harryoliver

Had 1500 units transplanted via FUE at the end of January 2013 by Dr. Farjo in Manchester. Terrific experience. Progress seems slow though? I've seen blogs and vids of guys with a lot better progress (measured by more hair!) at 4 months, although maybe these guys are using Regaine (I can't as I'm allergic to it!). What do you all think? I probably just need to wait longer, right? :confused:

Very useful. I started Rogaine last June but switched to Kirkland around November. By March I'd developed 'minoxidil burn.' I switched back to Rogaine in April but continued to suffer the burn and I'm still treating it with anti-fungal meds. I stopped Rogaine on Monday and plan to go back on it once the burn has totally cleared up. Do you think I'm doing the right thing? Was it probably the Kirkland formula that caused my burn? Thanks! Harry

Hello all! I've been taking the standard regimen of hair-stimulating meds for 11 months now - 2 applications of 5% Minoxidil every day + 1mg of Finasteride every day + Nizoral shampoo every few days. I turned 25 last December and I've been losing my hair since I was 17. 6 weeks ago at the beginning of April I broke out in a nasty rash on my neck and forehead, and developed severe dandruff. At first I thought I had had an allergic reaction to something so I stopped using certain cosmetics (e.g., toner, moisturiser.) Then I thought there might be something in the water (?) in my new apartment. Then I thought perhaps there was damp in my new apartment....you get the idea. 3 weeks ago I found myself back at my general practitioner's for the fourth time to finally be told that I had a fungal infection, which I have since been treating on various anti-fungal creams and shampoos. I have just this week come to the conclusion that my reaction must be to the Minoxidil. I had previously thought that switching from Rogaine to Kirkland Minoxidil back in November 2011 may have been the reason - using a cheaper brand, etc. But after starting back on Rogaine last month, my infection has not altered. Only this week in fact - since I stopped applying Minoxidil on Monday - have I made progress with my fungal infection. My dandruff has reduced significantly and my scalp is less inflamed and sore. I have uploaded 4 photos of my scalp which shows my progression over the course of the last 11 months on the meds. I'd like advice, though, and what the next few weeks and months are going to be like for me now that I have decided to stop using Minoxidil: - Will I lose hair if I stop using Minoxidil BUT carry on using Finasteride and Nizoral? - Do you think I can go back to Minoxidil after my fungal infection has completely gone? - Has anyone been in this situation? If so, what happened to you? I'm considering a transplant to fill in my receding hairline early next year, but I'm now worried that I'm going to lose some/most/all of the hair I have gained since I started using Minoxidil, and that Finasteride on its own won't be enough to retain the precious hair which I have now, especially on my crown, to make me an ideal transplant candidate. Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback. Regards Harry

Hey all Are there any guys on meds and pre-op or on meds and post-op in either Manchester or Cheshire? I'm at my uni house in Manchester for the next two weeks before I move back with my folks to Cheshire. It would be incredibly helpful if I could meet someone going through the same experience as me, i.e., not just general MPB but a regimen to try and fight it or post-transplant so I can see a transplant in the flesh. Ps. coffee or beers on me by the way!

As tempting as it is, I wouldn't consider this. You've got tens of thousands of hairs on your head before MPB kicks in. A transplant won't get you anything near that. Sure, the transplant might give you a decent hair line, for example, but without meds your crown hair will carry on falling out. You'll end up looking like the Duke of Edinburgh. The formula is: Meds (propecia + minoxidil) = crown and mid area stabilisation + transplant to the front and whatever you can away with on top to 'fill in' = the closest you'll get to the ideal head of hair. Crown loss can extend pretty far down the back. Since we can't predict how bad our hair loss will be, meds are absolutely essential to slow it down or stabilise it effectively.

I sent the relevant info through the online consultation facility on hairtransplantnetwork.com. Great facility. Dr. True was one of the US docs I sent the info to.

Hey all I'm a newbie. Thanks to you guys, though, I'm quickly becoming knowledgeable on hair restoration, principally the importance of stabilisation before transplantation. I'm 24. I've been suffering from MPB since I was 18. I'm now a NW 3V/4 (see photo). I've been wearing a hair system for 18 months. Yesterday, however, it came off for the last time! Regaine and Nizoral are in the post, and I'm seeing about a prescription for Propecia next week. I'm scared about living the next 12-18 months looking like I do, but there we go. Anyway, I met with Dr. Shahmalak of Crown Cosma Clinics recently. I wasn't impressed, first and foremost, by his lack of reputation on here and other sites like this. During the consultation he dismissed these kind of communities, declaring that they aren't important. He said he gets most of his clients through face-to-face word-of-mouth referrals. Good for him, but it's not enough for me. Other key points include how he called the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons "crap." He's a member of ISHRS and the European one. Basically, any society or alliance other than the ones he belongs to were dismissed as being crap. As soon as that word flowed out of his mouth, I knew I wasn't letting him anywhere near my head! I sat there hiding my disbelief behind a fake smile. It was very uncomfortable. His consultant was equally dismissive. And she got tetchy and defensive when I began to ask her detailed questions. Although, she admitted that American surgeons are "miles ahead" of us here in the UK (she didn't say, of course, that I should go there.) I was quoted ?6000 for 3000 FUGs. But, perhaps most saliently, I was told by Shahmalak that Propecia wouldn't work for me. "On what basis?," I asked. "Because you will definitely be a Norwood 7," he replied. O....K. But whether this is true or not, meds slow down and/or restore MPB. Anyone, especially a hair restoration surgeon, declaring that meds won't work outright is dismissing the subjectivity of taking meds. I'll know if they work when I've taken them for a period of months. And only then. (Oddly enough, he then showed me before and after photos and kept mentioning that, in cases where he'd transplanted grafts to the front of his patients' heads, meds were helping them keep the hairs at the back. Nice bit of self-contradiction there, then!) As far as Shahmalak was concerned, he wanted me in his chair and he wanted my money out of my bank account. It was written all over his face. He kept me waiting; he rushed through the consultation (15 mins.); he passed me to his consultant who was equally rude; and he dismissed the innumerable time and effort that has gone in to sites like this. IMO, keep away! So my hair transplant will be undertaken by one of the recommended surgeons and after I've stabilised my hair loss with meds. I look forward to engaging with you all over the months ahead. Some of you dudes are a real inspiration.