Dr. John Crisler: "I've had so many patients come to me and say that [finasteride] has destroyed their life. The problem is when they go off the drug, the symptoms remain."

Comment by jads on July 27, 2010, 8:00 am

OMG et al,  I took .5-1mg of propecia for 8 weeks or more and it knocked me around. Whether or not I had to tough it out a while longer in order for my hormones and body to normalise is beside the point, I almost quit (or lost) my job due to at times debilitating malaise and lethargy!! 

For ME it was awful. It wasn’t until I started finding anecdotal evidence of similar symptoms in others that I realised and went cold turkey - and I’m glad I did!

Oh, and I’ve had problems with my endocrine system, so its not hard to join the dots.

Jads

SuperZix II - A Homemade Topical That Can Compete with the Big Boys

Comment by The Zix Creator on July 14, 2010, 9:35 pm

I still don’t see a credible argument against the “30 month window”. Damn! I was really hoping someone could prove me wrong!

Magnesium Oil for Hair Loss

Comment by Mastery on June 29, 2010, 11:55 pm

Re: Frontal results - Immortal is right and meditation helps even more…

SuperZix II - A Homemade Topical That Can Compete with the Big Boys

Comment by Balderdash on June 23, 2010, 3:55 pm

Hey Zix creator,

I recieved the Zix Kit a couple of weeks ago, thanks for the prompt delivery. I started using it a little over a week ago and have noticed my shedding has decreased almost straight away.

I’ve started taking pics and am in the process of trying to get a helmet together. I’m looking forward to posting the results.

Thanks again

-Balderdash

Mask your Hair Loss in 1 Hour or Less!

Comment by Anxious1 on June 12, 2010, 6:45 pm

re. seasalt.

i totally agree, and many times i have thought about filling some massive containers from the sea for showers.

FWIW sea water is VERY close to our plasma {blood with erythrocytes(red blood cells) and leukocytes (white blood cells )and platelets removed}, except obviously for some bacterias, and microorganisms that inhabit it.  Therefore i think the same tonicity as seawater would be ideal.

for those that don’t know, saline has to be o.9 % sodium (salt), 99.1% water, before it can be added to our blood.

u have too much salt, then our red blood cells shrink because water flows out of them(called hypertonicity), too little salt, and our red blood cells explode because water flows into them (called hypotonicity), and just right i.e. 0.9 % sodium, 99.1% water, is just right (called isotonicity).  If this percentage is just right for our blood, then probably this percentage would be better for our scalp.  This could be proven by comparing sea water or saline, to water with higher or lower salt content.

ever wondered why tap water burns when it goes up ur nose?, its the salt (or absence of it).  Use saline and it doesnt burn.

You caould either measure the sea salt, or use prebought sachets usually sold for sinus problems.

just my opinion.

Mask your Hair Loss in 1 Hour or Less!

Comment by Nidhogge on June 10, 2010, 2:07 pm

Everyone—

Gonna add a few more pictures in here when I have time, including what my hair looks like in the end when styled; I’ll post an update at that point in this section to indicate the change.

OMG—

Thanks a bunch for that sea salt suggestion!!  Seem to recall you speaking of it in the past but I never tried it out.  Going to give this a spin soon and report back on my experiences.

I agree with you about parents too, lol…particularly, mothers!  Always pecking away at us and criticizing; sigh.

Bocaj—

Ya, that topical really caught my eye a little while ago.  But, the last time I threw around that sort of money was when I had Elsom whip me up a KGF/SOD formulation.  I understand that the ingredients they use are pretty pricey in the formulation but I wonder how well it works?  Know of anyone that gave it a spin?

I’ll have to check out the Morocco Method stuff as well.

Mask your Hair Loss in 1 Hour or Less!

Comment by OverMachoGrande on June 10, 2010, 1:41 pm

Since this thread is about cheating, lol…

Here is a FANTASTIC trick for thickening up your hair, and I just figured this out not too long ago in search of making my longer hair style look cooler.

SEA SALT.  That’s right… sea salt.  I should do a forum thread on this.

You know how your hair always seems to look better when you come back from the beach?  Well, salt water really thickens out your hair and makes it look wavier than normal.  It gives it sort of an unreplicable volume and control.

Also, have you ever noticed that your hair sometimes looks a lot cooler THE DAY AFTER your shower and it’s a little dirty (especially in the morning when you just wake up), but, if you’re like me, it’s just too greasy or too dirty to keep it that way if you are going out in public?  Well, this may be an answer for you.

