Success Reversal

[SouthCarolina]

I've had a very successful HT story and been a part of this community (mostly learning and replying every now and then)for many years. Recently however I've had a major reversal which most of you will probably NOT have but I would like to share this for those who may be interested and for my own "therapy".

 

I am 51 and have had 3 successful HTs from one of the very best doctors around starting at age 40. Although I had a large area of loss, I had sufficient supply to allow me to come out of a hair system and have a very normal but recessed look. AT 45 I started propecia to regrow more hair and maintain although I did not notice further loss. It was great!

 

Almost 2 years ago I started losing body hair very slowly as well a experience other symptoms that demanded attention and many tests. Over 7 months it turned out that I did not have many of the suspected diseases but they finally took some blood tests to find I had low testosterone and hypogonadism. The doctor as an attempt help took me off propecia for a month to see how if affected the low T. At this point I started to slowly lose my transplanted hair. I went back on propecia and they put me on hormone therapy. I had been on propecia again for over a year but did not stop the hair loss. So all this hair loss would have started after I was 45.

 

To make it short ... I have now lost (it seems) over 1/2 the thickness on the sides (thus the hairloss on top) and now the top is about fully "see thru" and the back is no longer covered at all when combing my hair back as it used to be. It is still getting so thin on the sides that if it goes much further you might be able to see the scar back behind the ears. I am also losing hair at the nape or bottom of the back. The transplants were done so well however that the top looks like it is just losing hair without any indication at all of a HT. I fear however that while most of the hair may fall out there will be scattered hair that has stayed to make the pattern look unnatural.

 

So now it looks like I will not only be losing transplanted top hair but I will also be one of those rarer individuals with very thin sides. It's like going from a very acceptable recessed look to a bad NW7+ inside a year.

 

I am on minoxidil and nizarol and doing everything I know to do. I am also being seen by another great HT doctor who is a dermatologist also but just about all we can do is wait. Some of this may be telogen efluvium and thus temporary but nothing has started to grow back.

 

This is just so depressing. I wish I was one of those guys who just doesn't care if he loses his hair ... but I am not.

 

I am still fully behind the excellent transplants being done these days. I know what a difference it can make to the self esteem and confidence of individuals. Many of you know how differently you are treated, especially by women since you've regained your hair. I know this too from the opposite direction.

 

My situation is no ones fault. I did my research, used one of the best doctors in the world but it was just my dumb luck.

 

Thanks for listening guys. Hoping like you are for the next real breakthrough.

[SouthCarolina]

I've had a very successful HT story and been a part of this community (mostly learning and replying every now and then)for many years. Recently however I've had a major reversal which most of you will probably NOT have but I would like to share this for those who may be interested and for my own "therapy".

 

I am 51 and have had 3 successful HTs from one of the very best doctors around starting at age 40. Although I had a large area of loss, I had sufficient supply to allow me to come out of a hair system and have a very normal but recessed look. AT 45 I started propecia to regrow more hair and maintain although I did not notice further loss. It was great!

 

Almost 2 years ago I started losing body hair very slowly as well a experience other symptoms that demanded attention and many tests. Over 7 months it turned out that I did not have many of the suspected diseases but they finally took some blood tests to find I had low testosterone and hypogonadism. The doctor as an attempt help took me off propecia for a month to see how if affected the low T. At this point I started to slowly lose my transplanted hair. I went back on propecia and they put me on hormone therapy. I had been on propecia again for over a year but did not stop the hair loss. So all this hair loss would have started after I was 45.

 

To make it short ... I have now lost (it seems) over 1/2 the thickness on the sides (thus the hairloss on top) and now the top is about fully "see thru" and the back is no longer covered at all when combing my hair back as it used to be. It is still getting so thin on the sides that if it goes much further you might be able to see the scar back behind the ears. I am also losing hair at the nape or bottom of the back. The transplants were done so well however that the top looks like it is just losing hair without any indication at all of a HT. I fear however that while most of the hair may fall out there will be scattered hair that has stayed to make the pattern look unnatural.

 

So now it looks like I will not only be losing transplanted top hair but I will also be one of those rarer individuals with very thin sides. It's like going from a very acceptable recessed look to a bad NW7+ inside a year.

 

I am on minoxidil and nizarol and doing everything I know to do. I am also being seen by another great HT doctor who is a dermatologist also but just about all we can do is wait. Some of this may be telogen efluvium and thus temporary but nothing has started to grow back.

 

This is just so depressing. I wish I was one of those guys who just doesn't care if he loses his hair ... but I am not.

 

I am still fully behind the excellent transplants being done these days. I know what a difference it can make to the self esteem and confidence of individuals. Many of you know how differently you are treated, especially by women since you've regained your hair. I know this too from the opposite direction.

 

My situation is no ones fault. I did my research, used one of the best doctors in the world but it was just my dumb luck.

 

Thanks for listening guys. Hoping like you are for the next real breakthrough.

[thanatopsis_awry]

Very sorry to hear; it seems like a rather complex situations w/o a lot of clear information to go on in terms of what is going on and what can be done.

 

I would seek out as many opinions as I could from as many extremely intelligent, capable docs as I could. Hopefully, it is simply telo-efluvium.

[TheEmperor]

I am sory to hear and thank you for sharing. I have had my first megasession and was planning to finish with a second, although I am fully aware that something like this could happen. Te sides on my head ar already thin and the whole thing could fall apart if I loose more native hair or the transplant hair starts shedding.

