vincentvega

Hey, been occasionally lurking on these forums for around 10 years now but think I'm going to be in a position to take some action this year. 37 year old Brit currently living in Brazil. Given my hair loss is pretty advanced I thinking my best option would be go for SMP and fill in what's always been a pretty patchy beard with a transplant. So a few questions here really. Does what I suggested seem like a good course of action? Do I have enough to work with for a beard transplant? The fact that there are no clinics listed on here in South America means I ought to travel elsewhere right? Interestingly Brazil is famous for cosmetic surgery but gets no mention on here. Where would you recommend? Should I look for separate clinics for both procedures to get the best result? I noticed Eugenix don't offer SMP for example. Thank you.

Hey iiieee, Thanks again for you long response, but with the utmost respect I'm not sure I can put that much faith in the science of your argument for stopping Finasteride. As I'm aware, Finasteride inhibits DHT, while Minoxodil stimulates blood flow to the hair follicles. I don't think you can really compare the strength of them as they work in totally different ways. Finasteride itself doesn't go to the hair follicle, but reduces the amount of DHT that does, so this idea of blocked Finasteride at the follicle causing damage just doesn't add up for me, sorry. As it stands Minoxodil is not helping me massively. Do you still feel I'm making mistakes with it? Because I'm pretty sure I'm using it as I'm supposed to. It seems to me that trying Finasteride would be a better bet for me as I'm not having great results from the Minoxodil. Surely hedging all my bets on something (Minoxodil) that's not working hugely well for me would not be the best of ideas? I'm glad to hear that you think there's no way Minoxodil can be making things worse. For the me fact that they tell you not to continue to take it if you see no results is a sign that perhaps for certain cases it can be detrimental. Either way I'd love to know if anyone else has any experiences similar to mine because at the moment I'm still at a total loss. Will I make things worse by stopping or carrying on?! With regards to my hair loss history, if you're still interested, I started loosing my hair in the early - mid 20's, it was very gradual until I started taking Minoxodil 15 months ago, and since an initial gain (or what I thought was a gain, perhaps I was kidding myself) my hair loss has been pretty rapid over the last year. I'm 30 in 6 months. Many thanks, any advice greatly received x

Hey iiieee, Thank you for your long and detailed response. I can assure you I have been using Regaine correctly, as per the instructions. Twice a day, usually at around 12 midday and again at around 12 midnight before bed. My hair has never been very long, but especially so recently as now I cut the top to a grade 4, so I can't see the length being an issue either. I have missed the odd application but this is rare, I've done my best to stick to it as I'm aware you need to be strict with it. As for going outside, I work from home so I'd imagine I've been doing this less than the average user. Can you explain why you think using both Regaine and Finasteride can be detrimental please? This is not a common belief held on these forums from what I can tell. From what I can see it seems more like you saw bad results from the Regaine due to the way you applied it. I kind of feel we both react to Minoxodil in different ways. I saw a small bit of regrowth initially but have been loosing ever since. You however it seems, with the right regime get a lot more positive results. I can attribute my experience to only two things: 1. My hair is thinning so rapidly that minoxodil just doesn't cut the mustard in curbing it. Looking at my Dad as evidence, this is genetically feasible. 2. Minoxodil is actually making things worse for me. Looking at my brother who is 12 years my senior and still fairly thick on top, this could be feasible too. So essentially this takes me back to my original question which is the most important thing for me to know: Can Regaine/Minoxodil actually make things worse in some cases? For me I have to say the evidence is pointing to this being a possibility. I would be seriously happy if anyone could verify or debunk this. Either way given the fact that Regaine is not working for me, surely the best option here would be to wait and see how the Finsateride works out for me and then stop the Regaine if/when I begin to see a change. Or perhaps keep using them both together if the results are good. Which leads me to my other important question, am I likely to see a large shed when I stop using Regaine? Many thanks.

Totally see where you're coming from here, but this loss has been a gradual thing over the last year or so. I'm yet to notice any change in the last month since taking Finasteride. I haven't made any noticable Regaine progress for about a year or so. Quite the opposite in fact. Cheers!

Just to be clear, both these shots are taken on the same day, and I'm 100% sure I have less hair than I did a year ago. Thanks!

Thanks iiieee, really looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks for the advice gents.

No-one got anything to say on this? Would really appreciate some feedback, thanks.

Hi there, I realise that this is probably a fairly common question but after a fair bit of forum reading I'm still unsure what to do. I have been using Regaine for about 15 months and while it has usually seemed to make my hair shed a bit less, I am now quite a lot thinner on top than when I started. I have just started taking Finsateride but am yet to notice any effects as I have only been on it for a month or so. Most of the advice on forums is to continue using Regaine/Rogaine/Minoxodil, but I am genuinely starting think it could be doing more harm than good. So I guess my question is: Can Minoxodil do more harm than good, or worst case scenario can it just be quite ineffective in some cases? And would you advise me to continue taking it or not? Will things get even worse if I stop? I started off with some slight thinning at the crown and front (somewhere between a Norwood 2 and 3V) and now things have got a fair bit worse as you can see from the pictures I have attached. Would really appreciate some feedback. Thanks in advance