August
19, 2002 - September 2002
Previous
Treatment Protocol Notes
August
19, 2002 - September 2002:
It has been a long time since
I've put notes in on how my hair is doing. Here is the long
and the short of what's been going on. Between June 1999
and June 2000 I used Propecia alone daily. The use was intermittent
and I'd have periods of a few weeks where I would not use
it and would use it again. By June 1999 it seemed like I
had gotten as much in the way of results as I was going
to get, and I was happy with the results I had gotten, so
I was content with the way things were. My hair basically
stayed the same as the last time photos were taken. There
was nothing new to report. To answer some common questions,
I only used Xandrox for a little less than 2 months, so
I can't say whether it had any positive or negative effect.
Also, occasionally I see a message in other forums that
I've had transplants. This is not true. I know a lot of
doctors who do them and I could probably have them done
at a discounted rate or possibly even for free if I really
wanted to, but I'm happy with what Propecia has done for
me. Also, for the naysayers, if you'll look at my hair it's
very fine along the hairline... if I had transplanted hair
from the back of my head in front, it would probably be
noticable. Also, if I had a transplant, I wouldn't leave
as much recession as I still have :)
In June of this year, I went
on a long trip and stopped taking the Propecia and didn't
continue when I got back. I decided to see what happened.
The good news is, I haven't had a dramatic fallout of hair.
In fact, in front there is very little noticable difference,
especially when my hair is dry. The bad news is after taking
photos of the back however, I can see that there has definitely
been some noticable thinning, so I have been back on the
Propecia for a few days. Whenever I've been off Propecia
for a while before, the results have always come back when
I resumed treatment, so hopefully that will be the case
this time. At the least, it will give me a reason to take
more regular photographs. So until my hair is back to tip-top
shape, I will be doing monthly photographs again! I will
start by using Propecia alone. If after a period of 6 months
or so my hair has not grown back to the thickness it was
at before, I will start adding other treatments (Minoxidil+Retin-A
will be first). The Propecia will probably do the trick,
though.
Month
25 & 26 (May/June 98):
Maybe I should call these
the semi-monthly notes! Seriously, I don't know that there's
that much exciting worth reporting every month. Of course,
when there is, I do. I'm surprised at my continued improvement.
The back looks great (no visible hair loss when dry, and
not bad when wet). The front continues to improve. The
hairs that started growing in in the first year are now
mostly completely normal hairs. The only problem is it
is not as dense as it needs to be to look like a complete
part of my hair line. I have hope however... in the last
few months I've seen more pronounced small terminal hairs
at the temples and in front of even the new hairline...
hopefully there are some in the hairline as well and they'll
all continue to improve. Frankly, people who don't know
me and don't know what I do keep telling me they don't
think I have a hair loss problem, which always makes me
feel good, but can be confusing since I obviously have receding
temples, even if it's not as bad as it used to be. The
great things is things are getting better (slowly but surely),
and are not getting worse. Oh, one other thing - I'm growing
my hair out. It's now almost shoulder length and in the
front can go below my eyebrows. I'm going to see how long
it gets!
Month
29 (July 98):
This month is hardly worth
writing about since I just wrote the last one two weeks
ago, other than to say I that things just keep getting better.
I'm going to do some dry hair photos soon.. they look like
my photos w/ coverup (see miscellaneous photos) done about
a year ago. Some of the newer hairs right in front of the
hairline and around the corners of the temples are starting
to get darker, a little longer, and more noticable... they
are following the same path of growth as the first new hairs
did about almost two years ago... if it just keeps going
up and up as it is, these hairs will eventually become normal
terminal hairs like the first batch mostly have and a good
bit of the temple recession will be gone or at least look
a lot better. My hair's getting very thick and long...
