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Eli81

Regular Member
  • Posts

    11
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Basic Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Country
    United States
  • State
    SC

Hair Loss Overview

  • Describe Your Hair Loss Pattern
    Thinning on Top only (Genetic Baldness)
  • How long have you been losing your hair?
    In the last 5 years
  • Norwood Level if Known
    Norwood II
  • What Best Describes Your Goals?
    Maintain and Regrow Hair

Hair Loss Treatments

  • Have you ever had a hair transplant?
    Yes
  • Hair Transplant Surgeon
    Dr. Mike Vories
  • Current Non-Surgical Treatment Regime
    Propecia (Finasteride)
    Rogaine Extra Strength for Men
    Nioxin Shampoo

Hair Loss Story

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  1. Invictus2012, I have had no side effects from Finaseride whatsoever. I started on generic, and just recently switched to Name brand Proscar. It personally just feel better with name brand meds. People will disagree with me on here, but I swear it works better. I would do a little more research on finasteride, and where it works. It actually lowers DHT levels in the entire scalp, so it should work on your entire scalp. I have very defined pattern diffuse loss and it made me entire scalp look tons better. Check out my pictures on the first page of this post; I put a picture of myself before any meds at all, and then after 6 months on fin. The results are clear with me. You can my hair quality improved all over. From what I understand, the minority experience side effects...Fin and rogaine are the best we have right now, and the only 2 FDA approved products on the market. What they're best at is turning vellous hair into healthy hair again, and keeping what you have. I highly suggest getting on both, man. Even if you get sides, most of the time they go away as soon as you stop taking the drug. Take care
  2. Invictus2012, I forgot to mention in my last post that I have been stable on finasteride for about 1 1/2 years now, which I'm sure helped with my shock loss. Talk to u soon
  3. Invictus2012, I forgot to mention in my last post that I have been stable on finasteride for about 1 1/2 years now, which I'm sure helped with my shock loss. Talk to u soon
  4. Invictus 2012, I'll check your post and look at your pictures here later on. Glad to hear we had the same surgeon! Try not to get too worried if you get some shock loss. It freaked me out for sure, but I can tell you it got better for me as time went on. So, if it does happen to you try not to worry too much about it:). I know it's hard, but also try not to evaluate your results every day...I know I did this, and it about drove me insane:). I think it most cases everything gets a little worse before it gets better. It's worth the wait, though! I suggest taking monthly photos in the same place under the same light, and compare them as you progress. I did this, and it has helped me track my progress. I guess when I said I'm not satisfied I meant I wouldn't be satisfied if what I have right now is all I got. We gotta wait a year for those full results though. It's funny..My hair looks better and better each day. From what I understand from 6-12 months we see small (texture, diameter) changes, but it's crazy how I can start to see these and what a difference they make.People around me (friends, family, etc) are even commenting every day on my improvement. I'm still anticipating more improvements, though. I wore about a 1 1/2-2 guard buzz through about 3 months. I honestly kind of like the way I look with a buzz, so it didn't bother me too much. I know everyone is different, though. If you're cool with it, then go for it! When I buzzed down that short no one knew I had any loss. My hairline is still pretty well intact, so that help with a buzz.. I tell you all this because I know you're in a hard spot, but hang in because It's worth the wait. It's such a long process, but try to trust in your decision to have it done. I'm starting to "come out of the woods," and I remember being where you were a few months ago...Hang in there, dude. I hope I answered your questions, but please ask me any more if you want. Always remember to relay any concerns to your doctor as well. Talk to you soon!
  5. Invictus2012, ....Sorry, just saw you said you recently had a procedure, so disregard my 2nd paragraph:) I hope everything went well in your procedure? How far out are you from surgery..?
  6. Invictus2012, I did suffer some shock loss (about 25% of native hair), which my doctor warned me about prior to the surgery. He assured me it would all be temporary, and would start coming back about the time my grafts start to grow. It was the worst about 2-3 months after surgery, and it looked pretty bad up until about 5 months. You hear people say you take about 5 steps backwards before you take 10 steps forward. I think this is very true, and maybe the hardest part of hair surgery... I can't say for sure how much shock loss hair has grown back at this point, but I honestly feel like I look better (and continue to look better weekly) than before surgery. I think I have a combination of graft hair coming in and native hair returning. My hope is that as my grafted hair grows and matures and shock loss comes back, my hair's appearance will continue to improve. The