BeardedOne

Hi Yaz,

your results look really good so far, well done. You have an exciting few months ahead of you. Happy growing!

Looking really good JohnnyDrama, you must be chuffed. Thanks for keeping us all updated and contributing regularly to the forum, that good karma is finding its way into your follicles!

I just took my Daily pill with a Big Black cop of coffie ???

Want do that anymore, just in case.

Yep, may as well be on the safe side. Who knows, it may be the difference between you being a good responder and a great responder! :cool:

The biggest downside with mild recession is you put the transplanted hair in the front and the rest behind it continues to receed. Then you have to go back for further work in a short period of time adding to the cost and inconvenience of it all. There's then the concern you may run out of donor supply, especially if you aim for high density in the front hairline.

 

Therefore it's best to try to stabilise your loss with medications like Propecia and Rogaine, ideally for 12 months prior to a HT. You can then formulate a long term plan where you may, for example, accept the possibility of having to go back in 10-15 years time for more work - somewhat preferable compared to going back in just a couple of years.

This is very good advice. I was advised the same at a recent consultation with a leading HT surgeon. Best to stabilise your hair loss first before even considering a HT.

When you think you are ready for a HT, then both Hasson & Wong and Rahal are not too far from you, and they consistently produce excellent results.

To be clear, I don't know whether coffee affects finasteride absorption at all, and would like to know from experts if it does - but if we are willing to take a pill every day to combat our hair loss then why risk reducing its impact by drinking a cup of coffee??

That's some result so far 1978matt, congratulations! As JohnnyDrama said you better cook up a good story!

OtherSyde - "hi-def hair porn" - genius!!

I know many people take all their pills in one go in the morning - coffee significantly reduces the absorption of multivitamins into the system and increase their excretion from the body. Although I don't know of any clinical studies it is fair to imagine the coffee does the exact same to finasteride. Does anyone have any experience of this?

This does not mean anyone has to give up coffee! Rather, don't have a cup of coffee right after you've taken your pills, and conversely wait an hour after your cup of coffee before you take your pills.

Bottom line is, don't wash your finasteride down with a mug of coffee!

I don't think vanity is a dirty word. I am admittedly a very vain person. I worry about my hair and I want it to be perfect! I think that the damage that mpb does to our self image is significant, too. However to write off baldness or balding as an issue of vanity denies the psycho-social effect that it has. Paulygon mentioned it - going bald is frequently held up as a joke, a male weakness, whether in the jokes of comedians or how movies are cast or how men are portrayed in popular media. I believe there was a movie made in the last 10 years about a geeky outcast in school based around the fact he was prematurely balding! This makes me feel that, no matter what I accomplish, there is a part of me that is dwindling away at a faster rate than others, out of my control like no other aspect of my life, and therefore I can never be the person I want to be. I still have quite a lot of hair, but losing my hair, however slowly, makes me feel weak, anxious, and depressed. And these feelings are among the strongest I've felt in years. They make me unable to accept myself as I am.

So my desire to reverse mpb (!), or to restore my hair to something I can accept, is definitely spurred by my desire to look my best but in my opinion more fundamentally to combat these feelings of weakness and anxiety that potentially balding brings. I just don't want to worry about my hair - life throws enough curve balls!

Gosh I sound quite desperate, I'm really not that bad! Started fin 6 weeks ago and full of high hopes - I just want to reach a stage where I don't think about it anymore.

Hi Chemicalbrother, hi WHTC, I'm about 6 weeks into 1.25mg of finasteride per day and I seem to be able to tolerate the drug okay at present, I hope it stays that way. I can't say I've seen much difference yet but I'm aware that any results will take between 6-12 months to be really visible. In fact I have probably had a significant shed, or at least it appears that presently my hair and especially my hairline are very thin. So basically my regime is 1.25mg fin per day, 1 x rogaine 5% foam every night, and a 2% ket shampoo 1/2 times per week. THE BIG THREE.

I think that going on medication is, for me, a very positive step. At the end of the day, after I have allowed enough time for fin to do its work - however successful that may be - I will know where I stand as regards non-surgical solutions. Taking that quarter pill every day relaxes me somehow, basically tells me that I'm doing what I can at the moment, and I really want to give it loads of time to make sure that I have arrested my loss or that I have tested how far the drug can take me. If it manages to at least stabilise my loss, then great - I can plan a restoration strategy around that and move forward. If not, well, at least I know that I have done what I can.

