Losing the battle - I gave up and started using Rogaine (Minoxidil)

I'm losing the battle, fellas.  After a couple of years of relative stability, my hair has been rapidly falling out at the temples for the past 6 months.  It's very frustrating because I know I'm in poor health.  I have infections in my mouth to clean out - an infection from my upper jaw has recently spread to the entire right side of my face.  I had my initial consultation with Dr. Panahpour, and he's going to take all the metal out of my mouth in March.  I'm also recovering from a nasty bout of the flu, my white blood cell count is low, and I recently broke up with my longtime girlfriend who I thought I was going marry, which has led to unbelievable stress.  I know my immune system is weak.  

Meanwhile, my hair is being devastated.  My hairline is evaporating before my eyes.   It's like watching a slow horror movie - a little piece of you dying, day-by-day.   I just couldn't stand it any longer, so I started using Equate 5% liquid minoxidil.  I've been on it for a week, and it seems to irritate my scalp, so I'm going to switch to Rogaine foam.  I hate to go this route, but I feel like I have no other choice.  I am already a Propecia (PFS) sufferer and the sides never truly went away, my libido is currently near zero, and I'm sure the testicular pain will come back if I start it again.  So finasteride is not an option, but I'm going to begin taking Life Extension's Ultra Natural Prostate (saw palmetto/beta sistosterol) as a replacement anti-androgen.  

I just don't know what else to do, guys.

thissucks wrote:I'm losing the battle, fellas.  After a couple of years of relative stability, my hair has been rapidly falling out at the temples for the past 6 months. I just don't know what else to do, guys.

I'm sorry to hear about your struggle mate.

To a lesser or greater extent the guys in this forum know how you feel. It's a kick in the teeth to struggle with illness or stress and to lose hair as a secondary insult. As if life isn't hard enough already. It isn't fair.

You really have two options. You can either up your game or shrink. To up your game means taking measures to reduce stress, improve your diet and develop a formidable hair-growth protocol that works.

Visit the success stories section of HairLossTalk.com. Moreover, as horrible as hair loss can be, there are a flood of new treatments set to be introduced within a year or 2. Follica, Tsuji, Shiseido and outliers inc. Brotzu:

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/pipeline/

As frustrated as we feel about hair-loss sometimes -- We're all very fucking lucky to live in this time. We have real and legitimate treatments within reach. We have to manage our stress, health and hair better until then.

How old are you by the way?

You really have two options. You can either up your game or shrink. To up your game means taking measures to reduce stress, improve your diet and develop a formidable hair-growth protocol that works.

I'm in a similar situation where various disappointments have left me in a mired state. It has a tremendous impact on health.

For me, it was a combination of events. Relationship that did not work. And a below-average career at a demanding job, which incidentally was a toxic work environment as well. Always seems like when stressors arrive, they come in droves and compound with one another. Several years later, I'm left with a feeling of defeat and low confidence/outlook. There's also this terrible feeling that, now that I am in my late 20s, doors are closing one by one. There's a failure in self-concept.

I can notice diffuse thinning. I believe that if it weren't for diet and supplements, it would be far worse.

There are tons of studies that have shown that not just in humans but in many other species, being in a state of perceived defeat or helplessness will negatively affect health. There are elevated stress hormones, inflammation, slowed wound healing, etc etc.

Like Hotspur said, backing down is not the answer. At the same time, better to accept some situations in life and move onto the next thing.

Have you tried any topical treatments? I noticed you posted on the other thread about onion juice.

imprisoned-radical wrote:

You really have two options. You can either up your game or shrink. To up your game means taking measures to reduce stress, improve your diet and develop a formidable hair-growth protocol that works.

I'm in a similar situation where various disappointments have left me in a mired state. It has a tremendous impact on health.

For me, it was a combination of events. Relationship that did not work. And a below-average career at a demanding job, which incidentally was a toxic work environment as well. Always seems like when stressors arrive, they come in droves and compound with one another. Several years later, I'm left with a feeling of defeat and low confidence/outlook. There's also this terrible feeling that, now that I am in my late 20s, doors are closing one by one. There's a failure in self-concept.

