jim1973

Good point. After towel drying, usually I see 10-15 hairs in the sink (no idea how many fall in shower during shampooing). When I was on oral FIN and topical Min from 2013-2020, I don't think I saw a single hair fall and my hair loss stabilized as well as I could have imagined. I only started the new regimen in 2020 once I noticed hair starting to fall daily. It could just be that my body fought off hair loss as well as it could (and still is) but will never be 100% successful at stopping all loss. But since I witnessed first hand how my hair loss stopped 100% for that period in time, I prob think anything less efficacious than that is unacceptable. Me getting older certainly doesn't help.

@alopie is correct in that I'm not regrowing any new hair but my existing hair is much thicker. I'm on 5mg of oral Min and .5mg of oral Dut. Unfortunately I still shed hair daily in the sink after showering and I'm approaching 1 year on both of these doses of each. I think this is as good as its going to get for me. I'm not sure how others get into the regrowth stages but it doesn't seem to be in the cards for me. I'm also a little older (51).

Keep sharing brother. I think this is going to look great! My pattern is similar to yours and although I don't have as much hair as you now (much older), the pattern is the same (wider forehead since temporal points recessed). I also think that if I were to proceed with HT, that I'd need temporal points addressed but not many doctors want to address that. Can't want to see future updates from you! Appreciate you sharing.

As someone who is also considering something similar, if you would be comfortable sharing pics, it would be appreciated. Of course, I understand if not. I'm also a NW4 and always thought about SMP but since I have a lighter complexion, I always felt it would be super obvious and not blend in very well. I'd love to see another NW4 with SMP from various angles if you're open to it.

Thanks for the reply. To me it seems logical, depending on how quickly one converts to system. There just don't seem to be many stylists who are familiar with this approach in my area.

Curious as to whether anyone has opted for a system that includes a significant amount of thinning and/or recession to mimic their real hair and then gradually and slowly maybe increasing the amount of hair to a preferred look over the course of months/years. It may sound strange but going from no hair to hair will be super obvious. I want to keep a very short hair style which I think will help but even then, going from a Costanza look to anything with frontal hair, even if short, will be very obvious. So I'd essentially wear a system that looks like a balding man (mostly in front, some thinning on top) and then when I replace the system, ever so slightly allow a little increase in hair. Curious as to whether anyone else has tried this approach. Do they even make a hair system, not just with recession, but with a true balding look?

Looks good. I'd be satisfied with a buzz cut also if I thought I could pull it off. Do you have before pics to share? How about pics of back of head where donor hairs were taken from? From the pics I see, I would not have a clue that this all isn't your natural hair or that much of it is SMP.

For the last year I've been on oral MInoxidil (5mg) and oral Dutasteride (.5mg) daily. I switched to each of these because my 7 year run on topical Min and oral Fin was no longer working well (had stabilized for 7 years before quickly losing hair). After this year on the oral Min and oral Dut, I can tell you that the Min works well but the Dut not so much. I say this because my hair grows fast and thick everywhere. If you have body hair on arms/legs, it will thicken and grow fast if you are used to trimming. Where you have strong hair on your head (back/sides), that will also thicken and grow fast. The issue I notice is that I'm still shedding out hair from my top of my head so although some hair is getting thicker, other hair is falling out and my scalp is quickly becoming more visible by the day. I've checked my bloodwork every 3 months over the last year and my DHT levels are very low, well below standard/average but somehow the hair on my head is still miniaturizing. I'm actually considering switching to a topical Finasteride/Dutasteride as I am not sure what else I can do. I would think my scalp DHT would also reduce on oral Dut but maybe not.

I was a good responder to generic Finasteride from 2014-2020 then it seemed to no longer work for me. I've been on generic Dutasteride since then but still nothing working. I'm considering going back to brand name Propecia to see if it makes a difference.

But aren't there studies that show some people's scalp DHT remains high even if serum DHT is lowered? I thought I read that not everyone's scalp DHT gets highly effected by oral meds.

Yes, also on 5mg of oral minoxidil. Also using a laser cap regularly and 2% keto shampoo. I had a scalp biopsy done and nothing was diagnosed. I'm thinking stomach/liver could be culprit for "non-responders" since the oral meds require proper absorption and metabolizing.

Good idea. I had a hair transplant scheduled but cancelled due to not being able to stabilize existing hair loss (even though for last 9 months, I'm on .5mg oral Dutasteride daily and 5mg oral Minoxidil daily. No point in getting a HT if I can't stabilize my existing loss, otherwise, I'll just keep losing ground and hair behind HT will just fall out. Hoping something will work for me soon.

Ah, okay sorry I missed the pics. I am prob similar to you. I've actually been taking the meds and my DHT is extremely low but I'm still losing ground. I'm still fighting the good fight while looking for alternative solutions outside of just DHT. Looking forward to hear any new protocols you feel work for you.

My serum DHT on oral Dutasteride for a year is well below the normal range but I'm still losing ground. I'm wondering if my scalp DHT is still too strong. Have you heard of people not responding to oral medications due to stomach digestive issues or liver metabolizing issues? If so, I wonder if those individuals could be better responders to topicals.

I wish I would have tested my hormones prior to getting on meds like you did. Are you losing hair? I only ask because if your DHT is low and Min didn't do much for you, then wondering how aggressive your hair loss is (if at all).