mtb

This is just crazy. So happy for you, Hugo. I usually am fine waiting for my time with Dr. Zarev. Days and weeks go by and I don't even think about it and then I get an alert that Hugo has posted and I start getting antsy for my surgery date! ha. January can't come fast enough.

Random story. When I was in Bulgaria getting my consult with Dr Zarev I happened to fire up the ol Tinder account. Just last week some random Bulgarian women popped up in my feed and started messaging me. We got to chatting and she was asking why I had been in Bulgaria and why I’d be going back two times in the next 1.5 years. After we chatted for a while I let her know what I was planning with Dr Z and I remembered hearing that he had reviews on Bulgarian language forums and websites. I asked if she would look him up and tell me what she thought. ha. She looked him up and said In the country he has positive reviews. Nothing needle moving as far as reputation but it was nice to hear another little data point especially since his patients are 90+% Bulgarian so they’re not going to be on English language forums. I’m going to get her to send me some of the reviews but translated to English. Oh, and now I have dinner date setup for when I go back for my procedure. 😆

It was a 7 month wait for an in person consult. Then a 13 month wait for a procedure. Both of those times are probably going to be longer these days.

"send him photos him get a garage"? I don't know what that means but he won't agree to do surgery until he sees you in person, but you'll have to consult with him on that, I don't want to put words into his mouth. Hugo may have more insight on that. I think he said he had a quick turnaround from his consult to his surgery time.

I have been in person. That's how he said I'm average to slightly above average when taking into account hair per follicle, follicles per sq cm, hair color to scalp contract, curl, etc. It was a very thorough assessment.

That's the thing, the patient has to have the right donor area. He wouldn't do any real consult until he saw me in person, which I respect. He said I'm fairly average to slightly above average candidate. He said he wouldn't attempt a procedure if I didn't have good enough characteristics. I think beard hair can be a great option for those who have poor donor area. Hopefully I won't get to that point but you never know who will go full blown nw7

I reached out to his office in April of last year. Took a while to get a response. to be honest I think I got in before the demand for his services went crazy. Now I think it's difficult to get in with him. But worth the wait if you can.

I need 10k-11k total. But it'll be broken into two procedures.

Yes, I have decided to go with him. In the end it was between him and Eugenix, for me. I'd prefer not to have to use beard hair so Zarev was my guy. I also think Zarev has slightly better use of the donor and thicker recipient areas. Just one guy's opinion. I'm sure I would have been stoked with Eugenix. Do tons of research before making your decision. I consulted with about 12 top clinics before deciding. Now I'm playing the waiting game.

That was me. I don't think that's common practice. Maybe anticipate like an hour or hour-and-a-half? There were some things specific to me that made it long. But regardless you'll leave feeling he's super knowledgeable and totally dedicated to giving you the best chance at success.

The game has changed. Awesome result, Hugo. Temples look just as thick as pre-first procedure. Can you tell much of a difference between the recipient area between first and second procedure in terms of thickness? May be too soon to tell. My scheduled procedure with Dr Z can’t come fast enough.

I met with him in mid-December and had the exact same experience in terms of the high level of detail, realistic expectations, and long-term planning. He spoke with me for nearly three hours. A very thorough assessment. I was impressed with him.

He told me when I met with I'm in-person last month that he intends to be in his new clinic this month or next. I would keep trying to contact the numbers on his website if I were you. I think it's worth the wait.

I have average characteristics and he still called me a good candidate in my consultation. I have thicker than average hair caliber but lower than average hair per square centimeter. I also have lighter hair which helps with the scalp contrast. I’ll be sure to post my surgery and results. In my consultation he showed me results from guys with bad characteristics that got really good results.

