Still A Teenager, And Losing My Hair Already!

[franc0]

Hello everyone,
I recently found out about Ray Peat through Danny Roddy's youtube videos, mainly through trying to put a stop to my MPB which I've been suffering with since I was 16/17, I'm currently 18.
I've been on Minoxidil and Finasteride for about a year, and my hair has somewhat remained stable for the time being though I'm definitely much thinner on top.

I've started taking Calcium + Vitamin D3 tablets (where I live we don't get much sun), 100IU vitamin E, as well as the occasional Zinc supplement.

After about a year of a paleo style diet, I've adopted a more 'Peat friendly' way of eating,
Plenty of eggs, milk, mushroom, spinach, salt, coffee, honey, cheese, fresh fruits, daily smoothie containing either a carrot or orange (including the peel), adequate protein of about 80grams a day, avoidance of starch and PUFA as best I can, I average at about 9 grams of PUFA a day, is this still too high?
One of the problems I've been experiencing, throughout my teen years is that I find it hard, particularly in the midst of school term time, to stay awake for an entire day, I often slip into this cycle where I split my sleep into two nap cycles because I'm too fatigued.

Whilst my BMI is within the normal range (21.5) I'd say I have somewhat slight gynecomastia and I carry more weight on my chest and abdomen, furthermore I suffer from acne on my face and back, I'm pretty sure this suggests there is aromatisation or excess oestrogen within my body.

Does anyone have any advice or information they could give me to help with my current situation, I plan to supplement with Niacin, Vitamin A and Taurine (recently heard taurines been proven to be more effective than Finasteride at combating MPB). In addition, do you suggest I take Progesterone in order to oppose osetrogen??
Thanks in advance!

 

[theLaw]

Topical Progesterone And Hair Growth - Why Does It Work?

Caffeine Can Cure Baldness In Both Men And Women

Taurine More Effective Than Finasteride For Hair Loss

Finasteride Causes Physical Damage To Nerves, Depression, ED, Steroid Imbalance

Non-Hair loss, but necessary reading:

+ Clean the Liver

Caffeine Reverses Stress, Insulin Resistance, Hypertension

High Protein Diet Prevents & Reverses Fatty Liver Disease (steatosis)

+ Fix Digestive Issues

Amino Acid Supplementation For People With Poor Digestion

Ray Peat Potato Protein Soup (RPPPS)

Cyproheptadine - A Wonder Drug?

+ Reduce PUFA in Tissues down to almost nothing

PUFA Depletion Can (probably) Be Accomplished In 30 Days!

Haidut's Summary Of PUFA

VoS uncoupling thread

Cheers!

 

[tankasnowgod]

Hello everyone,
I recently found out about Ray Peat through Danny Roddy's youtube videos, mainly through trying to put a stop to my MPB which I've been suffering with since I was 16/17, I'm currently 18.
I've been on Minoxidil and Finasteride for about a year, and my hair has somewhat remained stable for the time being though I'm definitely much thinner on top.

I've started taking Calcium + Vitamin D3 tablets (where I live we don't get much sun), 100IU vitamin E, as well as the occasional Zinc supplement.

After about a year of a paleo style diet, I've adopted a more 'Peat friendly' way of eating,
Plenty of eggs, milk, mushroom, spinach, salt, coffee, honey, cheese, fresh fruits, daily smoothie containing either a carrot or orange (including the peel), adequate protein of about 80grams a day, avoidance of starch and PUFA as best I can, I average at about 9 grams of PUFA a day, is this still too high?
One of the problems I've been experiencing, throughout my teen years is that I find it hard, particularly in the midst of school term time, to stay awake for an entire day, I often slip into this cycle where I split my sleep into two nap cycles because I'm too fatigued.

Whilst my BMI is within the normal range (21.5) I'd say I have somewhat slight gynecomastia and I carry more weight on my chest and abdomen, furthermore I suffer from acne on my face and back, I'm pretty sure this suggests there is aromatisation or excess oestrogen within my body.

