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what are the names of all the tests i should get done? i've seen a ton of different names that you've posted. i'm willing to get blood tests too to see if i follow in the same pattern as you. should i just get T and vit D, or are there others i should request to have done?
also, i'm taking it that any form of b5, even taken with cysteine, etc. is out the video for everyone right now? that's the reason i began reading this thread because that's where it started, but it seems as though your opinion has changed since then.
as of now i'm only taking a multivitamin and omega 3; between the two of those there's 5000iu of A and 2000iu of D. i don't know how you've felt about this but ever since this whole b5 thing happened i've been hesitant to take pretty much anything. just trying to put myself in the best position on both the hair and the skin fronts at this point.
Take these tests.
CBC (Hgb, Hct, RBC, WBC, Pit)
PT with INR
TSH
LH
DHT
T-3, Free
Vitamin B12
Vitamin D, 25 Hydroxy, LC/MS
Free Testosterone
Cortisol
Most important test is free T since that was where my results were out of range. Vit D is for acne, not hair.
No B5 unless you want to rock the shaved head look. Cysteine doesn't matter.
Take at least 10000iu of vitamin A (beta-carotene) if you are taking 2000iu of vitamin D.
Supplementing vit D will of course make your vit D blood test inaccurate.
Also can FSH tested if possible
thanks for the advice. i'll call up my doctor on monday and get as many of these as possible, most likely all of them. we've all been dealing with this issue for a while, and i want to see if we can finally come to some sort of valid conclusion as to what actually happened to us because of b5.
i have a feeling my free T levels will be out of range like yours. your theory of b5 megadosing leading to heightened testosterone makes a ton of sense. before i started taking b5 i had no facial hair and not a lot of body hair... today i have a lumberjack beard and my girlfriend says my body looks like a bears (if you catch the drift, definitely a huge testosterone increase). i also had a huge muscle mass increase while on b5 even though i wasn't working out at the time... i think that speaks for itself. the only strange thing is that when i started to get the high amounts of hairloss, i got a scalp biopsy done in the middle/slightly towards the front of my head. the results were 100% telogen effluvium, not any trace of MPB. however, since then it definitely seems as though my hairloss has shifted away from being diffuse and more closely resembles the beginning of MPB. i wonder what a scalp biopsy would say today... although i'm not sure i want to get another one. maybe the TE was just an initial reaction that induced MBP... i heard that is possible as well.
if these tests go the way i believe they will (ending up the same as yours) i'm probably going to start taking saw palmetto and stinging nettle in order to try and lower DHT levels (in addition to minox 2x day and nizoral 2% shampoo). not really wanting to mess around with propecia (i know it's similar to SP and SN in what it does/potential side effects, but propecia is also much more expensive as well as synthetic). zinc also lowers dht levels as well as helps with acne, so i may look into that as well. i had been using rogaine every day for over a year and it must have been helping i guess because my hair looked decent for a while towards the beginning of this summer. i tried stopping as an experiment and didn't notice any hairfall at all, so i assumed it hadn't been doing anything... looking at my hair now i was definitely wrong. your theory seems entirely correct so it's time to prove it.
Man, taking the b5 was the worst thing I ever did for my skin. I thought it was working in the beginning but only created large cysts over a period of three months. I am glad it worked for you. I simply think it is my hormones. I have exhausted everything, most of Chinese medicine as well, but b5 didn't cut it.
I think some of the people on here are as desperate as hell to rid their face of acne, and I know exactly how that is!!!! But it's supplement after supplement and trial and error and starting and stopping, holy sh*t! No wonder we continue to get acne! We've created it, as I believe whole heartily that controlling stress and eating well, coupled with getting help from a holistic dietician, some aspects of Western and Chinese medicine are greatly helpful and changing your lifestyle completely to eating clean and exercising is the definite key. I mean, that is all you can do.
Interesting Thompson914, I had a scalp biopsy done when I first started shedding almost 3 years ago towards the back of my crown and it was conclusive MPB.
For skin I am using:
Vitamin D 5000iu per day- going to bring this down to 3 times a week
Zinc 50mg per day
Multi-Vitamin
Fish Oil
Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30 and Alpha Hydrox AHA Enhanced Lotion at night (I add lemon juice a few times a week)
My skin is basically 100% clear and looks great.
