Months:

• End of Month 1 (March 96)
• End of Month 2 (April 96)
• End of Month 3 (May 96)
• End of Month 4 (June 96)
• End of Month 5 (July 96)
• End of Month 6 (August 96)
• End of Month 7 (September 96)
• End of Month 8 (October 96)
• End of Month 9 (November 96)
• End of Month 10 (December 96)
• End of Month 11 (January 97)
• End of Month 12, Year One (February 97)

End of Month 1: April 3, 1996

Two week update: April 16, 1996

Well the taxman may have my money, but he doesn't have my hair!
My hair is a lot thicker. I can't say there's more of it, just that what I have is thicker. The rate of hair loss hasn't increased or decreased as far as I know. It seems like it may be SLIGHTLY less, but I can't tell. It's definitely not more than what it was (no shedding as of yet). The proxiphen on my front hairline makes the peach fuzz velus hairs there stand out more. I think the thicker hair makes the bald spot less noticeable, but that could be just me! I have high hopes so far. No adverse reactions to the treatment. (Note: If you read the last paragraph you will notice I did NOT say I was regrowing hair... I only said it appeared thicker. As usual, one paranoid person read the above and sent me an email telling me I couldn't be regrowing hair. Of course not, I didn't say I was.)

Third week update: April 25, 1996

Look for the new short hair cut coming to next month's photos ;) Even though I have cut my hair VERY short, my hair still appears thick. The bald spot even appears less noticeable than when I first took the photos last month (we'll see what next months photos show!) I can't tell, but it appears there may be some new hairs on the front of my hairline. Or I could be imagining things. Since I have only been taking Proxiphen one month I can only attribute it to the NANO shampoo I have been using for the last 6 months. Since I started using Proxiphen, I have been using this shampoo daily instead of the recommended 3-4 days per week. This is probably what is making my hair look thicker. Like I said tho, I could just be imagining that there's some regrowth. At least I haven't gotten worse, that's for sure!

End of Month 2: May 1, 1996.

Well, my opinion that the hair along the hairline is growing. After further review tho I can't see any evidence that there's more in the back. This is to be expected at this point, anyway. If you look closely at the photos (I've tried to sharpen them as much as possible, this is why some may appear a little grainy), you can see the relatively thick 'fuzz' along the foreline, especially on the left side. The right side doesn't show much in the pictures, but it's there. The crown shot doesn't look as bad as last months in these photos, but it did to me in a mirror. As you'll notice, the hair looks pretty thick considering how short I cut it.

End of Month 3: June 1, 1996.

No noticeable difference between last month that I can see. As far as I can tell, I'm not getting worse. I got a little scared half way through the month. I started doing weight training again which seemed to initiate some shedding. It lasted about a week and I haven't noticed any since. As of this month I will also begin using Nano Conditioner along with the NANO shampoo (since Dr. P was nice enough to send it to me for free). I will also be adding something expirimental to see if it makes a difference. You'll see any results. This months photos look a little worse than the last in the back, but it actually looks the same to me. If you'll remember, I said last month the photos looked a lot better than it looked to me in the mirror. These photos capture more of what it looks like in a mirror.

End of Month 4: July 1, 1996.

[Notes reconstructed after being lost]

This month was a month of confusion. At times it seemed as if you could hardly tell I had lost any hair in the back. Other times, it seemed like I was just as bad as ever! The hair in the front of the hairline has definitely continued to grow and get better. However it's still not enough that you would be likely to notice it unless you got up close or were looking for it. Considering this is where the hair has been gone the longest and where it's hardest to grow back, I'm surprised and excited anythings growing there. I didn't really expect to get much improvement in the front. The crown is perplexing. The hair there has been lost most recently and the hair at the crown is supposed to be the easiest to grow back... so I wonder why I seem to be getting better regrowth on my hairline than in back!! Actually if the hairs in back are like the hairs on my hairline, I probably wouldn't be able to see them since there's a good bit of hair still left.

End of Month 5: Aug 1, 1996.