Well, if you didn’t notice, sea salt is everywhere these days.  It all of a sudden became trendy for whatever reason, so go buy some sea salt, and go buy a squirt bottle - A BIGGER ONE designed for cleaning sprays or whatever (that also can “mist”), not one of those little crappy ones.  Trust me… the little crappy ones will get clogged after the first few sprays, they only “stream” and don’t “mist”, and it’ll be a waste of your time and money.

I mix a crapload of sea salt with water, and I’m still toying with what I feel to be the best mix -although I think more is better.  So, there is usually a bit of salt left over in the bottle.  Right now, my current mix doesn’t have this -and I’m thinking about adding more.

What you do is take your shower and towel dry it so it’s damp, and then brush it out.  If it’s a non-laser day, I put in Zix.  If it’s a laser day, I do the laser, but I’ll come back and wet it again.

Then, bend over like you are looking directly down at your feel so all of your hair is hanging down, and spray in the sea salt.  I usually brush my hair just a little bit when I still have my head down.  Then, I work it all the way through to the ends of my hair with my hands, and lean up.

I just use my hands to style it a little bit, and man… it stays in place a little better, AND it looks wavier, cooler, and fuller.

Two things…
1) You’ll have to shake your head a lot when it’s completely dry to shake off the extra salt.  At this point, you’ll learn very quickly if you’ve sprayed too much because it’ll look like winter in Minnesota.

2) TRY AS HARD AS YOU CAN TO NOT OVERLY SPRAY YOUR SCALP.  When it dries, the salt can be uncomfortable and a little irritating.  If you keep that in mind, then it’ll be fine.

So, there you go.  I’ll wear my hair like this in my upcoming flowbee video.  It definitely looks different -more “casual” and “natural”.

-O.M.G.

Mask your Hair Loss in 1 Hour or Less!

Comment by OverMachoGrande on June 10, 2010, 1:22 pm

I used to have to dye my hair periodically when I used to swim laps and used minox.  There is an awful chemical reaction between certain pool chemicals and minoxidil -it would really fry my hair and turn it red.

GOD it used to piss me off.  My mother would even say things like “Why are you dying your hair red?”, and I was always like “I AM *NOT* TRYING TO BE A GINGER, DAMMIT!”.  And, since my mom is crazy and I’m convinced that parents live for saying lifelong damaging things to their children, six months later she’d ask the same thing like she’d never asked it before.  “Why are you dying your hair red?”

Anyway, yeah, when I would dye my hair dark, it would look SIGNIFICANTLY FULLER.  Dying those little clear vellous and on-their-way-out terminal hairs maked a big difference back then.

-O.M.G.

Magnesium Oil for Hair Loss

Comment by Viking on June 07, 2010, 2:41 am

Hi OMG and happy birthday!

How is your Mag oil treatmen comming along? Where did you buy it?

FYI - my Laser M is slowly starting to show some positve results.. slowlyy but surly I can se improvment in quality and growth, especially on top. I guess I need a FUE to get a hailine.. :(

Cheers an all the best / Viking

BREAKING NEWS - NEW FDA CLEARANCE FOR FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS FOR A LASER DEVICE

Comment by OverMachoGrande on June 02, 2010, 1:51 pm

Yeah, lol… I suppose my angle WAS “finally a laser device has been approved for treating hair loss”!  I don’t live in a world with that other approval -so this, to me, *is* the first! 

...And I had to edit out my “original angle”, too, which was specifics about the brand of diodes and how they prepared them, which is considered proprietary info.  So, I had to change it at the risk of upsetting lots of people.  It would make more sense if I could have left it in.

Let’s just say that you should be very, VERY happy about the diodes they used and leave it at that!  Put another way, this approval is PERSONAL to you, and you can figure out why.

[I may have to delete this in the future, so don’t reference this post.  Just gawk at it and process what I’m saying!]

-O.M.G.

BREAKING NEWS - NEW FDA CLEARANCE FOR FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS FOR A LASER DEVICE

Comment by OverMachoGrande on June 02, 2010, 11:04 am

Hey, man.. You make some valid points!  But the MAJOR POINT YOU ARE MISSING is this: *any* laser device approved from the United State’s FDA now on is going to be considered a predicate device off Hairmax.

Your problem is with the FDA policy, not with the MEP-90.  Also, your “nothing new” is just flat-out ridiculous… did you actually read the clinical results that went along with it as a part of the process?  That’s “nothing new”?  You don’t think all of those findings are NEWSWORTHY?!  97% and 100%?!

GOOD LORD!!!  That’s not news to you?!?!?!?!?!

