Danielkiwi

I think that ES makes some excellent points here and in his previous posts...i am sure living in the primitive society, where people are farming and working hard, there would be no signs of depression! there is just too much pressure and stress these days and we are constantly worrying about pleasing the society etc!!!..i am a lil stressed these days for some personal issues and it might be that propecia just pushed me over the hill or maybe, it is just my mind imagining...there is no definitive answer for this..but i can say one thing for sure...it is a good drug and helped thicken my hair....i gave it a shot and everyone considering a HT should...the problem with me was the sides made me feel like i have never before and it was definitely not worth it for me...i am just concentrating on living healthy at the moment and hoping everything falls in to place..but i atleast tried and will have no regrets!!!

Yeah ES. That would really be awesome..hopefulle, they come up with something in our generation. I think it is pretty ironic that man has reached the moon, can clone arms, legs but cannot do anything for a follicle!! Having said that, i am getting used to the idea of being bald coz i feel i am not a good HT candidate (I have below average donor density as well) at this time and i feel a lot better pshycologically having accepted that...my girl is fine with that as well..but as your father said, a mans mind changes every 4-5 years, who knows what i will be thinking 4-5 years down the road..hell, i dont know what i will be thinking 4-5 months from now

No problems dude...i share your view points in a lot of ways and i personally think you are the most ideal Ht candidate there could possibly be. You have gone to the best HT surgeon on this planet and seem to have covered all your bases. Fin is working for you with no side effects and trust me, i am happy for you...you have done everything you possibly could and the rest is beyond your hand... As for me and some other people, Fin has side effects coz every body is different...if fin worked for me, i would get a HT without hesitation...but i dont think i want to do a HT and try to ride out the sides of FIn..coz after 5 years, if the sides become more unbearable, there would be no where to go...to me that is more disastrous than having a buzzed head! Hence, my only request to you is not to try and convince people to continue on meds coz those who get the sides exactly know how it feels and you might never get feeling!!! As far as the exercise comment is concerned, please ignore...it was in the heat of the moment..i think every kind of exercise is good and no body has the right to judge anyone.. Happy growing

I dont think there was a need for this nasty post but since you have bought it up, let me share my thoughts!!! ES. some of your theories continue to amaze me..First of all, i personally think drugs are for sick people and i think you have become a slave to this drug and will be for life since you have had a mega FUT...hence, you always viciously try to defend this drug at every given opportunity!!!even after that, there is no guarantee that fin will keep all your native hair all your life...and guess what, after that, you will need to go on the chair multiple times and that pencil thin scar you continue to talk about would not be pencil thin any more....IMO, HT's will only buy time and that is it Secondly, i have always been a fitness freak and positive individual all my life and i have never felt like this before being on propecia....i never needed a belt to wake me up from the bed as i am self motivated to wake up at 6 am and hit the gym like a man and not take the easy way out by biking like a woman!! And yes will power and mind is a strong thing!!! then why not use these forces to live healthy, exercise and not worry about being a salve to a tablet and hair which everybody is going to loose someday!! To me, everyone including myself who has had a HT or is considering one are weak people in the mind in some way or the other..if you have the b***s, shave your head and live like a man instead of doing all this cosmetic suff...every one knows what the world thinks about old women who get liposuctions, breast implants etc done to look young. To me, we are exactly like these old women and perharps girls think the same about us...if mind needs to be conqured, why not use the will power to remain bald and not take a tablet like a sick man!!!

Hi Garet I totally understand where you are coming from as i have been through this ordeal myself. i took propecia for about 3 months. Around the 2 week mark, i started experiencing extreme anxiety, brain fog and depression...i had feelings that i have never experienced before and i am 33 and have been through various tough stages in life!!!...I am sure everybody gets depresssed here and there but this looked like extreme depression...there were times that i could not get up from the bed in the morning..i als had some ED issues...i have discontinued prop for a month now and the ED issues have gone completely...there is still some lingering depressive thoughts but not as extreme as when i was on prop...i am trying to stay fit by hitting the gym and eating rite...weight training really makes me fee good...i am also going to see a endocronologist to see if propecia has not messed up my hormones...maybe, you could do the same if the sides persist..Good luck

Hi Tsakolos I have noticed in a bunch of threads about your dissatisfaction with your HT but i havent read anywhere about your experience in detail. Who was your HT surgeon? Also how many surgeries and grafts have you had? Are you on propecia and can you please share some pictures so that people like me on the fence can decide about our own HT's...Also, what do you mean about the depleted donor area..have you shared your concerns with your surgeon at all

