FUE without Finasteride / Propecia

[djohnson]

I have always kept a very natural lifestyle and am not interested in taking any medication in perpetuity. I'm also concerned with potential sexual side effects to the point I've ruled out taking it. I'm getting a 1600 graft FUE session next month and will take minoxidil afterward to ensure the new grafts take hold and to minimize shock loss. But I expect to stop taking in after about 6 months, and never Finasteride / Propecia.

 

Has anybody done this? And how did it affect your outcome.

 

Many thanks.

[E39]

Many ppl have gotten ht's without the use of hair loss meds. You'll most likely need further surgery down the line to address more hair loss in the future

[djohnson]

Thanks, E39. Do you mean to take the place of additional native hair I'll lose? Or because the transplanted hair doesn't stay as readily without meds?

[E39]

The additional native hair you'll lose. Most of us will need more surgery in time, even on meds. Who is your surgeon?

[djohnson]

Dr Wesley in New York.

[MAGNUMpi]

djohnson,

It's sort of a slippery slope. MPB is progressive. If you get 1600 graft FUE next month you are going to need another HT down the line for sure. The native hair behind the transplanted hairs will eventually fall out without the help of propecia. This will means that is 5 years you'll have some hair in front and be in dire need of "round 2" to make it look natural again. etc, etc.

I actually think you should go for 2000-2500 now to get a solid result. I would also consider at least trying propecia first and see if you get the side effects. If you don't get the side effects your'e good to go and can expect the propecia to help hold your native hair for years longer.

Without propecia I would imagine you would be getting multiple HT's down the line. I dont know your age but consider your 50's and 60's. You won't want to look strange then either.

You also look like you have thin(ish) hair caliber. Maybe it would be smart to postpone your HT fr now and really do some serious research for the next few months before taking the leap.

Just my 2 cents.

[djohnson]

Thanks MAGNUMpi,

 

This is great food for thought. I actually did schedule a surgery over a year ago, but got cold feet and pushed it back. I found myself fairly consumed with my hairline quite frequently, so this surgery is my taking action, rather than continue stressing as it worsened.

 

Given that I don't want to take meds forever, I could see myself having to another surgery or two somewhere down the road. But I'll be sure to raise the question of adding more grafts to my planned surgery. And yes, I've always had a lot of very fine hair. And over the last few years (I'm 32 right now) there are a lot fewer.

 

Give en that I'm not interested in taking any medication forever for a number of reasons, I WOULD take it before and after my surgery if there's an added benefit to prevent shock loss or new hairs. Is that true?

[robc]

Hi DJ,

 

Not sure what you have against using minox long term. I would suggest using a hairmax laser comb a few times per week, it worked for me and helps with blocking DHT and getting nutrients to the follicles, no need to spend 2=3k for one of those caps IMO. I would also consider Nizoral type shampoo, and topical DHT blockers.

 

But if you are really into natural, just go bald naturally...Nothing natural about a HT. Just saying....we are fighting nature, not sure there is a natural way to do that.

[MAGNUMpi]

Give en that I'm not interested in taking any medication forever for a number of reasons, I WOULD take it before and after my surgery if there's an added benefit to prevent shock loss or new hairs. Is that true?

Hmmmm. Im not exactly sure. I suppose it could help with shockloss but then when the medicine was stopped you might lose what you gained. Im sure somone here tried this.

Anyone?...

[harryforreal]

I would also consider at least trying propecia first and see if you get the side effects.

 

I strongly second this.

 

There is nothing natural about a hair transplant; finasteride is far less intrusive to your body than a hair transplant; it's incredibly cheap; and you can always stop taking it and it leaves your system pretty quickly.

 

1 year of finasteride is maybe $60.

 

I thought a transplant might be better than taking meds. But now I wish I had tried the meds first.

 

Your recession is fairly advanced, so I wouldn't expect meds to restore all your hair. But I would tend to think at 32 without meds a hair transplant is going to leave you looking worse in a few years than your current hair status.

 

Check out Bernstein's study.

 

https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/patient-photos/

[gahgah]

I have always kept a very natural lifestyle and am not interested in taking any medication in perpetuity. I'm also concerned with potential sexual side effects to the point I've ruled out taking it. I'm getting a 1600 graft FUE session next month and will take minoxidil afterward to ensure the new grafts take hold and to minimize shock loss. But I expect to stop taking in after about 6 months, and never Finasteride / Propecia.

 

Has anybody done this? And how did it affect your outcome.

 

Many thanks.

 

Very interested.

I'm also 32, had a HT 10 days ago, and i won't take Propecia, since i tried it before and had collaterals. But i'm planning to start Rogaine on day 16. Also not interested in taking any medication in perpetuity.

 

Can i experience some shedding after starting Rogaine? And then when i stop using it?

 

Pehaps i should not start it?

