Hair loss, TRT, Oral Minoxidl, Testing?

[ManOnMission]

So I have been doing TRT for 15 years. For the past 6 months I have reduced my levels down to .3ml per week of 200 mg/ml Test Cypionate from Hikma (thru Kroger). The shots are always Subq. (Test results are below)
I kept stepping down because of hair loss. I'm just about at 3 months using 2.5mg per day of oral Minoxdil. I think I may be seeing results but not positive yet. I'm 55 years old. I've been doing a better job donating blood.

I havent had any testing specifically for hair loss. **What are those tests i should be doing?**
Am I converting testosteone to estrogen?
Do I have an issue with DHT? how would I know?
Am I at the right level of Testosterone?

 

[Cataceous]

Your blood markers are suggesting your testosterone dose is still somewhat on the high side for you. Are you injecting once a week with lab tests before an injection? If so it would make sense to split a lower dose into two injections per week. Regarding hair loss, there are some genetic markers for a predisposition, but overall I'm not aware of any testing that's particularly useful. A lower testosterone dose may slow the rate of loss if you're dealing with androgenic alopecia. But if you're determined to minimize hair loss then you might consider an aggressive multipronged attack. In addition to minoxidil, 5ar inhibitors such as finasteride are a mainstay, though they carry risks. I would favor a topical application over oral dosing to lower the chance of side effects. Ketoconazole-containing shampoo is also a common treatment, e.g. Nizoral. There are various other anti-androgens that might be used topically and concomitantly, depending on your tolerance. These include spironolactone and clascoterone.

 

[Gman86]

Saw this post not long ago. Going to be looking into them myself shortly. Just have other things I’m trying to get done that are priority

-My hair was thinning. I started using Latanoprost Hair Foam from Empower, as well as GHK-CU topical foam from brooksville pharmacy. Has definitely stopped the progression, and has re-grown my hair/promoted thickness.
-Do yourself a favor and stay far away from finasteride.
-The Latanoprost foam at empower is called Ultra L Hair Restore Foam.

I also have a few other things that I bought but haven’t started yet. They’re things that have worked for guys that follow Taeian Clark’s advice. He has a lot of great info on hair loss prevention. I bought these products so far

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Taeian's Hair Loss Protocol - TAEIAN

Many have been wanting me to finally write this out in my own words as an article and not just go off of my post to put it together. So finally here it is. There are a million different products shown with benefits to hair. My suggestions, laid out here, are the result of a … Continue reading...

www.taeian.com

 

[Belekas]

Saw this post not long ago. Going to be looking into them myself shortly. Just have other things I’m trying to get done that are priority

-My hair was thinning. I started using Latanoprost Hair Foam from Empower, as well as GHK-CU topical foam from brooksville pharmacy. Has definitely stopped the progression, and has re-grown my hair/promoted thickness.
-Do yourself a favor and stay far away from finasteride.
-The Latanoprost foam at empower is called Ultra L Hair Restore Foam.

I also have a few other things that I bought but haven’t started yet. They’re things that have worked for guys that follow Taeian Clark’s advice. He has a lot of great info on hair loss prevention. I bought these products so far

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Taeian's Hair Loss Protocol - TAEIAN

Many have been wanting me to finally write this out in my own words as an article and not just go off of my post to put it together. So finally here it is. There are a million different products shown with benefits to hair. My suggestions, laid out here, are the result of a … Continue reading...

www.taeian.com

Wanted to suggest it but you beat me to it hehe

 

[ManOnMission]

Your blood markers are suggesting your testosterone dose is still somewhat on the high side for you. Are you injecting once a week with lab tests before an injection? If so it would make sense to split a lower dose into two injections per week. Regarding hair loss, there are some genetic markers for a predisposition, but overall I'm not aware of any testing that's particularly useful. A lower testosterone dose may slow the rate of loss if you're dealing with androgenic alopecia. But if you're determined to minimize hair loss then you might consider an aggressive multipronged attack. In addition to minoxidil, 5ar inhibitors such as finasteride are a mainstay, though they carry risks. I would favor a topical application over oral dosing to lower the chance of side effects. Ketoconazole-containing shampoo is also a common treatment, e.g. Nizoral. There are various other anti-androgens that might be used topically and concomitantly, depending on your tolerance. These include spironolactone and clascoterone.

Thank you! I'm doing 1 injection per week on Monday mornings. Then doing testing on a Thursday every 3 months to get the labs done. My Free Testosterone is low while the overall Testosterone is 541. What does that mean? (1 is higher and 1 is lower?) I'm using 2% Ketoconazole 2 times per week. (Forgot to mention that) I tried for a year to use topicals that were a mix of Minoxidil (7.0%) with Finasteride (0.15%), enhanced with Azelaic acid (1.5%), Retinoic Acid (aka, tretinoin 0.025%) and Caffeine. Maxogen-X
I would end up missing a couple days per week and did not see any success. I find it much easier to do a pill (s)

 

[Cataceous]

Thank you! I'm doing 1 injection per week on Monday mornings. Then doing testing on a Thursday every 3 months to get the labs done. My Free Testosterone is low while the overall Testosterone is 541. What does that mean? (1 is higher and 1 is lower?) I'm using 2% Ketoconazole 2 times per week. (Forgot to mention that) I tried for a year to use topicals that were a mix of Minoxidil (7.0%) with Finasteride (0.15%), enhanced with Azelaic acid (1.5%), Retinoic Acid (aka, tretinoin 0.025%) and Caffeine. Maxogen-X
I would end up missing a couple days per week and did not see any success. I find it much easier to do a pill (s)

That direct free testosterone test is useless; ignore it. You must test with an accurate method such as equilibrium dialysis, or else rely on the Vermeulen calculation. The latter yields about 11 ng/dL for your recent lab work, which is ok, but does suggest you get low prior to the next injection. Given that your testing is about halfway through the injection cycle I would simply split the dose into 30 mg TC twice a week, and not lower it. Splitting the dose should reduce the peak serum testosterone levels and raise the trough levels. This may reduce the side effects.

That's a reasonable topical product for hair loss, and it's safer than oral finasteride. Oral minoxidil also seems to be relatively safe.

 

[ManOnMission]

I am 2 weeks into oral propecia and my 4th month on oral Minoxidil. Is there anything I will gain doing derma rolling if I am not using topicals for hair loss?

 

[Slater]

I am 2 weeks into oral propecia and my 4th month on oral Minoxidil. Is there anything I will gain doing derma rolling if I am not using topicals for hair loss?

Yes, derma rolling increases bloodflow / circulation I think during the healing process....
I derma roll 1x a week, I use Nioxin #6 shampoo & conditioner, along with kirkland liquid monoxidil.
I think the derma rolling is whats causing my regrowth.