Skyline8

7 weeks post FUE. Was so down, panic mode, and edging towards depression, during my 2nd week. Kind of regret it but still looking forward for the best to come. Made a daily journal, but now tend to write weekly as I have learned to live with the ugly duckling stage. Getting bored of being impatient. Tired of so supplements in the hope of doubling the pace of hair growth. So I will just have those biotin and L-cysteine if feel like. Pace of Nature did not change no matter what I take. So I now try to relax and sleep more. Little bit of exercise twice a week, once for legs, once for upper. My doctor strictly advice not to exercise until 30 days past post op. As newly transplanted follicles needs all the energy to recover and not divided attention due to exercise recovery pains. It turned out that I gain more muscle mass with 2x per week exercise, once for legs and once for upper either only shoulders, chest or back, alternating every week. More rest the more gain worked for me. Max 45 mins per session, broken down to 10 mins stretch, 5 mins warm up 15 mins routine, 15 mins static stretch. No more than that 45' as cortisol develops after that and not good for adapting follicles. More time for family too. Before I was so impatient at building muscles doing gym daily, sometimes 2x daily sacrificing my social and family life. More gym time did and heavy resistance training did not really gain more, than what I do now. Good form more stretching or yoga during cool down to neutralize lactic acid build up during resistance training. It seems the HT had forced me to be more mature, patient and disciplined. I learned how to keep natural process work. Few things I can't remove in my new habits are shampooing everyday sometimes 2x a day w sebamed everyday shampoo, massaging scalp with olive oil 30 mins before shampoo (as doc recommends) Then massage with Alpecin Caffein Liquid (from Germany) in the morning. I don't know if it helps but I just did it despite doc says no. Doc also recommended within first two weeks and continue until contents last of sebamed body lotion to be patted lightly on hair for two weeks 20 mins before shampoo. After two weeks massage lotion on scalp alternating with olive oil, seems to improve break out of pus-filled pimples, which doc says a natural event. Anyway, i will just finish the bottle and leave it to nature. At night before sleep, shampoo and massage with kaminomoto from Japan (not recommended by doc), now it's finish so i will stop. I just realized how helpless I become trying everthing. But no clear evidence if it worked. Perhaps I will just start with Minoxidil, as it did work, 2 years ago but I stopped it as I feel Im getting vain with the addiction of daily minox massage and missing my life. Anyway, Ive got the intense habit of massaging scalp with unproven stuff after FUE. So I realize I will come back to what work, which I stopped because I became lazy, now I realized I might not have done FUE should not I stopped minox. In addition to Minox I used propecia too two years ago and stopped it all together then I saw dramatic balding in the next year that followed, which put me on panic mode and HT. After 53, days I am seeing 2-4 thicker hairs sprouting per sq cm among the 15-20 hair follicles transplanted in the recipient area. Panic mode with the thought that what about the other follicles to be not growing. The idea of transplanting 15-20 from where they flourished in the donor area and having 75% mortality is not cool at all. But I hope the others are still on its telugen phase. 2-4 out of 15-20 planted sounds a big loss. But I try to think positive coz anyway I cant bring back the day when I was considering not to push through with HT. Now I realized Minox daily forever and propecia forever should have been accepted as a daily routine starting 2 years ago when I was 37. Now getting back to the lazy me, getting my own experiment on dutastiride, once a week only, ha, I became disciplined at last, strictly every weekend only so that I will never forget and making the habit not so expensive. Still horny after getting used to it after 2 weeks of daily duta dose. Minox, finastiride, and duta are not recommended by my doc. Not started with minox yet, no fina, just duta I tried on experimental basis. Impatient as I am and on panic mode. After all the transplanted hair and its neighboring miniaturized hairs all fell off in a rate of 70-100 hairs per day. Now I barely notice hair being washed away during shampoo, sometimes less than 5 a day, sometimes 1 only or sometimes none. Good sign, but I can see my hair density (about 1 - 2cm in length) now improved because of the reduction of hair loss not because of the transplanted hair adding volume because only 2-4 thick hairs about 2mm are observed to be growing per sq cm on what was agreed as 15-20 hair follicles transplanted per cm in the recipient area. I think I could have done away with HT should I just resorted to daily massage of minox and prepecia. However, I remember 2 years ago that still gave so many falling hairs even with the minox - finastiride regimen. Perhaps the Alpecin caffein liquid, kaminomoto, olive oil, Doc strictly prohibits alcohol until 30 days, as it robs oxygen needed by newly transplanted follicles. Now at 7 weeks, I learned how to live without alcohol. Perhaps I will only drink to socialize. Quit smoking finally and never to come back. Now I realized I have learned to be patient, mature and disciplined, and getting the most result out of it. Except for those 3 virtuesI gained from HT, aesthetic gains is difficult to justify after all the sufferings and depression.