Are we wasting our time?

I keep wondering if we are all wasting our time trying to hold on to our hair. We swallow hundreds of pills, bath our scalp with laser light, soak it with oils and we even turn to drugs.
So, has anyone on this forum actually reversed their hair loss? I’m not talking about growing back hair on a slick bald scalp. We know that’s impossible, but has anyone managed to thicken up their thinning hair?
I have been battling hair loss for about ten years now and nothing seems to work. I may have slowed the process a bit but just when I think I have won I get hit by another attack and start shedding like a mangy dog.
Can I get a show of hands?
I appreciate your comments.
Thanks…

I have attained an amazing density over the regions where my hair density was already good (basically everywhere but the temples). well, I guess that was a piece of cake...

the temples seem to be slowly filling in... I think the hairline has moved forward by one finger... I would like to fast forward a couple of years and see what happens...

Listen to your body and try to remain positive....Not everything works for everybody. I like to look at my body as a chemistry set...trying to get the right balance of vitamins enyzmes antioxidants that I need. What works for others might not work for you...hair loss is a hard process to follow because regrowth could take so long and it is very hard to judge unless you had a bald spot that partially grew back and a dense area that got noticable denser. Make sure you look at your hair in the same light you always do, because if the lights are dim it will look fuller, when the lights are brighter it will look lighter.

The treatments discussed and presented by IH focus on addressing common health misconceptions, so that we can correct them. Even if the regimen doesn't grow back amazing results, I have every confidence that if you stick to it your quality of life at least will improve to a noticeably over time.

Saying that, I enjoy this forum, I enjoy talking to others about common concerns. I've never seen a nasty remark on this site, and hold strong that it's a great bunch of people who just want the best of themselves. So for me, this is not a waste of time.

I do understand the frustration though... it's scary to see a part of one's physical identity slip away, which I can strongly relate having been "the cool guy with long hair".

If it's any help, 2013 might be a VERY good year for ALL of us.

http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1349

There's a lot of good results and our share of hopelessness and bouts of panic mode.

A lot of us have been there. I certainly have, over a long stretch, spanning well over a decade. However, I am finally at peace with hair loss, because I have arrested it completely and am only focused on boosting it further.

Speaking of what action<reaction said, there is viable technology that can really change things if we've lost more then we can handle.

Before I optimized my regimen to its fullest extent, it took heavy metal detoxification and a solid year a half before I reached a vital peak of success. considering that I had waged this fight for over a decade before that, it shows it is possible to succeed in at this.

Many posters who have had success might drop by here occassionally, because hair loss is now a thing of the past.

Like others have mentioned before, one we can understand the driving forces behind our own personal biochemistry, it can really make a difference.

I just recently made some good progress, after also ten years of treatment and quite a few experiments..

Back then I started out with finasteride and, soon afterwards, added minoxidil; in those early days things had improved but over the years I have lost some ground, although not much.

In *my* case the biggest culprit is sex; no sex means no(?) hairloss and there is no other cure(!), but hey.. Now, I kept this thing to a minimum and so-so maintained. Then, recently, I came across some 'magic bullets' aka essential oils.

I think there are countless of them being useful but I currently only use lavender and thyme. Now this is a cheap regimen because I use them in minuscule amounts (~0.03%), which is recommended because most of them get toxic at concentrations above 0.25%. I just mix them with the minoxidil.

Started with them about six months ago and they (especially thyme) reduced my (daily) hairloss to virtually nil and clearly regrew hair in the (beforehand) slick temples, which btw were slick bald for many years now.
This hair still is marely visible but I am of good hope for the future. Of course I plan adding new stuff, as I can afford.

So, yes, one can stop and even reverse the condition if one finds the right way..

Can you give a link to purcase this Thyme? and your input how to use it?

ppm wrote:I just recently made some good progress, after also ten years of treatment and quite a few experiments..

Back then I started out with finasteride and, soon afterwards, added minoxidil; in those early days things had improved but over the years I have lost some ground, although not much.

In *my* case the biggest culprit is sex; no sex means no(?) hairloss and there is no other cure(!), but hey.. Now, I kept this thing to a minimum and so-so maintained. Then, recently, I came across some 'magic bullets' aka essential oils.

