DEB1982

Just updated but post needs to be approved. Can a moderator help? Also how do I upload photos from my IPhone. I have lots to show.

Arriving in Istanbul

Monday 12th December. I had been counting down the days for months and then all of a sudden it was here. I was up at 3am as had to be at Heathrow for 4am. I had booked with BA to fly into Ataturk airport and I had booked Business class seats as I knew it would offer me more space for the return journey but also just wanted to make the trip a special one. I was anxious about arriving into Istanbul especially as there has been suicide bombings the weekend previous but upon arriving I was within the Asmed bus within 15 minutes. Flying Business Class allows you to skip the dreaded immigration queue and be fast tracked through. The driver was waiting for me and escorted me to the bus. I spoke to Sema on the drivers phone and she explained the process for the day. I would be taken to the hotel and then collected at 3pm for my health checks and consultation. The journey to the hotel took approximately 45 minutes but I have been told that sometimes that is doubled due to traffic.

The Hotel

I had decided to stay at the hotel for the duration of my stay. The Radisson Blu Asia hotel is a business hotel and perfectly acceptable for the time I'm here. Following JustJax's recommendation I decided to upgrade my room. The biggest perk of this for me being the free pay per view movies and I have already watched two films. I barely had time to check in to my room before the driver collected me along with two other guys who were on their way for their consultations as well. The clinic is no more than a mile away from the hotel.

Health checks and consultation

I was greeted at the clinic by Sema and my other coordinator Sara who was equally as lovely. The clinic is state of the art and no expense has been spared. After having your shoes covered in plastic by a machine I was taken off immediately for my hair to be washed as I had concealer still in it. There are so many people working here and everybody is so lovely and made me feel completely at ease. After the hair wash, I had an ECG, blood pressure check and blood test which checked for HIV, Hepatitis B & C and also your blood glucose levels. All was fine apart from my blood pressure being a little high but given the lack of sleep and nerves this was to be expected. I then met with Dr Umut who despite some reviews stating a certain level of coldness was engaging and funny towards me. He talked me through what medications that I would be given and put my mind at rest as well. He also showed me his transplant and we spoke about how he is depicted on here as being cold. He just said he was like an old diesel car and takes a while to warm up. I couldn't say enough nice things about him. So then I sat upstairs and waitied my turn to meet with Dr Koray to plan my hair line. During this time I completed some paperwork with Sema and we chatted about how the next few days would go. Finally I was called to meet Dr Koray and again he instantly made me realise that I had made the right decision coming here. He was funny, complimentary and more importantly I could tell he had a real passion for what he did. He could sense my nerves and he spent a long time telling me not to worry and that he would ensure that I got the result I wanted. He asked me to trust him completely and I did. He then spent five minutes drawing a rough hair line. He noted my face shape, larger forehead and then went to work like Pablo Picasso. He kept reviewing and correcting till he wa finally happy. I was over the moon with the hair line and it was lower than I expected. He then explains that to fill my vertex and get the hairline corrected he would advise 5000 grafts not 4500 which I ageee too. He also said to leave the temples alone as the hair along the side was quite thin and he would also need to implant hairs there so that the density matched. He took my hair measurements which were all very good. I don't have all the figures yet as I'm still mid extraction but hair thickness was 60 microns and density from the donor area was 90 hairs p/cm2. Finally he explained that he would be implanting at 50cm2 in the frontal region and 40cm2 in the vertex. Oh and my total donar supply was 9160 hairs which will leave me 4160 in the bank should I need them in the future. I then went and paid the finance lady the outstanding balance before heading off the dreaded hair shave. This was the part that I had least been looking forward to but it turned out be one of the most liberating experiences that I have been through. I actually looked okay with a buzz cut and all the ladies here agreed. I still knew I wanted to have the transplant but it showed me that the last 10 years of stress has been manifested by my brain not reality. Finally I had the final hair line design with Dr Koray and the team of technicians who would be working on me, led by Mujde who would be making all the extractions and doing the implantation. She was again so lovely and promised to take good care of me. Dr Koray uses a machine to measure the face symmetary to ensure the hair line is prefect and he allows you to have input. After a few adjustments we were all happy. I think I finally left the clinic at around 7pm and it was safe to say that I was shattered when I got back to the hotel. I forgot to mention the photo stage. They take pics with wet hair, dry hair and when they have shaved it. They also give you an Asmed goody bag before you leave with a hat, shampoo and instruction leaflets.

