Home / Search results for 'propecia' (Page 20)

• Can Creatine, Protein, or Differin Cause Hair Loss?

  In Hair Loss, Hair Loss Treatments, Q & A / By Spencer Kobren / 20 August 2008

  I think what you’re doing is great Spencer!…Propecia stopped my hair loss at 20. I am 31 now, however, over the past 3 months I have lost about 30-40% of my density all over the top of my scalp, and the sides and back as well. I am still on Propecia and have scheduled a doctor appointment. I would like to list a few things that I started to do a few months ago that I think may have contributed to this:

  1. Differin cream (vitamin A derived)

  2. Working out with heavy weights along with taking creatine (No Xplode) and protein powder

  These two things are my main concern especially Differin. Also, I started using a self tanning lotion sunscreen (durascreen) since I work outside, and teeth whitening products all within the past few months. I know I sound paranoid, but I would like to know if you think any of this could contribute to my rapid hair loss. I’ve been a little stressed too, but no more than usual. However, I am really stressed now because of this. Oh yeah, I also tried adding Rogaine a few months ago, but stopped after 2 weeks…I am so depressed about this. I just found out about you and your show and I’ve listened the last few weeks. What a great thing you are doing, it is such an epidemic that totally destroys people. I could go on and on about how depressed and mortified I was when I started to lose my hair at 18. Thank You. – Mark
  – – – – –

  Dear Mark,

  Thanks for the support! I’m glad to hear that you’ve done so well with Propecia these past eleven
  years. I have to preface my comments by letting you know that I am not a physician, but from what you’ve explained, I think that the use of Creatine supplementation might be what is affecting your hair.

  I’ll probably get a lot of crap from the bodybuilding community, but the truth is each body reacts diffently to this type of supplementation, and I do believe that creatine can effect hair growth and cycling.

  Here are my thoughts on the matter: We know that exercise when done properly and accompanied by good sleeping habits and a high protein, well balanced diet stimulates the release of hormones that promote muscle growth. These are known as anabolic hormones, which include testosterone, insulin, and growth hormone. When training, stimulation of these muscle growing hormones is what most athletes strive for. Unfortunately for men who are predisposed to androgenic alopecia ( male pattern hair loss), raising levels of testosterone can increase DHT levels.

  With that said, in most cases, the use of Propecia should cancel out the effects of any naturally occurring increase in testosterone since Propecia blocks the enzyme that converts testosterone into the follicle killing DHT, reducing DHT levels by about 70% in most individual who use the drug.

  Since each individual reacts differently to medial treatment, any increase in testosterone and HGH that you might be experiencing from the use of creatine theoretically could have put you over the preverbal edge as far as the ability for Propecia to effectively protect you against higher DHT levels. The 70% block in DHT might have been all you needed to stave off your male pattern baldness, but by increasing your hormonal output the dam might have burst, so to speak.

  Since creatine is known to increase or ability to exercise more efficiently, and exercise increases hormone release, it is expected that creatine should also indirectly increase the amounts of anabolic hormones produced while exercising.

  There have also been studies that have demonstrated that growth hormone was actually released in non exercising subjects within a few hours after ingesting creatine.

  So, my advice would be to speak to you doctor about your creatine supplementation, and perhaps raising your dose of finsteride if he or she sees fit.

  I’d don’t think you have much to worry about when it comes to Differin and hair loss, and I certainly don’t think that whitening your teeth will effect your hair.

  Hope this helps. Keep listening and spread the word.

  Regards,
  Spencer Kobren
  Host of The Bald Truth Radio Show
  Founder, American Hair Loss Association
  Founder and Director of Consumer/Patient Affairs, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons (IAHRS.ORG)

   

• Jude Law’s Hair Loss Inspires Shoddy Online Journalism

  In Articles, Celebrity / By The Bald Truth / 19 August 2008

  By now, we all know that gossip magazines and websites are more than happy to dish on the latest goings-on with all the stars and celebrities. Hopefully, readers are aware that a lot of what they print and publish is pure fiction. More importantly, readers should realize that sometimes these rags are too quick to publish their writers’ vicious opinions.

  Take dailygoss.com for example. In an article about Jude Law’s alleged hair loss treatment, titled “Jude Law Gets Help for His Hair Loss, Hurrah!” the site stated, “The actor’s looks have gone down the pan since he’s been sporting a seriously bad receding hairline.”

  Interestingly enough, whoever wrote the brazen comments about Jude’s hair is anonymous, since there is no byline and the site’s “About Us” page tells little about who’s running the show, although headquarters are stated as being in London.

  Even though dailygoss.com is clearly a gossip site, its ethics are questionable and its practices cruel, even by gossip standards. Why would a writer be relieved if Jude Law is seeking hair loss treatment? Instead of promoting positive body image or discussing the difficulties that hair loss presents in the lives of sufferers, they join the ranks of mean bullies who’d rather point and laugh than reach out a helping hand or actually publish content that raises awareness.

  There’s nothing inherently wrong with a little Hollywood gossip, but this is just plain bashing. Maybe dailygoss.com should change their name to dailybash.com.

  The site provides no credentials about its sources or medical knowledge, yet it encourages Jude Law’s reported use of Mesotherapy, an unproven treatment involving vitamins injected into the scalp as a means to provoke hair growth.

