We went to the movies last night and I packed myself some carrot stick and hummus and a big bottle of water, instead of splurging on a bucket of popcorn and diet soda. You know what, I didn't even miss it. But I will admit to buying a package of peanut M&Ms, but I only had them after the carrots, and I only had 10. :-) I'm still hovering around 27 lbs of weight loss. Still working on the last few pounds. I fell off the exercise bandwagon last week, but I going to get back on it this week.

Janice, like many others I waited so long to try Rogaine. But I did try it on June 27th. Just a small amount in one spot to see if I had any reactions (the burning and itching) that some people had experienced. All I felt was just a SLIGHT burning. I gathered up my courage and used a full dropper for my evening dose and have been using Rogaine (the 5% extra strength MEN'S forumula) ever since that day. It's been about 14 weeks since I started it, and I *do* see a difference in my hair. Like you, I was scared to see more shedding than I had been going through before I began the treatment. Before using Rogaine I was shedding hair allll day long. I'm looking at my journal now.... hmmm.... okay in the middle of July (about 2-3 weeks after starting the Rogaine I reached a peak shedding incident when I counted 76 hairs that fell out onto the bathroom vanity after I had washed and just fluffed my hair very gently with my fingers. THAT was scary, but I decided to keep up the routine with the Rogaine. It took a lot of faith to do that, but then about a week later only 36 fell out after a shampoo. On Aug. 23 there were only SIXTEEN hairs that fell out. Now I have about that many shedding hairs, sometimes much less. I figured an AVERAGE is just that... some days I am going to have more and some days less, but I would say on average it is less than 16 a day, sometimes I see only 5 or 6 fall out! Wheeeeeeeee!!!! I am thrilled with what the Rogaine has done for me. I have little hairs, about an inch or two long over much of the crown of my head now. The other day I even got a compliment on my hair. Not only does it look thicker, it feels thicker, too. Just a couple more things... I had been under a very big amount of stress the last few years. I first noticed the hair loss after having surgery and having to wait for the biopsy results, negative, thank God, but the hair thinning sent me to the dermatologist, who diagnosed me as having telogen effluvium (TE). I waited and watched some regrowth, but then I had to deal with marital problems. Every time I made some progress, something seemed to set me back. I begain seeing a marriage counselor (by myself...husband refuses to go). Just talking to her reduced my stress levels enormously. i highly recommend this option to others who feel that stress is contributing to your hair loss. This has been long, but I hope it has given you some guidance in making your decision as to use Rogaine or not. I know that there were times that I was really frightened by the initial shedding, but I just kept using that great stuff twice a day. :-) take care... daisy

I came across your postings while online looking for something else. It sounds like Princeton has had lots of tests, but has he been tested for diabetes? This sounds exactly like what my cat and I went through before he was diagnosed. He was given clavamox and some sort of steroid (I don't remember what it was.) He finally quit eating and became dehydrated. He had to go to the vet and be put on an IV. It was a vet I didn't know because I had moved about 8 months before this started. When I went to visit on the second day, he was sleeping in a litter box and was covered with feces and urine. Needless to say, I took him out of there and took him somewhere else. The second vet diagnosed diabetes and said that it was possibly caused by the steroids he was given. (The first vet gave him steroid shots along with the IV, which may have made it worse or brought it about more quickly.) The second vet said that it was likely that the steroids caused his blood sugar to spike so high that his body gave up trying to produce enough insulin. His blood sugar level was in the 900's which you would think the first vet would have noticed, but I am not sure if they routinely test for that. I don't really know if the steroids were the cause or not, but the second vet was MAD when he got the records from the first vet. Anyway....we've been doing insulin shots twice a day for almost eight years now and he is the picture of health other than being diabetic and now mildly overweight. Once we got him on insulin, he was better in about two days. I am sure they have probably checked for this, but I wouldn't assume anything....might be worth at least asking about. Chuck (my cat) and I will be thinking of you both.

Oh My! I used to tease and say, after a long vacation that would be me coming up the highway....Boy, does that make me feel skinny..... Have you ever been seated at a table where you can see everyone come in and really loose your appetite when one of "those" walked in..... Makes you wonder!