Nanogen While Shedding on Finasteride

[JohnDough]

Recently I have been suffering a truly massive finasteride shedding (hopefully) where I have lost like like 40% of the hair I used to have before starting the treatment. I have posted this problem in an earlier thread and I came with the conclusion of continuing the drug anyway. However, since my hair looks horrible and I live in a very sunny country, I thought of buying Nanogen fibers. Is this a good idea? Would it excaberate hairloss? I run my hands on my hair and bam I see it in my hands. I don't want to put something that would make me shed easier.

 

Anybody tried it before? Any help?

[HairKlepto]

You've lost 40% of your hair since taking a drug meant to help you grow hair and you keep taking it? Since when does Propecia cause shedding? There is nothing normal about what you are describing and I would see a doctor. I think you are thinking of Rogaine. If I started losing my hair after taking any drug, I would seriously question whether I should be taking it. Nanogen is supposed to be the safest concealer as far as I've read. Other concealers have harmful chemicals that can cause you to lose even more hair.

[Slickers]

Nanogen is supposed to be the safest concealer as far as I've read. Other concealers have harmful chemicals that can cause you to lose even more hair.

 

Which concealers can cause you to lose even more hair? Where have you got this from?

[HairKlepto]

I don't have the link offhand but there is a certain ingredient that is popularly used. Toppix uses the ingredient and I believe cabooki but I don't remember for sure on that one. I would definitely be careful with any concealer right after a procedure, but in any case I would not use anything but Nanogen personally. It also looks best from everything I've read.

[Slickers]

I don't have the link offhand but there is a certain ingredient that is popularly used. Toppix uses the ingredient and I believe cabooki but I don't remember for sure on that one. I would definitely be careful with any concealer right after a procedure, but in any case I would not use anything but Nanogen personally. It also looks best from everything I've read.

 

This is a huge statement to just casually make given the number of people that have used Toppik for years and more recently Caboki. What ingredient in these hair fibres could just cause your hair to fall out? Don't you think there would be more cases of people reporting this as a side effect? I can't find a single one, a quick search of the thousands of pages on this forum and I can't find any reference to what you're talking about.......

[HairKlepto]

Then keep using it. I don't care to debate about it and don't feel like finding the original references. Everyone can do their own research and come to their own conclusions. It may have been hairlosshelp or somewhere else. You do see the irony in people saying a product that hides their hair loss is causing more hairloss.

[Slickers]

Then keep using it. I don't care to debate about it and don't feel like finding the original references. Everyone can do their own research and come to their own conclusions. It may have been hairlosshelp or somewhere else. You do see the irony in people saying a product that hides their hair loss is causing more hairloss.

 

Oh come on, if you're going to dish out product advice, particularly alleging that several well known products so commonly used by hairloss sufferers for years ACTUALLY causes hairloss you've gotta expect someone to query your sources?

 

And I dont see any irony. I don't believe for a minute that if guys thought it was indeed worsening the problem they wouldn't say so. I know I bloody would. Plenty do about every other hairloss product... minox, fin shedding posts are a dime a dozen. And plenty of guys try concealers and post about how they're not for them, they make their hair look chalky etc etc but I have yet to see one saying that they actually thought they lost more hair because of them.

 

Like I said it's a pretty big statement to make. Was it a study you saw or someones experience?

[HairKlepto]

Well I wasn't intending to make a scientific post. I made a quick mention under the idea that people can take what I said and go research it for themselves. I didn't say it always causes hairloss. It's like saying a carcinogen always causes cancer... It can cause cancer... It causes cancer in some people... but not all people. If a certain ingredient can cause further hair loss I would avoid it, especially when there is a simple alternative to use a different product. From what I remember it was some reference to a specific ingredient and how the dr. told them to avoid it because it causes further hair loss and perhaps some anecdotal posts about how it caused further hair loss but I don't remember. It was enough for me personally to decide if I ever used a concealer there is no way in the world i would ever use Toppix or the other products using the ingredient. Also hair loss is so hard to detect until it's substantial. You can't say something doesn't cause hair loss unless you are going to have someone take a microscope to your hair and analyze hair density. Even then you would need control groups of course. Further complicate that with the fact that the concealer is hiding the hair loss -- which is why I said it's ironic. I tend to error on the side of caution. Anytime you put any chemicals in your body or on your skin you are opening up yourself to many possibilities, most of them not good. Nothing surprises me despite people's passionate assertions that the garbage they eat, the medications they take, or the stimuli they subject themselves to, causes no harm - they are usually wrong. Anyway that's off topic, but I did search briefly and couldn't find the original post. Sorry.

[HairKlepto]

I would further add that I wouldn't necessarily say that the hair loss would be permanent, but like hormonal hair loss for instance, sometimes the hair loss persists even after the hormone imbalance is corrected. I'm not a dr, but just my layman perspective. I've also seen cases where the hair loss is typical MPB yet some other causative factor simply sped up the hairloss (although the reason it didn't grow back was likely MPB in my humble opinion). We continue to loss hair even after starting a specific product, so that further complicates things.

