Second part: January 03, 2019
It's been almost two months since my last update - wow does time fly. Some progress, but some new complications. Here's the update.
Learnings
I've learned a lot the last few months. I think lesson number one is to be proactive at all times about your hair if you care about it. I think I took mine for granted, because aside from premature grey hairs I didn't have any perceived issues with hair loss. I do remember a couple times people telling me they could see my scalp and looking at times in the mirror while in university I did worry a bit but I didn't see anything major to be concerned with.
Looking back at photos from the past I see there are some where my hair looks thin and others where it looks thick (many years after the thin photos).
Me on the right in Feb 2007 - Thin
Me 2nd from right April 2007 - Thick
Oct 2011 - Thin
Jan 2012 - Thick
My conclusion is I do think at times it's been thicker than others for various reasons. A few I think are to do with what stress levels I had at the time because hormones do regulate hair growth. Creatine use apparently causes hair loss which could explain why people told me in university I had thinner hair at the top. I happened to use creatine this past winter and spring which I'm starting to wonder about. The other factor of course is sometimes you can go through natural periods of more shedding. Also lighting and angle of photo will influence what you see too. I reality it's hard to know.
I can conclude as best as possible what happened to me:
1) I have naturally thinner hair and hence when I didn't have my fullest coverage or in certain lights/haircuts it shows thinner. I saw in my 23andme results that I have the gene for thinner hair in fact!
2) I used creatine during the winter, spring of 2018
3) The massive stress and anxiety I hit in the late spring and early summer of 2018
4) Poor scalp condition - London water? Showering with crappy shampoo? Too much hot water showering?
A recap of what I did up to my last post and what I've done since:
Blood test negative - nothing indicating reasons for hair loss, although I would not say it was exhaustive, but instead simply showed me that I don't have obvious diseases.
Started Minoxidil and Finesteride
Using medical / DHT blocking shampoos
Eating healthy and stress reduction - although Christmas holidays didn't help here
NEW - Taking Nutrafol pills - $USD 88/month (although I halve the dosage so lets call it $USD 44/month) supposed clinically backed, high quality pills to help with hair growth
NEW - Taking Saw Palmetto which is supposed to be a natural DHT blocker
NEW - Using some peppermint oil (either with shampoo or mixed with coconut oil - do some research here before you try) as a natural vacillator for the scalp
NEW - Using a Low Level Laser Therapy helmet similar to this one which is supposed to promote healthy hair growth
NEW - Massage therapy and general hair maintenance strategy purchased here
NEW - Remove as much glutton as I can from my diet. I've read some research it can interfere with both hair growth and hair color in celiacs which I have a higher risk gene for according to 23andme.
NEW - stopped shampooing except once a week - there's some views on chemicals in shampoos increasing hair loss and grey hair. Since doing this my scalp feels truly better and while my hair feels greasier apparently that slows down over time as the scalp produces less oils since you're not washing them away often
Well then?
So what has happened? Well the hair loss has slowed down as best I can tell. Because I've done so much at once (I chose to attack as aggressively as possible) it's hard to tell what's making the biggest different as pretty much every item above says you need 2-3 months to notice any difference and up to a year plus to get the full benefit.
What I'm hoping for is some solid regrowth and maybe even some color returning. Once I see a firm stop and some regrowth I am going to eliminate a few things and I'll explain why:
Minoxidil - I do feel my face looks older with bags under my eyes and droopier skin lately and many minoxidil users have mentioned they perceive this as a side effect. There are apparently no studies on this - partially because companies it's thought don't want to ruin their product's market. But this will be the first one I cut - in fact I'm using 1/2 doses already and skipping 2 to 3 days a week.
Finesteride - It's tough to tell if this is messing with my sexual functions as I don't have a partner currently but I don't want to risk it so I may cut back to a pill every two days, then maybe none at all if I feel my hair is in good shape.
Nutrafol - simply because it's not cheap
After that we will have to see. First off I will cut these only if I feel I have hair stability which I'm starting to feel like I do, and secondly I would consider bringing them back in over time if I felt I was losing hair again - depending on the circumstance.
I will say though that Rob at perfecthairhealth.com has done a great job explaining why he thinks hair loss happens and Minoxidil and Finesteride seem to only treat the problems partially but don't actually get to the root cause which he believes are fibrosis and chronic inflammation - hence his whole strategy, which I think costs $50 - 75 to get is around natural methods to reduce fibrosis and chronic inflammation.
I have also done research (reading clinical studies of various types) on hair's connection to the thyroid and the endocrine system in general. There's also some links that have been found between hair color/loss and the immune system. Goes to show some parts of our genetics are multifaceted. I'll try to highlight key research in a future post.
Anyway that's it for now - some better results which I certainly hope continue and I would ideally like to be able to move off of any chemical drugs and move to "natural" methods only.
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