hard thing is I'm at 6 1/2 months right now, and it's hard to tell/see what's growing back/maturing (native shock loss hair, transplant hair) since I have/had a good bit of native hair before surgery. I'm not satisfied with what I have right now, but I'm happy with my progress and confident I will continue to see improvements over the next few months as I get closer to the one year mark. My advice would be to speak with several surgeons, and discuss the possibility of shock loss if you're thinking of transplanting into an area with lots of native hair. I think many times it can be better to try finasteride and Rogaine If you have pattern diffuse thinning like I do before surgery to see how you respond to them. They can help keep what you have, and sometimes even reverse miniaturization. Forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know:) Hope the above helps!
  7. They were actually placed all over. The goal with my surgery was to re-establish density all over, as I didn't have loss concentrated in any one area. My hair loss really wasn't that bad to start, but I had lost some density and wanted to restore it. Thanks
  8. This might sound stupid, but I use a latex glove when I apply Rogaine so it doesn't soak into my fingers.
  9. Hey Paddy, Thanks very much for the comment! Yes, it was doctor Vorhies. He has two offices; one in Charlotte, and one in Charleston. I had my surgery in Charleston, SC. I myself chose to go FUE because I didn't need a very big session, and I knew the downtime would be minimal. Let me know if you have any more questions!
  10. Hey guys, So I'm a long time follower of this website, but this is my first time posting! I'm a 33 year old guy with diffuse pattern hair loss. I didn't actually notice my hair loss until about 2 years ago when I immediately called my dermatologist who confirmed my hair loss was/is genetic. He then put me on generic finasteride, and also recommended I start using Rogaine 2 times daily. I had really good success with the doctors prescribed treatment, but I got to the point after about 9-10 months where things leveled off. I then started researching hair restoration, and decided to go with Dr. Mike Vorhies in Charleston, SC. He recommended 1500 FUE grafts to fill in areas where my hair had been thinning. I'm 6 months out from my surgery as of last week and am including some pictures that track my progress all the way from before I was on meds to now/six months after surgery. They read from left to right as follows: 1) before meds and Rogaine 2) after 6 months on meds and Rogaine 3) 3 months post FUE 4) 4 months post FUE 5) 5 months post FUE 6) 6 months post FUE I feel really good about my results so far. My recovery was a breeze, and was back to work in a few days. I'd honestly have to say I'm a little bit past where I was pre surgery at this point. I had about 20-25% native hair shock loss between months 2-3 which really had me worried for a while... Luckily the majority of it has grown back now. I've seen tremendous growth from both shocked out and new transplant hairs in the past 2 months, and I'm still seeing more each day. Lost of the new hairs are still fine (some still very short) and wispy at this stage, and I expect they will mature with time. If I need another procedure in the future I'll do so accordingly. Dr. Vorhies is hoping this one surgery will do it for me, but I'm open to another if need be. I have plenty of very good donor hair if I need it. I actually had my 6 month follow up last week with Dr. Vorhies who believes I'm on my way to a really good result as my transplant hair begins and continues to mature. I hope this post will help someone who has gone through the same thing I have, or is thinking about a hair transplant with my type of hair loss. My hair loss has really affected me and my self confidence, so I know how hard it can be on us as guys. I also know everyone responds to surgery and treatments differently and has different types of hair loss, but this is my individual experience with my specific type of loss so far. Please keep this in mind when reading this. I'm very glad to answer any questions about my hair loss journey, my transplant, and my experience with Dr. Vorhies if anyone is interested. I'll also post more pictures as time goes by. Ok...I'm done writing my novel! Current Regiment: Rogaine liquid at night, Rogaine foam in the am, and 1/4 brand name Proscar each morning (the past 2 months). Family hair loss history: Dad and uncle are each Norwood 2-2.5 with diffuse thinning behind the hairline, and both are in their early 70's. Both of my grandfathers had incredible hair up until they were in their 90's. No one in my family uses any hair loss treatment. Thanks guys!
  11. Welcome to our Hair Restoration Social Community and enhanced discussion forum. Feel free to customize your profile by sharing your story, creating blogs, sharing your treatment regimen, presenting your hair restoration photos, and uploading videos. You can also join groups and interact with other members via public chat and instant message those you add to your friends.

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    All the Best,

    David (TakingThePlunge) – Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the new Hair Restoration Social Network and Discussion Forum

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