I think there are countless of them being useful but I currently only use lavender and thyme. Now this is a cheap regimen because I use them in minuscule amounts (~0.03%), which is recommended because most of them get toxic at concentrations above 0.25%. I just mix them with the minoxidil.

Started with them about six months ago and they (especially thyme) reduced my (daily) hairloss to virtually nil and clearly regrew hair in the (beforehand) slick temples, which btw were slick bald for many years now.
This hair still is marely visible but I am of good hope for the future. Of course I plan adding new stuff, as I can afford.

So, yes, one can stop and even reverse the condition if one finds the right way..

Thank you for the input.
Are you still on fin? If not, what did you replace it with and what was your experience? I tried essential oils about two years ago, but I did not notice an improvement with regard to increased growth. My hair at the time was quite dense and full, so it would have been difficult to see any positive results.
I am thinning in a NW5 pattern. The affected area is still fully covered with cosmetically acceptable hair and only looks thin to me. The problem is that all of the hair in the affected area is miniaturized. It’s visibly thinner. My fear is that the entire area will eventually bald if the miniaturization process continues.
Propecia and Minox provided excellent results during the first 6-7 years of use. Unfortunately Propecia is only slowing the process down a bit now.

CausticSymmetry wrote:There's a lot of good results and our share of hopelessness and bouts of panic mode.

A lot of us have been there. I certainly have, over a long stretch, spanning well over a decade. However, I am finally at peace with hair loss, because I have arrested it completely and am only focused on boosting it further.

Speaking of what action<reaction said, there is viable technology that can really change things if we've lost more then we can handle.

Before I optimized my regimen to its fullest extent, it took heavy metal detoxification and a solid year a half before I reached a vital peak of success. considering that I had waged this fight for over a decade before that, it shows it is possible to succeed in at this.

Many posters who have had success might drop by here occassionally, because hair loss is now a thing of the past.

Like others have mentioned before, one we can understand the driving forces behind our own personal biochemistry, it can really make a difference.

CS – Thanks for the input and reply.
The battle started over a decade ago for me, probably around 1999. Propecia and Xandrox were my only weapons for seven years. These were my only weapons because they provided excellent results. My entire scalp thickened up. There was no sign of loss or change at all by the end of year seven. All this suddenly changed and it’s been downhill ever since. I aggravated the loss by stopping Xandrox a couple of years ago and allowing a lapse in treatment with Propecia over the last couple of years.
The viable technology you speak of is probably hair transplantation. This may be an option for some, but may not be an option for me if I lose all the hair that is miniaturizing. The affected are in my case is about a NW5. The entire top of my scalp is thinning, so I doubt I would have enough donor hair to provide the level of density I would like to achieve.
My goal is to stop the miniaturization progression and reverse the loss to a small extent. I am not delusional and don’t expect to achieve 2006 hair levels ever again. My hair was perfect back then. It was literally the level of a teenager. My loss over the last three years has been quite fast and has covered a very large portion of my scalp. That’s what lead me to your site in the first place. I was looking for health related hair loss reasons and possible solutions. I am now on the right path with regard to my health, but my hair is not responding. I feel healthier ever since I started on your top six, stopped all alcohol and sugar consumption and started resistance training again.
Optimizing my regimen seems to be a guessing game. There must be a series of tests that we can run to establish a baseline for hair health. Once this is known, we can take quarterly measurements to make sure we are on track. I know that we are all biologically unique, but we also share the same basic blueprint. There must be an optimal range that we can set and measure? Thyroid, adrenal, glucose level, vit-d, estrogen, testosterone, etc. based on an age range. Doctor’s do not care about optimal levels. They only care about the general range that has been set by the insurance industry.

magic_gro wrote:I have attained an amazing density over the regions where my hair density was already good (basically everywhere but the temples). well, I guess that was a piece of cake...

the temples seem to be slowly filling in... I think the hairline has moved forward by one finger... I would like to fast forward a couple of years and see what happens...

Magic_gro - That is exactly what I am trying to achieve. If I can regain the density of areas that still have hair growth, which in my case is my entire scalp, it would be considered a huge success.
How did you do it? What are you taking and how much? Do you know if you suffer from any system disorders or imbalances, such as thyroid, adrenal, insulin resistance, digestion/elimination, etc? May I ask your age? I just turned 47 on Saturday, so age may be a factor for me. Strange thing is that my accelerated thinning did not start until about three years ago.
Are you, or have you suffered from extreme periods of prolonged stress?