Well this was the month was definitely more positive and less confusing than the last. I seem to have crossed a point where there is a continual gradual but definite improvement. This month it doesn't seem to be getting worse or better day to day. In fact, I'm almost up to the point that my hair loss will soon be unnoticable when my hair is dry (in the back anyway, which is what I wanted). For a while I was feeling like the treatment was not really working and that I was not getting growth... but I remembered back to when I first started using Proxiphen-N and Proxiphen... after applying it to the crown, the hair looked so thin I practically looked bald. Now I can apply it liberally and the hair looks thin while wet (you can tell the hair loss area from the non hair loss area easily), but there is still hair everywhere and it doesn't look bald, just a bit thin. Once it dries and I comb it out you could never tell I applied anything to it. Aside from one small patch that refuses to not look thinner than the rest, you can no longer tell when my hair is dry that I have thin hair on top. In fact, the area that is being stubborn doesn't look particularly thin. You can't see through to the scalp when you look at it... but it is just thin enough that it looks thinner than the hair around it so it looks like a thin patch. Didn't notice much improvement on the front hair line this month. In fact, continuing the quirky pattern of hair loss and regrowth, my right hairline may have actually lost some of the new hairs it was regrowing (maybe due to some extra Retin-A I applied there last month) while on the left side the hairs continue to get thicker and longer and go further forward. There is enough hair there that the skin tone is lighter where the new hair regrowth is than on the rest of my forehead because there's enough hair to block the sun from tanning it as much. The patch of hair that got thinner when I started working out has pretty much filled back in. On the crown for the first time the right side actually seems to have more hair than the left... probably because I've been applying more Proxiphen (along with Iamin) to it for the last 2 or 3 months since I noticed that it was thinner and larger than the left side... I'm looking forward in a month or two to pointing out to some people how my hair has been growing back... 'Look ma! Hair!'

End of Month 6: Sep 2, 1996 (Labor Day).

Well it's that 6 month review time. It's hard to believe it's been 6 months.... and also hard not to expect to have the final results of the treatment. It's hard to remind myself to think 'It's only been 6 months' instead of 'It's ALREADY been 6 months.' Well, to put it shortly, the 6 month results are mixed... but I may have myself to blame for that. As you can see by the photos of my front hairline, the progress there is coming along nicely. The hairs there are similar to newly transplanted hairs, although not quite as thick. However, week by week they are becoming more noticeable by the casual observer. I would classify the frontal hairline results as spectacular (compared to how well other treatments are supposed to work). The hairs along my front hairline have been receding almost 10 years now and most of the area the new hairs are growing in have not had hairs for several years. From the start, I have always planned to treat hair growth along the hairline to be simply a bonus, not a goal, since supposedly growing hair there is supposed to be difficult, which is why I classify that growth as spectacular. The growth in the back I would classify as less than spectacular. My goal when starting treatment was primarily to grow this area in. I can live with the hairline I currently have... a baldspot is much more difficult for me. It seems the results so far are minimal and that I'm about as far to go as when I started, although I should say I still do not have any slick spots. Even in the areas that look the worst, there are still hairs. They are just short and thin. My current belief is that the growth in the back has been slower because there has been so much hair there that a lot of the medication is absorbed into the hair and not the scalp. Since the front has grown so well and the back hasn't, this leads me to that belief. Dr. Proctor has been helpful enough to send me some topical SODases to help me along with the slow growth in the back. I have been using the topical SODases daily for the last month mixed with Proscar. I've also been taking oral Proscar and using Folligen nightly for the last month. In the last two weeks I have experienced a heavy loss phase which I presume is due to the new treatments I've added in the last month. This has the unfortunate effect that my 6 month photos in the back look worse than they would if I hadn't been taking these extra treatments. I presume that 6 months down the road I should expect some great results (hopefully) from a years worth of treatment with Proxiphen and 6 months with the other treatments. I will have another major update then, and another in one more year to see one year results from Folligen, Proscar, Topical SODs, my new custom antiandrogen, and a year and a half of Proxiphen. I actually shouldn't be so hard on proxiphen. The area I first applied it to on the crown seems to be growing some hair, but it appears that the thinning has spread forward to areas uncovered by proxiphen. I have been covering these in the last couple of months but the results of that medication won't be apparent for a few more months. I guess we'll have to wait to see the one year results and who knows... maybe there'll be something spectacular in between. As usual, I will keep you updated monthly.

Note: According to Dr. P, after 6-8 months, the first new hairs usually fall out and grow in thicker and longer. We will see if in the next few months this happens. =)

Six month final results:

Front hairline: Moderate regrowth (from tiny 1-2mm vellus hairs to .2-1" transition/terminal hairs)

Crown: Minimal-Moderate regrowth - Some areas have grown more hair... uncovered areas have thinned some, no slick spots

My decision: I will continue Proxiphen along with the additional treatments I have started in the last 1-2 months.

