Early 40's And Thinning Hair - Help?

[Iron Man]

I am in my early 40's. Hair is thinning from the top. There is no recession, just thinning. I did have really high cholesterol, but this is coming down now. My triglycerides were through the roof too. My iron was high and going up. My testosterone is quite low. My prolactin is about 5.1.

I have just started donating blood and I very strongly believe that I will see a big improvement with the iron issues and testosterone. Studies and research I am seeing shows a correlation to high ferritin and low testosterone, but that is a whole other discussion.

With my thinning hair, I have been taking the Immortal Hair supplements for a number of years. I believe this has cut out most inflammation. I am not sure I am winning the battle yet on the thinning though and wanted to get your thoughts. Now before I get flamed on the supplements bit, please know that I am not feasting on garbage and thinking miracle pills will fix things. I take very good care of myself and watch what I eat. Cooking, we use olive oil, we have free range eggs from Chickens in our yard. We buy organic meats etc. With the PUFA thing, I believe I am cautious with this, but maybe not exactly to the Ray Peat book, but pretty close I think.

I am tempted to take aspirin (soluble type) daily, but am not sure how much they say is best.

Copper peptides, are these any good?

I am naturally a stressy kind of person and used to have chronic inflammation (chronic dandruff, rosacea etc).

So much is out there on hair. Some of it is so confusing...

 

[tara]

I am tempted to take aspirin (soluble type) daily, but am not sure how much they say is best.

I think Peat has said 200-300mg aspirin a day is reasonable for most people. Some people take much higher for particular reasons, which may well make sense in some cases. But as a general thing, I'd be guessing about 200-300mg would be reasonable. Standard mini aspirins for daily use tend to be a little under 100mg.

 

[mayweatherking]

damn your prolactin is epic.. im surprised you have hair loss with it that low. my prolactin has always flucuated with my thinning hair, but i have really difficult problems getting it below 7. how is your libido? im surprised your testosterone is low if your prolactin is that low. typically thyroid and vitamin A help to increase testosterone.. sounds like you can make some decent adjustments and be in good shape with a prolactin that low all ready.. im jealous. im half your age with like quadruple your prolactin at times so consider yourself lucky...

 

[Iron Man]

I think Peat has said 200-300mg aspirin a day is reasonable for most people. Some people take much higher for particular reasons, which may well make sense in some cases. But as a general thing, I'd be guessing about 200-300mg would be reasonable. Standard mini aspirins for daily use tend to be a little under 100mg.

Thanks Tara... I have been meaning to get onto the daily aspirin thing for a while now, but have been in two minds. Some research I came across lately seems to be encouraging me more to do it.
We are referring to the soluble tablets that you just drop into a glass of water and it "fizzes" up? I think I saw these are about 400mg for two, so I could just take one perhaps?

 

[tara]

We are referring to the soluble tablets that you just drop into a glass of water and it "fizzes" up? I think I saw these are about 400mg for two, so I could just take one perhaps?

I don't know what you have available. Some people manage to get straight aspirin powder, or tablets with just starch as tabletting aid, but I haven't found a way to get either of those. There are threads around about tablet ingredients, and recommendations. I can't remember them all. Haidut posted a studies that suggested taking glycine with aspirin was protective. Some people add baking soda, also maybe protective. And vit K if taking regularly/much.

Personally, of the ones I can get locally, I like the dispersible 500mg ones best, and I sometimes add a bit of baking soda. Sometimes take 1/2 or less of a tablet, sometimes more when I think it will help me, but I don't take them every day at the moment.

 

[Iron Man]

damn your prolactin is epic.. im surprised you have hair loss with it that low. my prolactin has always flucuated with my thinning hair, but i have really difficult problems getting it below 7. how is your libido? im surprised your testosterone is low if your prolactin is that low. typically thyroid and vitamin A help to increase testosterone.. sounds like you can make some decent adjustments and be in good shape with a prolactin that low all ready.. im jealous. im half your age with like quadruple your prolactin at times so consider yourself lucky...

