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Hair Loss Products for Women


Irishgirl

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  • Senior Member

Hi Irishgirl-

 

Sorry no replies for you yet.......I wish I had "the list" but I'm not sure what direction to point you in. I'm not 100% certain why Propecia is a no/no for women, but it is. As a matter of fact, there are disclaimers for Propecia that a woman who is pregnant should not come in contact physically with the pill.

 

I do believe there may be a Minoxidil that can be used by women. It's a topical solution that can aid in keeping and possibly providing mild regrowth.

 

Other than that, I would just recommend quality hair products. You may want to search the site using the "find" feature for any info.

 

Hope this helps a little icon_smile.gif

Hairbank

 

1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's

2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong

3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong

 

GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS

 

current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day

 

My Hair Loss Weblog

 

Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ;) ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss.

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Thanks hairbank, yeh I've read that 2% minoxidil is ok for women. I might look for it online as I don't particuarly want to go into my local chemist & buy rogaine !!

 

Thanks again, will give it a go & see what happens.

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Is it true that your hair gets "hooked" on minoxidil? If so, what does that mean? Does it mean that if you stop using it, you'll lose even more hair?

 

Is it also true that the hair falls out in the first few weeks when using minoxidil??

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Hi Irish-

 

I'm not exactly sure about hair getting "hooked" on Minox?? I'm not sure about hair loss in women, but if the reasons are like those for Male-Pattern-Baldness, Minox helps maintain or possible regrow that hair that is susceptible to MPB. Hair that isn't susceptible is indifferent to the use of Minox. Any hair you keep or regrow that you would have otherwise lost without the use of Minox will fall out if you quit using it. Hope this makes sense.

 

Sometimes.........people experience a noticable thinning when starting on Minox. This is just more hair than normal being kicked into the Telogen, or resting phase of the hair cycle which lasts for about 6 weeks. It's normal for all hair to rest..........usually 10% of the hair on our head is resting at any given time. However, products like Minox can temporarily cause a larger than normal percentage to rest at once, say 15%-20%, which may be noticable. If you experience shedding at all (many don't), your hair should come back around to its normal cycle within the first 6 months to 1 year.

Hairbank

 

1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's

2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong

3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong

 

GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS

 

current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day

 

My Hair Loss Weblog

 

Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ;) ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss.

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  • Regular Member

Hi Irishgirl!

 

I'm a woman, and I have used 2% minoxidil, as well as the 5%. I didn't see a whole lot of improvement with either, perhaps just a bit. I stopped using the 5% liquid because it was really greasy. I haven't tried the 5% foam yet, but I've read that it is better. The makers of Rogaine recommend against women using the 5% but I have had several doctors tell me the 5% is OK for women as long as they can deal with the possibility of some facial hair issues.

 

Some women (including myself) also take Spirnolactone (brand name is Aldactone), which is a potassium-sparing dieuretic which can also lower testosterone, thus theoretically improving hairloss, acne and excess hair on the face/body. Men aren't supposed to take Spironolactone. The problem with women taking Propecia is it can cause serious birth defects if a woman were to get pregnant while using it.

 

By the way, if you have diffuse thining on top, I STRONGLY recommend Toppik. It's like a hair powder, but is actually little colored fibers which you can shake on to conceal thinning areas. My main problem is in my temples and hairline, but I've used Toppik when I want a fuller look on top to conceal those areas and it works wonders!!!

 

Hope this helps!!!! icon_smile.gif

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Hairbank, that's what I thought, that makes more sense. I read a post here where someone says your hair gets "hooked" on it. I couldn't see how that would be. It makes sense that you would lose the hair (eventually) that you would have anyway if you ceased using Minox as it would be susceptible to the same attack as it would have pre minox !!

 

Tara, thanks for that. I think I will give minox a try & see what happens. Have you noticed much change since using Spirnolactone? I'll have a look at Toppik all right, sounds good !!

