Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted June 18, 2021 Administrators Share Posted June 18, 2021 Everything is looking great. Dr. Bisanga is one of the best. I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member johnto Posted June 19, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted June 19, 2021 How old are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted June 19, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 19, 2021 28 minutes ago, johnto said: How old are you? It’s in my opening post… 36. Any particular reason why you asked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member johnto Posted June 19, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted June 19, 2021 5 minutes ago, NTCP8 said: It’s in my opening post… 36. Any particular reason why you asked? I now see it was in a few posts down. I always wonder what age people decide to take the plunge on their transplants and try to compare their level of loss with my own as I would love to get a transplant within the next few years but I'm afraid of future loss over time. In any case your results look great congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted June 19, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 19, 2021 I contacted Dr. Bisanga and a few other doctors back in 2017. I decided not to proceed seeing it was too early. I was on Propecia for 2-3 months in 2017, stopped taking it due to testicular pain. I used Rogaine for about 6 months, but didn't do much. My hairless accelerate again in 2019 - 2020. I was in a bar and a friend said out of the blue that my top right side is thinning, obviously my anxiety kicked in. I jumped back on Propecia. I started with 0.5mg for the first 4 months and increased it to 1mg. I don't think I have any regrowth (I'm on it for around 18 months), maybe it stabilised my hairless. Do I have side effects, yes. All of them are manageable, although I rather not take it. That's why I started using oral minoxidil. I'm still on Propecia, seeing I don't want to jeopardise the final result of the transplant. Will start using topical Fin in a few months. We all want to have our density back from a few years ago, which is not always realistic. I asked Dr. Bisanga about this, and seeing I don't have any bald spots, he is optimistic that I can achieve a good density similar as from a few years ago. If this not the case, I'm not going to take anything against Dr. Bisanga. I didn't want to wait till have a bald spot seeing it will be more difficult to create good density. I made the decisions in April/May 2021 to proceed. Didn't feel comfortable about my hair anymore, I might have over reacted a bit. I'm glad I did it, at least one worry less. If I may give some advice. Choose the right doctor. Obviously not everyone is in a position to afford a top surgeon, but if you can afford it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted June 19, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 19, 2021 7 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said: Everything is looking great. Dr. Bisanga is one of the best. Thanks Melvin. Few questions for you. I've seen a few a few points that you also see the advantages of oral minoxidil. Are you using it yourself, or do you know people who are using it? My main concern is that minoxidil can affect the heart. For hair loss the dosage is much lower than to treat high blood pressure... Obviously I'm a bit concerned, my heart is a bit more important than my dick. I have a relatively healthy lifestyle, workout six days a week. Go for a run/hike 3-4 days a week. Don't eat fast food (once or twice a month), don't take any medication (besides Propecia and minoxidil), healthy diet, etc. I went for a hike and run this morning, first time in a month. Bought an Apple Watch to monitor my heart beat and some other things. Can't really compare the data with before I was taking oral minoxidil. My BPM was 180 while I was walking up the mountain/hill, average bpm was 124. More or less normal... It was 29 degrees Celsius and 78% humidity. Did you see any increase in your heart rate since you are taking it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted August 8, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 8, 2021 (edited) Small update, slightly passed two months post surgery. Can't see any results yet, which is of course normal. Last month I trimmed my hair 10mm, which I regretted immediately haha. It might look that my hair is ok, but my native hair is covering most thinning areas, hopefully this will fill in nicely in a few months from now. Crown is my main concern... I was a bit worried about my donor area, but it seems it's getting better. Seems I lost most of the transplanted hairs on the left side of my hairline. For some reason the transplanted grafts on the right side haven't shed as much, weird. I had chest pain (left side), not sure if it was from oral minoxidil, workout at gym, or wild tinder dates. I stopped oral minox to see if the pain went away, and it did. Did and ECG chest, and they didn't see anything abnormal. First pictures are before surgery... Edited August 8, 2021 by NTCP8 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member cbc3113 Posted August 8, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted August 8, 2021 Looking good. Thanks for the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Moe N Posted August 8, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted August 8, 2021 17 hours ago, NTCP8 said: Small update, slightly passed two months post surgery. Can't see any results yet, which is of course normal. Last month I trimmed my hair 10mm, which I regretted immediately haha. It might look that my hair is ok, but my native hair is covering most thinning areas, hopefully this will fill in nicely in a few months from now. Crown is my main concern... I was a bit worried about my donor area, but it seems it's getting better. Seems I lost most of the transplanted hairs on the left side of my hairline. For some reason the transplanted grafts on the right side haven't shed as much, weird. I had chest pain (left side), not sure if it was from oral minoxidil, workout at gym, or wild tinder dates. I stopped oral minox to see if the pain went away, and it did. Did and ECG chest, and they didn't see anything abnormal. First pictures are before surgery... Looking great for 2 months. Thanks for sharing your experience in detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted August 12, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 12, 2021 I lowered my dose of oral minox from 5mg to +/- 2.5mg. It's a bit of hassle though, my 5mg oral minox or capsules, so I gently open them, remove 2.5mg, and close them. Hopefully this lower dose will not cause chest pain. Obviously not 100% sure if my chest pain is from minox or gym. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted October 25, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) Was busy with work, didn't have time to update... 