New, a bit lost, and scared of losing my hair ._.

Hiya everyone

I am totally new here, but have been a member of HairLoss Talk for about a month, basically since I first noticed my slightly receding hair above my temples, and slight recession above my forehead.

I'm just... a little bit confused and not quite sure how best to approach it! My knowledge of standard treatments such as Finasteride, Ketaconazole and Minoxidil is fairly good, as well as a scattering of natural treatments such as flax seeds and beta-sitosterol. I have also been very fascinated in the impact of insulin, IGF-1, free testosterone, SHBG etc, as well as of course the more immediate chemicals and hormones like DHT and 5ar.

My knowledge on the basics is fairly good I think, but of course the kind of regimen described on immortalhair is quite advanced, and I am trying to make sense of everything and work out how best to treat myself

I love my hair very much, I am so proud of it, and ideally I really want to make sure that not only do I keep it and preferably regrow the little lost areas, but I would love to actually make it thicker and stronger, and take better care of it than ever before All of this has made me realize just HOW much I value it! I will do anything to keep it!

As a final footnote before I end this first post, I just wanted to outline a few small things about my possible hormonal balance and probably genetics Basically, my dad and granddad had pretty limited recession, but noticeable, and my mum's side is pretty strong in terms of hairlines I believe, at least until old age. I have pushed my body though I think, with too many simple carbs, too much sugar, possibly too much fat, and a very inactive lifestyle (at least recently) I also have quite a degree of stress and anxiety, which I am trying to control.

I am very regretful of my sloppy past, if I knew this was a risk I wouldn't have done it. I have also experienced slight "thinning" of my skin, but 2 separate reasonable doctors said it was nothing to worry about. All the same, I think balancing my hormones, dealing with my stress and better supporting my body with vitamins and nutrients would benefit it greatly.

Thank you so much if you had the patience and opportunity to read all this, I know I can go on! I do feel very much at home on a forum like this though, that seems to favour more working with the body and achieving results through balance and detox!

I look forward to reading your replies ^_^

Mike


Oh, as a small footnote, I would be very interested to learn if there are any supplements in the suggested regimen that I should be focussing on in my own specific situation? I only ask because I know that everyone is different, and although I understand that it is good to kinda follow the regimen down and take as many as possible, I'm wondering if any might particularly do me good!

Thank you very much

oo there's no edit on this board! hehe

I wanted to go back and remove some of my smilies as that's a little overboard even for ME! lol ...

You should take all 6. They each work to improve insulin sensitivity.

heya man, it's good to see you here

And yes perhaps it would be best to take all 6, it does seem like a regimen appropriate for what I feel may have triggered my hair loss.

However, I was very tempted to do things to a later point in the hormonal "chain" as well, such as taking lignans, Equol or Fin. Is this reasonable, or is the theory that the regimen alone should do the trick?

I don't want to speak for Caustic Symmetry but if your young like us and have a high androgen output, then it's best to take something to control/lower it in addition to the top 6. For this end, beta-sitosterol, lignans, and pueraria mirifica (especially pueraria mirifica, just make sure to lower estradiol while taking it) work well.

I think you'll find this forum MUCH more helpful than HLT.

heh, do you think do?

I did find HLT could be a tad aggressive - I found it difficult to discuss anything except Finasteride!! lol

I like the forum, but it can be easy for people with opinions like on here to get a bit squashed by all the numbers talking about the Big 3 and little else! heh

And yes I may attempt to tackle the androgen levels more directly... but I was considering lignans and Fin? (even though I believe there are other solutions, I am just a bit scared of putting all my trust in one thing I guess!)

Oh, do you know anything about Equol? Apparently it is made in some people out of soy, and can BIND to DHT and render it inactive - just like SHBG binds to free T! How cool is that?

Or is it still not the best approach?

Hoppi

Hoppipolla - I've been all over the equol research for a few years now (since '04) and there doesn't appear (yet) to be an immediate way to get them into the system, without eating a regular dose of soy isoflavones for, perhaps two years.

