BballTC

As I understand it, today is the day the patent on Propecia expires (June 19th, 2006). Found that date listed on a couple websites after doing a quick search.

Hey guys, Thought I'd weigh in here, even though my real experience was with dut. I skipped Propecia and went right to dut (not a wise move, generally speaking, but I was looking to dut because of the propecia ingredient list). I had an extrememly negative reaction in the short time I took it (I recall it being 1 to 2 months). Just as some of you have described, I was thinning somewhat at the temples, but nothing too outrageous. Now I don't want to sound like the guy who yells "fire" in a crowded theater, so I will be measured with what I say here. However, it is my personal experience that dut had a severely negative effect on my frontal hairline. My scalp became oily, my hair felt dried out, and I lost hair at a much faster rate than ever before. In the few months that followed dut (once I was off it), I continued to lose hair at an accelerated rate. It is now almost 7 months since stopping dut, and I haven't seen any regrowth in these areas. Believe me, for everyone's sake, I sincerely hope these medications do work (or something better comes along). But please, don't hesitate to trust your intuition if you feel that something is doing you more harm than good. Listen to your body, and let it guide you. Dut just felt wrong to me, and I don't regret my decision. For those of you who find it works to some degree (Robert, for example), by all means continue. Just my two cents.

youngguy24...it is posts like yours that make me nervous to start Propecia. As Robert may remember, I was on Avodart a fairly short time and got spooked by sheds and quit. I had never taken Propecia (due to stomach upset I had the one week I tried it). I have been considering going back on it, but I just get nervous when considering how it might affect young guys who are beginning to lose their hair. It really seems in SOME instances (not all) to lead to heavy sheds that might leave you with less hair even after any regrowth- net, net. Which concerns me a little. I have a hair transplant coming up in July, and I want to make sure I get the most mileage possible out of it. But I remain nervous that my hairline will deteriorate once I get on Propecia, even if I do it at the time of surgery. All I know is that those meds are STRONG, and as Robert and others have warned, you need to be ready to experience heavy shedding and be strong enough mentally to get throught it.

Great question...I would also like to know what cream concealer works best

I was hoping to get some thoughts on this question...hope it isn't too trivial. Has anyone experience a marked increase in acne on both the forehead and hairline in the past year. It has been quite substantial. Being that I am 26 years old, it was many years ago I stopped having regular breakouts, and my skin was quite clear for a long time. However (and maybe this is my perception), now it seems that along with my increased rate of hair loss has come a strange recurrence of acne...and at times my forehead can be full of it. Only non-hair loss related explanation I could think of is that as hair loss gets worse, many of us wear hats more, and that may be catching dirt, etc? Just a thought. Am I the only one who has experienced this? Does acne often accompany hair loss?

I was hoping to get some thoughts on this question...hope it isn't too trivial. Has anyone experience a marked increase in acne on both the forehead and hairline in the past year. It has been quite substantial. Being that I am 26 years old, it was many years ago I stopped having regular breakouts, and my skin was quite clear for a long time. However (and maybe this is my perception), now it seems that along with my increased rate of hair loss has come a strange recurrence of acne...and at times my forehead can be full of it. Only non-hair loss related explanation I could think of is that as hair loss gets worse, many of us wear hats more, and that may be catching dirt, etc? Just a thought. Am I the only one who has experienced this? Does acne often accompany hair loss?

jonn and Scooping, You guys sound like you are very much in my position. And I know how stressful it can be. As a matter of fact, jonn, I just got into a serious relationship a month and a half ago. And this girl is awesome and I really don't want to mess it up. I can tell you what my thought process was, and see if this makes sense to you (which it does to me). Starting propecia now WILL NOT grow back hair anytime soon. That is just a fact. I had to realize that if I started propecia today, I won't be seeing new growth for many months (likely a year). Generally speaking, people go through a period of shedding, which although it varies by person, can last for a few months. Therefore, if you are comfortable enough with your appearance and don't want the added stress of a shed while beginning the relationship with your girl, I would consider waiting. The downside of waiting is that eventually you will have to go through the shedding period at some point, so maybe earlier is better. But in my case, I don't want the added stress of losing hair at the temples while trying to get this girl on the hook, you know? Avodart really thinned out my hair when I went on it, and caused a lot of shedding at the hairline. I couldn't deal with that during the summer when I will be outside with my girlfriend. So what I decided to do was this. I am wrapping up my current job at the end of June, and I am taking July off. I will be getting my tranplant in July. I am putting most/all of my grafts in the hairline at this time, and I imagine that I could experience a little shock loss (lose some surrounding hair). I plan on starting Propecia at the same time. That way, if I experience some shedding of my non-transplanted hair, I won't sweat it as much because for all I know it was part of the transplant working (the transplanted hairs shed after surgery, which is normal). That way, I can keep optimistic that after one year, I should be seeing results from both the transplant and the propecia. As for the propecia, if I have adverse reaction to it, I will just discontinue use (it stays in your system only a short period). Finally (sorry for how long this is!), I plan on keeping my hair in front a little longer, so hopefully my girl won't notice anything to dramatic. I will be "traveling" about two weeks after surgery, and then wear a hat when I can.

