Road to recovery - my own log of everything I'm currently trying for HL

Wanted to keep a running log of everything I'm currently trying for my own hair loss.  

I've got heavily receded MPB with diffused thinning - same pattern my father has it too.  The front area has taken the largest hit (even though it's all bad) and with where it's at - this is the last stand.  It's also hard to continue stomaching the effort it requires to style on a daily basis (I literally pull off miracles).  Still hurts my freaking soul every day though.

At the moment I'm taking a "flood the zone" kind of approach as I continue to refine my hair loss knowledge with heavy emphasis on scalp health, blood flow, digestion, and oxygenation.  It looks like a bit much, but honestly the supps really only cost me maybe $150-$175 altogether - keep in mind some of them last well beyond a month. Inevitably I'll begin to scale back at some point.

Diet:

Mostly carnivore.  
When I do eat carbs it's really never more than 20-30g's a day.  Most of it is from oranges, bell peppers, or mushrooms.  

Daily Oral Supplements:

Taurine (2g's two to three times a day)
Zinc Piccolinate (30mg)
Copper Sulfate (3mg)
Manganese (10mg)
Iodine - Lugols 2% (3mg)
Selenium (200mcg)
Marine Collagen from NeoCell (2g - but I scatter the individual 4 pills throughout the day)
Niacin (1.25g's every other day for the "flush" / circulation)
Mouth Taping & Mewing

Looking to add:  Guava leaves (targeting very specific B vitamins that are pro hair),  a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (either B1 or sulforaphane the way FoundMyFitness on YouTube explains it)

Topical:

DIY solution containing 2% Taurine and 0.8% Adenosine Triphosphate + Distilled Water (twice a day most of the week, the rest of the time once)
Copper Peptide w/Hylauronic Acid (daily)
Dermstamp at 1.75mm setting (weekly)

Considering:

Buying a grounding mat both for when I work and when I sleep
An acoustic shockwave therapy device (for a less invasive, painful solution to microneedling)
Other options for raising Co2 for better oxygenation both in the body and scalp
Systemic Enzymes (Serrapeptase, Nattokinase, etc) for fibrosis and EDTA for calcification/biofilm elimination

Summary So Far:

A couple of things here -

#1 I'm glad I have focused on this elimination diet via carnivore and the mineral balancing.  I'm just under six foot down from 201lbs to 185lbs since October and trimmed nearly 2 inches off my waist while maintaining muscle.   Even though I have always worked out, this is THE best my midsection has looked since my mid 20's (got the abs poking out and everything).  Digestion had been really bad for almost a decade, but now I'm regular and everything looks healthy.   I still want to order a hair test from ARL though.

#2 before I added most of these oral supplements in mid-December I was using a DIY topical regimen with Taurine.  It was a panic move after a big shed right around beginning of October.  I'm telling you right now - it's a major component.  Shedding has been barely noticeable since.   I didn't even start the large dosing of oral Taurine until last month so I'm confident the topical application is having a profound effect particularly on TGF-B aspect.

#3 my vascularity has started to return.  I had been so pale and bloated looking (especially in the face) for such a long time.

Other Observations:

Honestly, when I look back at my life from my early 20's up to now (I'm 40) it's clear as day to me how things got off track.  I went from a high stress job waiting tables to a corporate environment that is even higher stress and being stuck at a desk all day, not getting enough sunlight, etc etc.  All the while on the weekends being single and out whooping it up with my friends, which always involves alcohol.  All that on top of maintaining a rigorous 4-5 day a week workout.

All of the above led to a serious deterioration in sleep quality, digestion, mineral imbalances, sympathetic nervous system running wild, and put my hair loss into overdrive.  Now I'm faced with the task of unwinding all of that and it won't happen overnight.  My father clearly has sleep apnea and I've been told by other people they've seen me sleeping with my mouth open.  Add on top of that there's "email apnea" I've suffered from for so long at my job (look it up it's a real thing).  The more I research sleep and mouth breathing the more obvious the connection.  The scary thing is how long it's gone on and I have without a doubt been living in an oxygen deficient state.