If I got my helmet tested for approval and it showed that it was better than any treatment EVER… it’s *still* a “laser device for hair loss”, therefore it’d be a predicate device of any others that came before it that were also issued approval.

I’ll say it again:  BY DEFINITION, any laser device would be now considered a predicate device.

This isn’t the difference between minox and propecia -two completely different chemical formulas.  In the eyes of the FDA, a laser helmet would be the same as a laser comb -no matter what the effectiveness- because the part of the device that works (the laser) is similar and has already been cleared and classified.  You can’t be first TWICE.  Well, you COULD, I’m sure -if you had the money- but that goes back to the point about how it doesn’t make good business sense to throw a million dollars out the window. As a company, you aren’t going to do that -period. There aren’t many people out there like you or me that care about it.

So, that’s the way things are, and we should be happy that 1) there is actually a device out there that does IN REAL LIFE what it says it does, and 2) we should be at least a little thankful that at least SOMEONE paid the “big money” to get the first device classified and cleared. That makes it easier for the legitimate companies to get approved.

Don’t keep bringing Hairmax up in this.  Hairmax has *nothing* to do with it other than they were “first”.  If you have a problem with hairmax getting an FDA approval, that’s fine -we all do.  Go do something about it.  Send a letter to the FDA.  Go take them on head-on like I did.  I’ve actually stood up and done something about it and educated thousands about it -at a tremendous risk to my personal way of life.  But you letting Hairmax cheapen the results of something else -a real device- is your problem, and you are really off base doing so.  I’ve tried to explain to you that by the way the FDA works, it has to be done that way.

Your statement: “All the response from the FDA says is that it uses the same technology as the hairmax and therefore it is approved.” shows that you don’t understand the FDA (or even what was written -the “same technology” part has to do with the “safety” aspect).  It’s not the FDA that does marketing for the product.  They’re not going to say “Wow, sirs… your product really grows hair!” or even “Hey, yeah, we got all your reports and they look great.  Here’s your approval”.  They don’t make personal acknowledgements and comments on the submissions -they simply approve or not approve.  If it’s put into that official document, it’s approved “as is”.  What they do at that stage of the process is STAPLE.  That’s right… they STAPLE the documents together and file them (and now scan them).  The clinical trials were already conducted with FDA involvement, they were completed, the results were assessed, approval was granted, so they stapled the papers together, scanned them, and it’s over.  The probably hundreds of letters, emails, phone calls of correspondence aren’t included in that report.

For all that money, you’d expect something more glamerous, right?  Like an Oscar or something or a big FDA press release? Well, that’s WRONG!  Welcome to the Federal Governement of the United States.

Hopefully I’ve helped explain why your “then why is this news?” point isn’t valid at all -this certainly is news. Man, your problem is with FDA policy -not with the MEP-90 or any of it’s results. If you still understand all of that but have a problem with it, then I simply can’t make you feel the same delight and pleasure in this approval that we feel -we, the people that stood up in the forums and did the hard work to make it so possibly the greatest treatment for the most people was no longer ridiculed.

That was a crapload of hard work and we fought some very bad, corrupt people -not to mention some of us did it at great expense. So, if you don’t understand why it’s “news” to us and why we are happy that a clinical-grade laser device now has FDA approval, then you’re not going to get it. The battle was already fought. Enjoy the benefits.

-O.M.G.

BREAKING NEWS - NEW FDA CLEARANCE FOR FEMALE PATTERN BALDNESS FOR A LASER DEVICE

Comment by OverMachoGrande on June 01, 2010, 6:36 am

Here’s is clarification… “DEVICES” are never issued “approvals”... they are only “cleared” for whatever.  “Drugs” are issued “approvals”.  So, saying a device is “cleared” is relatively equal to a drug being “approved”.  So yeah, in common speaking they are interchangeable.

However, these devices ARE NOT *ONLY* CLEARED FOR SAFETY!  That’s absolutely 100% wrong information, and I can’t let that go unrebuked!

The “cleared for safety” thing is a much lesser deal -this MEP90 was “cleared for the promotion of hair growth” -which is the designation that any device that fights hair loss would be classified under.  That’s the category it’s under -“Promotion of Hair Growth”. 

So, no… it was more than just “cleared for safety” -I don’t know where or why you got that opinion but WARNING: that’s something that the idiotic naysayers in other forums always try to say!  It’s one of those things that leads me scratching my head whenever I see it… the truth is right at their fingertips -all they have to do is google it- yet they’d rather sit and talk about how it’s ONLY cleared for safety or whatever nonsense.  If you see someone saying that laser devices have only been cleared for safety… run from those people.  They are the WORST type of forum posters.  Lazy know-it-alls, and if they can’t figure out something as simple as this, then they aren’t smart enough to give advice on hair loss.

