Hi,
do enjoy the site, always looking for new information that can help. I am aware that supplements such as saw palmetto are of ill comparison to the strength of finasteride. But what if you were to create a sort of daily routine which followed suite to the same components finasteride has such as rather then popping a pill of propecia you were to:

1. keep cholesterol intake low to possibly decrease your testosterone levels
2. 1-3 cups of green tea a day
3. daily intake of supplements which include moderately large amounts of saw palmetto,nettle, beta sitosterol and lysine
4. omega 3′6′9
5. vitamin b complex
6. daily multi vitamin of good quality

and also I have heard that to much vitamin A could possibly worsen the effects of male pattern baldness is this true? thanks

Saw palmetto does not work the same way as finasteride, and hair growth with it is less predictable. It is always good to live healthy and have a low cholesterol diet. Any good thing in excess can be bad for you (such as overdosing on vitamin A).

If the regimen you outlined works for you, then I would stick with it… but from a medical and scientific point of view, I doubt it will grow hair.

Hi, I was just wondering if you’ve had any experiences with minoxidil causing baldness or thinning the hair permanently. I’m 20 and just started using minoxidil %5 (Spectral DNC) on my hair line and temple area. Also, do you have any advice on good products for hair loss at a young age? Thanks.

Topical minoxidil is used to grow hair. It does not cause baldness. You may be balding from genetic causes despite the use of the medication or you may be developing a mature hairline, common in your age (see this post) . If you are concerned about hair loss, I would start by seeing your primary care doctor.

Dear Doc,

Can Rogaine 5% cause damage to your scalp that will prevent hairs from coming back normally after the “shed”. I used it for 2 months and quit when the flaking got to be too much, I’m scared the irritation caused some damage because its been 4 months and the bald spot that was the area of application is still missing hair.

While anything is possible, I doubt irritation from Rogaine (minoxidil) will cause permanent damage and hair loss. I assume you were using Rogaine because you were losing hair. It may just be that you are still losing hair and are more sensitive and aware of it.

can i flush 5 alpha reductose from my sweat gland with heavy cardio(heavy sweating from top of head) followed by a showering with a shampoo such a nioxin?

No. It doesn’t work that way. Curiously, I’d love to know how you came up with that idea.

Hello William

My question is regarding a drug which should be the same as Proscar/Propecia (It has the same ATC-Code and the same level of finasterid, 5mg). It comes from the apparently wellknown company Actavis: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/71641.php

Now if it is possible to use a fifth proscar instead of a propecia pill, it should be okay to use one/fifth Actavis instead right? The reason I ask is because the price here in Denmark for Actavis is ten times lower than Proscar. There are also many other companies which produces products that are similar but alot cheaper than Proscar.

I am 25, male and I have Norwood 2 with a beginning vertex. Thanks for your help and keep up the good work (I have learned alot from your site).

Kind regards

Yes, 1/5th of a Actavis brand 5mg finasteride pill should be the same as 1/5th of a Proscar pill. There are many makers of generic medications, and it does vary by country. As long as you can be sure the medication is what it claims to be, it should be the same regardless of the maker. I say “should”, but I have no way to tell if it is that case for every pharmaceutical company. From Wikipedia, other makers of generic finasteride include:

• Ajanta Pharma (trade name Appecia)
• Aleppo Pharmaceutical (trade name Prosteride)
• Cipla (trade names Fincar and Finpecia)
• Dr. Reddy’s (trade names Finax and Finast)
• Intas Pharmaceuticals (trade name Finalo)
• Ranbaxy (trade name Finara)

Interestingly, a few months back Actavis recalled every generic drug they manufactured in their New Jersey plant, thanks to an FDA inspection that showed the standards were not kept up. Read more about that at the FDA site. Finasteride was not one of the drugs listed, as it was apparently not made at that facility. Just food for thought, though…

Snippet from the article:

Around 80 women suffering hair loss are being recruited to trial the drug Spironolactone. While there is some evidence the drug is effective in arresting the progress of female baldness, the trial will be the first in the world to provide medical proof of its efficacy. Half of the women will take a placebo; the rest will take the drug.