[harryforreal]

With both Propecia (Finasteride) and Rogaine, you can stop anytime.

 

You will loose all benefits of the medicine, but you can stop anytime (meaning your hair loss picks up where it left off before starting to use the meds).

 

Perhaps the better thing is to get opinions from people who have had a transplant and did not take meds to see what their long term results are.

 

I took finasteride for approximately 7 years (age 28 - 35) before a new doctor took me off of it because she saw no evidence of hair loss and thought it was absurd for me to take a drug for no "apparent" reason.

 

By 37-38 I saw recession, but didn't think much of it. I thought it if progressed I could always get a hair transplant which didn't rely on drugs. HUGE MISTAKE.

 

My hair loss continued to progress, and after a quick consultation with a recommend doctor on this forum, hair transplant it was - with quite horrid results.

 

Now I have had a disgusting looking hair transplant, I am back on Finasteride and I'm using Rogaine to try and re-stimulate growth and cover up the disgusting result of this hair transplant. Barring some serious medical issue with either medicine, I don't see myself stopping them anytime soon. Maybe when I'm like 80 or some such number when it doesn't matter so much anymore.

 

I really, however, am continually shocked at the attitude to dismiss medicines and go for an "all-natural" hair transplant - except I did the same thing, but only because of that stupid doctor - Doctor Patel in Jersey City, just for the record.

 

F*@!$ cu*7.

 

Merry Christmas!

[rickyrixon]

Hey DJohnson,

 

I am in a very similar situation to you... 32 years old, similar hair loss pattern, been thinking of an FUE transplant for years and will NOT consider Propecia under any circumstances. I respect everyone's choice to take this medicine, but for me it is not as simple as 'trying' it first when there are many cases people having ongoing sexual side effects...

 

As much as my hair loss plays on my mind and consumes me, I am thinking now to just hold off a bit longer until I am at least 35 before getting surgery. Just wanted to let you know that you are not alone in being concerned about taking medication and not being prepared to take the risk.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide

[djohnson]

Hi DJ,

 

Not sure what you have against using minox long term. I would suggest using a hairmax laser comb a few times per week, it worked for me and helps with blocking DHT and getting nutrients to the follicles, no need to spend 2=3k for one of those caps IMO. I would also consider Nizoral type shampoo, and topical DHT blockers.

 

But if you are really into natural, just go bald naturally...Nothing natural about a HT. Just saying....we are fighting nature, not sure there is a natural way to do that.

 

That's a good point, robc. Perhaps I phrased it poorly. I just have medical issues that mimic some of the Propecia side effects. So I couldn't effectively treat them, because I'd never know if it was a side effect or pre-existing. Confusing, but that's the deal.

 

I do use a Nixoral type shampoo and need to look into minox, but would consider long term usage.

[djohnson]

I'm sorry to hear about you results, harryforreal.

 

I'm curious to know more about your situation, and if you think the lack of meds was the most serious factor in your unsatisfactory results. How many grafts did you get? And was it just at the hairline, or all over?

 

Thanks a lot.

[nuim123]

.. , am continually shocked at the attitude to dismiss medicines and go for an "all-natural" hair transplant - except I did the same thing, but only because of that stupid doctor - Doctor Patel in Jersey City, just for the record.

 

F*@!$ cu*7.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

This doctor is specialized in Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL). I have seen some of his photos of patients directly after a transplant. The work looks awful. I did already wrote comments on his instagram photo that he should concentrate on BBLs and mommy makeovers.

[harryforreal]

This doctor is specialized in Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL).

 

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Dr. Patel was a female general practitioner who took me off of Finasteride, not a transplant doctor. Patel is of course a common Indian name (just saw a PBS special last night on Patel dating, actually - rather interesting, but I digress). The person who did my hair transplant was not a Patel.

 

I'm curious to know more about your situation, and if you think the lack of meds was the most serious factor in your unsatisfactory results. How many grafts did you get? And was it just at the hairline, or all over?

 

I had some recession and some thinning (age 41 at the time), that had started to bother me. I had sometimes thought about going back on Propecia, but since my General Practioner (Dr. Patel) had taken me off of it simply because she thought it unwise to take a drug for cosmetic reasons, I never went back on it. Having occasionally seen Bosley commercials on TV, and seen media shows talking about this or that celebrity having a hair transplant, I thought a hair transplant must be a relatively simple thing with no worries about long term drug interactions. A bit of an inconvenience and a bit pricey, but not that big a deal. So I thought if my hair loss continued, I'd just do a transplant.

 

When I consulted with the hair transplant surgeon, he said meds would not have any effect on the hair line, and that a hair transplant was my only option. I wish I had seen Dr. Bernstein's study showing that meds can indeed have an effect on the hairline. But in any case, the surgeon recommended lowering the hairline with about 1000 grafts. My hairline didn't really bother me - it had always been high. But the recent thinning did bother me.

