Postdoc

Are there any discomforts with undergoing Hair Transplant? My friend had one and he felt no pain. On the other hand, my dad had it with pain which he found was manageable. Is there anything to worry with Hair transplant?

It's probably worth splitting this up into stages. Strip removal is definitely the most uncomfortable bit. The surgeon will do this section by section, injecting local anaesthetic, excising the strip and then stapling or suturing. None of that is exactly painful but it can be very uncomfortable having your face pressed down against the couch for up to an hour. The next stage of recipient area incisions and graft placement is painless apart from the local anaesthetic that's injected as a nerve block for the entire scalp. Post-op, the main discomfort will be from the tightness due to the sutures or staples, particularly when you're trying to find a comfortable position to sleep!

Hi Guys,

 

Been 7 months I believe since I did my HT.

 

i am currently looking absolutely awful without a cap on . needed to show you guys my progress ...

 

i am v happy with dr. radha as my surgeon. but i am unhappy about my failure to grow some goddamn hair on my scalp. people say i look 40 boohoo .. ur take ?

Don't despair! Can you post pre-op pics + numbers of grafts?

When I apply the monixidil I notice that some of it is sitting on top of my hair and doesn't appear to reach my scalp. I've been debating on whether to cut my hair low in order for the monixidil to reach scalp better. If I cut my hair low would it help with the application of the monixidil or does it not matter?

I guess if you really want to maximise the minoxidil being absorbed into the scalp cutting your hair short would make sense, but I'm not sure that it would really make much difference.

Hi all,

From the 1st day of my hair transplant i am worried about hairline made by my surgeon. I feel that it is too high .I am in my mid 20's. Is this the concern of all (or most ) of the people under gone HT.

Please express your feelings on this

This looks like an excellent hairline and I don't think you've got anything to be worried about. Once grown out, the added fullness should balance your face well.

I follow what you're saying, but wouldn't propecia effects post HT also be anecdotal, since no one has 'officially' studied this.

Absolutely, although I guess one just feels more confident with finasteride. That said, a friend of mine has done a brilliant hatchet job on drug companies called 'Bad Pharma' and Merck Sharp & Dohme are as bad as the rest.

I will be travelling soon to shop for toupees. Any help would be appreciated.

You may find some old fashioned department stores selling stock 'toupees' off the shelf, but if you want something that stands more chance of going unnoticed, you'd do better contacting Forever Hair in Covent Garden who'll order you a custom hairpiece and fit it. Forever Hair - Hair Replacement and custom hair system Specialists (promotional link removed by moderator)

Its ok, you won't dent my enthusiasm, I just will talk about my experience.

And happy growing!

Hi Folks,

 

I'm just wondering if there are any issues taking Avodart before, during, and after an FUE procedure? From whatI understand, there are not, but I'm wondering if some folks have experience with this?

 

I remember reading another forum a few years back where Jotronic reported that some patients who were put on Dutasteride post-op had really stunning results. Since those patients were from H&W, they would have been FUT patients.

 

Is there any difference for FUE patients?

 

Thanks,

Sugar

Because research into dutasteride for hair loss stopped with Glaxo's phase II trials, any effect post HT is all a bit anecdotal. One very small study suggested that adding 0.5 mg dutasteride a week to regular finasteride had an enhanced effect but this wasn't in the context of HT. But unlike minoxidil, there's no need to stop dutasteride pre-op. I can't see any reason why there should be a difference between FUE and FUT as once placed the grafts are the same. If you're relatively young, I'd recommend starting finasteride pre-op and then adding minoxidil a week post-op to help vascularisation of the grafts. If you've been on finasteride before and are thinking of switching to dutasteride, then remember that it has a long half-life and side effects can be a pain for some (e.g. reduced ejaculate). There's then the issue of what you do with dosing in the long-term.

thanks ill keep you updated, i started a you-tube channel too, i want to record weekly.

I don't want to dent your enthusiasm but you'd be better off doing monthly updates as weeks will go by with nothing much happening.

Why does the Harley Street Hair Clinic not have any coverage on here? considering they worked on wayne rooney (the footballer), it may sound a bit little bit mislead but their website is quite convincing but their physicians dont get a mention on this site?

 

only farjo gets a mention yet no one really can speak too highly of him on here...again has anyone been to farjo with pics?

