arfy

Sure thing. No plans on being there at this time, but I will remember your offer.

LOL This isn't something that actual patients care about, just other clinics.

I've seen the survey, it's bogus. They ask the questions on the same day of the surgery and have nothing to do with final results. On the day of surgery, unless there is a blatant screwup, pretty much every patient will seem satisfied. Hell, you just spent thousands of bucks on a surgery that you hope and pray will improve your appearance... it is human nature to WANT a "good experience" in that situation. These hair mills have all kinds of bogus information and false advertising that they use to hype their surgery. The website for MHR says Re-grow Your Own Hair. Sorry, but that is obviously NOT what hair transplants do... hair transplants MOVE hair from point A to point B, the do NOT "regrow hair".

Does it have Saw Palmetto in it? Saw Palmetto can have the same side effects that Propecia has. Just because it is "natural" doesn't mean there can't be side effects. I am skeptical about Saw Palmetto, I've only heard a couple of guys say it worked for them. It may work for a small percentage of guys. My opinion is that Propecia works for more people than Saw Palmetto.

I've heard that you can have a shed response (like I mentioned) and in some guys the treatments will not work, but technically speaking the medications can't actually make your hair loss worse. I would definitely stay on Propecia, the Minoxidil I am not sure. If you are under a doctor's care, then you need to decide if you are going to follow his advice. The guy saw you in person and he is a doctor. I've never seen you. If my advice is wrong, what can you do... if his advice is wrong you can read him the riot act. Hang on because sheds should be temporary... don't know what else to say. Ask your doctor about taking a half Propecia (half dose) and/or using Minoxidil 2% instead of 5% and see what he says. This would be a temporary step until your body adjusts, then go back up in dose. It doesn't hurt to ask. Good luck.

Go to www.Google.com and do a search on tablet splitter or pill cutter. You will get a whole bunch of choices. The easiest thing to do is to get one from the pharmacist where you get your prescriptions filled. Even if you don't buy any of your medication there, these places (drugstore aka apothecary aka chemist) sell these things all the time. They will think nothing of selling you one. If they ask what you need it for, tell them you take some vitamin tablets that are hard to swallow. (They will not ask or even care). If you do buy one online, you don't need anything fancy. This is similar to one I got at "Rite Aid". I think it was 6 dollars or so. There is a razor blade in the lid... when you close the lid it cuts your tablet.

You can get propecia off the internet without a prescription but if i were you I would get a prescription and get your meds from a local pharmacy if you can afford it (about 50 bucks a month or 600 bucks a year). It's hard (if not impossible) to tell if mail order drugs are legitimate if you don't know the source. Also it can be helpful to work with a doctor, especially when you are first starting out with these meds, in case you have any questions (or complications). I would ask your family doctor or general practitioner for a prescription, or find a dermatologist with experience in hair loss (try www.aad.org )If you can't afford the 50 bucks a month, ask your doctor for a prescription for Proscar (same drug only a different dosage) and cut the tablets into quarters. You can save money that way, and since you are an appropriate age to take Proscar anyway, your doctor will probably be willing to write you a prescription. Read up on Proscar/Propecia in previous posts.

I don't think it is an issue. If it raised DHT for you, you'd probably see the results before now (10 months later). Not certain but that's my hunch, take it for what it's worth.

I am not a doctor and I am not an expert on Propecia, but I can tell you some things I tend to read other guys say, over and over... First some general information... If you are shedding, some guys say that means you are a "responder" and should end up with a positive result. The meds have caused your hair to go into a cycle. After the shedding subsides, that hair should be replaced by new growth of presumably more sturdy hairs. I've also read that if you are in a shed phase that you need to hang on and ride it out. Your body is reacting to the meds and will adjust. If you quit, your body will begin to adjust back to the original state. In other words you will just prolong the "adjustment state" and never have a chance to reap a potential benefit. I hope you will do your own research and make your own decisions... I don't want to be known as "the guy who made your hair fall out". All I can do is give you some feedback based on what I hear other people say. In general, if your hair is still pretty good, I would not start out with both Propecia and Minoxidil at the same time. I would start with Propecia and use that for a while before adding Minoxidil unless you have already lost quite a bit of hair. In your case I think you have a few different options. First is to quit all treatments completely. Second would be to stay on Propecia and quit Minoxidil. Propecia is more of a preventative medicine while Minoxidil is a growth stimulator. My hunch is that the Minoxidil may be the culprit. Another option would be to stick with both treatments and try to ride out this difficult period, but I know it is tough to shed hair, so do some reading and some research and make up your own mind. I would not increase the area you are putting Minoxidil on, until you stop shedding hair. You should also discuss this with your doctor. I assume you got a prescription for Propecia from a dermatologist or your general practitioner? It can help to work with your doctor and get guidance from somebody in-person. You haven't been using these drugs for all that long (one month) so you haven't built up a dependence on Minoxidil yet. If I were you I would stay on Propecia and think about stopping Minoxidil for the time being, until the shedding stops. You should gather some other opinions too. Hope that helps... [This message was edited by arfy on January 20, 2004 at 01:08 PM.]