My opinion of Proxiphen: It has grown hair in front. The first 4 1/2 months I was not using anything but Proxiphen and Nano, so the results can not be due to anything BUT Proxiphen. Since the results have not been spectacular in the back, I assume it works better where there is less hair to get in the way/absorb the medication. Dr. P offers a liquid version with less medication which I haven't tried which may be better for use in the back. If you want to regrow hair on the front of your hairline and can afford it, Proxiphen works (well, it did for me!). Also, I presume that since it worked better on the front hairline with no hair, that it would be better for those with shiny baldspots in the back than for those of us with a good bit of hair left. If you've tried other stuff that hasn't grown hair on those slick spots, you might try Proxiphen. It's still probably not going to give you a full head of hair, but it may give you enough to help cover it up some and would probably definitely be a good pre/post treatment in conjunction with transplants. Fill in the area with some new hairs and then transplant some more in for a pretty well covered bald spot. Supposedly, Prox makes transplanted hairs grow like crazy. It has made my healthy hairs grow pretty fast so I would say this probably is true.

My opinion of my 'new' treatments: Too soon to tell (it's only been 1-2 months). However, like I said before, I am experiencing a shedding phase. Dr. P says these usually start about two weeks after a new treatment, which would coincide exactly with my starting Folligen. It could be any of them though since I started them all within the last 1-2 months. Time will tell. Luckily, the 1 year proxiphen results will just about coincide with 6 month results of my new treatments, so we'll see what happens. Wish me luck!!

My 'custom' antiandrogen treatment: As you may have noticed, I am starting a new 'custom' treatment that I am making myself. I am still waiting for some of the ingredients to arrive, so it will not start until the second week of september probably. The treatment will be a 90% alcohol solution with powdered zinc gluconate, powdered vitamin B-6, powdered Biotin, and powdered Proscar added in. I will put the amounts up next week. The reason I am using these ingredients is:

• Vitamin B-6/Zinc - These two together have been shown to inhibit type-1 DHT in the skin up to 100% when applied topically. Vitamin B-6 potentiates the zinc. Lower levels are required when combined with Azeleic Acid. I happen to have azeleic acid cream which I may apply topically after the solution. The studies showing this are in the hair loss treatments section of this web page.
• Proscar - Proscar is highly soluble in alcohol and is absorbed topically. This is more of a supplementation to the oral proscar in which I will include small levels (about 0.25-0.5mg/mL) so that the proscar's greatest effect is on the DHT located in the skin/follicles.
• Biotin - It's not an antiandrogen, but it helps keep healthy hair. What the hey?

November P.S.: Please don't email me asking for exact #s for the custom treatment. I only used it for a short while because it was difficult to mix. Also, I guessed at the mixture, so I don't have exact #s to give you. If you want exact #s, you'll have to look up the full articles. I still use Proscar mixed into my 2% minoxidil.

End of Month 7: Oct 1, 1996.

Well I feel a little better this month. My hair has returned to where it was before the shedding phase last month. The shedding stopped after a couple of weeks so either it was shedding or synchronized loss. Either way, things are better now. Not that there still isn't a long way to go. I'm also a little encouraged, since the crown seems to have more hair growing in it, although it's still fine enough to let the scalp show through. It seems like it's starting to get better than it was, anyway. Whether it's just the Proxiphen kicking in or the new stuff I've added I can't say.

End of Month 8: Nov 6, 1996.

Well I feel MUCH better this month! I am finally seeing results in the back. Nothing incredibly impressive, but it's a start. There seems to be more hair in the crown. I cut my buzzed my hair again in October down to 1/4" on the sides and 1/2" on top and even though the hair is short it still covers up the top pretty well (even wet) (see photos). I still think the Proxiphen is the major factor in the hair growth since the longest I've been on any other treatment is 4 months, some shorter than that, but they may be starting to contribute. The front hairline continues its gradual improvement as well. Every month the hair seems a little thicker, more noticable, and more covering. Right now it looks a lot like recently transplanted hair. I am confident that things will continue to improve both in the front and back. If things continue to improve at this rate I should have a normal head of hair in front and back within 6 months to a year.

End of Month 9: Dec 6, 1996.

Hmmm well I'm writing this in January, so I don't have much to say! During November I am definitely seeing some results in the crown. The hair is more evenly covering the crown. Progress in the front continues as usual, slowly but surely.

End of Month 10: Jan 8, 1997.

Well, during this month I was out of town half the month and moving for another part. I probably only got to stick to my normal schedule about half of the time! Still, I managed to make some gains. I don't have any fears about scalp being visible when my hair is dry. Whatever regrowth I've had covers it well, even though my hair is still pretty short (2-3 inches). With my hair wet, coverage is still pretty good, although when you part the hair to expose the thin areas as I do in my monthly photos, you can see the thinness still. There is still more hair in those areas than there was when I started treatment, which is probably why my hair looks better! :) Still, I'm convinced that there's room for a lot more improvement over the next several months. I view my treatment as a long term process. It will probably take months or even a year or more to get my hair to where I really want it to be.