I was told that I would be collected at 7am and that I should take the Xanax that Dr Umut gave me with my breakfast. I went back to my room, ordered room service, admirered my new hair line every two minutes and then went straight to bed.

I am currently 2300 extractions down so only 200 to go. Then Dr Koray will come and perform all the incisions. Still no pain. Will write a full post for my first day later surgery tomorrow.

So after nearly a year of researching my hair transplant journey has now begun and would you believe I'm writing this first post whilst in the midst of having my extractions performed but more on that later.

Background

I began losing my hair at around 22 years old and it pretty much destroyed my self comfidence. I started on 1mg Finasteride around a year later but had receeded in the temple area and had to adopt a pushed down fringe style to enable me to cover these areas. The vertex had some slight thinning but again I was able to cover this up via styling. Fortunately for me the Propecia seemed to halt and further loss and also made what I had a little thicker. I also used Minoxidil 12.5% for a few years but stopped and found it made no difference. I added a saw palmetto supplement and occasional laser comb usage to my hair maintenance regime and up until the age of 30 all seemed okay with no further noticeable loss. Then I discovered concealers and they took over my life a little bit. I used Nanaogen daily for the past 5 years and have noticed that since then my vertex has thinned a little and some all over diffuse thinning as well. Was this caused by my constant Nanogen usage or just age related hair loss?? I will never know but it is a coincidence and I also used to leave it on for a 48 hour period without washing it off so it can't have been very healthy for my scalp. Fast forward to today and I'm soon to turn 35 and become so fed up with my hair dictating my life. Worrying about windy or rainy weather, constantly thinking people are looking at my hair, spending hours to apply concealer and style. The final catalyst was a friend of mine had a FUE procedure in 2015 and his results were amazing and gave me the push to do it myself. I always wanted to wait to my mid 30's before having a transplant as I was concerned that Propecia wouldn't halt my hair loss as it did.

Choosing a Surgeon

I joined this forum and began reviewing case after case as well as reading about everyone's results. I was interested in H&W especially as I had seen them doing more and more FUE procedures. I had a consultation with David and agreed to go with them. Dr Wong quoted me 4000 grafts over two days. I paid the deposit and was booked in for January 2017. I then became more involved with the HRN forum and kept coming across Asmed. I really struggled to find a bad case and I contacted a number of previous patients who were very helpful. I had a consultation and just felt much more at ease and their customer service was second to none. With this in mind I decided to cancel H&W and book with Asmed for December 2016. Their quote was 4500 grafts but where as H&W were a little conservative with the vertex, Dr Koray was confident that he could fill it for me.

Pre Surgery Care

My patient coordinator was Sema and I can't say enough nice things about her. I suffer from slight anxiety so I bombarded her with questions as soon as I had booked and then for the following six months. Whenever I needed he she was there and as I'm sat here having my extractions done she is still sat here with me now. I stopped all supplements two weeks prior to coming to Istanbul apart from Propecia and Biotin and I also stopped drinking any alcohol a week previous to coming as well.

I will write up later about my first day and the consultation with Dr Koray and post some photos. All going well so far, extractions aren't painful at all and even th anaesthetic shots were nothing to worry about. Don't want to speak too soon but makes me wonder what I was worrying about at all.

I used a laser comb for three years and I'm not going to imply that it helped with hair loss but it did seem to make the hair I had a lot thicker. So maybe there is something to say for it from a cosmetic perspective.

I'm travelling to Istanbul tomorrow and I'm more concerned with the procedure than my safety whilst I'm there. As you say I'm not planning on doing any sight seeing and will be largely confined to the hotel for the duration of my stay.

There is a chance of a terrorist attack where ever you are in the world nowadays. Aside from the airport if you just stay in your hotel whilst not being at Asmed I'm sure it will be fine. If Erdogan is the man you want then I wouldn't let the recent attacks deter you. Nearly all attacks have been focused in places where large crowds would gather.

I will be starting my own thread tomorrow so will post on how I find it when I'm over there.

