HairmanOfTheBored

Thank you so much for your replies. I think there's some great advice here that I really took to heart. Specifically the advice saying "well, don't get one". I would never consider cosmetic surgery for anything else as I am mostly happy with the way I look. Even the space between my front teeth. I don't mind the shaved look at all, but I'm lucky that it works for me and the shape of my head in general. Although I would love to have all my hair back, I'm willing to wait. Who knows what the next 10 years will bring in the form of treatments and surgical techniques? Perhaps the Finasterid will stop working in the near future and I'll be happy I didn't go through with something now? I suppose for me the best thing to do is wait and cross my fingers for cloning, stem cells, magic pills, and save my money :-) Perhaps no miracle treatment will happen during the next 10 years, but at least at that point FUE will be much better practised!

Hiya! Been lurking on here the past three years after deciding I would one day have a transplant done (FUE), but just stepped it up recently and started posting and doing more intensive research. I have narrowed down my list of surgeons (mostly in Europe), know my tools and hole punch sizes, filled in online consults with my photos and info and decided I would switch jobs and take a month off in between to either do this or not. The money is in the bank, though I would like to keep as much of it there as possible ;-) A bit about me: 34 years-old, been on Finasterid approximately 1.25 mg for the past five years. I get the 5 mg tablets, get out my cutting board, scalpel and Ikea lamp and cut them up because it makes me feel like I'm on Breaking Bad. Hair loss stopped completely at about a NWIV and I have no noticeable side effects. Grew my hair out a bit to take some photos, and promptly shaved it again, something I've been doing for about seven years now. I have had no problem getting girls since my hair loss and now have a wonderful girlfriend I've been living with for a while. I've got friends, have more self-confidence now than when I was a spot-ridden teenager and no one at work seems to care if I've got hair or not. I really wanted to get the procedure done for me, myself and I if nothing or no one else. I had such wonderful hair and I miss it. The rug really brought the room together, as the Dude says in The Big Lebowski. Hell, I would probably still even shave it short like I'm doing now, at least occasionally, but at least I would have the option of growing it out a bit. The issue, however, is that I started really having second thoughts after reading a bunch of negative comments and experiences with transplantation. I had until now been focused on the positive aspects of it with the ever present potential complications in mind. But some of what I've been reading is quite scary. Finasterid(e)/Propecia stops working eventually. Polka-dotted scars all over your head. Folliculitis with cysts and white pimples and red carbuncles in both the donor and recipient area. The most frightening is that the medicine that has worked so well for me eventually stops working, but I cannot figure out if this is for all men, just some, or what factors are involved. Perhaps researchers will understand this better in the future. If that is the case and my hair falls out just leaving the transplants, I will be left with a ridiculous-looking head. I would rather age gracefully or wait until cloning or stem cell treatment are viable, permanent options. Speaking of which, I had an online consult with Dr. C in Atlanta who believes I need 3000 grafts which would be done in two separate sessions. I'm not sure I'm allowed to post the price I was quoted, but this would equal purchasing a brand new car in the United States (or the same car here in Norway, but 10 years-old and with 150000 km on it). On top of that, they started talking about Acell and PRP and liposomal ATP treatments, which increase the cost astronomically. If money was no object, yeah, I would go for the transgenic King Cobra venom potion and the aqueous Tunguska meteorite salve because I wouldn't want to think back several months afterwards with only 10% viable grafts as I'm popping white heads on my scalp and think "what if?". I am a medical professional myself and do research on the side. I'm just a radiologist-in-training, but I know that this stuff has to be tested thoroughly and gone through double blind trials and then the results have to rigged with statistics before anyone can say with any certainty whether they work or not. Still, the X-Files side of me wants to believe! And that is dangerous. When they say "we're one of three clinics in the world offering X", I wonder if that's because they're so cutting-edge or because they're not so ethical. With this wall of text, I suppose I'm just sort of wondering if I'm alone in my thoughts about the ethics of hair transplantation, the extra unproven treatments they offer, Finasterid(e) ceasing to work and me ending up looking like a fool, the ridiculous costs involved in getting an outstanding surgeon, etc. I'm sort of wondering if I should wait, which would mean new treatments, seeing if my medication stops working, possible price decrease... I have so many thoughts and questions, it's hard to formulate everything into a short, coherent paragraph. My woman says I should just go for it, but she hasn't read everything that I have!

Please post some more pictures! Preferably the top of your head and donor area :-) Hilsen fra Norge :-)

Really appreciate your thread and photo journal. You have some amazing results! Learned a lot by reading through everything, too. I'm much farther along in hair loss than you were when you had your procedure done. So I'm trying not to think I'm going to have a thick head of hair up if and when I have a procedure done while I'm look at your photos. I have been in contact with Transmed, but have since read quite mixed reviews. Keser hasn't gotten back to me yet. I'm interested in how you got in touch with Eser?

I'm looking for the same sort of information as in posts #11 and 12.

Hiya, I was hoping to find some photos of your results here or on your blog, but I was unable. Not sure if I missed something. I have been looking at surgeons in Turkey, but I'm sceptical as there are some very mixed reviews (with the exception of Dr. Keser). Have you posted any photos? EDIT: I found what I was looking for in this thread: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/166347-2800-fue-dr-eser-ayadogdu-istanbul.html