Does anyone have any advice or information they could give me to help with my current situation, I plan to supplement with Niacin, Vitamin A and Taurine (recently heard taurines been proven to be more effective than Finasteride at combating MPB). In addition, do you suggest I take Progesterone in order to oppose osetrogen??
Thanks in advance!

Are you still taking finasteride? How did you get on that at such a young age?

I'd be worried about that more about that than anything else you're doing. Finasteride can also be used by men who want to transition into a woman.

Hormone therapy for transgender patients
"There are no unanimous recommendations for the use of anti-androgens. Options are also listed in Table 2. Spironolactone is one of the most common medications used to suppress endogenous testosterone in trans female patients. The biggest risk associated with spironolactone is hyperkalemia, and this should be closely monitored. Other options include 5α-reductase inhibitors such as finasteride, but these can be associated with liver toxicity and may not be as effective as spironolactone (8)"

 

[grenade]

Are you still taking finasteride? How did you get on that at such a young age?

I'd be worried about that more about that than anything else you're doing. Finasteride can also be used by men who want to transition into a woman.

Hormone therapy for transgender patients
"There are no unanimous recommendations for the use of anti-androgens. Options are also listed in Table 2. Spironolactone is one of the most common medications used to suppress endogenous testosterone in trans female patients. The biggest risk associated with spironolactone is hyperkalemia, and this should be closely monitored. Other options include 5α-reductase inhibitors such as finasteride, but these can be associated with liver toxicity and may not be as effective as spironolactone (8)"

This.

Get the F off finasteride before you cause some damage.

Refer to theLaw's post for very useful stuff.

 

[franc0]

Topical Progesterone And Hair Growth - Why Does It Work?

Caffeine Can Cure Baldness In Both Men And Women

Taurine More Effective Than Finasteride For Hair Loss

Finasteride Causes Physical Damage To Nerves, Depression, ED, Steroid Imbalance

Non-Hair loss, but necessary reading:

+ Clean the Liver

Caffeine Reverses Stress, Insulin Resistance, Hypertension

High Protein Diet Prevents & Reverses Fatty Liver Disease (steatosis)

+ Fix Digestive Issues

Amino Acid Supplementation For People With Poor Digestion

Ray Peat Potato Protein Soup (RPPPS)

Cyproheptadine - A Wonder Drug?

+ Reduce PUFA in Tissues down to almost nothing

PUFA Depletion Can (probably) Be Accomplished In 30 Days!

Haidut's Summary Of PUFA

VoS uncoupling thread

Cheers!

Thanks for your help, I've been reading into cyproheptadine a lot recently, thanks for the stuff on finasteride too!

 

[encerent]

Happens to a lot of teenagers these days.

 

[Gl;itch.e]

Most people here would caution you against Finasteride. Too many horror stories out there.

You want your PUFA as low as you can get it.

I don't know if you can reverse your hair loss if you have actual bald areas. If its just thinning then you are in a good position to regain thickness.

Things I know that have helped me most are Taurine, Sunlight (not just vitamin D), Caffeine, Fibre from Carrot and actually eating some carbs and not being restrictive diet wise (with the exception of avoiding PUFA)

 

[tara]

How much are you (and have you been) eating, calorie-wise?

 

[franc0]

How much are you (and have you been) eating, calorie-wise?

I used to eat about 1600-1800 a day, looking back probably caused my body quite a considerable amount of stress, these days I try to eat heighten my metabolism and eat till i'm full, so at around 2000+

 

[franc0]

Most people here would caution you against Finasteride. Too many horror stories out there.

You want your PUFA as low as you can get it.

I don't know if you can reverse your hair loss if you have actual bald areas. If its just thinning then you are in a good position to regain thickness.

