Scotty's Regimen and Request for Help Thread

[scottyc33]

Ok guys, I've been on this forum for quite awhile now and want to give an update and also ask for help. I've been on some form of IH's regimen for a few years now. While it's always hard to say exactly, I do think the regimen has helped at least slow down my hairloss.

My current regimen is as follows:

General Health / Hairloss
Ecklonia Cava
ALC
R-ALA
Super Bio Circumin (morning)
Turmeric Force (evening)
Resveratrol (from Sustain Alpha by Primordial Performance)
Toco 8
Vitamin D & K2
Krill Oil
Green Tea
Boku Superfood (green drink - morning)
Liv.52

Other
Gut Health (Probiotic)
Divanex (Stinging Nettle)
Olive Leaf Extract
Multivitamin (rotate)
Spirulina (3-6g - evening)
Calcium D Glucarate
Cayenne
Fiber Fusion


Workout
BCAAs
Beta Alanine
Creatine
Cissus
CLA
Taurine / COQ10 / B-Complex
Protein shakes (casein, whey, egg, rice)

As many of you know, I've also tried a lot of other things. So many I can't rememeber, but if it's been posted on this board, I've probably tried it. I also tried rogaine foam for about 6 months, it did nothing as far as I could tell. I've been on Virile Mane since it first came out - nada. I'm hopeful about the Hairgen trial coming up next month.

So here's the kicker - I've been on some form of the regimen for awhile now but up until about 18 months ago, I was never very disciplined about it. I had a bunch of bottles of pills and would just pop a few here and there. Also, my diet was not very good. I have come a long way over the past year and half - two years as far as educating myself about food - what to eat, what not to eat for good health (and hair health - which I feel are synonymous).

Anyway, for awhile my hairloss was in a proverbial "holding pattern". Not getting better, but not discernably getting worse. About a year ago, I had a "life-changing" event and decided that I REALLY needed to get back into shape and get serious about my health.

I completely revamped my diet - avoiding carbs and refined sugar like the plague. No coffee. Drink only water, tea and booze. I try to eat a very alkaline diet and eat as many organic, raw fruits, vegetables and nuts as I can. I have a very disciplined routine of a tsp of ACV in the morning, followed by my green drink which I use to wash down my supps. Usually eggs for breakfast, a salad or wrap for lunch and lean meat and veggie for dinner. I also started P90x about a year ago and have stuck with it and dropped 15 lbs (I'm down to 160) and am in as good a shape (if not better)as I was when I was 18 (I'm 33). I've also drastically cut back on my alcohol intake. My job can be very stressful at times, but I have really learned to manage the stress better than I ever have before.

But here's the kicker - all of these positive lifestyle changes - diet, exercise, stress management, etc - and this past year my hairloss has definitely gotten worse. The thinning above my left temple is really pronounced whereas a year ago, I was probably the only one who would really notice it.

I honestly don't get it. I've stuck to the regimen tightly, my diet has got to be 'better' than 95% of the population, I've ripped myself into ridiculous shape and yet my hair has taken a beating.

The ONLY thing I can possible pin it on is the exercise. I literally went from being relatively sedentary for 3 years, to training hard 5-6 days a week. I've also tried a few natural "testosterone boosters' to try and get more results out of my time with the weights. Intense exercise = more testosterone = higher DHT? Intense exercise = higher cortisol which is bad for hair?

I have no intention of stopping the exercise. So if it is the intense training that is taking a toll on my hair, what can I do to mitigate it?

Any other suggestions you may have for what I can try?

I have not yet tried Pueraria Mirifica because I am concerned about sexual side effects - a high libido and 'performance' are important to me .

I am considering trying the "less-is-more" approach and dropping everything in the "Other" category above. Although, I just got some Maca, so that will be added in. I also got my hands on some Alpha-Yohimbine which is supposedly great for mental focus, fat loss and libido so I will be trying that out as well.

I have not yet tried LLLT, hi there nidhogge, nor have I really run the gamut on other topicals.

Thanks for reading!

Scotty

[scottyc33]

Oh I forgot - I also take ZMA and 1-Carboxy in the evening before bed.

[nidhogge]

Scotty--

Add in 112Degrees to your regimen (112Degrees.com). This will add the PM into your diet at the right amount for a male, while boosting your natural test, balancing your hormones, and giving your 'performance' a further increase. I've been using 112Degrees for some time now, perhaps 5 or so months. No symptoms like when I was taking 1g of Ainterol's PM a day, increased sex drive and non-MPB hair fallout (20-40 hairs a day in the shower).

[CausticSymmetry]

scottyc33 - Do you the supplements during your meals?

[scottyc33]

scottyc33 - Do you the supplements during your meals?

I usually take them right before breakfast and dinner.

[hadrion]

Scotty -- don't sweat the Virile Mane not working like you wanted it to. I just hit 6 months on it and gave it up. If it regrew a few rogue hairs here and there that was it. I'm still not convinced those hairs wouldn't have come out on their own.

I did like how it made my scalp feel and I do think it has an action to it that helps thicken existing hairs, but I don't think it's going give any of us the regrowth we were hoping for from the promo study literature RPN was showing around.

On the vigorous exercise tip - I had talked to IH about that and he said that when burning fat you can release things into your body that are detrimental to hair health.

I think I went through a shedding period when my exercise regimen was at it's peak. I was benching 360lbs for 5-6 reps like it was nothing. When I was using bars and machines I would skip adding 25lbs and go to the 45lb plates and had no problem. This was all clean mind you. I'm just on IH's regimen.

I think in that period where I was packing on muscle and doing high intensity cardio intervals and dropping fat off my body, I did indeed release something in my body that hurt my hair.

I've pulled back a bit on the weights after having a hernia scare (big shock with all the weight I was throwing around) and things seem to be okay. Not regrowing, but not losing excessively.

The incredible thing that I owe to IH is I was able to get myself into a physical condition where I was a beast in the gym -- I have no doubt his regimen and a lot of the stuff I learned in here from Nid and others helped me get to this level.

I noticed as my strength and endurance increased, my worries about my hair has decreased.

Definitely stick with the exercise and diet.

I also think the Maca is a great supp for overall health. Not sure what it's going to do for hair health, but those 3 525mg caps a day I'm taking from bestvite have had a real effect on me.

I'm stronger, I'm leaner, I sleep better and my overall mood is a lot better since I started using the regimen.

However, I'm very much like you. I'm not sure what the key is to hair regrowth. I wish I knew what it was.

I'm hopeful we'll all eventually discover it together in here.

[nidhogge]

Hadrion--

That's great to hear man! And, I appreciate the kind words. Glad to see that I played a little role in helping improve your health and man, I *always* have your posts in my mind whenever I think of Maca. I have Imperial Gold Maca, but since it's a powder and not a pill, I often forget to take it.

Definitely gotta get back on that though...

[scottyc33]

Hey hadrion - thanks for the response.

So is there anything I should be taking to lower cortisol after workouts or does that not matter?

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