Need motivation to start taking Finasteride

[Diffused_confidence]

I'm not losing hair right now, haven't in a long time. I thought I've reached my final pattern

I'd rather take finasteride than dermaroll

See this makes no sense to me. You said before you were assured you reached final pattern but now the surgeon wants you on finasteride. If you truly did reach final pattern you wouldn't really need finasteride at all.

 

[Wolf Pack]

@Wolf Pack @iCloud what do y'all think?

I haven't seen your donor area after 7k grafts, feel free to PM me so I can advise you better. I see you have started Finasteride, not a bad thing necessarily, I am a strong advocate of the medication but usually in people who are in the early stages of hair loss. I don't really see much benefit in you taking a pill forever considering you were Norwood 5 plus before, sure it may protect your donor and thinner midscalp but you can always add a few grafts there to get the same result you have now. So I don't see the benefit in your situation and not to mention if you have had depression/anxiety before and are on meds for it, it may worsen it. If it regrows your top massively in 6 months (super responder), of course stay on it. That is how I would think of it in your shoes bro looking at the pros and cons.

I can say I haven't had a single side on it all these years or lost any hair, and I think 9/10 people are in that boat but 1/10 do get temporary sides. You were one of those so be careful especially considering you don't have much native hair to maintain. If you see your donor deteriorating, perhaps get on the medication but I think aggressive guys don't respond as well to it anyway. Also I don't think your donor will deteriorate at least for 20 years, you've reached your final pattern and your Doctor would have said otherwise.

I know a while back hairliciously had a second transplant to take his forehead down from 8.5cm to 7cm apparently and after 4k grafts, his back and sides looked very bald and it was the first thing my girl said. I don't know his total donor numbers, final pattern or finasteride usage (don't care much these days about hair) but in his case there is a benefit to taking the medication. As he could end up very bald in the donor and with thinning behind the hairline too which is a vicious cycle. TBH I am thinking he had a poor donor capacity or inept graft harvesting because it looks like he had 10k grafts taken out. I have a 10k donor capacity but after 2500 odd there is no thin spot if I have long hair, medium length or zero fade.

 

[justinbieberscombover]

See this makes no sense to me. You said before you were assured you reached final pattern but now the surgeon wants you on finasteride. If you truly did reach final pattern you wouldn't really need finasteride at all.

I don't think I need it, I think he just didn't remember that he transplanted some hairs on my midscalp (too many clients) so he thinks I'm still losing hair.

Plus minoxidil gives dark spots under the eyes and ages the skin.

I haven't seen your donor area after 7k grafts, feel free to PM me so I can advise you better. I see you have started Finasteride, not a bad thing necessarily, I am a strong advocate of the medication but usually in people who are in the early stages of hair loss. I don't really see much benefit in you taking a pill forever considering you were Norwood 5 plus before, sure it may protect your donor and thinner midscalp but you can always add a few grafts there to get the same result you have now. So I don't see the benefit in your situation and not to mention if you have had depression/anxiety before and are on meds for it, it may worsen it. If it regrows your top massively in 6 months (super responder), of course stay on it. That is how I would think of it in your shoes bro looking at the pros and cons.

I can say I haven't had a single side on it all these years or lost any hair, and I think 9/10 people are in that boat but 1/10 do get temporary sides. You were one of those so be careful especially considering you don't have much native hair to maintain. If you see your donor deteriorating, perhaps get on the medication but I think aggressive guys don't respond as well to it anyway. Also I don't think your donor will deteriorate at least for 20 years, you've reached your final pattern and your Doctor would have said otherwise.

I know a while back hairliciously had a second transplant to take his forehead down from 8.5cm to 7cm apparently and after 4k grafts, his back and sides looked very bald and it was the first thing my girl said. I don't know his total donor numbers, final pattern or finasteride usage (don't care much these days about hair) but in his case there is a benefit to taking the medication. As he could end up very bald in the donor and with thinning behind the hairline too which is a vicious cycle. TBH I am thinking he had a poor donor capacity or inept graft harvesting because it looks like he had 10k grafts taken out. I have a 10k donor capacity but after 2500 odd there is no thin spot if I have long hair, medium length or zero fade.