Things I know that have helped me most are Taurine, Sunlight (not just vitamin D), Caffeine, Fibre from Carrot and actually eating some carbs and not being restrictive diet wise (with the exception of avoiding PUFA)

Thanks I've always been restrictive with my calories which has probably been the most detrimental thing to my hair, only recently have I started eating more.
My hair loss is on my hairline and there's a general thinning on top, but no bald spots luckily.
Danny Roddy used to suffer from Hair loss, but looking at his Videos on Youtube, You wouldn't really think it considering how thick his hair is today,
I'm hoping I can atleast maintain the hair I currently have.

 

[tara]

I used to eat about 1600-1800 a day, looking back probably caused my body quite a considerable amount of stress, these days I try to eat heighten my metabolism and eat till i'm full, so at around 2000+

I think it's possible this is a key part of the root cause. If there is an ongoing deficiency, the body has to sacrifice something, and hair is a relatively unnecessary part to sacrifice.

This is not Peat, but I've found the articles here interesting (though I think Peat is probably more knowledgable about the pros and cons of particular foods):
Patients and General Public

This one gives an idea about normal food needs, and food needs in recovery from sever undereating, with explanations about how she came to those numbers:
Phases of Recovery From An Eating Disorder Part 4

 

[JoeKool]

As stated, get off of finasteride ... extremely dangerous and not worth the other damage it's doing.

Please listen to me and others who have already stated it. Get off and shave your head. You can still deal with the health related issues to help mpb and feel better but the danger of fin can not be over stated.

 

[walker_in_aus]

Also, congratulations at the age of 18 understanding a lot of this and taking control of your own health!

 

[Herbie]

Make sure its niacin-amide.

 

[sladerunner69]

My best advice is to never take propecia/finasteride. Minoxidil is ***t too, but it won't kill you like fin could.
'
Once you've accepted the above, you've come to right palce to fin legitimate sollutions. Look up Danny Roddy's "Hair like a fox"

 

[BrianF]

Feeling your pain, nobody should have to deal with that at your age, but so many do. luckily for you, you can do something about it.

Ok, where to begin - If you are still a teenager, I expect your finances aren't great, mines sure weren't. However, if you can afford it, I would contact Danny Roddy directly and book a few sessions. Ironically, for a guy with plenty of hair, he is Mr Hair Loss forma lifestyle/dietary perspective. He knows his stuff and will be able to advise about diet, supps etc. I admit I haven't booked one-on-one sessions with him but only because I bought his books, followed his advice and it put a brake on my loss. He doesn't do this for free and nobody can expect him to. Thats only fair.

If you cannot afford/don't want to speak with him here are a few hints:

Calcium - eggshell calcium is the best. It will work better than pills. Its a pain in the nuts to make, but once you make it, you have a batch for ages.

Get your vitamins A,D,E & K. Estroban is a good way of getting these. Your B vitamins (Brewers yeast covers most of that), get Vitamin C (preferably through OJ, but from a pill is better than nothing).

Wash with soap, not shower gel or other ***t like that. Like vitamins, estrogenic ***t in these products can enter your system through the skin. If you are suffering hair loss, my guess is that you have enough of that ***t anyway to deal with. In fact, I rarely even use soap these days, I just hose myself down and give my dirty bits a better rub. I don't smell, no joke, I really don't.

As someone else suggested, you could shave your head and that way you don't need to wash it with anything, just give it a good rub/massage in the shower.. it may settle the glands down and start regulating itself better. Unless of course you have one of those weird shapes of heads that could cause a traffic pile up, due to its bizarre nature.. then obviously in the interests of road safety, don't bother. Or you could go the other way and start using one of the shampoo brands that use caffiene and niacin amide if you don't like the idea of any of this?

Theres a lot of info on here relating to topical use of caffeine, niacinamide, even taurine... Haidut has a product like this. These will help... under the right conditions of good diet etc.... probably work better on a shaved head though.

Avoid booze. Most drinks are heavily estrogenic, those that aren't still put strain on the liver and limit its ability to get rid of it.