End of Month 11: Feb 7, 1997.

Excellent! This is the month I've really been able to see some real improvement in the back. Unfortunately, it's not quite where I want to be, but it's a lot better! I cut my hair to 1/2-3/4" this month and the hair loss in the crown is unnoticable for the most part! You can still see it if you look close and you're looking for it, though, so there's still room for more improvement. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, though! At this point it's hard to say whether it's the Proxiphen, the Minoxidil, the Proscar, or some combination of all three kicking in. I think it's probably mostly the prox, since I've only been on Proscar 6 months (generally takes about a year to see regrowth) and Minoxidil 4 or 5 months (generally takes 6 months to a year to see good regrowth). However, it's possible that already being on prox, plus combining the proscar with minoxidil has kicked things into gear faster. It's working is all I know. Next month I'm going on something old and new... Minoxidil 5% combined with Retin-A .025%. I was on 5% for about two months a few months but my supplier was *REALLY* expensive (almost twice what I get it for now!) so I decided to just use lots of 2%. But now I found a local supplier who provides it at a very reasonable price in combination with .025% retin-A, so I'm back on! We'll see if it helps even more.

End of Month 12: Mar 4, 1997.

Well the year is up and the results are in... and the winner is... me!

Thank you, thank you! But seriously ladies and gents, I'd have to say overall I'm damn happy about my results. They're not perfect and not where I hope they will end up yet, but I see them still improving more in the future. Let's break it down:

Front hair line: I'm no longer receding. In fact, I'm gaining hairs back that I haven't had since I was a teenager. Really happy with this. Still don't have a perfect hair line, but I'm working on it. I wasn't really expecting much regrowth here, so I'm really happy with what I've had!

Crown: This is what made me take action. I started being able to see my baldspot in mirrors, security cameras, etc... it was really disturbing. Today, there isn't 100% coverage, but there is enough so that it's undetectable unless you're *really* looking for it. I think soon I will have enough coverage so that even the minor thinness that remains will be undetectable.

Other stuff: The hair around the crown (the part that's usually left after you go bald) has gotten *really* thick to the point of being tough to comb sometimes even though I have short hair (1-2 inches usually).

Overall: I'm happy. I feel like I have control over my hair loss, not that it controls me. I'm not quite where I want to be but I keep seeing small amounts of progress, enough to keep me happy.

Other Notes: It gets worse before it gets better and goes through phases. Your hair loss will probably initially get a little worse. Don't expect to see any improvements before 6 months. Really don't expect to see anything worthwhile until 9. Sometimes your hair will seem to get worse every once in a while. This is temporary (most likely synchronized fallout due to hairs regrowing) and will get better as long as you continue treatment.

My plan: My plan has been a success so far. I plan to continue with the treatments and try new things. I'm going to be switching things up every now and then as new things come along. I'm going to go to the maintenance dosage of Proxiphen since it has probably done everything for me it's going to (and because it's so expensive). I'm going to continue Proscar. I'm going to discontinue the topical SODases, because I probably get enough of those in Prox and to add new things I'm going to have to drop something... I can only do so many treatments in one day. I'm going to continue 5% minoxidil and start using 5% in the morning and 5%/Retin-A in the evening. I'm going to start adding feminine hormone precursors (Progesterone and Pregnenolone) to see if that helps. In summary, I shall continue being your human guinea pig.

How things worked:

• Proscar - Don't know for sure but I've been having good improvement lately so it's probably helping some
• Minoxidil - Same as Proscar - I've noticed more thickness and growth in my already regrowing hairs since starting 5%.. this could be coincidental though.
• Proxiphen - It's worked for me. It started regrowing the hair I have now at my hairline before I started Proscar or Minoxidil or the other treatments. I didn't see much in the back at first but I could have had the same effects in back as in front and just not noticed due to all the hair back there.
• Folligen - Don't know... I wasn't on it long enough.
• Iamin - Don't know... I wasn't on it long enough.
• Saw Palmetto - Personally, I don't think it will help that much, but I didn't stay on it long enough at any one time to know for sure.

What I really want people to know from my experiences is that your hair loss is not without hope. If you catch it early enough and work at it, you can get some results! See ya next month and can't wait til the year and a half edition. Until then the monthly updates will continue.

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