I know... Crazy huh? I will go back to the metric system of measurement (if that is ok?)...
My recent blood test said - Prolactin 110 mIU / L. Which comes out to be about 5.1 if my calculations are correct.
My testosterone is real low at 8.5 nmol / L and my Calculated FTe was 197 pmol / L.
My cholesterol was up through the roof though (enough for the Doc to call me) and my ALT / AST and Ferritin were all high and continuing to rise. After researching the testosterone and Ferritin, I found studies linking high Ferritin and low testosterone. Apparently, these go hand in hand. To cut a long story short... I started donating blood and went for the first time last month. I believe my testosterone will come up as my iron goes down. This has to have an impact on hair I think... I have read that high iron can cause hair loss, so maybe...
I am a bodybuilder too (non competing) and am in good shape (205lbs - 210lbs - 49" chest/back - 18.5" arms etc), so I am staggered I have been able to add muscle at my age with my testosterone levels being what they are. Amazes me completely! I am no Arnold, but I have decent size. I am all natural as well. No steroids whatsoever. I have even stopped taking whey powder.

Topically - I use magnesium oil on scalp and on legs at night before bed. I use peppermint oil and rosemary oil as well. I occasionally splash a little ACV on my hair too. Each morning I pour a little niacin and coffee mixture on my scalp too (which causes a nice pink flush). I also do brushing and sometimes use a derma roller.

Supplements - As I said, I don't want to get flamed by anyone, but I follow the Immortal Hair protocol. I feel supplements have a strong place (AFTER NUTRITION AND GOOD DIET). Supplements are there to supplement and I believe it has worked wonders for me. I also feel that the Immortal Hair protocol works nicely with the Peat way of thinking too for the most part. I am not totally sold on every single Peat concept, but I think for the most part I am on board with the diet. I believe my wife and I are mostly on this already and have been for some time. I used to have absolute chronic inflammation (heart burn, dandruff, rosacea, you name it) and I was always an uptight and stressy kind of person.

So why I am still thinning has me beat. Sometimes my hair looks ok and I think all is good, but when my hair is wet or has an oil in it, I sometimes do a double take in the mirror and say whoa, not good!

Is there anything I am missing?

Looking at my medical history, before the most recent blood tests (last year and this year) I last had a blood test and check up was about 10 years ago. I have a phobia with Doctors, so around that time I just thought I was ok and felt healthy enough. Looking back... I can see it was about 10 years ago that my cholesterol started rising along with the other things. Silly me... I should have kept a check on this. Those 10 years just got away from me and these things just got worse below the radar.

I welcome any thoughts or advice. Thanks again!

 

[Iron Man]

I don't know what you have available. Some people manage to get straight aspirin powder, or tablets with just starch as tabletting aid, but I haven't found a way to get either of those. There are threads around about tablet ingredients, and recommendations. I can't remember them all. Haidut posted a studies that suggested taking glycine with aspirin was protective. Some people add baking soda, also maybe protective. And vit K if taking regularly/much.

Personally, of the ones I can get locally, I like the dispersible 500mg ones best, and I sometimes add a bit of baking soda. Sometimes take 1/2 or less of a tablet, sometimes more when I think it will help me, but I don't take them every day at the moment.

Ok, it sounds like the soluble (drop in a glass of water) type will be fine. I think if I take one a day at 200mg for a few months, I should be ok. I plan to get another blood test later in the year to see anyway, so if there is anything going hay wire, I can stop.

 

[Iron Man]

Oh and I forgot to add that I do not drink or smoke either...

 

[Miggie]

Maybe try a 1.5mm derma roller. These are the before and afters. For the study they used two groups. one that used minoxidil for 7 days and one group that used a derma roller on 1 day and 6 days they used minoxidil. The minoxidil only group hardly regrew anything. The minox+derma roller is shown below.

 

[mujuro]

You're in your early 40s and it's only just started to thin? That's a victory in my book.

 

[Lucas]

Hello, Renky.

Woo, you are really big for a natural trainer, what is your height and body fat?

I too had high ferritin (230) but my testosterone is 790 at 38 years old.

I used IP6 to chelate iron. My ferritin in one month has gone from 313 to 230.