[Guest wanthairs]

this is absolutely terrifying as sometimes I think that some of my transplanted hair has fallen out and other days I think it has not. It would be nice is as many HT docs could add to this thread as possible since this is their forte

[SouthCarolina]

I appreciate the support and empathy.

 

My hair docs are some of the best and you would know them if I named them (I didn't ask their permission so I won't) so I think I've had some excellent input. It's just that medicine can't handle everything.

 

I am hoping some of this is effluvium as I still have not grown back all the body hair I lost due to the low hormones I experienced.

 

I have no choice but to wait and see.

 

Thanks ...

[Bill - Seemiller]

SouthCarolina,

 

I can see by your registration date that you've been a long time member, almost since this forum community began. It's nice to see you back here, but I wish it was under better circumstances.

 

Your situation sounds very complex and hair loss caused by more than genetic male pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia).

 

Hypogonadism is a condition affecting genital function, slowing down the production of testosterone. I would suspect that your loss of body hair is related to this condition however, I'm surprised to hear that your hair is thinning all over your scalp, including the sides and back of your head. I would think that lower testosterone would minimize the amount of DHT in the body, therefore, potentially slowing down, stopping, or even reversing some hair loss.

 

What has your hair restoration physician attributed to the loss of hair on the sides and back of your head and transplanted hair? In doing a quick search, I didn't see any relationship between hypodgonadism and scalp hair loss.

 

I trust you will find this community very supportive and at the very least, I hope you know you are in good company. I truly sympathize with your condition and hope that you are able to get this under control with proper treatment.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Rick055]

South Carolina,

 

As you already know, finasteride is theorized to help MPB by lowering DHT in the scalp.

 

By restoring your hormones, you have likely increased serum DHT and, consequently, DHT in the scalp. Removing finasteride also likely gave the DHT a chance to do some damage.

 

That said, I may have a suuggestion about which you can discuss with your doctors.

 

Many men opt for trasdermal testosterone replacement therapy, either by gel, cream, or patch.

 

However, compared to shots (IM injections), the norm is that transdermals increase DHT much more than injections. This is because they interact with 5-AR in the skin.

 

I began TRT with androgel. My already top of range DHT skyrocketed 3 fold and I began shedding. I have since changed to injections, and the shedding has stopped (along with normal DHT). Further, I added 1 mg propecia EOD about a month and a half ago I want to see how I stabilize and whether or nor I can grow back any native hair and then consider a transplant.

 

At any rate, this is not medical advice and something you should discuss with your doctor.

 

I know a fair amount about the topic, if you want, you can shoot me a PM to discuss further.

 

Good luck.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Androgel is some wicked stuff for hairloss.

Can I ask what type of test your taking .

[Rick055]

Originally posted by PLEASE GROW PLEASE:

Androgel is some wicked stuff for hairloss.

Can I ask what type of test your taking .

 

If it's me you're asking, test cyp IM.

[SouthCarolina]

Guys

 

My primary focus lately was the sexual sides of low T. A year ago I started Androgel at 5g then quickly to 7g to get low T back up. My T had gotten down to 125 with some major symptoms before docs would hardly even test for low T. My hair started to slowly fall out then but my main concern was health issues.

 

Since the hair loss had gotten bad I focused on both but still the sex sides for low T was main issue. About 3 months ago I stopped propecia to see if the sides were attributed to it. Stopping didn't help much. So the last month the hair has really gone and even more so in the donor area.

 

Now Rick and Bill tripped the switch and it seems like most probably the main driver in all this is the high DHT (though I've never been tested for it) brought on by the Androgel. I've had the dose possibly a notch higher than most at 7g trying to address sides assumed to be attributed by low T. Now thinking Androgel really drives up the DHT more than normal then I have in fact been doing the most damage to my hair this way.

 

So this week I started on propecia again and I am dropping my Androgel to 5g (the minimum) and see what happens. Hopefully it will stop the shedding.

 

(In Feb they had me switch brands to Testim and 5g but had major symptoms such as continuous sweating. After a month of suffering I went back to Androgel and 7g. 3 months later I had major effluviun in the form of body hair loss as well as some noticeable thinness on sides. I hope just going to 5g in Androgel will not trigger this again.)

 

Does anyone know if lowering the DHT at this point with the propecia could help or even possibly grow some hair back? Or (speak truthfully please) is this probably a lost cause at this point.

 

I am almost resigned at this point that all is lost and really depressed and just waiting for the inevitable ... a really really bad NW7 possibly even showing my scar.

 

Any input appreciated.

[Smoothy]

Sorry for your experience.

A good friend of mine is a MD. Hormonal therapy depending on the type, majority of the time causes increase hair "thinness" and "hairloss".

Propecia can help, but synthetic hormones have this as a side effect-- some can be mild HL and others severe HL.

 

SMOOTHY

Dr. Shapiro

Propecia/Rogain xtra

MSM/ZINC/Saw Palmett

3 oz Zrii Daily

[Bill - Seemiller]

Does anyone know if lowering the DHT at this point with the propecia could help or even possibly grow some hair back? Or (speak truthfully please) is this probably a lost cause at this point.

 

SouthCarolina,

 

Don't count on any non-surgical treatment regrowing hair in completely bald areas. Propecia is typically good at slowing down or stopping existing hair loss and may help thicken miniaturizing hairs. But once the hair follicle is badly damaged to the point a hair no longer breaks through the scalp, even Propecia and Rogaine together most likely will not revive it. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but the probability is low, being frank.

 

But if you want to try to stop your hair loss from progressing further, it may be worthwhile to try.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill