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• I Won’t Give Up The Fight: Jarrod’s Hair Loss Story

  In Hair Loss, Letters From Listeners / By The Bald Truth / 23 August 2008

  Dear Spencer Kobren,

  I thought I’d share my hair loss story with you. You might remember me from You-Tube. I asked you a question once and showed you some pics of my hair. I’ve called into the show one time before too. Thanks again for making such a great show. I watch it all the time on Stickam.

  I heard about your MTV Hair Loss Documentary special and I would love to be apart of it. Here’s my information. If you need any more info, just let me know.

  My Hair Loss Story

  I’ve been losing my hair for the past year or two. I was diagnosed with Male Pattern Baldness in 2007. My dad and his brother were both bald, their father was bald too. So I guess I got those bald genes too. I started to lose my hair at 19. It didn’t get worse until I turned 20 though. I’m currently 21 now. I first tried Rogaine & Rogaine Foam, but that irritated my scalp and caused my psoriasis to flare up again. So I quit that. My dermatologist then put me on Propecia 1 mg. I tried Propecia for a year, I never missed one dosage. When ever I took a shower or combed my hair it would just fall out like crazy. I’ve heard Propecia can cause you to shed when you first start on it. I took it over a year and still lost my hair. My hair loss is all in my crown area and near my hair line. From what I’ve read online the type of hair loss I have is called diffuse male pattern baldness.  I still have hair, but it is very thin. It’s getting to the point were it’s hard to cover it up now. I try my best to make it look like I don’t have any bald spots. When the wind blows I’m pretty much screwed! My friend’s keep telling me to shave my head, saying it will grow back thicker. I think they are idiots, if I shave my head I’d look like an alien.

  So of course I freaked out and tried all kinds of things to get my hair back. So far I haven’t had any luck with any of them. I worry about my hair loss constantly. I feel like everyone is just looking at it. I know it could be a whole lot worse. To me though it’s just horrible and like a horror movie! I feel like my youth has been drained away.

  I won’t give up the fight just yet. I’m currently taking Proscar 5 mg and cutting it in half. I still lose hair, but still have some left to work with. Hopefully one day I’ll get some luck and get my hair back. If not then I guess I better get use to wearing hats. I could save up for a hair transplant, but those look way to risky. I wouldn’t want someone sticking thousands of holes in my head.

  -Jarrod

   

• Spencer Kobren and MTV Networks are Looking For Men Interested In Appearing In a Reality Documentary About Hair Loss

  In Hair Loss, News / By The Bald Truth / 22 August 2008

  Spencer Kobren and MTV Networks are currently looking for people interested in appearing in a reality documentary exploring the daily struggles of young adults suffering with hair loss. If you have the courage to share your story and your struggles with the world, you can help countless young men and women to better cope and to avoid all of the pitfalls associated with the hair loss industry. If you are between the ages of 17 and 29 and would like to appear in this groundbreaking MTV special please contact us directly at baldtruthradio@gmail.com. To get started just send your name, location, phone number, a brief synopsis of your situation, and if possible a photo. Further details will be posted on The Bald Truth website as soon as they come in.

   

• 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)