markhenry

tav1 - same dosage, 1mg for now. We didn't discuss minoxidil, but I'm visiting again on friday for a followup. pkipling - yes, it was a great experience - thanks for the welcome! David - thank you voxman - 10 day update as requested Dr. Mohebi's office called on saturday to check on me, but all was and is fine. I've had a lot of scabbing which has taken most of this time to heal, but a little extra soaking in soapy (provided shampoo) water seems to have really helped. Very happy with where I am right now. I'm going to try to get a "pre" photo from his office when I go this friday so you can compare. Otherwise, not much to report, easy so far! Sorry for the upside down picture, can't seem to get it to be right side up, even when I flip it and re-upload it...

BUSA - Not sure if I should discuss that here, I'll let Dr. Mohebi weigh in on pricing if he wants to. Or is it normal to discuss publicly? voxman - will do! Tav1 - Three reasons: 1. I had developed a rather extreme reaction to alcohol - rapid and severe onset hangover, burning skin, very strange. Blood tests didn't find anything wrong with me, but my primary suggested that it was probably the propecia. When I stopped, this went away shortly after. 2. Severe depression / newly announced possible side effect - Hard to say with this, but felt it was making me feel worse in general 3. Permament erectile disfunciton / newly announced possible side effect at the time - didn't have any problems, but the very idea made me kind of paranoid. Every doctor I spoke to about this completely discounted it though. All that said I've been advised to take propecia again to prevent shock loss, so that's what I'm doing. Thanks for the kind thoughts.

Hello All, I've just had an incredibly easy FUE procedure with Dr. Mohebi yesterday (5/15/2015) and wanted to give a little something back to the forum, as I've learned a lot here and really appreciate everyone's shared experiences from around the world. I took Propecia from 1999 (age 22) to 2012 (age 35), and maintained most of my hair. Stopped taking Propecia because of side effect worries, and hairline fairly rapidly started receding. First visited Dr. Mohebi (after reading this forum) in Spring (summer?) of 2014. He advised that I should wait before making my decision, as my hair still did look ok. While it had thinned and receeded, I was still able to style it around this. Six months later, my hair continued to thin and it was really bothering me so I made a second visit where we discussed what his recommendations would be. He recommended a 1400 graft FUE procedure and we went over all the details. He gave me almost an unlimited amount of time to ask questions and make myself comfortable. So after thinking it over another few months I decided to take the plunge and scheduled my procedure for yesterday (5/15/2015). I was very, very, very nervous about the whole thing, and considered backing out even after arriving at the office. I've never had any surgery, and hadn't even shaved my head before, and even though I understood what was being done, I had a very high anxiety level. The staff (and Dr. Mohebi) were all very understanding and made it clear that whatever happened was my decision, but walked me through everything (again) and gently reassured me that I was going to be having a very relaxing day and shouldn't worry. Well, that was an understatement... I pretty much spent the day napping and watching movies, they provided breakfast and a nice lunch - pain was very, very minimal. Significantly less than a moderately rough dental cleaning. The only uncomfortable part (and I'm reaching here) was having to lie on my side sometimes so they could access the sides of my donor area. I went back today to have my head washed, and for them to teach me how to keep it clean for the 6 days following the procedure, by Thursday I should be washing it as normal, and I guess it will be fully healed. I'm attaching two picture of myself today, less than 24 hours after, and I'll keep posting for a while as everything heals and grows. I'm very excited to see how this grows out, but very happy that I went through with it, and how smooth and easy it all was. Thanks to all of you out there in the forum who helped me find Dr. Mohebi and learn about this procedure. And a huge thanks to Dr. Mohebi and his great staff for really making it a great experience.

So now that it's been 7 months, what do you think?

If it weren't for all the side effects, I would love to be back on it. But definitely not worth it for me anymore. Although with all that, the reason I quit was because of the threat of permanent ED. Not that I had any ED on this drug, but the idea...so not worth it.