I exactly get that..i had a similiar experience the last time i was in India..this guy with a complete diffused look was mocking another friend of mine for shaving it off...if i was in my element, i would have given the diffused guy a hard time but i did not want to get the attention on my hair itself...lol...but i think it also depends on what city in india you are from..i am from mumbai and it is a lot better than some of the other cities...what city are you from? Also, i noticed that people are too judgemental in our society and will point out your balding head at every opportunity to mock you!! I am glad i live in the US for this reason...people are not very judgemental here...also, i think if you are married in india, for some reason people are fine with you being bald..wierd..but i am sure you concur with me..just move to the US man.. and as far as sides are concerned, i pretty much think they go away after continued usage...so, give it a shot man...also, i saw somewhere that you were looking into QR678...were you able to get any info on that...i am travelling to India this november and might give it a shot

Tha pain was not severe at all....it was just a discomfort enough to trouble me throughout the day on days i felt it..i did not feel the discomfort on every day..i started finpecia once a day but after maybe 5 or so months reduced the dosage to EOD...i think effect was still pretty good..i think 1mg a day is pretty much overkill!!! As far as minox is concerned, i have been using it for almost 7 years now...and never felt any sides..i guess i was younger and did not fear anything in life..hence, maybe sides did not bother me...i think it comes down a lot to your psycological issues and yes, i really hope they come up with something nice to keep hair..it is funny man has reached the moon , can clone legs and arms but not hair!!! Honestly, i know it is difficult but i have begun to accept it for now..remember, you are not the first neither the last man to suffer hair loss..there are much more things to worry about in life..just pray to god to keep you healthy and everything else will fall into place!!!you had mentioned earlier that you are from india and it is not accepted with open arms in that country..i too am from india but live in the US these days and i completely understand...but you know what if a girl is superficial enough to not like you for your hair, she is not going to find you any more attractive once she know you had a HT!!!! just my two cents

Hi Akash First of all, forget about the six month period. You will pretty much need to be on it for the rest of your life..As far as sides are concerned, let me share my side of the story..i first started taking finpecia couple of years back...great for my hair, some ED sides but not that terrified me or something..i was in pretty good shape those days (working out 5 days a week), no mental issues etc....started once a day but reduced to every other day after 6 months to reduce the ED issues...after one year, i started noticing a weird pain in my groin/testicles area..not sure if i want to atttribute that to Finpecia coz i was lifting heavy weights as well...but that pain refused to go away even after i stopped working out for three months..hence, i quit finpecia....the pain lasted for about 9 mos. or something...in the meantime i also started working out again...hence, i am not sure if i attribute this pain to finpecia but it is one of the sides mentioned on the website...the pain went away completely after 9 mos..however, i lost a lot of hair in that period and my mental state was not the most upbeat during that period..i decided to give propecia a shot...tried it for 3 monts nut guess what, i suffered really bad this time with ED, Brain fog, anxiety, depression..so much so that i threw the bottle out of my house...whether it is psychological or not, i leave it up to you to decide..but the point is, if you are not mentally strong, you will start blaming it for everything bad that happens to you..i personally feel that is what happened to me..i was at a very low point in my life when i started propecia for 3 mos..and hence faced depression sides...however, i would still encourage you to try it..start with a low dosage maybe once every three days and then if you dont get sides, bump it up...try to be a little positive in life, work out in he gym and see how it goes..atleast you will have no regrets of not trying..for me personally, at this point in my life, i would rather be bald, the deal with the anxiety of what propecia is doing inside my body..please dont hesitate to ask if you need additional information..best wishes, dan

Hi Swimmy Did you mean to say that you were only able to use it for one month and then discontinued!! if so, what was the reason to discontinue..

Hi Swimmy I would be interested in learning about the new growth factors. Have you had experience using any of those? Have you heard about renokin...it seems to have good reviews

Nice post BenUK....what really cracked me up was the Sikh part..I am from that part of the world but not a sikh....as kids we would make fun of my sikh friends coz of the turban and how they did not have much luck in dating with all that head and facial hair..and now, i secretely wish that i was born as a Sikh..hell, i was almost contemplating converting to sikhism as i speak their language as well....and guess what, i have seen some white sikhs here in the US..they look a little odd but who cares, atleast they dont have to worry about concealers, rogaine, propecia etc..i even asked my mom about converting but she just laughed about it and thinks it is no big deal with loosing hair!!!btw, the females in that religion are really gorgeous...and they pretty much mary in the same religion...

Hi BCC13 I took a look at your pictures and noticed that there are small holes all over your scalp...how many grafts did you get. I am not sure if that is normal coz i was told with top quality surgeons there is no scarring in the recipient area...maybe others can chime in as well and share their experiences...i do want to wish you all the best in the coming months...i think the hard part is about to get over and it can only get better from here!!!