I also weight train and have thin and receding hair, but I am also hypothyroid and have high iron.

 

[nomoreketones]

Danny Roddy has some free videos posted on hair loss.
Welcome

 

[Iron Man]

Hello, Renky.

Woo, you are really big for a natural trainer, what is your height and body fat?

I too had high ferritin (230) but my testosterone is 790 at 38 years old.

I used IP6 to chelate iron. My ferritin in one month has gone from 313 to 230.

I also weight train and have thin and receding hair, but I am also hypothyroid and have high iron.

That is interesting... My iron has really started jumping now too. I tried the IP6 in high doses, did nothing for me... I ended up going the blood donation route and after my first experience, I will definitely do it again. I plan to donate at least 4 times this year and then get a blood test at the end of the year to see if my iron goes back down.

Maybe I am hypothyroid too?

My hair is thinning on the crown, no recession. To me, I think this is a sign that there is a problem and my hair is taking a hit.

Thanks.

 

[Iron Man]

Maybe try a 1.5mm derma roller. These are the before and afters. For the study they used two groups. one that used minoxidil for 7 days and one group that used a derma roller on 1 day and 6 days they used minoxidil. The minoxidil only group hardly regrew anything. The minox+derma roller is shown below.

Thanks... I had been using a 1.5 dermaroller, but am not sure I took it seriously enough? Maybe I need to lock in and give it a more serious go?

 

[Iron Man]

I don't know what you have available. Some people manage to get straight aspirin powder, or tablets with just starch as tabletting aid, but I haven't found a way to get either of those. There are threads around about tablet ingredients, and recommendations. I can't remember them all. Haidut posted a studies that suggested taking glycine with aspirin was protective. Some people add baking soda, also maybe protective. And vit K if taking regularly/much.

Personally, of the ones I can get locally, I like the dispersible 500mg ones best, and I sometimes add a bit of baking soda. Sometimes take 1/2 or less of a tablet, sometimes more when I think it will help me, but I don't take them every day at the moment.

I just got some aspirin and it is 300mg per tablet. It is the non-soluble type, so I am going to take it with my dinner as a precaution. Is 300mg per day safe and ok?

Thanks

 

[Miggie]

Thanks... I had been using a 1.5 dermaroller, but am not sure I took it seriously enough? Maybe I need to lock in and give it a more serious go?

I'm getting mine today so I will test it out. I think a lot of guys that arent getting results also eat like ***t. Most of these guys have a bad life style. I was reading on some forums and they said they will drink a few beers to numb the pain. As you can see from the study it took 12 weeks. But if you follow a peaty approach it should be faster. I also use 1% hydrocortisone cream and it seems to speed up my hair regrowth as well so perhaps combining these 2 will make it go even faster. I will post updates once i have been rolling for a few weeks

 

[tara]

I just got some aspirin and it is 300mg per tablet. It is the non-soluble type, so I am going to take it with my dinner as a precaution. Is 300mg per day safe and ok?

My non-expert guess is that it depends on the person. Probably fine (with vit-K), but it might bother some people. You could try it and see. Or halve it and see. With meals makes sense to me too.

 

[tara]

I also use 1% hydrocortisone cream and it seems to speed up my hair regrowth as well so perhaps combining these 2 will make it go even faster.

Just noting, I don't think I've seen Peat recommend hydrocortisone cream for anything yet. It can have some down-sides, as well as providing short term relief.

 

[Miggie]

Just noting, I don't think I've seen Peat recommend hydrocortisone cream for anything yet. It can have some down-sides, as well as providing short term relief.

I don't know peats stance on hydrocortisone cream as well but from my own personal experience it speeds up the regrowth a tad. So I hope with some heavy derma rolling and the cream it will go a lot faster so I can discontinue using the cream.

 

[Iron Man]

My non-expert guess is that it depends on the person. Probably fine (with vit-K), but it might bother some people. You could try it and see. Or halve it and see. With meals makes sense to me too.

Thanks Tara... By the looks of it, it should be ok. I already take K2 (180mcg), so that is fine.