Nounours

Update: I got the job! 

Thank you all for advising me to go for it when I did. My hair went downhill pretty quickly in the days after the interview!

Thank you everyone! I appreciate the comments and well wishes. I guess I'm a little apprehensive as I've never had such a short style before. 

Thank you @Berba11and @Melvin- Moderator, really appreciate it. I'll take the interview next week.

Hi all,

I had my FUE HT almost 2 weeks ago. It went well and I am happy so far but I have unexpectedly been invited to a job interview (couldn't be timed worse). I've been given an option to either do it next week (so it would be 3 weeks post HT) or in January. 

I'm fully aware that in January I'll probably be in the "ugly ducking" phase. I've attached a photo of how it's looking now. It's not looking too red and perhaps it would look better next week? What would you do? Thank you!

Four signs for me. Hopefully this helps!

1. I initially started noticing my hairline was thinner than before, especially under artificial light. If you imagine that my hairline before was like a thick wall of hair where you couldn't see anything past it, suddenly the first 2cm became see-through. This was not noticeable to most people as my hair was still relatively thick, but you know your hair better than everyone else.

2. Lost density at the temples. I only started to notice this from photos taken of me where an M shape had started to develop. Even though I had long/medium curly hair, it was noticeable. 

3. Crazy shedding. Now this isn't a sign for everyone but it retrospect this was one for me. Usual guidance is that people shed 100 hairs on average a day. I was shedding more than that, at least it felt like that. In the shower, whilst working on my computer, on my bed pillow...  Personally, I don't think this was the start of my hair loss but it made it worse as my hair never returned to how it was prior to the shedding phases. These phases stopped when I started taking finasteride. 

4. Loss of density in my crown. I remember out of curiosity checking my crown with a mirror and I noticed a  small gap in my hair. I'd never noticed it before. It could be hidden by moving around my hair (luckily it is thick enough to do that), but it was undeniably there. I think this was the confirmation for me that I was losing my hair in a traditional Norwood pattern. The density in my crown has gotten better since starting finasteride.

The usual guidance is that grafts are anchored in at 10 days post-surgery. This is probably some early shedding. Nothing to be concerned about!

22 minutes ago, irishman2021 said:

It seems too good to be true. 

You hit the nail on the head there. That's a lot on offer for a relatively small price tag. There are quite a lot of red flags but a big one is that I couldn't see who the Doctor/Surgeon is on the website. Always best to know who will be operating on you, and what their independent reviews/credentials are (from forums, membership to professional associations, etc). You would be wise to avoid this clinic.

Thank you all! Really appreciate the advice 🙂

Hi all,

Sorry if there is already a thread on this.

I've got a month to go until my hair transplant and a lot is going through my head, and probably will continue to do so for some time. I know I'm in good hands with the surgeon I've opted for, but it's still a daunting prospect. Do any of you have any advice, based on your experiences, on how someone should prepare themselves for their hair transplant? Happy to hear all kinds of advice (how to sleep after the HT, what should I bring with me, how would you prepare yourself mentally... etc.).

Thank you!

Amazing! Looking forward to following your progress on this. I have a HT booked with Dr Ferreira soon and will also be staying in Solverde Apartmentos. Similar hair-loss to you as well. Good luck with the next year - keep us posted!

I've got similar retrograde thinning too (I'm also NW3) so I would be interested to hear what Dr Bloxham says to you!

Incredible result!! 👏

22 minutes ago, lexzeus said:

5mg is way way too much. My HT doctor with 16+ years of experience only prescribes 1.25 mg daily ( break the 5mg tablet into 4 pieces )  I have been taking 2.5mg daily(due to my hair loss progression) for the past 2 years with 0 side effects and also includes taking high stim pre workout gym supplements. No way would I take 5mg daily !

You're most probably right there! 5mg was too much for me at least. I guess it was just a case of listening to what the HT doctor (recommended by the forum and probably one of best in the industry) was saying and going with it as I trusted their judgement on it.

I tried oral minoxidil briefly about 17-18 months ago following the guidance of a highly regarded HT doctor. 5mg every day (went to 5mg every other day after a while to see if sides would go). Must have been on it for no longer than a month (I can't remember exactly how long though). Not here to scare people off as it genuinely works for some people (as can be seen by many different case studies) with little to no side effects. But in my experience I experienced 3 significant side effects:

1. Substantial Heart Rate Increase - When I'm not doing anything intensive my heart rate is anything between 60-75 bpm. On minoxidil tablets my heart rate went up between 80-115 bpm during the same type of activity, usually with great fluctuation. It remember it went up as high as 162 bpm during a presentation I had to do. I reckon emotions (stress mainly) play a significant part of the high bpm periods but for me it was still very concerning how oral minoxidil exacerbated this. In case anyone is curious, I didn't experience noticeable heart palpitations but did experience periods of irregular heartbeat.
2. Stiff Lower Back - Could have possibly been related to the kidneys. Difficult to state if there is a direct relation with oral minoxidil but there was no stiffness before I was taking the tablets. The stiffness went away after I stopped taking them.
3. Chest tightness - Developed what could be described as tightness to the chest whilst on oral minoxidil. Sometimes it was just a general light tightness across the chest, other times it was an intense burst of tightness on the left side of my chest. General light tightness went away pretty soon after I stopped taking the tablets but it took a couple of months or so after I stopped taking oral minoxidil for the intense bursts to go away. I no longer experience them anymore.

