Online, videos abound of people saying the supplements make hair thicker, healthier and shinier. Do they really?
The Bottom Line
Nutrafol, Viviscal and other hair growth supplements are not tightly regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Tawfik said. They have not received F.D.A. approval for treating any medical conditions and have not undergone the same safety and efficacy testing as drugs, she said.
But that doesn’t mean you need to avoid them outright. While expensive hair loss supplements are not Dr. Tawfik’s “go-to” treatment option, she said, she often does mention them to patients as an alternative to prescription drugs. They haven’t been found to be dangerous, and there is at least “some evidence that they can work,” she said.
Strikes me that if taking this people should be careful about supplementing some of the vitamins/minerals in a multivitamin or skewed diet as it could exceed a limit.
Tolerable Upper Limit for selenium is 400mcg (ie two of these servings which admittedly are four capsules). Brazil nut toxicity is more likely.
I remember scrolling through a bunch of DIY hair growth recipes on this forum, but I can’t seem to find the thread anymore. Even though I didn’t give it a close look at the time, I’m convinced those formulas are way more effective than most over-the-counter supplements.
That may be true. I monitor my scalp pretty well every day looking for new vellus hairs, new terminal hairs, hairs turning from vellus to terminal and other general changes (including hairs falling out).
I think it is possible to see changes within a short period of the interventions, but the underlying main intervention is improving mitochondria which is hard with AGA (Androgenetic alopecia). With AGA I think a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor is a useful tool as well.
I usually wash my hair with a caffeine shampoo, and then apply minoxidil and tretinoin daily to prevent hair loss. I also do microneedling every now and then. Since I already have a pretty thick head of hair, this works for me. But for people who already have bald spots, I imagine actually regrowing hair is pretty tough. They’d probably be better off getting a hair transplant and then following it up with some aggressive biohacking treatments. Overall, I don’t really think hair loss is a huge deal, since there’s always the ultimate solution: a hair transplant.
I have been taking 2.5mg tab of minoxidil and topical rogane foam for 8 mo or so. I haven’t noticed much improvement but haven’t lost much more either. thinking of bumping up to 5mg minoxidil but have to be careful as i take three other BP medicines (at low dose) and minoxidil lower BP also.
wary about upping the dose as i already take 3 other BP medicines off label for other things like heart skips, kidney etc. and my BP is pretty low but I suppose i could try. I did read that the study’s said 5mg was the dose used for men and 2.5 for women (as i recall). I just got a micro-needle roller in. one a 1.0 and also 1.5mm. My scalp bleeds a little bit using the 1.0
For the minoxidil non-responders, a couple companies were supposedly working on a minoxidil sulfotransferase combo but, it nothing seemed to come of it. I’m definitely a non-responder. Decades ago, before it was OTC, I took the prescription tablets and made a topical solution. Wasted years of money and time on that and other forms.
On another note, I’ve been using Calecim hair growth serum for about 8+months with results I hadn’t seen with other (numerous products). Previously, typical Nor 5 with what scarce little on top looking more like mycelium than hair, has become true strands with more evident. But, frankly not enough to be considered “restored”. I microneedle, than apply the product. I have no financial association with the company.
From what I’ve seen at my hairline, we are talking about years until some vellus hair turns into weak, dark hair that is barely visible and then takes even more years until it becomes somewhat terminal. Maybe a great responder to 5ar inhibitors can regrow their entire hair over decades