Have you looked into essential oils for hair loss? As an example tea tree oil is said to be antiandrogenic.

JtheDreamer wrote:Wanted to keep a running log of everything I'm currently trying for my own hair loss.  

I've got heavily receded MPB with diffused thinning - same pattern my father has it too.  The front area has taken the largest hit (even though it's all bad) and with where it's at - this is the last stand.  It's also hard to continue stomaching the effort it requires to style on a daily basis (I literally pull off miracles).  Still hurts my freaking soul every day though.

At the moment I'm taking a "flood the zone" kind of approach as I continue to refine my hair loss knowledge with heavy emphasis on scalp health, blood flow, digestion, and oxygenation.  It looks like a bit much, but honestly the supps really only cost me maybe $150-$175 altogether - keep in mind some of them last well beyond a month.  Inevitably I'll begin to scale back at some point.

Diet:

Mostly carnivore.  
When I do eat carbs it's really never more than 20-30g's a day.  Most of it is from oranges, bell peppers, or mushrooms.  

Daily Oral Supplements:

Taurine (2g's two to three times a day)
Zinc Piccolinate (30mg)
Copper Sulfate (3mg)
Manganese (10mg)
Iodine - Lugols 2% (3mg)
Selenium (200mcg)
Marine Collagen from NeoCell (2g - but I scatter the individual 4 pills throughout the day)
Niacin (1.25g's every other day for the "flush" / circulation)
Mouth Taping & Mewing

Looking to add:  Guava leaves (targeting very specific B vitamins that are pro hair),  a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (either B1 or sulforaphane the way FoundMyFitness on YouTube explains it)

Topical:

DIY solution containing 2% Taurine and 0.8% Adenosine Triphosphate + Distilled Water (twice a day most of the week, the rest of the time once)
Copper Peptide w/Hylauronic Acid (daily)
Dermstamp at 1.75mm setting (weekly)

Considering:

Buying a grounding mat both for when I work and when I sleep
An acoustic shockwave therapy device (for a less invasive, painful solution to microneedling)
Other options for raising Co2 for better oxygenation both in the body and scalp
Systemic Enzymes (Serrapeptase, Nattokinase, etc) for fibrosis and EDTA for calcification/biofilm elimination

Summary So Far:

A couple of things here -

#1 I'm glad I have focused on this elimination diet via carnivore and the mineral balancing.  I'm just under six foot down from 201lbs to 185lbs since October and trimmed nearly 2 inches off my waist while maintaining muscle.   Even though I have always worked out, this is THE best my midsection has looked since my mid 20's (got the abs poking out and everything).  Digestion had been really bad for almost a decade, but now I'm regular and everything looks healthy.   I still want to order a hair test from ARL though.

#2 before I added most of these oral supplements in mid-December I was using a DIY topical regimen with Taurine.  It was a panic move after a big shed right around beginning of October.  I'm telling you right now - it's a major component.  Shedding has been barely noticeable since.   I didn't even start the large dosing of oral Taurine until last month so I'm confident the topical application is having a profound effect particularly on TGF-B aspect.

#3 my vascularity has started to return.  I had been so pale and bloated looking (especially in the face) for such a long time.

Other Observations:

Honestly, when I look back at my life from my early 20's up to now (I'm 40) it's clear as day to me how things got off track.  I went from a high stress job waiting tables to a corporate environment that is even higher stress and being stuck at a desk all day, not getting enough sunlight, etc etc.  All the while on the weekends being single and out whooping it up with my friends, which always involves alcohol.  All that on top of maintaining a rigorous 4-5 day a week workout.

All of the above led to a serious deterioration in sleep quality, digestion, mineral imbalances, sympathetic nervous system running wild, and put my hair loss into overdrive.  Now I'm faced with the task of unwinding all of that and it won't happen overnight.  My father clearly has sleep apnea and I've been told by other people they've seen me sleeping with my mouth open.  Add on top of that there's "email apnea" I've suffered from for so long at my job (look it up it's a real thing).  The more I research sleep and mouth breathing the more obvious the connection.  The scary thing is how long it's gone on and I have without a doubt been living in an oxygen deficient state.

it is very nice to see so much dedication for hair, and happy that you see the results.