Findings like this:

• After 20 treatments (10-Weeks), 92% of the subjects demonstrated an increased hair count of ≥10% with 57% demonstrating an increase of ≥30%. 98% of the subjects indicated a medically significant stabilization of their rate of hair loss.

• After the 36th treatment, 97% of the subject population demonstrated an increased hair count of ≥20%. A total of 89% of all subjects demonstrated an increased hair count of ≥30%, with 57% demonstrating an increased hair count of ≥50%.

• 87% of the subjects indicated the treatments have helped their condition, with 60% reporting their loss rate has further slowed down from the 10-week period, and 65% reported their visible area of the alopecia (bald spot) had gotten smaller.

• 100% of the linear trend plotting for all subjects of their Initial, 10-Week, and 18-Week hair counts demonstrated a historical rate of increased hair growth.

...aren’t a part of the certification for getting cleared for safety.

Getting “cleared for safety” is actually something that I’ll get for my laser helmets pretty soon.  All that means is that I’m showing that my device consists of things that have been deemed as “safe” by the FDA before -and it’s not too expensive, and it’s just a simple selling point to use when you are starting to branch out your marketing to a less savvy crowd that doesn’t know a 5mW diode is completely harmless.  Those people NEED to see something from the government that tells them that.  They aren’t a part of my business plan yet, though, as I’m still word of mouth and don’t care.

Now, the part about HairMax is interesting.  First of all, lets just cover the “predicate device” part. 

Here is the deal with using hairmax as a predicate device… you either spend seven figures STARTING OVER -which no one is going to do in business- or you spend somewhere in the five figures, MAYBE low six figures to just “piggyback” off of existing certification.  That’s the logical choice.

When it comes to business, you DON’T CARE what happened with the hairmax FDA approval -you’re not going to make a stand and say “their’s wasn’t legit, therefore I’m starting a new process”.  No one cares about that except for a VERY SMALL number of people in the forums (us, basically, and not many other people).  So, a company -NOT EVEN ME- wouldn’t out of principle refuse the predicate device option.  You’d be an idiot to literally waste all that money to start over -and your shareholders would probably dump you.

So, even though we are very correct in questioning the efficacy of HairMax and wonder how they got an approval, we all know for a fact that laser clinic devices, our helmets, etc. all work for hair loss.  So, the way I see it is that it’s great to finally have OTHER LASER DEVICS that we all know work start to get FDA approvals.

As far as advice on how to deal with your feelings about the HairMax approval, the way I cope with it is simply this… lasers work SO WELL and are SO EFFECTIVE that in clinical studies, even a stinking LASER COMB showed results.  That, and obvious low-hanging fruit of criticizing the FDA.  That’s the best you can do. 

-O.M.G.

A Natural Supplement Approach to Balding

Comment by Nidhogge on May 29, 2010, 2:28 am

Sonal, we definitely will!

Not only is it safe, but I would think it would make things a bit easier.  These are non-hormonal herbs.  Technically, Vitamin D3 is a hormone and that will be available in a combined capsule with Vitamin K2, but at the quantities that are therapeutic for our bodies.  In other words, at the proper amounts, and nowhere near the toxic level.  There will be a LOT of information available on each active in each product when the time comes.  Everyone’s hard at work!

A Natural Supplement Approach to Balding

Comment by Nidhogge on May 27, 2010, 2:50 am

Sonal—

Within a month we should have some fantastic products available from our site.  Stay tuned to the forums for announcement, as we’re starting to transfer money to the various manufacturers to make this a reality.  It’s been months of work, but finally coming to fruition.

"So what's the deal with all these clays?" -Clays for Hair Loss

Comment by gonzalo on May 11, 2010, 12:24 am

My mix:

1 part of distilled water
1 part of ACV (organic, not pasteurized)
1 part of Bentonite Clay
Neem Oil

World's largest toxic experiment

Comment by 1..... on May 07, 2010, 12:14 pm

That is very cool CS-

What source are you taking of the K2?

Why You Should Avoid Splenda

Comment by Silverlin on May 06, 2010, 1:54 am

IH - Just wondering if you have personally tried the Lo Han product? If so, in your opinion how does it compare to sugar, taste wise? I’m also curious how it compares to stevia, as thats what I predominately use as a sugar substitute.