The UK situation for HTs is puzzling. So many of the clinics are pretty faceless with unspecified doctors and techs trained up to do the procedure. The Farjo clinic at least puts the husband and wife team upfront. If you look at the Farjo pics, a lot of them go back a decade or more and the results are pretty mediocre with small graft numbers applied to high Norwood levels. They do seem to be doing higher graft counts now (3000+) but I'm not convinced that their results are as generally as good as the likes of H&W. They also seem to go after celebrity endorsements, which makes me rather suspicious, and I wish they'd just get on with the job and not make so much noise about what they're doing. If I was to go for a 2nd FUT session (1st was with H&W), I'd like to choose someone in the UK, but sadly, I still don't think that's a viable option. If Farjo can prove me wrong, I'd be pleased to hear from them.

Hello everyone

I am newbie on here and have decided to share my experience with you in the hope that some of what I’ve been through helps.

So nothing special about me, just an average chap from England who had gone from having far too much hair in my 20’s, to now praying for it to miraculously come back! I was suffering from the classic male baldness pattern and had noticed it getting thinner on top for the last 4 years but not to the extent that I needed to shave the lot off. It was more of a thinning out top and centre and slowly receding. I’d tried Regaine and I’d tried Nourkrin and neither of them did anything. Well at least I didn’t think they did. I was expecting them to slow down the loss and grow hair but I couldn’t see either. Then I looked in the mirror one morning and said to myself that I could either do something about it, or I could let it go naturally. Well having a choice made a difference. I could do something about it and that’s exactly what I set out to do.

I researched online at hair loss forums but didn’t just dive in to researching doctors, I researched options. What options were available that were the least painful, and least expensive? Ultimately I wanted a shampoo that would magic the hair back – not going to happen. Then a magic night cream – nope, not there either. Thirdly a magic medicine or tablet although I don’t like putting chemicals into my body, but again there was nothing that was shouting out to me “try me I work” and I knew time was ticking on. So the next option was surgery. But what does surgery actually entail? What do they do, how do they do it, who does it, where do they do it, how much does it cost, and finally what are the results like?

I scoured the web and decided that FUE was the one I wanted. Why? Because people wouldn’t be able to tell I’d had surgery and I’d get my hair back, simples. I didn’t want FUT because I would have a big scar and my head would have to be shaved and people would notice. So I searched some more and looked for a reputable doctor and a clinic where I could go for a consultation. I found the Selston Clinic in Nottingham and they had a doctor there, Dr Reddy whose name was banded about on a number of forums. Apparently he wasn’t a bad doctor and so I thought why not? Jump in the car and drive for just over an hour and let an expert give me some advice.

So that’s what I did. Made the appointment, drove up, and saw a different doctor because Doctor Reddy wasn’t there? Strange I thought but hey ho. This doctor took a look at me and recommended 7000 fue over 2 days (weekend). Cost ?14000.

I’m very analytical so in my mind I went over everything and this is what I analysed from my consultation. I wasn’t impressed with the un-sterilised look and feel of the clinic. I wasn’t impressed that I was kept waiting for over 30 minutes despite me arriving early for my appointment. I wasn’t impressed with the office that I went into that was as unfamiliar to me as it was to the stand in doctor. The stand in wasn’t interested in me and couldn’t find a pen or piece of paper to write anything on. My consultation lasted 3 seconds before the doctor gave me the price; he just took one look and said 7000 FUE. He didn’t examine my head, ask me anything pertinent, he was just interested in giving me the price. Then the secretary who made my appointment walked in to tell him the next patient had arrived and he proceeded to tell her what he had quoted me, I thought because she would follow it up in writing but it would appear it was more so that he didn’t forget because he couldn’t find a pen or paper. He said he could do it whenever I was ready and that was that.

I came away feeling totally dejected and disappointed. I was no further forward and this doctor had not helped at all. For the next hour I gave up and just thought leave it let it fall out and go baldish gracefully.

I got back home and did some more research and heard about other horror stories and other success stories. I zeroed in on the success stories but didn’t ignore the horror because I wanted to avoid the doctors who had made a mess of fellow sufferers. I noticed that a guy called Spex continued to hop into discussions and offer advice. I thought at first “oh here’s someone with a full head of hair who wants to offer opinion on everything!” So I researched him! Then I emailed him. Then I called him. And what a great bloke he is. We chatted about hair loss and seeing where he’d been with his loss, I felt that my loss was very similar to his. He said unequivocally that FUT not FUE was what I needed. That was my last resort but I knew nothing in reality about the subject and here was a surgery veteran of 10 ops giving me an insight into what I really needed if I wanted to achieve the best results.