Hi Swimmy Thanks for taking the time to respond to our questions..I asked my homeopathic doctor about the ingredients and she said that there are a number of plants and other herbs that go in the solution..she did not give me the names but i trust her since she has given me effective medicine for some of the other problems i have had..If you want i will probe her in more detail when i go to india next month.. all the supplements that you mentioned, where can one buy them..Do they have any side effects. I wanted to ask you Saw Palmetto in more detail. If SP also inhibits DHT(in fact both kinds of DHT), and Fin reduced only one, then why would i not get sides with SP.. By alternate medicine, i meant what ever except Fin..i have had such a terrible time with Fin that i dont want to go anywhere near it...That would include either topicals or pills..i am using rogaine currently

Yes RCwest. I absolutely agree with you. It would be really helpful if Swimmy can list down some valuable information here. Question for Swimmy - I have tried propecia off and on...recently, i had major side effects which included brain fog, depression, anxiety (to a point i could not get up in the morning) and ofcourse ED..I could live with the ED part of it but it was the other stuff that got me scared. I have never felt like this before and i am 33..i stopped taking it 3 weeks back and i feel better now...I am taking homeopathic medicine from India currently but live in the US..What do you think about homeopathic medicine...In addition i am taking Zinc 50mg, Biotion 5000 mg, Rogaine 5% liquid...One of the doctors told me to get on MSM..What do you think about MSM? The same doctor also told me to get on Saw palmetto. but i am hesistant..the reason is because it blocks DHT as well, then why would i not get any side effects from SP? I would really appreciate your response to my post and maybe you can list down some alternative medicine as well..Thanks

Hi feelzgood I am also interested in doing a FUE procedure but am trying to understand the scarring part..You said that you can see small white dots after shaving..does it give a moth eaten look..i am assuming you have 4000 white dots on the back of your head..i am wondering how it looks to the naked eye

ES, first of all i dont know what is your definition of a lush looking HT..Everybody who has done a little research knows that HT creates an illusion of hair at best!!!And what i meant with throwing in the towel is to be able to buzz to No.1 or No.2 without a smiley face on the back of your head screaming for attention. I have seen a couple of patients with a no.2 buzz after FUE with no sign of scarring at all...i have not seen anybody shaved to the skin and i think it would be realistic to see some kind of scarring. However, FUE would still give you an option of having a neat hair cut instead of having a mullet and worrying about sides dropping for the rest of your life. You seem to suggest that you have seen FUE results like a swiss cheese. Can you specify what doctor it was? I have also seen buthered up scars from numerous strip surgeries. Lets make sure we are comparing apples to apples (ie top notch doctors). Also, you seem to be lucky in not having sides with finasteride..However, what if a patient starts getting side effects after the HT is done..Sides can come anytime and the meds can also loose effectiveness...in that case, the patient might try to still take finasteride for fear of his HT looking unnatural..not a healthy way to live imho..Also, i firmly beleive in less is more philosophy for a HT and FUE certainly gives you the option of buzzing your hair. Body hair can be used to cover the crown area and when you decide to buzz your hair, who cares about so called "lush URFUT" that will still look thin under certain light conditions..if you ask any chick what looks hot between someone who has a lush looking frontal third and bald crown and someone who has a no.2 buzz allover without the "lush" feel, you will get your answer right there!! To me it is a smart decision to have an option to throw in the towel rather than enter a one way prision with a point of no return and a life time of misery.. Future hair loss is uncertain, meds could start givinig sides anytime, nobody has seen the future...trying to cross a bridge without knowing the no. planks is foolish imo....and yes everybody who is on this forum would love to shave their head and be done with it..but it is not easy at all. We need to see what is available and select the best option...as you say choose your poison..A poison which gives you an outside chance to survive is better i think???