Since you seem to be pro-tech. i do think wonderful thing to add to regimen is LLLT applied on your hairline, and do sauna once a week, to keep the epidermis cleans, hydrated and full of nutrients. For pro-growth which is in your age, which happens to be similar to my age, difficult - and you already do a topical regimen, try melatonin. It is boost to the growth factors, antioxidant that is recycled 11 times, and among other things pro-sleep when it reach circulation of the scalp.

Keep us posted.

CF wrote:Have you looked into essential oils for hair loss? As an example tea tree oil is said to be antiandrogenic.

I most certainly have - especially when it comes to Amla and Rosemary.

I prefer not to use them right now because I still style my hair every day and dealing with oils would be prohibitive to that.

Zaphod wrote:
it is very nice to see so much dedication for hair, and happy that you see the results.

Since you seem to be pro-tech. i do think wonderful thing to add to regimen is LLLT applied on your hairline, and do sauna once a week, to keep the epidermis cleans, hydrated and full of nutrients. For pro-growth which is in your age, which happens to be similar to my age, difficult - and you already do a topical regimen, try melatonin. It is boost to the growth factors, antioxidant that is recycled 11 times, and among other things pro-sleep when it reach circulation of the scalp.

Keep us posted.

Well I mean I'm not seeing cosmetic regrowth or anything - albeit there's some isolated hairs that have reappeared in the left temple area. The only success at the moment is that the shedding is under control and the hair seems much healthier.

For melatonin are you suggesting oral supplementation?

Nice write up Dreamer. I have started to jump back into it myself. I am adding Shilajit to my supps and pushing towards a carnivore diet. The diet has to be a huge factor. Let us know how it goes.

Nice thorough approach, lots of good compounds in there. I hope your meticulousness yields you some results. Would be interested to hear CS thoughts on your protocol, what he would add/remove etc. Keep us posted on your progress!

golder wrote:Nice thorough approach, lots of good compounds in there. I hope your meticulousness yields you some results. Would be interested to hear CS thoughts on your protocol, what he would add/remove etc. Keep us posted on your progress!

Would be difficult to speculate without a lot more information. Suffice to say, when I look back in the 2003 to 2004 era when I was bringing up the potential benefits of low carb...a lot of people at that time simply were not ready. Also, interesting now how Carnivore groups on Facebook are popping up and they are very open-minded to ask questions that were not just not asked enough in those days.

Speaking of all that. Probably the best discussion on vegan versus carnivore I've seen (probably ever). Yes, both of these guys are bald, however if we look at Bart Kay, he probably lost most of his hair during this heavy carbohydrate years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F__G3KPgLz8

CS, how do you think works Dr. Nettles (https://www.stopandregrow.com) to solve hair loss? Just curious cause he does not use fin and min but speaks about using FDA approved pharmaceuticals to „correct“ the „enzymatic defect“ which leads to increased DHT (based on blood tests). Would be nice to hear your opinion about that!

Atlas wrote:CS, how do you think works Dr. Nettles (https://www.stopandregrow.com) to solve hair loss? Just curious cause he does not use fin and min but speaks about using FDA approved pharmaceuticals to „correct“ the „enzymatic defect“ which leads to increased DHT (based on blood tests). Would be nice to hear your opinion about that!

Always interesting to see what new ideas pop up. So looking at the initial video, then the FAQ section, later found a series of videos..I just watched one of the videos that offered at least the blood work aspect. I can say for sure that the assertion of genes playing any role in hair loss has not been established and never proven, it has only been a hypothesis.

Also, he is individualizing treatment, which is great. Yet it does prevent us from getting examples of the ingredients used, apparently both topical, internal and dietary changes are used.

Probably very useful for those who are very few to a natural approach. However, for most us here, it's probably more of a "101" introduction, because these concepts are rudimentary.

Not 100% sure, because I just took a glance at another of the videos, this one on the "Blue Zones" however my understanding is that the alleged blue zone was grossly misinterpreted. In other words, Those Blue Zone areas eat a lot more meat than was suggested or implied in the books.

