Products I Use
January 2005
I have simplified my regimen considerably. Most notably, I am no longer using any topicals. See below for an explanation as to why. I am relying on Proscar to keep my hair. So far I am happy with the maintenance it is providing me.
Shampoos:
Nizoral 2% Shampoo (3 times a week)
Tricomin Shampoo and Conditioner
Revivogen Shampoo and Conditioner
Topicals:
I have stopped using all topicals due to finally finding out what my years of inflammation of the scalp was caused by. I recently was diagnosed with a form of Cicratricial Alopecia in the crown area of my scalp. This has made me sensitive to topicals. Up till now I have been very happy with the results I have had from my excellent topicals. The cicratricial alopecia is not very common and I am just unlucky enough to have it, in conjunction with normal hair loss. I may restart using topicals again if my cicratricial alopecia is kept under control, but for now I have decided to play it safe and not use topicals to avoid inflaming the cicratricial alopecia.
Internals:
February 2004
Added Revivogen 1ml daily to my regimen
Started all over again in September of 2003
Shampoos:
Nizoral 2% Shampoo (3 times a week) (this is not as frequent a usage as I was doing before [see below for details])
Nioxin Bionutrient Cleanser and Conditioner (pretty much my staple shampoo. I do not think this regrows any hair. I do however like the condition of my scalp and hair after using it.)
Topicals:
Dr. Lee's 15% Xandrox Solution (about 1ml, every night) (see the review I did on this great product.)
Kirkland 5% Minoxidil (about 1ml, everyday in the afternoon when I get home from work) (from Costco, cheap!)
Internals:
MSM (3 1000mg capsules per day) (lots of buzz on this supplement for its ability to strengthen and thicken existing hair)
A good multivitamin complex (whenever I remember to take one, usually about 2 or 3 times a week)
And that's all! I have toned down my regimen considerably. Notice that I am no longer taking finasteride. This is not because I have any problems with it, but I am trying to see if it is possible to maintain the current hair I have, and potentially regrow some of the lost hair, without taking finasteride. As such, I have decided to add Revivogen to my regimen soon, and will update this page when I do so. See the interview I did with Dr. Khadavi.
A period of doing nothing (from December 2002 until August of 2003)
I totally stopped treatment. BIG mistake, and lesson learned. I didn't intend to stop. Life just got in the way for a while, and over the course of 9 months when I was doing nothing to fight my hair loss, I went from an almost undetectable balding area (which had filled in as a result of the treatments mentioned below) to being worse off than when I started in month 1 of my treatment. So if you evaluate my pictures, take a look at the crown pics for month 1. Notice how bad the situation was? Well its much worse now. All because I stopped treatments. I am back on track now, having started a new regimen for treating my hair loss in September of 2003. This regimen is mentioned above.
Months 5 to 7 of my treatment (from August 2002 until November 2002)
Shampoos:
Nizoral 2% Shampoo
Neutragena T/Gel
Nioxin Bionutrient Cleanser (and Nioxin Conditioner)
Aloe Vera Shampoo
BodyShop Tea Tree Oil Shampoo
Lush Antiphilitron (Lemon Oil) Shampoo
Topicals:
Dr. Lee's Xandrox 5% daytime formula (containing 5% minoxidil, 5% azeleic acid)
Dr. Lee's Xandrox 5% nightime formula (containing 5% minoxidil, 5% azeleic acid, 0.025% retinoic acid)
Folligen Spray
Nizoral 2% cream
My own homemade concoction (containing 4% spironolactone, 2% green tea extract, 2% grape seed extract, 10% pure aloe vera gel, 15% emu oil)
Internals, Nutritional Supplements, Food:
1mg Finasteride / day
L-lysine pills (an amino acid)
Fatty Acids (acquired from using flax seed oil and olive oil)
Fish (for more fatty acids)
A good multivitamin/mineral daily supplement
Months 1 to 4 of my treatment (from April 2002 until July 2002)
Shampoos:
Nizoral 2%
Neutragena T/Gel Shampoo
PolyTar AF Shampoo (with salicylic acid and coal tar)
Head and Shoulders Shampoo (with pyrithione zinc)
Selsun Blue (with selenium sulfide)
BodyShop Tea Tree Oil Shampoo
Topicals:
Dr. Lee's Xandrox 5% daytime formula (containing 5% minoxidil, 5% azeleic acid)
Dr. Lee's Xandrox 5% nighttime formula (containing 5% minoxidil, 5% azeleic acid, 0.025% retinoic acid)
Dr. Lee's Xandrox 12.5% cream based formula (containing 12.5% minoxidil, 5% azeleic acid)
Dr. Lee's Spironolactone 5% lotion
Folligen Spray
Emu Oil
Internals, Nutritional Supplements, Food:
1mg Finasteride / day
L-lysine pills (an amino acid)
Fatty Acids (acquired from using flax seed oil and olive oil)
Fish (for more fatty acids)
A good multivitamin/mineral daily supplement
Here's why I use some of these things:
Nizoral
This is my staple shampoo. I use this almost everyday for its anti-androgenic, anti-fungal, and growth stimulating properties. This is probably the best shampoo for hairloss sufferers. It's effects with regards to regrowth have been compared to Minoxidil 2%, but its method of action is different from Minoxidil so I believe they should work together synergistically.
A small trick with Nizoral and emu oil:
Nizoral apparantly leaves the scalp rather dry for some users. I rarely experienced this, but since I don't use any conditioners I needed something that would give me the effect of a conditioner with Nizoral. I tried the following: I mixed about .2ml of Nizoral with about 4-5 small drops of emu oil in the palm of my hand. The Nizoral went from a clear pink to an opaque pink. I then washed with this combination. I highly recommend this to anyone who is considering using Nizoral shampoo. The tiny bit of emu oil in the shampoo had not only conditioned my hair, but it gave it very noticeable extra volume. It also left my scalp feeling really nice. If you suffer from scalp itch, try this out. I have posted this trick on a number of forums and the feedback that I received from others who tried it was very positive.
Neutragena T/Gel, PolyTar AF, Head and Shoulders, Selsun Blue
I use these occasionally as a break from Nizoral. All of them have dandruff fighting ingredients that help keep my seborrheic dermatitis under control.
BodyShop Tea Tree Oil Shampoo
There's no reason in particular why I chose the BodyShop brand. I wanted to try a tea tree oil shampoo and this was the first brand I tried. I really liked it. Tea tree oil has anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Good stuff again for keeping inflammation in check, and the scalp healthy. Remember, you need a healthy scalp for the medications like Minoxidil and Propecia to work well.
.... More products will be covered soon ....
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