  Because Mesotherapy is not widely accepted and there are no conclusive studies that support or prove its effectiveness, only time will tell if the treatments help Jude Law, assuming he’s really receiving these treatments. Since the journalism in this case is clearly less than professional, the whole article may be one big ruse.

  In any case, Law might be better off going to his own doctor and getting a prescription for Propecia. Apparently the state of Jude Law’s scalp is on the tip of more than one tongue since another site, makemeheal.com, also published an article that discusses the actor’s scalp. Makemeheal.com publishes articles about “celebrity plastic surgery, news, gossip.”

  The piece, titled “Did Jude Law Get a Hair Transplant?” makes claims that Jude Law has undergone hair transplant surgery. Clearly, this is in direct conflict with the reporting over at dailygoss.com.

  There’s no way of knowing whether Jude Law is using Mesotherapy or has received a transplant unless he or his reps confirm or dispute the reports. In fact, it’s entirely possible that Law has grown his hair out a bit, colored and combed it forward. He could be using makeup or even a small frontal piece.

  The writing on these sites is poor, the claims are questionable, and the facts are somewhat twisted. And there’s no reason for anyone to be picking on Jude Law. He’s still a cool looking guy who looks great with or without his deep widow’s peak. After all, he’s one of us. And he wears it well!

   

• Hair Loss, Drinking, Depression and Anxiety – Dave’s Story

  In Hair Loss, Letters From Listeners / By The Bald Truth / 12 August 2008

  Spring 2001. It was the absolute worst time of my life. And it should have been one of the best times for me. I was 28 years old and had just finished my liberal arts degree at Purchase College just north of New York City. I was managing a video store during the day and doing my music at night playing with bands in and around central new york. Things were going really well. I had always been a shy person–and I basically still am–but I was beginning to come out of my shell socially. I was going out with friends, dating and having fun.

  Now I knew my hair had changed a bit over the last few years–the v’s had gotten a little bit deeper and the top was slightly thinner–but I didn’t think too much about it. On some level I knew what was happening but denial is a powerful thing. I wasn’t ready to admit to myself that I was destined to look like my father–a man with a head like glass. I remember catching glimpses of myself in mirrors here and there and thinking that my hair just wasn’t laying right anymore. But I could still disguise it –still maintain the illusion of a full head of hair. I figured I had another five years or so before things got really bad. And by then I would be in my early thirties. I wouldn’t care at that point ( yeah right!)

  April 1st 2001. Yes I do remember the exact date. I remember this day like it was yesterday. That day of reckoning (when you finally realize that it’s happening) is a life changing apocalyptic event. One that is forever burned into your psyche–permanently etched into your consciousness. Now for me that realization came when I was doing a gig at a music festival in Marathon NY. I was taking my keyboard out of the car when I saw my reflection in the window. My hair looked funky–funkier than usually. I mean really funky! It was weak and wispy, the recession in the temples looked enormous, and it looked like an island was starting to form in the front. I couldn’t believe it! It wasn’t even me staring back. This has to be some other guy…maybe my balding brother. The denial set it. Car windows are like fun house mirrors–they distort right? I bet that’s all it is. But when I checked things out in the bathroom inside it was the same situation. I messed with it and messed with it to try to get it to look right–all to no avail. It was then that I realized what I guess I had already known: I had crossed that threshold. I now looked like a guy with thinning hair…a balding guy! Full panic mode set it.

  Over the next few months I sank into a serious depression–total despondency!. I can remember sitting in my house thinking that it was over. From this point on, my life would never be the same, or so I thought. From now on I would be known as Dave the balding guy. Like somehow it would take over my life and be the thing that defined me over and above everything else. I’d be Dave the balding keyboard player in the bands I played with; Dave the balding manager of the video store; Dave the balding guy of the bunch when my friends and I were out at clubs. And I had hair envy too—big time! All my favorite movie stars: Pacino, DeNiro , Mickey Rourke. They were all guys with beautiful hair—super human hair. I wanted that too–desperately. Life was so unfair. I’d be at the supermarket or mall and I’d see an 85 year old guy with this full head of luxurious hair…better than I had when I was 12 years old. Now if that isn’t a kick in the teeth I don’t know what is. Couldn’t I somehow trade with him I thought. I need that hair more than he does! Damn! The depression was all consuming. I was drinking every night –Johnny Walker black on the rocks. I’d go on these mean two and three day benders just to try to ease the pain and escape form the reality of what was happening. It was a horrific period for me: out in dive bars night after night drinking myself into oblivion, thinking about how I was going to find the guts to go on with my life–or if I even wanted to! I had gotten a speeding ticket during this time and was scheduled to go to court the following month to contest it. I remember thinking: I don’t know if I’ve even going to be around next month! Honestly that is how bad things were.

  Well after a few months I began to pull myself out of this downward spiral. I did research and discovered Spencer and The Bald Truth and I learned that it was now possible to successfully treat your hair loss. That gave me hope. I eventually became a part of the show and I’ve been beating this thing for the better part of a decade now. Seven successful years on Propecia ( knock on wood ) and my hair hasn’t changed a bit. Thank God!

  So I tell this story to show people just how profoundly we are affected by this disease of the spirit. Hair loss is something that colors every aspect of our lives. But we are lucky to be living in a time where we can do something about it. There are great options available: drug treatment, non surgical hair replacement and hair transplantation. Just be sure to educate yourself in order to choose the option that’s best for you.

  Good luck in the fight.

  Dave Solazzo