Diffuse Thinning and need help on how to reverse/stop this

[cesareborgia]

2 hours ago, Eugenix Hair Sciences said:

- If you are experiencing side effects then you can stop the medication.

- You can try it for a couple of days more and observe its side effects. Accordingly you can decide to take it or not.

- If you have side effects with these medications then you should not take them.

- You can try oral finasteride and observe if it has side effects in your case.

Do you think I am out of options if I have sides on oral fin as well?

Money is not an issue for me. I am willing to spend but need my hair back.

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

Just now, cesareborgia said:

Do you think I am out of options if I have sides on oral fin as well?

Money is not an issue for me. I am willing to spend but need my hair back.

Topical finasteride has lesser side effects than oral finasteride. You can try Saw Palmetto if you have side effects with oral or topical finasteride.

[sukh123]

1 hour ago, cesareborgia said:

Do you think I am out of options if I have sides on oral fin as well?

Money is not an issue for me. I am willing to spend but need my hair back.

That will depend on your donor area, could you post pictures of that. your original images are very low quality too, you using a phone pre 21st century lol. Would help if better quality pictures 

Edited July 7, 2022 by sukh123

[cesareborgia]

55 minutes ago, sukh123 said:

That will depend on your donor area, could you post pictures of that. your original images are very low quality too, you using a phone pre 21st century lol. Would help if better quality pictures 

Lol. Those were taken on my webcam of laptop. Here's my donor under harsh light. That's Grey hair by the way.

I could sense the difference between my midscalp hair and back + sides hair(thick)

Edited July 7, 2022 by cesareborgia

[GoliGoliGoli]

I'm confused at the number of people saying he's a poor candidate for HT. Why? His donor looks not terrible at all and his hair loss isn't far progressed? Bad pics in the first post so kinda hard to tell I guess though

What am I missing here? 

[GoliGoliGoli]

Looking closer, I thought the third pic was of the back of his head not the front but that looks to not be the case. Either way it doesn't look like DUPA to me? 

[GoogleChrome]

any updates?

[Henry]

On 7/1/2022 at 4:26 AM, cesareborgia said:

Thank you the detailed response. i cant believe that there are so many folks on this forum typing out detailed responses. (r/tresless wasnt this good in explaining stuff)

Understood that I am not a good candidate for HT and some/most of the loss can be reversed with Min/Fin/both in combination atleast. I could see a few hairs in my hand (about 4-5) when I comb after I apply the solution. Luckily, I am not seeing any/negligible amounts on my pillow after I wake up. How long into application might be the shedding phase? 

Any recommendations for PRP? I am in Chicago, USA

Lol tressless. You can literally post a photoshopped picture on that subreddit and put "5 months of fin, min, microneedling" and the members will consider you a God.

[ThePerseverantWarrior]

On 7/1/2022 at 1:34 AM, Vann said:

this ^

If you want to take PRP you can... but for research that I have seen its usually most effective for people who begin losing their hair in the mpb but it is not a stop to them losing hair its only a temporary measure like every other medical therapy you choose to COMMIT to.

As far as finasteride/dutasteride most people who say they feel side effects usually already feel side effects prior to taking it, there could be a nocebo effect after reading about the sides, and you can even get yourself measured by taking hormone tests of your testosterone prior to taking it the drug and after 'x' months to see if you genuinely have a hormonal imbalance. As some people mentioned before you can stop taking the drug or lower the dosages.

 

edit: I also want to note that once you start taking these medical therapies your hair should start to look worse because it causes your hair to sometimes begin a shedding phase. Once this shedding phase begins your hair can come back stronger or remain as smaller vellus hairs that will shed in its cycle and grow back thicker and thicker over time. The drugs (fin/minox) can yield effects even after 2 years... people respond differently. For example, I responded extremely well to finasteride really quickly, my brother on the other hand didnt really respond to fin until 3 years of taking it.

Hi. Your statement about your brother not responding to finasteride until 3 years caught my attention. 

 

I've been on oral finasteride for 16 months now. After 5 months, I had seen significant improvement in my mid-scalp & crown, but I had a major shed and my midscalp & crown went back to looking thin! Now after 16 month, my midscalp is still thin with hardly any improvement since I had started. 