 

I had seen the hair transplant doctor on a local news segment on tv, and thought that if he was featured on the news, it must be safe and very good. Hah!

 

In the local news segment, the hair transplant surgeon said he had a minimum of 1000 grafts to do surgery.

 

So when he suggested 1000 grafts for my hairline, I was kind of suspect, but on the other hand I thought, "Well, it's my only option for the thinning, and a Brad Pitt hairline might be kind of nice."

 

Also he said initial results in 6 months. Seemed like a good turn around time, just in time for summer; and I live for the summer - traveling and socializing in Europe.

 

So I went for it.

 

The transplant doctor didn't think I would loose any more hair, so he didn't suggest taking finasteride or anything.

 

But first and foremost the redness to my scalp was unbelievable. Everyone at work could tell I had a transplant. No one said anything, but they would look at my hairline and kind of snicker. If it had looked good, I could have dealt with this. But of course, it never did.

 

Summer came, and it looked so bad there was no way I was going to Europe. The hairs that did come in were much darker and thicker than my native hairline hairs. Also, though I didn't really understand it at the time, there were a lot of doubles and even some triples and such in the hairline which gave it a very pluggy look. The angles of the hairs looked weird. It just looked very funked up. Everyone said, "results may take a year", so I waited a year. Still looked bad. Still lots of redness. Also bumpy texture. Density was quite thin, and uneven.

 

I honestly never imagined it might look SOOOOOO bad. I mean, I thought maybe it might not look as great as it sounded in the brochure. But DAMN!!!!!

 

The combover I was doing before the transplant was now a permanent combover and pressed down to hide the mess at the hairline. At least I can say I had enough thick native hair to comb over. But it never looked good.

 

My hope for being able to brush my hair back and part it on the side never materialized; and the last 5 years have been spent trying to get rid of the redness, the bumpy texture, minimize the look of the doubles and triples, minimize the dark, frizzy hair look of the hairs transplanted to the front. Yeah, what was supposed to be a 6 month - 1 year outcome has turned into a 5+ year saga.

 

Micro needling to the scalp to improve the skin texture helped. Also 2 V-Beam laser treatments to improve the redness helped significantly. Now it looks much better, but a close look still doesn't look natural. I sure as hell don't brush it back and part it on the side!

 

I've been taking finasteride now for a couple of years, and this summer after the V-Beam treatments I started applying Rogaine foam to the hairline 2x per day, and I do think I am seeing some softer, blonde hairs at my native hairline, so I am happy about that.

 

I have tried to schedule some electrolysis on the doubles and black hairs, but the electrolysis girl got sick, so I am having to reschedule for after the holidays.

 

In retrospect, I would definitely try the meds before anything else. People talk about potential side effects, but clinical studies show a very low incidence, and I can say meds are far less intrusive than a hair transplant. Also, I'm always like, "How do you know it's the meds? Maybe you're just aging? And (for those men worried about sexual side effects, I'm like "How do you think you're going to get laid with a bad hair transplant?"

 

My social life was completely shut down for over 2 years. I mean, come home, close the door, stay in. Spend the time researching how to improve on the look of it.

 

And, to be honest, I'm like one of the other posters on here: that's a very conservative hairline you've got drawn. What's the point?

 

The things is, I really don't think girls care all that much about the hair. Maybe young 20 year olds. But as you get older, it just really doesn't matter to most I think.

 

A shaved head can rock at a club on Ibiza. I've seen it. The girls like a guy with attitude and confidence.

 

Also, conservative Christian girls like a nice guy, so if club girls aren't your thing, it just doesn't really matter I don't think.

 

A fit body and personality is more important than hair.

 

But a messed up hairline...I think that's a bigger problem.

 

Those are my thoughts.

 

For the record, I'm not opposed to cosmetic enhancement; indeed, that is one reason why I thought a hair transplant probably wasn't such a big deal. I had had botox, and laser treatments on my face, even my shoulders for freckles. These things work great with little risk.

Edited December 27, 2016 by harryforreal
clarity

[djohnson]

Hmmmm. Im not exactly sure. I suppose it could help with shockloss but then when the medicine was stopped you might lose what you gained. Im sure somone here tried this.

Anyone?...

 

Here's another question I haven't gotten clarity on regarding Finasteride / Propecia: I was always told that if you went on it for, say 5 years, and went off, you would immediately begin shedding to the point you would naturally be if you didn't take anything for those 5 years.

 

But I've been hearing people say that you'd actually be exactly where you were 5 years before and just continue the recession as that earlier state.

 

Is one of these assessments true? Or is it something different?

[Spanker]

I general frown upon surgery without meds. It just extends your results for years. Your hairline is very conservative and very reasonable, so if you go for it and have the donor, don't mind having a transplant every three our four years til you run out, and just want to look "not bald" then a ht may work well for you.