Red light, daylight, calcium v phosphate ratio, low puff (I think Ray said that if pufa is below a certain ratio then you can't lose your hair, but perhaps someone else can confirm this) also lot of people swear by taurine consumption as a good thing, though not sure of amounts... 3grams Im sure someone posted.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[franc0]

Make sure its niacin-amide.

Thanks, I've recently bought B3 in the form of nicotinamide, I read on the forum recently someone saying either Niacinamide or nicotonamide are both good forms of B3 to supplement with.

 

[James IV]

Calories dude. I eat more than you and I'm 40 years old. Eating healthy foods means eating more volume.

I train a kid that's 19, and his hairline is receding. He is obsessed with getting a "six pack" and never wants to eat. Bump your calories up 100-150 or so a week, until you get closer to 3000. You can halt the loss, and likely make progress since you are addressing it early.

 

[johnwester130]

The Ultimate Hair Loss Flowchart: Why We Lose Our Hair

from my understanding, the shedding of hair is hormonal and nutritional

the actual baldness is a physical change in the scalp.

You have to solve both

 

[franc0]

Feeling your pain, nobody should have to deal with that at your age, but so many do. luckily for you, you can do something about it.

Ok, where to begin - If you are still a teenager, I expect your finances aren't great, mines sure weren't. However, if you can afford it, I would contact Danny Roddy directly and book a few sessions. Ironically, for a guy with plenty of hair, he is Mr Hair Loss forma lifestyle/dietary perspective. He knows his stuff and will be able to advise about diet, supps etc. I admit I haven't booked one-on-one sessions with him but only because I bought his books, followed his advice and it put a brake on my loss. He doesn't do this for free and nobody can expect him to. Thats only fair.

If you cannot afford/don't want to speak with him here are a few hints:

Calcium - eggshell calcium is the best. It will work better than pills. Its a pain in the nuts to make, but once you make it, you have a batch for ages.

Get your vitamins A,D,E & K. Estroban is a good way of getting these. Your B vitamins (Brewers yeast covers most of that), get Vitamin C (preferably through OJ, but from a pill is better than nothing).

Wash with soap, not shower gel or other ***t like that. Like vitamins, estrogenic ***t in these products can enter your system through the skin. If you are suffering hair loss, my guess is that you have enough of that ***t anyway to deal with. In fact, I rarely even use soap these days, I just hose myself down and give my dirty bits a better rub. I don't smell, no joke, I really don't.

As someone else suggested, you could shave your head and that way you don't need to wash it with anything, just give it a good rub/massage in the shower.. it may settle the glands down and start regulating itself better. Unless of course you have one of those weird shapes of heads that could cause a traffic pile up, due to its bizarre nature.. then obviously in the interests of road safety, don't bother. Or you could go the other way and start using one of the shampoo brands that use caffiene and niacin amide if you don't like the idea of any of this?

Theres a lot of info on here relating to topical use of caffeine, niacinamide, even taurine... Haidut has a product like this. These will help... under the right conditions of good diet etc.... probably work better on a shaved head though.

Avoid booze. Most drinks are heavily estrogenic, those that aren't still put strain on the liver and limit its ability to get rid of it.

Red light, daylight, calcium v phosphate ratio, low puff (I think Ray said that if pufa is below a certain ratio then you can't lose your hair, but perhaps someone else can confirm this) also lot of people swear by taurine consumption as a good thing, though not sure of amounts... 3grams Im sure someone posted.

Hope that helps a little.

I'm going to see where my current supplementation and diet can get me first, so far the Peat Diet has been helping me with fatigue. I already avoid booze, and I've quite been wary of calcium/phosphate ratio for some time now.
I'd never really considered the showering aspect of it, only recently did I hear Haidut on Roddy's podcast on nitric oxide, apparently he only washes with soap too!
I'll look into getting my calcium from eggshells, thanks for the advice Brian