Contemplating non-fin HT

[web3marketstgy]

Hey everyone.

I’m a 33 y/o male who has recently decided to do something about my hair loss rather than dealing with the daily  depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia. I’m a NW3 vertex, I was told during my consult that my balding will very likely never go passed a NW5. 

To be 100% transparent, it makes little sense to me that so many men risk their sex life by taking fin, a drug that one likely would need to take for the rest of their life once they start it. It’s way beyond my personal risk tolerance to take a drug that could leave permanent sexual side-effects, regardless of how small of a % it may or may not be. DHT does more in the body than cause balding and I don’t want to altering my body’s natural endocrine system by suppressing a hormone that does so many other things. 
 

It concerns me that the majority of men blindly listen to the advice of doctors who, in my experience, tend to minimize the potential for lasting sexual side-effects. To the men who understand the potential side-effects of fin but take it anyway, I completely respect your choice to do that. It’s your body and your hair may be more important to you than your sex life. For me, I’m not willing to play Russian roulette with my sexuality. For that reason, fin is 100% off the table for me. 
 

As the donor grafts are likely resistant to DHT induced loss, my line of thinking is that worst case scenario not doing any med therapy post HT would be continued balding in the non-grafted areas which would likely require future transplants. I’m okay with that. I feel like my expectations are realistic as well. I would rather pay $30k long-term for multiple FUE procedures than deal with the potential sides of fin.

It seems that men who choose not to take fin before or after a hair transplant are the minority here and I’m not sure why that is. I’m not sure if it’s lack of education about the potential side-effects or if they choose to take fin understanding there is a possibility they may in fact experience permanent sexual side effects.

The hair restoration doctor I’ve done a consult with has been in this field for a long-time, he’s been doing HT‘S for 30 years. He told me that out of the 3,000 transplants he’s done, no one has ever had post-finasteride syndrome. That may be true, however it’s not going to change my mind about taking fin. He wants to start me on oral minox but I don’t want to do that either because again, starting these drugs is basically a long-term commitment and I don’t want to be taking a blood pressure medication for the rest of my life when I don’t need that for actual health reasons. The doc also wants to put me on a topical fin + minox serum that’s made at a local compounding pharmacy. He was emphatic that I HAVE to, at the very least, take the oral minox. 
 

My intent is posting is I want a hair transplant without having to take meds. Yes I may need future transplants. Beyond that, am I missing anything? 
 

Thanks in advance for your posts!

[HappyMan2021]

It's hard for me to take you seriously when you are so vehemently knocking down a drug you haven't even tried. Just like I wouldn't take non-mask wearers seriously during the pandemic. I frown on people who ignore science and the medical community.

 

27 minutes ago, web3marketstgy said:

It concerns me that the majority of men blindly listen to the advice of doctors

28 minutes ago, web3marketstgy said:

He told me that out of the 3,000 transplants he’s done, no one has ever had post-finasteride syndrome

 

You are free to do what you want and there certainly are doctors who will happily take your $$$ and dont't care about your long-term results. Just don't come back here expecting alot of sympathy when you are in some horrible hair transplant purgatory you can't get out of. 

[Fox243]

57 minutes ago, web3marketstgy said:

Hey everyone.

I’m a 33 y/o male who has recently decided to do something about my hair loss rather than dealing with the daily  depression, anxiety and body dysmorphia. I’m a NW3 vertex, I was told during my consult that my balding will very likely never go passed a NW5. 

To be 100% transparent, it makes little sense to me that so many men risk their sex life by taking fin, a drug that one likely would need to take for the rest of their life once they start it. It’s way beyond my personal risk tolerance to take a drug that could leave permanent sexual side-effects, regardless of how small of a % it may or may not be. DHT does more in the body than cause balding and I don’t want to altering my body’s natural endocrine system by suppressing a hormone that does so many other things. 
 

It concerns me that the majority of men blindly listen to the advice of doctors who, in my experience, tend to minimize the potential for lasting sexual side-effects. To the men who understand the potential side-effects of fin but take it anyway, I completely respect your choice to do that. It’s your body and your hair may be more important to you than your sex life. For me, I’m not willing to play Russian roulette with my sexuality. For that reason, fin is 100% off the table for me. 
 

As the donor grafts are likely resistant to DHT induced loss, my line of thinking is that worst case scenario not doing any med therapy post HT would be continued balding in the non-grafted areas which would likely require future transplants. I’m okay with that. I feel like my expectations are realistic as well. I would rather pay $30k long-term for multiple FUE procedures than deal with the potential sides of fin.

It seems that men who choose not to take fin before or after a hair transplant are the minority here and I’m not sure why that is. I’m not sure if it’s lack of education about the potential side-effects or if they choose to take fin understanding there is a possibility they may in fact experience permanent sexual side effects.

