champybaby

And if you guys are getting bored watching your crown come in, I'm waiting on my procedure! 

Although, this is great for me as I'm seeing Dr. K and have two recent crown procedures that will help me make a decision. So thank you! 

Looking good. 

Find a surgeon who does 80% or more of the surgery. Not as easy as you think ... 

Looking good! Keep us posted. 

How do we know it is "corrective" without the final result lol

Some people asked for pics in PM so here ya go. Taken with iPhone 8; images like 5 or 8 mbs. Lighting was very bright and directly on both the left and right side of my head. Light bulbs were also uncovered. fwiw (some people do some trickery around here). Image taken legit after I rolled out of bed, hence the messy look. I used to be bald AF (see post history) fwiw. 

Background: I had one FUT that yielded about 4400 grafts seven years ago and you can still see strip scar a bit as a result. 

There was an event that prompted signifiant stress that was traumatic. That occurred about 4.5 months ago. More than usual shedding began about 2 months after that event. The back and sides began looking significantly thinner. Image was taken 4.5 months from that event. It was a traumatic event, or hardest challenge of life but I've since gotten over the hill (fwiw). Saw sides starting to* return to normal a few weeks ago.  

19 hours ago, LonelyGraft said:

That’s good to hear. So do you think it was stress related? Do you have pics showing the difference?

A bit lazy to post pics of the side, but if you're suffering from this/wondering about it, I will. 

IDK any other way to put it, but legit went through a really challenging time. I've gotten over the hill, and I'm going to be 100% fine, but was hardest thing of my life. And fwiw, recently met with Dr. Konior for booking my second procedure; he said donor area was "excellent." 

One month update re: DUT as I await my HT procedure next year. 

No side effects whatsoever. I'll post pics at the 3 month mark, but I am seeing slight improvement in the crown area. It's the type of improvement you would only notice, but others might not. 

Facial hair 100% growing slower. But again, for me that's a bonus. 

Just an update re: this echo chamber: My hair did start growing back. It was very thin on sides but has since returned to what it used to be. fwiw. 

Just an update from me re: Dut. 

I've been on it for 10 days now. No sexual sides whatsoever, BUT, I have noticed that my facial hair is growing significantly slower, which I'm tooootally cool with. 

I shaved on the 7th of November and 10 days later, my beard is at about what it would look like five or six days in. Wonder why that is? Either way, I'm cool with less shaving. 

On 11/14/2019 at 7:26 PM, makehairgreatagain said:

I'm expecting to get pretty good coverage. Originally was told that 1500 grafts would be sufficient so I know the extra amount can only help me out. Despite the crown being the "black hole", I'm confident it will blend in nicely with my natural hair. He did ask if I would be okay with shaving the recipient zone as the "peach fuzz" was just taking up space and an obstacle to place grafts correctly. I obliged and am very happy that I did to help yield the best possible result. 

Thanks. Yea, I'm going to be following this thread closely. This my deal fwiw.

Dealing with the crown sucks. Used to have it where two dashes of concealer was all I needed to look good. Now I'm using a lot more and I'm over it. Can't wait for my procedure with Dr. K. Really hope someone cancels!

Keep us posted man! 

17 minutes ago, RecessionProof said:

The front is still a little thin

I know you know this, but helps to hear: You're the only one who sees it that way and only upon close inspection lol

Looks really good brother congrats

Damn I just learned a ton from this thread. Sends us your new hair once you get it done. 

What sort of coverage are you expecting from this? Getting crown work done myself with Dr. K. But will likely only be adding about 1K to crown. 

On 11/2/2019 at 4:08 PM, Giastro said:

These are the prices that doctor Pekiner practices, it is not a low cost and considering the fact that he personally operates throughout the operation (which almost no surgeon does), who uses manual punch and divides the operation into two  days, I would say that they are not even that tall.

2.25 Euro per graft for ordinary FUE with full shaving

 2.5 Euro per graft for BHT (Body Hair Transplant) (FUE with shaving, chest, limb, back, abdomen etc.)

 2.5 Euro per graft for FUE with partial shaving
 - a professional barber will take care of shaving donor and receiving areas, leaving the other hair long, so that they can cover the transplanted areas after about 1 week -

 2.75 Euro per graft for FUE long hair
 - a professional barber will take care of mowing only the donor, so that he can be aesthetically presentable as soon as it is healed, usually within a few days.  The grafts will therefore be performed in the midst of long hair that, from the very first days, will mask the transplanted areas -

I understand you want to look good for wedding day (it played into why I got my first procedure), but everything I'm seeing here shows me you're doing everything wrong. 