He recommended Dr Feller in New York as he had “been saved” himself by Dr Feller and so I researched Dr Feller too. There were no bad results here, no horror stories and no one with a bad word to say about him. So I took the plunge. I emailed Dr Feller and sent him some photos. He advised I needed 3000 grafts and his prices are transparent on his website. I agreed a date with Spex and he organised it with Dr Feller’s clinic. All I had to do now was book a flight, book a hotel, and wait for the day!

So I get to New York, on the Friday before the op on the Monday (flights cost less when you include a weekend). Morning of the op I jump in a taxi and make my way to the clinic. I’m there early as usual, and after about 5 minutes Joanne arrives to greet me and open up the clinic. Then Dr Feller arrives and he takes me through to his office where he takes some photographs of my pre op head and goes over the procedure in detail with me. I wasn’t nervous one bit before I arrived or whilst I was there but Dr Feller said something to me that gave me even more of an assurance about the op. He said that this operation is easy for him and his team. They do it daily and there is nothing complicated about it at all so I should have no worries about the op whatsoever. That made me realise that if he thinks this is easy, then it must be. He himself was a veteran of 3 FUT ops and he’d been doing it for so long now, he was more than an expert. He had my complete trust.

We go through to the operating room and I take off my shirt and have my head prepared. This entails having my hair cut down to the scalp where the op is taking place, and a shortening of where the strip is being taken from. Then it’s lots of anaesthetic. This is like sweet and sour. The sweet is that it numbs the area very well. The sour is that each prick seems like it touches your skull because the scalp is thin. Dr Feller tells me before he puts the needle in for every single jab. Then you feel a little pressure as the anaesthetic is injected but in the grand scheme of things it’s not really painful. Weirdly, and all patients will say the same, it is more painful/noticeable on the left side than it is on the right side! So this happens all around the donor area and all around the receiving area. Finally nurses place bandages around my head like a headband.

Dr Feller constantly asks if I’m ok and I reassure him I’m perfectly fine. Then Dr Feller begins to cut the donor area. I didn’t feel a thing. Then he cauterizes the skin and tells me I may feel a little tugging. I’m thinking that this tugging is him getting the skin off my scalp and he continues to do the rest. How wrong and surprised I was. The tugging was pulling the skin together so that it could be stapled. I didn’t even feel the staples going in and he’d done half of it before I’d realised he’d done a single staple! So for me, result. That’s one more procedure that has been completed and I didn’t feel a thing.

Dr Feller completed removing the donor strip and this was passed to nurses who took it away for preparation for insertion. Whilst they were doing that Dr Feller then prepared the recipient area. This involved him making lots and lots of holes in my scalp ready to receive the grafts that were being prepared by the nurses. He was very patient and very reassuring whilst doing this. I could sense what was happening to me but couldn’t feel it. It was all going really smoothly.

Then he handed over the next part to 3 nurses, 1 on each should and 1 behind me and they delicately inserted all of the grafts into my scalp. Twice whilst I was sat in the chair I fell asleep! Yes actually fell asleep I was so relaxed. My single snore woke me though both times and I said to myself that I should be more respectful of what these lovely people are doing for me and stay awake. And so I did.

When all the grafts were inserted, the nurses sprayed my head with water and changed the bandages around my head. I moved to another room and ate lunch, and then a nurse gave me a sealed staple remover and written instructions of what I needed to do when I left as well as explaining to me. I went back to Dr Feller’s office and he took some more photographs and gave me some painkillers. We had a chat for a short time about how the op went, what I should expect and then he put my baseball cap on, Cathy called me a taxi and I made my way downstairs to go back to my hotel.

At the hotel I just rested completely. I put pillows around me on the bed and sat upright to sleep that night. The next day I was supposed to remove the bandage and wash my head with water and nothing else but I decided not to and took a bath without washing it. I was flying back home to the UK that evening and had the bandage on and my cap. I was flying business class with American Airlines so I had plenty of room in my seat and less chance of anyone knocking my head. I was more concerned with something hitting my head now than anything else. Dr Feller had said that grafts don’t just fall out despite people thinking they do. If a graft came out it would bleed like a nose bleed. He told me that over the next few weeks the hairs on show of the grafts would fall out but the root is in place and this would regenerate.

