Sonali's Hair Loss Story

[Sonali]

Hello
I found this site on the web, but am emailing from Britain - I get the impression that most of the users of the site are North American? I don't recognise many of the names of the treatments people are using, so maybe someone can help!
I'm 26, British Asian, and started to have slightly thinning hair at the front of my scalp around the age of 15. It was quite small, so I ignored it, and it stayed the same up until about a year to eighteen months ago (around the same time that I switched my contraceptive pill, from Dianette to Microgynon, but I don't know if that was a coincidence). Now, my hair is thinning over the whole top area of my scalp, and is descending down the sides too. I saw a couple of very unsympathetic dermatologists over here who told me that I'd inherited baldness from my family (my dad's going bald, but he's 67, and only started losing his hair in his forties)! They said pretty soon I'd have to be wearing wigs and also said that if my hair loss was called by Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, I could also be infertile. So that all freaked me out quite a lot. They told me that the only thing I could use to help was Regaine, and I've been using this twice a day for about a month. I'm using the shampoo Pregaine, but that's it. I had no idea you could use cocktails of topicals.
My main questions are: do people think that Regaine actually works? And are there any women out there who think their hair loss is connected to the contraceptive pill they're on or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome?

Thanks for your help - it's great to find such an informative, supportive site.

Sonali

[HairLossFight.com]

Hello Sonali,

Thanks for sharing your situation with us. I know that Policystic Ovary Syndrome can be associated with hair loss, but if you think you may have this you should seek to get a proper diagnosis.

Regaine does work, but it doesn't help with the underlying cause of androgenetic alopecia which is hormonal primarily. I suggest that you do extensive research on this site and elsewhere and don't rush into anything. Take a look at the following potential treatments:

In addition to the Regaine you may want to investigate the following. These are two topicals whose primarily mode of action is to act as anti-androgens:

• Revivogen (topical) see my interview with Dr. Khadavi
  Topical Spironolactone (Dr. Lee of http://www.minoxidil.com provides a good product)

You can also ask our resident hair loss experts for some advice at:

http://www.morphollica.com/hairloss_experts/

Keep us posted on your progress and good luck!

Sam

[nicam666]

Hi Sonali

I live in United Kingdom and found this forum very informative. I note that Sam mentioned Revivogen in his posting. I buy Revivogen from from http://www.tricotec.co.uk/ . I found Regaine to be expensive in Britain. It is cheaper to buy Kirkland Minoxidil from USA. There is no extra to duty pay, it is marked beauty treatment. With the Dollar / Pound exchange rate it works out a lot cheaper. Hope this helps.

Dennis