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Irishgirl--I really don't think the Spironolactone has regrown any of my hair, but it may have slowed things down from where they might have been if I hadn't taken it.

 

Because Spiro has the effect of lowering testoterone (and enhancing estrogen), for women, it can also help with other issues like acne, or overly abundant body hair growth. One other thing it can lead to is increased breast size, which is why I am always a little bit alarmed when I read that some men are using it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Irishgirl,

 

I typically don't make it this far down the forum because I spend a lot of time posting in the surgical section...but I thought I'd poke my head in here and see what's going on.

 

You may also want to consider trying laser treatment. Now...I'm stating this ONLY because FDA has approved it and from the little research I've put into it, it seems to be potentially as effective as minoxodil in stimulating hair growth by bringing more circulation to the scalp. However, it does not block DHT, however, Tarasilk gave you a good idea to try.

 

Other than that, I don't know of any other products...but since I haven't spent extensive research on hairloss for women, I couldn't tell you what else is out there legitimately for women.

 

I do hope this helps you in some way.

 

Bill

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  • 1 month later...
Originally posted by Tarasilk:

Hi Irishgirl!

 

I'm a woman, and I have used 2% minoxidil, as well as the 5%. I didn't see a whole lot of improvement with either, perhaps just a bit. I stopped using the 5% liquid because it was really greasy. I haven't tried the 5% foam yet, but I've read that it is better. The makers of Rogaine recommend against women using the 5% but I have had several doctors tell me the 5% is OK for women as long as they can deal with the possibility of some facial hair issues.

 

 

Hi! I'm a woman who started (on my doctor's advice) using Rogaine 5% foam ONCE a day and Propecia (I can't get pregnant) back in February. By the beginning of April I noticed increased facial hair. My doctor then wrote a Rx for Vaniqa, which slows facial hair growth. So far it's not winning the battle. I've spent about 12 hours and $1000 on electrology and my face and neck are covered with tiny fine blonde hairs. I have nothing but questions.... Let me throw these out and see if anyone has answers/experience:

 

-- Given that the Vaniqa can take 8 weeks to work and I've been on about 6, does this stuff really work?

-- Will these fine blonde facial hairs keep growing? keep multiplying? will they darken or thicken?

-- Given that the Rogaine works on my face, I'm guessing that even though I can't see it, it must be working on my scalp...?

-- Since this clearly isn't a drip issue i.e. the Rogaine isn't dripping -- I'm meticulous putting it on, wash hands etc -- I'm guessing it gets into the blood stream. So I wonder what would happen if I use the 5% foam every other day, and if that's more or less equal to using the 2% formula every day? The only reason I'm NOT using the 2% formula is the greasiness.

-- I know that any growth gotten from Rogaine eventually evens out -- that is, 6-18 months after you start, you've gotten as much improvement as you're going to get. So, will the facial hair ALSO even out?

 

They said 5% of women might get a little growth on the forehead, chin and sideburns. I find that utter bull, as I have gotten it virtually all over my face, neck, EARS, upper cheeks, around my mouth, shoulders, you name it.

 

I hate to have to give up the Rogaine, but I also don't want to be fur-covered, either. Hmm. Thinning hair or fur-covered. Kind of a joke, isn't it? ANY answers are appreciated.

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I can't have kids so my doctor did prescribe the Propecia -- and, boy, was she thorough about checking that I couldn't have kids first. The slightest contact with the drug and a pregnant woman is going to have male babies with birth defects. As my doctor put it, it's not a chance, it's a guarantee. Given that Propecia is a prostate drug, I can imagine....

 

At any rate, that's the why. I'm not as sure about the 5% Rogaine, but since 2% is approved for woman I guess it's something else -- maybe the increased facial hair I complained about in an earlier post. At any rate, my doctor told me to use the 5%. The foam, which beats the old liquid hands down, only comes in the 5% at the moment. Neither the 2% or the 5% liquid or foam require a prescription, though -- they're OTC.

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Hi!!!