I get home a day later, cut off the bandage and shower. In the shower I hold my hands over the grafts and wet the back and sides of my head. I shampoo there making sure I go over the staples to keep them clean and gently let a little shampoo run on to the grafts to remove any grease build up. I do this for 2 weeks. During this period I could feel my head healing as it was itching constantly and it felt so good to scratch above and below the staples even though I know I shouldn’t have. On top of my head the skin was flaking constantly. Occasionally I would gently rub my hands over my head to get rid of the flakes. At times a top of a graft would come out. This looked like a small scab with a hair in it. The hair was only on one side though it wasn’t all the way through. At first I was disappointed thinking it was a graft but then I realised it was just the top. About a dozen of these came out over the 2 weeks. The staples began to become a little uncomfortable. I wanted them out. I couldn’t lie on them, couldn’t put my head back on seats, couldn’t brush my hair properly for fear of catching them, and they ached a little. My body started to reject them and 1 of them was wobbling and I wanted to pull it out! Also my skin that had been stretched wanted to stretch and move and now the staples were restricting that movement. It was fun though because I knew that this little experience was going to give me a wonderful ending.

Yesterday I had my staples removed. There was a little twinge with some of them and about 6 of them were harder to get out. However when they were out it felt amazing. Itching stopped, aching stopped and I could lie on my pillow in bed and watch TV!! My hair on top looks and feels good. It’s growing and I’m excited. I’ve had no real pain at all throughout the operation and 2 weeks subsequent. I’ll still continue to shower with my hands over my head for a week to avoid the full force of the shower on me. My head feels fine. I can’t believe that I’ve been and had the operation as until I look in the mirror at my current short hair, nothing feels different.

I’ll update my photographs throughout the year and if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. Would I recommend talking to Spex? Yes 100%. Would I recommend using Dr Feller? Yes 100%. Dr Feller and his team have been doing this for many years and if ever there was an expert in this field, it’s him.

Thanks for reading.

Congratulations! With Dr Feller's surgery and your curly hair, the result should be excellent.

I'd continue it for another month and then phase it out. There aren't any hard and fast rules.

Hello all........first, thank you to all the contributors on this forum. I've lurked and educated myself for the past year gathering information. I've developed a good "working knowledge" of transplant types, surgeons, results, costs and numerous additional issues due to the contributions here. So again...thanks. With that being said, I'd like to give a little background to my situation and solicit some feedback/opinions on a few specific questions.

 

I'm an advanced Norwood V to VI. Had a small transplant done 18 years ago at the age of 24. Miserable result and soon began wearing a "hair system" from a national company. I still wear a system to this day and absolutely hate it. So, I'm evaluating my options. My issue is transitioning from the system to a hair transplant result. I'm ok with an age appropriate and/or thin look. One challenge is that I have virtually nothing on top now all the way back to and through my crown area. So....my goal is to have as large of a session as I can and then evaluate my situation. I'll have to find a way to transition from the system to the no system look at some point, but I'll figure that out. My current donor is average with good texture and a little graying.

 

I've had online consultations with some of the best-H&W, Shapiro, Rahal and and in person consultation with Konior (who was absolutely top notch and I really liked). So, here are my questions:

 

1. I'm receiving a little bit of a mixed message on what can be accomplished in a mega session. Is the harvest area generally the same for each doctor? Can doctor "A" harvest more "grafts" than doctor "B" if the goal of both is a maximum harvest? Or are all doctors working from the same basic limitations? H&W typically get more grafts, but do they split some of the multiple hair grafts into smaller sizes and just call it more grafts? Or are they truly able to harvest more grafts and more hairs.

 

2. Two (2) of the consultations I had said they could harvest and plant 4500 grafts or so in a single session. Another thought the realistic expectation was around 3,000.......but I'm concluding the total hairs amongst all options would be roughly the same as they've all stated they won't waste any hairs. And the cost for all proposals was almost identical for a maximum harvest. It really doesn't make any difference to me whether it's 3k or 4500 if the end result of hairs is the same. So.......my question is.....assuming laxity is the same between all surgeons, what differentiates who can get the most hairs from a strip to the recipient area?

 

3. For a number of reasons, I'm probably going to need to wear a system some of the time while my grafts grow and mature. I have a plan to minimize it to make sure my scalp and growing region remain healthy. When I do remove it for good, I'd like to be able to cut my hair pretty short (3 or 4 in the back). I may try to conceal some of the scarring with SMP. How long after an FUT procedure can you have an SMP procedure performed? I know H&W and Shapiro will be offering this solution shortly, but I haven't asked the question yet. Also, does anyone know when the pricing for SMP will be available at H&W and Shapiro?

 

Thanks in advance and I look forward to contributions/advice the next couple of months as I'm looking to have my procedure done late spring or early summer.

