Balding Bad

I hate to bump an old thread, but I'm just about to start my own Fin journey so I'm reading up on some past threads and wow, what a journey this one was!

Thanks @Gatsby. I look forward to your invaluable insight along the way! 😀 I intend on emulating your schedule of M, W, F. I'll be taking the full 1mg dose.

I picked up my prescription of 1mg Fin today, so I will be starting this journey soon enough myself! I, too, will make sure to keep y'all posted! Hope it goes well (no sides!). 🤞

Much appreciated. I'll look into getting these tests done for myself as well then, so this way I have a baseline established before I hop on Fin. Sorry to hear that you're suffering from gynecomastia though!

Hey man -- thanks for sharing your test results. It's making me consider getting a test done myself before I dip my toes into Fin. May I ask what precise type of test this was so I can ask for it from my physician? Is this just a standard T test or what is it precisely? Thanks.

Gatsby, that's exactly what I plan on doing. I revised my plan. As you know I initially wanted to undergo a procedure first and then eventually get on Fin...but I reassessed and realized it made no sense to undergo a permanent SURGICAL procedure first without at least trying Fin first to see if I even responded well to it. So my plan now is to start Fin and if all goes well and I experience 0 sides then I will reassess the HT route a year later...which might mean I will no longer have the Work From Home option at my disposal anymore, but, hey, such is life... Thanks for your suggestion though. I think what I'm going to do is try your suggested M, W, F routine (I also saw this recommended by a doctor on a YouTube channel I follow) and keep my fingers crossed. Because you're right...my hair loss isn't THAT bad to the point where Fin is absolutely useless. I don't expect to completely regrow my front hair line, but at the very least I can salvage some follicles that are miniaturizing and, at the very least, I can receive a smaller amount of grafts later on.

Appreciate the feedback. Yeah, based on my research it seems going through HIMS will cost me more cheddar, so I'll just go through my insurance/PCP to lock up the Rx.

I think I'm gonna try oral first to see how I respond to it...if I get sides then I'll try out the topical version.

Hi y'all -- so after being resistant to the idea of getting on Fin I've slowly warmed up to the idea. I was initially 90% ready to pull the trigger on going with a hair transplant procedure, however I realized it might actually be worth it to try Fin first to see the potential results before I go down the irreversible route of surgery. Anyways, I was just perusing the HIMS website and saw that patients are able to obtain a Rx for Fin through their teledocs, which sounds very appealing to me since I currently don't have a dermatologist readily available to see. Moreover, if I could get a prescription online versus going in-person to see a doctor to confirm I'm balding that would be so much easier. That being said, does anyone have any experience with HIMS or any similar type of telemedicine companies? Just wanna get some feedback before I consider going down this road. Also side note, given my current hair loss does anyone think Fin would be noticeably beneficial to me or is my hairline too far gone to be revived with Fin? You can refer to my previous thread which has tons of photos of my current hair: https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/61378-34-year-old-asian-american-male-thoughts-on-my-balding-donor-area/ Many thanks in advance!

Yeah, that density looks quite poor under harsh lighting, however considering you were a NW5, your current hairline is miles better than no hair!

Hey man -- here's someone on Reddit who received their transplant from Dr. Wise and had pretty stellar results. I actually reached out to the poster on Reddit about his experience and he was nice enough to respond. Take a look! Full disclosure, I ultimately ruled out Dr. Wise from my short list since I wasn't able to find many reviews, but mainly because the clinic doesn't seem to specialize in only hair transplants. They offer a ton of other procedures, which to me, is sort of a red flag...however that's just my opinion.

For a man in his 70s, your father's donor area seems very strong. So I'd say you would have a pretty good outlook if you were ever to progress to a NW7. My father is the same age as yours and his sides and back is super thinned out...kinda makes me concerned for my future outlook, but in comparison your dad's remaining hair looks strong and thick.

Appreciate you sharing your experience...gotta say, not sure which one is worse though: gynecomastia or limp dick... lol That being said, glad to hear topical isn't giving you any sides. What is the dosage of Fin for your topical application? 1 mg?

