davidf15x

Perhaps there are millions of users of minoxidil. I assumed it to be safe and when I asked the pharmacist about it, he asked me if I had high blood pressure and I said no since my blood pressure has always been normal–so I did not even focus on its safety–only its alleged effectiveness. Later, when I took my ‘crash’ story to one doctor and he so quickly said–“sure” it is totally credible–I saw that I had the answer to my medical mystery as soon as the warnings matched up with my symptoms. Bottom line–it is foolish to put a drug directly on an one’s scalp where it can be absorbed so directly. And bottom line–the moment I dropped minoxidil and Kevis–my health immediately improved.

The medical fact sheet on this drug is very scary and it played right into my weaknesses. It clearly can cause hypertension and causing sleep disruption is sufficient to create a problem alone.

The timing on my first use of minoxidil and the timing of going to the hospital with heart pain and ringing in the ears matched up very well but I failed to make the connection. Soon after–I began Bikram yoga and it seems that the benefit to my whole system compensated for the bad effects of the drug. When I had to stop the yoga–the toxic affect of the drug built up in my bloodstream and I was a walking time bomb.

I urge people to search the internet concerning the toxic effect of this substance and the reported negative side affects. I assume that most people in very good shape and with very low sensitivity to chemicals can absorb this in their bloodstream without incident(the active ingredient seems to remain in the bloodstream but other components are absorbed in one’s fat and perhaps elsewhere)and I have also been told that generic knockoffs can have altered chemical compositions that can present differently in one’s body than the drug studied and approved by the FDA.

Sure, because we are talking about a cosmetic product that no one actually needs for their health–I believe that it should not be available over the counter but through prescription only. My doctor–looking at my full head of hair might have said–forget it–with your sensitivities–“no.” I feel badly for drug companies with a product that can save a life being hassled with detailed reports about every conceivable side affect some person might have–perhaps not even related to the product itself. This is very unfair. By contrast, here is a cosmetic product that will save no lives and will actually potentially ruin lives–given the right set of circumstances. Even at a minimum, if you want to risk harming your sleep patterns which can cause negative side affects–read the warnings that are all over the internet first.

I freely admit that my experience might be atypical–indeed–I thought I was in deep trouble and I have been out of commission for a few months now. Further, I have become a critic of Kevis–supposedly non-drug but I had a rough experience with it as well–sexual dysfunction, horrible headaches–plus, of course, hair *loss* instead of gain. I respect all businesses and I feel fine making this public and I am fine telling people to be very cautious putting harsh chemicals directly onto the scalp where it is absorbed so immediately.

There is a clear need to separate what is incidental from what is causal. I believe that I have made that distinction correctly for *my case* and quite obviously–every doctor I have spoken agrees that given the facts of my case–I should not ever use those hair products again. Concerning whether or not I have some kind of personal aversion to the heat–I doubt it. My ability to sweat has returned to what appear to be normal levels and a combination of Chinese herbs and vitamins seem to help.

If anyone reading this has noticed a decline in health–I would surely recommend temporarily dropping the minoxidil product to see if things change for the better.

Almost two weeks and I am facing a long recovery. I cannot even recall how this happened–simply stretching in bed and I don’t think I pushed it too hard at all.

The Doc says I am healing and much of the sharp, stabbing pain is gone but I have horrible stiffness. He says yoga is out for another two-three weeks at least. I am hobbling and I have the recommended support brace.

Any other suggests–ice packs, ibuprofen, light leg lifts. It is a meniscus issue. I can simply lift my leg with a lot of stiffness but little lateral movement. For example, Triangle would be painful.

Thanks for the reply, Lucas. Alas, I don’t know how to e-mail you personally so I will reply here. Thank you so much for your link which describes the yoga stretches as a compliment to Bikram yoga. However, I would challenge you to say more about your radical diet and your advertised supplement.

First, regarding MSM, we are speaking of data, studies, medical opinion or scientific evidence to document that the dosage of MSM is both safe and effective. The fact that it is natural and a sulpher compound does not mean that it is without potential controversy since after all, one can consume any number of natural foods or compounds at risk. As for healing, relieving pain and allowing for added flexibility–how might MSM compare with glucosamine and chrondoydrin or other alternatives? If MSM is such a wondrous innovation–please tell us where else it is used and who else recommends it. Further, please concede that the fact that some people like myself are unusually stiff while others are normally and naturally flexible is a natural variation and nothing to do with whether one person takes your MSM supplement and another does not.