I can notice diffuse thinning. I believe that if it weren't for diet and supplements, it would be far worse.

There are tons of studies that have shown that not just in humans but in many other species, being in a state of perceived defeat or helplessness will negatively affect health. There are elevated stress hormones, inflammation, slowed wound healing, etc etc.

Like Hotspur said, backing down is not the answer. At the same time, better to accept some situations in life and move onto the next thing.

Have you tried any topical treatments? I noticed you posted on the other thread about onion juice.

Not very far from my situation, i can tell i felt all the words. It hit me heavily and needed to rewrite a strategy considerably.

What helps considerably is not giving up, and letting life give you another chance, knowing you did what you could (know and prioritize) at a the time. Paradox of knowing how to do better to become better, while not been able to execute the theory in the practice is surely depressing, and paralyzing.
But it's mess one have to solve by their own. For me i am searching a sweet spot between health (individual and social) - wealth (skill related) - time (to improve one or another). The better i bridge all of those, the less stress of many origins is a factor.

It seems world was a human built place to let very few having all the factors for success, since it's a competition with winner to take it all, dropping pieces for all the others...

There are tons of studies that have shown that not just in humans but in many other species, being in a state of perceived defeat or helplessness will negatively affect health. There are elevated stress hormones, inflammation, slowed wound healing, etc etc.

Yep.

Sadly, jaw bone, tooth infections and/or periapical lesions (cysts) from root full or partial root canals are very frequent causes of a chronic inflammatory state. I've seen numerous cases of MPB worsened by it. Some resolved after correct treatment.

This Journal of Oral Medicine is written in Spanish, but scroll down for the English translation. It describes the autoimmune (alopecia areata) form of hair loss occurring from focal infections. Some with MPB also have this form.


http://www.medicinaoral.com/pubmed/medoralv7_i4_p303.pdf

Hotspur wrote:

thissucks wrote:I'm losing the battle, fellas.  After a couple of years of relative stability, my hair has been rapidly falling out at the temples for the past 6 months. I just don't know what else to do, guys.

I'm sorry to hear about your struggle mate.

To a lesser or greater extent the guys in this forum know how you feel. It's a kick in the teeth to struggle with illness or stress and to lose hair as a secondary insult. As if life isn't hard enough already. It isn't fair.

You really have two options. You can either up your game or shrink. To up your game means taking measures to reduce stress, improve your diet and develop a formidable hair-growth protocol that works.

Visit the success stories section of HairLossTalk.com. Moreover, as horrible as hair loss can be, there are a flood of new treatments set to be introduced within a year or 2. Follica, Tsuji, Shiseido and outliers inc. Brotzu:

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/pipeline/

As frustrated as we feel about hair-loss sometimes -- We're all very fucking lucky to live in this time. We have real and legitimate treatments within reach. We have to manage our stress, health and hair better until then.

How old are you by the way?

Thanks for the encouragement, brother.  I am 34 years old.  You are right, it isn't fair.  It's a giant kick in the balls on a daily basis.  

I checked out HairLossTalk.  Some of them have gotten good results, usually involving finasteride (which I can't take).  It's also kind of the antithesis of this site, which goes for the natural approach.  I absolutely hate drugs with a passion (Propecia poisoned me for life), but I'm feeling desperate.  I'll go out and get some Nizoral Shampoo, which I've tried in the past, but it irritated my scalp and seemed to make things worse.  I tend to avoid shampoos, unless they are gentle Aubrey shampoos.  The right side of my scalp is pinkish and hurts and/or itches all day.  It's been like this for the past 10 years.  The left side is not pink, and I'm still losing hair there too, but the right side is much more aggressive.

It'll be great if any of those new treatments pan out, but I'm not holding my breath.  I noticed that the page hasn't even been updated in nearly a year (March 2017).  Optimism is good, but I find it hard to be quite as optimistic as you.  How many of these treatments have crashed and burned in the past?