Sorry for the long delay in update... It's now been over 2 years since I've stopped (I'm now 36), and my hair has definitely thinned quite a bit and receded some. If it stopped today, I wouldn't complain, but I've said that every week for a long time and the march continues. In the right lighting (overhead bathroom usually) you can see most of my scalp now, and the difference in my hairline has started to become visible in pictures. I have not taken minoxidil or pursued any other treatments. I want to go see a doctor about this before it gets worse, from the way my hair has thinned, I'm pretty sure I will be completely bald within a few years. I'm going through this list now (I'm in Los Angeles): California Hair Transplant Clinics As far as propecia, I would say I had 4 side effects I didn't realize until I went off the drug (even when I posted to the forum) - keep in mind, it did work amazing for my hair... 1. Depression - 6 months after starting propecia I developed a panic/anxiety disorder. I didn't realize there could be a connection until after I stopped the propecia. I took anti-anxiety drugs (which are the same as anti-depressant drugs) for many years alongside the propecia. After 7-8 years on the propecia I had terrible depression - even as the anxiety was managed by the other medication. Honestly, the only thing that kept me going was knowing what it would do to my family. When I look back on this now (2 years off of propecia) I can barely recognize myself. 2. Sexual - No problems with arousal, just difficult to finish. I won't say there weren't times this was beneficial, but for the most part sex could be very frustrating. Sex is MUCH better now... 3. Testosterone Levels - Not as certain about this, as I never had my levels tested, but the physical differences in me (musculature, body fat) during the times I was on and off propecia are huge, and very noticeable. (I did not have gynocomastia, but higher fat, lower muscle, lower strength) A doctor friend of mine who treats many transgender patients mentioned this drug is commonly used to help them along. I didn't get into dosages or anything, and I didn't undergo any transformation, but there was definitely a difference for me. 4. Alcohol (started year 13) - this is actually what got me to the doctor, keeping in mind I was not aware of #1-3 while on propecia. At first I was just getting unusually bad hangovers, then I would wake up early in the night with my skin burning and my head exploding, then I would have hangovers within an hour of drinking. My GP told me it was the propecia, the dermatologist said it wasn't, but 6 months after quitting I could drink normally again. And I'm talking about a couple drinks, not anything crazy. Anyway - when I look back at it all, I lost many years to severe depression and anxiety, almost certainly wasn't worth it - but you can't look at life that way, and who knows what propecia was responsible for and what it wasn't. Hope this is helpful, I'm looking for transplants now, and feel mentally and physically better than I have since 1999.

I've been using Propecia since 1999, and with great results, I would say my hair looks almost exactly as it did when I started. Now I did start early, after I first detected the hair loss in the shower at age 22. I've started to get increasingly paranoid about all of the side effects being reported, and I would like to stop using Propecia. I'm not sure if I've had any side effects, but there have definitely been a few things that may have been related. Since I started so early, I wonder how much hair I really would have lost, I'm definitely afraid to find out. I feel lucky to have had my hair this long, and I would like to preserve it as long as possible. Given that I'm now 34, with basically a full head of hair, what would everyone recommend I do to maintain it? Do the genetic tests do anything? Yesterday was the first day I stopped Propecia. Today I bought 5% Rogaine, and now I'm looking at the laser comb and various shampoos. Should I use the Rogaine? I'm not really sure what to do first. I'm in Los Angeles, is there someone I should see. Since I get to start with a lot of hair, I want to be proactive about taking care of it.

Thanks guys, very much appreciate the advice - but I was on propecia when she got pregnant, is that a problem? While reading about this online, it seems like there have been a lot of side effects added to Propecia since I last looked (many years ago). Is it just my imagination?

Hello all, I've been taking propecia since 1999 after I noticed some hair loss in the shower. My hair is slightly thinned on top, but overall i look like i have a full head of hair (knock on wood). I haven't had any side effects that I know of. For the last year or so I've been ordering generics, seems to be fine. Now here comes the part where I'm a moron - My wife is 7 weeks pregnant, and basically every night (of pregnancy and for the last 5 years) II take a sip of her water to take my propecia. It's a tiny sip, I don't backwash, but I just realized it tonight. We're meeting with the ob/gyn on thursday, but I feel like an idiot. Anyone have any thoughts on this?