Severin

Thanks for your suggestion - I'm actually about to try my luck w/a super low dose oral Minoxidil, which (fingers crossed) might get me a higher growth yield than topical. If I'm unable to tolerate it, I'll try what you've suggested.

@devnullthank you for offering your experience and advice, as well as simplifying the language a bit for my dumb ass! I'd like to keep the tone of this discussion helpful, so it would be a good idea to restate my intention - to find a way of dosing topical Finasteride that keeps the benefits of the drug, while minimizing systemic effects. I believe 0.1% is too high for me - and while thankfully I have had no sexual sides whatsoever on this dose, it is clearly still impacting me in other ways. I'm going to order an 0.05% concentration now, as serum DHT will hopefully be less affected. If anyone reading this has been in a similar situation as me, and has found longterm stable success through a smaller dose, I would love to hear from you specifically.

I'm a little disappointed to see how you edited your message. You and I live in the same world, my friend - we share the same condition, and our solution is the same drug. So you know as well as I do that even a cursory google search for Finasteride will inevitably lead a person to that website, as before hairloss advocates like Kevin Mann etc, the online space was dominated by their frightening narrative. Anyway. My first intention was to reach out to THANK you for your initially measured response to my message last night. You're absolutely right - once emotions reach a certain intensity, it's a better option to seek professional help. But maybe you can relate to this - in a therapist's office, often I'm met with an otherwise compassionate human being taking a look at me quizzically, before saying "what about (insert middle aged rich Hollywood jock on PEDs)? They're bald and they're successful!"

You may want to reread the content of the exchange, my friend - you're seeing scaremongering where there was nothing but an exchange of advice. Have no fear - the fringe group I belong to is not propeciahelp.com . It's to the group of hairloss sufferers who stopped dating or going outside. My depression resulting from this condition has inspired the darkest thoughts I have ever heard spoken in my head, and so am extremely, EXTREMELY invested in Finasteride working for me. The brainfog I have experienced is heartbreaking and would do anything to take the damn thing with no side effects. So ball is in your court now. What do you suggest for a person in my position?

Does it sound crazy that I think I would prefer a few hours of brainfog a day the catatonic depression my hairloss put me in this past year? Let me answer that. Yes. It's crazy. I can't believe how much this condition has taken from me. I know you're right. But emotionally, I don't think I'm ready to stop.

That's a depressing dose of reality! I was hoping that 0.05 topical might help, as 0.1 topical totally erased the sexual sides I had with oral fin. I'm sorry to hear you experienced it too. As a programmer, that must have been maddening. Hell - anything that requires remembering a sequence of 3 steps or more can become almost insurmountable.

Oh wow - okay. Thank you. This is very detailed and gives me a lot to look into.

Hi devnull - while I do appreciate your quick response, the terms you are using are a bit inaccessable to me - would you mind telling me again with slightly simpler language?

Hey everyone. This will be my second post on a hairloss forum in 10 years. My first post got me some really awesome feedback, and I thought I'd try again with another pressing topic. My first attempted hairloss regiment in many years was .25 mg oral Fin M/W/F and topical RU. In less than two weeks my genitals literally felt like cold rubber, and I had horrible heart issues from the RU. I stopped everything and ordered topical fin and Fluridil. I have since dropped the Fluridil and stuck with the topical fin - for almost two months now. There have been no sexual sides this time. However, every day at work I realize I experience a small attack of brainfog and confusion. It feels like wading through cotton. It seemed to be going away for a short while, but it came back yesterday quite strong. The current concentration I'm using is at 0.1% . Is anyone here using a lower concentration - say, 0.05%, with success? I'm reluctant to stop, as my pattern is severe.

And this is GREAT advice, thank you. If it would be Turkey at all, it would only be for dr Bicer - but you raise a very good point.

Honestly, thank you so much for this post. You've given me a lot of hope and perspective.

Ok wow....that's really not so bad at all.

So I'm KICKING myself for this now...but going through my phone, these are literally the only pics I have of my donor - although I still have a fade haircut, probably making them useless. When I have my consultation w/dr Bisanga, he'll check my donor with a microscope - I'll check in again with what he tells me.

Devnull, if I can ask...what would an FUT megasession like the one you had cost? I've saved several thousand by now and am considering taking out a small loan as well.

Holy crap this is helpful, thank you!!

Sorry the photo is sideways. I'm a boomer at heart. Also, I forgot to mention that I've scheduled a consultation w/Dr Bisanga in mid May.

Ah okay. As I just recently shaved, I don't know how much use this will be, but here's hoping! And thank you, I'll look up both those doctors.

Hi everyone, So at age 35 I finally find myself in a place (and living situation) where hair restoration is financially possible. However - given the fact that a) this last year of living with a shaved head has been the darkest of my entire life, and b) my adult ADHD makes focused planning EXTREMELY difficult, I worry my emotions could get the better of me, and I could make a quick and bad choice here - which is why I want to put my case forward to people with years of experience. I noticed hairloss at 22 when I was still living in Canada. At that time, there wasn't so much discussion around microdosing Finasteride or topical versions, and I let my fear get the best of me. It took about 12 years for me to get to the loss you see in the pics here. This was my combover. It worked fairly well and I still have a lot of native hair on the sides. I am currently on topical Finasteride .1 per cent, and am sourcing low dose oral minoxidil. The two restoration surgeons that impressed me most so far have been Dr Bisanga in Belgium, and Dr Bicer in Turkey. As I live in Germany at the moment, I am mostly looking at surgeons on or near to this continent. My question is - as I would need extensive work rebuilding my frontal third, as well as my crown - is there another doctor I haven't found who is better suited to working on my pattern? And am I even a suitable candidate for a procedure? I am extremely new to all of this again, and am feeling quite naïve and uncomfortable with all this - any and all feedback would be welcomed.