Member TK (thelibrarian) tried one product that claimed to contain 1 milligram of equol per serving. It doesn't seem to go too well from what he reported last.

Anyway, you could try a little beta sitosterol (50 to 100 per serving up to twice per day) to temporarily compensate for DHT or a lignan (enterolactone precursor) supplement.

When hitting the late 20's this approach (blocking DHT) doesn't appear to be as useful as before.

CausticSymmetry wrote:

When hitting the late 20's this approach (blocking DHT) doesn't appear to be as useful as before.

What changes in the late 20's that no longer makes DHT suppression an effective means to treat AGA? I'm curious because finasteride seems to not work so well in the older crowd and the only explanation I'm aware of that has been provided is that their follicles have become too "sensitive" which I don't wholeheartedly believe.

Ah ok, that's fair enough

I mean to be fair, as far as I can understand, the advantages of equol aren't hugely superior to the benefits of beta-sitosterol or finasteride, as a temporary way of lowering DHT while other things are addressed and stuff..

Perhaps the only advantages are not interfering with the other functions of 5ar (I'm not fully sure what these are but it seems to make some other hormones too) and perhaps achieving a better "balance" of DHT in the blood... I don't really know!

Either way, if it isn't a viable option then it's not the end of the world

So, do you guys very much recommend against Fin? How is taking Fin so different to taking beta-sitosterol? Isn't Fin just more potent at reducing 5ar.. although I'll admit it doesn't seem to compensate with lowering estrogen and stuff like beta-sitosterol apparently does!

I've posted this before, and since the subject came up, here it is.

Br J Dermatol. 2008 May;158(5):1121-4.

Value of hormonal levels in patients with male androgenetic alopecia treated with finasteride: better response in patients under 26 years old.

Camacho FM, García-Hernández MJ, Fernández-Crehuet JL.

Department of Dermatology, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Avda. Dr Fedriani s/n. 41071 Sevilla, Spain. camachodp@medynet.com

BACKGROUND: Finasteride is a 5alpha-reductase inhibitor that has proved to be an effective treatment for men with androgenetic alopecia. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the hormonal influence of finasteride 1 mg daily on hormonal levels and hair growth in men of different ages and with different degrees of alopecia according to the Hamilton-Norwood scale. METHODS: Two hundred and seventy men aged 14-58 years with male androgenetic alopecia III-VI Hamilton-Norwood score (II-III Ebling score) were treated with finasteride 1 mg daily. Steroid hormone (free testosterone, 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate, delta4-androstenedione, 17-hydroxyprogesterone), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and sebum levels, and trichogram changes were determined at baseline, and at 6 and 12 months of treatment. RESULTS: According to significant hormonal statistical analysis, the patients were divided by age (up to or over 26 years). In the group of patients26 years. No variations in sebum levels were observed. CONCLUSIONS: High levels of 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone in patients
Personally, having formerly tried using natural DHT blockers, I feel there's no more reason to use band-aid based treatments. So finasteride or Beta-Sitosterol are ignoring the real problem.

Beta-Sitosterol is safer than finasteride of course. The problem with finasteride is in some individuals, irreversible endocrine changes, such as reflex androgenicity. For many, finasteride can cause anxiety and depression, and long term may lead to neurogenative disorders.

Ok, I'll be a good boy!

I'll ditch the fin, use beta-sitosterol, and not give up until I work out the root causes of this problem!

I mean hey anyway, if it's effectiveness is going to drop at least a bit at around 26 anyway, and I really want to keep my hair, I'm going to have to tackle this at it's very roots, and hopefully make my body a heck of a lot more healthy in the process!

I am more than willing to put the effort and time in

Fingers crossed as well a good diet, bit of exercise and a detoxed, strong system should allow me to tackle my anxiety/stress much better as well! I know I need to get to the bottom of that, but it can be tricky. I am trying to improve my lifestyle and calm down my stress