Second, your dietary recommendations are radical and I say this in context to the fact that your target audience is already very health and calorie conscious, less prone to eat lots of fat, sugar, meat and even diary. I submit to you that a normal diet by your readers is already pretty good and you have a sure burden to convince people that added flexibility can be garnered from becoming completely free of things like rice, fish and eggs. Your examples are straw-man kind of attacks and the man who has a medical condition of high cholesterol may need something radical while the vast majority of us are fine.

You have me convinced that those extra yoga stretches will help me gain added flexibility. But you need to work harder to explain that a person like myself would benefit greatly from dropping all fish (2-3 times a week), chicken (once or twice a week), eggs (I have perhaps two eggs a week–max), potatoes, rice and bread. I surely eat a good amount of fruits and vegetables and I would venture to say that the vast majority of Bikram yoga students do as well. Therefore, I ask again, is there really a measurable benefit to go radical vegan as opposed to vegan “plus?”

I see that you care greatly about what you preach and I hope that you can be a bit more convincing. In any case, I have learned from you and I hope I can finally gain greater flexibility in my body.

I am just back from a class and it was pretty easy with the heat. The issue is related to the studio, my position in the room, the instructor’s decision on how to run the heat, the humidity, etc.

My complaint here is that as Bikram yoga continues to expand–these details need to be monitored and perhaps even standardized. My initial reactions still stand: if it is a humid day and the studio has little ventilation, specific individuals can suffer bad reactions. I was at a class when a beautiful young woman fainted during the initial breathing–I have seen people having to walk out of class because of the heat, I have seen people slip on hardwood floors and people like myself often turn very red as a reaction to bad conditions.

I am convinced that this form of yoga is a very healthy thing to do, in fact I am sold on it in a big way. This is why I also want to protect it from potential lawsuits and trouble. Too many newbies with no background or adequate preparation show up for classes all over the world right now with varying classroom situations and I think this screams for regulation on the home front. As an analogy, one can be sure that every McDonald’s hamburger is cooked precisely the same amount of time in the same kind of unit so that a chance of an undercooked or overcooked burger is almost a scientific impossibility. One bad burger could cost McDonald’s a boatload of money. Similarly, when I saw the cute 20 year old young woman walk out over-heated in a studio here in Washington, DC–it takes little imagination to see that she could yap to her big-wig lawyer Dad about the experience.

Sorry to say that the heat in the room in a typical Bikram studio throughout the US is a varying experience. Some studios are uniformly “cool”–some studios vary widely and some studios can be burned by macho instructors that push the heat to a higher level than the norm.

Now, more controversy. Lucas has been given a link on this site to take more than a few controversial stands. First, a radical diet. Then a supplement sponsored by apparently no medical authority. But also a crucial statement concerning the Bikram practice and that is that one develops flexibility outside of the yoga classroom doing alternative yoga stretches and that Bikram is primarily where one demonstrates the improvements made outside of class. This goes against the party line of the Bikram studio which tells people to keep coming to class to break past the wall of inflexibility.
Bikram himself has been able to do something one might think impossible–patenting a series of yoga postures that are hundreds of years old and in the public domain and then creating a fortune with his world-wide empire of Bikram studios owned and run by people only he has trained (at a cost to the participants.) Now we have here another great businesswoman, Gabrielle who is selling videos and instruction off of Bikram’s success (I have no problem with it and I think this is an excellent website and Gabrielle is fully entitled) and then there is Lucas with his emerging business of an herbal supplement and more that targets the clientele established by Bikram.

I feel this is an inevitable part of the growth and success of yoga.

I welcome any comments.

Love the heat–there are many people who do not love the heat. I have been doing this for about two years–I am used to it. The more I do it, the more I am becoming sensitive to it.

I need to do elaborate things to avoid the heat, chiefly, finding a cool place in the room, normally near the windows. Further, I pour a quarter a bottle of water over my head occasionally right at the transition to the floor series–that helps a bit.

I always get better results in the cooler class since I can concentrate on the postures instead of fighting the heat all the time. It is easy to say ignore it. I do. It affects me anyway and not positively.