Bayer

Bill, NervousNelly, and Hairbank, Thanks for your candor and encouragement. I talked to Dr. McKenzie today and received a prescription for Valisone (Corticosteroid) for the redness and itching. The battle continues, but good things are worth fighting for. Your input in invaluable. It's tough to gauge progress (or lack thereof) when looking at one's own head many times per day. Having the objective view of those who have "walked the walk" is a real help. Thanks brothers. Bayer

3 month update and pictures have been posted. Feedback is welcome. Bayer

Scarred, C'mon man, give it up. We feel bad for you, but you are not being of benefit here. I can't figure out your shtick. You aren't advocating hair systems, so the only thing you could be plugging is razors - and that dog won't hunt in these forums. Please make better use of your time (as well everyone else's) and move on. Best of Luck Bayer

Eman and Hairbank, Thanks for the info. The common thread from both of your posts is that I can't drive this through my insurance, which was my primary goal. What can I say, I am just trying to be thrifty! Regarding cost, I am paying $1.71 per mg for Propecia versus Hairbank's $.46 per mg. It was my General Practitioner who would not give me Proscar prescription since it was not for BPH. I will see if I can book with a derm. Thanks Bayer

Scarred, Could you provide further details regarding your original procedure? Who was the doctor? Bayer

Hi Abdi, Welcome to the forum. Please see the attached link for some great material compiled by one of the most experienced posters. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/showthread.php?t=152790 Just a reminder - for a decision of this importance, do not restrict yourself to the SF area. There are a number of reputable coalition doctors in your general area - get several opinions. Feel free to ask any questions. We are all here to help. Bayer

I went to my doctor to get a prescription for Proscar instead of Propecia - reason being that Proscar is covered by my drug plan. The doctor thought that there might be an ethics issue as Proscar is for prostate issues - which I don't have. The furthest he would go is to write the prescription for Finasteride and let the pharmacist make the interpretation. The pharmacist preached the ethics and legal issue as well and said she would have to consult the doctor, which of course resulted in the Proscar NOT being made available. Each party looked at the other and wanted to be taken off the hook, leaving me with the ill colored end of the stick. Has anyone else run into these doctor/pharmacist issues, and if so, what is the workaround? Thanks Bayer

I don't have any pictures, but I don't think that there is much cause for concern. At this stage there would be bleeding if the graft itself was dislodged. Bayer

quote: If the patient is on finasteride and in the hands of a competant surgeon, shockloss of the native hair usually is not permanent right? This is an interesting subject. I have been on finasteride since April 2006 and had a 3500 graft procedure done on Jan 30/07. My native hair as well as that of two prior procedures (400 grafts in 1996 and 488 grafts in 2000) was all shocked. I am getting growth (hard to tell if native, prior HT hair or recent HT hair) so I will be watching with a lot of interest.

See the comment below from the Q & A section. Aloe gel has helped bring down the redness. The greenish tinge is great, could have worn it out for St. Paddy's Day. Hairfree, If the fluid is clear, it is probably sebum that has been trapped as the result of an ingrown hair. Applying a warm (not hot) facecloth to the area helps the hair to push through and minimizes scabbing. If the fluid is yellowish, this would be pus and likely the sign of an infection. Antibiotics might be required. From following your procedure and aftercare, I would be inclined to say that your case would be the former rather than the latter. Bayer

Hairfree, If the fluid is clear, it is probably sebum that has been trapped as the result of an ingrown hair. Applying a warm (not hot) facecloth to the area helps the hair to push through and minimizes scabbing. If the fluid is yellowish, this would be pus and likely the sign of an infection. Antibiotics might be required. From following your procedure and aftercare, I would be inclined to say that your case would be the former rather than the latter. Bayer

Venkat_1980, You are at the panic stage, a place where we have all found ourselves. The difference is, you have come to a place where you can get great information. As difficult as this seems, patience is the key. Thinking should be in terms of years, not weeks. You actually have a killer mop relative to some of us. Give the propecia time. Eight weeks is short leash, but I am not a doc. Meds need time to work. Good news = you have talked to Shapiro. We should all have been so lucky. Take your time, look at your long term objectives, and talk to your brothers. Bayer

"Just couldn't resist to give you guys a "hard" time." Lots of guys chattin' and then this? I'm worried lol. Bayer

Hi Bill, See below for the "4" times post from BeHappy. I guess someone else was happy too! "I've been on finisteride for 10 years (proscar). I don't split the 5mg pill the way most people do. I just take a nibble and put the remaining piece back in the blister pack. Once in a while I'll accidentally bite off a larger piece than I meant to and take maybe half a pill (2.5mg). If I do that I won't be able to get an erection for 2 or 3 days. I also just skip taking it the next day or 2. After that I'm back to big hard erections with no problem. True story. This just happened. Last week my girlfriend and I had the same vacation week. She stayd at my house for the week. We had awesome sex all week. At the end of our vacation she was so amazed and wanted to know how I could get so hard and stay so hard for hours. She came 4 times one night. Two days later she was still telling me she still felt all warm inside from it. So I don't think the finisteride is negatively effecting me other than the occasional times I take too much. The trick is to play with your dose until you find an amount that is just less than what will start to make you lose your erections. You can also take it every other day. That's what I do now. As I've gotten older and my DHT is naturally lower, I've lowered my dose to 1mg every other day instead of every day."

Please note the quote below from the Dr A. website. "While follicular micro grafting / hair restoration surgeons in USA, Australia, Canada, Japan, U.K. & Europe were frustrated in trying to pluck out FUs (follicular units) from the donor area, Dr. AP adopted a different approach for the purpose." Is this truth or marketing? I would research carefully.

Welcome to the forum. Please see the attached link for some great material compiled by one of the most experienced posters. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/showthread.php?t=152790 Feel free to ask any questions. We are all here to help. Bayer

Bill, Excellent stuff. The only thing I would emphasize more would the importance of not letting travel unduly influence the HT decision. The coalition docs are somewhat geographically dispersed, which may intimidate some prospective patients. The mills have more locations and have convenient "office location lookups" on their websites. The "handy location" or extra travel dollars should never be a criteria when making a decision this important.

"I have seen no one else on this site admit to any formal medical education to even address such issues." I would suggest that Janna (Shapiro) and Joe (Hasson and Wong) among others are quite qualified. As far as "just the number of grafts", you obviously haven't bothered to read concerning the depth of topics on this forum. 8 to 11 years of professional schooling speaks to attendance, not to performance. Also, learning to empty bedpans also qualifies as medical education.

No specialist is required. A general practioner/family doctor should be able to look after this.

Oh shoot me, it should be "forgetting".

"Spot" on B Spot. Seems excitability (reflected through bad grammar, poor spelling and fogetting that the Caps are locked) are the mark of a shill. Low level laser therapy as a legitimate option, oh please... I think that Dr. Feller had an excellent post on this. I understand that there is a spring special on snake oil this week...

Hi M&M, May not have seen , but what was the "Boz" location and who was the doc? Bayer

Be careful when removing scabs. Don't want to jump the line on Bill, but do not remove scabs by means other than rubbing with fingertips! In other words, no nails or other sharp objects. Massage in a gentle circular motion, and spend time in a warm shower, not for direct conract, but for humidity. Warm moisture will help!

Likely ingrown, a warm (but not hot!!!) damp facecloth placed on top will likely help. To MRBJ's point, getting the doc's point of view is probably good as well. Bayer

Hi Nervous, Like B Spot said, post some pics. I'm having a shock loss issue as well, feel free to peruse my pics in the album section. Knowing your doc might help all. Bayer