Doc Shapiro is probably a great choice, jonn. I also did a good deal of research, and came to the conclusion that he is the way to go. My ultimate conclusion was based on a number of factors. For one thing, the praise for Shapiro on this board is resounding. Also, I had a consultation with him and found him to be warm and seemingly honest. Although I wanted a very low hairline, he insisted that we go higher and fill down over time if my hair loss remained at bay. As others here have mentioned, beware of those who promise to do whatever the patient wants. it is a doctor's responsibility to do what's right, not what's popular. Another factor I weighed was Shapiro's stature in the transplant community, and his lecturing and publishing record. As for the meds, I can tell you that during the very beginning of taking Avodart (dut), I did notice a very slight decline in libido. Actually, it was less a decline in libido than in the quality of my erections. However, this disappeared after going off the drug. Interesting point---dut is supposed to remain in one's system for quite some time (more than 4 months in some cases), but my symptoms went away almost immediately. Personally, I am much less concerned with sides and very concerned with accelerated loss at hairline due to shedding. That can be very hard to deal with, especially in your mid-20's.

Jonn, Your situation sounds a lot like mine. I am also 26, receeding at the temples, thinning a little generally, and very concerned about it. I have really resisted beginning a Propecia regimen, due in part to a bad experience I had with Avodart (it caused a lot of shedding). However, I feel helpless sitting here and doing nothing to block DHT. Shampoo, vitamins, lotions, etc. are all nice in that they give you the sense you are fighting back, but the DHT issue will always need to be addressed ultimately. I am sure one of your primary concerns is losing more hair at the hairline in the hopes you *might* regrow hair in the crown/vertex. That has been my primary issue in waiting to start meds. What I have decided to do is go for a hair transplant with Doc Shapiro in Minneapolis, and at that time begin Propecia. As everything on my hairline will be in a state of flux anyway, I don't think any shedding will bother me. Then, at the end of the next year, I will hopefully have a nice head of hair from the combined effects of the HT and the Propecia. We'll see.

Thanks, everyone! Hairbank, I will make sure to keep detailed records, and get some good before and after pics, from consistent angles, and with good lighting. M&M, congrats on the procedure. I'll be looking forward to hearing more about it.

Thanks, guys! I have to admit, I am pretty pumped right now. I will definately post the before and afters so we can all evaluate the final product. On the phone today I mentioned to Matt how helpful this forum was in helping me build up the courage to schedule the procedure. It's a great service, and a community I look forward to continuing to be a part of. You guys have a good thing going here. Bspot, rest assured that I will have plenty of questions as the big day gets closer. Thanks for the offer!

Well, I am pretty excited. Just got off the phone with Matt Zupan at SMG and scheduled my procedure with Shapiro for early July (they are booking really far out right now, and I was lucky to get this spot!). I feel very confident in this choice. Despite my desire for a low, dense hairline, I know Dr. Shapiro will develop an appropriate strategy for helping me to combat the loss. Special thanks to Bspot, Pat, M&M, troy, and buddyebsen for the advice on selecting a surgeon. I appreciated the feedback, gentlemen. troy--would still like to see your work with Dr. Rose. Work got busy this week, but will contact you soon. Hope you are well.

Well, I am pretty excited. Just got off the phone with Matt Zupan at SMG and scheduled my procedure with Shapiro for early July (they are booking really far out right now, and I was lucky to get this spot!). I feel very confident in this choice. Despite my desire for a low, dense hairline, I know Dr. Shapiro will develop an appropriate strategy for helping me to combat the loss. Special thanks to Bspot, Pat, M&M, troy, and buddyebsen for the advice on selecting a surgeon. I appreciated the feedback, gentlemen. troy--would still like to see your work with Dr. Rose. Work got busy this week, but will contact you soon. Hope you are well.

M&M, Had no idea that much of repair work was done to fix poorly constructed hairlines! That's eye opening. I'll check the pics. One thing I will say about Doc Shapiro is the wealth of literature and info he provides you with pre-op. He gave me some great industry reading pieces about how to construct a realistic hairline, many of which he had written. Always nice to know the doc you are thinking about seeing also writes some of the textbooks. As for Armani, it seems like he may be a more viable alternate once something like hair cloning comes along.

Thanks for the responses, guys. buddyebsen, I can definately relate to the "be careful what you wish for" warning. Too true! A good example happened to me a few years ago. I was getting tired of what I considered to be too much hair on my chest, so I went to one of the spas where they do laser removal. Only went a couple times, and saw some improvement. From past experience, I thought that most younger women today liked the clean look. Of course, around this same time I met this awesome girl...very pretty and completely my time. One day when we were out on the lake with some people, she noticed the slighly different color of some of my chest hair. Because I was busted, I decided to own up to it and told her what I had been doing. She was VERY unhappy to hear that I was removing hair, and said she loved the look of "manly men with lots of chest hair." Whoops. She and I didn't last that long and I figure it was because she pegged me for "less than a manly man" after that. Ha! Good I can laugh about it now. (sorry for the tangential post, guys!)