Special thanks to Pants, Trey and other trialists who participated in the trial and make this information public for all of us. Your efforts are much appreciated.  

<QUOTE - Trey's post, unedited>

Four of us were on Flex 2. Pants and I and two unnamed lurkers will post results and comments below. My comments will be last. The first is from Pants and then from one of the lurkers and then my comments; I’ll actually be passing on what one of the other lurkers said since he has had trouble with Internet access lately. Posting a day early because I will be gone over the weekend.

For what it's worth, I'm convinced this is not a scam or a fly-by-night deal. The guy I've been dealing with at WSMR, Kenneth Skinner, is definitely committed to finding a way to re-grow hair and has been extremely helpful and energetic in trying to improve the peptides' efficacy. That said, so far I can report that the peptides have definitely slowed my hair loss more than anything else I've tried but also definitely have not stopped it. There have been problems with the penetration of this large molecule (4,000 daltons), and each time I've tried a better penetration enhancer (from the liposome to adding DMSO to adding DMSO plus propylene glycol) I've noticed a little improvement -- i.e., the loss has slowed some compared to before, but as I said, it hasn't stopped. I'm expecting a shipment Saturday of the latest penetration enhancer (the azone you might have read about on Hairsite, mixed with propylene glycol, which studies apparently show are excellent in combination at getting such large molecules through the skin, plus two other enhancers), so we'll see if that makes a significant difference. I've been on the peptide since late fall but only have been using the DMSO mixed in since January 9th, and for the last two weeks also have mixed in propylene glycol. It's so difficult to tell whether there are signs of re-growth. Sometimes I look closely and think that some of the vellus hairs along the hairline (especially on the right side way above the temple and ear) are slowly -- and I mean incredibly slowly -- getting a little bigger. But sometimes I think not much is happening. If this stuff works, it's at an incredibly slow pace. I simply don't know if these vellus hairs will gradually keep getting bigger and bigger and eventually become terminal, and if more of them will begin to enlarge as time goes on so there's some density. I definitely haven't ruled out the possibility, but I certainly can't say that it's likely to happen or that the hairs are sprouting up all over the place or that I'm highly confident it's going to happen. I simply don't know. I haven't seen enough of a response to be real optimistic, but I'm not ready to rule out the possibility either. I'm guessing now that I'll need about two months with the new penetration enhancers before I'll be able to make a reasonable judgment. I'm sure many of you will find this disappointing or equivocating, but that's about all I can say. I'm not as optimistic as I was when I started, but I'm definitely convinced it works better at slowing the loss than the minox-propecia-and-other-topical combinations I'd been using up to now, which is a meaningful improvement. If I were several years younger I'd be more excited, because I had a lot more hair then and slowing down the loss significantly would have made a bigger difference for each year I could go back in time. I guess the main question is, does it work only a little better than those other treatments, or does it work a fair amount better, or does it work much, much, much better? If it's either of the latter two, then the effect in regenerating growth is extremely, painfully slow, though maybe the new penetration enhancers will speed it up a some. I'm anxious to find that out. I like this stuff enough where I definitely want to stay on it, but I still don't have a sense of whether it's going to provide much re-growth. By the way, I'm 41, and though I don't know the Norwood scale real well, I think I'm about a Norwood 5 who is or at least was fast on the way to losing it all on top. If Trey and Pants are going to stay on it -- I haven't asked them -- I'd be glad to report back here with them in a couple months if anybody cares.

ANONYMOUS TRIALIST #2

(Trey passing on his info here)

Basically he told me that sometimes he thinks he might be getting results and other times he’s not so sure. Obviously no amazing regrowth yet.

TREY

Okay, I think the others have pretty much said it all. When I first found out that trials were going on I wanted to be a part of it and kept asking if I could, over and over. I had discussed the science behind these peptides with them for days and the safety, etc. Was there still a health risk? Of course. But no one will convince me that Propecia, Avodart, Minox. And others are not risks either. FDA approval means very little when you remember the fiascos with Phen-Fen, Ephedrine, etc. Drugs are dangerous. Period. So I took my chances because I wanted regrowth. This was something I was going to do just on my own and with a few others who knew that I had started. They said they wanted to get a female to try this and so I asked Jean (most of you know her) but she declined because of personal circumstances that had kept her occupied at the time.