Joachim In the USA, you can usually find a pill cutter at the local pharmacy. If they are not on a shelf somewhere in the store, they may be bnehind the counter with the pharmacist. I would just ask the pharmacist because it is probably a common request. Lots of guys take Propecia to retain their natural hair, after a transplant. A few guys prefer not to take Propecia. In my opinion it's a good idea to use Propecia, to try to stop the progression of hair loss. The more natural hair you can retain, the better. There is not enough donor hair to just replace everything with grafts, and even if you could it would cost a fortune.

Your first goal should be to stop losing any more hair. Some guys can stop their hair loss from progressing with Propecia. Are you using Propecia? There seems to be anecdotal evidence that Propecia can help prevent post surgery "shock loss". The surgery can accelerate your hair loss, in the sense that it speeds up the loss of hairs that were already on the way out. But if you have male pattern baldness (and I assume you do) basically all of your hair can be "on the way out". As Rooster says the grafts go into a dormant phase after surgery, which lasts about 10-12 weeks average. Then they slowly start to grow in. So you should hopefully start seeing signs of growth soon. Your clinic should have explained some of this basic info to you before you had surgery.

East Coast If you had problems with a HT from a recommended doctor, you should feel free to state your case. It is incredibly hard to do excellent HT work, and in my opinion only a handful can cut the mustard. Average doctors shouldn't be recommended, in my opinion. An average HT is not worth the expense or the effort, and it keeps you from getting an excellent result the first time, with another (better) doctor. And now back to our regular program, the Barry White Show...

I have to doubt that Nizoral is a factor, it's only on your head for couple of minutes (tops) and should have zero systemic absorbtion.

Lets just say that Balloonman tends to exaggerate when it comes to Dr. Woods. I don't want to get into a flame war or start picking apart his posts. People should believe whoever they find credible. I've never heard of the blindfolding thing, from patients who actually went to Woods. Unless you've got eyes in the back of your head there is no way to see what is being done. In fact Dr. Woods seems to pride himself on the fact that the patient can monitor his own surgery via video feed, to ensure no transection of follicles occurs, something that no other doctors do. If you are interested in FUE then Dr. Woods has the best track record and the most experience by far, and should be considered as a choice.

Dave Give yourself some time to heal before you test your range of motion. Sorry, but I can just picture a guy saying "Why does it hurt when I go like this?" (doing it over and over). I'm pretty sure that the areas near the ear tend to have a problem with healing more often than some other areas. (I'm not a doctor but that is what I seem to be hearing). The "sides" can be a tough area for some guys re: perfect healing and perfect scars. I would go back to your doctor with your concerns and have him look at the closure, just to make sure everything is healing normally. In the meantime, don't push your limits moving your head around.

Hi Tioto I came across this information that you may find useful: http://www.hairlossresearch.com/hair_transplant_articles/newhair_logic_hairtransplant.htm#complex_follicular_units The whole article is good though, so think about starting at the top: The logic of Follicular Unit Grafting Lots of other good info on that website in general: http://www.hairlossresearch.com

here is some brief info about class action lawsuits: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> "Lawsuits offer individual consumers an opportunity to strike powerful blows against products marketed with false or misleading claims. One way is by filing a class-action suit against the perpetrator. If the suit is successful, the named plaintiff -- like all class members -- will get a refund plus extra damages that are set by the applicable consumer fraud laws. Most permit a tripling of the award. In addition, punitive damages could be sizable, entitling each class member to a substantial additional award. The named plaintiff typically gets an "incentive" award for standing up and being counted. The amount is up to the court but typically is geared toward making it worthwhile to serve as the lead plaintiff. Such awards are often large Being a named plaintiff typically involves little time or effort. Named plaintiffs "lend" their name to the case, sign some papers that the lawyers draw up and submit to the court or to the other side, meet with the lawyer once or twice, give a short deposition (question-and-answer session under oath in a lawyer's office, not in court) to tell their story, and, in the unlikely event the case doesn't settle and does go to trial, show up to tell their story again, this time in court for a few hours. The lawyers do practically all of the work. If the named plaintiff wants to withdraw later, another person can be substituted without much trouble. After the suit gets going, other peoplemay offer to serve as a class representative. So it isn't really an ironclad commitment. Class-action suits of this type are important. Government regulatory agencies lack the resources to attack all of the fraud they encounter. Individual citizens can help to protect our society by standing up and saying "enough is enough." http://www.quackwatch.org

According to Merck, Propecia works for about 80 percent of the guys who use it. "Work" can mean anything from slowing hair loss down dramatically to actually getting some regrowth. Side effects are in the 2 percent range I believe. Half the guys who get side effects found that they went away as their body adjusted, over several weeks. If you are unlucky enough to have side effects, there are strategies to work around them, like cutting your dosage in half, and building up slowly, for example. try http://www.propecia.com/propecia/cns/home.html Also 5 year results from Propecia