 

People are quick to say that Toppix can't cause hairloss because it's genetic, which is totally ignorant. Not saying it does or doesn't -- just that it would be akin to saying that radiation can't cause hair loss because it's genetic. We are complex creatures. Simply having your hair pulled back too tight for too long can cause permanent hair loss.

 

In truth, most of what we think is genetic is not genetic. We only have about 25000 genes and most of what we think is genetic is a form of genetic expression, influenced by external factors such as environment, what we put in our bodies, on our bodies, etc. Not saying that MPB is not genetic, but anyway, I digress.

[JohnDough]

My question was as simple as, hair is shedding so is currently week. Wouldn't putting a concealer on it enforce more strain on the strands? That's all.

 

To HairKlepto,

I am supposed to go see a doctor. Yet since the damage is done it's not very wise to stop using it in the midst.

 

Are you using Propecia?

[Slickers]

My question was as simple as, hair is shedding so is currently week. Wouldn't putting a concealer on it enforce more strain on the strands? That's all.

 

 

 

It depends on the type of concealer. Couvre and others which are dabbed onto the scalp, I can understand why they 'could' contribute to hairloss through breakage and the friction action of applying them. Although I have to say I used Couvre for years and it was superb for me. I never noticed any worsening of the area I applied it to. My approach was to use it as sparingly as possible which still gave me what I needed. And since I was using minox at night on the area I felt I was offsetting any impact the Couvre 'might' have had. Again I don't think it worsened the problem in my case, in fact it was a life saver.

 

Hair fibres like Toppik, Nanogen and Caboki I think even less so. UNLESS there really is some ingredient that causes your hair to fallout as Hairklepto speculates. The actual application and the way in which the concealers work however........i.e. fibres bonding to the hair, I fail to see how this can be any more traumatic for the hair than simply brushing it or combing it. In fact if your hair falls out because of this and doesnt recover, in all probability that's hair that is falling out no matter you do.

 

This is the problem with anecdotal evidence. One guy can report it and who knows what other factors were involved.

 

I would take comfort in the fact that very few people report losing more hair because of concealers, I have yet to see any...... if however you are ultra cautious and it would affect your peace of mind you might want to give them a miss.

[HairKlepto]

A concealer would put no more strain on the strands than hair spray or dust for that matter. Unless your hair was pulled back or you were violently combing tangled hair, I don't see any significant strain. I'm not sure about your philosophy on not stopping propecia because the damage is done. If you were confident that the hair loss was from the propecia it would be insane not to stop it. I've never heard of propecia causing hair loss although it can making you permanently impotent.

 

I used to take it for a few years but it was affecting my sex drive. When I read all the horror stories about permanent ED I realized the risk of being bald was better than the risk of never having sex again. In people that do get sexual side effects, the persistence rate is 96% even after a year.

Baldness Drug Propecia May Have Long-Lasting, Possibly Permanent Sexual Side Effects - ABC News

 

You can definitely permanently screw yourself up with it. I've seen different numbers but it is said from 2-18% of people will have sexual side effects. There is a whole list of how it could affect you sexually... It's not always straight ED. But, anyway long answer to why I don't take it.

[JohnDough]

It depends on the type of concealer. Couvre and others which are dabbed onto the scalp, I can understand why they 'could' contribute to hairloss through breakage and the friction action of applying them. Although I have to say I used Couvre for years and it was superb for me. I never noticed any worsening of the area I applied it to. My approach was to use it as sparingly as possible which still gave me what I needed. And since I was using minox at night on the area I felt I was offsetting any impact the Couvre 'might' have had. Again I don't think it worsened the problem in my case, in fact it was a life saver.

 

Then I guess I should buy Couvre then. I do live in Egypt though and it's July, meaning it's extremely sunny down the street. Would the serum be noticeable on my head under such lighting? I'm also blond so the sun already manages to make me look completely bald in the hair loss area, would a blond color Couvre manage to hide the hair loss in the sun?

[HairKlepto]

No one can truly tell you if it will be noticeable. Only a friend who is brutally honest -- that you trust -- can tell you that.

[Slickers]

Then I guess I should buy Couvre then. I do live in Egypt though and it's July, meaning it's extremely sunny down the street. Would the serum be noticeable on my head under such lighting? I'm also blond so the sun already manages to make me look completely bald in the hair loss area, would a blond color Couvre manage to hide the hair loss in the sun?

 

Concealers are trial and error. Some guys swear by Dermatch, others Toppik, Nanogen, Couvre or Caboki.... it depends on lots of things, hair characteristics mainly, where the loss is.. frontal, vertex, hair colour etc (some mention Toppik medium brown for example has a greenish tint).

 

In my case I used a small dab of Couvre as a base and used Toppik to thicken the hair and brushed it through. It looked really good, no one could ever tell I had anything in my hair (at least they never said so, my girlfriend never even knew I used them). I would add though that I think you need to have decent length to your hair to make them work. Do be patient though, the trick is to persevere with them until you get it looking right.

 

Instead of going and spending a fortune though, go to YouTube and search vids on each of them. Find guys with loss akin to yours and narrow it down that way. Best of luck.