Interesting. I need to do more research into topical Fin, but a colleague of mine who is currently on it says he's experiencing no sides either, but did when he consumed it orally. I do wonder if topical Fin might be too good to be true though... May I ask to what extent the sides were for you when you when taking oral Fin?

That's great to hear that Fin is working well for you. Have you experienced any sides?

Your profile photo is of Peter Griffin and you're concerned about getting manhoods? Sorry, but you probably already have 'em! 😆

I think as others have suggested being conservative with your donor grafts is key. I feel like you're thinking too short term about this. You want to restore your younger, more vernal hairline and I don't blame you. Most, if not all, of us would want that, but you really need to take into account future hair loss, especially if you say your thinning is much worse than it appears in your photos. It's always better to have more in the reserves just in case... That's just my 2 cents, you gotta do whatever makes you feel happy though.

Thanks for linking that study, I'll be sure to check it out!

Finasteride may have no effect on my ability to start a family, but it may potentially make the process of doing so much more difficult lol. Yeah, low doses/microdosing (as Gatsby suggested) is something I think I am open to. Moreover a friend of mine who just underwent a HT and is now on topical Finasteride told me there are absolutely 0 sides when applied topically, however I don't believe that's true. I'll need to research more into topical Fin, but have you heard that before? Seems too good to be true.

Thanks for your input JDEE0. Honestly, I agree with you 100%. I know for a fact my hair loss will only continue, it's just a matter of how long it'll take and how much I can slow it down by with the use of Finasteride. You do bring up a valid point that I may be back at square 1 in 10 years even after a HT. Perhaps I am just coming up with excuses for not starting it right away, but my concerns/hesitations regarding the sides are absolutely genuine. Having a family established at some point in my life would kinda put that issue at ease for me to a certain extent, but at the end of the day excuses are excuses I suppose.

Hey Gatsby -- thanks for taking the time to respond! And yes, I am indeed 34. I wish I could say I was younger, but the truth is the truth haha. Yeah, I'm pretty obsessed with my hair and not having full density at the front has been one of my biggest insecurities in life. It's been over a decade since I first noticed my thinning so for all these years now I've always been pondering that glorious thought of "what if my hair line was restored and I could style my hair the way I actually wanted to..?" I'm sure you know the feeling. Anyways, I really do appreciate the suggestion regarding microdosing Finasteride and honestly it's an idea I've warmed up to recently. I think ultimately this will be something I do later on in my life once I am settled down and have children. The potential sexual side effects are obviously the main factor that are causing me not to commit to this wonder drug at the moment, but I can see myself on it once I have my family established. And, nope, I will add Dr. John Diep to my list to look into/research. Once again, I appreciate your insight Gatsby! 😎

No one responded to my previous post, that's fine I suppose. I'm just gonna use this thread to chronicle my hair growth so far and if any of you fine folks wanna chime in then feel free. Anyways I usually get a haircut every 3 weeks, but I've decided to forego my usual haircut and grow it out a little more to see how my donor area looks like when there's more growth. It's been 1 month since my last haircut, so the donor area is more filled in now. I dunno if it's because my head was laying flat on a chair/pillow and therefore may have caused my hair to flatten in an odd way, but I've noticed there seems to be less density in the bottom part of my hair, specifically the center part on the bottom. Does anyone think that's any signs for concern? Also what do you guys think of my donor area now that there's more hair there?

Hmm, interesting. The fact that your pop has a full head of hair at his age seems promising, but your half brother seems to have gotten the balding gene from the mother then? Either way you may want to consider Minoxidil and Finasteride...although ultimately you should book an appointment with a dermatologist to see what they think.

I would recommend going with the tried and true of Minoxidil and Finasteride. Obviously do your homework and weigh the pros and cons before you start on this journey because if you take well to either one or both then just know it's essentially a life-long commitment. Once you stop, any and all benefits you received from them will go bye-bye! Also for the rest of the forum's benefit, what's your current age (I'm gonna take a guess and say you're 23) and is there any Male Pattern Baldness that runs in your family? How's your grandfather, father, and/or brothers holding up? This will give us a good baseline to make a more informed, and possibly more accurate, projection with any potential future hair loss.

It looks like you're just starting to thin out. Good thing you noticed early on because now you can do something about it! 😎