For my Hair:
Avodart .5 mg per day
Minoxidil (Rogaine Foam) 2x per day
Ketoconazole (Nizoral) Shampoo 1%
Prescription Scalp Steroid Liquid once per day ( will give you the name when I get home)
My shedding has slowed down a lot and I have had regrowth. I have only been on this routine for 2 1/2 months so I am expecting better results as I continue. I still have dandruff but my scalp feels 100x better and does not itch anymore. My dermatologist said the scalp irritation was causing excess shedding and since I have added the shampoo and steroid, my shedding has slowed down more along with the Avodart. I have an appointment in September and I am going to ask for something stronger for the dandruff. The Rogaine is probably causing the recent dandruff. I am also going to add Stinging nettle to my routine. So far I have not had any side effects from the Avodart .
I have been shedding from B5 for almost 3 years now. This is the best my hair has been in a while. I am treating it as if it is MPB and getting results. My conclusion is B5 raises our Free Testosterone and kick starts MPB.
Hi travelleruk. Where do you buy your stinging nettle?
Hi guys been a while, my shedding has slowed down massively instead of pulling out 4 or 5 it's now only 1 and sometimes none. However my hair is very thin now from a horrible year of hairloss, just wanted to see how everyone is getting on with this stinging nettle? Also what is cb and ru. Cheers guys
Hi travelleruk. Where do you buy your stinging nettle?
Hi bid did you manage to get some nettle? Is it working?
Havnt really done anything recently other than steroids maybe they could of messed with my hormones and slowed the shedding, b5 has left my hair very thin now tho. Thinking about nettle like the others but just not sure if it will work, tried loads of things when I noticed the shedding over a year ago but nothing worked. Steroids was the latest last thing I done. I did a cycle of turinabol which is a hair friendly steroid but to be honest I think that has nothing to do with it. Mostly I've just been trying to forget about my hair falling out but who knows.
Hi,
Ive been a passive observer of this thread for quite some time now and finally decided to add my 2 cents. I also had made the mistake of megadosing on pantothenic acid about a year ago. I started my cycle in March of 2012, went up to 8-10g and stayed on it through November 2012. About 4 weeks into it my skin cleared up, my energy levels were up, appetite was kinda low and I also leaned down all without any side effects. However, towards the end of this treatment I started to lose substantial amount of hair. So, I stopped taking B5 in hopes that the hairloss would cease as well. It has now been almost a year, and I find myself with significantly thinner hair (its now dull and brittle). The hair that is falling out is symptomatic of TE (club hair). Ive also been experiencing general fatigue, sleep problems, and other symptoms that many unfortunate B5-megadosers have been exhibiting.
Ive had my doctor run some tests and all the results seem to fall within the normal range. I suspect that B5 messes up the HPA axis and in the long run causes adrenal fatigue.
Have any of you experienced any additional symptoms besides hair loss/scalp problems?
I have had the hair loss now for 15 months after only 10 days on pantethine, where the hairloss started on the 10th day. Have also had several bloodtests with results within the normal. Dont know if it is just psycological, But it seems as if I have even more hairloss after drinking alcohol. I seem to have decreased libido, but this could also be psycological.
Hi,
Ive been a passive observer of this thread for quite some time now and finally decided to add my 2 cents. I also had made the mistake of megadosing on pantothenic acid about a year ago. I started my cycle in March of 2012, went up to 8-10g and stayed on it through November 2012. About 4 weeks into it my skin cleared up, my energy levels were up, appetite was kinda low and I also leaned down all without any side effects. However, towards the end of this treatment I started to lose substantial amount of hair. So, I stopped taking B5 in hopes that the hairloss would cease as well. It has now been almost a year, and I find myself with significantly thinner hair (its now dull and brittle). The hair that is falling out is symptomatic of TE (club hair). Ive also been experiencing general fatigue, sleep problems, and other symptoms that many unfortunate B5-megadosers have been exhibiting.
Ive had my doctor run some tests and all the results seem to fall within the normal range. I suspect that B5 messes up the HPA axis and in the long run causes adrenal fatigue.
