ThePerseverantWarrior

Recipient area would look okay, but donor area could stand out 19 days after HT, depending on its condition and the extent of extraction

Could you share your scalp pictures please? Also, what's the exact medication regime you've been on, and for how long?

Overall experience there was decent. In their price range, they are certainly one of the best clinics in India. I don't like their temple work. Rest of the things are fine I'm not sure about NW 6. I'd recommend you get in touch with them, ask for the contacts of some of their high Norwood patients and talk directly to them (they do share; you can even browse through their YouTube results & ask for some specific contacts from there). Dr. Ankur had designed my hairline. I didn't interact with him beyond that though

You look NW 2 at the most, from those pictures. And it's really good that you're on proper medication this early. Your target should be complete hairloss stabilization, and then maybe a minor hairline work if need be (doesn't look like that at the moment).

1) What dosage of dutasteride were you on? 2) How long were you on dutasteride before you got those sides?

You have "2000" grafts left? Generally, at your age, people do have 7000-8000 grafts available that they can harvest without damaging donor area's visibility. Have you got a trichoschopy done through your donor area?

Could you share some pics? Will help people understand it better

Are you on 2.5 mg oral minoxidil daily?

I completely echo your sentiments. The lack of confidence, insecurity and the related emotional/mental tolls that early balding takes on men is the key issue. And this damage is much harder to undo. Being in a fairly similar boat as you, all I can tell you is that you should probably take another shot at a HT procedure. What do you have to lose, since your present condition isn't gonna improve on its own anyway? If things work out, you will at least spend the 2nd half of your 20s in a much better frame of mind. The best way to tackle this situation is to think as less about it as possible, and that will only happen when you know your hair doesn't look abnormal/unnatural. So probably you should give it another shot. You don't look too far from your goals. One good procedure should take you there

After 18 months of unsatisfactory results on finasteride, I switched to a fin 5x a week + dutasteride 2x a week combo a couple of months ago. And I am only 25 years old! If you haven't experienced side effects from finasteride and have age on your side (i.e., you're 30+), you should certainly consider switching or adding dutasteride to your finasteride regimen. Needless to say, since dutasteride requires a prescription, you'll need to keep your doctor in loop.

Have you been experiencing increased hair fall off late?

Most likely it's your native non-transplanted hairs that fell out. If transplanted hairs fell (probably due to hair cycle change on stopping oral minoxidil), they shouldn't need medication to return

I can, but I want to tread cautiously. One doc advised me to start with 0.5 mg dutasteride just once a week (cuz I am 25) while another doc recommended twice a week. Besides, I have read/heard that several poor responders to finasteride benefited from this 5+2 combo, so I wanna give that a try. If this doesn't work, I will try and up the dut dosage gradually

I guess high retrograde alopecia is a sign of extensive susceptibility to MPB, which might be one reason why you didn't respond to finasteride. My case is slightly opposite. When baldness hit me, my sides were also affected (I didn't realise that first). Now whenever I keep my side hairs short, the retrograde alopecia stands out. That's probably an indication of very extensive MPB, which is why even I didn't respond well to finasteride over 18 months, and I'm afraid even addition of dutasteride (which I've already done) might not be enough for me!

Thanks! Yeah my plan is to try this 2.5 mg regime for one year, and I'll reassess thereafter. If I don't get any bad sides, I may double the dosage. Let's see 🤞