First of all dude, have you met the doctor himself. It would be foolish to commit to the surgery without the doctor using the densometer and estimating how many grafts you have in totality. He also needs to do a miniaturization test and determine the quality of your native hair..Please dont base your decision by meeting with the consultant

I am sure the formulation differs in some way..I was taking Finpecia before, (Indian version of Propecia) then i switched to propecia and started getting anxiety attacks!!!finpecia worked for me. so i def knew that it had finasteride..but for some reason, my body rejected propecia completely!!!

i am sorry wb 280..I forgot to mention. i cancelled the surgery after i developed sides as i thought a partially bald head with a smily scar would be worse than buzzing down and balding naturally..I could have done the surgery if i did not have sides but who knows what sides you are going to get long term by blocking DHT and creating hormonal imbalances...not worth it IMHO but every bodies body responds differently.. With respect to density check, i meant estimated donor i could get by maximising strip surgery...the doctor never did a density check but looked at my donor hair and said that i had great laxity and density.. it turns out that my density is not that great when another doctor used the densometer for me!!! i feel blessed to have cancelled the surgery for now..i think it is extremely important to know how many stones you have before you can begin contructing a bridge..Did Dr. path do this test for you? As far as FUE doctors in the US, please tell me if you know if your research can help us..I gather Dr. Feller is pretty good but $10 a graft is insane amout of money..Also, he does not seem to recommend FUE..I hear Dr. Shapiro is good too, is reasonable but a lot of his patients have not posted after pictures..i dont know what to make of that...Dr. Umar is good too but secrecy about his tools does not inspire confidence..anybody else you can think of??

Garet I kinda agree with Scar 5 right now. Also, it looks like he has been there and done that. I dont have the experience of HT surgery to claim anything but beleive that i have done enough research for the past 3 years to give my advice to you..I had booked my FUT session with a top 3 doctor on this forum and everything looked rosy. He convinced me to get on propecia for around six months prior to the surgery and so i did..In the beginning everything was fine and i also saw great improvement in my hair..but suddenly, i started developing sides and had to discontinue...That actually opened my eyes and i thought that i would be fighting a life long battle with meds, scar, continious surgery, one way prison etc..The doctor who i had consulted with never did a density check on my donor hair and he told me that they will target 2500+ grafts, start in the beginning and then go to the back depending on how many grafts they can obtain..in hindsight, i feel like a fool to commit to surgery on that response..I actually selected him based on the reputation on this forum and am not sure if this forum has this in their standard of recommending doctors. If a doctor cannot do a density check and tell you how many grafts you can precisely get, i think there is a big red flag right there!! Anyways, coming back to your point, i think it is very important to have an option to throw in the towel because the future is uncertain..Nobody knows how much hair you are going to loose, if your body is willing to take finasteride all your life...I dont think all this mental suffering is worth it..FUE gives you an option and i totally recommend it!!! now the key question is to choose the correct doctor..Do your research in multiple forums and you will be able to shortlist some doctors who do good quality FUE at an affordable price... For starters, I would look into Dr. Bisanga, Feriduni in Belgium and Dr. Keser in Turkey..I live in the US and would love to find a good FUE doctor who has confidence in his work, is affordable and knows what he is doing. unfortunately, my research has not yielded any doctor in the US yet but who knows!! Remember, you can also use Body hair to augment the crown area..FUE gives you a ton of options even buzzing to no.1 in the right hands and i totally recommend it!!!

Hello Doctor, Can you please elaborate on the injury of recipient area. What are the possible damages that can be caused by these injuries. Does incision in the recipient areas cause any kind of scarring? Does it damage the nearby grafts?

wow. that is scary stuff. but hang in there brother. Do what the doctor says. Everybodies body reacts differently to stress. Good luck and keep us posted

My understanding is that shock loss will eventually come back. But i may be wrong. Did you call Dr. Shapiro to discuss the same? Were your hair transplanted between the native hair and if so, did you have a lot of native hair. I know i was turned down by Dr. Bernstien just because of this reason as i had a significant amount of native hair..But dont panic, please call the doctor. He is top notch and will address your issues

Hi Garet What website is it? I dont think the moderators on this forum would mind you sharing information about that website since this is a pretty open forum...Having said that, there is a place for FUE in the world for HT depending on your goals...If somebody says you are not a FUE candidate, you need to ask why? Also, this is a cosmetice procedure and you have the right to make a decision..If you want to wear your hair short, that throws FUT out of the window...so, i can say you are not a FUT candidate..people also talk about how scars are getting thinner these days..that is correct but when you end up doing multiple procedures (which every HT patient will end up doing), the scar will no longer be thin....remember FUT is a one way prison from where there is no looking back...however, with FUE, there are a number of options, you could use BHT on the crown, buzz the hair and not look like a mullet!!!It all depends on what you are looking for...I was anti FUE in the beginning but after doing research for a couple of years, i have seen a lot of FUT failures as well even in the best of hands...if you want to do FUE, find an excellent surgeon who is not negative about the procedure in the first place (majority of the doctors i consulted on this network are), get a small procedure of 500 grafts to get a feel and then go for it completely..remember, you will always have an option to throw in the towel which you dont have with strip..lets say 5 years down the road, prop starts giving serious sides..what will you do at that point?