Need some advice on potential hair transplantation!

[revanfein]

Hey guys,

 

I literally just became a member to the site. I have been following it for a while and I find all your comments very helpful. So would like to thank you all in advance for that!

 

My situation is the following: I am almost 26 years old, have been noticing hairloss for the past 4-5 years but became really noticable in the last 2 years I would say, especially when I wear my hair short. I gave Rogaine foam and other brands of minoxidil a shot, but I all I got was an instant inflammation of the scalp. I have a mild case of seborrehic dermatitis on my scalp, which I can treat with medical shampoos, but I guess minoxidil is just too much for my scalp to handle. I do not consider using finasteride due to the number of horror stories I've heard. I just don't feel comfortable with messing with my hormones for hair growth to be honest.

 

I have been using Keratin and Collagen booster pills of the brand Reserveage for couple of months and started drinking and doing green tea rinse on my scalp every evening. I am also using the Zenagen shampoo once every three or two days. Not that I think any of these will help greatly, but the feeling of doing something about my hair loss helps me cope better

 

I have contacted Dr Hakan Doganay (I am Turkish myself) and asked for some advice from him. He said that I should wait 2 years or so before considering a hair transplant. My main issue is with my vertex, which is in a quite bad stage I guess. I am afraid the thinning have spread to my donor area as well as you can see from the pictures which is slightly worrying.

 

What do you guys think?

 

ps: These pictures are almost 10 days after I had shaved my hair down to 2 mm.

Edited June 27, 2014 by revanfein

[gillenator]

I took a closer look at your photos and first want to commend you on sharing your story. Just by looking at them, I observed a number of things.

 

First off, if you noticed this progression of loss 4-5 years ago, and you have progressed this much by your mid-twenties, you have the potential of reaching Norwood 7 earlier than you want to see it happen. Without knowing your family history, I already know there men who are Norwood 7s.

 

And you are correct, the degree of diffusion has crept deep into your donor zone, and your rims are already losing. The photo showing the entire top of your scalp tells a lot. You will eventually lose everything of top of your scalp, everything.

 

Your donor zone appears DHT receptive which means it will thin out greatly with time. You may even experience DUPA or advanced generalized loss over your entire scalp and as I said, it's already affecting the sides/rim of your scalp.

 

So in conclusion, I am happy to read that the doctor you saw refused to do a procedure on you. Undoubtedly, he is seeing the same things that your photos show.

 

I know this may be hard to accept, but the last thing you want to do is start having HT procedures because honestly, you are not a candidate for HT surgery.

 

If I were you, then I would only consider buzzing/shaving my head or possibly going with a full hair system, if you have to have hair.

 

Hopefully, there will be a breakthrough in the industry in the future that will grow a full head of hair. I saw on the news last Friday about an arthritis drug that claims it grows a full head of hair. It was not a commercial promotion but a news segment. I was disappointed that they gave very little data and did not even mention the name of the drug.

 

Wishing you the best in your journey.

[revanfein]

Wow, that was a slap in the face... Not much to do other than waiting and seeing I guess Thanks for the reply!

[gillenator]

I was hoping that you would not take it that way. That was certainly not my intention. Sometimes the truth hurts however better that you know this before you end up regretting that you ever got started.

 

Too many times I hear from guys that tell me, "If only someone was straight with me and told me the honest truth". They spend endless amounts of money only to end up with more and more hair loss as they get older and even lose their transplants. Just the other day a guy told me that he would have been better off bald with his savings than bald and broke...:confused:

 

You seem like a good guy and listen, if your grafts were lost because your donor is not terminal hair, would you be angry that no one informed you?

 

Honestly, sometimes I read threads like yours and it's much more tempting to play it safe an say nothing. Yet I know there are doctors out there that would bleed you financially knowing that you are not a good candidate for surgical restoration. They know fully well that the first procedure may initiate an aggressive loss pattern causing you to rush back in for more and more, as long as you are willing to spend the $.

 

If you take the time and do the research about the type of loss that you have, then what I have conveyed will be obvious and make sense even though you may not want to hear it.

 

So I truly apologize if I offended you and wish you the best in your journey.

[home1212]

I'm so glad to see reputable doctors and patient advocates on this forum advising young patients in their 20's to wait a few years to see if their hair loss stabilizes before considering a HT procedure. If someone had done that for me in the early 90's when I was in my 20's, I would never have had a HT that only requires further surgery today... This is a testament to how far the industry and patient knowledge has come. Hang in there revanfein, I know its difficult to see and accept hair loss at your age, but you'll be better off for it.

[revanfein]

Hey gillenator, I'm sorry if I came across wrong. I'm not offended or anything, it's just difficult to hear that there is no way out from this thing! I'll take your advise and wait to see how it will go. Let's just hope that miracle cure comes around in the meanwhile I suppose again thanks for the input, cheers!

