HT results after 5+ years without finasteride?

[coolbreeze]

Are there any threads on hear about HT for people who don't use finasteride or minoxidil?

Look for results after 5 years or more.  Maybe I am not putting in the correct search terms or there just are not these posts?

If anyone knows any suggested search terms or links would be great. 

Thx.

[StillAlive]

You need to dig, there is no easy way to find what you are looking for. 

It's absolutely feasible to do an HT without medication but results will vary depending on your age and baldness progression.

For example, if you hit 40 as a NW3 or NW4 and your hair loss is pretty stable, you know that you are not headed for NW7 territory. Then you can get an HT and get by on saw palmetto or some fine placebo multivits with a good chance of maintaining everything on your head.

If however you are NW3 or 4 at 25, it means that your hairloss is quite aggressive and without a DHT inhibitor, you are likely to continue losing hair behind your transplant, forcing you to chase it with more transplants.

That is why the Baldie Hivemind always recommends medication to younger sufferers. After 35-40, you have a more or less clear picture of what kind of baldness you will be dealing with and can plan your HT's for maximum effect. 

[MTCM]

Nice topic, I would like to see that also. I am 35 years old and can't take finasteride, I always wonder if a transplant would be feasible to me. Can you look at my photos below?

I have a lot of body and beard hair. Do you think I could go for a transplant without meds (finasteride, since it seems to be the only thing that can mantain hair)?

 

[StillAlive]

You appear to have diffuse thinning which makes you a really tough case to take on without finasteride. The risk here is that you might continue losing hair all over the place around and behind the transplanted ones, effectively looking exactly like you never had a procedure, minus your depleted donor. You could continue chasing it down with 3+ procedures and using body hair, but only you know if you are prepared for that exhausting physical and mental ordeal. 

You could try getting on 320mg's of Saw Palmetto daily as it's known to be about 30% as effective as finasteride, minus the side effects. If your loss is stable and you understand the risk involved, you could go for a transplant, fully aware of the potential outcomes. 

[Mike10]

3 hours ago, StillAlive said:

You appear to have diffuse thinning which makes you a really tough case to take on without finasteride. The risk here is that you might continue losing hair all over the place around and behind the transplanted ones, effectively looking exactly like you never had a procedure, minus your depleted donor. You could continue chasing it down with 3+ procedures and using body hair, but only you know if you are prepared for that exhausting physical and mental ordeal. 

You could try getting on 320mg's of Saw Palmetto daily as it's known to be about 30% as effective as finasteride, minus the side effects. If your loss is stable and you understand the risk involved, you could go for a transplant, fully aware of the potential outcomes. 

Saw Palmetto can have the same sides as Fin

[StillAlive]

In super rare instances. I've been on it for 6 months with zero sides and do not recall ever even reading a post about sides from a 320mg dose of SP.

[MTCM]

8 hours ago, StillAlive said:

You appear to have diffuse thinning which makes you a really tough case to take on without finasteride. The risk here is that you might continue losing hair all over the place around and behind the transplanted ones, effectively looking exactly like you never had a procedure, minus your depleted donor. You could continue chasing it down with 3+ procedures and using body hair, but only you know if you are prepared for that exhausting physical and mental ordeal. 

You could try getting on 320mg's of Saw Palmetto daily as it's known to be about 30% as effective as finasteride, minus the side effects. If your loss is stable and you understand the risk involved, you could go for a transplant, fully aware of the potential outcomes. 

Yeah... I saw many people here in Brazil going down this route of transplant without fin, but seems like a inverted russian roulette to me (5 of 6 bullets)

The surgeons only want to take their money, only a few are completely transparent about the outcomes

 

[MTCM]

See this...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cpz3tu1j-FW/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[StillAlive]

It comes down to education/research and realistic expectations. A guy in his 40's or 50's with pretty much 'finalized' loss, will know what they are dealing with and are not likely to recede further so they can opt to go drug-free.  

A young man with aggressive loss in progress, absolutely playing with fire, no arguments there. 

