How Bad Is My Donor Region?

[Pauls]

DJ 

I was told my donor was not the best and would probably have to use beard and chest,  so then I did 7 months on Finasteride 1mg per day and saw a massive improvement,  although I didn’t see a dramatic change on top. 

photos below 1st taken in Nov 19 , 2nd taken May 20.

[DJNordwood]

Wow, thats a crazy amount of improvement! How did you do on the finasteride? Did you tolerate it well? Still on it?

Honestly, I wouldn't mind using beard hair, but I just wanna know that I have another hair to go around to long-term give me coverage. I requested several virtual consultations and am trying to see a doctor in person in town who can assess the condition of my hair.

I'm on the fence about finasteride, but it sounds pretty safe and that the dosing can be adjusted to minimize issues.

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Wow your crown improved massively.

[Pauls]

I was on it from the 1st of Jan up until the beginning of July then had the HT a couple of weeks later. I found after being on it a couple of months that I was a little snappy with people and found to be a bit moody, things would get to me more than they should. I also found my sex drive had dropped and erections were nothing like they use to be. I don’t think I realised until lately now I’ve been off Fin for a month and I feel much better in myself. I was on 1mg per day using generic Finasteride and after my recent research I’ve found apparently you don’t need so much. I’m on the fence about going back on it and if I do it will be every other day using .5mg and see how I go, I’ve also heard people advise to use branded instead of generic. 

[Pauls]

7 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Wow your crown improved massively.

Yes I was definitely impressed with what Finasteride did for my donor area but I really don’t think it did nothing for the recipient. I think I was too far gone. 

[DJNordwood]

One doctor recommended I use Proscar and split the capsules into 4. Apparently Proscar has the least sides, followed by Propecia, and generic finasteride is the worst – based on what I've read over the last week. I'm also seeing some doctors recommend taking 1 mg every 2-3 days as opposed to 1 mg daily. Topical finasteride sounds kind of appealing but doesn't seem as well researched.

Edited August 3, 2020 by DJNordwood

[Pauls]

Yes I’ve head a few of the same things, I’m in the UK and can’t seem to locate Proscar anywhere. If I go back on it and I know I should to help the HT I’ll definitely be every other day maybe starting on .5mg and seeing how it goes. As I said before the sides went for me after been off for about 3/4 weeks. 

[Blower]

15 hours ago, DJNordwood said:

Apparently Proscar has the least sides, followed by Propecia, and generic finasteride is the worst

hello.. is there any evidence to back this up mate?  i did not have as  many sides on proscar every day as i did with generic finasteride..   trying to aquire Proscar at an affordable price or at all in the UK is near on impossible..

and Propecia is amde by the same company as proscar so was hoping it was exactly the same apart from 1mg instead of 5mg

[DJNordwood]

@Blower I think I would be hard pressed to find data backing this up. It seemed to be the consensus combing through posts on here over the weekend, as well as some doctor's comments on YouTube. I had the same thought tho, that Marck makes both Propecia and Proscar. Maybe they are produced in different facilities? I don't know.

[DJNordwood]

My thought was that being on Proscar split into two, it's roughly 1.25 mg. Seems like even on an every 2-3 day dosing schedule that Proscar would produce more sides than Propecia, assuming both were created equal?

[Blower]

10 hours ago, DJNordwood said:

My thought was that being on Proscar split into two, it's roughly 1.25 mg. Seems like even on an every 2-3 day dosing schedule that Proscar would produce more sides than Propecia, assuming both were created equal?

that is something i was hoping for too.. being that i could not get any proscar in the uk so have just ordered propecia in the hope of like you say above. which i am going to take either 0.25mg every other day for starters or 0.5mg every other day there after.

[NicoAustralia]

On 7/30/2020 at 11:23 PM, DJNordwood said:

Hi Guys.

So after fretting about my hair loss for years, this weekend I started booking online consultations for a HT. I was really excited to rebuild my hairline and take charge of the narrative. So imagine my shock when a respected hair restoration clinic sent an email back based on my photos saying I was not a good candidate for a hair restoration procedure because my final pattern of loss is aggressive and my donor reserves are limited – thanks in part to a retrograde loss pattern. I had not noticed any thinning  from the bottom up. (And I've never heard of retrograde alopecia until now.) Maybe I'm in denial, but I'm wondering if my quarantine cut, shaving my neck too high (when trying to clean up stray hairs), and the sun bleaching my neck hairs (I always wear a cap when I walk my dog) created the illusion of thinning at the bottom.

Earlier today, I snapped a bunch of pics of my back stoop in direct sunlight to get a good, well-illuminated look of my donor area. Curious if it's as bad as the doc thought and if I should really abandon my dreams of getting a HT to restore my hairline.

I've never tried finasteride, and I'm not comfortable with it. I've been aware it was an option for years, but have a drug phobia and knew I'd be too freaked out about the sides. Yet had I tried it and been able to tolerate it starting years ago, I'd have a much better situation to work with now! I recently got some topical minoxidil foam (Kirkland 5% foam), which I had procrastinated starting also for fear of systemic absorption and cardiac sides. I did notice some mild chest pain the days I used it but I think the chances of that being psychosomatic were high.

I read about topical minoxidil/finasteride formulations that doctors claim will result in fewer sides. Is there truth to this? I read that plasma levels of finasteride from topical formulations were comparable to taking oral finasteride, which seems to indicate systemic sides would be just as likely. I spoke with Dr. Bisanga's folks and they mentioned a finasteride scalp gel that was formulated to stay local in the scalp, which sounded promising.

I'm thinking if I start using the topical minoxidil and maybe spring for one of those iRestore caps, it could improve my situation. I'm starting to consider even taking the plunge on finasteride and trying a low dose (either 1 mg/2-3 days or .5/2 days) to see if I tolerate it and feel relatively normal. I have a feeling finasteride would greatly improve my crown and the quality of the donor hairs in the back.
Would love to hear your thoughts. Does my safe donor zone look that small? If I'm unwilling to take finasteride, or if I can't tolerate it, should I even bother with a hair transplant? Thank you!! Really love this site. It's been an invaluable resource for me.

It looks like you could get a decent FUT result from your donor man

[DJNordwood]

10 hours ago, Blower said:

that is something i was hoping for too.. being that i could not get any proscar in the uk so have just ordered propecia in the hope of like you say above. which i am going to take either 0.25mg every other day for starters or 0.5mg every other day there after.

That sounds like a really good conservative plan to me. Easing in nice and easy so you're comfortable and can keep tabs on the sides.

[DJNordwood]

21 hours ago, DJNordwood said:

My thought was that being on Proscar split into two, it's roughly 1.25 mg. Seems like even on an every 2-3 day dosing schedule that Proscar would produce more sides than Propecia, assuming both were created equal?

Correction: Split into FOUR, not two lol

[DJNordwood]

10 hours ago, NicoAustralia said:

It looks like you could get a decent FUT result from your donor man

Man, I hope so! I'm having a phone consult with another doc today and trying to arrange an in-person consult here in LA. Like someone else said earlier in this thread, that will give me the best idea of the state of my donor region.

One doctor's office I've been emailing back and forth with (and am most likely to use) floated the idea of mixing beard hair in to cover more ground in the first procedure. But I believe this presents implications for how long you can grow your hair and styling and stuff, depending on how the job is done.