Slowly Losing the battle

[HopelessHarry]

Hello All,

Like many others I decided to finally join and post after reading others posts for so long. I'm a 35 year old male. I've been on Propecia for 10 years. I started using Rogaine Foam a year ago after I went for a transplant consult and the Doc said I'm not there yet(bald enough). Now a year later I'm thinning more and more on the top and the recession is creeping back. I'm interested in a transplant to add density to the Vortex as well as bringing the hairline down somewhat. I'm thinking a 2000 FUE. Do you guys think I would be a good candidate? I know I have more hair than a lot on here but the thinning on top really bothers me.

[Thehairupthere]

You are not a candidate for any crown work in my opinion you have excellent density. Your hairline could potentially be improved but I personally don't think it needs much if anything, you are in excellent shape.

[scar5]

Temples are slightly going and crown is thinning a bit, but I think you would lose more than you would gain by transplanting into that crown now. Most likely, you will have a lot of hair in the crown which has already miniaturized to a state where it would not survive a transplant. Crowns are notorious for that and docs often warn people away from going into the crown too early - even though it obviously looks balding - for that reason. (and even though the play down permanent shockloss too!)

 

You are lucky and smart to have been on fin for ten years without a problem.

 

Would a longer or shorter hairstyle help?

[chrisdav]

Harry, you have great hair for 35 years old.

[HopelessHarry]

Thank you all for your comments. I have cut my hair shorter since since some of these pictures were taken. I cut to a #2 on the sides and and trim up the top normally. It's frustrating b/c I'm visibly balding but not bad enough for surgery and I'm not responding to Rogaine. I don't feel I captured the extent of my problems in the pics. It's kind of hard to capture. I did send Dr Arocha pics for an online consultation.

 

I thought shock loss can largely be minimized nowadays? Re Med: I would be a Norwood 4 or 5 without Propecia, BUT I lost a good girlfriend because of "sides." I've been thinking about switching from Fin to Dut. Any thoughts?

Edited April 2, 2012 by HopelessHarry

[chrisdav]

Rogaine/ minoxidil will never work miracles unfortunately.

 

I have never used it myself but I am sure some other forum members can comment on any success they have had with it.

 

You need hair transplants to gain hair and medication to stop or slowdown the loss.

 

Probably best you speak to your surgeon about propecia and possibly moving onto dutasteride.

 

That is a bit shallow regarding your girlfriend, what was her reasoning?

[HopelessHarry]

Well she did not explicitly state this as the sole reason but it was clearly a problem. I understand though. Everyone has their needs and she's entitled.

[BadBeat]

Your hair looks great and it could look perfect if you used a little concealer.

Edited April 2, 2012 by BadBeat

[JustOne]

Wow , nothing to complain about there... especially if you are 35! It looks to me as if rogaine/propecia has held on to your hair quite well! I would wait a couple years before you think about a transplant.

Your hair looks good !

[HopelessHarry]

Not sure about concealers. I'd rather actually fix my problem than conceal it. I don't really know much about them and how they work. I wish I could just get 1000 grafts that would make me feel better about myself. I hate the wind blowing and my thin hair exposes my scalp on top.

[RCWest]

HopelessHarry, I wish I had that much hair at 35! Your hair is in really good shape considering what most of us are going through. If you think you are losing ground, I've found that Avodart is a LOT better than Propecia.

[HopelessHarry]

RC West Thank you. I have a lot of questions about Avodart, but I'll limit to 3

with Avodart

1) would I experience more regrowth?

2) fewer Sides?

3) Is there a shedding period or any sort of shock to the system when transitioning from Propecia to Avodart? I asked my hair transplant surgeon about Avodart but since it's off label he wasn't willing to prescribe it to me.

I'm willing to switch and order on the internet I'd just like to find out more.

[Stuart01]

IMO your hair looks good, but the bottom line is what bothers you. You have experienced minimal hair loss and if your hairline bothers you it can be refined and made to look fuller, but most doctor would not get to aggressive with you and recreate a juvenile hairline. It would be best to keep within the pre-existing hairline and just densify it. I would stay away from doing anything in your crown.

