Losing Hair AFTER Your Transplant

[LionTamer]

Hi everyone, so I'm planning to get a transplant, but I'm realizing there's one big issue I haven't been able to figure out. As we all know, hair transplants don't prevent future hair loss; they only replace what has already been lost. Therefore, to actually maintain a good looking head of hair after a transplant, you need to get on medications to prevent the future loss. Otherwise, your hair will continue to fall out in other areas, making your hair patchy. However, the issue is that I'm not willing to get on finasteride. Too many horror stories on the side effects, and I've already done enough research to know it's just not for me. So I'm just trying to figure out what to do. Here are my questions and comments:

• I'm on minoxidil twice daily which has helped a bit but I've been told it won't ever be enough to fully prevent all future loss. Is that correct?
• I have a very very good donor area, I've been told, so I can likely support 2-3 transplants over the course of my life. Will that be enough to give me a full head of hair without relying on finasteride? Are there any stories of multiple transplants on future losses working out well for anyone?
• If I'm not willing to get on finasteride, is this all just a bad idea to get a transplant because patchiness is inevitable?
• Any other ways to prevent loss other than minoxidil and finasteride?

Thank you all so much for your help!

[Pbaird98]

Could you post up some pics? Not everyone will take Fin, some try and stop, others never even begin. You will be chasing the loss, at what rate? Who knows.

What age are you? 

[StillAlive]

You will find PLENTY of HT stories without finasteride in this forum. Contrary to what Big Pharma would like you to believe, it's entirely possible to go down this route, depending on some factors :

-Your age, extent and aggressiveness of hairloss. If you are very young with aggressive hair loss, you are obviously in a much worse position compared to someone in their late 30's or early 40's with more or less 'stable' hair-loss.
-You can always try 320mg of saw palmetto daily, which acts as 'finasteride light' without the side effects. Many people claim that it helps maintain existing hair pretty well.

Finally, you need to manage your own expectations. Would you be cool with a great frontal third and a bald-patch in the back? You can work wonders with fibers and longer hair these days. 

[mafpe]

depend really... finas is "more effective" in preventing baldness as it halts or dams the process significantly. meanwhile minox simply thicken your hair, and giving more bloodflow, making it healthier and more likely to "survive". hairs affected will still likely balds though, it just take a while longer.

unless you are lucky enough that you're not supposed to bald soon or badly, it's best to take both meds.

[Needadviceplease]

What is the story related to fin and minox if your hair loss has stabilized? Like if you are in your 40s? Is it as important?

[Gatsby]

33 minutes ago, Needadviceplease said:

What is the story related to fin and minox if your hair loss has stabilized? Like if you are in your 40s? Is it as important?

Absolutely. MPB is progressive over the lifespan so if you can tolerate finasteride then stay on it. The minoxidil is probably not as important IMHO but certainly won't hurt.