Guys, I really don't know anything about dutasteride. Is it a much stronger version of fin? Is it available by prescription? I come from a medical background and so I am very tentative about signing up to a lifetime of prescription drugs, so I will give fin at least a few years before I move towards anything stronger, but does dut produce much better results?

All the best and a happy new year to everybody! WHTC I wish you and your team all the best with developing a donor doubling procedure! If and when you are successful please PM me!

Spanker - do you really think it is vanity that brings us all here? I believe most of us are here because of confidence/anxiety/depression issues linked to losing one's hair and corresponding sense of identity. I don't think it's as straightforward as trying to look our best or regain our youth with a full head of hair.

My own anxiety/depression linked to my hair threatens to take over my life every once in a while, it becomes all-consuming. I don't think it is simple vanity that compels me to confront mpb. In fact I feel dismayed every time I see an article in the media about baldness that talks about vain old men buying back their youth through HTs as if the only reason they're doing it is to pick up some more chicks.

Not trying to pick a fight here! But I do think it's an important discussion

Hi ChemicalBrother,

sorry for the late reply, I was out of the country for a while and didn't think to login to the site.

Dr. Bisanga measured my donor and found it to be 75 per cm sq, medium fine hair. I also have roughly 15% miniaturisation happening on top of my head. While it kind of sucked to hear I wasn't a good candidate yet, at least it forced my hand about finasteride, so hopefully that can stabilise the loss.

I saw that you are taking meds - how do you feel they have worked for you?

Hello WHTC,

many thanks for your viewpoint on my loss and for the great information, it all definitely helps to get a more rounded understanding of what is happening on my head! The more viewpoints the merrier, really.

I know that some experts consider the crown a black hole for hair grafts, but it is nice to hear that you agree that perhaps a sprinkling of grafts may help to give the illusion of greater density.

I recently attended a consultation with Dr. Bisanga and we decided to delay talk of a HT for at least a year, and in the meantime to begin a course of finasteride. I have roughly 15% miniaturisation going on from zones 2-4 so I am hoping to stabilise (and hopefully regrow!) these areas first before looking at a plan of action.

Have a great weekend!

Great result!

Looking great for just 3 months JohnnyDrama, I can completely relate to the whole swimming thing, while I didn't avoid it I can admit that I am always so paranoid about it when swimming, sports, sweating, when it's windy and so on. Not nice.

Stublue these are fantastic results, very natural and a great hairline. And your centre forelock seems to have really filled in over time!

Hi, your results look great so far. Do you have any pre-op photos for comparison?

Hello all,

I just had a consultation with Dr. Bisanga yesterday and I wanted to put the details up here to demystify the process for everyone else.

First off, it all began so well, with 'So... you have a full head of hair, why are you here?'. He then checked out three areas in my safe zone and found average donor density to be about 75/cm, or 6000-8000 donor units. He ascertained my hair to be 'medium fine'. He described my current state as NW2V, with a decent hairline and some thinning at the back. All good so far. (n.b. I don't have accurate numbers, just from memory)

However, on closer inspection he discovered some miniaturisation all the way back, from zones 2-4. He therefore wouldn't recommend a HT at present, but instead wants me to take finasteride for at least a year to see if the miniaturisation stabilises. Then I will see him again and we will plan a course of action from there.

As he stressed, battling hair loss isn't just 5 years, it isn't even 10 or 20 years - he is planning for how I look when I'm 65 or 70. I could be happy, over the moon, with my HT results for 5 years but then the rot sets in, the miniaturised all fall out and all of a sudden it looks terrible.

So, while I definitely feel deflated, I am glad that Dr. Bisanga was so frank with me and so ethical in his prognosis. He could have taken the money and offered the HT, but he didn't. I am now even more confident in choosing him, he is not just a skilled surgeon but also an honest man.

Here are my 'before' pics. The last two pics were taken over 7 years ago - so apologies for the resolution. I'm putting them in to show that, really, at least the positioning of my hairline hasn't changed all that much in the interim.

If I was to sum up my emotions right now it would be :confused:. It's good that I know where I stand and that I have to stop thinking of a HT for at least a year, but it's bad that I just may not even be a HT candidate in the future, depending on fin.

Anyways, I hope this info is of help to other newbies such as myself. I'm off to find a way to get me some finasteride - any advice here would be most welcome!!