It wasn't true for me and I've been taking it for 10 years. Never experienced any sides. There are people who have experienced sides though. It's luck of the draw I guess.

The only way you'll know is to take it for a while and see if you experience any yourself.

Any chance of a 3 month update? Wondering if you've seen any signs of growth yet?

I fly out to Turkey Monday for my procedure with Asmed!

Hi Renaissance

I hope you are well. I make that 3 months now, have you started to see any signs of early growth yet?

I fly out Monday for my procedure. I can't believe how quickly it has come round. Nerves starting to kick in a little now!!

I say it every day.

 

Dr. Lindsey

You are saying there is benefit to using it??

I got most of mine from a London based chain called Thomas Exchange Global as they typically have some of the best rates around.

Thank you! I don't want to hijack your thread with a load of questions but I do have a couple about the hotel stay if you don't mind.

Is there room service? If not what did you do for food in the evenings?

Is there a shop nearby to purchase water from?

Cheers pal

Looking good so far! Has really started to sprout now.

Looking good mate. Redness has definitely faded and I can't personally see any scarring at that length.

I forgot to ask did you use anyone specifically when ordering your currency?

You find a lot of people report that their native hair grows out a little slowly after the procedure. Maybe taking a supplement like Biotin would help speed this up?

Bet you can't wait to get out there, how many grafts have you been quoted?

Same as you 4000 grafts. I'm having 1000 in the crown area and 3000 for the front / temple region. Yeah pretty excited but obviously a little nervous as I'm sure everyone is.

I'll start my own review thread once it's all completed.

Echoes sorry to be a pain but are you able to update. I'd imagine you have seen a big change since you last updated 6 weeks ago. You are coming up to 5 months now so would be good to see.

I'm there next week and a little anxious as you can tell.

Lionel Messi!! Not a bad shout actually!

Looks amazing mate. You must be over the moon at this point and you've still got months of thickening to come. My turn next week.

Looking forward to seeing your 6 months pics tomorrow. I have a feeling that we are going to be seeing quite a difference!!

I've taken fin daily for 17 years with no sides. Thought I was the norm until joining this forum back in January. Maybe I'm the exception?

I'm in the same boat. 13 years and no sides.

In terms of getting back to pre-op state, sadly I've got a while to go yet. As you can see from the pics below, it wasn't that long, but it was a lot longer than it it is currently, particularly on the top where I used some length to disguise the receding temples.

I do exactly the same thing in that I use the length from on top to cover the receding temples. Hence my slight anxiety at having the temples on full view to everyone for 4 months with no coverage. Not sure anyone other than my wife has actually ever seen my real hair line!

But as you say the wooly hat will be firmly on my head.

I see a lot of reviews from users who have had a transplant and then started on finasteride and or who were told to start and then have their transplant shortly after.

My situation is quite different as I have been on Propecia since my early 20's (35 now) and am having my first procedure next month with Dr Erdogan. My main concern is that I may well potentially be a NW5 if I hadn't have started meds when I did and I'm concerned about permanent shock loss of my existing hair. I have been very lucky with the meds and I have largely kept what hair I had at the point of starting them.

Are there many people like me who have had their first procedure years after starting medication and if so did you experience any permanent shock loss to the hair you had?

There are a few hairs that have remained in the recipient area. Are they just growing as normal?

How far off do you think you hair is from being back to pre-op state?

2 weeks today until I go. Nerves kicking in now.

Cheers pal,

 

Here's the latest video, this one is in regards to the day after the surgery and how I'm feeling now!

 

Really enjoyed the videos. Has put me a little more at ease for my procedure in 2 weeks although not the pain part. Look forward to the next one.

Hi Guys,

 

I've just had my second hair transplant at ASMED in Turkey. Footage is now on YouTube of Day 1. I will update further on this post!

 

Your video is so good! It gives a real insight into what a procedure is like and actually makes it look quite fun. Always helps when the lady technicians are that pretty as well! ?

I think you are on for a stellar result!!

Hey Chabany

I make it 11 weeks tomorrow since your procedure if the date in your title is correct.

Anyway good news to see you have had some early growth! Looking forward to seeing your 3 month update.

Agree looks like really clean work and has healed really well. I'm off to Asmed 3 weeks today and am having a very similar sized procedure so can only hope it looks like this!