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Regrowth.com editor, John Ertel's Hairloss Results - Year 3 |
Months:
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.
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 hairloss 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 hairloss 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!
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.
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