Again, I don't want to scare people off as there are genuinely excellent HT Doctors who are prescribing oral minoxidil as well as there being many positive case studies on its use for hair loss. But I feel like its important to add my experiences with it so people can make a more informed review-led decision on it.

Your situation is almost identical to mine. I am 25 and have been on fin for almost a year now (in preparation for a HT when international travel allows me to). My hair situation has quietly improved since I started taking it. I think I'll probably end up going down the same route as @PizzaWolf and just stop in the months prior to trying for kids. 

The doctors/HT surgeons who I talked to prior to taking fin all reassured me that there was no evidence to suggest there would be permanent infertility side-effects nor birth defects. Believe me, it was a big worry for me before I started taking it. But the way I see it, if this was a common enough side-effect, it would have been more widely talked/written about (given how long men having been using fin + the number of men on fin including celebs/famous people). Perhaps it is more of a side-effect in theory rather than in reality (without trying to diminish the negative experiences of some men on fin). Then again, I'm no medical expert so my logic here could be very off!

Looks fantastic! Dr Ferreira gave me a similar classification of hair loss and I've got a HT booked with him next year so I will be keenly following your progress. Happy growing!

Hey everyone!

I’m curious to hear what type/brand of protein powder that some of you gym-going forum members use, and what ingredients are you avoiding?
I suspect that my hair loss started a few years ago, partly due to some of gym workout shakes I was using. I don’t want to make the same mistake!

Thank you!

18 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Could be the other generic was under doses, or this one is overdosed. If I were you I’d stick to proscar and cut it into 1/4 tablets.

Good shout! I'll have a look into proscar! I tried initially to get onto it but it doesn't seem as easy to get in the UK as 1mg Finasteride.

8 hours ago, LaserCap said:

So the question is, what are they putting in there? Perhaps the reverse is also true, the new pills you received contained a higher percentage of the medication.  

You may have a point there. The first supplier I had my pills from (Milpharm) have negative Google reviews compared to the new supplier (Accord). That being said, they may mean nothing and in any case, they are both licensed pharmaceutical producers in the UK so they should be both approximately 1mg in each tablet, right?

8 hours ago, LaserCap said: 

Did you purchase these at the pharmacy?  If so, how do you know these came from another source? Was it the packaging? Or, the pharmacist gave you a bottle worth of pills and they looked different this time around? Call the pharmacist and explain.  Perhaps they can get the ones you prefer consistently.

I am curious if these will help you with retention.  Call the doctor and ask if you can split them. Perhaps this will help until you figure it out.

I got it from a licensed online pharmacy in the UK so it should all be legit. I could tell it was from a different manufacturer from the packaging. It does seem as though I can request which manufacturer I want. I was just under the impression they’d give me the same one so I didn’t think to make that request before. Something to bare in mind for next time. I’m hoping that it won’t negatively affect my retention.

5 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Did you switch from brand name to generic?

Nope! It went from generic (Milpharm) to generic (Accord).

Hello,

So I had been on finasteride for 3 months without problem but when I ordered my next 3 months supply, I received finasteride from a different maker. I've been on the new finasteride for 2 weeks now and have started to experience side-effects which weren't there before. 

Is this most likely a mental thing that I am experiencing? I don't understand how it could be finasteride because the content of the tablets is exactly the same, no?

Would appreciate to hear if anyone has had any similar experiences or if they have any advice. Thank you!

Incredible result so far! Can't wait to see the final result!

Hey Lebaneseguy,

First of all, I can understand why you want to hair transplant now. It is not easy dealing with hair loss at a young age, I can relate to that. However, given what you have described, am I right in presuming your hair loss is only in the temples? If so, I am sure I will not be the only one on this forum that will advise you not to go ahead with this hair transplant. You are still way too young for one and you hair loss doesn't sound too extensive either. Even if the surgeon is saying they will only use a limited amount of grafts because of your age, and that they will only operate if you are on finasteride and minoxidil, no ethical surgeon would operate on a patient that young. A lot of hair transplant surgeons won't operate on any patient younger than 25.

I'm not sure what you wanted to get out of the replies for this post but I'd advise you to consider cancelling the operation and waiting a few years whilst carrying on with finasteride and minoxidil. Sorry for putting a downer on your post, but I hope you take what I say into consideration. Good luck either way!

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your responses, they have certainly helped me!

It happens to me sometimes. Nothing to worry about. They are just going through their shedding phase!

5 hours ago, Legend007 said:

Don’t mess around with minoxidil unless u are going to be committed to it ..  none of that off n on kinda thing .. u end up  worse than u started. Try the foam version , it’s not as harsh on ur scalp because the liquid version has a little bit of alchohol in it for better absorption, so more effective but more side effects ., maybe u could tolerate the liquid later on after ur scalp is used to rogaine on ur head ..  .. so do the foam version first .. 

I agree with Legend007 here. Definitely try using the foam version. I tried using the liquid version several times and I had all sorts of problems with flakes and greasiness. Once I switched to foam, no flaking at all. I wish I had gotten on it earlier!

Sure, some people will say that liquid is more effective, but there's no point if it causes crazy flaking. The best version is the one that you can tolerate and see yourself using on a daily basis.