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I always find it very disconcerting when a Doctor does work on a guy who does not need it yet... Me too. I think it stinks, and I wish it would stop!!! Enough already!!!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Am I locked in? Will they look natural as I continue to lose hair? You are locked in a little bit, in a certain way. What you want to avoid now and in the future is losing a whole lot of hair, otherwise your grafted hair may look like it's floating in the middle of a large bald area. One way to possibly maintain your hair is with meds like Propecia. I don't want to sound like a cheerleader for Propecia but it is effective and relatively safe in my opinion. If Propecia works for you, it may settle any concerns you have. You pic doesn't reveal a whole lot, but based on the angle you provided you look fine. Micrografts can be fine in the right doctor's hands. Technically speaking, the state of the art "FU" graft is just a specially prepared type of Micrograft (a microscopically dissected Micrograft that is well-trimmed of excess tissue). Try to retain your natural hair, because if you can do that you will be ahead of the game. I think you may be worrying unneccessarily.

Density is a result of the total amount of follicles that get transplanted, and not really related to what size the grafts are. Larger (non-FU) grafts can often look grafty (pluggy) and I suggest you avoid non-FU approaches. Density is meaningless if your transplant looks pluggy. Many guys who have had both all-FU and mixed-graft procedures have to go back and get their larger grafts "corrected". You can get good density with all-FUs (and more natural results) as long as you move enough follicles to create density. Graft size is not automatically related to density. There are a few doctors out there who use a small number of larger grafts, in certain patients. For example I've heard that Dr. Shapiro will occasionally use a few larger grafts in certain patients. What you want to avoid is any large percentage of non-FU grafts, for example anything over 10% non-FU may be suspect. If the doctor uses larger grafts, make sure they are used in trivial amounts. Don't confuse this with what the average clinics do, which is use large percentages of big grafts behind the hairline. Big grafts are faster and easier to use, and so clinics make more money with big grafts. Look at the section of the website Best_hair_transplant_procedure for a better explanation. A microscopically-dissected FU graft looks more natural than a Minigraft. In my opinion, a natural looking graft is the #1 priority, if you don't have that forget it. Talk to Dr. Didocha and get him to clarify his approach. If he uses a significant number of larger grafts (which the average clinic usually does), I recommend you find another clinic.

Mahair Email me at hairtransplantdisaster@hotmail.com I have some links I can forward to you, plus some other info. Complete discretion of course. Other guys Just skip Mahair's threads if they bug you, nobody is making you read them. If you can't bitch about your HT here, where can you bitch about it? This is one of the few places where somebody might actually understand what the heck you were complaining about. Posting can probably also be a good pressure release so that frustrations don't get expressed in other more negative ways.

I think in the case of a female, it is is reasonable (or even smart) to do blood work first, to make sure that there are not other treatment options besides a hair transplant. Women can use drugs that are off-limits to men (because they have feminizing properties). Your concern (MeHairBeGrowin) about blood tests is on target though. It's true that "blood tests" have been used by some clinics as a sales tactic. In some cases blood is taken but the patient is scheduled for surgery (or already in surgery) before the test results have even come back from the lab. Bloodwork helps convert a mere "interested consumer" into an instant patient, and discourages the patient from meeting with other clinics, because the patient has already taken a first step.

The more of your "natural" hair you can retain, the better. This is true even if you did decide to get a hair transplant. You want to retain as much of that hair as possible. Some guys do not respond to Propecia, a few guys react badly to it, and some guys do not want to take any drugs for personal reasons. But my advice (especially to the guys who still have a decent amount of hair they'd like to keep) is to try Propecia for a year or so, and see if they can stop their hair loss from progressing. If you can halt the progression, that is a big victory.

I don't think you will ever go back to your pre-HT state of coverage, unless you have some pre-existing hairs (non-HT) that you lose. To say it more simply, lets say you have 100 hairs in an area, and you get a transplant that brings the number up to 200. If you lose all of those pre-existing hairs, you are back down to 100 again (but those are all grafts now). Every once in a while a guy's grafts do not grow even though the doctor did everything right, this is considered extremely rare and is not understood yet. Your grafts are growing, you do not need to worry about this. Regarding how long the grafts last, some guys have a more stable donor area than others. I have had some thinning in my donor area, (meaning that some of my old grafts have thinned out as well). Other guys may or may not have this happen, it depends on the guy. If you are destined to go to Norwood 6 or 7 it is possible to have thinning of the donor area (I don't know about lower Norwood levels). Look at this guy for an example of a thinned donor area. If he had gotten a transplant as a young man, his grafts would have thinned out like his donor area did. (This is from Dr. Swinehart's book "Color Atlas of Hair Restoration Surgery"). Obviously, not every guy will thin out in the donor area like this fellow, but this illustrates what can happen with some guys. [This message was edited by arfy on January 08, 2004 at 12:56 PM.]