit you in some way. Would I say propecia regrew any of my hair? I dunno, if it did, it has never been massive. I think it has helped me maintain my hair a bit more though. I continue to lose hair in my temples and in that area of forehead between sideburns and temples. That stuff keeps creeping backwards. Compared to when I was 20, I would assume I have only have half the amount of hair I used to in that difficult to describe area of my forehead.

I had alternating periods of trouble getting erections and massive horniness the first 6 months I took propecia. The problem with getting an erection was very annoying, but I would keep on taking it if I were you. Eventually you'll get used to the drug and you'll be normal again.

I'm 24 so I know what you're going through. I would recommend starting propecia and sticking with it. I would not recommend rogaine unless you are having serious issues in the crown area of your head. I made the mistake of just trying rogaine because it was less expensive than propecia, and the amount of hair starting rogaine caused me to lose still hasn't been recovered. I would have been better off just using propecia.

Hi, I'm 24 now and I've been using rogaine for at least 2 years and have been using propecia for about 19 months I think. Throughout this time period, I have taken herbal supplements to hopefully help me preserve the hair I have and regrow hair. I am currently taking/using... -rogaine twice a day -propecia once a day -Puritan's Pride Mega Vitamins for the Hair twice a day -MSM 1000 mg a day -Vitamin D, 1000 IU every once in awhile Since the beginning of winter (which is when I tend to have the majority of my seasonal hair loss) I have developed little zits in the temples of my forehead where my hair recedes. Some end up as white heads, but the majority I refer to as "seeds" because they aren't like regular zits. They can brush off and fall off my forehead just by me rubbing across my forehead with my finger tips. Each seed always has a short pale hair in it, like peach fuzz. These seeds/zits have increased in number since I began taking MSM a few weeks/months ago. My questions are... 1) Do any of you experience this same phenomena? 2) Do these "seeds" represent hair growing back in and for some reason not being rooted very deep? Or do they represent dying hair follicles? It's very difficult to not accidentally scratch them off, and this is only happening in my temple area. I'd like to hear some feedback from others.

I'm 24, and I've tried a lot of stuff for hair loss. I personally think starting Rogaine was a mistake, because it caused massive fall out on my head when I applied it the first few months. My balding problem is more of a receiding hairline than a spot at the back of my head anyway. Starting propecia caused me some issues with um... erections... the first few months, but at least it has helped me keep the majority of my hair. None of the herbal stuff I've tried has really done much for me. If I was 21 or 22 and had the opportunity to start over anew... I would just take propecia from the beginning and not mess with rogaine. Sure, propecia is expensive, but it's easy and quick to swallow a pill, and it does seem to help more than anything else.

I've tried a few supplements with little to no success. I've been using Rogaine foam and Propecia daily throughout experimenting with these supplements (except saw palmetto, which I used before I started Propecia). Saw Palmetto -- Unknown whether it helped, but it would give me intensely bad breath. I was taking 450 mg a day of Puritan's Pride Saw Palmetto Serenoa repens, natural whole herb, non-irradiated whatever that means. It was powdery stuff in a clear capsule. The bad breath was coming from my stomach, not my mouth. Brushing my teeth wouldn't get rid of it. Regular multi-vitamin -- no noticeable change. Super Biotin -- I forgot the dosage, but I didn't notice any benefit or problem in the two or three weeks I took it. Maxi-hair -- a multivitamin I got from Whole Foods. I'd take it twice a day with no known benefit, but no noticeable problems. On the bottle it says it is supposed to nourish your hair, nails, and skin. Using my nails as an indicator, it never helped me. I have had vertical ridges in my nails my entire life which my mom said was a deficiency in something... and this didn't help that. Mega Vitamins for the Hair -- got this from Puritan's Pride because it was cheaper than Maxi-hair. It doesn't have all the same stuff as Maxi-hair, I actually preferred Maxi-hair over this (less taste), but this is so much cheaper that it makes sense. You're supposed to take it 3 times a day, I take it twice. No known benefit, but no problems. Been taking it for maybe 5 months now. Collectively between taking the three different types of multi-vitamins, I have been sick with more colds than ever before in my life. Lots of throat issues. I don't know if they correlate, but I feel like the multi-vitamins actually lower my immune system. MSM -- I take 1000 mg of this. Since starting taking it, I have had an increase in the number of zits in my temple/receiding hairline area. Calling these zits may be inappropriate. I nicknamed them "seeds," because when I scratch one off accidentally, it always has a blonde peach-fuzz hair in it. I do not know if this is a hair that has died, or if it was new growth that I accidentally scratched off. Anyway, my knees don't pop when I squat lately, so at least the MSM has helped that. On the downside, if I burp after taking the vitamin (which occasionally happens within 30 minutes of taking a vitamin), the burp feels like a volcano. It burns. Vitamin D -- I have been taking 1000 IU of Vitamin D irregularly for a couple of weeks. I haven't noticed any benefit.