I was really in the same boat as you, i.e., a Norwood 5a and fed up with wearing a hair system. I decided on H&W because they have such a good track record for megasessions. From an online consultation they suggested between 4000 and 5000 grafts to get reasonable overall cover. When it came to the actual surgery, my laxity wasn't that great and I also had quite a pronounced erythematous reaction when the incisions were being made. The total length of the strip removed was 37 cm and involved 120 staples. That amounted to 4416 grafts in total. That's really very long and I'm sure other surgeons would have been more conservative.

The end result is very good and I was able to make the transition from bandana to short haircut four months after the HT, which means that I've been free of the hairpiece for eight months now. I thought that I might have to wear some sort of piece while the hair was growing in, but the bandana was a much easier option.

postdoc, thanks for your reply jeez a waiting list for a consultation thats gonna be another headache, so in the UK the typical cost of grafts is ?5-6 per graft how does this compare to other places...?

 

london hair transplant clinic I will quiz them as much as possible

5-6 GBP is really expensive if that's for FUT rather than FUE. There shouldn't a waiting list for consultations with the Farjos' patient coordinator, so he'd be a good start. He also pops op on this forum quite regularly, which is always a good sign. The good, non-UK, European doctors are mainly based in Belgium. Feriduni, De Reys, Bisanga and Devroye are the names to look out for. They're all cheaper than the 5-6 GBP per graft you were quoted. If you're prepared to travel further afield, I'd personally recommend Hasson & Wong in Vancouver.

Hi all hope everyone had a good new year celebration!

so on Friday I have 2 consultations booked for some free advice

 

the first one is with

London Hair Transplant Clinic | Our world-class surgical team consists of fully trained doctors and technicians

london hair transplant clinic.....has anyone used them and can advise...? I dont know who I am seeing just yet there.

 

the other is with Transform medical group and a lady named Astrid, I have heard some not so good about these people however... again can anyone advise

 

These are my first consultations so wish me luck thank you all!

The only recommended HT doctors in the UK are the Farjos up in Manchester although they appear to have a long waiting list even for consultations. They charge ?95 for a consultation with either of them in Manchester and ?125 in Harley St. Seeing one of their 'patient coordinators' is free, though. Transform doesn't have a good reputation for cosmetic surgery in general and tends to adopt a hard sell approach, so be wary. A number of guys on the network have reported good results from London Hair Transplant Clinic but they have a habit of training lots of doctors and hair techs, so quality assurance can be an issue. When you see them, try to find out who would actually be doing the procedure and I think you'll find that they dodge that issue. You'll also find that HT in the UK is expensive!

Yes, both front and crown. Difficult to be sure about the difference but crown crown was probably a couple of months slower.

The evidence isn't that strong for minoxidil post HT but it's probably sufficient to make it worthwhile. My own take on it is that any way of improving the vascularisation of newly transplanted FUs is worth trying. See this link:

Improving the Outcome of Hair Transplantation with Minoxidil « Avacor® Hair Regrowth Blog

It's also difficult to say when should stop using it post HT, but if you've got sufficient regrowth that makes it difficult to apply the minoxidil to the scalp, that may be the deciding factor. In my case, I started it one week post HT, applied it twice a day until month 4 and then just used it on the crown where growth was slower.

Hi,

 

I am new to the network and have been trying to get a particular question answered about hair systems.

 

I am considering getting a hair system (like the Bio-Matrix offered at HC), but the front of my scalp still has hair, albeit thinning with the scalp somewhat visible.

 

What happens with the existing hair when you get a hair system? Does it get trapped underneath? Does your head get shaved before the procedure? Or do they work around the existing hair?

 

If the hair gets trapped underneath, then how do you handle the hair's continued growth? Won't it cause the hair system to lift up? Wouldn't it also cause irritation on the scalp?

 

I've tried to get answers from the Internet, but I can't seem to get a clear answer.

 

Can anyone enlighten me about this?

Although I no longer wear a hair system having made a successful transition with a hair transplant, alarm bells ring when I hear of anyone being tempted by the dubious and expensive offerings from companies like Hair Club for Men and Advanced Hair Studio. Whatever phrase they care to use - "strand by strand" and "bio-matrix" being the ones I recall - they're selling a hairpiece that can be bought far cheaper and probably at higher quality over the internet from companies like Coolpiece, Toplace, Hair Direct or Hairpiece Warehouse. You can also avoid being tied into any expensive contract if you source the piece yourself and then find a local hairdresser to cut it in. You may want to start with getting a stock piece (usually 8" x 10") that can be cut down in size. The easiest way of attaching the piece is to use double-sided tape and for the scalp to be shaved so that you get a secure attachment. The tape will need changing weekly (you'll learn how to do it) and the hair shaved down again once a month. Some guys manage to do the whole thing themselves (including cutting down the piece and trimming their own hair) but that takes a lot of experience. Any of the above companies would be happy to answer any questions and guide you through the process. Best of luck.