I don’t remember how long I had been on it when the news broke on Hairsite or HLH or wherever it was, but when I saw the responses to the news and all of the immediate “It’s a SCAM!” posts, (including some from people I respect) I decided to come forward with a “by the way” type post and let people know that I knew it was not a scam. I was getting it for free and they weren’t even marketing yet. Scam artists tend to like to actually PROMOTE their product so that they can do that little thing called making money.

Anyway, my post saying it was not a scam led to long threads asking if I could prove this and whether or not I was actually in on the scam. Of course, all of the knowledgeable regulars knew this was sheer nonsense, but I found myself from time to time responding to such posts and ultimately regretting that I even posted that I was on this stuff.

Once I found out that Kenneth Skinner was the same one who had posted on Hairsite earlier I realized that although this was someone who had tried various things in the past that had failed, this was also an individual who truly understood what it meant to suffer from hair loss, and one who was willing to do whatever it took to find a cure. Every conversation I have had with him has been a good one and I know I’m dealing with a man who is not trying to scam me (why would he keep sending me fresh supplies of this and not even charge me shipping, which can get expensive on his end when it is FedEx?).

The idea that WSMR “used” Trey and Pants to try to give the peptide a good name is so ridiculous it’s funny. We have nothing great to report. How could that help them? Besides, the market for baldness scams is so huge, who would need to get a couple of guys from the forums to “try” a product to promote it? We’ve never said anything positive about our results from the beginning. I even questioned the notion that this could be the “cure” right from the start, and posted that on the forums. I also received several emails from people who wanted to know if they could/should get their hands on this and in each case I told them to wait until I found out if it worked or not. Some have since thanked me for telling them to hold off.

(Now to the results): I’ve gotten no results with this and my hair has actually continued it’s decline. Not more rapidly or more slowly – just continued. As if I were using nothing at all. Do I still plan on using it? Well, they are trying a new penetrating vehicle which could make a difference, and to me those pictures that were posted on the site (which I’ve only been to about 4 times, btw) showed some regrowth. Some of you trashed the photos as no change; others said they were doctored; someone even said he had an HT; and some said they thought the results were great for such a time span as that. When you use the scar as a reference point you can see that where it was shiny bald before, some hairs have come back.

I still maintain that the peptide is not a scam and those of you who have backgrounds in microbiology would agree if you spoke to some of the folks over there as JTR, WB, and I have done. They do know their science. And peptides are going to be more and more effective as time goes on.

Sorry I don’t have better news to report, but I tried to warn everyone as time has gone on. It is true that the PH level was off on our first batch and we only started using DMSO later on, but I’m not going to get into any of that or some will accuse me of trying to make excuses for the peptide. My results are my results.

I will be gone over the weekend, so I asked the other guys if they wanted to post this a day early. Some of us wondered how WSMR would respond to our posts and perhaps cut off our supply or think that we have slapped them in the face. But I say, why would they feel that way? We are only speaking the truth. The peptide may very well get better results that a minox/prop/avo. combo on some people and on others it may do zilch. For the record I have never responded to ANYTHING that I’ve tried. I guess I’m one of those unlucky ones who will have to wait for some major breakthrough. I will most likely keep using this peptide, though, with the enhanced penetration vehicle for a while, if WSMR is willing to keep shipping it out.

Pants or one of the others may be able to answer your questions over the weekend or today, but I’m leaving and it will be hard to get to a computer. I have said a lot here, but I thought a few things needed to be cleared up, rather than just saying “it hasn’t worked for me.”

God bless, and hang in there,

Trey

Prov. 13:12

For full details of Trey's post and related discussions in the forum, please follow this thread: Trey's Post 

All WSMR Related Stories:
 WSMR Press Release - Synthetic Peptide 
WSMR Frequently Asked Questions + Safety Profile
WSMR Flexible Peptide S patient results
WSMR received seal of approval from JTR
WSMR test patient request form
Dr. Kenneth Skinner of WSMR speaks about HairSwitch
Interim update from WSMR HairSwitch peptide trialist.
HairSite spoke to WSMR's HairSwitch peptide trialists.
March 1, 2003: first official update from HairSwitch peptide trialists.
November 2003: before and after photos.
Dr. Jankovic's comments about WSMR.


Alert: Please be advised that HairSite is NOT recommending WSMR products to any of our readers. Please exercised caution if you are considering purchasing WSMR products as we are unable to verify if the product is indeed effective for hair growth or otherwise. Also, while there is no incriminating evidence which suggests that WSMR is a scam, we believe that our readers should familiarize themselves with the latest report by Rock Mountain News about WSMR. Click here for JTR's post.

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