[aaron1234]

There are reportedly more sides with dutastaride then finasteride. Some people report a nasty shed, and others report better benefits than with Propecia.

 

It's sort of crazy that Propecia was giving you sides and you're considering avodart. I would stick with Propecia if i were you. It has saved you a lot of hair and you never know what Avodart would do to you. Don't experiment with a good head of hair.

[HopelessHarry]

Stuart,

Does the Doctor at your clinic prescribe Avodart for hair loss?

Aaaron, I know I've read both sides of the sides issue. I feel I've lost a lot of hair in the last year and I feel I may be reaching the outer limits of Propecia's ability to slow my hair loss. I kind of would like to gamble on Avodart and know I have a HT as a fallback. I also use Min 5% and Nizoral so I'm using more than just the Meds.

[aaron1234]

You may have lost more hair recently but it doesn't necessarily mean that Propecia is losing its effectiveness. If you think that you would be a NW4 without it then it has been a raving success in your case. I wouldn't gamble but that's just me. There is no equal substitute for keeping your native hair.

[aaron1234]

You may have lost more hair recently but it doesn't necessarily mean that Propecia is losing its effectiveness. If you think that you would be a NW4 without it then it has been a raving success in your case. I wouldn't gamble but that's just me. There is no equal substitute for keeping your native hair.

[HopelessHarry]

Well,

The deal is I'm deeply unhappy with my thinning hair. So until I can get in to see Dr Arocha I've ordered some DUT from United Pharmacies and I'll see if that helps thicken me up at all. If I shed then I do I guess. I just feel like I have to do something other than slowly lose the battle as the thread's subject states.

[HopelessHarry]

Well, it's been a year since i posted on this thread. To update, I did go in to Dr Arocha for a 2500 FUT in June of 2012. He ended up putting all the grafts in the hairline. I wanted to put some in the crown,but we didn't have enough left. I went back in December of 2012 and we did an additional 1200 grafts into the crown.

As for the results, my hair is falling out faster than we can put it back in I'm afraid. I'm probably going to go in for another procedure this winter.

[Spanker]

that sucks. Do you have any pics that you can share?

[BadBeat]

Well, it's been a year since i posted on this thread. To update, I did go in to Dr Arocha for a 2500 FUT in June of 2012. He ended up putting all the grafts in the hairline. I wanted to put some in the crown,but we didn't have enough left. I went back in December of 2012 and we did an additional 1200 grafts into the crown.

As for the results, my hair is falling out faster than we can put it back in I'm afraid. I'm probably going to go in for another procedure this winter.

 

I'm shocked. Your hair looked really good for your age. Would love to see some current pics.

[GiveMeSomeHairs]

Reading ur post's title made me sad ..but seeing ur hairs nah..its not that bad dude ..ur 35 and have good hairs.

[HopelessHarry]

Hello All,

I'm doing a followup on an old thread. A lot has happened since I first posted on here. I did a 2500 FUT with DR Arocha where he worked on the hairline at the end of June 2012. He did an additional 1200 (maybe it was 1400) in the crown in December of 2012. We were very conservative and basically tried to solidify the hairline without bringing it down. While I would really like to do the corners, that's not my main concern

The top of my head is thinning pretty bad now it seems. BTW I'm 35 and have been on Propecia for 10 years. I've been on Rogaine about 2 years and have mixed in Biotin and Nizoral the last year. Now I've had 2 procedures and I seem to be losing my hair anyways. It's so depressing. I'm feeling angry defiant and severely depressed about losing all my hair on top. Is this something that can be fixed? Would an FUE be better? I know there's some hair up there but it's so thin and choppy up there. When the wind blows or it rains my hair just falls apart like wet makeup. I'm hoping some of the clinics and online docs will weigh in. I'm so upset after putting in so much to be losing the battle still. Thanks for your input

[KO]

I don't believe your hair loss has progressed from the starting pics, at least not noticeably. I don't see any reason for your distress. If it has progressed, it's been slow, and it will continue to slow even further.

[Nick153452]

I've heard that added in deutasteride once a week, along with your daily finasteride, can significantly help regrew, stop the hairloss once the finasteride is no longer enough. It's worth a try.