I'll give it 6 months to see if my diffuse mid scalp thickens, that's what I'm looking for, if there's a noticeable difference then I'll know it was worth it.

I could also get another FUE like you said. If this surgeon doesn't want to operate on me I'll just find somebody else who will.

 

[Wolf Pack]

I don't think I need it, I think he just didn't remember that he transplanted some hairs on my midscalp (too many clients) so he thinks I'm still losing hair.

Plus minoxidil gives dark spots under the eyes and ages the skin.



I'll give it 6 months to see if my diffuse mid scalp thickens, that's what I'm looking for, if there's a noticeable difference then I'll know it was worth it.

I could also get another FUE like you said. If this surgeon doesn't want to operate on me I'll just find somebody else who will.

Yes, forget Minoxidil, even if you have good skin genetics it will pull you back a little. Definitely mate, there will always be a surgeon who will do it and I think worse comes worse, 800 grafts would be enough to make a difference in this area if it's ever needed. The bit in bold, indeed that's how I would approach it. You could be one of the lucky responders.

I remember a random Doctor ironically asked me to get off finasteride (friend of a friend), he said you may not lose anymore hair or if you do he can fix me up (money for him). Of course this was very short sighted by him (perhaps intentional), as we know surgery is complex and not a cure even with 10k grafts. I am maintaining 90% healthy hairs on top (excluding the transplant) and even with 8k further grafts, it wouldn't look like it does now in naturalness or density. It may be close to my hair now or may be very far depending on how the surgery went but it would never be equal to it 100%. And not to mention my donor may be bald too.

 

[Catagen]

Yes, forget Minoxidil, even if you have good skin genetics it will pull you back a little. Definitely mate, there will always be a surgeon who will do it and I think worse comes worse, 800 grafts would be enough to make a difference in this area if it's ever needed. The bit in bold, indeed that's how I would approach it. You could be one of the lucky responders.

I remember a random Doctor ironically asked me to get off finasteride (friend of a friend), he said you may not lose anymore hair or if you do he can fix me up (money for him). Of course this was very short sighted by him (perhaps intentional), as we know surgery is complex and not a cure even with 10k grafts. I am maintaining 90% healthy hairs on top (excluding the transplant) and even with 8k further grafts, it wouldn't look like it does now in naturalness or density. It may be close to my hair now or may be very far depending on how the surgery went but it would never be equal to it 100%. And not to mention my donor may be bald too.

How many hair transplants you got and how many grafts?

 

[doubleindemnity]

As far as I know there is no evidence that minoxidil ages the skin.

 

[Wolf Pack]

How many hair transplants you got and how many grafts?

One session of 2300 with a minor touch u I wished for. I only had balding in my corners which were the main issue.

 

[Wolf Pack]

You made a huge investment and sacrifice to get to where you are now. And if you can't at least maintain what you invested in, then was it really worth all that time and sacrifice in the first place. I think you already know what you need to do deep down inside. But go topical and see how you do. If you have issues you can always try Proxiphen. PM if you want to know more about Proxiphen.

It's always worth it, a youth with a relatively good head of hair (which he has), has given him priceless memories with friends and girls. I don't think in his case it would have been remotely similar without hair having seen him. Even if it all fell apart later as an older guy, it would be worth it imo. As far as maintenance is concerned, he's had 3 transplants consisting of DHT resistant hairs spread all on top (as far as I know) and no retrograde hair loss pattern, there is no maintenance need, the native hair hair that was to be lost has been and the remaining hair will stay. If he can regrow native hairs on finasteride, then it makes the medication worthwhile, otherwise a pointless endeavour in my book. Unless he notices his dht resistant hair thinning, different story, then you need finasteride but I am not sure how useful it would be.

 

[justinbieberscombover]

I dont think finasteride is a pointless endeavor. Donor hair can thin over time as well. I never really saw a picture of him right before his first surgery but it sounds like he was norwood 5. Norwood 5 with hair in the midscalp I'd not a final balding pattern. You end at 2, 3, 4a, 5a, 6, or 7. Norwood 5 is just a step ahead of 6/7.