Yes I get very bad fatigue and also low libido too, It sucks, for a long time now I've been thinking its adrenal fatigue. There are some OTC vitamins you can buy so mabe il try them.
Have any of you experienced any additional symptoms besides hair loss/scalp problems?
Hi Blue09!
I am taking stinging nettle leaf powder. But I read somewhere that it is stinging nettle root that can help your hair. I couldent find it in the shops so I ordered it. I'll keep you posted.
I also read some promising stuff about L-methionine. Has anyone tried it?
Btw I was on B5 for 2 years. Taking about 10 grams a day. Started to lose some hair after 1 year, not much though. It wasent until I quite that I really started to lose my hair. Its very hard to know if it was the b5 that acctually caused my (and your) hairloss. Maybe we would have lost it anyway, but it kills me that I might have done this to myself.
For the moment I am on Inisotol, L-cysteine, zink, biotin, stinging nettle leaf (wich wan't help) and I am using minixodil. Still losing hair though but I dare not stop, afraid I would lose it even faster.
Stinng nettle root on its way. I pray to jebus it will me my saviour.
Yeh I've tried l-methionine it had the same effect as l-cysteine really didnt do much mabe abit of placebo.
Yeh keep updating bout the nettle root lets hope this is the one........ But I very much doubt it.
Can't believe a simple vitamin has done this to so many people, hope 1 day we can find a cure.
I started to lose my hair faster once I stopped megadosing b5. And now its been over a year since i stopped and I am losing my hair really fast. Im thinking maybe my body got used to high doses of b5 and MAYBE if i started magadosing it again my hairloss would slow down.
What do you think? Is it the same for you guys , are you losing hair faster since you quite b5?
Yeh it's the same for me really there must be a simple explanation to the hairloss, there just has to be a way to stop it and for the hair to regrow again, I've been wanting to try the b5 again but its that worry of the hairloss getting worse again.
Itsover what's your opinion on the hairloss being down to adrenal issues, I've found some tablets online called drenamin that are suppost to be very good for adrenal problems.
If you look up side effects of adrenal Fatigue unexplained hairloss is on the list.
Yeh it's the same for me really there must be a simple explanation to the hairloss, there just has to be a way to stop it and for the hair to regrow again, I've been wanting to try the b5 again but its that worry of the hairloss getting worse again.
Itsover what's your opinion on the hairloss being down to adrenal issues, I've found some tablets online called drenamin that are suppost to be very good for adrenal problems.
If you look up side effects of adrenal Fatigue unexplained hairloss is on the list.
Im thinking the people that started to lose their hair on b5 might just have chocked their body. Then you lose hair in a diffrent way (all over the head) then male pattern baldness and you most likely get it back. But we who have lost our hair in male pattern baldness way and dont get it back might just have gotten our body used to the high doses of b5 and now our hair might need it.. and therefor the only way to regrow hair would be to start overdosing on b5 again :/
I dont really have an opinion on the adrenal thing except for try it.
Blue09 how long after quiting b5 did your hair get thin and brittle. For me it was two months..
Yeh it's the same for me really there must be a simple explanation to the hairloss, there just has to be a way to stop it and for the hair to regrow again, I've been wanting to try the b5 again but its that worry of the hairloss getting worse again.
Itsover what's your opinion on the hairloss being down to adrenal issues, I've found some tablets online called drenamin that are suppost to be very good for adrenal problems.
If you look up side effects of adrenal Fatigue unexplained hairloss is on the list.
Im thinking the people that started to lose their hair on b5 might just have chocked their body. Then you lose hair in a diffrent way (all over the head) then male pattern baldness and you most likely get it back. But we who have lost our hair in male pattern baldness way and dont get it back might just have gotten our body used to the high doses of b5 and now our hair might need it.. and therefor the only way to regrow hair would be to start overdosing on b5 again :/
I dont really have an opinion on the adrenal thing except for try it.
Blue09 how long after quiting b5 did your hair get thin and brittle. For me it was two months..