The hair restoration doctor I’ve done a consult with has been in this field for a long-time, he’s been doing HT‘S for 30 years. He told me that out of the 3,000 transplants he’s done, no one has ever had post-finasteride syndrome. That may be true, however it’s not going to change my mind about taking fin. He wants to start me on oral minox but I don’t want to do that either because again, starting these drugs is basically a long-term commitment and I don’t want to be taking a blood pressure medication for the rest of my life when I don’t need that for actual health reasons. The doc also wants to put me on a topical fin + minox serum that’s made at a local compounding pharmacy. He was emphatic that I HAVE to, at the very least, take the oral minox. 
 

My intent is posting is I want a hair transplant without having to take meds. Yes I may need future transplants. Beyond that, am I missing anything? 
 

Thanks in advance for your posts!

I think the main thing is just to be conservative with your transplants. Transplants happened in days without meds too with worse techniques as well. But you probably shouldn't plan for better than a NW2.5 or so though.

[baldfighter]

Problem is that you can't keep coming back for more HTs, your donor supply is limited. Just be careful with planning, be conservative, lower your expectation then you should be fine without meds.

[Gatsby]

Can you post pics of your donor so that we can get an idea of how strong it is? I respect the fact that you don’t want to take medication. 👍 The thing though is that the concerns you have are incredibly unlikely to happen and you are denying yourself of all the upsides that could happen. Having surgery alone has probably just as many risks in itself. Every single elite surgeon has had a failed or cosmetically poor result. The risks are there. But if you have an excellent donor and your family has little to no MPB then it can be done without medication. All the best. 

[12345]

7 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

Can you post pics of your donor so that we can get an idea of how strong it is? I respect the fact that you don’t want to take medication. 👍 The thing though is that the concerns you have are incredibly unlikely to happen and you are denying yourself of all the upsides that could happen. Having surgery alone has probably just as many risks in itself. Every single elite surgeon has had a failed or cosmetically poor result. The risks are there. But if you have an excellent donor and your family has little to no MPB then it can be done without medication. All the best. 

gatsby, did you use fin immediately post HT? 

[Gatsby]

I took Finasteride a couple of years before surgery. It reduced my libido (nothing else). I then ceased the drug and had a wash out period. I then tried micro dosing but eventually the same side effect caught up with me. I was also taking topical minoxidil. I then began seeing an excellent dermatologist here in Melbourne who specializes in MPB. I began taking oral minoxidil and saw a major improvement in my hair. I ceased oral Finasteride and I was prescribed 2.5% topical Finasteride and to this day I haven’t experienced any side effects except better hair all round. I always recommend that people seek out a good dermatologist and that medication should be the first port of call. Surgery is always a last resort. Have a look at @Viney’s results from medication alone. All the best! 

[12345]

3 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

I took Finasteride a couple of years before surgery. It reduced my libido (nothing else). I then ceased the drug and had a wash out period. I then tried micro dosing but eventually the same side effect caught up with me. I was also taking topical minoxidil. I then began seeing an excellent dermatologist here in Melbourne who specializes in MPB. I began taking oral minoxidil and saw a major improvement in my hair. I ceased oral Finasteride and I was prescribed 2.5% topical Finasteride and to this day I haven’t experienced any side effects except better hair all round. I always recommend that people seek out a good dermatologist and that medication should be the first port of call. Surgery is always a last resort. Have a look at @Viney’s results from medication alone. All the best! 

are you finding better results on the topical fin now, than the oral fin from years ago? do u think its the formulation from your specific dermatologists clinic that is decreasing the sides? 

 

[GoliGoliGoli]

6 hours ago, web3marketstgy said:

It seems that men who choose not to take fin before or after a hair transplant are the minority here and I’m not sure why that is. 

Lots of guys need to take fin in order to be good candidates for HT, it's really that simple. It's part of the reason it raises such a harsh debate because for some it's a necessity. Although I'm not on it, I do think cases where guys get side effects that persist long term is pretty darn rare. For me it's more a concern about the consequences of long term use that put me off to it. But tons of guys do use it for years and report no sides so there's definitely that too. 

As for your case, you really need to post pictures to get any sort of proper advice. Your case sounds very similar to mine as I was also 34 and a NW3 V when I got my HT 7 months ago. I also have never used fin.

As long as you have a really good donor, are willing to spend money on multiple HT's over your lifetime, have minimal high NW's in your family, and have realistic expectations, then you should be a good candidate. But it's still a risk even if you meet all 4 of those points. No one ever really knows when or where their balding will end. You should at least be on/try topical minox if you aren't already using it. 

 

Edited June 4, 2023 by GoliGoliGoli

[Gatsby]

2 hours ago, 12345 said:

are you finding better results on the topical fin now, than the oral fin from years ago? do u think its the formulation from your specific dermatologists clinic that is decreasing the sides? 

 

The results are the same. Plus oral minoxidil is playing a huge part. No I don’t think it’s the formulation. I also don’t think it was a nocebo effect on the oral version either. My dermatologist has a lot of experience and I have a lot of trust and faith in him. This is also why I don’t recommend that people should get their advice from bro science influencers on YouTube, Instagram, etc. Always take advice from a qualified medical specialist in this field. All the best. Do you have pics of your donor?