I started taking 1000 mg of MSM a day about a month ago, and I have had an increase in the number of zits in my temples/receiding hairline. I haven't determined if the MSM has helped or hurt me. The zits are very easy to scratch off and always have a peach-fuzz hair attached to them. I probably have at least 10 of them as I type this. Is this the same type of thing you experienced Fingers Crossed?

Interesting. My experiment with taking the saw palmetto every two days had to be canceled. I got tonsilitus (spelling?), an ear infection, and a cough all at the same time sadly. Because of all these things and feeling like crap, I haven't taken the smelly capsule in about week. The heavy hair loss continues... Though I do kind of wonder if there's anything to the idea that perhaps I'm shedding my winter coat. Do humans do that? Or have I just been watching too much Animal Planet?

Let me also reiterate some points I made before, and perhaps add some new info I didn't mention. -I NEVER grew any NEW hair due to the saw palmetto. Not a single one in my main area of concern at least (the temples). -Hair loss seemed to slow down EVERYWHERE. I was not losing as much hair on my head as I was on Rogaine alone. I don't have the slightest idea if saw palmetto would decrease my hairloss if I was not taking Rogaine, and that is something I'm not willing to test. When I started taking Rogaine probably 8 months ago, as the instructions pamphlet said, my hairloss increased massively in the application area for several months. It also increased in my temples for an unknown reason. After about two or three months the loss in the application area slowed down, yet still continued in the temples (which honestly, really, really annoyed me). As of yesterday, when I got a haircut, my mom said I had grown a few new hairs in the application site, and that all the hair in that area had a different texture from the rest of my hair. However, in the approximately 8 months I have been using Rogaine, I have not recovered the amount of hair that it caused me to lose during those first few months. I regret this a lot. Rogaine was not a solution for me as I was only BARELY losing my hair in the back at the time, but I'm now afraid to stop using it. - While taking saw palmetto everyday, my facial hair would grow in significantly slower. I'm not a fan of shaving, so before the Saw Palmetto, I was shaving twice a week; each shaving day I would be scruffy. After weeks/months of taking saw palmetto everyday, I was able to reduce my amount of shaving to just once a week. I also noticed that as time went by, the hair would not only come in slower, but it would also come in softer. - I'm the type of guy who grows hair everywhere. Not quite Robin Williams, but I'm a caveman who has to trim his chest and armpit hair every so often. After a few weeks/months taking saw palmetto everyday, my body hair stopped growing so quickly. I believe DHT has some affect on body hair, and saw palmetto much assist in decreasing the amount you get. -I have no earthly idea what all the saw palmetto has done to my prostate. As I stated before, I have not had any known negative sexual side effects. But I'm no doctor, and this type of thing isn't something I can diagnose.

Well, my initial reason for trying saw palmetto was because I could buy it without a prescription. I don't have insurance, so it seemed like a good idea. I don't do much research on hair loss, so I just take things for face value, and a vitamin/herb was something I was willing to be a guinea pig for. I've never heard of finasteride, so I've never taken it, what is it? I read an article that said that DHT was the enemy, and that saw palmetto was known to lower DHT. I then quickly researched propecia, and part of what it does is lower DHT. So I put 2 + 2 together, and started taking saw palmetto. The monthly cost of saw palmetto is about $5-$10, while the monthly cost of propecia without insurance is $80 for the dermatologist visit, and however much the actual medicine is, which I would assume is $60 to $100 a month, totaling over $150 a month. So saw palmetto seemed like a good value. The bad breath is what made me stop taking it. I was taking a saw palmetto capsule (full of the dry type) every single day and man, my breath simply smelled like feces. It was unbearable. So I stopped taking it for about a week. I was fine for the first few days, no noticably bad hair loss. But after a few days, I was noticing an increase in the amount of hair coming out when I'd wash my hair, and then even more hair would come out when I would apply my Rogaine after showering. To compare, while I was taking saw palmetto, I'd typically have between 2 and 8 hairs come out when applying the Rogaine. At its worst (the day I joined this message board) At least 10 to 15 hairs came out when applying the Rogaine, and this, keep in mind, was just after taking a shower and losing an abnormally large amount of hair in there. Also, once I stopped taking the saw palmetto, I started getting small zits in my temples where a lot of the hair started coming out. I'm assuming these are a sign of hair dying and going away. The day I made this topic (the 9th of March), I took a saw palmetto for the first time in over a week. My breath was fine on the 9th. I didn't take one on the 10th, and had vaguely bad breath. It's now the 11th of March, and my hair is still coming out, but slightly slower. I have worse breath than I did yesterday despite just brushing my teeth an hour ago, but it isn't unbearable. So I think I am going to just take the saw palmetto once every two days and see if my hair loss slows down back to the speed it was falling out back when I was taking it everyday... Perhaps taking it everyday was overdosing my body in some way and causing the horrible breath. I think a "little" bit of bad breath could be a fair trade off for a slower loss of hair. And since I have already paid for two bottles of this type of saw palmetto, I figure I might as well use it up... I'll update on my hair loss status in a few days. Hopefully it'll slow down.