Speaking personally, I've given up on heading to the doctor for optimal health recently, because I wasn't getting it... nor did I know many who were.

As for the treatment I mentioned, it's probably more in the range of medical history in the making considering what it can and will be used for outside the ranges of hair care, using stem cell derivatives to grow brand new follicles. Listen to the interview, it's legit, definitely a nice thought for the future.

There do seem to be a lot of self tests that we can do, I'm not sure whether or not they're all listed conveniently in the right spot yet or not, but there is also a lot of experimentation involved in this whole process. The most I can say is keep smiling, and keep trying

Hairbeback wrote:Listen to your body and try to remain positive....Not everything works for everybody. I like to look at my body as a chemistry set...trying to get the right balance of vitamins enyzmes antioxidants that I need. What works for others might not work for you...hair loss is a hard process to follow because regrowth could take so long and it is very hard to judge unless you had a bald spot that partially grew back and a dense area that got noticable denser. Make sure you look at your hair in the same light you always do, because if the lights are dim it will look fuller, when the lights are brighter it will look lighter.

Hairbeback – I do try to listen to my body. I use several gauges, energy level, mood, eye-sight, skin moister, mid section fat retention/loss, and of course hair shedding.
I agree that we cannot take a one size fits all approach to hairloss and health. But there must be a common baseline that can be applied to everyone. I guess that’s exactly what CS is trying to accomplish with his top-6. It should help everyone.

HairSeeker,

The company Histogen held their Phase 2 clinical trial in Argentina with 24 subjects, and now they are on to Phase 3 studying safety,efficacy and treatment protocol. With just one treatment most subjects increased their hair density and number of hairs (new growth) before and during the one year follow up. Most are continuing to see gains after the one year mark which kind of concerns me a little. There were a few where the treatment stopped it's gain (it appears on the most aggressive MPB cases) at the 8 month mark.

Questions I have are how old are the subjects, did they recently experience MPB or something that has be on going for them. What kind of diet are they on (anti-inflamatory diet maybe?). It does sound very exciting, but without the study, difficult to see what is going on.

http://www.histogen.com/aboutus/news_events.htm#25

There is limited information regarding the Histogen trials, but as I understand the trial candidates were between 18 and 50 years old. Having new follicles in an already malnourished, unhealthy scalp will not yeild promising long lasting results from all I can surmise, unless these follicles are like... super follicles (that horrible thing inside me is grinning wickedly).

Do you think the Ziering interview with Spencer on Baldtalk deserves it's own thread here?

hairseeker: sorry for the delay, somehow I didn't get any topic reply notification.

I did use a lot of different stuff and I didn't even use all of the IH top 6 to say the truth (but i am looking forward to doing so).

I always kept adding new stuff. and I am currently using supplements, topicals and shampoos. I also did LLLT and derma-rolling in the past.

will need some time to list everything... but it's hard to say what exactly is that worked. and right now i am collapsing to bed.

quick answer to the other questions: i am now 28, my hair loss happened 5-6 years ago. i was under a lot of stress, and was taking triamcinolone (a corticosteroid) for some other health issues. when that was over i stopped losing hair. but it didn't grow back on its own.

apropos of which: does it make sense to anyone, or it's just by chance that i lost hair while on corticosteroids?

i promise i'll try and reply back with my regime by sunday! if I don't, please remind me via a PM...

thanks!

magic_gro

What kind of corticosteroids where you on? For asthma?

triamcinolone pills taking systemically for asthma and a horrible sinus condition with always swelling turbinates (had an accident ten years earlier and broke my nose and was not taken care of) + topical nasal cortisone sprays for the turbinates and + other mouth puffs for asthma. asthma went completely away when the sinus got less worse (I guess it was related, although I don't exactly understand how... maybe breathing air directly through the mouth without filtering it via the nose???). oh needless to say I was never able to have any restful sleep, which can have contributed to the stress.

Do you believe the asthma inhalers are linked to hair loss? I've been on Beclomethasone dipropionate and salbutamol sulphate, if you're familiar with them, for around 10 years.

i can't tell you for sure. it might have just been a coincidence. or it may not...