 

I also noticed some increase in facial hair growth when I was using the 5% minoxidil...it was fairly mild though, and pretty much just my eyebrows. But a tweeze here, and a pluck there, and it really wasn't a problem. My problem was the 5% was just too greasy, and I wasn't noticing a whole lot of difference where I really wanted to...namely, the hair on my head! So, I've been using the 2% ever since (though I'm now on a bit of a hiatus because I had a HT a little over two weeks ago). But, even though I didn't get the hair growth I was looking for from either formulation, it's very possible it could have slowed down the rate of loss from where I would have been if I hadn't used the product. And when I switched to the 2%, the issue with my eyebrows seemed to gradually go away entirely.

 

I've never used Vaniqua, so I can't address your concerns there. But (and this is just a guess, of course), it might stand to reason that since you are noticing such a pronouced response to Rogaine in terms of facial hair growth, that you may very well be a good responder for the hair on your scalp as well!!! But, I know the dilemna you are feeling....deciding between thin hair or facial hair (for us women) is like deciding between two poisons.

 

I also haven't used Propecia...I'm 42, and I'm not planning on having any more children, but because I still can, no doctor will write me a prescription (I've asked).

 

Hope this helps in some way, and feel free to post or PM me anytime!!!

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Ah, well. My doctor said that it was very, very rare to have the kind of facial hair growth I'm having from the Rogaine. Unfortunately, the idea of reducing the Rogaine from every day to every other day won't do any good, she said. She said I have a choice to make -- increased hair on my head with the facial hair or less hair, no facial hair.

 

I'm more likely to go off the Rogaine, since in 3 weeks I've blasted through over $1200 in electrology treatments and I'm STILL covered with fuzz. So, since I'm leaning that way, I figure I'll try the every other day application (Doctors aren't always right).

 

And speaking of fuzz -- the doctor's guess is that if I'm getting blonde hairs on my face, they're likely to stay blonde. As a brunette, I'm somewhat skeptical. Plus the action of Rogaine is peach fuzz that eventually becomes thicker and darker like the rest of your scalp hair. God help me if this fuzz starts to go dark....

 

Anyway, I'm throwing all this out there for anyone else using the Rogaine and having problems with facial hair. When I first started searching the Internet for info, my best tips were from a transgender site; I don't know why more people aren't talking about their experiences.

 

I don't know if it means most woman Rogaine users are having success/no facial hair.

 

Btw, the 1-800-Rogaine people are next to useless. They're barely trained and successive calls can result in two totally different answers.

 

And, one other piece of info I remembered -- when weighing the Propecia vs Rogaine with my doctor, she pointed out the price difference, which insurance won't cover. The Propecia is about $260 for 3 months, the Rogaine foam about $50. (I'm guessing on these prices - I'm know I'm close but not exact.)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Regular Member

Hey everyone,

 

From what I have read and learned in the past propecia is ineffective for women anyway. From what I have come to learn as well, propecia may affect pregnant women and in turn their babies. Do not take this as medical fact though because its not a proven side effect, just what people have said after they had used it.

 

Anyway, that's that out of the way. The main natural hair loss products are:

 

Hair Genesis

Provillus

Rogaine

Spectral DNC

 

They can all be used by women, and the main reason why most products cant be used by women is the pregnancy factor.

 

Hope this helps

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  • 3 months later...
  • Regular Member

Hi Tarasilk,

 

I just wanted know a little more about Spironolactone.

1. does it have any side effects

2. where can i get it

3. how much does it cost

4. Did it seem to really help slow down your hair loss, and are you still using it?

 

My hair loss is getting much worse and much more noticiable now. I think I have male pattern loss, but i am not really sure. I may have thinning all over. Most of my thinning is on top of my head, in the front, and also on the temples. I think i also have miniturized hair in my temple area.

 

Where was your hair loss and how did your HT go?

good i hope, I wish you much luck and happiness with your HT.

please let me know anything you can to help me.

 

thank you so much

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