28yo. Am I NW3? Should I go for a hair transplant? Finas+minoxidil. Pictures

[jrjim]

Hi everyone!

New to this forum, as you can see. I've been reading it for months, but I prefer to be one of these "silent users". Today I wanted to show you my case... so I had to register





I've been on minoxidil 5% for years, but I haven't been very disciplined on it. I started finasteride 1mg in October 2015. So far I'm shedding like ~20 pieces of hair a day (as far as I can see).

I'm posting here because I was thinking of having a hair transplant. I guess I am a NW3? I haven't seen this pattern of loosing hair only from top in many other cases though.

I've asked to 2 doctors and their opinion varied a lot: one of them estimated 2750grafts whereas the other one said 3600...

Finally I'd like to say that my grandpa was NW6. I'm hesitating about the hair transplant cause I'm not sure whether I'll have the enough donating area for future implants to cover a more than likely NW6 pattern.

Thanks for reading!

 

[GoldenMane]

Yeah you're NW3. If you don't want a hair transplant then you could hope that finasteride + minoxidil will regrow some hair or try stronger (10-15%) minoxidil.

 

[big_head]

I would wait until you have been on finasteride for at least a year. See how well you respond to it.

If you respond well and you have the money for an hair transplant, why not?

 

[jrjim]

Goldenmane, I've been using both with no regrowth results, although my hair loss stopped.

Big_head, cause I'm a bit afraid of finasteride long term side effects. Is there anything I should worry about?

So far no side effects at all. Same behaviour, memory, capacity to focus on tasks and sexual life.

I'm a bit concerned about some people who state that finas eventually develops irreversible side effects.

 

[Dallas25]

Will finasteride work continiously as long as it's taken?

 

[jrjim]

Will finasteride work continiously as long as it's taken?

Very good question.

 

[big_head]

Goldenmane, I've been using both with no regrowth results, although my hair loss stopped.

Big_head, cause I'm a bit afraid of finasteride long term side effects. Is there anything I should worry about?

So far no side effects at all. Same behaviour, memory, capacity to focus on tasks and sexual life.

I'm a bit concerned about some people who state that finas eventually develops irreversible side effects.

Well you have been on it for a few months now. If you were to get sides, you would have most likely gotten them by now.

People who get supposed irreversible side effects are people who got side effects but continued to take the drug. Irreversible side effects do not suddenly happen out of the blue. People get the sides and just keep taking finasteride, and that eventually does permanent damage, in which case they need to go on TRT.

But since you have not gotten sides and everything is working healthy a few months in, you should be fine from her on in.

 

[jrjim]

Well you have been on it for a few months now. If you were to get sides, you would have most likely gotten them by now.

People who get supposed irreversible side effects are people who got side effects but continued to take the drug. Irreversible side effects do not suddenly happen out of the blue. People get the sides and just keep taking finasteride, and that eventually does permanent damage, in which case they need to go on TRT.

But since you have not gotten sides and everything is working healthy a few months in, you should be fine from her on in.

Great news! It's been about 4months + another 4months (I stopped in between for 1,5 months because I ran out of it). So far, so good. I can't feel anything different.

Sorry for persisting, but how does finas work in the long-term? It'd be greeeeeeeeeaaat if there were some other solutions in 2-3 years time so we can keep changing meds and "rest" from the ongoing treatment.

 

[big_head]

Great news! It's been about 4months + another 4months (I stopped in between for 1,5 months because I ran out of it). So far, so good. I can't feel anything different.

Sorry for persisting, but how does finas work in the long-term? It'd be greeeeeeeeeaaat if there were some other solutions in 2-3 years time so we can keep changing meds and "rest" from the ongoing treatment.

From everything I have read, finasteride peaks at about 2 years. Meaning, you'll never know how much you're really going to gain from it until you hit the 2 year mark. It definitely requires patience.

I have seen guys on here thicken and even regrow hair to the point where they go down 1-1.5 Norwood ratings, which is fantastic but very rare. Most guys seem to maintain and gradually thicken their existing hair over the 2 year period, then maintain for years after.

Some guys, finasteride only slows down their hairloss. But that is usually guys with very aggressive balding. There is that one user, think his name is Rawtashk? He had aggressive male pattern baldness in his family, hopped on finasteride and thickened and maintained his hair for over 7 years. I think he said recently he's starting to thin slowly now, so finasteride is not a magic bullet that can stop hairloss indefinitely. Keep in mind he had aggressive male pattern baldness, so if yours is slower or more minor, it won't be as big of a threat. For most guys it will stop your hairloss and maintain it for as long as you take it.

I have also read about guys that do not see thickening/regrowth from finasteride until 1 year in. Everyone is different. This is why me and other guys on here recommend that you start with finasteride and wait at least 1 year before adding anything else like minoxidil. If you combine finasteride and minoxidil from the start, you will never know if the minoxidil is thickening your hair or if it's the finasteride, and you could be wasting money on minoxidil in the long run. It all requires a great deal of patience.

As for other treatments, there are a few on the horizon but I wouldn't bet on having to come off finasteride any time soon. There is a topical finasteride in the works which, if as effective as the pill, would allow you to simply rub a solution in your scalp every day without worrying about side effects in the rest of the body. There are also stem cell and fat injection procedures coming soon and this and that- Replicel and Histogen are two of those that you can read about on this forum. There is also a lotion we're talking about on here that some Italian doctor created that he claims can reverse 5 years worth of balding. Sounds like snake oil but apparently the science behind it makes sense, and it's supposed to come out this year or next year, so we will see.

It's certainly a possibility that finasteride could be replaced in the next decade, but maybe not. Just be happy you don't have any side effects from it, because either way you can continue taking it.

 

[jrjim]

I gotta love you mate. So much useful information here. I was hesitating about having a hair transplant. Now I think I will.

By the time I get back to Spain, in a month and a half, I will have a blood test to check that everything is fine . I'll also talk to some doctors and see what they come up with for the long term. Considering that I will more than likely become a NW6 if I let nature do its job, I guess I will go for a conservative approach: Not a very low hairline and temples just enough to look "natural-balding-because-of-each". In this way I'll keep some grafts for the future. Just in case. And if the "magic cure" arrives, then I'll have plenty more to recover a more juvenile look!

Thank you all for reading!

 

[GoldenMane]

One thing worth noting is that when finasteride loses effectiveness and thinning/recession resumes, there's always the option of switching to dutasteride to buy you a little bit more time. With both you could probably expect to maintain for minimum 8 years, hopefully longer. Good enough for a hair transplant to be a viable option, and long enough that Histogen and Replicel may be ready by the time those lose their effectiveness.

 

[jrjim]

One thing worth noting is that when finasteride loses effectiveness and thinning/recession resumes, there's always the option of switching to dutasteride to buy you a little bit more time. With both you could probably expect to maintain for minimum 8 years, hopefully longer. Good enough for a hair transplant to be a viable option, and long enough that Histogen and Replicel may be ready by the time those lose their effectiveness.

Thanks for the advice!

I'm not really a fan of dutas. For some reason, maybe related to law and regulatory bodies, dutas is not so popular in Spain and people speak very bad about it. I would like to keep drugs as far away as possible.

Anyway, as you said, it is a good guy to "buy" some more time and wait for science do to its job. Better solutions might take a long time, but I guess sooner or later they will appear.