But you're right man, I will up my game best I can.  I will still try to take as much wisdom from this site as possible, but I'll add in the drugs and anti-androgens.  My diet is pretty good, probably better than 95% of people out there, but I'm still working on it - I still occasionally eat grains, sugars, dairy, and the like.  The stress has been an absolute killer, but I need to work it out.  I'm going back to the gym.  I will get my health back in order.  The only question is if the hair will ever come back, or if I'm already doomed.  However, I'm trying.  Thanks again for the post.

imprisoned-radical wrote:

You really have two options. You can either up your game or shrink. To up your game means taking measures to reduce stress, improve your diet and develop a formidable hair-growth protocol that works.

I'm in a similar situation where various disappointments have left me in a mired state. It has a tremendous impact on health.

For me, it was a combination of events. Relationship that did not work. And a below-average career at a demanding job, which incidentally was a toxic work environment as well. Always seems like when stressors arrive, they come in droves and compound with one another. Several years later, I'm left with a feeling of defeat and low confidence/outlook. There's also this terrible feeling that, now that I am in my late 20s, doors are closing one by one. There's a failure in self-concept.

I can notice diffuse thinning. I believe that if it weren't for diet and supplements, it would be far worse.

There are tons of studies that have shown that not just in humans but in many other species, being in a state of perceived defeat or helplessness will negatively affect health. There are elevated stress hormones, inflammation, slowed wound healing, etc etc.

Like Hotspur said, backing down is not the answer. At the same time, better to accept some situations in life and move onto the next thing.

Have you tried any topical treatments? I noticed you posted on the other thread about onion juice.

So sorry to hear.  All that pain, frustration, and stress has a way of just overwhelming your body.  My career is low-paying but it used to bring me pleasure (I'm an adjunct professor), now it seems completely meaningless.  Everything in my world is empty right now.  There is no joy, no light.  I've gotten to feel what true depression is like.  Of course, my doc wants to put me on SSRIs.

That's interesting what you say about your emotional state and health.  I have been devastated for about a month now, complete with suicidal thoughts and the like, and it's frustrating because I know what a heavy toll this emotional torment is having on my body.  As you said, I feel defeated and helpless.  But it's time to snap out of it and push forward until I have meaning again.  I always appreciate talking to you guys about this type of stuff.

I've done a little experimenting with topical treatments.  I was using a bee venom mixture last last year, but I believe the concentration of venom was too high.  It absolutely killed any libido I had left, yet it still didn't stop my hair loss.  I might go back to it later, but I've stopped using it.  I've started with the onion juice, but it's only been two days, and I haven't felt anything yet.  I was using a blender, but I bought a juicer today so I will start with a more concentrated supply (no added water).  I'm hoping it will somehow calm down my pink, sore, itchy scalp, but I'm not holding my breath. As I mentioned above, the right side of my scalp has been inflamed for about 10 years, and it keeps moving inwards and devouring my hair line.

CausticSymmetry wrote:Sadly, jaw bone, tooth infections and/or periapical lesions (cysts) from root full or partial root canals are very frequent causes of a chronic inflammatory state. I've seen numerous cases of MPB worsened by it. Some resolved after correct treatment.

This Journal of Oral Medicine is written in Spanish, but scroll down for the English translation. It describes the autoimmune (alopecia areata) form of hair loss occurring from focal infections. Some with MPB also have this form.


http://www.medicinaoral.com/pubmed/medoralv7_i4_p303.pdf

Thanks, CS. I don't have any root canals, but I do have cavitations from wisdom teeth extraction. Also, one of my teeth is decayed and has to be pulled. What should I do?

Cavitations are just as bad as root canals (pathology wise)- Except that they are easier to treat.

There's a calcium / zinc therapy, very inexpensive to use. It treats cavitations, bone infections without surgery and even root canals in some cases. More info here, but every case is different.

https://www.calciumtherapy.com/

The man behind this (55 years of experience) has written a book as well.

http://amzn.to/2BSrlLF