Hello everyone,
I have been a long time lurker using this site as a source for research. I want to thank everyone who posts their experiences here; it really helps out. I decided it was time to post some pictures of my own and to ask for advice about my situation.
I am a very diffuse thinner, I probably started noticing my hair loss sometime between 2014 to 2015 but probably started losing before that. Started finasteride/liquid minoxidil treatment on April 2019. I think I am very lucky to still have as much hair as I do now considering I waited so long to do anything. Toppik still looks very good on me considering my hair loss pattern.
Here is a list of concerns I am hoping people will comment on:
Not knowing if finasteride will work for me long term - As you can see from the April 2020 pic, I regrew some hair but now I am losing hundreds of hairs daily worse than it has ever been. My routine has not changed, 1mg finasteride a day, 4mls/day of minoxidil (the brand changed from Kirkland to Great value, shouldn’t matter). Also tried foam don’t know if that affected anything.
Thinning donor/retrograde alopecia (Do I have DUPA?)
Distrust of surgeons/outcome of procedure - I went to one of the top doctors in the US and he completely dismissed that I had retrograde alopecia. Said I was a good candidate for at least 3 FUT's and maybe one final FUE. Additionally in general, there are plenty of bad or disappointing outcomes from even top doctors.
FUT/FUE concern - Even if I were a candidate for FUT surgery I am concerned about a visible scar at the sides where my donor is thin and if the surgery fails I will always have that scar. If FUE fails there is no concern but then I have affected my lifetime graft supply.
Hair transplant so close to native hairs as I am so diffuse, will it affect my native hair not really fixing anything?
Please ask any questions and I hope to get some responses.