Well thinking about it I was still taking the b5 and randomly noticed hairs falling out it took me a couple weeks to figure out that it was actually the b5 because I was taking creatine and a few other supps aswell. I've lost hair from all over my head my sides are all patchy aswell and if I rub the top of my head about 20 hairs will fall and lots of tiny specs that looks like dust or something but it's not white like dandruff.
Been losing hair over a year now
Okey forget about the start with b5 theory then. Our problem is called Telogen Effluvium and can last 6 months to 2 years, or if you are unlucky forever. I have been losing hair for 1 year and 2 months now. The longer you have been overdosing the bigger risk of never getting you hear back. Unfortunally for me I overdosed (10grams a day) for 2 years.
I found somthing on another tread giving me some hope for the stiging nettle..
"Posted 25 April 2012 - 01:52 AM
Okey forget about the start with b5 theory then. Our problem is called Telogen Effluvium and can last 6 months to 2 years, or if you are unlucky forever. I have been losing hair for 1 year and 2 months now. The longer you have been overdosing the bigger risk of never getting you hear back. Unfortunally for me I overdosed (10grams a day) for 2 years.
I found somthing on another tread giving me some hope for the stiging nettle..
"Posted 25 April 2012 - 01:52 AM
^hope it works out for you.
Just wanted to post and say there is hope for people that lose hair with b5, I am finally re-growing my hair.
I was on b5 from about Nov 2009 to Sept 2011, taking about 4 grams a day. It worked really well for acne but around June 2010 I started noticing hair falling out a lot in the shower but didn't think anything of it as my hair still looked ok. Then around July 2011 I let my hair grow longer and finally realised that it was thinning and receding a fair bit. After that I slowly came of it.
It hasn't been until the last 3 months or so that my hair is growing back quite in large numbers, there are little stubbly type strands growing all around my hairline and expanding every day. Now in these last few months I have been taking stinging nettle pills which are meant to inhibit DHT, so I can't be sure if they helped or it just took time for my body to recover from the b5. Either way I just hope the same happens to others that have suffered from b5 hair loss. "
Yeh I've read about TE quite a few times, little bulb on the end of the fallen hairs, there is another supplement called beta sitosterol which is the main ingredient in saw palmetto, I've read a few promising things about it, it's the closest natural supplement to propecia and the most potent natural dht inhibitor, the only downside to dht inhibitors is the fact that it can kill your libido and make you lethargic. However very useful for me when on test lol.
Have a little read about it and let me know what you think because to be honest I think your the only person on here that's going to find the cure lol I hope;-)
Beta-sitosterol seems to work for a few people but I also read, as you wrote, that it can give libido problems wich I think is a bit confusing because I also read this sentence "It is also used for enhancing sexual activity." on http://www.webmd.com . I really dont want to lose my libido, I mean without libido I dont even need any hair 
I think I might give beta-sitosterol a go though. I added saw palmetto to my diet the other day and apperently you are suppose to take beta-sitosterol with saw plametto.
"Prevention and Treatment of Hair Loss
Beta-sitosterol can inhibit the function of androgen, which contributes to hair loss in both men and women. Studies have shown that by taking beta-sitosterol with saw palmetto, you can stop hair loss and promote hair regrowth."
I think maybe people have just taken one or another when to get the best results you are suppose to take both.
So at the moment my hope is stinging nettle root and saw palmetto combined with beta-sitosterol. But I am afraid that our biggest hope is our own body reversing this by itself. An the clock is ticking..
Beta-sitosterol seems to work for a few people but I also read, as you wrote, that it can give libido problems wich I think is a bit confusing because I also read this sentence "It is also used for enhancing sexual activity." on http://www.webmd.com . I really dont want to lose my libido, I mean without libido I dont even need any hair
I think I might give beta-sitosterol a go though. I added saw palmetto to my diet the other day and apperently you are suppose to take beta-sitosterol with saw plametto.
"Prevention and Treatment of Hair Loss
Beta-sitosterol can inhibit the function of androgen, which contributes to hair loss in both men and women. Studies have shown that by taking beta-sitosterol with saw palmetto, you can stop hair loss and promote hair regrowth."
I think maybe people have just taken one or another when to get the best results you are suppose to take both.
Nice work, I shall get some saw palmetto aswell then I think. Let's hope for the best then.