CatInTheHat

Thanks again for all the info! Life got crazy the last month but I wanted to DM you some follow up questions. For some reason the site keeps telling me I can’t send a message but I’ll keep trying haha

Hey @Logan_P great results and thank you for your story! I’m currently considering Dr Cooley and reading personal stories really helps continue to build confidence even though I already know he’s one of the best! I have a few questions since my hair is not too different from your original/old pics and would love to hear your responses: 1) Since you didn’t shave your whole head, did it look weird when the grafts where coming/growing back in the hairline after the shed and they were much smaller than the other hair behind it on the top of your head? Did anyone ever say anything etc? I really don’t want to shave my whole head but always feel like that’s going to happen if I don’t 2) did dr Cooley suggest you start any other meds or any other treatments to help supplement the transplant? I’ve been on Fin for years but am a non responder to min 3) any updated pics? thanks again and looks great!

Hey! Curious if you had any other recent updates now that it’s been a couple years? I’ve been lurking on the site for a long time and find all of the information here so extremely helpful. I’m looking at doing a HT with Dr Cooley in the near future and have been extremely impressed with the cases I’ve seen and his attention to detail/overall work. Are you on any meds? Thoughts now that it’s been about 6 years?

Certainly I can post some pics soon. I also agree that there may be some unreputable areas with bad generics but I’m referring to a major company that’s been playing in this space for a long time and the assumption would be that the medication I’ve been taken suddenly got worse over the last 12 months vs my genetics getting the better or finasteride. Studies have shown that 40% of people begin seeing some loss from fin after 5 years which also lines up with my timeline. But certainly I will also my HT surgeon in a couple months about prescribing the original medication as another possibility

Yup, that was why I had stopped

That’s a good point although I guess I had incorrectly assumed the lack of enzyme extended to oral. What would you consider microdosing? I had started on a VERY low dose since my derm is a bit concerned about the black box warning on Oral Min so I had only done 1.25 daily. Would microdosing be cutting the 1.25 daily and trying to take it 12 hours apart etc? I believe the migraines I was experiencing could have been caused by something else but the chest pain/increased heart rate felt like a direct correlation at the time

Thanks for your reply! Yes I was planning to discuss dut with my HT surgeon in a couple months and certainly wouldn’t just switch from fin to dut without discussing with an expert. And while Fin has certainly slowed down the receding hairline, I can see that Mother Nature is slowly winning the battle, which is why I feel we need to likely implement a stronger DHT blocker. In response to hair loss being stabilized, I guess the question I have is when would anyone truly know that their hair loss has stabilized? I started Fin at 31 and saw noticeable improvements and after a few years 100% was convinced I had it under control/stabilized. However now after five years it appears that it hasn’t been fully controlled. I see many other people getting HTs when they’ve been on meds for much less time so I guess it’s up to every person to determine when they feel they’re ready but it feels like a battle that is constantly moving the goalposts as you age since stabilization is not guaranteed just because it has leveled off a short time. Let me know your thoughts!

Weird I thought I responded but it’s not showing. I had tried oral minox for a week a little while back but unfortunately started experiencing chest pains, increased heart rate (very high right after taking), and some migraines. I stopped and the sides went away but was upset because I really wanted oral minox to work. Also would oral even work if I’m not considered a responder?

Hi all, I recently found this network and was hoping to ask you all for your advice. I’m 36M and have been on finasteride for almost 5 years. I was a thinning overall in the frontal region mostly, crown has looked ok, maybe NW2+ when I started and my overall goal was to preserve what I had and hopefully get some regrowth around the hairline specifically. I’ve been getting my medication through Keeps, so it’s a reputable generic 1mg, and I had really a great response originally. My hair maintained and I would say even improved to a thicker level than I had seen in a long time and peaked around the 2 year mark. In the past 9-12 months I’ve noticed that I’m slowly losing ground again and it looks like I’m not far off from how it looked when I decided to start the finasteride. I considered adding Minoxidil but took the Daniel Alain minoxidil response test and that came back negative so I won’t be a responder for it. I’m highly considering getting a HT soon (have a consult scheduled later this year) but was wondering what else I could possibly do to help fight this?! I understand based on the studies that finasteride doesn’t completely halt MPB for everyone and it looks like I’m one of the unlucky ones. Would dutesteride be my only next option? My local derm won’t prescribe it so I’m waiting until my consult to ask about whether a dut RX makes sense. Does it even make sense to get a HT if finasteride is no longer effective/as effective since I’m not able to determine how my native hairs will remain in the future? Any insights are appreciated! Thank you