If he doesn't protect the native hair, he will lose his midscalp region and his crown might thin poorly. I don't believe he got full density on the crown, that isn't possible if he recovered the hairline.

You saw my crown, it's not empty (which it used to be) but not completely full either

 

[Diffused_confidence]

You saw my crown, it's not empty (which it used to be) but not completely full either

What about a birds eye view? I never saw the midscalp

 

[Pacho]

I don't know what the actual percentage was but it was 0.01% or higher. I compared that to everyday medication like flu shots or aspirin and found that finasteride was much more risky. I also figured that I have been so unlucky in my life up until now that why wouldn't I also be unlucky with finasteride. And what about finasteride and fertility/birth defects? It doesn't matter anyway, us people who go bald young aren't wanted or valued by society. finasteride is just a way to hide. Underneath, there is still the baldness waiting to happen.

you wont get kids why do you worry about this

 

[Pacho]

@justinbieberscombover where all of your transplants fue?

 

[justinbieberscombover]

@justinbieberscombover where all of your transplants fue?

Yessir

 

[Pacho]

Yessir

cool, i once heard its more "wiser" to get fut first and then fue later if you plan to get a lot of coverage? but it seems to work out for you so thats great..

regarding finasteride...

i think they have a good insight on it. i know 1 guy who is talking finasteride three times a week for several years now, according to him he has no side effects

 

[Diffused_confidence]

cool, i once heard its more "wiser" to get fut first and then fue later if you plan to get a lot of coverage? but it seems to work out for you so thats great..

regarding finasteride...

i think they have a good insight on it. i know 1 guy who is talking finasteride three times a week for several years now, according to him he has no side effects

I think you are better off taking 1mg a day. I've heard too many stories of people cutting their dose and it not being effective. Taking it 3x a week is essentially cutting doses. You are better off with standard treatment and if you see results above baseline then you can at least gamble on cutting the dose.

 

[Pacho]

I think you are better off taking 1mg a day. I've heard too many stories of people cutting their dose and it not being effective. Taking it 3x a week is essentially cutting doses. You are better off with standard treatment and if you see results above baseline then you can at least gamble on cutting the dose.

yes interesting. i think people these days are so scared of potential side effects and pfs that they miss the main "danger" of finasteride: not working against hairloss

 

[disfiguredyoungman]

Will it help if I see an endocrinologist or a urologist?

Not really, even with side effects I had quite unremarkable hormone levels throughout. I did prior checkups before taking finasteride and they did nothing to prevent me from longterm side effects. It will always be a gamble.

 

[whatintheworld]

@justinbieberscombover @Wolf Pack @Pigeon @disfiguredyoungman
Do Hair Transplants Thin over Time video: (answer is yes)

 

[justinbieberscombover]

you wont get kids why do you worry about this

1.) He did convince me to give finasteride a try but as soon as I experienced a side effect I got scared and stopped taking it

2.) I knew in advance that I would need multiple transplants down the road

3.) I regret nothing anyway because I have nothing but bad memories from being bald. I tried being bald for a little while before I went for a transplant. It lead me to have extremely low self esteem and post on incel forums.

Now incels are so unrelatable to me, but back then I felt like they were the only ones who "got" me.

cool, i once heard its more "wiser" to get fut first and then fue later if you plan to get a lot of coverage? but it seems to work out for you so thats great..

regarding finasteride...

i think they have a good insight on it. i know 1 guy who is talking finasteride three times a week for several years now, according to him he has no side effects

So I should take 0.5mg 4 times a week? That means 2mg per week. Will it be effective or too low? Maybe it's a good idea to start low and build my way up.

 

[whatintheworld]

Being on finasteride is just an added layer of protection and insurance for your investment...

Your donor area is not completely immune from DHT, especially if you are a young aggressive balder. Your recipient area does not have blood flow that is as good as your donor area, this is where minoxidil helps.

Minoxidil helps keep the hair shafts thicker and keeps the transplant healthier longer.

Finasteride helps with everything hair wise, of course we know what the other trade offs are but this is unfortunately the hand we are dealt.