Considering surgical options - worth it without Propecia?

[cgw]

Hello,

 

I've been suffering from hair loss since I was 18. Throughout my college years my hairline started to recede, and when I was 19/20 the process sped up and I was really losing hair fast. I eventually started on Propecia, then added in Rogaine.

 

The Propecia helped - my hair loss stopped and I re-grew some as well. However, I noticed I was experiencing some anxiety problems. A friend pointed me to some articles about some of the bad side-effects people had with Propecia (including symptoms similar to mine), so I stopped and just stuck with Rogaine foam.

 

After quitting I also decided to shave my head and just deal with baldness the 'easy way'. It looked decent but I'd really like to go back to a normal head of hair, especially at my current age of 23 when surrounded by so many young people. My current appearance makes people think I'm in my mid 30's. I've started re-growing and noticed that in addition to the hairline getting worse, I'm also starting to lose some on the crown as well.

 

Anyways - on to my question. The biggest suggestion on the forum seems to be supplementing surgical treatments with Propecia, but I don't know that I'd want to go back to taking it again. Is it worth considering surgery if I'm not willing to go back on Propecia? I may consider trying it again, as in hindsight, the anxiety problems I was facing may have been caused more by my tough living situation in college rather than the medication. At the same time I've read some articles suggesting that Propecia may have serious undesirable long-term side effects. Would appreciate your help in thinking about this.

Edited February 6, 2012 by cgw

[cgw]

To clarify a bit here - my biggest problem is my hairline, and that's what I'd be looking to improve with a surgery. Given that FUE seems to produce less visible scarring and (from what I've seen), natural-looking hairline restoration, this is the procedure I'm considering at the moment.

[chrisdav]

CGW.

 

What is your current hair loss like?

 

Do you have any pictures you can post?

[cgw]

CGW.

 

What is your current hair loss like?

 

Do you have any pictures you can post?

 

Forgive the lighting - here are a few.

[chrisdav]

I encourage other forum members to comment.

 

I think you very unlikely to be a candidate for Fue by your pictures.

 

Fue is better for smaller procedures.

 

And with your level of baldness at your age, It is likely to get worse without propecia.

 

Any surgery you do consider, you will most likely look worse afterwards if you do not use it.

 

I am not a surgeon, but i would suggest having 5 online consultations with 5 good doctors listed from this forum.

[AnthonySC]

I think its OK as long as you don't expect full coverage. I have had bad side effects with Propecia too and it's quite frustrating. If you focus the surger on your frontal 1/2 it should look relatively natural even if you lose the rest of the hair.

 

There are some good treatments that look to be approved soon like Bimatoprost, but I wouldn't bank on anything.

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Me personally, I would not have surgery without being on full medication and being dedicated to it...especially at your age,, however, there are several people on here who have done that and had fantastic results..you however, have a ton of native hair and I would certainly do everything I could to hang on to it!! Thats my opinion...

[cgw]

Thanks guys - maybe a good strategy here would be to try out Propecia again and see if I can go 6 months - 1 year on that, carefully monitoring to see if I'm having side effects. If it turns out that I can in fact go back on Propecia without side effects, then I can decide whether or not to proceed. I'm still a little wary of this and will need to think on it - certainly the potential for side-effects should not be underestimated.

[jmghair]

It wouldn't be worth it if all your native hair fell out in a few years. Not telling you to not consider surgery, but hop on Minoxidil as a minimum.

[RCWest]

Meds are an important piece of the puzzle in hair transplantation. Finasteride helps to reduce or eliminate shock loss. It also helps you keep native hair which can save your donor hair for later.

[irishsailor]

For me i know i wouldnt of went through with my HT if i hadnt stabilised my hairloss with meds, as i didnt want to spend the rest of my life chasing my tail having to play catch up with more HT's.