[RTC]

Contrary to what other posters say, as long as you go in knowing there is a chance your baldness could get worse, you can still do the transplant. It helps if you can see that the hair loss is stable and not progressing too.

I've never taken oral finasteride or dutasteride, just used topical dutasteride for a few months. And I 100% agree that we shouldn't blindly follow doctors in every single thing they say. 

Edited June 4, 2023 by RTC

[TheGreatPretender]

13 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

It's hard for me to take you seriously when you are so vehemently knocking down a drug you haven't even tried. Just like I wouldn't take non-mask wearers seriously during the pandemic. I frown on people who ignore science and the medical community.

 

 

You are free to do what you want and there certainly are doctors who will happily take your $$$ and dont't care about your long-term results. Just don't come back here expecting alot of sympathy when you are in some horrible hair transplant purgatory you can't get out of. 

This. 

I wish I started taking Finasteride back while I was NW3. I would probably just shrug it off at that point and never get a HT in the proccess. Unfortunately way too many people get sold by the fearmongering we get on the drug and place ourselves on the worst place possible to the point of requiring surgery.

People see HTs as a "one and done" and then think that no medication will be required after the surgery, once they realize how much they receed even after they had the surgery they comeback and contemplate on why they didnt start earlier. 

If OP is reading please, please, please! For your sake, if you really want to keep your hair for ages and go to the easiest route possible, seriously consider Finasteride or on the worst case scenario you could try the topical version if it makes you feel more "safe". 

Hair Loss is progressive without medicine, the only thing capable of stopping it fully is Finasteride (or in other cases Dutasteride) and transplants shouldnt be seen as a "cure". You will be chasing your hair loss forever and there is no guarantee on how long you will be "stable" without meds.

Dont even expect the hair transplant to be the same level of quality as your native hair either, such cases are rare and will heavily depend on the quality of 90% of your donor hairs.

I do share the same sentiment as OP when it comes to body dysmorphia, depression alongside anxiety and trust me, having hair loss just makes them all worse.

Edited June 4, 2023 by TheGreatPretender

[Smile Hair Clinic]

Finasteride has a good affect on hair transplant but speacially minoxidil is very beneficial for transplanted hair. Therewithal, the most important thing about suggesting medication after hair transplant is to protect your existing hair and prevent it falling. Of course it is not certain that you will lose full of your existing hair if you do not use them. You can also start using them if you start to see an aggresive fall and quit it after it stopped and do it when it is necessary. If you do not want to use any medications at all there is a risk that you can keep losing your existing hair in transplant period thus your results not turn out very well. But if you accept all those risks there is no issue.

[FUEtile]

HT without fin is not a good idea

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@web3marketstgy,

While the possibility of side effects from Propecia are reported as rare, it's true that some people experience them and a select few even experience post-finasteride syndrome (or long-term / permanent sexual side effects).  That said, I certainly don't dismiss your concerns as I too wouldn't want to jeopardize my personal life.  

At the end of the day, it's 100% your decision as to whether or not you take finasteride or not.  Don't let anyone persuade you one way or the other.  The best thing you can do is make an educated, informed decision by researching and considering all the facts.  Likewise, others are also encouraged to make their own decision based on all the facts and not let themselves be persuaded.  

A hair transplant without finasteride is definitely possible and is done quite often at our clinic.  That said, there are times we may advise patients to consider medication which includes other non-surgical solutions and not just finasteride before undergoing surgery.  It's ultimately up to each individual to decide which treatments are for them and which aren't.

All the best,

Rahal hair Transplant

[lunch_owl]

On 6/3/2023 at 11:32 PM, HappyMan2021 said:

It's hard for me to take you seriously when you are so vehemently knocking down a drug you haven't even tried. Just like I wouldn't take non-mask wearers seriously during the pandemic. I frown on people who ignore science and the medical community.

 

 

You are free to do what you want and there certainly are doctors who will happily take your $$$ and dont't care about your long-term results. Just don't come back here expecting alot of sympathy when you are in some horrible hair transplant purgatory you can't get out of. 

Well, to him the benefit is not worth the risk. Speaking of the medical community and the pandemic, FDA sort of got caught with their pants down during the pandemic. over 60% of FDA's funding is coming from the companies it regulates. Also, there has been highly regarded people in the medical community stating that when medicines are going through clinical trials, those who conduct the trials, select the healthiest people and conducts test on them to minimize chances of it looking bad in the results. Not saying that it happened during fin or min clinical trials but it has happened in the medical community according to at least one highly regarded doctor. So, who can you really trust? In the end its one's own decision to make if the benefit is worth the risk. He shouldnt be slandered for it. Its totally understandable somebody refusing a non life essential drug because he is worried about possible sideffects even if the chances according to the trials are low. Is there any medical history info on the people who was participating in the trials?