5 month post operation. Hairline is filling in, although I don't think that I shedded all transplanted grafts. Hair looks a bit thin and flimsy, so hopefully that will change in the next coming months. Slightly concerned about the crown, not sure if the transplanted grafts will fill in the thinning areas. I think they placed around 1,800 grafts in the crown areas. I'm aware that it takes longer for the hairs on the crown to grow back. Positive thing is that all my naive hairs grew back. Hair should have been longer but had three hair cuts the past 4 months... Edited October 25, 2021 by NTCP8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Curious25 Posted October 25, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted October 25, 2021 Looking good - your native hair seems really strong, so I am surprised that such a large graft count was decided upon for what was pretty minor loss. Either way, I'm sure you have plenty of donor in the bank, and at the end of the 9-12 month mark, you will be looking denser than a hedgehog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted October 26, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 26, 2021 Thanks... Just a bit worried about those short flimsy curly hairs... I assume they will get thicker in the next coming months. I'm also losing hair. Sometimes just 3-5, other days around 15. I'm a bit worried about the short curly hairs... I had them since I noticed my hairless. These will not grow longer than 2-3cm. I hope I'm just shedding these hairs and will come back healthier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted October 29, 2021 Administrators Share Posted October 29, 2021 Dr. Bisanga strikes again! consistent early growth! 2 I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted October 30, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 30, 2021 @Melvin- Moderator I do have early growth at the hairline but not in my crown. That picture you posted might give the wrong impression. Crown is the same as more or less the same as pre-surgery. Hope to see growth in the next coming months. Crown was always my weak point... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Mycroft Posted October 30, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted October 30, 2021 (edited) For what it's worth shedding 15 hairs isn't abnormal or even a sign of hair loss. That is very much within normal range. I wouldn't stress about that in and of itself. Edited October 30, 2021 by Mycroft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted October 30, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 30, 2021 Yesterday it was bad shed around 20 - 25 hairs... Never really had a shed from Propecia when I started two years ago. Maybe it's the oral minox... Not sure if these hairs are dead or healthy and grow back... Let's see in a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Gokuhairline Posted October 30, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted October 30, 2021 why did you and still continue to take finasteride if you are having sides ? you said they are manageable but does that not worry you about the future ? and also if you stop finas i am sure you've heard about PFS right . good luck. hair results look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member TrialAcc Posted October 30, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted October 30, 2021 19 hours ago, Gokuhairline said: why did you and still continue to take finasteride if you are having sides ? you said they are manageable but does that not worry you about the future ? and also if you stop finas i am sure you've heard about PFS right . good luck. hair results look good. Don't fear monger over finasteride like this, it does nothing useful. Minor sides from fin can be things like a minor reduction in libido or watery semen. ' In addition, while I don't disagree that PFS is a thing, it's occurrence rate is so ridiculously low that it's nothing that someone who takes fin should be worried about if they stop the medication. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted October 31, 2021 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 31, 2021 Thanks TrialAcc... I don't disagree that PFS is real, and I do believe that % of people who have side effects from finasteride is higher than 2%. I estimate it's around 10%... However, people who get serious side effects have clearly underlying issues. We have all seen the videos on YouTube from people on talkshows how testify that Fin is evil. These people were serious depressed before even starting Fin. I do try to minimise the side effects by only taking Propecia (and not a generic brand), 0.5mg instead of 1mg, healthy diet, active lifestyle (gym, tennis, running, etc.), etc. If I was obese, no hobbies, no career, etc. obviously I would feel depressed and Fin will not do any good. I do have side effects, but as I said before, all manageable. I can't blame everything on Propecia either. I sleep 3-4 hours a night average, long before I started taking Propecia. My libido is still high, but yes it takes more effort to keep an erection. This can be because of Propecia, or It's in my head by over thinking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member stephcurry30 Posted October 31, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted October 31, 2021 So far a home run result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTM Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Looking great. Any new photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted August 7, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 7, 2022 (edited) It's been awhile... 14 months post op, and the result is disappointing. Basically my pictures posted October 25th were the best result, improved a little till December/Jan, then it went downhill. I will post pictures in the next coming weeks/months. Busy with work, and getting a second opinion from some well known docs in the US and Canada. Edited August 7, 2022 by NTCP8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sukh123 Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 (edited) I find this a really strange one , your hair loss was not even bad . I know you said your thinning , but I just can’t really see the need for 4000k grafts at all. Usually bisanga would not do this due to a lot of native hair present . Very strange one Edited August 7, 2022 by sukh123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member NTCP8 Posted August 7, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 7, 2022 14 minutes ago, sukh123 said: I find this a really strange one , your hair loss was not even bad . I know you said your thinning , but I just can’t really see the need for 4000k grafts at all. Usually bisanga would not do this due to a lot of native hair present . Very strange one Yeah, that's one the reasons why I think the results went downhill fast. Starting to loose a lot of native healthy hairs in areas where they placed grafts very closely to the native hair. Will update once I have a clear idea of what the cause actually is. Have to talk to a few other docs first. Do I regret it, maybe... Will wait a few more weeks/months before posting pictures, it might improve. To all the "consultants" of BHR, you have no permission to post any pictures without my permission on forums. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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