Senior Member TommyLucchese Posted January 26, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted January 26, 2013 I've been a very happy Belgravia patient for 3 years now, but while my hair has improved, the bank balance has been far too depleted. I used my last lot of once a day "12.5% cream with azelaic acid" last night, and very conveniently my Kirkland 5% foam has arrived in the post an hour ago! I did a bit of research and found most of you use the 5% and saw some posts where people ditched Belgravia for 5% foam and found it didn't affect their hair. Belgravia charge 180 for 3 months of their minoxidil...................I just got 6 months of Kirkland foam for 50. The price speaks for itself! I'll obviously go back to Belgravia if the Kirkland 5% makes my hair get worse, but it's worth trying it out for such a cheaper price. I'm hoping actually that the foam twice a day might improve my crown a little bit, it's been hard spreading out the little dab of cream across my head and it's so expensive I didn't want to use more than indicated. I'll keep you posted. Does anyone think I could potentially shed hair initially now that I'm switching brands and dosage? [edit] Thanks to Spex for the link to the cheaper goods! 2,000 grafts FUT Dr. Feller, July 27th 2012. 23 years old at the time. Excellent result. Need crown sorted eventually but concealer works well for now. Propecia and minoxidil since 2010. Fine for 8 years - bad sides after switching to Aindeem in 2018. Switched to topical fin/minox combo from Minoxidil Max in October 2020, along with dermarolling 1x a week. Wrote a book for newbies called Beating Hair Loss, available on Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member 1978matt Posted January 26, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted January 26, 2013 Good luck! 4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013 1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018 763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020 Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted January 28, 2013 Share Posted January 28, 2013 Tommy, While Azelaic Acid hasn't been proven effective in treating hair loss, in theory, it has potential to inhibit the production of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme in human skin. 5-alph-reductase enzymes when combined with testosterone, produces DHT or dihydrotestosterone, the hormone responsible for hair loss. Thus, it's possible that an azelaic acid / minoxidil could be more potent than minoxidil alone. However, I'm not convinced that greater concentrations of minoxidil provides any additional benefit than the 5% solution. Hopefully, switching to minoxidil 5% will help you save money while retaining your hair. But be careful. It's much harder to regrow hair non-surgically than maintain already existing hair. Make sure you consider this reality when making a decision to switch. Best wishes, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member jackisback1 Posted January 29, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted January 29, 2013 While Azelaic Acid hasn't been proven effective in treating hair loss, in theory, it has potential to inhibit the production of the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme in human skin. 5-alph-reductase enzymes when combined with testosterone, produces DHT or dihydrotestosterone, the hormone responsible for hair loss. BILL, my good man! Why am I just now hearing about this? Where can I buy this?? (in the US, preferably online) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member jackisback1 Posted February 3, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted February 3, 2013 Somebody throw me a bone here. Can't find anything on google. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TommyLucchese Posted February 25, 2013 Author Senior Member Share Posted February 25, 2013 The reason I swapped was I thought perhaps the 5% foam twice a day could work better for my crown. There wasn't much of the cream to spread around... Anyway now I think my hair is shedding, even though there isn't any actually falling out - it just seems thinner and more "gappy" in the mid scalp. I've heard that if it gets worse to start with, that shows I'm responding to the meds and is a good sign......but I suppose we'll see. 2,000 grafts FUT Dr. Feller, July 27th 2012. 23 years old at the time. Excellent result. Need crown sorted eventually but concealer works well for now. Propecia and minoxidil since 2010. Fine for 8 years - bad sides after switching to Aindeem in 2018. Switched to topical fin/minox combo from Minoxidil Max in October 2020, along with dermarolling 1x a week. Wrote a book for newbies called Beating Hair Loss, available on Amazon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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