Three weeks isn't long and redness is to be expected. Superficial nerves also get cut when the strip is removed, so don't be surprised if you experience numbness or other sensations in the months ahead. I'm guessing that the wound was closed with sutures and the white area at the end of the scar in the 2nd pic could be where there's some infection, so get your own family doctor to check it out. It's always possible that a suture or two weren't removed which could predispose to infection.

Jeff,

T4 an T3 are thyroid function tests and would be part of an endocrine screen. TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is often included in this screen. The normal range for free T4 is 10 - 25 pmol/l and total T3 is 1.0 - 2.5 nmol/l, so your results are normal. Happy Christmas!

A 30 second google search will show umpteen examples of guys who suffer low free test from finasteride use despite elevated Total T levels, it seems for certain people, the more critical FREE Testosterone (2% of which is actually available to the body at any given time) can be driven down.

 

This is because Finasteride has been documented to raise estrogen levels and shift androgen/estrogen ratio in men to be in favor of estrogens, especially the longer you are on it. Increased Estrogen levels are also linked with increased SHBG / gyno.

 

Considering the lack of understanding the medical community has on this drug and its long term use . I would not like to see user's generalising from YOUR advice but rather keep an open mind on the effects this drug can cause. AND get proper baseline test data BEFORE starting the drug they can refer back too should they have these issues. Something the medical community continues to fail to advice users on leaving them in limbo when they have problems.

A search on Google is hardly the same as a literature search of peer-reviewed articles, but I understand that this is a contentious issue and perhaps my viewpoint is too mainstream medical, so I won't be contributing any more to this thread. Happy Christmas to all, anyway.

GNX1 is being somewhat alarmist. A free testosterone level of 219 isn't that low and it's unhelpful for him to say that it's "of a sick 90 year old man". The normal range is very wide, ranging from around 240 to over 1000. It's not that unusual for testosterone levels to drop as one gets older and there are probably hundreds of thousands of men over the age of 40 who have a low testosterone level without realising it and without it causing any problem either. It's definitely essential that you see an endocrinologist and he may decide to watch and wait rather than start you on replacement therapy. If he does start you on replacement the objective would just be to bring your level within the normal range and I'd be very surprised if this had any impact on your scalp hair, particularly as you already take finasteride. You mention having gynaecomastia and it sounds as if this was before you started on finasteride. DHT blocking drugs like finasteride and dutasteride can rarely cause gynaecomastia, so this happening before you started the drug needs an opinion from then endocrinologist. Both hydrocele and varicoceles are entirely benign conditions and shouldn't affect the production of testosterone. The exception would be if the blood supply to the testis is compromised, e.g. at surgery, but the endocrinologist might want you to see a urologist just to make sure.

Regards,

David

I think diffuse thinning is more common in women who are hypothyroid but it's difficult to be certain. I'm inclined to think that the stubble sized shedding is more likely to be associated with the hypothyroidism as that when untreated does lead to brittle hair that breaks off easily. I doubt that it's anything to do with shedding due to the finasteride if you've been on that for a year.

Regards,

David (Postdoc)

Drugs prescribed for ADD like Adderall and Ritalin can cause hair loss although this isn't related to androgenic hairloss. As you're three months post HT, I'd be very wary of going back on anything that might impact on the hair that's about to sprout forth. As a UK medic, I'm also very sceptical of the diagnosis of ADD in adults anyway. Best of luck with your growth!

Regards,

David (Postdoc)

Sorry to hear that you've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism. As you probably know, both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are associated with a speed up of the conversion of testosterone to DHT, so hair loss in both conditions can be a problem but isn't inevitable. The pattern of hair loss tends to be different in the two conditions, so hypothyroidism is more associated with loss of body hair and, strangely, the lateral third of the eyebrows, and hyperthyroidism with diffuse thinning. As you're already taking finasteride this should hopefully be somewhat protective. The other key thing is to get the dose of thyroid hormone replacement right. 50 mcg sounds a good starting dose but you need to make sure your family doctor is keeping a close eye on your thyroid function tests.

Regards,

David (Postdoc)