ciaus

It takes about a day for the body to clear the drug, but its effect on DHT lasts for days. This is why some guys with milder hair loss can get away with lower doses, skipping days. Since I try to always wake up at the same time each morning, even on the weekends when I'm not working, I take it then right before I brush my teeth. There's just too many things subject to change as the day unfolds, easier to get distracted and forget to take it.

19 hours ago, Grzegorz641 said:

This picture is situation when i have itchy scalp and pain last time in ny in november 

I remember you started the topic recently about a crazy expensive dermatologist visit price someone quoted you. Like I said then, even for a place like New York City where most things are alot more expensive, $1800 to just see a doctor is way too expensive. But you didn't mention that you had any scalp irritation issues at the time. What you're experiencing here might not be anything serious, flaky itchy scalp skin is fairly common and often guys can manage it with over the counter anti-dandruff shampoos like head&shoulders. But it could be more something more serious.

I'll occasionally comment on topics like this because I've personally experienced intermittent scalp irritation issues. My skin never flaked off like that, but it would get pretty red and irritated. You should go see a reasonably priced, reputable dermatologist (shouldn't be anymore than $200 or $300 for the visit even without insurance) and make sure that you don't have anything more serious. Hair loss that happens due to severe skin irritation, aggressive itching, is usually temporary and the hair will eventually come back when things calm down. Not to get your hopes up about recovering your frontal hair though, alot of that looks like typical male pattern baldness.

But there are some skin conditions that have irritation symptoms that can cause permanent hair loss too, see the topic below. You don't want to start getting hair transplants and then learn you have some other condition that could potentially destroy your transplanted hair.

11 minutes ago, sunsurfhair said:

So there’s no possibility he had really good FUE work done?

Nope, we're talking add-on 3rd party equipment like his teeth. 

19 hours ago, Navthedon said:

Yes, if not go back and get more put in. You'll have plenty of donor left.

Thought you were joking here since he only posted the frontal pic, but he did post a topic last month with some pics of his donor.  Notes there the procedure was for about 3k grafts a few months ago. To the OP, you should consolidate your story, pics, and concerns into one ongoing topic thread so that everyone has the most information to give the best advice/opinions.

2 minutes ago, Big Rome said:

Hi Gatsby, 

 

what years of age roughly would you say are the aggressive years of balding? 
thank you

Pardon me for adding some input off your question to Gatsby. Everybody's genetics are unique in terms of loss rates. But what can be generalized is that male pattern baldness is sneaky and accumulative for most of us. Usually going on for years by the time you're able to start noticing it in the mirror. By that time the estimates are you've lost 1/3 or even up to 1/2 of your total original scalp hairs. Even the best hair transplants never achieve your original hair count density. Thankfully we don't need that much hair to trick the human eye . 

1 hour ago, Fox243 said:

I think medication was necessary in the older days to have a good result but not anymore. Meds will be less expensive and have better results but transplants are enough too.

While I agree there's never been a better time to address hair loss, a good result is always a moving target at best, unless you wait to deal with it when you're at death's door. All those guys in your pictures still have decades of life ahead of them, assuming no sudden catastrophic accidents or illnesses.

1 hour ago, NARMAK said:

I think to call it a "cure" would be incorrect but current top doctors and the techniques of today refined over decades are at a point, where a large majority of people can be helped in an effective way. The problem however is that the clinics and doctors capable of it are in high demand and expensive. 

For example, if 100 people were Norwood 7 and all vying for the same doctor, it's inevitable a fair amount of them could be priced out given the typical cost. 

Even myself for example, if i wasn't a Norwood 2, and i needed as many grafts as a Norwood 2, i do not think i'd ever be able to afford the cost of a modern hair transplant with a quality clinic. That's why medication is SO important in my eyes as a prevention because nothing, and i truly do mean nothing a hair transplant can achieve especially as a Norwood 7 will ever be as good as if you kept your native hairs and have a HT as a lower Norwood in terms of overall density. 

