Viney

This is outrageous. Congrats on the huge results.

Upped my Minoxidil dosage today from 0.9mg to 1.8mg. Not because I wasn't happy with my current results but because I wasn't experiencing any side effects and 0.9mg is quite a low dosage. My derm started me on a low dose just to monitor how I reacted to the meds. I might take a photo this weekend just so I have something to compare with in a few months time. Wish me luck. Maybe once I have 9+ months of results to work off I should make a thread in the Hair Loss Drugs section. I don't think there's lots of documented results and examples on these forums with oral dut let alone sublingual minox.

I found this forum via reddit. Sure glad I did. I still look at tressless and the hairtransplant subreddits occasionally. I do see some decent content and I appreciate the memes.

If you have any questions feel free to drop me a DM as I have had a couple consultations with Sinclair Dermatology this year. Consider doing some research on oral (tablet) vs sublingual (tablet) delivery as the clinic will likely offer both of these options to you.

The talk on oral minoxidil and hair loss preventative medication was really fascinating. I've only been taking a low sublingual dose (0.9mg daily) for 4 months now and the results have completely blown me away. I'm upping the dosage when I run out of 0.9mg tables in the next week to 1.8mg daily and I can't wait to track my progress on the higher dosage. The improvement in my crown area has already changed my complex and improved my confidence and the best part is that it's still early days. It is worth noting I'm also taking dut which is likely contributing. I liked the talk on early growth, Dr Kostis transplant, and very fine hair. Love the way Bisanga and Kostis operate. Thanks for doing this Melvin. Edit: the dutasteride gel injections was really interesting - I'd love to hear more about that, or hear from a forum member with experience.

Quick update. I haven't been currently consulting with any hair transplant places or really researching, just sticking to my regime for now by taking my meds in the morning then going about my day as normal. Timeline below for context. Picture on the left 5 December 2021. Picture on the right 2 July 2022. 5 December 2021 - 14 January 2022 - No Medical Regime 15 January 2022 - 16 March 2022 - 1mg Oral Fin daily. 17 March 2022 - Current - 500mcg Oral Dutasteride daily, 0.9mg Sublingual Minoxidil daily

I know this means literally nothing but I'm not a huge fan of their Instagram stories. There's a real mainstream Tiktok style to it, probably just me being pedantic.

Pretty sure he went to Dr Path in Thailand. Consider going on his profile and finding his thread. Results look really good so far. It's a fun and feel good thread. His posts are good quality.

Dr Bisanga is a true professional. Thanks for sharing Ian.

Hey OP. You're not alone and your situation is quite similar to mine. I've just switched from fin to dut and added sublingual minoxidil to my regime. I think I'm going to take the safe long game and see how my existing hairs and donor reacts to the meds. After 12 months I'll reasses my hair transplant candidacy. To me it's too important of a decision to get wrong both visually and financially. I think it's best try and be patient before pulling the trigger. It's good to see you're trying to do the right thing and following advice.

Nice to see someone else from Adelaide 👋. Glad you didn't pull the trigger here and looked to go somewhere like Eugenix. Best of luck with the upcoming procedure and results. I'm yet to book a procedure and am still assessing my options. Keen to track how you go.

I confess to know nothing about the science or technicalities behind hair loss drugs but I actually found when I switched from 1mg oral fin to 0.5mg oral dut my libido improved and the minor side effects I was having on fin appear to have gone away. Dut is supposed to be the stronger drug so I do find this a bit odd. This could just be some kind of mental placebo effect. Not sure if anyone on this forum has had a similar experience?

I have no idea how many grafts would be required but I think two sessions would definitely be wise. Start with the hairline then consider the crown at a later date. Ensure whoever is performing the first session plans carefully to ensure there's enough left in your donor for the second. It's also probably worthwhile having someone take in person donor density measurements to see what you have to work with for a transplant. You're still quite young and may be prone to further hair loss. Are you taking any medication to stabilise this?

Highly doubt I'm a good BHT candidate, but maybe the minox could change that? I've never left my face for more than 3 days without shaving so maybe I can grow more facial hair than I realise, but I still highly doubt it's thick enough. With a virgin donor I doubt I'll need to look at that path - at least not for a hairline only transplant - we'll see what the doctors say once I give them my donor density data.

Looking good mate.

Back again with another update. On recommendation of Bisanga I have visited a dermatologist interstate (at Gatsby's city) who has taken measurements on hair density and overall hair transplant candidacy. Unfortunately in his view I have a below average donor area (I will confirm the density per cm2 once I receive this data from the clinic). He thinks I am still an okay candidate as I have no miniaturization, no scalp issues and am in good health but should only focus on having a transplant on the hairline at this stage and be very conservative in my approach. He feels the 3,000 grafts I had been quoted by various clinics for my hairline is too extreme and won't leave me with enough donor for future procedures. This was a bit of the kick in the guts. He also said I'm currently a NW4 whereas most of the online clinics based on my pics had said NW3. We're going to try and save my crown, to do this he has told me to stop taking Oral Finasteride (1mg daily) and change to Oral Dutasteride (0.5mg daily) in combination with Sublingual Monxidil (0.9mg daily). It seems like Sublingual Minxodil is a very uncommon treatment online. Since it was founded in Australia, perhaps you can only get it here? I suppose I will be the guinea pig and science experiment for everyone else... No significant side effects from the minox or dut so far but it's only been about 5 days, I kind of enjoy the taste of the sublingual minox when it dissolves below my tongue so that's a plus. We will reassess the medication each 3 months but the dermatologist has told me it will be very hard to gauge the results of the medication unless I take it for a full 12 months. Happy to have met with this dermatologist as he seems pretty knowledgeable compared to who I can access locally so shout out to Bisanga for the great referral. Main thing I took out of the visit was that I'm going to have to really spend some time ensuring I choose a doctor who prioritizes donor management and protecting the donor. I will also likely need to spend a bit extra to ensure the main doctor is punching the extraction sites to ensure the best use and protection of my donor. Challenges ahead but I'm optimistic it will all work out.

Looking forward to watching your growth. Thanks for sharing. Do you know who punched the extraction sites in your donor? It looks barely touched. Was it Bisanga, Kostas or someone else? Edit: I can't read properly - I see it was Bisanga in your post.

I've wanted to create a thread on this for a while but I figured this was the perfect opportunity to mention it. 😅

Hi Melvin, for the forum was there a dark mode or had you considered making a dark mode? I find the forum very bright at times and would love a dark mode.

Thanks for sharing OP this is fantastic.

Best of luck with the growing mate. I expect this is going to turn out pretty good.

No doubt this is going to look good but I do share the same concerns as the @andrewfaliro above. Are you certain you paid for the package where Bisanga punches the extraction sites? Regardless I would have thought Bisanga leading the surgery and consult would be standard with either package.

May I ask which doctor did the donor extraction? Looks fantastic.

This is something I didn't think was possible 2 years ago. Thanks for sharing.

Your hair actually looks pretty good, with a decent medical regime you might even be able to improve it a bit. I had a friend go to HOI for a transplant and he turned out fine, so I also did a consultation with them first before any other clinics. They quoted me based on reccomending 6,000 grafts. Since researching and using this forum I've consulted with 3 other clinics, all of which have recommended and quoted me on 3,000-3200 grafts. If I went with HOI they would have destroyed my donor due to over extraction and left me with nothing for any future required procedures. Very glad I chose to do some other research. Obviously I'm no longer considering them as an option.