I have to use a wide toothed comb to brush it out when I
get out of the shower because the hair now gets too tangled
for a normal comb. This last month I've started using L'Oreal
Body Vive shampoo. It is a GREAT thickening shampoo. I
would compare it favorably to Nano or Nioxin... maybe better
in terms of just thickening ability and overall hair condition.
Of course it won't grow hair, but I don't know that Nioxin
or Nano ever helped me... I alternate between L'Oreal &
Nano to keep my hair guessing *grin* Speaking of which,
I'm now facing a woman's problem. I'm getting a lot of
hairs breaking off during combing because it's long enough
to get tangled... these aren't hairs falling out... I've
looked at them and they are just hairs that have broken
off... now I'm going to have to do like most women do and
find out what I can do to preven this... I hate having to
use conditioners - I like the thickness and condition of
the shampoos I like and dislike having to do two separate
lather & rinses... I haven't found a good enough two-in-one
to use regularly, but when I do, I'll let you know... and
if you find one, you can let me know.
PS - Something weird about
the photos... I've noticed the left side always looks worse
than the right when I take photos... however, in real life
the left side is the one that is by far better... I don't
know why one side takes better photos than the other...
when I look at the pictures, they are the opposite of how
they are in real life. Strange, eh? (No, I didn't mix
up which side was which).
Update 7/5/98:
No, I did not mix up the fact that the image is reversed
in the mirror. I think I have figured out why this is...
it seems the left side has more hairs, but they are finer,
so they don't show up as well in photos, especially when
there is a flash like I have been using the last few months.
So while it seems denser to me in every day inspection (it
is), it may not appear so in the photos. The right side
is not as dense, but what hairs there are are coarser and
there aren't as many fine hairs filling in. Ultimately,
I would like to see more coarser hairs on the left, and
more finer hairs on the right to fill everything in.
Months
30-33 (August - November 98):
There's not too much to write
about. Obviously after two and a half years of treatments,
I'm not going to see vast improvements over small periods.
That's why my updates have come more infrequent. Actually
the last two to three months have been somewhat interesting.
I've been traveling a lot and very busy personally. Unfortunately,
with all the distractions my treatments have suffered.
Over the last 3 months I've probably been off as much as
on, sometimes for periods of 2-3 weeks. The results? Increased
shedding and exposure of a little thinning under the right
lighting, mostly at the back. Ironically, the results
in the front just seem to keep getting better. While not
dramatic, the hairs grown continue to thicken. I've gotten
back to being regular with my treatments and expect the
shedding to stop and reverse. I went off purposefully a
year or so ago and it did reverse. I think with time the
front will continue to improve further. There are many
hairs still that keep showing improvement and are not up
to regular length and width. As you can see in the photos,
some of the hairs all the way out in the front are perfectly
normal, so it's probably only a matter of time until most
of the rest of them get that way. Even so, I am still going
to be hoping for better treatments. Even with my luck at
being a good responder, the hair on top still isn't as thick
as on the sides, and of course the front is still not where
I'd like it. I'd also hope that eventually there will be
easier and more permanent (or at least less frequently applied/taken)
solutions. I'll be putting up more extensive results photos
later this month or in early December.
Months
34-39 (December 98 - May 99):
People have been writing me
for a while regarding new photos. The thing is, when you've
been on Propecia and Minoxidil almost 3 years, improvements
are very slow. There are no noticable differences month
to month and it takes several months to see any noticable
difference. Over the past few months I have seen some additional
thickening in the frontal hairs grown. I have also seen
some new small hairs in the temple area in front of my main
regrowth areas since I've been applying 5% Minoxidil and
now 12.5%/15% Minoxidil there. So far I can't really tell
whether these hairs will become fuller hairs, but with the
addition of the high strength Minoxidil, I am hopeful.
I am going to be applying Xandrox 12.5% from Dr. Lee to
the left temple and Community Drug's 15% Minoxidil to the
right temple. It will be interesting to see if there are
any differences in the next few months in results. Hopefully
there will be some improvement in results worth showing.
