England

A couple of notes in favour of Finasteride: 1 - If you did have an adverse reaction, you're probably in the tiny minority of patients who this applies to, and you have not seen continued side effects since stopping taking the drug. This is important, as people who do see side effects generally see them go away upon stopping use. 2 - How are you sure that Finasteride was causing the problem? There are thousands of causes of temporarily low numbers of red blood cells, which may well have affected you and could have gone away regardless of whether you stopped taking the pills or not. 3 - I've taken Finasteride for a decade now and my blood work is completely normal and has been through all stages. I've seen no noticeable side effects 4 - To the guy suggesting FUE as an alternative, it's only a good option when you supplement it with something like Propecia to prevent further loss.

Just to add to this thread, I've been on Propecia regularly for the past.... 9 years? I've barely missed a day. Recently had a baby boy and we conceived on first attempt. Baby is extremely happy and healthy, so don't worry guys!

Thanks everyone for the kind words - really appreciate it

2 Months 2 Months 2.5 Months - Back to pre-op state 4.5 Months 4.5 Months Pt 2 4.5 Months Pt 3 5 Months After going out with zero product in my hair for the first time in 7 years, I encountered extremely strong winds, and actually enjoyed it: 5 Months 1 Week The bottom line is, even if I didn't see any more growth from my hair transplant, it has already changed my life. Before, I would spend half an hour styling my hair, using all kinds of product to hold the comb-over in place, and be worried any time I sensed even the slightest wind. If I ran out of product, I didn't go out. Going out in any kind of strong wind simply wasn't an option. I am now 5 months and 1 week in, I can style my hair in 2 minutes and I no longer need any product, whatsoever. I finally enjoy wind for it's cooling and refreshing qualities instead of being constantly nervous about my hair. I seem to find the hair is getting thicker and thicker every week - I can't wait to see how it continues to develop over the next 7 months. Cheers

Basically, yes... although with hair and hair transplants nothing is ever certain! :-) One word of caution though - there are two types of shock loss. The temporary shock loss is the one we've been discussing, in which all of the hair is strong enough to grow back afterwards. However, if you have any hairs which are on their 'last legs' - which would soon fall out and disappear anyway, the hair transplant may push them over the edge and they may not return. To put things into perspective for you - as I mentioned I'm now 5 months post op, and for the first time in 7 years I'm able to style my hair in 2 mins, with no product, and to walk out in any wind with no problems. Even if I see no additional growth from here, I'm already delighted. You may not see exactly the same growth rate, but I would be surprised if you didn't have some improvement by 5 months. Are you having FUE or FUT? Generally FUT growth occurs sooner, and also growth is often quicker if this is your first surgery. Cheers

I would say that even in a worst case scenario most people tend to have recovered from any shock loss by 5 months. In my case, it was 3 months at which point any sign of shock loss had disappeared.

Hi Splashin I've replied on my thread so as to not hijack this one. Cheers

Hi Splashin, Decided to answer on here so as to not hijack the other thread. Here are the main reasons I selected Feriduni, but I will say from the start that I believe Bisanga to be an excellent surgeon, who would also make a great choice for anyone considering FUE: 1 - Case studies. As well as preferring the design of Feriduni's hairlines, he was also able to show me hundreds of studies of people with similar hair to mine who underwent a similar procedure, during our consultation. I didn't get to see any during my consultation with Dr Bisanga. I also met some patients in the waiting room prior to my consultation with Dr Feriduni, and spoke to some of his former patients online. 2 - Approach. I felt that Dr Feriduni was very interested in hearing what my specific requirements were, and creating a strategy based on that, whereas the impression I got from Dr Bisanga is that he had decided what he was going to do before I even opened my mouth. Dr Feriduni also took a more scientific approach to the consultation itself, using digital equipment to evaluate my donor (displaying it on screen) and the special mask to calculate the ideal hair line. While the consultation with Dr Bisanga was over within say 15 minutes, the consultation with Dr Feriduni was far more in-depth and detailed, lasting probably 45 mins. 3 - Environment and Personality - the clinic, the staff, and the doctor all seemed more professional and amenable to me, which perhaps doesn't count for much - but it counts for something. Not only did it mean I had absolute trust in the ethics and honesty of the clinic & doctor, it also gave me great confidence going into the procedure that if anything went wrong it would be handled properly. That isn't to say that anything about Dr Bisanga or his clinic was unprofessional, I just felt more at ease at the Feriduni clinic and in the hands of Dr Feriduni. Best of luck.