Coenzyme Q10 has anti-aging effects on human hair

Comment by TrelosEllinas on May 04, 2010, 10:41 pm

Immortal

So wat would u advice me to get from iherb that would be good as C0-Q10 and lipoic acid.

TrellosEllinas

"So what's the deal with all these clays?" -Clays for Hair Loss

Comment by Petchsky on May 03, 2010, 1:17 pm

Just purchased some betonite clay over the net, i’ll give this a go, thanks for the inspiration

"So what's the deal with all these clays?" -Clays for Hair Loss

Comment by sonal on May 01, 2010, 3:03 pm

Hi, just wanted to understand the point behind the clay- is it just to rid the scalp of excess sebum in general? does it really help directly with DHT control? I am always confused, so many products talk about DHT removal like shampoos and things but i wonder if they can really elminiate dht fromt he scalp, i mean is there scientific evidence that they actually can do that and for how long does the effect last? just wondering the rational behind using this clay and if I need to get behind this.. thanks!

"So what's the deal with all these clays?" -Clays for Hair Loss

Comment by OverMachoGrande on April 30, 2010, 12:59 pm

Just keeping everyone updated, my scalp has actually been CRAVING apple cider vinegar, so I just mixed some into a batch.

As some of you remember, I used to LOVE that stuff.  I used it all the time -right up to the point that I developed a sensitivity to it in terms of smell that I just couldn’t stand it anymore!  I’d use it once, and I could detect it on my sweat for three days! lol…  Anyway, that was about 2005 or so, so it’s been pretty close to five years since then and for whatever reason, the past week or so I’ve really been craving it.

I listen to that stuff, by the way.  So, I went out and got some Braggs ACV.

I mixed it as follows:

-About five ounces of distilled water
-About two ounces of Braggs ACV
-One teaspoon of tea tree oil
-10 squirts of “Pure Mag Oil”
-12 tablespoons of my Aztec bentonite clay.

So, the ACV does have a pretty cool reaction.  A lot of fizzing, etc., and it makes it so you use a good bit more clay in the mixture.  I think it was still completely liquid when I was at the typical eight scoops.

I might actually try a little more ACV next time, because I honestly can’t really smell it.  Maybe that means my intolerance to it is over.  I don’t want to use it too much, though, because I remember that it had a tendency to color my hair a bit red -and since I’m swimming laps again, I don’t want to use anything much that will push it in that direction! lol…

-O.M.G.

PS-  I should mention I made a batch last week with olive oil in it, and I couldn’t stand it.  I think it took about three showers to remove all the greasiness from it, and this may be completely psychosomatic but I thought that I felt less stimulation from LLLT during those days.  So, olive oil isn’t for me.

"So what's the deal with all these clays?" -Clays for Hair Loss

Comment by OverMachoGrande on April 07, 2010, 6:55 pm

Don’t forget, halfempty, that you are talking to a guy that’s sitting on a toilet seat on the main page of his personal site! lol… I *do* possess a sense of humor!

"So what's the deal with all these clays?" -Clays for Hair Loss

Comment by OverMachoGrande on April 06, 2010, 7:00 pm

Halfempty…

On “Part 1”, use your headphones, turn up the volume, and listen to right at about 5:43 or so.  You’ll understand why I was starting to stammer over some words in the late 5:30’s -I could see BIG TROUBLE brewing back past the camera- and why I have such an expression of relief at 5:49!  I was like “Thank god, it didn’t get worse, bodies weren’t flying, and I think this take is salvageable!”.

Dr. John Crisler: "I've had so many patients come to me and say that [finasteride] has destroyed their life. The problem is when they go off the drug, the symptoms remain."

Comment by OverMachoGrande on April 06, 2010, 11:25 am

You bring up a FANTASTIC point for debate, though… are lasers “NATURAL”?!  I can see arguments for each side, and I probably lean towards yes because it’s using a concentrated amount of the beneficial spectrum of naturally occuring light, and it’s simply causing your body to do more of the things that it does already (not introducing foreign substances, etc.).

The arguments against it being considered natural are fairly obvious, but anyway, I suppose it doesn’t technically matter for people that are interested in simply growing their own hair, but there you go!

-O.M.G.

Dr. John Crisler: "I've had so many patients come to me and say that [finasteride] has destroyed their life. The problem is when they go off the drug, the symptoms remain."

Comment by mj on April 06, 2010, 11:18 am

actually, I don’t think you could label lasers as a natural method….so let me make that correction…but some natural supplements have helped as I continue to use them in my regime…but just to be clear, I appreciate all of you for your knowledge and efforts…you’re truly a great resource.