Read the full text — Drug trial to end bad hair days for bald women

In theory, Spironolactone is anti-androgenic and some doctors have been using it for years. Thus, if hair loss is from androgenic causes (such as male pattern baldness) the belief is that it may help… but women generally do not have androgenic alopecia (men do). The results from what has been reported so far in past literature has been “iffy”, and not enough to drive me to recommend this drug or others like it.

We’ll see what the test concludes.

(female)
Hello
Just a quick question.. About a year ago I dyed my hair for the first time. ANd then it got really dry and brittle. Well it’s been a year and it’s still like that! Is it because I dyed it, even though since then I haven’t dyed it again and my hair is back to it’s natural color. I have very short hair and all the hair I have dyed is completely off (due to hair cuts) the problem is it’s still dry. Can you tell me why that is? What should I do?

Maybe you can try a different shampoo or conditioner? If you damaged your hair from dying it, as the hair grows out, the normal hair from below the skin will replace what is brittle. If the dying was toxic, you may have damaged the hair below the skin. I have an extensive discussion of dyes in my new book, Hair Loss and Replacement for Dummies, which you can buy at your local book store, major chain book store, or from HairOutletStore.com (powered by Amazon).

If you are still bothered by your hair, see a good hair stylist or even a dermatologist for a good examination.

Hello Dr. Rassman,

First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to keep up this blog; it keeps my neuroticism in check.

I am a 21 year old male with mild MPB in my family on both sides, and I have been experiencing some thinning of my temples recently. Three months ago I started taking a multivitamin, and I want to make sure this is not be contributing to this new problem. If you could please take a look at the ingredients and let me know if anything is questionable, I would appreciate it
greatly. Thank you very much, Dr. Rassman.

Ingredients are here

When I initially looked at the link you sent, I made some notes with the intention to go back and review the list of ingredients more in-depth before posting. Unfortunately, the link doesn’t work anymore and I don’t have a name for the vitamin you’re taking.

At any rate, here are some general notes: a standard multivitamin is usually fine, but I always question when there are ingredients that supply over 1000% of the daily needs. Some vitamins in excess can cause hair loss, but I have been unable to go through the list.

male, 36yo. I had a hair transplant 15 days ago. I am wondering how I can tell how many or what percentage of the grafts have survived, or if it is even possible to tell that at this point. I am also wondering if there is a certain day like day 10 post op or so that whatever grafts have survived so far will continue to survive? Can transplanted grafts die at month 5 for example that before then have been just fine?

Also, will I experience shedding of the transplanted hairs before I see any growth in 4 months or so? In other words, will things look worse before they look better? Should I be concerned if I see shedding in the grafted area? Does shedding mean the grafts have not survived? I have not yet noticed any shedding as far as I can tell.

thanks.

At 15 days without scabbing, you should be safe with the grafts and they will not come out. If the scabs persist, that is another story which requires careful washing. You really should never look worse unless you experience some degree of shock loss. At your age, to prevent this, you should be on finasteride. At 5 months, the hair should be growing or just starting to grow and the hair loss from the hair within the transplanted grafts will return.

For more, see this paper I co-authored and was published in 2006 –Graft Anchoring in Hair Transplantation (PDF file).

Dear Dr.

My question is I’ve been taking propecia at night for a while now with good results. But due to scheduling now, I would like to take it in the morning. Would the transition for the body be okay? Or would it be better just to keep taking it at night as I was doing. Hope that makes sense, your opinion and thoughts would be great

Thank you!

It really doesn’t matter when you take Propecia as long as you take it everyday around the same time. If you transition from night to morning and your schedule is off one day, I wouldn’t expect any problems.