BeardedOne

what a fantastic result given where he started. This seems to be an optimum combination of a HT and finasteride.

Whether or not the longer hair style works can only be determined on a trial and error basis. Several factors may also play role including hair color and texture, skin color, and the facial features of the patient.

I can't argue with that.

these are excellent results. You must be over the moon! Congratulations.

Hi JohnnyDrama, thanks for your reply. I'm familiar with your journey, it was a great help in providing more info on Dr. Bisanga! I can't believe I forgot to mention above - I'm opting for FUE!

About shaving, etc - my questions relate to how I could style my hair once all grafts have grown in. I am strangely fascinated by the requirement to shave my head. Haven't done it since I was 16 so it will be a pleasant change for myself, if nothing else! I'm also factoring in a career-break into my HT... I'm still really paranoid about being 'found out', even though I know I shouldn't be and I have nothing to be ashamed of.

Again, thanks for your help and have a good weekend!

FIrst of all... thanks to the mods, the reps and the regular posters for providing some amazing information on this forum. It is a treasure for anyone researching all things related to hair loss and hair restoration! I've been a long-time lurker here even though I've stayed silent. Next week I will have my first face-to-face consultation with a hair restoration surgeon - Dr. Bisanga - and I think I've picked a really top one on the basis of your help!

About myself... I'm 32, started noticing my hair loss very gradually about 7 years ago. It's been very slow, and to be honest with how I style it you would only notice minimal loss, if at all. My dad has a full head of hair and his dad had a pretty decent patch when he died. My mother's side is a different story, with quite a bit of baldness there. All my uncles have lost at least some hair, though nobody is beyond NW4 I would say. Apart from a few comments here and there nobody seems to notice my own thinning spots.

But the psychological damage of hair loss has been really severe, if I'm honest. This never seems to get picked up on - every time HTs are in the news its because someone made a 'cosmetic' choice or something to do with vanity. This is all complete BS if you ask me. I mean, I go out, I have an active social life, it doesn't seem to affect me with the ladies in the slightest, and I am determined to put myself in the firing line and get on with things, with work, everything really. I don't shy away from it - but as I'm sure a lot of you understand my hair loss weighs on my mind all day, every day. It has really, seriously affected my capacity to just move on with my life.

So... I've tried a few regimens, been on and off minoxidil for about 2 years now, I've recently added saw palmetto, tried Biotin, nizoral, I take my vitamins, a multivitamin with pygeum extract and nettle root and emu oil, argan oil, etc etc... I don't think I've seen too much of a change with anything, save for perhaps the minoxidil shredding my hairline a little! My current regime is minoxidil 5% foam 1-2 times daily and Nizoral 2% once per week. I will give minoxidil another 6 months and if I still think it's been either useless or detrimental to my hair then I will give it up. I'm scared of propecia, I've followed the mass of debates from the pro and contra camps and I am still undecided whether to take it or not.

So next week I'll meet with Dr. Bisanga. I'm quite comfortable with this decision because of his results with similar barnets to my own, and also because of the amazing help of Stephen. I have not made up my mind about a transplant yet, it really is such a harrowing and agonising decision, and in my correspondence with Stephen I really felt that he gets that and understands. So I am really looking forward to meeting Dr. Bisanga and hearing what he has to say, whether I have realistic goals and what would be the best plan for my bonce.

I've attached a few recent snaps and I'd welcome some comments as to what might be a realistic expectation. I'd guesstimate that I am about a NW2-2.5 at the moment and I would love to be able to secure my hairline at NW1.5. I deliberately took photos under very bright daylight and also with greasy hair, slicked back, as I think it's easier to judge that way. My crown, while a little bit thinning, doesn't look nearly as bad in reality as in the photo, for instance!

I also have a few questions that I'd love some insights on - I'll be sure to ask Dr. Bisanga next week but I'd like to ask you guys, too.

1. What NW am I?

2. What do you guys think of sticking a few hundred grafts into the crown?

3. Will I be able to slick back my hair and have the transplant remain undetected?

4. Is it possible to shave down to Blade 2 or 3 after a transplant and have it remain undetected?

5. Can I style my hair whatever way I want after a transplant or do most people tend to sweep it forward to cover the hairline?

6. In short - can it remain undetected?

anyways sorry for the long post, I'll be sure to keep it all short and sweet from now on.