Between months 1 and 3 I had some shockloss - my hair definitely reached a point worse than pre-op at around 2 months, but it quickly grew back and at 3 months I was back to square one. I'll be posting some pictures from 2 months to 5 months this weekend so you can check it out for yourself.

Hey Santhosh, I had FUE surgery 5 months and 1 week ago. After 3 months I found my hair was back to my pre-op state, albeit a lot shorter because I shaved by head for surgery. Now, after 5 months, I've already seen a life changing improvement in my hair, and I know that I should continue to see growth for at least the next 7 months.

Fair comment - hadn't read the updated warnings since I started on Propecia 7 years ago. At that time it was stated that any sides would go away after discontinued use. I've checked around and seen the updates that were made later. I wasn't trying to hide any info, as you make out. It's important to put the side effects into perspective. It remains the case that only a small percentage of men get side effects and the vast majority of those who stop taking the drug see their side effects go away.

Hair loss is progressive. Whether you have surgery or not, your hair will continue to fall out and get thinner. If you have surgery, you thicken up a particular part of your scalp / hairline - and this is usually permanent. However, the rest of your hair (not touched by surgery) will be unaffected, and will continue it's progressive fall-out. This means that even though the surgery has filled in the original gaps you have, your natural male pattern baldness will create new gaps in the future. This isn't an effect of the surgery, it's an effect of your genetics :-) The 2 solutions to this are medication (Finasteride) to slow or stop this natural process, or further surgery once it occurs. This is why you have to plan for your long term future when thinking about a hair transplant. You have to factor in future loss and ensure you have sufficient donor to deal with it.

I would certainly consult with him, he is recommended on this forum. I would also consult with other surgeons, as I mentioned. You can view real patient experiences here: Healing and happy with 3320 grafts in one session with Dr. Madhu - Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients 15 Months after HT done at Dr.Madhu's Hyderabad - Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/159366-my-hairtransplant-dr-madhu-29-01-11-a.html http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/160065-dr-madhu-hyderabad-india.html http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/161476-just-got-my-hair-transplant-dr-madhu-heres-my-experience-promised.html http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/162158-3400-grafts-dr-madhu-08-08-2011-need-your-feedback.html#post2275121

I've seen, and read the link you provided. It does nothing to change my mind, whatsoever. I stand by everything I said. Every clinic, no matter how good or bad, can present itself in a positive manner. The 'award' 'he' won was for: It has nothing to do with surgical hair restoration. The award also seems to be for the corporation, not for a specific doctor. I hope you take my advice :-)

Rogaine is a topical treatment aimed at preventing hair loss. In my experience, it helps your existing hair to grow (and strong), but doesn't necessarily prevent further loss. I personally don't use it but many on here do so they must see some results from it. Propecia is a brand of pills, in which the active ingredient is Finasteride. Proscar is another brand of pills which also contain Finasteride.

