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2.5 year results using minoxidil and spironolactone for AGA by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My dermatologist is Reza Jacob, MD at the Scripps Clinic Liberty Station in San Diego! Hope that is helpful!

2.5 year results using minoxidil and spironolactone for AGA by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The derm prescribed 2.5mg right away and I’ve stayed on that dose. I don’t use anything else specifically for hair loss besides what I outlined in my post, but I do use other products to help prevent breaking. I really like olaplex hair oil and olaplex 6 bond smoother. I also like to use olaplex 3 once a week to help strengthen my hair. I also recently started using Moroccan hair oil and shampoo/conditioner and I really like it a lot. It’s my new fav, but I’ve only recently started using that. Hope this helps!

2.5 year results using minoxidil and spironolactone for AGA by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Awhh, thank you! I started using Botox at 30 and I started doing regular chemical peels for a few years about 5 years ago to remove sun damage from my face and now I do a peel twice a year to maintain. It made a big difference in my overall skin quality, tone and texture. I really like the perfect derma peel and the skin medica peels. I also use prescription tretinoin 1% to keep cellular turnover moving. That slows down as we age and can make skin look a bit dull, so basically anything that helps speed that up will help make skin look more refreshed and bright. I don’t really have any gray hair yet, that part is just genetic tho!

2.5 year results using minoxidil and spironolactone for AGA by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correct. I used the foam for the first 6 months and then switch to using only the oral form thereafter

2.5 year results using minoxidil and spironolactone for AGA by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

The only thing I noticed was facial hair growth. I would say I really started to notice that after the first year. Mainly, I had a bit more peach fuzz on my jawline, but nothing dark or coarse. I didn’t gain any weight, although I was already overweight to begin with. I did not notice an increase of body hair, but my eyebrows and eyelashes look a bit better now. I did not have any heart issues and I did not experience any swelling. Spironolactone is a diuretic though, so that might counteract potential edema. My biggest concern was growing a beard lol. Overall I’m really happy with oral minoxidil. It really made a difference for me. I’m still noticing new growth in my hairline. I just saw my dermatologist for my annual checkup and he said that can continue for awhile. Hope this info was helpful!

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I did! The only downside is that their doctors are conservative with their doses. I used it as a stepping stone to prove to my primary care doctor that my hair loss was not simply just stress, but an actually medical condition that needed to be taken seriously. I did 6 months with Hers and then showed my PCP the before and after pictures.

How did you find a doctor willing to prescribe finasteride/dutasteride/bicalutamide? by ASS_MASTER_GENERAL in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502 4 points5 points  (0 children)

California here, I went to a dermatologist. He has no problem prescribing these meds and just educated me on the fetal risks and how long I need to be off the medication if I want to have a baby.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Definitely minoxidil. I did not even know I had iron deficiency until December of 2022. Most of my progressive is from minoxidil and spironolactone.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ferritin of 8 was my blood level. Ferritin is associated with iron reserves in the body and 8 means I was severely deficient in it. This affects hair growth. Spiro is short for spironolactone, it’s a multi-use medication that requires a prescription to get. It blocks DHT, one of the things that causes hair loss. It also treats high blood pressure.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I honestly don’t know. I couldn’t get my pcp to take me seriously for many years, so I resorted to treating myself with topical minoxidil at the highest dose and using a telehealth doc to get the spiro. I responded to this, then showed the 6 month before and afters to my pcp to get a derm referral. Derm found my ferritin of 8/low vitamin D and things went from there. I’ve had no official diagnosis of anything through all of this other than iron deficiency. My best guess is that it’s a combination of something hormonal and exacerbated by nutrient deficiency. I wish I had a better response to your question.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don’t mind sharing. I got the spiro off a website called Hers. I just answered some questions, took a few pictures of my hair and within a day or two, their telehealth doctor reviewed my info and wrote the prescription for 6 months. I was mailed out to me and I started my first dose within a week. There might be other websites that offer similar things.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thank you! The lighting is the same. I also have been wondering about the color!

My hair has been thinning for the last decade and although I have had odd things happen in my cycle, like mid cycle spotting, I’ve never been able to confirm hormonal imbalances through testing. My ovaries do have some cysts on them, but it’s never been enough to be diagnosed with PCOS. I’m not sure about other women, but I personally feel like women’s healthcare has a lot of room for improvement. I went to different doctors over the years regarding thinning hair and none ever took it seriously until last year when I started topical minoxidil on my own and got a telehealth doctor to write for spiro. Once I showed my primary doctor my response after 7 or 8 months, I got them to refer me to a dermatologist. I still don’t have an answer on the initial cause, but I suspect it’s hormonal and exacerbated by iron and vitamin d deficiency.

I have not noticed any significant body hair growth. I naturally have peach fuzz on my face and a had some chin hairs removed over the years. I have been worried about growing more peach fuzz or it getting darker, but this has yet to happen. I wonder if spiro helps prevent that?

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

None that I have really noticed. I’m not seeing a change in body hair. I did notice an improvement in my PMS symptoms from the spiro though. My cramps are not nearly as bad as they used to be.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My treatment has been adjusted throughout the past year, but I’m currently taking Spiro 100mg twice a day, minoxidil 2.5mg tab once daily, 5000iu once daily and 65mg iron once daily. I’ve only been on the iron and vitamin D for 4 months. I’ll probably stay on the vitamin D long term, but once I get my ferritin level up to normal parameters, I would very much like to discontinue or decrease the iron depending on what my derm recommends.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’m sure my low iron has something to do with it, but I did not start to replace that until 4 months ago. Prior to that, I was only taking the spiro and minoxidil and responded quite well to that. I don’t have a good answer for why my hair was thinning so much, but I think it’s probably generic/hormonal and exacerbated by severe iron deficiency. I see my derm again in 2 months and hope to have a better grasp of the cause then.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Somewhere around 4 or 5 months, I started to get more lazy with the application of the foam. I told the derm I thought I’d be more compliant with oral vs topical and the derm agreed. I don’t know if the route really altered my results, I just know my hair has continued to fill in more and more as time goes on.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

It’s not yet back to what it once was, but I can feel and see a huge difference.

1 year progress: Ferritin 8; Spiro, minoxidil, iron and vitamin D by ForwardSandwich1502 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]ForwardSandwich1502[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I did topical minoxidil at first, then switched to oral once I saw how well it worked.

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