[MTCM]

14 hours ago, StillAlive said:

It comes down to education/research and realistic expectations. A guy in his 40's or 50's with pretty much 'finalized' loss, will know what they are dealing with and are not likely to recede further so they can opt to go drug-free.  

A young man with aggressive loss in progress, absolutely playing with fire, no arguments there. 

In this way you think that, without meds, would be better to wait until a nw6-7 to do a transplant?

Tnx!

[StillAlive]

Not necessarily.

After 35, you would have a pretty good idea of where you are headed. Saw Palmetto and a good 2% Ketoconazole shampoo can provide small boosts and are not really associated with any side effects. 

So, cognizant of potential risk, you could go ahead and get an HT, fairly confident that you wouldn't end up chasing it forever. 

[BaldDude]

On 3/17/2023 at 2:57 AM, StillAlive said:

Not necessarily.

After 35, you would have a pretty good idea of where you are headed. Saw Palmetto and a good 2% Ketoconazole shampoo can provide small boosts and are not really associated with any side effects. 

So, cognizant of potential risk, you could go ahead and get an HT, fairly confident that you wouldn't end up chasing it forever. 

I've been on Saw Palmetto for about a year now and have experienced decreased ejaculation, not as much as when on Fin tho.

[Bucky O Hair]

If you plan your HT approach with the assumption that you will lose all the hair on your head, then I see no issue with it.

I am also drug-free and am going for my first HT soon.  I am a NW5 who is planning for total NW6 loss on the top of my head.  You could do the same, but you would have to get your donor hair assessed (as you would need enough to cover a potential 150-180 cm2 area on your head).

I would get an in-person consultation with a couple of good HT docs and ask them to do an analysis on your donor.  Have them give you an assessment of what your lifetime graft count should be.  On top of this, there is also beard hair you could add to the mix (as a plan B).  Supplementing things with SMP (in both the donor and recipient area) could be plan C.  

But posting pictures of your donor hair on this message board will just get you a bunch of random responses that will be worthless to you (as photos are deceiving).

[MTCM]

On 3/17/2023 at 3:57 AM, StillAlive said:

Not necessarily.

After 35, you would have a pretty good idea of where you are headed. Saw Palmetto and a good 2% Ketoconazole shampoo can provide small boosts and are not really associated with any side effects. 

So, cognizant of potential risk, you could go ahead and get an HT, fairly confident that you wouldn't end up chasing it forever. 

So, I am 35 right now, by my photos you think I am now a NW5 and heading to a final NW7?

[Bucky O Hair]

3 hours ago, MTCM said:

So, I am 35 right now, by my photos you think I am now a NW5 and heading to a final NW7?

Just like me, you 'look' like a NW5 who will likely end up a NW6 (assuming the thinning areas go completely bald).  Nobody can predict how long it will take (sometimes it drags on for a long time) and nobody here can confirm or predict if you are headed to a NW7.  

I think you should do the following...

#1. You should just measure your thinning/balding areas and confirm the size of the area (in cm2).   

#2. Then you should get a couple of consultations (in person) to have the doctor analyse your donor area and confirm for you the amount of grafts they could realistically extract in your lifetime. 

#3. Then do some simple mathematics, and confirm whether you are comfortable with the lifetime cost of your plan, and the likely density you will get out of it.  

For example: If your balding area on the top of your head is about 175cm2...and the doctor says you have a good donor area which could get you about 6,500 grafts...then that could get you an average density of almost 40 FUE/cm2.  

You plan for the realistic case scenario, but you also plan for the worst case scenario...which would be further loss and thinning, and whether you would be willing to fill in the gaps with future HTs (possibly with beard hair) or just keep buzzing your hair shorter to account for the overall thinning.  

 

[MTCM]

Man, thank you so much for the guidance! 

[asterix0]

Watch this video from Eugenix to get an idea about transplanted long term maintenance:

https://youtu.be/rJctY_jvd6U

Edited March 19, 2023 by asterix0