Thanks for the quick reply, Pavan. I re-read your previous posts and I see that you stated you would use Homeopathic and allopathic medicines after surgery (which I misread), so it now all makes sense. Here is my advice: Homeopathic and allopathic medicines I would strongly recommend against this method. There is little to no scientific evidence that any of these methods work. Even at the time they were conceived, there was little to no scientific basis behind the theory. In short - it is my honest belief that this medicine will provide absolutely no benefit to you, and would be a waste of your time and money. Also, a lot of people mistakenly believe that just because something is 'natural' that it can't be damaging to your health. The reality is that natural substances are 'drugs' every bit as much as the pills you can buy - the only difference is that nature doesn't require FDA approval. I can't change your beliefs, but I can at least try to convince you of what I believe to be accurate. Here is a great article explaining why Homeopathy is not the right path to take: Column: Homeopathy isn Finasteride The only drug which has been proven scientifically to reduce hair loss, I would strongly recommend that if you go ahead with surgery, you combine it with this drug to limit the need for future surgeries as much as possible. I notice you have already been informed of possible side effects in a previous thread you started, but I would suggest that despite this possibility, you give Finasteride some serious consideration. Hundreds of us on these forums are using Finasteride every day, with no side effects whatsoever. It is a very small percentage of people who suffer any side effects, and those who do find that those side effects disappear when they stop taking the drug. If you're serious about hair restoration, and surgery, it is an ongoing battle between your hair loss and hair maintenance / restoration techniques, and Finasteride is an essential part of that battle. There is a very real danger that if your hair loss continues after surgery, you will be left with an unnatural looking hair pattern and you may have insufficient donor to restore a normal appearance. FUE Surgery I recently had a 2,500 FUE surgery, so was probably in a similar situation to you prior to my op. However, FUE surgery is far more complex & time consuming when compared to FUT, and also requires a great deal of skill to perform consistently well. Grafts are not extracted from under a microscope in controlled conditions, but under lesser magnification from your living, moving, head, in a process which is far more risky to the grafts. I am an advocate of FUE in some cases, but there are only a handful of surgeons worldwide who can consistently generate excellent results with FUE - and even they have the occasional lower yield. It is simply difficult to perform. My main concern with your plan is that the surgeon you have mentioned is not even familiar to me, let alone in my list of surgeons who I would trust to take a scalpel to my head. That, combined with the choice of FUE - is a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. You are probably in a difficult state of mind, set on getting yourself 'sorted', and the last thing you want to do is cancel - on a personal level I think it will be extremely difficult to persuade you that this is the correct course of action. But my sincere and honest advice to you is that you should cancel your scheduled procedure. Any doctor can show you pictures of success stories, but unless you can read up and research a doctor independently, you don't see the other side, the times it went wrong. You also have no way to prove that the pictures the surgeon is using are his own - Jotronic on here has many times exposed clinics using before/after pictures which do not belong to them. I have seen / read hundreds of cases such as yours, and the end result is almost never a desirable outcome. The hard, cold truth is, if you go ahead with this procedure, I would bet a significant portion of money that you end up dissatisfied with the result. I don't want to scare you, or be dramatic in any way, but that is honestly the route you are on. I know, because I made the same mistake. I was so focused on my hair being the problem, so desperate to sort it out at any cost, that I didn't stop to look around and look at the massive array of options when it comes to surgeons. For my first procedure, I went to a sub-par surgery, just because it happened to be close to me, I was completely unaware that a decision like that would affect the rest of my life. I was quite happy to believe the before/after pictures they showed me, because I wanted it to be right. You are more fortunate, or wiser, than I was. You've already come onto this forum and asked for advice, and that puts you in a better position than I was. You've now had many experienced, impartial users of this site telling you that the best course of action is to cancel, and you should take that advice very, very seriously. Remember, everyone on here has no motivation to lie to you. We don't get more money if you choose to go with one surgeon or another. We're here purely because we've been through what you are, and we want to help you to achieve the best results. Here's what you should do, in my honest opinion: 1 - Cancel your procedure. This is going to be the hardest step, but you will be happy you did it in the long term. 2 - Have an online consultation with the big names of the hair restoration industry, even if you don't intend to go with them. Hasson & Wong, Dr Rahal, Shapiro Medical Group, Dr Feriduni, Dr Feller, Dr Konior. These guys are simply the best in the business, they have been proven, time and time again, to produce excellent results. Even if you can't / don't want to travel to see any of them - they will give you an informed, expert assessment of your hair and what strategy is best for you. 3 - After your online consultations, make an informed decision on FUE vs FUT, and your long term strategy. Select at least 2 surgeons who are well regarded and have well documented impartial patient stories (not from the Clinic), and go for an in-person consultation. If you can't do this, do a consultation via Webcam - this will give you a more accurate idea. If you have the opportunity or possibility to meet any previous patients, this is invaluable. 4 - Schedule your surgery with the top surgeon you experienced, and have confidence in knowing that you will end up with the result you deserve. The bottom line My biggest fear in your case is that you will ignore all of the above advice, and go ahead with your procedure. I cannot stress enough how much I hope you don't do this, because I've seen it time and time again, you'll be back on here in 5 months time, more disappointed than ever, looking for a repair. Please learn from the many mistakes that a lot of us have made, and don't make the same mistake yourself.