@haime I first wrote him on April 7th in WhatsApp. I reached out to his clinic who scheduled me for consult in early December. I then reached out to him again on May 13th. He responded on May 21st. So it does take a week to a month for him to respond sometimes. He’s very busy working an intense surgical schedule as has been highlighted by Hugo. Even having most of his patients being from Bulgaria his demand is 13 months wait for procedures. So he’s busy doing consults, procedures, and patient follow ups. You also ought to call, text, or WhatsApp message the first number on his website. That goes to his office staff and they can help set up the consultation. His response times will get better in the next month or two when he opens his new clinic and hires his patients coordinators. For me, personally, it was worth the wait. It gave me time to do consultation at several other highly regarded clinics. I feel the best about his results, explanations, his plan for my surgical correction and the thoroughness in his consultation. I live in the Western United States. The clinic staff reached out to me two weeks and one week before the consultation to make sure I was coming. He seemed interested that I flew around the world to see him and now that I have a surgery appointment he answers my Whatsapp messages within a day. It all changes once you're a patient.

I first wrote him on April 7th in WhatsApp. I reached out to his clinic who scheduled me for consult in early December. I then reached out to him again on May 13th. He responded on May 21st. He asked for pictures which I sent back the very same day. So it does take a week to a month for him to respond sometimes. He’s very busy working an intense surgical schedule as has been highlighted by Hugo. Even having most of his patients being from Bulgaria his demand is a year’s wait for procedures. At this rate, in a few years there won’t be a single bald head in the whole country of Bulgaria! Lol. So he’s busy doing consults, procedures, and patient follow ups. You also ought to call, text, or WhatsApp message the first number on his website. That goes to his office staff and they can help set up the consultation. His response times will get better in the next month or two when he opens his new clinic and hires his patients coordinators. For me, personally, it was worth the wait. It gave me time to do consultation at several other highly regarded clinics. I feel the best about his results, explanations, his plan for my surgical correction and the thoroughness in his consultation.

Hey Woody, it went great. He's a very friendly doctor and very enthusiastic about what he does. He spent a lot of time with me showing results and describing his plan for me. Lots of pictures and microcamera pictures. Lots of measuring and calculations. He explained a little of how he is able to extract so many grafts without a depletion look. I'm planning on doing my surgery with him.

I just had my consult. He’s in the same clinic and won’t move to the new one for 1-2 months.

I'm going to meet with Dr. Zarev in early December. I'm no expert but I've been through several consults with the highest rated docs in the last year. I'll be happy to share about the experience with Dr. Zarev and how it compares with those other docs.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871530/ I found this journal article helpful. Hopefully it helps others. It cites 13 studies done looking at the affects of creatine on testosterone, free testosterone, and DHT. Only one of the 13 studies shows a potential impact on DHT from creatine, if I'm understanding correctly.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7871530/ I found this journal article helpful. Hopefully it helps others. It cites 13 studies done looking at the affects of creatine on testosterone, free testosterone, and DHT. Only one of the 13 studies shows a potential impact on DHT from creatine, if I'm understanding correctly.

I hear you, Curious. I find it interesting that there are a handful of surgeons are able to get fantastic results on NW6 patients in just one or two passes with such high graft counts. Half of the clinics I contacted said it wasn't possible to achieve coverage and density at my current NW6 status. I think it plays to the subjectivity of all medical practice on some level. Before you have any procedure (even non-hair transplant) you're best to get second and third opinions. Eugenix, Zarev, Cole, Erdogan and a couple others said they'd be able to do it for me. Zarev said he wouldn't tell me for sure until we met in person. He said if he didn't think he could get a good result he wouldn't even do a procedure. I respect that. I don't think Dr. Zarev cares about marketing or office staff. He's booking out surgeries over a year from now so he knows demand is definitely there. To be honest I think any of us are probably going to have a really good chance of success whether we choose Eugenix, Zarev, Konior, Reddy, etc. I think it's great that those docs are bringing more potential to the hair transplant world. Cases that wouldn't be attempted a decade ago are now being done on the regular. Big shout out to @Zoomster and @HugoX who were kind enough to share their journey and answer a few PMs I sent. Thanks for helping those that are farther behind in the journey.

This is the funniest name on the entire forum! I chuckle every time I see a post. @5BetaReductase

You had a great result the first time, I'm sure this will look even better. Congratulations to you on taking leap and getting what you were looking for. Dr. Zarev seems like a great doc. Please post a pic of your donor in a few weeks once that area has had a chance to grow back.