You might look good in the short term, once hair has fully grown, but the concern, imo, is what you will look like for the rest of your life. And the options you will have later in life to address your hair will be limited. 

Price shouldn't dictate where you go. I believe timing should play a role, but it shouldn't be all about timing. I do wish you luck, though. 

4 minutes ago, Thisisnotatest333 said:

Dut works just like fin, but blocks 3 types of DHT instead of 2.So it has better effects on hairloss, not sure about sides

In sake of accuracy, Dut blocks 2, Fin blocks 1, per post. 

That's impressive. 

Questions: 

- Do you really believe microneddling works? It seems like a gimmick, but so many people are trying it. 

- What is a ballpark of cost for a PRP  procedure like yours with a reputable doctor, in your opinion? I am not asking for your docs prices, but what can I expect if I go somewhere reputable? Thanks. 

Heya: 

Basically, the best doctors don't place a premium as much as the majority of patients on overall graft total. A skilled HT doctor can do more with 2K grafts than a mediocre or unskilled HT doctor can do with 5K grafts. You can see this for yourself just by looking at pics. A lot of the skilled doctors are all about graft placement and selecting the right hairs during transplant. You also want a skilled doc to make sure your donor area lasts a long time; some docs will burn a ton of it and deliver poor results. 

If you want my advice, go with the best and select a doc that does 90% or more of the surgery him/herself. Also, you will never get density at 100%, but good HT are all about making it appear as if you have 100% or close to it density. I'm waiting one year for my second procedure, but to me the wait will be worth it in the long run. 

I have heard many good things about Diep on this forum; idk the other doc, but maybe others on this forum do. Good luck. 

Hey all: 

First, I'm creating this to gather what I deem credible info on Dutasteride (Dut). There is so much misinformation on the web. There's also not a lot of credible information on very specific questions re: Dut. I am not offering medical advice, etc. I am sharing information I deem credible and sharing here. 

In short, I will be doing several things with this post: 

• Share my experience with Dut
• Crowdsource credible information, that is verified, from Dut users from this forum
• Link credible data, information for people to view
• Answer common questions and if possible, answer questions the community would like to know. 

What is Dutasteride in plain English? And what does it do? 

Generally speaking, like Propecia/Finasteride (Fin), which was made to treat BPH, Dutaseride, too, was made to treat BPH. And like Fin, Dutaseride was found to regrow hair. Fin is approved by the FDA to treat hair loss at 1mg per day dosage. There is misinformation re: Dut and it not receiving approval from the FDA to treat hair loss on forums and the web. Both Dut and Fin were denied by the FDA to prevent prostate cancer. This means that both Fin and Dut attempted to sell their drugs as a way to prevent prostate cancer.

The FDA denied both Fin and Dut, stating that taking these drugs to prevent prostate cancer actually made it harder to detect it. According to the FDA, they said the "risk was low" but that doctors should be aware of it nevertheless. 

GlaxoSmithKline did start conducting a study to receive FDA approval so it could market Dut to treat hair loss, but that effort was scraped. It is unclear why, but the company told NBC that it was to "reallocate resources toward more medically oriented research." Here is the Dut study, on the US National Library of Medicine Website. It was conducted by GlaxoSmithKline, makers of Dut. Phase 3 trials were never released as the study was scrapped. The data included shows Dut at .5mg outperformed Fin. 

How does Dut work? In plain English. 

Generally speaking, hair loss is caused by DHT. Fin and Dut work to block or slow DHT development. However, Fin only slows down or stops the function of one of two "isoenzymes" that cause DHT. It has been reported that Fin can decrease DHT levels up to 70%. Dut, however, slows down or stops both "isoenzymes" and as a result, can decrease DHT levels up to 95%. 

Side effects of Dut: 

Men have lower sex drives, hard time getting hard and some may even grow boobs. There is no accurate data to show how frequent this happens to people who take Dut for hair loss. However, it should be noted that men already take Dut to treat BPH. According to the Mayo Clinic's website, .5mg of Dut should be taken daily to treat BPH. So it's already approved by the FDA at .5mg daily, but to treat BPH, not hair loss. 

