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FollicullarlyHopeful

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Country
    United States
  • State
    MI

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  1. Thanks David, I didn't realize it was approved that long ago, so I didn't search that far back. I just checked Costco prices and generic propecia is about half the cost of name brand, but still expensive. 100 days of generic is $134. Eqivalent 100 days of cut up proscar brand is $112, which is what I'm taking now. If brand name Propecia is not an option for me, due to price, would it be better to get brand name proscar, or get generic propecia (or just get generic proscar)? I hear mixed reviews on each. I of course like the price of generic proscar the best, but want to make sure I'm getting something effective. Have heard Proscar brand is more likely to work than generic but also heard that cutting up pills can oxidize the pills quickly and also that potentially all of the active ingredient could be in just one section of the pill, so the other 3 days you may be only getting a placebo. Lots of confusing info. found.
  2. Does anyone know of anyone offering temporary SMP in the south, near Tennessee or that general area? If it were a one trip session, I would just fly to wherever, but the first session needs a month followup and then after that, it's every year or so. Need something closer because of that. Thanks.
  3. I read in other sites as well as on the FDA site that the patent for Propecia ends next week on Nov. 5th. I have not been able to find any recent discussion on this in this forum (but if I missed it, I apologize). Has anyone heard of any reputable US generics that are ready and just waiting for the official end of Merck's patent?
  4. Thanks for the info. As for the strip procedure, I realize that smp and fue are not going to be enough to conceal it with short hair (I have long hair now and don't need anything to conceal my previous strip scar). But I want to have short hair in the near future. So what choice do I have? Skipping the donor scar is not an option as I've had multiple H.T.'s already, so that's too late. By getting one more strip procedure I'm only getting a new donor scar in place of the old one. And once that heals, my choic is FUE and SMP or what? I would keep my hair longer, but I have Lichen Planopilaris which causes scarring alopecia. It 's small patches of scarred skin w/ no hair. Thankfully the patches are spread out to wear I can somewhat cover most of them, as I have enough hair. But I have to use scalp concealer, as my transplanted hair is already thin enough, but adde some scarring, bald patches makes it tougher. I'm at the point of just wanting to cut my hair real short, try my best to blend in the scars with smp (which won't accept grafts) plus some fue in my donor scar, which will hopefully accept at least some grafts. Either way my head/hair will look funny, but keep it real short w/ smp would be a better option, I feel, as the scarring alopecia can be blended in a little with smp, if it's blendin in with very short hair around it. If it's competing with long hair around it, the smp won't look as much like hair, as it, at best, would look like I shaved my hair almost to the scalp in various patches, yet left the rest long. not a good look. There's no ideal way to deal with my situation, but I'm just looking for the best option(s) to make the best of the hand I've been dealt.
  5. I am planning to get a strip surgery next month, Nov., and want to get SMP pigmentation soon after that. If I want SMP on the donor scar, how long should I wait for donor scar to heal enough to get the SMP? Or if I skip the donor scar for now, how long to wait for SMP in the recipient area? Also does not anyone know how successful SMP is in patches of scarring alopecia? Lastly, if I eventually want to get FUE into the donor scar also, how long to wait after the strip surgery? Thank you for any advice that can be offered.
  6. That was my first thought too. I had never had FUE, only 3 strip surgeries, but may consider doing so. This dr. doesn't do FUE, but there are a ton of great docs that do. I was saving FUE for when I run out of laxicity (in a few months I'll know if that is the case yet or not). But with this scare I might go w/ FUE either way. The biggest concerns I have about FUE are price (main reason) and 2nd the amount that can be done in one session. As I look into it though, it seems alot can be done in one session now, so that may not be a factor after all. That leaves the big one- cost of FUE compared to strip.
  7. Good point- laxicity will be a big factor. If it's ok by next year and results from this procedure are good, I may go back for one more. If not, may go to a dr. who does FUE.
  8. I know it is an odd story, but true (wish it weren't). I'm doing good now, I think (just waiting for the recipient area to grow in). If it does grow in well and I'm satisfied with the work of this dr. I will consider going back, now that I'm confirming how rare this type of complication is. Thanks for the replies so far.
  9. I am wondering if anyone else has had, or even heard of, the type of "nightmare" I had with my last hair transplant. This was my 3rd procedure (different dr. each time) and so I was accustumed to the procedure already. This 3rd surgery (this past March) went well like the previous ones without any problems, until about 6 days after the surgery. I was working and was at my computer, when I sneezed. I jerked my head forward as I usually do when I sneeze, but this time I felt alot of pressure in my head and it felt like the skin in the back of my head was ripping (felt like the donor incision was tearing open). My skin got tighter and tighter and got painful very fast so I rushed to the bathroom (thankfully I work at home). I wanted to use some mirrors to see if the back was bleeding. Before I got there, the blood was already coming down the front of my shirt. I got to the mirror to see the back and saw the blood on the front of my shirt was nothing compared to the back. It was gushing so much I had to wrap a towel around my head tightly in fear of losing too much and decided to call 911 for myself (never done that before). EMS arrived and wrapped me w/ pressure bandages and took me to ER. There, then wrapped me even tighter, as they couldn't get the bleeding to stop and my head was swollen in the back. They got the outside to stop eventually but it was still bleeding inside some. Anyway after hours at the hospital that night, they suggested I see my surgeon, as they only got my bleeding stabilized. I did and my HT surgeon cleaned me up to see the incision and it bled uncontrollably, so he had to remove my stitches and “go back in”. He searched until he found a blood vessel that was ruptured. He tied it off/cauterized to stop the bleeding, then stitched me back up. The pain for the next few weeks was worse than the pain from the initial procedure. It seems to be healing ok now, but I'm scared to get another procedure now. My dr. said he believes that the blood vessel must have been sitting under a stitch, being pressed by the stitch, then when I sneezed and jerked my head, the stitch sliced through the blood vessel. He said this is very rare. I would maybe not even consider another procedure after being freaked out by that, but my 1st procedure was not done well, leaving scarring and weird patterned hair up front. So this recent procedure was like a repair job (part 1 of 2) and I can really use the part 2 of 2, but am a little scared now. I share all of that to see if anyone has heard of such a thing and if this or similar complications are rare or not. This dr. worked out so well in every way (except this complication) that I really want to go back to him, but not sure if I should or if I should even get another procedure period if a similar complication could happen. Thanks for any info/advice you may have.
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