As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Minoxidil is only a growth enhancement therapy, after enough underlying DHT damage accumulates the hairs still go away. If you get side effect symptoms with finasteride the only other drug on a near-ish term FDA approval path is Clascoterone. A lower dosage was approved about 2 yrs ago for acne. It will be a topical and doesn't effect DHT levels. But its probably going to be fairly expensive, like $100+ a month.

Fighting hair loss without addressing DHT is possible, but there's increased risk you might run out of hair in the long term. It just comes down to how much risk you can manage in a mentally healthy way.

If you do start using minoxidil and it improves the way your hair looks alot, don't get over-confident with bigger more aggressive hair transplants. Be sure to show your doctor the pictures like these. You need to be conservative and cautiously optimistic. At only 24, while there's still alot of time to lose more hair, there's also alot of time for new research and drugs in the coming years that you can benefit from while you're still relatively young.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clascoterone

Yea based on that picture you have male pattern baldness. No need to waste $1800 or even $18 on seeing a dermatologist. Start researching for good hair transplant doctors on here, their consultation visits are free.

I'm on the other side of the country, sorry no recommendations based on personal experience. But there's a link below to a Vegas shop that you can check out to help with your research. I found it on an SMP marketing agency site that works with artists all over the world. They have some recommendations based on locations, but since they are a marketing agency you should still check things out for yourself of course. 

https://www.scalpprodigy.com/

2 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Guys,

Lets keep this debate healthy. This issue is polarizing. The reason it’s polarizing is because both sides have feelings that should be validated.

Fin and dut are the best treatments we have on the market hands down. If you’re serious about saving your hair get on it asap.

But on the flip side, it can cause side effects, and let me tell you it’s not good if you get them. Only a fool would say side effects are a hoax, and only a fool would say they’re guaranteed. 

I appreciate your position and intentions here, and its sad to see them being taken advantage of.

This hasn't been healthy for pages. And it was created to function as a poll, not a debate.

The overwelming majority of members in favor of using finasteride are not saying the side effects are a hoax. We're saying the symptoms could be caused by other conditions, lifestyle factors, and the nocebo effect. And you need medical professionals to get to the bottom of that, not personal stories and debates on hair loss forums.

Ultimately long running toxic conversations like this do far more damage than good, muddying the waters and spreading paranoia. I am so glad I started finasteride many years ago before finding this forum, or reading about it online.

21 minutes ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

I think your attitude and how you carry yourself around here demonstrates a lot about you, and also probably your overall lack of satisfaction with life. Wish you the best 

Mr. 60 posts on just this topic in recent months talking about life balance.  What you're really wishing is that no one sees through your BS.  

In the meantime, keep the lyme disease reports, medical industry conspiracies, and finasteride speculations coming! 

13 minutes ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

But at the end of the day you're insane if you base your personal health decisions on the opinions of any one doctor, or on the opinions of the medical industry as a whole. Countless examples of pharmaceuticals released into the public that only later are found to have severe side effects. I don't think its fearmongering or "shamelessly playing" on anything to point that out. 

How about posting a few links to your other forum 'debates' on some of these countless examples of other drugs? We need all the 'trust' we can get, since we can't trust any one doctor, or the pharmaceutical companies, or the medical industry as a whole. 

Or do you just have a particular interest in making sure guys don't sacrifice their hard-ons for a few more hairs? Get a life. And leave the debates to the professionals with medical training.

22 minutes ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

Not sure why you are so adamant about this though. I readily admit that a lot of guys seem to tolerate Fin well (Even if I think their are side effects that go unnoticed such a kidney/liver/retinal issues). Whereas you take a hardcore stance apparently and deny that anyone suffers serious side effects? 

Try to have more consideration for the guys battling hair loss than your personal ego and amateur enjoyment from 'debating' the science. We all know the more guys read about and dwell on the potential for side effects, the more likely they are to inadvertently generate side effect-like symptoms that have nothing to do with the actual drug. 