Thanks for your feedback, CS. I came to similar conclusions. He also talks about enough protein and the importance on HDL (he lost me a little bit on that). What do you think of the idea that every hair has 25 life cycles? Sounds a little bit to reductionistic to me. Is your hair still improving with age? Thank you!

Atlas wrote:Thanks for your feedback, CS. I came to similar conclusions. He also talks about enough protein and the importance on HDL (he lost me a little bit on that). What do you think of the idea that every hair has 25 life cycles? Sounds a little bit to reductionistic to me. Is your hair still improving with age? Thank you!

Yes, reductionist for sure. So there was a study published sometime within the last 15 years, I had an article on it floating around somewhere. The basic overview was that if triglycerides are high, then will place HDL at sub-optimal levels in the sense that excess triglycerides will be shuttled via HDL lipoprotein carrier to the liver. That in of itself suggests that the glycerol cycle (aka Randle Cycle), or combining sugars and fats creating inflammation. Anyway this particular profile trended towards lower testosterone, higher MPB.

Also, generally when there's high triglycerides, high LDL and low HDL, it suggests potential glucose spiking. Still this is an over generalization and the demonetization of LDL for what seems like forever is kind of amazing.

So if HDL is a high number, and triglycerides being relatively low, that is one green light from a lipid profile perspective for hair growth.  However, this doctor just measures HDL. Before that he looks at Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). So that is valuable to know, but leaves a lot of other things out.

For example, in MPB elevated levels of fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP) and lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a) are also known risk factors within that category. Also this is just the tip of the ice berg.

So his idea that every hair has 25 life cycles is based on the assumption that the hair growth cycle consists of four phases: anagen (growth), catagen (transition), telogen (rest), and exogen (shedding).

Each cycle lasts for a few years, and the total number of cycles is limited by the lifespan of the hair follicle. This is a gross oversimplification.

At least from my point of view, which does not embrace the genetic hypothesis whatsoever, it is the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) within the dermal papilla that best determine how many hair cycles a persons hair will have. If those cells are "sick" then hair cycles will have a short span. If proper development were allow to occur, hair growth should be infinite.

Oh yeah, almost forgot...Yes my hair is much improved each decade since I have learned a lot of different things along the way from the very beginning.

Thank you, CS. Very interesting! Glad your hair is still improving. Avoiding the „Randle cycle“ was one of the best decisions health wise I have ever made. Watched a lot of stuff from Bart Kay.

Almost forgot: Would be interesting to know how your regime has worked out regarding general anti-aging aspects (skin quality, eye sight, cognitive function, joint health etc.). I guess you are propably 52/53 years old right now? Appreciate your feedback!

Atlas wrote:Almost forgot: Would be interesting to know how your regime has worked out regarding general anti-aging aspects (skin quality, eye sight, cognitive function, joint health etc.). I guess you are probably 52/53 years old right now? Appreciate your feedback!

I'm just months away with flirting with 55. So yes, no health issues. Once in a decade or so there would be some issues that would crop up based on short-term experiments, but was quickly resolved.

Protecting hair as a direct effect, also protects against "aged-related" conditions.

@CausticSymmetry

I chatted up an individual selling a hair loss topical on Instagram.  What do you make these ingredients? The results are stellar, but it's highly possible they're stealing before/after photos albeit I ran a reverse image search for a few of them and nothing turned up.

Hello , I will inform you.  Our product is a product consisting of oils and minerals that nourish hair follicles and support hair formation.  It is effective in male pattern hair loss.  The product contains purified water, glycerin, ginseng extract, ginger, Chinese angelica extract, peppermint oil extract, mineral salts, horse chestnut extract.  With an average of 10 months of use, the hair regains its natural shape.  At the end of 10 months, full recovery is achieved.  There will be no side effects.  There will be no shedding again, the hair becomes completely healthy.  It is applied twice a day, hair growth starts in the 2nd month and ends in the 10th month.  The cost of our product 350€ including 10 months set shipping.  Fast delivery with DHL shipping.  Payment is made by Western union Cyrpto or Wise.