My anecdotal experience: 

My sex drive and erections are very healthy. I am a 36/m. I took Fin for 7 years with no sides. I just began taking Dut at .5mg/daily about a week ago. No sides effects. According to my HT doctor, he said Dut is "more potent" than Fin. He added that in his experience, patients who tolerated Fin without sides often go on to tolerate Dut without sides. 

And take this for what it is worth, but according to my HT doctor, "Fin and Dut should not be taken together." So don't do it. Recommended dose is .5mg daily. This is not medical advice. I am just sharing what I've learned here. 

Crowdsource: 

If you consistently took Dut, or are currently taking it, please share the following by making a post below: 

• How long have you been taking it? 
• At what dose and how often? 
• What improvement did you see, if any? 
• Did you experience sides? 
• Age

This post is a work in progress. If you have specific questions re: Dut, please post them below. Thanks. 

On 11/9/2019 at 12:45 AM, Melvin-Moderator said:

So you and @Spanker had surgery around the same time. I believe he has a thread of his crown he updates every so often, seems like finasteride has really worked for him. Not everyone has the same results though. I think it depends on DHT sensitivity.

Do you have a link to that? I tried finding it and all I saw was a to the front of his head. Thanks!

On 11/10/2019 at 12:54 PM, transplantedphil said:

Im guessing its more noticeable when your hair is wet/sunlight etc

Negative. It looks fine even if I glop on a ton of gel. However, if I comb it in a certain direction anyone can see where the start of my balding begins. It wasn't like this before. Then again, this began when I started experiencing heavy shedding (which at this point i believe was due to stress; it was a really rough patch guys), so maybe it will grow back. 

I will say that I'm hopeful about the Dut. A year out from today is a long time, but I'm hoping the Dut stabilizes things and maybe, just maybe, regrows some more hairs. In terms of sides ... it's early days, but I have zero. IDK what it is, but my drive to sleep with cute girls is alive and well. As is my right hand when I strike out. lol. If that feeling ever goes away, trust me, I'm ditching the Dut. 

Aside, I've found it VERY difficult to get straight answers on Dut from the web. So I plan on sharing my experiences here so others may benefit. I feel like I'd make a good case study: Very high sex drive, frequent boners while on Fin for 7 years and now I am on Dut @ .5mg daily. Hopefully the results are good and others can give it a shot. We'll see. 

Good luck dude

If you see someone with thinning hair that means they are spanking their monkey too much. 

People with a full thick head of hair are often those who don't partake in the taboo you just described. I recommend a crotch-lock. 

19 minutes ago, transplantedphil said:

Nov 2021?

lol I mean 2020. Just fixed. lol. 

It's nuts what 2K grafts can do to the front under a skilled hand. 

On 11/9/2019 at 5:02 AM, tofuparty said:

It's great to see updates so many years later. I've often wondered what the results are like further down the track.

EDIT: So I'm booked for Nov. 4, 2020*. Told him to also keep me in mind should someone cancel. 

Honestly, what can't be seen with the pictures is the "perimeter" of my head from the back to the half way point of the front. I define the "permiter" as the DMZ zone or in between the side of my head where my hair will not fall out and the top where it will fall out. 

The perimeter is starting to thin, but is easy to cover up and hard to see with pics. In time, however, I will really look weird once this portions thins out/falls out. 

My priorities: 

• Take an "as I age" approach to HT
• Fortify "perimeter" (it won't need much)
• Address crown with 40% of grafts, with emphasis of filling the very bottom of my hair, in the center, with some grafts. Think a bald spot with some hair about the size of a half dollar in the very back of my head. This can be tackled with concealer; I don't mind using a dash or two of concealer at all. What I do mind is the amount I use today.*
• Improve density up front with 60% of grafts

Dr. K described something like having a limited amount of paint. He said if you started at the center of my head you would run out when you got to the edges. So he's starting from the outside and working his way toward the center. I agree with this approach. The way I style my hair will also be put into consideration this time. 

In the meantime, I'm on DUT at .5mg daily. If I start to experience sides, I'll switch back to Propecia. But so far, so good. Hopefully the DUT does something.