MarkyGras

When I woke up today, I walked over to my medicine cabinet and took my daily propecia pill. Then I looked in a cabinet for some claritin, as it's allergy season for me. Then, because I had just woken up, and was still on "auto-pilot", I opened up my propecia bottle and took another! I'd been taking propecia for years, and this was the first time I'd popped two in a day (much less at once). Maybe it's no big deal, but I need someone to talk me down from this. I have a huge fear that this was the lever to impotence or possibly big-time libido loss. Gahhhhhh!

Hi all, I've been using the tricomin copper shampoo/conditioner for a while, and am planning on just switching to a brand that sells at the grocery store (rather than a website). I'm trying to get a list of items that I should look out for when reading the ingrediants on the back of the bottles. So far, the most common item I'm seeing is cetyl alcohol, which I imagine would be bad as alcohol can dry out the hair shaft (and scalp). Also sulfates, as I understand it. Any other things to look out for (or alternatively, look for?) in shampoos, conditioners, and mousse? Thanks!

Newhairplease!! Given your mighty enthusiasm, we're all anxiously waiting for some massive write-up on your experience, at Rahal's office, as well as the trip to Canada and the Foxbar. I keep expecting some post that takes up a whole page! In all seriousness, it sounds like your whole procedure was a success! Congrats!

I'd recommend flying the next day if you're not planning on staying there for a week. The big swelling usually starts about 24 hours after the surgery concludes, so you'll want to do your traveling within that time-frame.

I think the important lesson here is to be aware of the nature of those lending services. A cursory glance at reviews of these companies on the internet shows a history of unexpected fees and surprising interest changes. I had a very pleasant FUT with Dr. Arocha back in May, and had considered various financing options. The web reviews for the lending companies scared me away from their services. Instead, I opted to go with new credit cards offering 0% interest rates for a year. There are many consumer protection laws and advocates concerning credit card issues, so you can feel relatively safe that the deal that's been offered to you is in fact the deal you'll get. Loan companies, not so much.

Here's something I always wondered - how do doctors quantify the number of available grafts in the donor area? I mean, shouldn't any hair in the "donut" (dht resistant) area be considered as potential donor? Allowing for healing of scars, couldn't you theoretically transplant all hair from the lower back of the head to the top (granted that would look odd). Set me straight folks. Thanks -Markygras

I went looking for witch hazel and couldn't find any....well, I couldn't find any "distilled" witch hazel. I found some common brand (Thayer) of witch hazel at Whole Foods and Vitamin Shoppe though. If it's not distilled, would that make a difference?

Time for an update on supplement effectiveness! The whole point of the supplements was to reduce swelling, reduce the redness/inflamation once the scabs are gone, and to give the recipient area the nutrients it needs for thicker/healthier hair. My FUT was last Friday, six days ago. I stuck to the regimin in my first post, and the swelling only lasted 4 days, and then was gone. I'm very happy with how quickly swelling went down - I can wear a hat at normal size with no problems now. I don't know what role the arnica or bromelain may have played, but the results are there. Next up is the redness - I still have darkened scabs all over the recipient area. I have a feeling those will be gone after the next few showers. I'll be applying aloe vera gel to this area afterwards (I'd been applying graftcyte blue spray previously).

I've been doing the shampoo via spray bottle, then washing via cup method since the surgery. I spoke with Dr. Arocha's office, they said day 7 was when it'd be okay to shower normally again (although I plan to use my hands to gently move the water onto my scalp).

Ooops - sorry I posted this in the wrong forum - I blame the vicodin.

This morning Dr. Arocha's technician was showing me how to shampoo/condition my hair with a spray bottle for the time being. I forgot to ask when it would be okay to shampoo normally in the shower again. What do you all figure? Five days? A week?

I'm in the process of updating some photos taken before the procedure, and right after.

Started balding when I was 17. Was a NW IV with major diffuse thinning, and not much of a hairline. Was on propecia for a year (and still am) and rogaine. I've quit the rogain afer 14 months, since my scalp wasn't really responding. I had a FUT of 5008 grafts by Dr. Arocha of Houston on May 20, 2011, just after having turned 30.

okay, in the process of uploading pics/making a blog. Dutch - I've been on propecia over a year, and I suppose it's slowed/stabilized my loss. I was also on Rogaine for a full year, and my scalp didn't respond to it one bit. So this HT was kind of my rogaine-alternative. Another piece of advice - just stay away from the valium pills after the procedure. Take your tylenol or vicodin, and leave it at that. I was very nauseous last night, a few hours after the surgery, and apparently it was due to having too much valium in me.

I was amazed how quickly time flew by! We started around 8am (one of the technicians, Craig, picked me up from my hotel hat 7:30). Extracting the donor area seemed to take no time whatsoever. The procedure ended around 7:15pm. We focused mainly on the hairline - about 2500, then another 1500 behind there, with the remaining amount at the crown. They must have gone through a gallon of numbing solution on me, since I metabolized it so fast. I was given a vicodin prescription, but honestly, Tylenol worked just as well. Afterwards, Dr. Arocha drove me back to my hotel himself. He runs a very service-oriented office. Now it's just a matter of playing the waiting game. I'm hoping for signs of grown in about 4 months range, but am well aware it usually takes 12-18 months to see the full results. I'll set up a blog on this site when I get home so I can start charting progress on a month-to-month basis.