 Should I persist with finasteride in your opinion? Also, could you tell me a bit more about your brother's journey on finasteride? Did he see any regrowth? Thanks

[Vann]

25 minutes ago, ThePerseverantWarrior said:

Hi. Your statement about your brother not responding to finasteride until 3 years caught my attention. 

 

I've been on oral finasteride for 16 months now. After 5 months, I had seen significant improvement in my mid-scalp & crown, but I had a major shed and my midscalp & crown went back to looking thin! Now after 16 month, my midscalp is still thin with hardly any improvement since I had started. 

 Should I persist with finasteride in your opinion? Also, could you tell me a bit more about your brother's journey on finasteride? Did he see any regrowth? Thanks

My brother switched to dut 0.5mg and gained a little ground. But it’s hard to say whether it’s better or the same. His hair got a lot thicker so I think he is responding well. Fin worked for him but he has an auto immune issue where his immune system attacks the bacteria on his skin (the healthy hair bacteria). It’s not aggressive but it comes and goes in waves.  
 

not everyone is the same in terms of fin/dut response. You could have extremely aggressive androgenic alopecia and your hair is stabilizing due to fin. Perhaps you are hyper sensitive to DHT so even the smallest amount of dht could make you lose.

an example would be like poking a hole in a full balloon (water/oxygen) and the medication is like a very weak tape that barely holds the air/water inside. Now depending on how frequent or the dosage you take the tape may be a little stronger. But depending on how sensitive that balloon (let’s call this test.) or how full it is filled, will determine how much pressure leaks out (your body’s sensitivity to DHT). The balloon could constantly be getting pumped but leaking rapidly but if you put tape over it. The pressure builds up inside and leaks out faster and slows down after a certain amount. Even if you have tape it will still leak, but it will either be a slow drip or a smaller but intense pressure. Either way, completely stopping medication will just make everything continue as is. But taking it will delay the hair loss for as long as possible, which perhaps over time as you get older will slow down. 

There’s no curable solution to hair loss other than completely getting rid of dht which is extremely bad.

my best advice is to get tested for auto immune issues, test/dht levels, perhaps switch to Dut 0.5mg and continue your medical therapy for as long as you’re willing to tolerate keeping your hair.  
 

[ThePerseverantWarrior]

13 hours ago, Vann said:

My brother switched to dut 0.5mg and gained a little ground. But it’s hard to say whether it’s better or the same. His hair got a lot thicker so I think he is responding well. Fin worked for him but he has an auto immune issue where his immune system attacks the bacteria on his skin (the healthy hair bacteria). It’s not aggressive but it comes and goes in waves.  
 

not everyone is the same in terms of fin/dut response. You could have extremely aggressive androgenic alopecia and your hair is stabilizing due to fin. Perhaps you are hyper sensitive to DHT so even the smallest amount of dht could make you lose.

an example would be like poking a hole in a full balloon (water/oxygen) and the medication is like a very weak tape that barely holds the air/water inside. Now depending on how frequent or the dosage you take the tape may be a little stronger. But depending on how sensitive that balloon (let’s call this test.) or how full it is filled, will determine how much pressure leaks out (your body’s sensitivity to DHT). The balloon could constantly be getting pumped but leaking rapidly but if you put tape over it. The pressure builds up inside and leaks out faster and slows down after a certain amount. Even if you have tape it will still leak, but it will either be a slow drip or a smaller but intense pressure. Either way, completely stopping medication will just make everything continue as is. But taking it will delay the hair loss for as long as possible, which perhaps over time as you get older will slow down. 

There’s no curable solution to hair loss other than completely getting rid of dht which is extremely bad.

my best advice is to get tested for auto immune issues, test/dht levels, perhaps switch to Dut 0.5mg and continue your medical therapy for as long as you’re willing to tolerate keeping your hair.  
 

Thanks for the detailed response. 

I will mostly consult with my surgeon about adding dutasteride into my schedule in another 2 months' time. Getting DHT levels checked also seems a good idea. 

I'm a bit curious about auto immune issues. Does that directly affect hair loss situations?