And you shamelessly play on that. 

I've always said if you think you are experiencing side effects go see medical professionals. Don't base your medical decisions on personal stories and clown 'debates' from online strangers.

28 minutes ago, yesplease said:

And to an equal extent, it became a thread where guys who tolerate it well call those who have had significant side effects crazy and state that it’s all in their head. 
 

Like most things, the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle. 

Equals and middles hardly. I'm sure you sorted through the over 300 replies on this topic and put them neatly into their respective baskets to come up with that BS summary.

9 minutes ago, Vann said:

long story short… tl;dr - seek a medical professional to diagnose and evaluate your personal history and tolerance to the drug. Remember there are studies done between MANY variable groups from 0-20+ years. Make sure if you take ANY drug (prescribed) that you actually understand how it works. 

Exactly, reading personal stories from other guys isn't going to dictate how YOUR story is going to play out. We all have our own unique physiology, genetics, lifestyle habits, pre-existing conditions. Which is why this topic should have just had the vote option, and not a reply. Its basically degenerated into something guys who are against finasteride use to scare other guys away from even trying it.

On 9/4/2022 at 11:41 AM, GoliGoliGoli said:

He seems to react very strongly to anything even approaching mild criticism of Fin. I for one appreciate hearing peoples honest stories, both good and bad about this medication. 

Says the guy that's racked up 55 replies on this thread, and counting. He just occasionally drops by here for a little "story time."   

5 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

So I have some changes to report

Don't take this the wrong way, but this topic is a forum poll on whether or not members have experienced side effect symptoms, not a personal journal for your experiments with finasteride. 

And as I've said before, someone dealing with depression can cause more harm than good. Everyone will be better off if you focus on dealing with that first with your doctors.

42 minutes ago, BaldV said:

We need a bigger sample

What we really need is to make a better use of time. This thread has been a mud pit for arguing for pages.

Lets give you a million sample size. Who in their right mind would make health decisions based on anonymous replies to an internet poll? How many of these yes and no replies so far are actually from one person using multiple accounts? Its no like its hard to do, when all you need is a free forum account with no verifications to participate.

8 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

So almost 20 finasteride free days now, I am sort of making a journal for myself for my perusal but also perhaps for people to see what a fin supporter experiences lol

If you're experiencing rapid weight loss and increased depression, you've got bigger issues than finasteride. Go see doctor(s) for these symptoms if you aren't already. Don't worry about helping others at this point, in fact pouring out your thoughts and experiences on the forum in your current condition is more likely to do harm than good.

4 hours ago, hairthere said:

6 hours ago, ciaus said:

More great results. The second one from the top with the shaved eyebrow, on the top front it looks a little dull with a filmy-like appearance. Was that some combination of too much topical moisturizer or extra skin that will shed shortly?

Thanks! I’m not really sure where you mean specifically. It could be from the topical vasoconstrictor I use as this client is pictured immediately post procedure. 

Somehow your reply got imbedded in my reply, almost missed it. The part below the line here, usually its harder to tell where their receded hairlines end and your work begins. Interesting about the effect of the vasoconstrictor. And looking at it some more, I think the contrast with the longer length and density of the surrounding hair further back is also drawing my attention. I think because of how much existing hair he's still got behind that bare frontal area you covered with smp, he's going to have to be extra diligent about keeping it buzzed close for optimal blending.

More great results. The second one from the top with the shaved eyebrow, on the top front it looks a little dull with a filmy-like appearance. Was that some combination of too much topical moisturizer or extra skin that will shed shortly?

With this pic comparison, its like someone is holding up a mirror each time and he's reacting to his hair.

I've used fibers for years as well, they're a great safe management tool for guys dealing with hair loss.

Please read the common sense label before application "NOT for use on eyelashes, nose hairs, or ear hairs."  This is an example of why I'd never bother creating a product and trying to sell it.

Just happened to be looking at this topic a few minutes before yours. Not the messy look you like, but you get a pretty good view of the fully matured results here.