[FUE2014]

Your front looks fine to me, have you considered alternatives to finasteride such as saw palmetto or keratene retard (these, however, may also mess with your hormones) or a topical antiandrogen such as 5% spiro or RU8841? You could, of course, try Finasteride for a few weeks initially and see how you react to the drug, only a small percentage of users experience side effects and those side effects are reversible if you stop the drug. Finasteride is also very effective at arresting hair loss in the back of the head and even regrowing hair. So, there may be a way out for you but you will have to be prepared to give the meds a shot and commit to for at least 12 months.

[revanfein]

Hey FUE2014 thanks for the reply! I really don't want to get in the bed with finasteride. I tend to have side effects from everything as can be seen from my extreme reaction to minoxidil. I just don't care about my hair as much as to risk my well being in general. Just as I would be pissed off if I had a transplant and the transplanted hair ended up falling off, I would, in fact, be even more pissed off if .I took this pill and the side effects persisted for a long time. The testimonials and the facts of the law suits against Propecia seem to indicate that there is a real possibility that this might happen.

 

I think the best course of action for me to wait for couple of years to see if my hair loss stabilizes and if so consider a transplant. Otherwise I'll just buzz it off.

 

Thanks again for the sobering replies tough

 

Peace

[voipman]

I think you should reconsider finasteride as Dr Hakan does advise to use it as does alot of HT surgeons. Most horror stories are BS as often on hair loss sites people claim results in a few week, unfortunately people claim all sorts of crap. The drug is FDA approved in combating hair loss so i would try it in low dose and build up.

 

Regarding HT i think 30s are the minimal age to be under going a HT and if you are not going to use Fin to combat DHT then wait longer as a HT will look dire.

[jerseydude]

Hello, here is my hair restoration experience on my blog page.

 

You Don’t Have to Go Bald. | jerseydude80

 

Thanks.

[mikeey]

you are ignoring , the fact is that these Horror stories are a FACT , there is No fire without smoke , and I am the living testimony of that .... its junk , Pls do not speak when you dunno much of the facts , I have personally met people who just wish they had never touched this stuff !! if you are still willing to know better then Bro try to leave it for a month and come back and report here ... its a Challenge !!

[revanfein]

I know there is a clear division of views on the issue of propecia, but I'm happy to say I really feel comfortable going bald rather than risking its sides.

 

but I have to say I am quite surprised to see how easily you guys direct others to a potentially life wrecking medicine. considering that people who come here are often quite vulnerable, I think everyone should exercise some caution in providing such advice without any reservation. in the end, it's easy to risk someone elses wellbeing.

[gillenator]

Hey gillenator, I'm sorry if I came across wrong. I'm not offended or anything, it's just difficult to hear that there is no way out from this thing! I'll take your advise and wait to see how it will go. Let's just hope that miracle cure comes around in the meanwhile I suppose again thanks for the input, cheers!

 

Thank goodness you were not offended and glad to see you keep your focus.

 

I have also read through some of the other posts and there is always going to be a huge controversy with finasteride. It is a personal decision and if it's not for you, that's something you and only you can decide.

 

I have been taking it since 1996 and have no problems whatsoever with it. But that's me. IMHO, the sides happen more frequently than what is reported by the manufacturer and I base that on my own observations. Every guy that I hear from is asked if he takes low dose finasteride and then I ask their permission to inquire about their use and how they responded.

 

Overall, about 20% of the men responding stated real side effects. It was interesting to also discover how many were pre-determined they were having side effects when in fact, they were not.

 

Some of them took it more than prescribed, some less. I found a fair number of young men under 25 years old who only took it if they happened to think of it during their busy schedules. Meds have to be ingested as prescribed or they will not work efficiently. Then I found several men who were taking the entire 5mg form of Proscar daily, a big no no. It was amazing to hear how many simply went on the internet to purchase their finasteride without ever consulting a doctor much less being formally diagnosed with MPB.

 

Obviously anyone who experienced the worst of symptoms and side-effects will feel that it is poison but that simply is not true IMHO. We all respond differently to meds and I know an endless number of men who have and still have a good response to it and virtually have slowed their hair loss over the long term like myself. There is no question that I would have progressed to a Norwood 6 had I quit taking it and after having 6900 grafts in my life, the last thing I want is more surgery.

 

So does that mean that I am a huge proponent of the drug? No. Because again, the guys who had a bad reaction to it are going to think it's the worse thing in the world of medications. And for them, that's a reality and none of us can deny that for their own reactions to the drug. And after all, who wants to take any meds? None of us.

 

All that I am saying is that to date, there is no other hair loss medication that I am aware of and observed that stabilizes the progression of MPB like low dose finasteride does.

 

So in the end, whatever you feel are "your" most viable options are going to be your choices. What works for one individual may or may not be right for you. I just want to encourage you to know as much information as possible to make the best informed decisions.

 

Wishing you the best as you journey through all of this...